On January 6th, I asked you to take a critical look at the “Affiliate Marketing Sham” report and tell me what you thought about it from a marketing perspective.
Your comments included a wide variety of opinions about the report, from it being worth “doodly squat” to “a breath of fresh air”.
Now, here's what I thought…
- Using the word ‘Sham' is an effective ATTENTION-GRABBER. The ‘Death of Adsense' report and the Rick Jerk used similar attention-grabbing techniques. Yet, X may alienate some internet marketing students who are unimpressed that he hitches a ride on that bandwagon.
- The mysterious ‘X' persona enhances DESIRE to know more about the author and what he knows. However, X loses CREDIBILITY and fails to build TRUST with this technique.
- X uses strong, offensive language and name-calling in the report. Although this may appeal to a younger demographic, it's a huge turn-off to a more mature crowd that generally views swearing as a lack of skill, knowledge and/or intelligence.
- X's assertion that 25% or more of all affiliate sales are not properly credited instills FEAR. Fear creates DESIRE for the upcoming product which teaches how to overcome ‘the peril'. Really makes you wonder how despite all the commission theft and lousy tracking so many Super Affiliates are making more than a million bucks a year. Yup, we're ‘Big-Time Losers' alright. LOL. Note: What I found particularly interesting is that unlike most merchants in the IM category, X set up his affiliate program so that those who recommended the report, would not benefit from subsequent sales of the product. That requires a different affiliate link.
- The 56-page report contains a hint of what will be taught in the upcoming product but the promise of ‘how a few of the REALLY smart ones (affiliates) are turning the tables and becoming the industry giants themselves USING affiliate marketing' falls short of even a ‘sneak peak' (should have been ‘peek') and offers no solid ‘how-to' information. This FRUSTRATES many otherwise potential customers.
Regardless of the pros and cons above, ‘X' will probably sell a good number of his new product to curious, fearful, younger and less critical consumers of internet marketing products. Maybe it'll even be a great product from which they'll learn a ton and earn millions by result. Who knows? We can only hope.
The point is that you should always take a critical look at all the copy you read – both from a customer's and a marketer's point of view – and learn from it.
As a discerning customer, you'll save a lot of money; and as a savvy marketer, you'll end up making a lot more money.
Concentrate on doing more the latter. 🙂