The whole article is better than 99% of Sphinn content

I wonder how many people on Sphinn have even heard of Gary Halbert?

It seems like the Sphinn moderators were having another hissy fit – they see an article written intended to promote a product or service and just delete it in some kind of knee-jerk reaction based upon the title.

I don’t think it was some kind of collective decision based upon community desphinns, I only saw one visitor in my stats from Sphinn/Upcoming before it was removed.

I am not going to claim that the remainder of my review/promotion was amazing content, it might have sparked a few thoughts, but honestly how many SMX related posts, or book reviews, or even announcements about various products being launched by Sphinn users really contain anything insightful that the majority of Sphinn users have never read before?

Maybe I should write about Jim’s Internet Marketing Ninjas again but include an affiliate link? I guarantee such a post wouldn’t be flagged as spam, because it is Jim Boykin’s and not Alex Goad’s product.

I am not saying I would have Sphunn my post, but then I have read the works of the late Gary Halbert multiple times, but for anyone unfamiliar, his words can have a profound effect on your business.

On a personal note, I still received 3 email requests for Sphinns yesterday, and one Twitter message asking me to comment. I haven’t logged into Sphinn since I left 3 months ago.

Whoever decided to submit my article and thought it would be interesting to the Sphinn community, thanks, but it seems the moderators at Sphinn don’t like Internet Marketing submissions.

Sphinn Is Not Internet Marketing

I suppose the ultimate proof that Sphinn is not relevant to Internet Marketing is the following screenshot

Update: published with the wrong screenshot for 5 minutes

I wrote about Product Launch Formula twice because I knew people in the online marketing community could benefit from it, and that includes Jim, probably Rand, it could even help with the promotion of SMX.
The second time I wrote about it I even included a link through to someone compiling a list of links through to all the special offers available (there were some crackers) if gaining extra value was important.

Just little things, for instance how much difference in sales would it make releasing full video footage from last year’s SMX Advanced for free? I haven’t attended… are people going to be impressed with the material?

I just looked at a couple of Jim’s Internet Marketing Ninja’s demo videos.
Which ones contain some of the very best material?
You know, the golden nuggets that are going to convince me that the remainder are going to be worthwhile?

I know that people involved in Internet Marketing need to learn a lot about Social Media, and lots of crap gets submitted to Sphinn around the time of big launches within Internet Marketing circles, but at the same time Sphinn users in my opinion could benefit from even just the free content that is provided during most Internet Marketing launches.

I don’t intend to return to Sphinn, but does Sphinn really want to alienate such a huge segment of the online marketing community, and deprive their users of news about valuable products to help their online business.

Moderation sucks on Digg, in many ways it is worse on Sphinn, you can’t even see the stuff that has been autoburied or removed.

Gary Halbert & The Significance of Timing

I know Alex Goad reasonably well, and I am sure it hasn’t escaped him that Gary Halbert passed away almost exactly a year ago. Sunday April 8th 2007. I first heard about it from Michel Fortin.
I am not sure if things were planned that way, and if there will be some kind of additional tribute other than Gary’s words being immortalized as part of yet another product launch, but that in itself is tribute to the man, and his teaching.

Question 1: Had you personally heard of Gary Halbert before I mentioned him in either this article, or my previous one?
Question 2: Had you read any of his previous letters?

Any comments which don’t first of all answer those 2 questions will be deleted (unless it is painfully obvious – e.g. you commented on previous posts mentioned above)

What I want to impress upon you is… if possible… you should endeavor to confine your selling efforts to…

Players With Money!

Why? First of all, it is easier to sell something to someone with money. It’s an obvious fact that person has the money to buy what you’re selling. If you’ve got a $500,000 house for sale, it doesn’t matter how appealing the house is if the family you’re pitching it to has a pitifully low total income.

But there’s another fact you mustn’t overlook. People with money usually means they also have an important character trait most of the “sheep” out there don’t possess. Namely…

They Have The Ability To Make A Decision!

And… without talking it over with their spouse, their lawyer, their CPA, or their mommy. Usually, people with money got their loot because their lives are filled with independent thought and movement. These people with a high Halbert Index also possess another rare commodity. Namely… the ability to recognize true value. In other words, yes, it’s true these people are easier to sell than Joe Average but… only if you offer true value!

