Offer Something of Value or Go Home!

by czilbersher

Posted: 14 years ago 14 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

One of my best buddies--and former colleague with whom I worked with in Japan--has been following my progress in Internet Marketing while I've been following his progress in entrepreneurship. As an Internet Marketer, I'll be the first to admit that I've been a pretty poor example: I do not make enough to do this full time and my 200+ autoblog affiliate sites have not met well with his approval.

Recently, once he found out what I do and then perused a few of my niche sites, he commented:

"hey curt,
worried about you - those spam sites that add zero value are a menace to the web.
gotta get off that shtick.
should be unofficially banned."

To the WarriorForum community, I wish I could say that I've been a better IM representative. Sadly, this hasn't been the case.

So, who is my friend to talk?

Besides having just hit the #1 spot in the 2010 PROFIT HOT 50 ranking of Canada's Emerging Growth Companies he's recently become a multimillionaire with his simple product--a recreational sled called a 'zipfy'.

wwwDOTcitytvDOTcom/toronto/citynews/life/money/article/93957--high-tech-sled-sends-oakville-company-to-profit-peaks

I remind him that it's just a hunk of blow-molded plastic but, in the end, it satisfies a very basic human need: the need for pleasure and/or enjoyment. It's that simple. When I've reflected on my crap sites, I realize that nobody in their right mind cares about my PLR garbage. There's a pretty good reason why I was able to get most of it for just a few bucks. In fact, I can't even give it away in exchange for a name and an email (So goes my list.) I understand that this is my shortcoming and does not reflect the world of IM, in general. The folks here who've made it are mostly selling information that has at least some monetary value. Anyway....

It's back to ye old drawing board. And this time, I'll follow the lessons of my friend because: a) I know and trust him; and b) he made it "big time" because he didn't lose sight of one simple fact: At the end of the day, it's about offering something tangible and real, and having measurable value.

#home #offer

DogScout

14 years ago

From a quick search, looks like he owes a good deal of his income from internet marketers selling his product on line. Do you sell it? If not, with an 'in' to the CEO that could help create a great site (interviews - both written, audio and video, info, info, info, etc.). why not? It would certainly offer 'something of value', no?

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czilbersher

14 years ago

Originally Posted by DogScout

Actually, DogScout, nearly all his revenue comes from large scale distributors like Costco and Toys-R-Us. What my friend knows and thinks he understands about IM, you could write on the head of a pin. He doesn't respect IM (because he thinks its all about crap sites like mine) and he does just great selling to massive retail chains. In his mind, if all IMers were to disappear tomorrow, it wouldn't affect his bottom line one iota.

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actionplanbiz

14 years ago

getting people to take action on your stuff doesnt require you offering something of value. but giving something of Value is always good policy

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Tina Golden

14 years ago

Well, color me confused.

Did your friend not think the site in your signature was worthwhile? You didn't mention it in your post but you did say your autoblog empire wasn't making you enough to do this full-time. Is BMS also not making you any money? Especially in the Braintree area - should be doing quite well in such a heavily populated area.

Tina

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gjabiz

14 years ago

Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises

Well, color me confused.

Tina

And me.

Do you actually have 200 blogs? And are they all "affiliate" blogs? Could you show us a few examples so we can see WHY with so many, you aren't skiing down the money hill.

How long did you spend building these blogs?

Is the site you linked to one of your blogs?

gjabiz

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czilbersher

14 years ago

Originally Posted by gjabiz

Actually, at one time I had 400 autoblogs--all affiliate blogs-- but the hosting fees were putting me in the poor house. You asked for a couple of examples of these sites so here are a couple for your perusal:

wwwDOTrockntoddlerDOTcom
wwwDOTcastironkitchensinksDOTorg

I was using an automated blogging system (a WSO). The system brought in a little bit of cash (about $100 a month) but my hosting fees to support that many blogs were also about $100/month.

