LIVE CASE STUDY - Bring The Fresh vs. Extreme Niche Empires vs. Google Sniper 2

142 replies
  • SEO
  • |
Tip: Subscribe using thread tools here -----------------^^^^^^

New experiment started!


You can still read all about my first experiment in this thread, but I advise you to check the new, better one here:
http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...xperiment.html

********************************************

Hello all!

I admit it. I have been absorbed by the huge number of moneymaking methods and tactics out there, and have been pulled in 1000 different directions. What's worse, without even knowing if any of them was good.

But some time ago I decided to put an end to this taking MASSIVE ACTION and I started seeing some results.

As my next action-taking step and, at the same time, as a way to give back to this community by sharing my results with you LIVE, I'll run an experiment.

Here's what I've decided to do:

I'll build three sites, following three different methods, put their results side by side, and see which one performs better.

I've chosen three well known methods, which in the end follow a very similar approach: choose a niche and one or a few related products, select some targetted keywords, and build a site around them to make money selling as an affiliate (there's an additional monetization method in one of them, that I'll mention later in the case study).

These methods are:
  1. Bring the Fresh by Kelly Felix and Mike Long
  2. Extreme Niche Empires by Sean Donahoe
  3. Google Sniper 2 by George Brown.
I'll be following the basic training included with the initial payment for each of these methods, not the advanced or upgraded "flavours".

As I build my sites following these methods, I'll be tracking and posting the following magnitudes:
  1. Time spent working on each one
  2. Money spent working on each one (I already have hosting, so I won't compute this cost to any of them).
  3. Position in Google for their main keyword, and maybe some secondary keywords.
  4. Number of visits to the site
  5. Earnings

No, I won't reveal the niche or keywords as part of the case study

Apart of that, I'll also be reporting my progress, detailing any roadblocks I may find, and how I overcome any issues.

Of course, I may not be able to give too much detail sometimes, as it's not my intention to reveal the methods themselves here, I have to protect their creators' IP. I hope you'll understand

I'd like to make it as impartial as possible, so that the results are somewhat comparable, so here are the conditions that will rule my experiment / case study:
  1. I'll use the same niche for the three of them, so that they target the same audience. For instance (I'll use this niche as an example here, but it won't be the real one), they may all target "hard-core gamers".
  2. I'll promote physical products in all cases, so that no difference arises based on the likelyhood of buying / refunding digital vs. physical goods. For instance, I may promote gaming accessories like headsets, keyboards, mouses, etc.
  3. I'll also try to use the same marketplace, likely Amazon, so that differences in the checkout process don't affect results.
  4. So that sites don't compete against each other in google, they'll target different products and keywords. However, I'll try to choose products that serve similar functions and share simlar prices, for the same reason as above.
  5. I'll follow the searches and competition levels suggested by each method, searches as reported by the Google External Keyword Tool, and easiness to rank or competition levels as reported by Market Samurai / Traffic Travis.
  6. I'll try to follow all the methods to the letter; if for some reason I had to deviate from them, I'd explain where and why.
  7. As I have no preference for any of the methods, I'll speak of them and build their sites following an alphabetical order, as I did in the post subject. This does not mean Bring the Fresh is "number one" except for the fact that it starts with a B and the others don't
  8. If I decide to outsource some task for one site, I'll outsource the same or similar tasks for the others, so that the cost and time spent on each are somewhat comparable.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: I know the results won't be a scientific proof of any kind. So don't take this case study as the end-all be-all of how each of these methods perform by themselves or as compared to the other two.

Who knows, maybe one works like charm for the niche I choose and Amazon products, but another one would have beat it promoting a digital product from Clickbank and the third would have trashed the others had I chosen a different keyword for its site.

Also, my results may not be comparable to yours if you followed any of them, as we all have different technical, marketing and sales backgrounds.

You know, the only way you'll find to BE SURE how good any method works FOR YOU it's by testing it yourself.

But I hope the experiment yields some interesting results that we can all learn from. At least, I hope I'll achieve some results with all of them just because I'LL TAKE ACTION, and we can at least learn from that.

Next stop: niche / keyword research.

As you see I have a daunting task ahead. Wish me luck!

Mikel

PS: let me know what you think of this case study, and if you think there's something I may be missing, or something else you'd like me to share with you.

PS2: if you like this experiment, please click the thanks button below!
#bring #case #empires #extreme #fresh #niche #sniper #study
  • Profile picture of the author ThrillerAuthor
    This should be quite interesting. I don't know all 3 methods - I know Google Sniper 2 and a bit about BTF, and I have a feeling that the results could be very similar.

    Are you planning to do the keyword research and backlinking strategies as prescribed per each method also, or are you going to use your own methods for all 3 sites?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3942507].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author davidmeeonline
      This sounds great, I will be following this thread closely!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3942672].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author PattyK
        I am very interested in your research! I look forward to your posts! Thank-you!!
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3942751].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Banks
          Definitely going to follow this thread. I don't really follow any tactic except my own, not to sure which of those it would be closest to but I do make niche sites so it would likely be more like google sniper.

