Living as an expat, you don’t always have the benefit of exposure to a complete marketing ecosystem, thus when you hear of a marketer who seems to be “doing things” for the first time, with a huge following, it can shake you up a little.
Up until a week ago I hadn’t really heard of Chris Cardell, thus I have been a little blindsided.
He seems to be supremely confident about what he teaches though I think this claim (from an email newsletter) would require a huge amount of supporting evidence.
I am, modesty aside, Europe’s leading authority on Pay per Click Advertising and Website Conversion
You see in my mind just because someone teaches the most amount of people about a topic doesn’t make them a leading authority.
Here are some more quotes from a seminar sales page
Europe’s Leading Authority on Entrepreneurial Success
I am Europe’s leading provider of Marketing, Internet, Sales, Business and Advanced Thinking information to Entrepreneurs.
I believe this video was intended for a squeeze or sales page, and then syndicated on Youtube
Chris Cardell Reviews
Chris Cardell – A client’s view
A review from a happy customer who also works with Lee Duncan, a guy I met through the Stompernet forums.
Chris Cardell Essential Profit Strategies Review
A review of one of Chris’ products by Paul Simister – Paul comments here on my blog fairly frequently and we follow each other on Twitter – in many ways Paul is one of my competitors in the SERPs for many products and product launches, but I trust his reviews without question. He has mixed feelings about the value proposition for someone experienced in online marketing.
Chris Cardell PPC Expert
My initial research regarding Chris on his PPC expertise came up a little blank, as for instance I didn’t see him advertising on terms that would be best suited for his coaching program, or his own name.
That being said he does provide a module for Parry Marshall’s Adwords training on the difference marketing to a UK audience, so I would assume by inferral he does have some significant experience,
Innovative Offline Marketing
From what I have been able to track down from internet sources it seems Chris takes a very much Offline >> Online approach to direct marketing with great success.
Beermat Advertising
Small business owners love the odd tipple
Conferences
Chris Cardell seems to run yearly conferences with headline speakers such as former & current “Dragons” from the popular BBC TV series “Dragon’s Den”
Here is a link to his conference in 2009 – I don’t know whether they are high content or a pitch fest.
He was also a recent speaker at the Glazer-Kennedy Info-SUMMIT
Jackie Ewing had some nice things to say about his presentation
Chris Cardell As Seen on TV (inc BBC)
This is something I haven’t been able to verify – there are constant messages about being featured on TV, possibly as a “halking head” subject matter expert but I haven’t been able to find any video clips.
If you search the BBC archives for Chris Cardell there is no mention at all.
Chris Cardell In The Sunday Times
There is mention in much of his marketing about being featured within the Sunday Times. Searching The Times Online I did find one mention of Chris Cardell in a resource post covering online resources of wannabe entrepreneurs. Paul did mention half-page adverts in the Sunday Times which may be his more visible presence.
I have been cited in The Guardian once, so maybe we are on a level footing ;)
Chris Cardell on Twitter
There is a Chris Cardell twitter account and at first glance I wasn’t too sure whether it was legitimate.
Whilst I haven’t confirmed directly, various recent references certainly seem to tie up with his offline activities, so whilst it could be faked, I am currently looking on it as being legit, though not heavily promoted.
Chris Cardell V.I.P Club
Paul reviewed this extensively, but I took interest when looking at the sales copy to the Chris Cardell V.I.P. Club which included something about new PageRank updates and penalties about paid links.
The phrase I take exception to?
New This Month: December 2009
Click image to see full size screenshot of December 2009 sales page
My personal opinion is that if something is stated as new information, it should be new information.
On first glance Chris doesn’t seem to have blocked internet archive crawlers, but here is the last captured version of his sales page from August 2008. Maybe the crawlers have determined that the page hasn’t really been updated in a year.
Most of the content is exactly the same.
I have no problem with continual continuity sales models and access to his V.I.P program is using a fully upfront free plus shipping trial offer with continuity, though the continuity is forced and refer to Paul’s review if you want to cancel.
