How Internet Marketing Gurus are Screwing The Public and Making it Increasingly Harder for Newbies to Gain Guidance
March 2nd, 2008 by Vishen Lakhiani Read more about ArticlesI came across a rant today by Mr X, the Internet Marketer behind the Adwords BlackBook. It's well worth a read.
This got me thinking.
In the last few years, Internet marketing has gone from a legitimate business building skill with a few solid quality products to a industry of opportunity seekers blowing money on every dumb idea being tossed out.
As one anonymous copywriter I know put it: "Internet marketing has become one giant incestuous circle of marketer selling hype to marketer selling hype to marketer."
He has a point. It started in the late 90s with the late Corey Rudl. Rudl was the first guru I followed. And his stuff helped. His sales force was relentless, I remember getting a call once in 2003 and being pitched a $5000 consultation with Corey. But his stuff worked. I still save a space on my shelf for his early courses. Corey helped me take my first site to over a million in sales.
Flash forward to 2005.
Many of Corey's customers go online to make big bucks. But instead of pursuing niche fields (like selling construction equipment, gardening advice, leather goods etc), they decide to emulate their Guru and start pitching Internet Marketing advice.
Some of Corey's students produce excellent work. Even Frank Kern admits to being a student. But most produce mediocre work. Want an example? Just download Mike Filsaime's monthly MarketingProductReview Newsletter and check out the new products being put out each week. Based on what I know of this market, I'd say more the half the products on this list are crap.
Simple ideas are being tossed out at over-inflated prices. And many of these ideas are utter wastes of time and energy. (I'm looking at you Gurus who are currently pitching Web 2.0 marketing strategies to newbies.)
And the Victims?
The victims are the 70% of people in this market who classify themselves as newbies. They are forced to gravitate from flash-in-the-pan idea to over-hyped trend to the "get rich quick scheme" of the day.
So how do you get guidance. Here's my advice.
Focus on products that teach the CORE. The core is never-changing and will set you up for success without costing you to waste time on the slew of new products being pushed to you every month.
This is the Core
1. Understand Human Behavior
The best book on this subject is "Influence" by Robert Cialdini. And it's only going to cost you $15 on Amazon. This is the bible of marketing. Period. No other book comes close. Every guru I know raves about this book.
2. Understand Business Building
Read blogs and reports that help you boost your business-building skills. I recommend Rich Schefren's Reports such as the "Internet Business Manifesto" (it's free) and books like "E-Myth" by Michael Gerber which will cost you just $10 bucks.
3. Understand Your Range of Options Online
If you're just getting started online - get Yanik Silver's Moonlighting on the Internet book. It's $15. Yanik is a great guy. (Case in point: sent me a free copy of a $2000 product just because I asked nicely. I'm still stunned. Guys like this are rare.)
4. Understand How to Launch a Business with Speed
At the seminar I just attended in Orlando, Rich Schefren got on stage and said the Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula is the most important internet marketing strategy he has ever encountered. Rich said that is you had to erase his brain of all his knowledge and allow him to retain only one idea - it would be the Product Launch Formula. Jeff Walker's course was released in 2005 and you can get a used copy on EBay. Ver 2.0 is being released in 2 weeks but it will cost you $2000. I'm not going to insult you by giving you an affiliate link. But I do recommend getting it if you can afford it. If not, trying searching the net for older interviews and videos on Jeff Walker's formula. I met some guys in Florida who did very profitable launches just by watching Jeff's free videos.
Focus on the products that give you these timeless core skills.
When you get pitched on the next "get-rich-quick" fad - pause and ask yourself if this new product fits in the core. If not - forget it.
Finally an apology. I fell into the trap of pitching my list and blog readers on a few products last year that I did not 100% believe in. For a brief while I turned into an opportunity seeker and paid more attention to my affiliate fees than to the quality of information I was sharing with my list. I'm sorry. And I thank those of you who sent me emails that put me back on the right track.
