Is it just me, or...

by awkwardgenius

Posted: 15 years ago 25 replies

OFF TOPIC

Does the whole IM niche seem a bit...incestuous?

It seems like every WSO I see is a marketing strategy to teach you how to sell someone else a marketing strategy, in which you teach them a marketing strategy, where they can then teach the next guy a marketing strategy...and the whole thing is one big circlejerk.

I mean, I get it...marketing people need to know how to market. But some of us want to sell something other than marketing. I will pick up the latest WSO, and it's for traffic generation. Cool. I'm totally interested. Hey guess what...it's telling me that to get tons of traffic...by offering my own killer WSO!

Well, great...and how many people on this forum are interested in guitar lessons? Low carb diets? Tai Chi? Teach me how to sell dog training. Teach me how to get more carpet cleaning clients. Teach me how to reach out online and have wild success with my widget-cleaning spray. I don't care...but stop teaching me how to market marketing to marketers who market marketing!

Look, I have no shame about marketing (usually). It's necessary, and I'll defend its existence...but come on! When all you're selling me is a system to sell to someone else which teaches them to sell the same thing, there's a name for that. It's a pyramid scheme. You may avoid certain legal technicalities, but it doesn't have any end product beyond itself. It's pointless, even if you make a bunch of money off of people like me who think, "This one will be different".

*sigh...that's all.

</soapbox>

Bradley J Anderson

15 years ago

I completely agree. I learned about all those "Let me show you how make money my way" products a looooonng time ago, and I'm still very prejudiced against them. As soon as I see the pitch, I'm gone.

Actually, very few of them are even original anymore. Just the same re-hashed stuff over and over.

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awkwardgenius

15 years ago

You know what it is? It's a money virus. It just replicates and spreads. Never contributes...just feeds on the host. That's what I'm gonna call these from now on. That's the real meaning of viral marketing :-p

Originally Posted by Bradley J Anderson

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Michael Thorsett 15 years ago

You might also be interested in this thread.
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HeySal 15 years ago

I sell automatic gold concentrating pans - want one? I don't sell diet info either, but I do offer all the reasons why none of them are going to work for you so you can fix it so your next effort might actually work for ya.

No - not everyone is selling rehash. A lot are - but not all. You can blame the rehash on the first ebooks that taught people that taking stuff from other people's stuff and pasting in together in a form just different enough to pass copyscape is actually making a product. The readers learned just enough to tear those ebooks apart and start a freaking nuclear chain reaction. Duck and cover dude - the shrapnel is still coming in.
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- Bill Farnham 15 years ago
  
  Sal's right. Duck and cover dude - the shrapnel is still coming in. No - not everyone is selling rehash. A lot are - but not all. The readers learned just enough to tear those ebooks apart and start a freaking nuclear chain reaction. You can blame the rehash on the first ebooks that taught people that taking stuff from other people's stuff and pasting in together in a form just different enough to pass copyscape is actually making a product.
  
  Know what I mean...?
  
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- jimbo13 15 years ago
  
  What you are describing sounds like the small ads of old that said 'Send £10 and learn how to make millions'
  
  My friend paid up and got a sheet of paper in return telling him to put an ad in the paper saying 'Send £10 and learn how to make millions.'
  
  Same codswallop, different medium.
  
  Dan
  
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awkwardgenius 15 years ago

Ok, good...there are some other people who see it too, and I'm not just losing my mind.

Ok, so I've already purchased at least one copy of every type of WSO telling me how to make money by telling people how to make money.

Maybe there's some good SEO and copywriting tips to glean from it. I'm combing through it all bit by bit, eating the watermelon and spitting out the seeds.

So, can any of you rational folks point me a good resource for learning how to sell something real? Actually, one WSO did give me an idea to run with, and that's the self-publishing niche...sort of a mini-condensed Amazon Cash Machines for $11 or something. It sparked my interest as it actually provides a service and product (*gasp!* sacrilege!).

I want to learn how to sell it. Some cool tricks I can do to bring traffic in online, and find clients offline. Anyone got any ideas?

Also, I'd be open for other ideas where people are making actual money selling actual products or services. I'm new to this stuff, but been around just long enough to get sick of it all! Problem is, I don't want to give up, and I want to get out of my 9-5. It's time for a change. I've got really really big goals and ideas, but I need a source of income that frees me to pursue them. I'm willing to put the hard work in upfront, but my goal is to make the transition from employee to business owner as quickly as possible.
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thunderbird 15 years ago

Originally Posted by awkwardgenius

Does the whole IM niche seem a bit...incestuous? <snip>

I only got the first part of your comment. Are you talking about the royal family? IM stands for "imperial majesty" or what?
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waterotter

15 years ago

Check out the WSO in my sig - read through the thread, you might be impressed!

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HeySal

15 years ago

Originally Posted by waterotter

Check out the WSO in my sig - read through the thread, you might be impressed!

LOL you beat me to it.

Jody is right -- if you need to learn how to operate your business - this WSO is the best WIN/WIN on the net. It was put together to offer all the quality info to those willing to give the money to save a fellow Warrior's life.

Do it. You won't regret it -- the names on those products are experts who don't need to use other people's warmed over crap to teach how to function -- they are the ones that have the products other people copy.