          The system helps me make $200 a day or more from adsense, amazon and affiliate programs. Most of my $$$$ is from adsense though, working on building amazon and clickbank will come soon.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3942982].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
      Originally Posted by ThrillerAuthor View Post

      Are you planning to do the keyword research and backlinking strategies as prescribed per each method also, or are you going to use your own methods for all 3 sites?
      Regarding the techniques and tools I use in order to find possible keywords, I'll use what the methods suggest but I'll complement it with further techniques I use and tools I have.

      BUT in order to select the final target keyword out of those I find, I'll make sure I stick to the rules detailed in each method about search volume and competition.

      Regarding promotion (backlinking etc.) I'll do exactly as each of them teach, so that we can see the differences in rankings I achieve with each.
      Signature
      Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

      |
      V

      I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3944327].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author sociallid
        Sounds great. Can't wait to see what happens.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3946301].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author AlwaysAwa
    Looking forward for this best of luck =)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3942993].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author freddylan
    Great experience, i will follow it closely as well
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3946921].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
      Well, these have been two pretty intense days, but I've finally finished my keyword research, and registered my domains.

      It has taken longer than expected, but I know it's not been because of the methods themselves. I was imposing additional constraints to them (like forcing the sites and thus the keywords to be in a given niche -the same for all three-, and targetting physical products, for instance). I guess that if I had been 100% free to go where the keyword discovery process had leaded me, I would have found one more easily.

      I've also came up with some unexpected (and important) findings along the way, that I'll tell you about later, but first let's summarize what I've done until now:

      1. I selected a niche and found different products on Amazon I could promote.
      2. I started my Keyword Research process. Basically, I created custom filter presets in Market Samurai, named BTF, ENE and GS2, and populated each of them with the appropriate search volume and competition values for each method. This really eased the filtering process a lot, and once you do it, it's done forever.
      3. Finding a keyword for Bring The Fresh was not immediate, but happened relatively easily. In fact, I found several possible keywords, and there were a couple of exact match domains so I bough both. I'll only build one of the two possible sites for this case study, the other one will be used in the future.
      4. Regarding Extreme Niche Empires, I went through the training videos again, and it turns out it doesn't rely on a single keyword, but a list of 10 related keywords for a site; so it's not as laser-focused as the other two methods, it advocates for larger sites. And it's much more aggressive regarding the competition it advises to go against. So it took me a while -more than twice it had taken me for BTF-, but I found a list of 9 keywords that match Sean's criteria. Luckily enough, the exact match domain for the most general of these keywords was available, so I purchased it. Voila!
      5. And finally, GS2. Boy, that was hard! (I know for a fact -as I've built other sniper sites before- this has been caused by the niche I chose, I'll explain why in the takeaways later). In fact, it was becoming so hard I had to "bend the rules" a bit, in order to find a keyword with enough searches but not too many competitors; I just allowed myself to pick a keyword with a competition level which is a bit higher than advised, but George himself admits to target such levels in one of the videos so I'm not completely off-limits. I spent almost the whole evening today looking for that keyword, but I finally found it. And with an exact match domain available. So, mission accomplished.
      6. I bought the domains through Namecheap and pointed them to my hosting account.

      As I said in the beginning, I came up with me up some additional interesting things that I though I should share with you.

      1. One of the possible keywords I had found was said to have 1200+ phrase searches monthly. I almost bought the exact-match domain, that was available. Luckily enough, I decided to take a look in Google Trends, to find that the traffic was almost non-existant until feb 2010, it started to rise significantly until october 2010, and then declined until february 2011, when it reached a negligible level again. I have no idea why search volume for this keyword spiked and then disspaeared, but I guess Google was using the average in order to report those 1200 searches / month; well, that's not the case now AT ALL. Targetting that keyword would have been a terrible mistake.
      2. Another product related keyword also looked good, but after the surprise above, I decided to look at Google Trends again. I kid you not: do you know these "news" Google displays beside the search volume graph? well, they all spoke about deaths, recalls by the manufacturer, and how finally the product was banned in the US. This could have been even a worse mistake than the one above! I could have built a site for a product I cannot sell!!
      3. And finally, some geographic issues: in some cases, I found some idioms or expressions that seem to be widely used in the UK, but not at all in the US; in other cases, the same expression is used in both countries, but the keyword is still searched for more often in the UK than in the US. This may be irrelevant if you plan to monetize via adsense, or selling an info product, but it's not if you plan to sell Amazon products, because Amazon has a UK store where I presume all UK users would buy, and the affiliate cookie is not shared by the US and the UK sites.

      So, what are the takeaways until now?