The offer as you might expect if you have seen similar offers is compelling offering a huge amount of value up front.
When I take exception is the expectation that the content is brand new. The paid link PageRank penalty fiasco was October 2007 – I was right in the middle of it. Chris might be using a variation of Ryan Deiss’s continual launch model, but it is also possible all the material is available as soon as you sign up.
This doesn’t invalidate the information, it isn’t new information (though it might be for new members)
I haven’t joined the program, but this does taint it for me.
Chris Cardell Affiliate Program
Before writing this post I did hunt around for an affiliate program – Chris seems to be using 1ShoppingCart so there is an affiliate program built into the platform, but I couldn’t see any evidence of him using it proactively – it could well be that it is used as a private program, especially when he is speaking at public events, or as an affiliate for himself to add an extra layer of tracking. There are currently no affiliate links in this post.
Chris Cardell Overall
Chris seems great at presentation, he used to work for Capital Radio thus if he can present information to people in a way that help them understand it better and take action, that is a valuable skill.
That would make him a “leading source” in my mind, not “the leading authority” though maybe I am picking up on something which is more semantic.
The value provided by a “business guru” is being able to communicate and teach, and Chris Cardell seems to be able to do that with distinction. It seems what he teaches is a cross between Stompernet (inc their F5 taining with Paul Lemberg) & Rich Schefren, though claiming “leading authority” status in the vast range of topics covered is in my mind probably stretching things a little.
Chris is doing great with authority by association – Perry Marshall, Frazer – Kennedy, various BBC Dragons, and I believe he is now doing a PPC teleseminar with Jay Abraham (Wed 16th December & Thurs 17th Deccember 2009).
That is the current state of my research, I thought I would publish it for the benefit of others and as stated this overview doesn’t contain any affiliate links, I just found it interesting as an industry observer, and I thought in publishing it my UK readers could add some further perspective. (I would love a scan of the half-page adverts run in The Sunday Times for instance)
p.s. This doesn’t seem to be the same Chris Cardell who was formerly Jupiter Media President & COO. Jupiter Media is now known as WebMediaBrands. I spent a long time trying to work out if there was a connection.
10 Comments
Great post Andy and I agree whole-heartedly.
The comment “I am, modesty aside, Europe’s leading authority on Pay per Click Advertising and Website Conversion.” is unbelievable because Chris clearly isn’t, as are none of us in the industry. We may all do good things for clients but to say we’re the leading authority has no backup.
Chris is a showman with a good system, who’s done well for himself, no-one can deny, and all the time people buy into what he’s doing, then good for him. But there will come a day when the business world realises that it’s not simply enough to buy into a ton of self-help stuff but what’s needed is real expertise. The market is flooded with people selling ‘packaged up’ expertise in various subjects (PPC, SEO, PR, etc. etc.) but there’s no substitute for real expertise.
I personally think that the majority of businesses would be happy to pay a fee in exchange for gaining new business (however that is achieved – SEO, PR, whatever) as long as there is proven evidence that the suppliers of such services were responsible for what was gained, and that the return on investment is strong. For example, if an SEO person/company was charging £XXX a month to a client and that client was getting good results, proven to come from the expertise of the supplier then the client is likely to stay loyal. However, what we’re seeing are so many people trying to ‘do it yourself’, helped along by systems such as what Chris and others provide, but very few of those people will get as good results as if they use a real expert.
Which brings me to the issue of quality within our industry. We know that there are many ‘web experts’ that don’t cut the mustard and many of us within this industry hate to see companies receiving poor levels of service/bad results. Could we perhaps see a day when buying companies are much more savvy about how they buy into services offered, and so those who give this industry a bad name will fall by the wayside through lack of business?
In my view, what Chris is saying is purely on a bigger scale than what a poor SEO person says – great comments are made but where’s the evidence?
