Steve Crooks Adsense 101 Bootamp

by philm
14 replies
I just thought I'd post a review up for Steve's course as I have recently been looking around at different options to get me started earning from Adsense.

I run a couple of ecommerce sites which aren't particularly well ranked at the moment so income is a bit hit and miss. I also have four young kids and CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, often referred to as ME) so I have recently been thinking that it would be great to have a consistent income when I am unable to spend as much time working as I'd like.

After a lot of thought, Adsense seems like the best approach for me. I considered affiliate marketing and CPA but am a bit cautious about offers changing etc and the possibility of me missing the changes. Adsense does not have this problem!

So I then needed to find the most suitable course to teach me the methods for building this additional income stream. I have spent quite a lot of time researching this and in the end decided that rather than just buying an ebook I'd like to find a course/product that also offers personal support.

I had read a lot of posts by Steve relating to Adsense in the forum and when I dug a bit deeper I discovered that he runs a course called Adsense 101 Bootcamp

I have used the reviews section in the WF a lot in the past and thought people may appreciate my contribution regarding Steve's Adsense course.

I signed up nearly a week ago and was initially a bit disappointed that Steve drip feeds the content each day over a period of seven weeks. As like most people, I wanted something more 'instant' than that and my initial reaction was that I would ask Steve if he could release the content faster for me.

However, I watched the day 1 video and read the daily pdf and quickly realized that it would be good for me to learn from Steve over a 7 week period. Steve's approach to adjusting mindset from minisite/quick cash to building a proper adsense business is really quite refreshing. Like most people, I tend to want everything instantly but I can see already that this is going to be a really good approach to getting set up as an info publisher making a residual income from Adsense.

This is a really well organised course. As I said before, my initial reaction was that 7 weeks sounds slow, but looking at the plan by end of week 2 goals will be set, thorough keyword research will be done, site hierarchy will be planned and first WP blog will be set up and online

The content is so good, really a step-by-step guide and because of this I might even see if my wife wants to have a bash at working on this as well. She has never done anything online but from what I have seen so far she will be able to pick this up easily as well!

I had bought some Adsense related ebooks prior to this and had looked at other Adsense methods. In comparison this seems so well presented and structured. Rather than encouraging a 'get as many fairly crap, 'made for adsense' sites up as quick as you can and see what happens Steve is genuinely talking about becoming an info publisher - the focus is on the quality of the sites not just banging out a load of sites to slap adsense code on.

It's really refreshing to be honest as I have always wanted everything fast! I can see how this approach will remove distractions and enable me to focus on what Steve is teaching

The great thing is from looking through the weekly plan I will also be able to apply a lot of what I learn to my existing ecommerce based business and grow that as well which will be good.

Overall, I definitely recommend this to anyone like me, who is just starting out with Adsense as an extra income stream. The content is very comprehensive and Steve's support is very good (you get access to a forum as well) so I can imagine it would also be a great investment for someone further into the Adsense game than me.

Hopefully I will be able to stick to the daily training schedule (illness permitting) and will be able to report back in a few months with some encouraging figures. The great thing is, if I do miss a day here or there for whatever reason I can continue with Steve's plan from where I left off.

Looks like a great method for me - great content, well paced, building quality 'authority' sites and not throwaway junk 'made for adsense' sites and most importantly support when you need it!
#101 #adsense #bootamp #crooks #steve
  • Profile picture of the author trytolearnmore
    Hey! Thanks for the review.

    Would like to hear about your successes. Maybe i will take a closer look at this course myself.
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    • Profile picture of the author batchos
      Yes, definitely worth the investment. I am going through the course now and the material is just plain common sense. It does move at a slow pace at the start, but that is deceiving. You will have to eat crow after the 3rd week if that is your mindset. Be prepared to work hard and enjoy Stephen's personal support in the forum and one-on-one. He does hold your hand and provides encouragement to keep moving.
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  • Profile picture of the author SirAlex
    I'm doing the course too and I totally agree with Philm. For anyone who has had problems focusing or with info overload the day by day delivery is spot on.
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  • Profile picture of the author Oling
    Thanks for an in depth review of Steve's Adsense 101 BootCamp as i am interested in getting into it.... and see how it works..

    Thanks again
    Oling
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    Learn More About Me later...

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    • Profile picture of the author Stephen Crooks
      Originally Posted by Oling View Post

      Thanks for an in depth review of Steve's Adsense 101 BootCamp as i am interested in getting into it.... and see how it works..

      Thanks again
      Oling
      Just for your information, the doors are reopening on Monday 7th June again.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
        I thought I'd leave a review of the Adsense 101 bootcamp by Steve Crooks.

        Before I joined the bootcamp I was a big into micro-niche sites with exact match domains and built on profile backlinks. And while these sites never failed to generate me some money, I was never proud of my work with them. Put in simple terms if I was to show one of my old micro-niche sites to a family member or friend, I wouldn't have been very proud.

        I joined the bootcamp to learn how to build authority sites monetized with Adsense. Before the bootcamp I knew nothing about market research or niche research. All I knew how to do was fire up a keyword tool and start digging. That is one of the first things this course taught me.

        Instead of just looking for suitable keywords first, I learned how to take common problems and questions for a potential markets, and turn that into proper KW research. It really was a huge marketing lesson and it's something that I will always take with me from now on.

        The bootcamp is really an outstanding course in marketing, authority sites, and putting in a continued effort into your sites. The lessons are laid out on a day by day basis which is extremely helpful in building your sites consistently. Rather than a big e-book packed with information, you'll be drip-fed lessons day by day.

        With a big fat e-book the tendency for me and for many others is to read the book and then never implement what you learn. The bootcamp addresses this issue perfectly and it has really helped my productivity.