      1. Never go for a keyword blindly, based only on the data reported by the keyword tools. Always double check that information with Google Trends and Google Insights for Search. Verify the search volume is stable or increasing.
      2. Beware of the global search volume as opposed to local search volume figures. Make sure your keyword is searched for in the countries you want to target.
      3. Know your market. Or do a little research before you enter it. Just in case you start promoting a banned product
      4. As Amazon products are targetted by many marketers, building laser-targetted sites (like BTF or GS2) for Amazon products can be a bit tough in certain markets, especially if your target audience does not (in significant numbers, I mean) look for product models / names in Google. It's easier in some markets like electronics, where users are much more likely to search for model names in Google, and there are thousands of product names, so competition is not so hard.
      5. If no particular product names can be targetted, then you may want to target "product category"-type keywords, though the competition levels for those keywords are often too high for these type of strategies (so that I make myself clear, I mean general product category keywords like "Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike" for instance, as opposed to brand/model keywords like "Mongoose Status 3.0 Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike").
      6. Another tactic that may work in these cases is to find a keyword related not directly to the product, but to the need the product fullfils, so that you can build a site around that keyword, and then promote the product as the solution.
      7. If you plan to sell amazon products, check where the majority of your visits may come from, in case you have to use an Amazon store other than the US one. If your audience is split among different countries (USA, UK, Canada) you either have to promote to the biggest market and thus loose the comissions for the others, which will cut your profits or -as I'll likely do- use some geotargetting plugin and present the correct store depending on where the visit comes from.
      Well, that's all for now. Tomorrow, I'll start building the sites, and at some point during the weekend or maybe next Monday, I'll start with the promotion and backlinking phase.

      Hope you find this useful!

      Mikel
      Signature
      Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

      |
      V

      I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3958828].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mark411
    Very comprehensive case study! Great stuff!!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3958866].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Vexo
    This is looking very interesting cant wait to see what happens. Good luck
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3959405].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author LadySara
      I'm really looking forward to this. Please do continue until the end.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3972829].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
        Hello all again!

        We left at a point where I had chosen my keywords and registered my domains.

        I've gone on following the methods, and would like to update you on the current status:

        • I built my BTF site with wordpress, installed the recommended plugins, and wrote a first post (450 words approx.), as well as some "generic" pages like Privacy Policy, Affiliate Disclosure etc. Building it to this point was very quick, no more than 1h counting the time I devoted to writing that post. Oh, I used Instant Article Wizard to help me with that.
        • I also built my GS2 site and installed and configured the recommended plugins. I wrote a very brief introductory post (100 words) and published the same pages as above. As in the previous case, it took me very little time to do it, no more than 40 minutes to this point (remember, no medium size or long posts written yet).
        • I have built my ENE site with wordpress too. I have uploaded the plugin pack recommeded by Sean Donahoe (much more extensive than the previous two) and I am configuring them following his advice. I have also written an introductory post (100 words). Still working on configuring all the plugins. Building this site will take considerably longer, as it's more an "authority type" site. But it might be worht the effort, we'll see.

        Here are the results so far:
        • All the sites are indexed by Google. They were indexed almost overnight as I added them to my Google Analytics account, without any backlinking at all.
        • My BTF site is ranking #6 in Google, without any additional content besides the 450 words post I mentioned, and without any backlinks. There doesn't seem to be any "Google dance" going on, as it has stayed in that position for several days since it was indexed. It has not been indexed by Bing or Yahoo yet.
        • My GS2 is indexed in Google, but ranking low. However, this site is ranking #6 both in Bing and Yahoo!. Remember, only a 100 words post, and 0 backlinks.
        • My ENE site is indexed in Google (for the main keyword, remember there are others in this case) but not ranking in any relevant position yet. It hasn't been indexed by Yahoo or Bing.

        It seems that in the first two cases, that are targetting keywords with weak competition, on-page SEO can do a good job in getting you to the first page in the SERPs. As I add more content I expect them to rank a bit better.

        Results with the ENE site at this point are just what I expected, as it is targetting much more competitive terms. But I hope on-page SEO can also give it a boost in this case, thanks to the "cyclone effect" Sean has came up with (I'm afraid I can't reveal what it is, and you'll have to purchase ENE if you want to know :p).

        I don't expect to rank #1 based only on on-page factors, though. I bet I'll have to build good backlinks for that.

        I'll keep you posted, though.

        My next tasks for this week will be still centered in content creation and on-page SEO:
        1. Create the main long (and money-making) article for the BTF site.
        2. Create a medium size and the long (money making) articles for the GS2 site.
        3. Create a medium size article for the ENE site's hompepage, and 9 medium size articles for the secondarty the keywords. Put the monetization methods in place (in this case, ENE relies on everything you may think of - Amazon, Clickbank, Adsense...) and start the cyclone.

        At the end of this stage we'll find where my sites end-up in the SERPs without any backlinks at all. I can't wait to see

        BTW, if you want to be notified of future updates, you can subscribe to this thread using the subscription feature provided by WarriorForum in the "Thread tools" menu at the top.