Although I am friends with many Internet Marketing Gurus, I will only recommend products I know are good. And I'll always provide cheap alternatives. I'm putting my list and blog audience before my affiliate checks.
PS - I'm writing this rant from an airport on a 8 hour transit stop. I'm not going to bother with proof-reading or grammar. So forgive any errors. And please comment on this post to keep this conversation alive. I think this is an important conversation to have.
Last 5 posts by
- The Enlightened Entrepreneur Experience: How To Experience The "Turning Point" And Complete Freedom In Your Business - January 25th, 2010
- Tribal Marketing: Surprisingly Ethical Ways to Significantly Reduce Your Unsubscribe Rate And Easily Boost Profits - January 19th, 2010
- Breaking the Silence - August 7th, 2009
- How Relationship Marketing Trumps Traditional Direct Marketing (and Why the Social Media Craze Is Mostly Hype) - March 31st, 2009
- MindValley's Social Media Marketing Unveiled - December 2nd, 2008
About the Author
Vishen is a co-founder of MindValley.
Before MindValley, he was an exec in Silicon Valley and New York for several internet and technology firms. He turned bedroom entrepreneur at 27 and by the time he was 31 had founded 6 web businesses and never had to work a conventional job again.
Check out other posts by Vishen Lakhiani
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Vishen Lakhiani
Wow - seldom came across that kind of radical honesty!
It is true: all these exaggerations and superlatives work once, twice, maybe three times. But after a while people get used to it and these words loose their power.
A friend recently recommended me an article on radical honesty... and the guy who passionately does research on it (Brad Blanton) claims "it was the only way to smash through modernity's soul-deadening alienation".
Hey - why not testing THIS out once??? It would be something new. Something radical. Something that might actually irritate people... and therefor catch their attention.
I appreciate this honesty also.
I so agree with you about focusing on the fundamentals. When I first started marketing I, too, was getting "fleeced" buying expensive courses from 'gurus'.
Luckily I began focusing on copywriting. Which then introduced me to the core ideas of direct response marketing and persuasion. And one thing marketers need is copywriters...so the opportunities are endless.
Recently I was able to do some writing for both Rich Schefren and Jay Abraham. I don't have a huge business yet...but doors are opening and opening quickly.
Here is what helped my writing...
1. The Gary Halbert Letter. You must read every issue. Practice the exercises. And copy out the style of his writing. Most marketers and writers lack "punch" in their writing...this will give you some "punch".
2. Read Scientific Advertising and My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins. Pretty much everything you need to know about marketing in these two books.
3. Influence by Cialdini. For the reasons stated above.
4. Begin learning Google Adwords. Still the best way to get targeted traffic. I agree with Penny Marshall...really Google Adwords and copywriting are two skills that, once mastered, will enable you to build a business quickly anywhere, and in any field.
5. Studying Product Launches in action. Once you learn the key concepts...then begin observing and taking notes on big product launches like Walkers upcoming launch, Kern's Mass Control launch, and Eban Pagan's launches.
Learning all this takes time and effort. But you can do it.
And let's see...all this would cost about $50.
Good luck,
Gary
http://www.rightbraincopy.com
I am an email marketer, and have followed your blog as your PPC insights hold true for email subject lines as well. It has been great stuff. I really appreciate your willingness to honestly share were you are coming from and the change of heart you had after hearing your readers opinions about your product recommendations.
Keep your list growing with authenticity in your communication, and the money will follow.
I confess, I tried to be one of those newbies before and was even in the process of writing the next big internet marketing book that would help anyone create a million dollar business in just 2 months or so...
And I haven't even made a hundred bucks online!
Thank god, I came to my senses and didn't finish writing that scam book.
Your confessions have been great, the resources you highlighted are great materials for anyone who would like to understand how things work online.
Great job Vishen!
I am one of the newbies! Really I've felt cheated sometimes with this kind of "Guru's".
Now I make a very hard and deep research before buying an Internet Marketing product. Thanks Vishen for sharing this.