Reflect, for a moment, on what I sell. This would include a high-priced, rather arrogant newsletter, expensive seminars, expensive videos, audios, printed information packages, client services, etc. Who won’t buy my material? Basically, stupid, lazy people who relate its value to how much it weighs and how much “bulk” they receive. Who does buy my material? The answer is easy…

Players With Money!

From the archives of the great Gary Halbert, in a letter titled “The Halbert Index“

Powerful thought provoking stuff that precedes what many top level online marketers aim to achieve today, though many were themselves students of the great Gary Halbert. Do take the time to read the complete article, in fact you could spend days insides Gary’s archives.

I can’t resist one further quotation

I think the original letter was written back in 2003 – the idea of internet marketers promoting high ticket items is nothing new.

Some of the traits of higher ticket products

• Higher customer satisfaction
• Lower support costs
• Higher retention
• More repeat business

What Does It Take To Get There?

• Research A Niche
• Keyword Research
• Research Potential Products
• Create Products (preferably using outsourcing)
• Setup an effective sales funnel
• Generate traffic
• SEO
• PayPerClick (PPC)
• Buzz marketing and Linkbaiting
• JV Partners & Affiliates

Alex Goad has been a reader of my blog for about as long as I have been writing it, and I have a great deal of respect for him. He has achieved phenomenal success over the last 12 months with a number of successful Clickbank products that have become successful not because of hype, but quality. I actually had a chance to be part of one of them in the past, but it would have been hard to condense things whilst still provide the depth of information I felt obligated to provide.

That being said, I still wanted to see what Alex created before considering a mention here, let alone encourage people to buy it.

I believe I am one of the few who have actually had access to a large chunk of the materials, though many were still in draft form.

One important segment that Alex has included is on Traffic Funnels or more importantly Sales Funnels, and he has written one of the best explanations I have read about why a traffic funnel is important, and how they should be set up.

Well at least in part…

I have monitored almost every major product launch over the last year, and even the experts are leaving a huge chunk of their potential subscribers and profits to chance.

As for bloggers, there is a gaping hole in the sales funnel, and it is not at the end where the sales are made. Even if you manage to gain a minimal commitment in the form of an RSS subscription, hot prospects quickly turn cold.

I am one of the worst offenders

Technological Hurdles

Basic list building on a blog isn’t too technically complicated, but there is a lot more that can be done to enhance the process and build fanatical readers and boost income, though many of the tools such as membership scripts often need to be jury rigged to achieve any level of back-end coordination.

Even the most experienced pros effectively separate the list building mechanism from the blog. Whilst that might be suitable in the internet marketing niche, there are better ways of doing it.

Players With Money Bonus

Over the last few months I have been designing what I believe will be the “perfect funnel system” for blogs, whether for conventional bloggers looking to boost their subscriber base, for affiliate marketers, and yes… it will also add a totally new dimension to major product launches.

I have spent a lot of time ensuring that it is the right product for the market

During the next week I intend the development to start… I might need more than one full time programmer working on the project, and I intend it to be sold on a recurring membership basis.

Anyone who orders Players With Money and joins the program for at least 2 weeks will be entitled to free membership even if you eventually decide that it isn’t the right product for you and ask for a refund. That is the level of trust I have in Alex’s product.
It is a Clickbank product, so the refund period is a lot longer – you will have absolutely no risk

At this time it will only be for WordPress, and I am going to try to make it affiliate system neutral, so whether you are dealing with Clickbank, Paypal, PayDotCom, IDevAffiliate, InfusionSoft, 1ShoppingCart or other system, either as an affiliate or as a product creator, you will be able to benefit.

The aim of the system in a nutshell

• More links
• More traffic
• More subscribers
• More sales
• More profit

One of my biggest negative traits (other than possibly fulfilling Alex’s requirements in the video) is that in some things I am a perfectionist – it has taken me a long time to finalize the design, but hopefully that will ensure a premium product.

p.s. As an added bonus, you will also get to be in on the initial beta test and become launch partners. It is a beast of a system, and intended to be insanely viral.
p.p.s I am going back through historical affiliate transactions and also including those who have supported me or trusted my advice in the past (those I can track to an individual), though I feel you will also benefit from Players With Money, I do know how to treat my customers and future affiliates like gold.

