Saturday, March 10, 2007

The Rookie's Guide to Internet Marketing

Do You Seriously Believe That You Can Make $15,000 In 10 Days At Home Without Even Batting An Eyelid?

Do You Really Believe That You Can Simply Pile Up Your Earnings Everyday Without Any Concerted Effort Or Any Knowledge To What You Are Doing?

Come On, Seriously?

Dear Affiliate Rookie,

(Bookmark this site first so that you can verify that I have told you the honest truth and nothing but the truth)

You have probably been searching for ways to make money online and been bombarded by all the ‘get rich quick’ ploys that almost every other website has promised you.

  • “I Make $10,000 in 10 Minutes After Buying This Product!”
  • “My Income Grew 200% in 2 Weeks!”
  • “Learn Secret Techniques To Financial Freedom!”
  • “Earn Big Money While You Are Sleeping!”
  • “I Am So Filthy Rich That You Are Going To Hate Me!”

You have probably even imagined those nice holidays, vanishing work stress, more luxury time with your family, the house and the car that you can finally own after reading those sales pitches. You have deliberated for some time to enter this world of Internet Business. You believe that this is finally your way out of this forsaken rat-race, dog-eat-dog world.

And, you might even have drafted your resignation letter!

Now, hold it, hold it, for just one second… Before you even continue with what you intend to do…

Just consider this simple analogy, imagine that you have just turned legal age in your country, and you have always wanted to own that prized driving license. You have never driven a car before and do not know even know the difference between the rear view and side mirrors. You came across two driving instructors advertising their services. One of them says;

  • Learn How To Be A Grand Prix Driver in 3 Months!

While the other says,

  • Learn How To Pass Your Driving Test in 3 Months!

Which one strikes you more? I am pretty sure it is the first ad. Who would not be enticed to be a pro driver in only 3 months? The ad probably might have set you thinking, maybe the instructor is a pro driver himself, or maybe he has some secret techniques to teach me, maybe this, maybe that.

But deep in your heart of hearts, you know that it is simply not possible. You know yourself well and you know that you don’t even know how to ignite the car engine. How can you even be a pro driver in such a short time when others have taken years of hard work to master the skills?

The first thing that you need to do is to pass your driving test. And to pass the test, you need to learn the basics, practice the skills, go on the road, read the directions, and clear all the obstacles.

This is what you need to focus on.

This is what the Internet Marketing ‘gurus’ have been keeping away from us.

The basic skills. The real deal.

What they have been selling to us are simply dreams. And with dreams, we can be swayed. With dreams, our logic can be clouded. With dreams, our imagination run riot and we can easily run into buying one e-book after the other in the hopes of realizing those dreams.

Did I just say ‘we’?

Yes, we! I am just another rookie like you. My name is Alex and I only came to know about affiliate marketing three months ago. Before that I knew internet business like a monkey knows algebra. I know nuts.

I do have a full-time day job which I secretly enjoy. The problem is, I am not getting richer by the day. For years, I have been trying to formulate my escape route like Prison Break. And I stumbled across a website that sells to my inner dreams. Dreams about being debt-free, about having control, about finally having time and money to travel and blah-blah and blah.

And, for the last three months, I have secretly used up my weddings savings to fund my desire to achieve those dreams. (My fiancé is going to kill me when she finds out!)

I told myself that if this ‘thing’ works, I will be able to recover my savings and even plan a grand wedding for us. But product after product, e-book after e-book, I only managed one sale so far. Yes, one pathetic sale. I have spent more than $3,000 but I have not even come close to even sniff the word ‘break-even’.

So, why am I writing this letter? Simply because, I believe that rookies like us should stand a shot against the pro internet marketers. If we unite, yes, Rookies United!

That is why I am going to debunk those ‘grand prix’ gimmicks made by the gurus so that you and I can make a decent wealth online without ever being scammed. Don’t let yourself buy a product because of its marketing. That is what they want you to do.

They want us to be suckers for their marketing strategies while they are sipping wine in their huge mansions secretly admiring their ingenuity.

If you are in a hurry and in no need to read further about marketing gimmicks, send me an email HERE to receive a special report on The Basics of Affiliate Marketing.

What you want is the basics right? Not some magic formula that you can sprinkle on your desktop to grow the money beans.

Without further ado, let’s debunk those gimmicks, shall we?

Marketing Gimmick No.1

“Make Money On Your Computer Within The Next Few Hours!”

Aww, seriously? The wise did say, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t”.

Let’s be all logical here, shall we? If these claims were indeed true, then more than half of the world population will not be working physically to earn their income. Schools do not need to teach proper secular education system to ensure a better future for the kids. All they need to teach is a special program called “Diploma in Wealth Generation Online”.

Simple, doesn’t it? Of course, it isn’t. There is so much more to it. You need to learn to build your business, i.e. in this case a website that generates commerce. You need to devise a plan, you need to learn the basic of marketing, you need to learn product creation and more importantly you need to learn how to sell. It is not at all different from the offline business model. The difference is, it’s definitely easier to leverage on the internet.

Marketing Gimmick No.2

“Free Website With Every Sign-up Worth $XXX!”

While I have to admit that this is true, however, I have to point out that you can’t really do much with anything that is FREE.

It’s like giving free keyboards when you don’t have a computer. The next thing you know is that they are going to sell you a monitor that comes with a free CPU. Which, of course you knew that the price you are paying is actually the whole cost incurred for the free keyboard even.

Two weeks down the road, they will contact you again to sell their latest software to be programmed into your new computer. And once that’s done, they will keep selling you new games, new updates, new versions of this and that.

I have come to learn that this is one of the effective methods known as the ‘Up-Sell’. Sell something cheap and then sting the customer later with a more expensive product. They say sell to your customers when they are going out the door.