What I've been doing also before buying it is to ask for more information (the index of the product, some free chapters, etc.) and this helped me to avoid buying the same content more than one time.
Hugs!
Why did Schefren's people spam Sphinn?
I agree wholeheartedly on one particular point in your article - ... "pitching Web 2.0 marketing strategies to newbies"
When I started learning about SEO/M I found it increasingly hard to get good data or information, and when I found "hot" news, it was hard for me to understand and utilise. Looking back, if I got the whole 2.0 is great pitch, I would have wasted large amounts of time on messing about with social networks etc.
Online marketing in my opinion, is an extension of traditional marketing, and until you understand the basics, there arent any get rich quick schemes.
What most newbs get distracted by are the latest fads, and are always trying to jump on the bandwagon... I would say learn what the bandwagon is first, and then decide whether you want to jump on it, tow along with it, or entirely ignore it.
[...] Affiliate X posts his thoughts: The Death of Crap. This rant inspired Vishen at Mind Valley Labs to post his own thoughts: How Internet Marketing Gurus are Screwing The Public and Making it Increasingly Harder for Newbies to Gain Guidance. [...]
I couldn't agree more. We have a membership site and we spend on an average 6 hours a day (each) working with our members one on one to help them sort through the crap that is out there.
Marketing is very basic, but you have to work at it. There is no magic button you can put on a website that will make you millions as promised by the guru's. I too have noticed most every program coming out is just "recycled crap".
We have recently added a feature to our website that reviews products out there.
When did it become about fleecing your fellow marketer, and getting every dime you can squeeze out of them instead of providing great information? I have bought several programs in the last couple of years that people I trusted pitched and ended up so disappointed that it was just a step to an up sell. I kept waiting for the real nitty gritty only to just be told I had to spend another few thousand for the software or membership to get the real information.
I think the time is here to make a stand.
Kudos to you.
Vishen,
I really think more and more of us who have been drawn into internet marketing have come to this realisation. Until "opportunists" wake up and smell the rose they will continue be victims of internet marketers looking to make a quick buck. Of course we would all like to be able to come up with a product that solves a problem and make a squillion! Internet Marketers are catering to a niche... other internet marketers. In time the "newbies" will wake up and realise that what you are saying here is true.
Interesting post... I've been marketing online for about 14 months now and I'm learning more and more so this post really made me realize some of the things I though I knew, which obviously I didn't.Thanks,- Chris
While we're being brutally honest lets face these facts.
"Newbies" aren't an audience. They are a parade. A constant stream of people enter this market every day, which is the main reason it is so lucrative.
It is also the reason recycled products work - because they are brand new to the guy who just started googling "make money online" yesterday.
That guy doesn't know who the reputable people are and who are the people who made their first $100 yesterday and are writing about it today. Or who are the people still selling information on how to get to the top of the AltaVista search engine because newbies don't know any better.
This makes it harder for the reputable people to stand out, especially since so many newbies end up getting discouraged because the first few things they bought weren't good.
Also - the people putting out cruddy products can do so for years - as long as their traffic stream comes from brand new people entering the market.
Let's also face the fact that most people don't do anything with the information they buy. And that's true of $1,000 courses as much as for $29 eBooks. A friend of mine had people in his $15,000 coaching program who never participated. So whose fault is that?
There are unethical people in every business. It's just easier to reach a lot more victims on the net.
Probably the best defense against this is to research forums and get feedback from customers before you buy anything.
Internet marketing is still the best way I ever found to make money. But it is work. You don't succeed by buying an eBook if you never act on what you learn.
Jeff
Finally something that I have long suspected and am reminded of every time I open my wallet and buy one of the junk courses.
As a financier struggling to also be a marketer, I appreciate your straightforward approach.
Bravo,
I am sick to death of these flash in the pan so called internet marketing 'gurus' prostituting their info-crap that I shudder everytime I open my inbox these days.
Give me results not just overhyped 'hope products'.
Thanks Vishen your post has given me a new idea for a domain name to sort the 'wheat from the chaff'.. just registering it now.