        See ya!
        Signature
        Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

        |
        V

        I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4019178].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author usabball
          Great stuff here as I have purchased ENE and have begun the video module training, but have not yet begun building a site based on the tutorials.
          I had seen very solid reviews on WF for BTF but I did not want to duplicate efforts or distract myself from focus on ENE.
          I am not intimate with GS, but I have seen it referenced in several blogs.
          Please keep the case study well documented as this is very informative and beneficial.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4033769].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MrWonton
    Subscribed and watching with interest!
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4019575].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
    Awesome. I always love following case studies. I'll be keeping my eye on this one.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4020022].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Rukshan
    This will be great thread. Keep it alive for a long time
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4020174].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author a2z
    Hello Mikel,

    Thank you so much for doing this study. I will looking
    forward to your posts on the results.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4036154].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author kanuje
    Very useful information, thank you for sharing. Looking forward to an update soon!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4084195].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mmsearch
    Just saw this thread- I am embarking on BTF now- Really interested to see the rest of the process you are taking. Subscribed
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4084584].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Karan Goel
    Wanna see what happens..
    Signature
    Penalty Safe, Long Term, 100% Whitehat Backlinks
    Love your site? Then check out SafeSpokes!
    ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_
    karan996@irchiver.com karan997@irchiver.com
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4085140].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author amoeba
    bookmarked!! any progress in last 10 days?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4086554].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author lewi77
      Originally Posted by amoeba View Post

      bookmarked!! any progress in last 10 days?

      I too am watching closly, I am familiar with Sniper but not the other two. Look forward to the final verdict.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4093605].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author hlvasquez
        Hi Mikel,

        Any news on the experiment?

        Thanks for all your work done so far in these tests, very informative.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4128821].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
    Yes, I have some news indeed.

    "You are about to discover a significant obstacle I faced and how I overcame it, and a semi-pleasant surprise I just came across"

    Hey, how's that for a marketing headline for this post?

    Well, here's the situation:
    • I'm behind my expected schedule, mainly due to the problems I'll tell you about. I should already be well in the "promotion" phase, and I just finished my content and on-site SEO for the three sites.
    • Regarding the BTF site, since the last time we talked -hmm.. kinda - I have just added the main money-making post this week, pointing to the Amazon product I chose for this site.
    • The GS2 site is also finished, I added an additional article type post, and the main money-making post this week, also pointing to Amazon.
    • And ENE has been the cornerstone of all my struggles this past weeks.
      • First of all, as I told you this method advocates for much bigger sites, with at least 10 main money-making posts. As writing articles is not what I like best and I was busy with other ventures aside of this experiment, I decided to outsource the writing of 8 long (750 words) posts.
      • I used the service offered by Fweez, as I had some credits sitting there. The first obstacle in my advance was their turnaround time. They were apparently a bit overloaded with requests, and it took 10 days for them to deliver.
      • As -if I remember correctly- I used a 50% discount coupon to purchased these credits, the cost was 30 bucks, which is approx 0,005 a word. And the quality was quite good; except for the first paragraph in one of the articles, which I re-wrote, I published everything as it was delivered.
      • So I had all my content online; then I had to "start the cyclone". Without getting into much detail so that I don't reveal too much of the what, how and why of the method, let's say it involves some auto-blogging.
      • And hell broke loose First, in order to do that, Sean provides two wordpress plugins as part of ENE. But they are encrypted and they use IonCube to support that encryption. I tried and tried to install and make that work in the hosting provider I was using, without luck.
      • So, I had to move the whole site to a new host. Thank god I had WPTwin... I love you, Jason Fladlien and Will Matos! So I made the copy with WPTwin, pointed the DNSs to one of my other hosting accounts, waited.... and waited... and waited till the DNSs propagated and my ISP finally noticed they had changed, and restored the site in the new host (reinstalling it took like 3 minutes once everything was pointed correctly).
      • In this new host it took me a while but I managed to have IonCube installed and my PHP.ini files working smoothly, but I finally did it.
      • So I finally had that part working... almost, as in the past days there seems to be a problem with one of the four main types of auto-posted contents, that is not affecting me but also other users of ENE. It does not invalidate the method or make it unusable, but it reduces its efficiency; hopefully Sean will come up with a fix soon. Otherwise, I'll switch to another plugin that does something similar, as using Sean's plugin is not mandatory, it's just something you have at your disposal as part of the program but you can use similar ones if you have them.
      • In any case, I managed to have some additional 30-something posts in that site created automatically.
    That's the situation now content-wise.

    Regarding how the sites are performing (remember, I haven't done any promotion to any of them yet):
    • My BTF site has been indexed completely; it's sitting steadily in position 5 in google and 3 in Bing, and is already receiving some visits. I won't tell you the exact numbers yet as I just published my main post, I want to give it more time to rank for additional keywords.
    • My GS2 site is already fully indexed also, and is currently in page 3 in Google, and receiving no visits yet.
    • My ENE site is partially indexed, and not ranking yet. As I said in the previous post, this is not unexpected as it's targetting much more competitive terms. Obviously, no visits.
    So, up until now I'm most satisfied with my BTF site, as it's the one that took me less time to research and build and the one that is getting the best rankings.

    But I must not be too short-sighted, as I start promoting them results may change significantly in the near future.

    So, next, on to backlinking!!!

    Mikel

    Ooooh, I almost forgot the semi-pleasant surprise!

    I was checking indexed pages and backlinks using the rank tracker in market samurai and, as expected, my BTF and ENE had 0 backlinks... but my GS2 site showed approx. 150 backlinks.

    As I have done no backlinking, I checked SEOMoz, and it turns out there was a site with my exact domain name -and obviously, tightly related content- live until Dec 2010, and it had been backlinked with some articles and some "site information type" links.