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awkwardgenius

15 years ago

Now I'm wishing I'd made this thread a long time ago. I've bought several WSO-of-the-days and I've spent at least that much. I'm gonna have to mull it over a bit before dropping another $97 on it, but two separate endorsements is certainly compelling.

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waterotter

15 years ago

Originally Posted by awkwardgenius

Just take a look at SOME of what's inside this MEGA Offer:
Seriously, any one of these reports could be worth the entire cost of the WSO! There will be more stuff to come down the road. The size of this WSO will take hours to download - its that BIG!!! Ya can't go wrong here!

........we are talking you get:

Exclusive site memberships:

Expensive tools and software:

Videos:

Audios:

PDF's:

Free article writing services (yes you even get a custom free 500 word article from one of our professional article writing donors for ordering this), this WSO is LITERALLY PACKED with AMAZING Value!

And Much More...

You are gonna learn things like:

Offline:

SEO:

Web Design:

Adsense:

Affiliate Marketing:

CPA:

Copywriting:

Product Creation:

Google Advertising:

Site Flipping:

Article Marketing:

Profit From Membership Sites:

Face Book Fan Pages:

Mobile Marketing Technology and Sales Techniques:

Google places:

and much, much much, more!

EVERYTHING IN THE BOOK!

It's ALL In Here!

Cheers,
Jody

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thunderbird 15 years ago

Originally Posted by awkwardgenius

Does the whole IM niche seem a bit...incestuous? <snip>

I've actually found that a lot of IM products, created for IM'ers, that I've purchased have been very effective and have made me money. I don't even sell IM stuff to IM niche. Of course, in IM circles, IM stuff is what is discussed and for sale. In doing so, they do get developed and improved upon, in large part due to the massive competition under the IM umbrella of niches. In martial arts circles, martial arts stuff is what is discussed, created, marketed, sold. Same goes for knitting, fishing, or chess. And in doing so, each respective niche will see a lot of repetition, but also some development and improvement in their products.
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tsuccess 15 years ago

I hear you and I totally agree. Too bad there will always be such problems with this online stuff. Only if it were to change one day.
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Warrior AllStars 15 years ago

Its a mixture of different intentions...

For some its only money... for others they are idealist champions and just cant seem to hold in secrets about any great thing they can share with others...

On the other hand there is the "Rationalist" mindset... which constantly looks at the idealist mindset with suspicion...

Because the rationalist is incapable of understanding how something could be done without a personally achieving some kind of gain... 2 plus 2 must always equal 4...

Idealists dont necessarily think like that... so rationalists are always wondering "Whats this persons angle...".

On a further note, how many great coaches do you see out on the field getting their brains knocked out by linebackers?

What if the players just went out and did that without a great coach... or one of them rose up and said "Im the one out here running up and down this field... Im more qualified to coach than the coach...".

Cmon, gimme a break... who's your favorite coach? Is he scamming because he isnt out on the football field, but he's coaching the players instead"?

Is a $100,000.00 sales manager who never makes a single sales call but pushes the team and raises 10 million dollars per year ripping of his boss and somehow fooling him or scamming him?

Why should IM be any different...Tony Robbins cant beat Tiger Woods...but he can TRAIN HIM!
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money bubble 15 years ago

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- Tina Golden 15 years ago
  
  You think it could have something to do with...I dunno...the fact that this is an internet marketing forum?
  
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  money bubble 15 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Tina Golden
  
  You think it could have something to do with...I dunno...the fact that this is an internet marketing forum?
  
  well, not everyone uses "buy & sell this link for $19.99/$147". & it seems to me that's what he was talking about... cause that's a freaking pyramid scam...
  
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  Kay King 15 years ago
  
  While they do want you to get some referrals, it's not in any way mandatory.
  
  Sounds like some form of MLM to me.
  
  Remember, though, that you can only be paid money when money is generated in some way. There is no company that pays you without requiring either work (a job) or results (signups/paid upgrade in the case of MLMs) from you before payment. Payment isn't a number on a computer screen - payment is the check you have deposited in your bank.
  
  It's the one fact that causes new marketers a lot of problems. It's exciting to read about how you "will" make money and, etc and you'll see many programs and products advertising easy money, fast money, etc.
  
  But the money has to come from somewhere - something has to be sold to someone. If new marketers remember that and look with a view of "where does the money come from" - they'll save time, money and frustration.
  
  Just sayin....
  
  kay
  
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usernames suck Banned 15 years ago

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Tylos 15 years ago

I might interested, but how can I go for..? please looking for advice...
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- Kay King 15 years ago
  
  Sounds like you are getting support which is important. You might be interested in a blog called mydebtfreegoal.com . I'm not associated with it - the site owner used to post here frequently.
  
  She's done very well and she started with something that sounds similar to what you are doing. There's a lot of good hands-on advice that might help you get going.
  
  kay
  
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bradmarcus1 15 years ago

Hello awkwardgenius.

It's like the old saying..."Those that can't do, teach." There's so much free info on the internet, from terrible to great. But at the same time, if you see a product/course that you believe will truly help you and/or your business, buy it. There's almost always a money-back guarantee.

To Your Success,
Brad Marcus
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awkwardgenius

15 years ago

I did end up picking up the mega offer. Since I'd already started down the track of offering publishing services to professionals, I started with the offline marketing stuff, and I feel like I'm already getting my money's worth. It's good stuff, man. I hope Kim comes through ok.