        If anyone reading this is struggling to decide if the value is there for this product, I would definitely give it two thumbs up. Not only is the information great, but the private forum that comes with the bootcamp is enough to make the course worth the money.

        Throughout the 10 weeks of the bootcamp, I had more questions than anyone and Stephen always took the time to answer my questions in detail. At one point he even put together a whole nother section of advanced navigation with wordpress. This no doubt took him a lot of time, and it was extremely helpful. In the 10 weeks of the course I racked up over 160 posts on the private forum, most of which were questions, all of which were answered in detail.

        So if you are struggling to build a real website that provides real value and generates a viable income, this bootcamp is for you. The training is packed full of useful information that you can't find anywhere else. It is the blueprint that Stephen has used to build his successful content publishing business, and what better way to learn than to copy his methods?

        A+ in my book.
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        • Profile picture of the author Stephen Crooks
          Thanks for the kind words about the bootcamp Jacob, it is great to get any feedback from members even if it is positive criticism as well.
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        • Profile picture of the author Byrt M
          Hey Jacob
          I just read your feedback on Steve's Adsense Bootcamp course. Jacob, as always, you are legendary in helping and guiding those who need help. Your post made it all the more clearer, and with all the help you've given me, Adsense Bootcamp is a no-brainer for me. I am all for building a solid Internet income foundation that will last. 160 posts on 10 weeks? Lets see if I can rack that up too
          Thanks for sharing your experiences, mighty big help!
          Byrt
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          • Profile picture of the author 4morereferrals
            Ok so this has been out in the wild long enough - certainly.

            Any of the folks posting positive vibes - from their initial purchase - can you come back and describe the revenues that your "proper" sites are throwing off?

            Im sure the information in the course is solid and professionally done and logical and all that - but - has it turned into income for anyone yet?

            Do authority sites actually - rank better, get more traffic and better clicks - and thus - more revenue?
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            • Profile picture of the author inter123
              So I am figuring with this method, the click through rate is low because all the infomation people require is there and there is no need to go elsewhere to fetch it. Plus it is in niches where the keywords you rank for are ones people are actually searching for which means the bounce rate is low?
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              • Profile picture of the author Stephen Crooks
                Originally Posted by inter123 View Post

                So I am figuring with this method, the click through rate is low because all the infomation people require is there and there is no need to go elsewhere to fetch it. Plus it is in niches where the keywords you rank for are ones people are actually searching for which means the bounce rate is low?
                The size of a site and whether it can be considered an authority site has absolutely no bearing on the Adsense click through rate.

                First you need ask yourself, why do people click on ads?
                1. Are they looking for more information?
                Or...
                2. Have they been intrigued by an advertisers ad copy and what they have to offer?

                Very rarely will advertisers be spending good money just to give people more information.. Agreed, they might be selling books or courses etc but the bottom line is that advertisers write ads to sell something.

                Of course the beauty of contextual Adsense is that your content will have a large bearing on the relevance of the ads showed on your site. In other words you will have ads displayed that offer products related to your market and not just the same information you have just shown them in your content. In fact, the richer your content, the better chance of getting market relevant ads..

                Your second point about bounce rate being low is a bit off the mark to be fair. When people arrive at a site looking for specific information they can find that information and then leave by..

                1. Closing the browser window
                2. Clicking on an Adsense ad
                3. Clicking a link to an external site
                4. Clicking on an internal link

                That is about it.. If they choose option 4 a lot then you will have a good bounce rate. If they choose options 1 and 3 a lot more then you are not doing your job right as a webmaster. My course teaches members to create sites and structure them in such a way that options 2 and 4 are the most prevalent options.
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            • Profile picture of the author Stephen Crooks
              To answer your last query about authority sites and the type of sites we build at the bootcamp, I just want to refer you to this latest article on Google's blog about their latest algo change..
              Official Google Blog: Finding more high-quality sites in search

              This is straight from the horses mouth and confirms what we all know at the bootcamp already about what works and what doesn't.

              I can't answer for people who have been through the bootcamp about their earnings.. However, there are a few varying success stories on my forum, one of them regularly pulls $50 + a day from 1 site. I do get many emails from members who have surpassed, reached or are reaching their income goals. These are real people who have learnt how to reach their income goals, not some fictitious "make $100,000 a day by clicking a button" get rich quick nonsense.

              We are still a relatively small bunch though, to date around 300 people have been through the bootcamp. Apart from the people who remain in contact and talk on my forum or via email to me (around 30%) I would also be interested to know how successful my other members have been...

              Originally Posted by 4morereferrals View Post

              Ok so this has been out in the wild long enough - certainly.

              Any of the folks posting positive vibes - from their initial purchase - can you come back and describe the revenues that your "proper" sites are throwing off?

              Im sure the information in the course is solid and professionally done and logical and all that - but - has it turned into income for anyone yet?

              Do authority sites actually - rank better, get more traffic and better clicks - and thus - more revenue?
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  • Profile picture of the author jcepeda
    Hey Philm,
    This is a real interesting review. I'm going through a similar program that's 52 weeks long and one of the issues I kept coming up with was that I want this info now not in 52 weeks. Like you, this is starting to make sense. With so much info out there staying focused on one thing only is tough.
    I'm looking forward to posting a review soon and hopefully results with it. So far, the first month and half has been setup so by the end of the month I should have better results.
    More to come, for sure.
    Thanks again for the review.
    I appreciate it.
    joe
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  • Profile picture of the author Byrt M
    Thanks for sharing your feedback here. It really helped me get a good grasp of the quality of Steve's course. I am in.
    Byrt
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