Think of it, it’s kind of true. I tend to buy more things at the counter when the cashier offers special discounted batteries, condoms, sweets, gums and what not. You are in the buying mood, so it’s easier not to say No.

However, as future marketers and entrepreneurs yourself, I strongly urge you not to fall for this gimmick too often. You will realize that this technique will be used against you time and time again.

Marketing Gimmick No.3

“My Proof That I Make $90,000 in 7 days”
(Accompanied by screen shots of bank accounts and scanned cheques)

Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, shall we? Supposing those income streams are super true, did they actually give you a true account of how long they took to reach that level of super affiliate? Did they tell you how much information they have absorbed, how many e-books they have bought, how many seminars and courses they have been to? How many times they have actually been scammed?

Probably not, I guess.

Yes, those incomes are true. But, a surgeon does not reach his level of expertise by reading an instant manual on how to dissect human brains. A computer hacker does not crack the code by simply entering random numbers on his keyboard. An artist does not sell millions with his masterpieces by splashing paints on his canvas. I am a professional graphic designer for ten years, and I don’t believe one can master Adobe Photoshop techniques in a few weeks. (I started off with version 2.5, FYI)

You get the picture, don’t you?

It is all through hard work. The reality is there are no short cuts. No magic beans. I don’t mean to burst your bubble but you would probably know that subconsciously anyway. Please, don’t ever deceive yourself. It’s the worst crime one can inflict upon humanity.

Well, of course, he can make $90 grand in 7 days.

But, can you?

Marketing Gimmick No.4

“Testimonials from Who, Who & Who!”

Almost every website that promotes information products will inevitably have testimonials from people whom you don’t even know of or even remotely know where their locations are. These testimonials sparsely placed around their websites claiming the greatness, the superiority and the irrefutable endorsements are simply another marketing gimmick.

In the offline business, marketers use celebrities to endorse their products. They sign multi-million dollar contracts with mega-stars, singers, sports players and local personalities to give their personal testimonials. They could all be scripted for all I care, but the difference is you know these people. You buy Adidas products because Zidane or Mohammad Ali endorsed them. You drink Pepsi because of the same reasons. You use Maybelline also because they are used by your favourite actresses.

But in the online business, do you know these people who gave these testimonials? For all you know, they are friends, brothers, sisters, cousins of the product vendor obliged to put up their pictures to support these claims made by the marketers themselves.

I am not saying that testimonials from common people do not work. In fact, I do believe that a product recommended from a friend than a salesperson is worth a try. But, problem is, I do not know all these people.

How can I know that they are telling the truth?

And with that little seed of doubt already planted, how can I even risk my next $49, $29, $69 to people that I don’t even trust in the first place.

Think about it. You know the answer as much as I do.

There are a lot more marketing gimmicks that I have picked up along the way and should be sharing with you here. But, I can’t do that for my own safety reasons. I am sure you understand.

What I can do is to show you the door. The door to learn the basic skills of internet marketing. The path that will eventually lead you to financial freedom.

I am NOT a guru by any standards. I am just a rookie like you. Like I said, I have only made one sale so far after spending more than $3000 on useless information. I come to you as a friend. And, I sincerely hope that you will hear me out.

Because, what I am going to recommend to you is a complete system.

I have cursed myself for not discovering this system in the first place. It’s called the Profit Lance Marketing Course created by this guy named Michael Andrews.

The Profit Lance System is an online course that teaches the variety of skills needed to make money online. This is a solid no-hype product, with real value for money and provides real and practical know how. It covers the basics of affiliate marketing, creating information products, making money from content, SEO basics and strategies, comprehensive traffic generation techniques, a full copywriting course, and much more.

It also has a unique online goal and task manager that lets you plan all your activities. With lots of videos and other teaching resources, this has got to be the best product for people looking to earn from the Internet.

Currently, there is a special offer with a number of bonuses including a whole network of affiliate websites, already set up and hosted for you, a complete Adsense business, and a monthly newsletter. This is a super product and should not be missed.

Let me tell you that he is NOT a guru.

He is an institution. Yes, an institution of learning the basic skills to achieve success in the online marketing business. His system is not a fly-by-night technique that will generate income in 2 weeks. He is really not going to promise that you will make money in hours. But what he can do is to equip you with the proper know-hows so that you can generate cash-cows for a lifetime.

Michael Andrews will not only teach you to fish. He will teach you the ocean.

And, after learning the basics, it’s all up to you where you want to go from there.

There will be project tasks for you to benefit from. There are specific web tools for you to research on. There are not one or two FREE websites that you can profit from, but 15 tailor-made sites for you to practice those skills and even make some small money before you go for the big kill. And you don’t need to spend anything else if you follow true to his course.

He will also provide you with a task manager to organize your goals and objectives.

Oh man, he will give you so many things that none of the other websites can ever measure up to.

I am not going to waste any more of your precious time so that you can start to learn about affiliate marketing skills now. Just go to Profit Lance from here and you will know what I mean.

But, do me a small favor, will you? If you ever decide to purchase this product, please visit through my link from here. I won’t lie to you that I will be earning a small percentage of the sale because that’s what I need. I am not some Multi-Millionaire who generates $15k every day.

Put it simple, I do need the commission. And so will you in the near future. I am not going to promise you some perceived value bonuses that are in fact worthless. I won’t be employing any marketing gimmicks, i.e. promise you rebates or discounts if you buy from this link.

All I can offer you is that I can give you a few samples of some other ‘Money-Making E-Books’ that I have bought before for $3,000 if you simply forward me your receipt of purchase from Profit Lance.

That’s all I have and can give for a fellow rookie affiliate. I have wasted it, and I don’t want you to do the same.

Hurry now, and go make your bucks, my friend!

Sincerely yours,
Alex Qhanter Shah