There\’s a very disturbing trend taking place in the Internet marketing world. I am specifically referring to the Infoproduct \”make money online\” niche.
I\’ve had one foot in this market for the past few years, but I am increasingly dismayed by what I see happening.
I say \”one foot\” because my products and services are very diverse and most are not in the IM niche.
However, it\’s time someone came forward to draw a line in the sand. Since I don\’t see my peers doing it, I am willing to take the risk. It\’s too important to ignore.
I have covered this topic before on my blog in a category titled \”The Dark Side of Internet Marketing\”. You can consider this an addendum to my earlier writings.
There is nothing wrong with learning how to leverage your passion to make money online. However, it is essential that people understand there is no get rich quick method! There are plenty of strategies that are marketed as \”secrets\”. But if people had REAL \”secrets\” they wouldn\’t be selling products promising riches. They would be keeping their secrets a secret and building wealth quietly.
When I teach online revenue strategies, the last thing I recommend is entering the make money online niche. That is where there is the LEAST opportunity! Yet so many Newbie marketers treat it as though it is the goose that laid the golden egg.
That is only true if you have come up with a groundbreaking strategy that can be easily duplicated. Such was the case when I released my ebooks on AdSense as far back as 2005.
Today, it seems like many people are coming up with products specifically designed for the make money niche without actually having success in that niche.
They then present their methodology as a turn-key push-button system that will be bringing in truckloads of cash in nothing flat. They fail to tell people that it will involve WORK.
And to make matters worse, there seems to be an infatuation with a $1997 price point for new courses and systems.
When the economy took such a turn for the worse, I lowered my prices. I give away many of my ebooks for free and when I sell from the platform it is rare for me to charge a price point greater than $997. Yes, I charge more for workshops and one-on-one coaching, but there\’s a lot more value in working directly with someone.
It seems like the only reason marketers are charging nearly $2000 is so they can pay $1000 commissions to their affiliates who promote the products.
It\’s true that I know many of the big names that you see participating in these launches. And I think many of them are decent people.
But I will not participate in those launches for a few reasons.
1) I think $2000 is too much for the majority of what is being offered. Whether the product promotes traffic generation, social media, mobile or whatever else the flavor of the day is, once you get past the hype you discover that much is just rehashed content packaged a new way. Does this really help people?
2) I grow weary of the bonus silliness. Marketers encourage their affiliates to create a bonus which they will provide to those who end up buying the package through their link. It\’s alright if affiliates create a brand new bonus designed to accompany the product they are promoting. But more often the bonuses offered are the very same products that they charged $2000 for a year or so earlier! I think its wrong to devalue your product in that way. And how should the customer who paid full price for that product feel? Also, if I promote a product in pre-launch my affiliate commission can be taken away when another affiliate gives away the farm with their bonus. The whole thing leaves a sour taste in my stomach.
3) It\’s bad for the customer. There\’s nothing wrong with Robert Cialdini\’s psychology of influencing and persuading others. But I\’m afraid the launch formula is being misused to manipulate people into buying. When you cross the line from persuasion to manipulation you have ceased to bring value to the customer. Now you are just seeking your own good.
I remember hearing one marketer tell me that his job from the stage was to suck as much money out of room as possible.
I find that concept disgusting.
I enjoy making sales from the stage as much as the next guy, but I don\’t want anyone buying unless they both know what they are getting into and have the means to make the investment. That\’s another reason I keep my price point low.
It\’s also the reason I have not received professional speaker\’s training. I do not want to learn new techniques to persuade. I want to be authentic and deliver value first and foremost. If people want to buy what I have to offer, that\’s great.
Because of that, I will always sell less product than I could and earn less money.
Because I won\’t play the backscratching product launch game, I turn away from the profits I could be earning.
And because I am willing to stand up for what is right, I risk damaging relationships with other marketers.
But honestly, if there are those who are offended by this post than I probably shouldn\’t be concerned about maintaining that relationship anyhow.
Over the past thirty days I have been approached to promote and/or endorse no fewer than FIVE $2000 products.
I have rejected every one of them. My unwillingness to promote these products has probably cost me somewhere in the ballpark of $50,000-$100,000 in commissions.
I would rather sacrifice those commissions than sell myself out for more money. That\’s precisely what I believe is happening in the Internet marketing world.
Here is what I would ask of my peers…
1) Create original products and services that go above and beyond what is promised. Create something new instead of camping out in the same territory where you have been your entire career. People need real solutions, not another course on making money online from someone who has only made money online selling courses on how to make money online.
2) Price your products more in line with the state of our economy. People are hurting right now. Give them a break.
3) Stop encouraging and/or allowing bonuses from affiliates. Let your product stand on its own strength. It\’s one thing to give away free bonuses with an ebook or piece of software. It\’s another to set affiliates against one another in a race for commissions. It devalues everyone\’s products.
In the immortal words of Forest Gump… that\’s all I have to say about that.