Terms

I am going to get there in the end, but I currently can’t fix a delivery date. It will be a major undertaking – if you qualify as a “Player With Money” based on the definition from Gary Halbert and repeated in Alex’s video, this won’t concern you.

Also to conform with Clickbank terms (how many affiliates offering bonuses even know these rules, let alone comply with them)

1) The bonus offer is not the responsibility of ClickBank or of the seller of the primary product.

2) ClickBank will not honor any refund requests that are based on non- delivery, quality, or functionality of the bonus materials.

3) I have always listed my contact information and any issues regarding bonus delivery, bonus functionality, or bonus quality must be addressed with me, not with ClickBank or the seller.

Further Reading

My thought process has continued since I wrote these articles, but you might find them enlightening – they also provide some level of proof as to how much time I have already invested in this project.

Why Blogs Suck – an in-depth rant on blog subscription rates and the inefficient sales funnel process they create.

10 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing Sucks – damn another rant, but again I delve into traffic and sales funnels.

I am quietly confident that this will be the most valuable bonus offered by anyone for Players With Money but it will require your patience and trust.

Update: Just to be sure

When you arrive on the payment page for Clickbank having followed my link you should see something like this showing at the bottom of the page, with the affiliate ID “Nommus”

If you have any queries just let me know, I am even available on Skype a lot of the time.

I will be monitoring the Clickbank account for transactions, and they provide contact details, but to be sure after your purchase it might be a good idea to forward me a receipt using my contact form.

It looks like the survey will provide some interesting data

I must admit I found myself answering “other” a fair amount, though I might not be typical.

5, 12 & 19 Other (interest plus to see if it would be of interest for an affiliate review / promotion)

22. For me personally it is either direct email from the publishers, or an affiliate recommendation either on the web or via email.
A second option, though still primarily by affiliates would be various forms of web advertising.

Gooruze seems to be a misspelling of “Gurus”

Gooruze is a new social network for Online Marketers. You can post articles and news items, there are lots of discussion groups covering specific online marketing verticals.

Even the discussion groups seem to be based around a limited blogging interface.

When you publish articles, it seems as if you or anyone else have the ability to tag your content after it is published, though that doesn’t seem to be true of every blogging interface.

Under your profile you have the ability to add feeds to automatically populate your personal blog on Gooruze, though it has to be claimed by mentioning a URL AndyBeard.gooruze.com

That URL actually redirects to your individual member profile – my Andy Beard profile is a little barren currently, I suppose I should add some content.

The Gooruze team describe the service

The Gooruze difference is dedicated, ranked, quality information. The content is created by members who share real experiences and insights in the form of articles and news. The posts are tagged, rated and commented on by the community to deliver quality articles and information.

So is Gooruze the service you have been waiting for, the site that will suck you in to the extent that you will live there until you meet your maker (other than doing some occasional work) ?

I am not quite sure how being active in a social network really brings you closer to a 4 Hour Work Week.
Even with Sphinn which is much less complicated, just news items and articles, people spend much more than 4 hours per week browsing and voting on stories, and that drives traffic to your blog… potentially.

Gooruze might be too complicated for many, and finding the information and discussion important for your business so far looks a little time consuming.

Power Tip:- I have just tried claiming my Stumbleupon account/blog in Gooruze, lets see if it works.

Update – I now have my blog and Stumbleupon feed being fed to Gooruze, and that in turn is claimed in Technorati, along with my Stumbleupon feed.

Update 2 – I have now written my first article covering Gooruze Landing Pages – I would love to hear what you think (and some votes)

Article publishing on Gooruze is a little mundane currently compared to what you are used to here on the blog. I can’t include inline images to explain a particular point, and a lot of HTML formatting options are not available.

Other areas of the site do include the ability to include inline images, including your profiles, though not all of the editor boxes have the buttons to indicate the possibility.