    So, why is this semi-pleasant?
    • On one side, it's work someone already did for me. I'm immensely grateful to whoever it was
    • Regarding the experiment, it may slightly affect results, as it turns out the GS2 site starts with some advantage as compared to the other two. In any case, as I will backlink the three much more heavily, in a few weeks that number of backlinks shouldn't be relevant anymore.
    • And the ugly side of the coin: if someone had this domain and had created some content last year, and let it expire, it's obvious he/she was not making much money out of the site. The question is why:
      • Was it because he was too lazy to persevere until the site ranked high enough to get traffic? Then it shouldn't affect me, but...
      • Was it because he was not able to monetize the traffic he was getting? Maybe the traffic doesn't convert for this keyword, and if that were the case, well... I'm doomed!
    We'll see in the future, rest assured I will let you know!

    Mikel
    Signature
    Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

    |
    V

    I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4129128].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author vbox
      its the coolest thing you're dong man.

      I'll follow this thread until see some good results from either method.

      Thanks for the efforts to help all of us saving time and money!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4140280].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author seologist
    Banned
    [DELETED]
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4145017].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author jrpt
      Hey Mikel-

      As everyone else is saying, thanks!

      One question I have: I'm working through the BTF guide right now and also purchased a new WSO on Amazon sites and hope to combine the two to maximize value.

      Question: If you are targeting an item or items for the BTF site, which I assume you are doing, are you being ultra specific (ie. Brand + Model + Reviews), kinda specific (ie. Brand + Model) or just specific enough (ie. Toilet Seat Covers) in your quest?

      The reason I ask is that in the basic version of BTF, I don't see this really discussed. The obvious answer I assume would be if I could get a vague term with lesser competition that would be best but those are needles in haystacks. Just trying to look ahead a bit.

      Thanks for the effort.

      JR
      Signature

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4147332].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author filippot51
    very interesting since im using GS2
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4147720].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author tweetpromo
      Originally Posted by filippot51 View Post

      very interesting since im using GS2
      :confused: i am sorry, what ist GS2, never heard
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4150401].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author filippot51
        google sniper 2
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4151014].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author KellyFelix
          I think this is a cool idea. Thanks to mikel.perez.01 for doing it. I hear good things about ENE and GS2.

          I'm interested in the results, and would love to know where we can improve.

          I think its awesome that you have actually followed through with your goal. Most people never even get to this point, so thats pretty cool. And doing it publicly keeps you accountable which is a nice motivator.

          I agree with another poster - whatever system you do decide to use, just follow through with it and don't pay attention to all of the other shiny products that you see. Find out for yourself if it works or not. If not, then move on to the next one with the best reviews. No matter what, the experience will be very beneficial and you'll learn a lot.

          Any questions about BTF, just let me know.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4151107].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
            Thanks everyone for your comments, they really encourage me to push further in this direction. Thanks!

            OK, let's reply to some questions and comments:

            Originally Posted by jrpt View Post

            If you are targeting an item or items for the BTF site, which I assume you are doing, are you being ultra specific (ie. Brand + Model + Reviews), kinda specific (ie. Brand + Model) or just specific enough (ie. Toilet Seat Covers) in your quest?
            In this case, because of the niche I chose, I'm targetting what you call "specific enough".

            I have built some sites in other markets, mainly related to electronic products, and the model numbers are relevant and searched for in those niches, but in others not so much.

            If you want to sell TVs or fridges I'm sure you will come up with a viable keyword, whereas if you are selling winter coats, it will be hard to find a product / brand keyword that is really being searched for enough times

            Originally Posted by tweetpromo View Post

            :confused: i am sorry, what ist GS2, never heard
            Originally Posted by filippot51 View Post

            google sniper 2
            exactly!

            Originally Posted by JennySweets View Post

            but i'm itchy all over in my brain wondering if i should scrimp and save until i can afford BTF too lol. since i can do nothing now, and i'm elbow deep in ENE, i'll keep reading this thread, keep slogging through ENE and hope the first project I picked is a good one! but after reading this.. i may pause and start a second track (this is already my 4th idea but a 5th might just be better!)
            I wouldn't advise you to do that. And I know what I say because I also started many projects and never completed a single one until not so long ago.

            A project started but not completed will make you 0 bucks, as will the next one, and the next one... until you quit.

            I think the three methods I'm testing are good, and I'm sure that if I stick to them they will make me some money. Even if they don't for a particular site that wouldn't mean they don't work in general, I'd use my experience to build a second site following the same method more quickly.

            My advise is to stick to ENE if that's what you are working on, overcome any problems you may face, and learn from it, until you make some money that you can invest in building more sites and buying further training. But not the other way around.

            Originally Posted by KellyFelix View Post

            I'm interested in the results, and would love to know where we can improve.
            Wow, thanks for stepping in, Kelly!

            I'll surely let you know if I think there's something I could say that helps you or other BTf users.

            Stay tuned for the next update!
            Signature
            Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

            |
            V

            I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4161828].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author JennySweets
              Yes, I've decided to stick with ENE, because the things he's teaching me make sense, as long as you apply caution in some areas, tread lightly. As I said before I understand very little yet, but I've learned enough about PANDA to be checking over certain concepts before I implement them.