My challenge to Chris would be specifically related to that comment of “I am, modesty aside, Europe’s leading authority on Pay per Click Advertising and Website Conversion.” and the challenge is simply this:
“Put your money where your mouth is Chris. Invite PPC and Website Conversion experts to a very public forum, independently judged, and prove those skills. Set up a competition to prove who is really Europe’s leading authority, and see who enters, and who really is the top dog. The results of the comeptition couldn’t be proven overnight but the very public nature of it and the independent judging would allow it to run its course over a period of time”.
Thanks for raising this issue Andy – I was beginning to think I was the only one that was bugged about this particular issue.
Andy
Hi Andy
It’s good to see that I have attracted your attention with my blogs and comments on here.
Alas I no longer have the Sunday Times advertisement from Chris Cardell and it hasn’t reappeared for the last few weeks.
I thought it was a ballsy move to make such a commitment to newspaper advertising but then I was pissed off by some of the practices I found so in places my review was rather more cynical than I had intended.
Paul
A little cynicism in my mind was justified – though not as some might suggest “guru bashing”.
I don’t know whether your customer service experience was typical, but as I too have experienced some truely atypical support recently (a as in appauling) I can certainly understand the motivation to mention it, and I am close to doing the same.
Shame about the Sunday Times, but maybe another reader can come up with a copy, or I will track it down another way. It was ballsy, but when people know their numbers then it is a calculated risk.
This dude’s sales page is the longest, boring piece of crap I’ve ever seen in my life. The “MAKE MONEY ONLINE” Clickbank products are more attractive than that.
You might not be his target market.
I agree with what said in their. With the rise of the Internet and the huge growth in online businesses, there is now a myriad of Business Opportunities available to people who would never have thought to start a business on the net. There seem to be literally hundreds of things to condicer and re consider for us to have a great results to what we really wanted to have.
The highlighting part of this article is about chris cardel being confident ..which in-itself is half a battle won…..
Good morning Andy,
Super pleased I stumbled onto your blog this morning!! Am starting a company helping people with their social media, so this blog, I’m sure, will prove invaluable for my own education!
Flattery finished now ;)
I just read your posting on chris cardell with interest and pretty much agree with what you’ve said. I must say though that most of the courses I’ve been to about internet marketing and normal marketing, have said, in order to move yourself forward, you need to call yourself what you want to be… so in chris’s case ‘the leading authority…’ or whatever it is that he says he is. Yes, he might not have the proof to back it up (and I love the idea of Andy’s above) but the majority of joe public that he sells too are none the wiser and have no idea how to look for the evidence. He’s a showman and believable in what he says… I know, I was one of those gullible monkeys! :)
However, when I started to get savvy and realise that what he was sending was the same information as I could get off the internet for free… I tried to cancel my membership and was ignored (and charged) 3 times until finally I sent a threatening letter!! So, the consistency is not there. I still do subscribe to his newsletters, but only the free ones! Burnt once! ;)
Anyway, rant over, thanks for the great blog!
Cemanthe
I agree with this post as I see many of these speakers have claimed to be ‘leading authorities’. They have been giving the perception to the surfers that they are the best in the field that they are speaking about. There are so many Internet gurus as of the present and many have spoken of the same topics. I believe it is a part of their marketing scheme to be able to generate all these videos of his talks (although I also agree that he can speak well in front of the audience) and some connections that have really helped him become popular. However, I believe it is still advertising and it is a part of a marketing scheme which adds up to the price of their product or service. What we can do as viewers is to be able to critically evaluate the real from the unreal part of their media exposure and I salute Andy for being one of the best bloggers who have posted his observation and analysis for many to think about. Kudos Andy ! :)
I’ve been on his emailing list for years, (ok since 2008)
He was extolling the use of postcards to market stuff – Yes he is a Direct Mail Man!
Even then all his stuff could be found in a book for £9.99!
They spend an afternoon reading Adwords for dummies and guess what – they’re an expert!
He’s like many IM gurus that sell other people’s stuff on how to make money – I’m sure it’s all good secondhand knowledge, but there is a lack of credibilty when they don’t even practice what they preach.