If you are buying a car whats the final thing you do (after research & finances etc) before purchase..
A ROAD TEST!
So I have just registered this minute affiliateroadtest
A place where the 'average joe' can request, test, and report on what programs actually deliver.. because like everyone else I am sick of wasting time, resources and money on the NEXT sure thing.
Thanks again Vishen, keep the posts coming.
I agree that the internet marketing niche is flooded with bad advice and bad products. Although this tends to be the case across the board, I think many would agree that it has gotten a little out of hand in Internet marketing. With the number of products being launched weekly along with the number of so called experts claiming guru status, newbies can very easily fall victim to the "shiny new thing" syndrome...I know I did.
Oh wow - this so hits home with me. I am so tired of all the marketing hype sales pitches these days.
I thought they were really interesting in the beginning, but come to find out they sell "selling" using underhanded tricks sometimes.
These days, lots of folks are struggling and can ill afford spending on guru tactics they will never use.
It's alot of work to get high in the search engines. Tons. Many of these ads promise glitzy living if you buy these programs and attend these seminars and only work an hour a week from comfort of home. So many people are taken in. NOT nice!!
I am so over it. It hurts my heart to see so many people buy into these programs and then become disheartened and disillusioned when they don't succeed.
The gurus rake it millions - good for them - but I can see that most all of them are super talented, write incredibly well, work day and night on promoting, talking, creating content. They are super folks.
But everyday people like me, are NOT. We can't do what they do. They love selling. They can't stop.
We regular folk don't like selling. It's not us.
I just started a new website and maybe I won't make a dime because of my ignorance - we will see. I wish I could afford MindValleyLabs and do what they recommend. But I can't, and I'm not that smart.
I just wanted to share my teeny ire about these great marketing gurus who sell truly great things that nobody can use.
Thank you for listening, and actually I do appreciate all this advice from Vishen, a brilliant genius.
But i felt like saying my honest peace - if this gets me in trouble, oh well. My heart is in the right place. I care and I want EVERYBODY to succeed in life. Not just great ones.
Ellie and Seas,
"So many people are taken in. NOT nice!!"
True, and that's the result of too many people selling hype and temporary trends.
"We regular folk don’t like selling. It’s not us."
And that's what can be changed.
"I care and I want EVERYBODY to succeed in life. Not just great ones."
Which is an admirable sentiment, and herein comes the need to learn how to sell, because in my opinion, that's a big part of success.
Selling your product, ideas, or even yourself during an interview.
Selling is an important skill to develop. Vishen already highlighted excellent sources that teach the PROVEN fundamentals, and the best part is that the aforementioned books are all very affordable.
Just focus on them, take it all one step at a time, and you will get there.
Cheers,
Amir
Until five days ago, I didn't know the meaning of "affilliate program" or "adword". And as many other millions, my husband and I are struggling due to downsizing and a serious work injury that between the two claimed half of our income within two years. We need to take a risk. Go down a new path. During research, it seems that the "big" money makers are using scams and underhanded techniques in the internet marketing field to get rich off the backs of the desperate like us. Is that what I'm getting? Every review page or blog page I went to had comments from all types but had one thing in common.....a link to their site where they were hoping to guide me to make a buck off me. Is that correct? But after literally hours upon hours of research, this looks like a place on the up and up where I can come to get real info about starting an internet business with the understanding (and reality) that it takes time, perserverance and good old fashioned hard work to become a success. Please tell me, do I have a clue or do I need to start over because I have it all wrong...
signed,
the prodigal newbie
While I have no doubt about the specialized skills and techniques used by these gurus, it can get a little too frustrating simply getting tangled and lost in all their hype, and find almost no value at the end of the day.
Hype - that's one thing I agree these guru's are really good at.
For some of them, unfortunately, hype is the only thing they're good at.
So the question, for those who are trying to master Internet Marketing, might be:
1) Can I learn anything from these gurus without paying money?
2) Who's real and who's not?
3) Whose Internet marketing methods should I follow?