              If this first niche I've researched doesn't really pan out (and I can see how this one might take some time to do so) I will start a second one, and a third. maybe even up to five, then let them run while I try out BTF.

              I do think the niche I've chosen has the potential to earn quite a bit. and it's a keyword that has steadily if slowly risen with only typical minor small spikes. and it has a chewy CPC that I would really, really love to bite into!!

              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4164617].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Pravir
    Very interesting Thread...I am using ENE method to build my niche sites...lets see how you go with your sites and which system is more robust....will follow this thread
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4148588].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author JennySweets
    I'm very green,very new to all of this. I chose ENE because of the idea of "authority content" versus the regenerated garbage I find all over the web, and also because it sounded like it would provide a legitimate way to get in without gettin slapped around (as sean likes to say) by panda.

    the idea of going after a tiny piece of a big market is scary!

    and reading so far i wonder if i chose the right product.

    I wanted to check out BTF but honestly I can not afford $97 at one time (with ENE i am having to go slowly because of costs.. hosting and domains aren't too bad but i need to get a good article tool and some other things i haven't even uncovered yet lol so i have to get them piece by piece.. this may take forever!)

    and i know people say "if you need money quickly try something else" but i'm not looking for overnight riches.. i'm looking for long term, something i can build into a business and change my sons life with.

    this thread is fascinating.. and if nothing else has tipped me off to a few things i didn't know before.. or gave me enough of a clue to go investigating. as i said, i'm about as green as they come.

    but i'm itchy all over in my brain wondering if i should scrimp and save until i can afford BTF too lol. since i can do nothing now, and i'm elbow deep in ENE, i'll keep reading this thread, keep slogging through ENE and hope the first project I picked is a good one! but after reading this.. i may pause and start a second track (this is already my 4th idea but a 5th might just be better!)

    Thanks so much for doing this experiment!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4150628].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author StoneWilson
    Has subscribed this thread and looking forward to your update.
    Signature
    Looking for godaddy renewal coupon? Check GodaddyRenewal.com!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4151383].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mobiduck
    WoW! Killah! Working the ENE modules and have the BTF starter waiting on my HD so arriving on this thread is pure clairvoyance.

    And there's even some headsup as to what the ENE IonCube requirement might have in store.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4159742].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author IMAngel
    Great Information!
    I love this kind of testing/evaluating. I will keep an eye.
    I took the ENE route like a month ago. I have not made any money yet. But we will see what happens. I can not wait to see your results!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4174421].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Magnificentpower
    This is an interesting experiment.I thought Google Sniper and Bring the fresh is kind of similar.The more advanced SEO stuffs is probably ENE and Bring the Fresh forum.

    Thanks for making the efforts to post your progress.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4175557].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author blackhawkup
    Banned
    awesome thread
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4178643].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author lordpeter
    I cant wait to for the next update.
    This method takes time but in the long run it is worth it. Currently I have sites with sitesell or SBI which are a few years old. Their system is excellent and I rank number 1 for 40 or so pages and earn some extra change also. I am very open to these methods and seeing which performs the best.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4203236].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author izzymay
    Any updates Mike?!
    Signature

    Not nailed it yet - but getting there!

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4244082].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author thebitbotdotcom
    Ditto. Any updates???
    Signature
    Do Your Copywriting Skills Suck?

    Let Us Help You Develop Your Writing Skills!

    Submit Guest Posts With [ TheBitBot.Com ]
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4244574].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author JOleng
      This thread has such a potential. I hope You are all right and will come back soon.

      Waiting for updates on this thread is like, waiting for new episodes of your favorite TV series, during season break.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4328303].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Delarox
    Awesome thread! cant wait to hear the latest update
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4329850].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author dagaul101
    Nice live experiments like these always give confidence to future purchasers of the products
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4331179].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author fongjey
    This thread kinda keeps my passion for IM burning. I'm setting a tent here for updates.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4332039].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Rukshan
    Any updates
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4338517].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author aedo
      One Month and waiting for an UPDATE please!

      Absolutely LOVE this thread. Thank YOU!!!!!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4344566].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
        Well, well, well...

        You may be -I hope- glad to hear that I'm fine, and alive, and so I want this thread to continue

        I want to apologize for not posting any updates in the past weeks; I've been kinda run over by my own life and haven't been able to do much. But hey, I'm back, and don't want to hide behind excuses or sound to winey. I'm sorry for my silence.

        Nevertheless, I had a pleasant surprise this past weeks, but as usual I'll keep the best for the last, you'll discover why in a few paragraphs...

        So, here's what -little- I've done since I last posted:

        BTF site:

        The content for this site was finished last time I posted, so I've done nothing else inside the site itself.

        The first backlinking strategy they recommend is article marketing. As I told you when I started the case study, I'd give details every time I change anything from the original methods. And this is going to be one of those cases.