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czilbersher

14 years ago

Originally Posted by TMG Enterprises

Thanks for your thoughts, Tina. Actually, my friend thought my signature website was absolute CRAP. Admittedly, this upset me because I spent a lot of time building what I thought was a professional-looking site. As a good friend, he came down hard on it, saying that he couldn't understand what it was I was selling. Normally, he's very gentle and kind towards people's feelings, but we're at a point in our friendship when he felt he could be brutally honest...and he let loose saying that I should seriously consider a different line of work. It's really hard to argue with someone you respect who has amassed such massive success. (I'd like to think that his success has been purely an accident; that it was just his time to get rich, but I've seen his past failures so I know he didn't just suddenly hit the jackpot. Also, he's got an MBA from MIT so he's no dummy!)

In answer to your question, sadly 'no' -- my company BMS is making zero money at this time. No clients; no business. My shortcomings; my failure; my fault.

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czilbersher 14 years ago

Originally Posted by actionplanbiz

getting people to take action on your stuff doesnt require you offering something of value. but giving something of Value is always good policy

I agree, but that's kind of my point. While it is very possible to sell junk of little value (like I've been doing, albeit not with much success), it is better for your soul to know that you're providing something of value; something you'd be proud to own yourself; something that your grandmother would be proud to say you sell to others.
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czilbersher 14 years ago

Originally Posted by actionplanbiz

getting people to take action on your stuff doesnt require you offering something of value. but giving something of Value is always good policy

Adding to my previous reply, my buddy that I mentioned above touched on the point of merely getting people to buy our stuff. He said:

"someone wrote: "People who do not care about their visitors, but only about their own profits to the exclusion of the wants, needs and desires of their customers, are ruining the Internet..."

doh!

Curt is ruining the internet.

holy.

change occupation - quick!"

For a moment, I wanted to punch him in the nose. But I'm sitting here, collecting unemployment checks for nearly 2 years, and he's sitting on a 3.5 million dollar business. Perhaps he is right. (I hope none of this sounds like envy or sour grapes. My friend works his butt off and he deserves it; I'm proud of him.)
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mousecalls 14 years ago

I think that adding value is important and not just from a customer's perspective. This is all about your personal brand. Who are you and what you value. The more content you put on the web the more people will see it but what do you want them to walk away thinking about?

At the end of the day it is your personal brand that you are selling. You want folks to go away thinking that they trust you and what you are promoting because they get good value from it. They will be back and they will tell their friends. Best they tell what is good rather than bad.

All the best to you in your endeavours.
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thebitbotdotcom 14 years ago

In regard to your auto-blogs...I have experimented with them in the past and the cold hard truth of the matter is that they just did not get organic search traffic.

All of the content is syndicated in one form or another. That makes it old news in Google's eyes and that means no organic traffic.

But that doesn't mean that it wouldn't convert if somebody stumbled across it. Conversion is a function of the sales copy and the keywords targeted. They have to be buying keywords and the sales copy has to be absolutely stellar.

If you are running an auto-blog, then you have little to no control over this.

Just because you are an affiliate marketer doesn't mean that you are not providing value. Just pick an affiliate product that you believe in.

Just my $0.02
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- czilbersher 14 years ago
  
  Just because you are an affiliate marketer doesn't mean that you are not providing value. Just pick an affiliate product that you believe in.
  
  Just my $0.02[/QUOTE]
  
  Good point. I've decided to leave affiliate marketing for greener pastures but if I were to remain, I'd follow your advice on this issue.
  
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  thebitbotdotcom 14 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by czilbersher
  
  Good point. I've decided to leave affiliate marketing for greener pastures but if I were to remain, I'd follow your advice on this issue.
  
  Hey. Do what you have to do. Making a living is making a living no matter what avenue you pursue. Personally, I think the whole auto-blog phenomenon was fueled by the SEO community just for backlinks.
  
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oneplusone 14 years ago

This is a fantastic post, I hope newbies especially make the effort to read your entire post.

A good reminder for the experienced warriors too.
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