        They suggest an article submission service that costs 67$/month. As I have other tools I bought or services I am member of, and I'm not ready to spend more money on services that serve a similar purpose, I'll use mine. This is what I'll use or am using:
        • Digi Article Blaster: I purchased this plugin and have already used it, it allows you to spin your posts and sumbit them to article directories from within wordpress. Some of the articles have been indexed, but not many yet. I'll ping their URLs as advised by BTF so that most of them get indexed and count as a backlink.
        • I'll write a new article, spin and submit it to article directories using Article Marketing Robot.
        • I'll write a second article, spin it, and add it to the Blogging underground blog network, which I'm a member of.
        I admit these may not be exactly the same as the one they recommend, but the difference shouldn't be too noticeable considering I'm already ranking #4 or #5 with this site, I'm just trying to boost it to #1.

        I'll also write a new article and submit it manually to Ezine or GoArticles. I'll follow the "one article to rule them all" strategy taught by Mike Long inside BTF.

        Traffic-wise, the site is receiving a few visits, but fewer than I expected based on the traffic volume given by Google when I researched the keyword combined with my current position.

        Once I get to #1, I'll check the stats, and made some adjustments on the title and description if need be, just to be sure I'm not getting low CTR in Google because of a lousy snippet

        GS2 site

        The content was already finished, as I told you in my last post.

        I haven't been ablo to do much promotion-wise. I just started social-bookmarking the site, which is the main backlinking strategy. I'll finish this week, and I'll also try to make a video to upload to youtube (George advises this OR to at least embed an existing video; I did the latter to no effect).

        The site is ranking low, it fluctuates between pages 3 and 4.

        Honestly, I don't know the reason for this, especially when it had backlinks from a previously existing site in that domain.

        I hope social backlinking works or otherwise this site will be a dud.

        ENE site

        Once again, I worked on this one more than on the others.

        Honestly, I haven't been able to make their autoblogging plugin -a modified version of wp-o-matic- work as it should, so I spent time researching and testing other solutions.

        I finally decided to move away from wp-o-matic and purchased and installed Wordpress Magic. I'm quite happy with it, I have also used it in other sites and it works great.

        I have installed it this past week in this particular site, so it hasn't had time to show all of its potential.

        Before anyone thinks I'm trashing this method, I have some good news regarding this site:
        • The main page and four of the other main money pages have started climbing up the rankings in Google. Two are in page 2, and three are in page 3.
        • I should be able to get them to page 1 easily thanks to the auto-posts and some social bookmarking as advised by Sean.
        • Even though it doesn't rank as high as BTF, it's getting more traffic. Mainly thanks to long tail keywords, and some of the "helper" articles that were auto-posted.
        • And, here's the best of all, I'm already making some money! I'm getting some Adsense commissions; nothing that will buy me any of those mansions we see in sales letters, but enough to pay for the domain and some of the articles I outsourced at this point.
        These are the two facts I like the best of ENE over the others:
        • Thanks to the auto-posted content, not only you generate additional internal links, but you are able to capture additional long-tail traffic.
        • And, thanks to adsense, you are able to monetize the traffic generated by information seekers, or people that are not ready to buy but are in "click-only mode".
        I'll get into the promotion actions I detailed above, and give you more details in a week.

        This time I will, I promise
        Signature
        Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

        |
        V

        I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4417819].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Wealth Mentor
          Anyone else feel this ongoing case study is valuable enough for a "Tip Jar" to assist Mikel with his content creation and other costs? He is single-handedly running this exhaustive test, so we don't have to invest (considerable) time and dollars towards gathering the data.

          An effort like this needs to have tangible evidence that it's much appreciated....

          Originally Posted by mikel.perez.01 View Post

          Well, well, well...

          You may be -I hope- glad to hear that I'm fine, and alive, and so I want this thread to continue

          I want to apologize for not posting any updates in the past weeks; I've been kinda run over by my own life and haven't been able to do much. But hey, I'm back, and don't want to hide behind excuses or sound to winey. I'm sorry for my silence.

          Nevertheless, I had a pleasant surprise this past weeks, but as usual I'll keep the best for the last, you'll discover why in a few paragraphs...

          So, here's what -little- I've done since I last posted:

          BTF site:

          The content for this site was finished last time I posted, so I've done nothing else inside the site itself.

          The first backlinking strategy they recommend is article marketing. As I told you when I started the case study, I'd give details every time I change anything from the original methods. And this is going to be one of those cases.

          They suggest an article submission service that costs 67$/month. As I have other tools I bought or services I am member of, and I'm not ready to spend more money on services that serve a similar purpose, I'll use mine. This is what I'll use or am using:
          • Digi Article Blaster: I purchased this plugin and have already used it, it allows you to spin your posts and sumbit them to article directories from within wordpress. Some of the articles have been indexed, but not many yet. I'll ping their URLs as advised by BTF so that most of them get indexed and count as a backlink.
          • I'll write a new article, spin and submit it to article directories using Article Marketing Robot.
          • I'll write a second article, spin it, and add it to the Blogging underground blog network, which I'm a member of.
          I admit these may not be exactly the same as the one they recommend, but the difference shouldn't be too noticeable considering I'm already ranking #4 or #5 with this site, I'm just trying to boost it to #1.

          I'll also write a new article and submit it manually to Ezine or GoArticles. I'll follow the "one article to rule them all" strategy taught by Mike Long inside BTF.

          Traffic-wise, the site is receiving a few visits, but fewer than I expected based on the traffic volume given by Google when I researched the keyword combined with my current position.

          Once I get to #1, I'll check the stats, and made some adjustments on the title and description if need be, just to be sure I'm not getting low CTR in Google because of a lousy snippet

          GS2 site

          The content was already finished, as I told you in my last post.

          I haven't been ablo to do much promotion-wise. I just started social-bookmarking the site, which is the main backlinking strategy. I'll finish this week, and I'll also try to make a video to upload to youtube (George advises this OR to at least embed an existing video; I did the latter to no effect).

          The site is ranking low, it fluctuates between pages 3 and 4.

          Honestly, I don't know the reason for this, especially when it had backlinks from a previously existing site in that domain.

          I hope social backlinking works or otherwise this site will be a dud.

          ENE site

          Once again, I worked on this one more than on the others.

          Honestly, I haven't been able to make their autoblogging plugin -a modified version of wp-o-matic- work as it should, so I spent time researching and testing other solutions.

          I finally decided to move away from wp-o-matic and purchased and installed Wordpress Magic. I'm quite happy with it, I have also used it in other sites and it works great.

          I have installed it this past week in this particular site, so it hasn't had time to show all of its potential.

          Before anyone thinks I'm trashing this method, I have some good news regarding this site:
          • The main page and four of the other main money pages have started climbing up the rankings in Google. Two are in page 2, and three are in page 3.
          • I should be able to get them to page 1 easily thanks to the auto-posts and some social bookmarking as advised by Sean.
          • Even though it doesn't rank as high as BTF, it's getting more traffic. Mainly thanks to long tail keywords, and some of the "helper" articles that were auto-posted.
          • And, here's the best of all, I'm already making some money! I'm getting some Adsense commissions; nothing that will buy me any of those mansions we see in sales letters, but enough to pay for the domain and some of the articles I outsourced at this point.
          These are the two facts I like the best of ENE over the others:
          • Thanks to the auto-posted content, not only you generate additional internal links, but you are able to capture additional long-tail traffic.
          • And, thanks to adsense, you are able to monetize the traffic generated by information seekers, or people that are not ready to buy but are in "click-only mode".
          I'll get into the promotion actions I detailed above, and give you more details in a week.

          This time I will, I promise
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4418643].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author Wealth Mentor
            Originally Posted by Wealth Mentor View Post

            Anyone else feel this ongoing case study is valuable enough for a "Tip Jar" to assist Mikel with his content creation and other costs? He is single-handedly running this exhaustive test, so we don't have to invest (considerable) time and dollars towards gathering the data.

            An effort like this needs to have tangible evidence that it's much appreciated....
            Ummm Warriors...this was a serious question above . I see more people applauding his efforts, and asking for more data...but everyone seems to be avoiding the question of helping him with the expenses for this experiment.

            And NO....he did not ask me to ask this on his behalf. Honestly...this is the kind of data I would pay to join a membership site to get, if need be.

            I saw it expressed by someone on another thread that the Warrior forum was becoming a place where everyone wants all the secrets...but all for free. Since everyone is here because they want to make money, why not help out a fellow warrior when he is going way out there to be helpful to us.

            Just sayin'...
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4427975].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author bargainroyale
              I agree with you, Wealth Mentor. I am new to WarriorForum and its culture, but when I was going through the thread I noticed so many posts asking for an update.

              I totally understand how everyone felt waiting to hear what Mikel's latest findings were. How happy I was to see his latest update! Well, based on his documentary, this experiment is costing him money and time. Maybe we could persuade him to provide his Paypal e-mail so that we can give him a "personal gift" via Paypal.
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4434020].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author dj0471
              I agree - as a new warrior (but ancient IM) I am following with interest what works and what disney !
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4434210].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author Yoong
                Hi Mike,

                Just wondering with ENE, I understand you have unique articles, but what interval are you posting automated content. If you forget about the site, and you build a massive auto contented website compared to how many unique articles you have, isnt this risky for adsense?

                Thanks,

                Yoong
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4437811].message }}
                • Profile picture of the author JennySweets
                  Well, I have to agree, the ENE autocontent plugin is pure crap. A member of the ENE forums, within the members area, has developed a Sweet plugin. It's still in development, at the moment it only pulls for 2 of the suggested categories, but he's been taking our ideas, observations, suggestions, and really tweaking it into something VERY NICE. It's different than other autocontent pullers, in that you have total control of the content it pulls. Something the other ones I've tried do not allow- which results in some pretty irrelevant crap coming to your site. Once it's complete, I for one will be affiliate selling it, I know that! I LOVE it and will use it across any site I need auto content for.

                  I'm also REALLY disappointed that Sean Donahoe has abandoned ENE. That's how it appears. Aside from one update to half of the autocontent plugin (which still has issues, big time, despite the update), he has been completely missing in action. Even the moderators on the members training forums have disappeared.

                  However, the members themselves are very helpful. We have some people over there who really know a thing or two, who are trying the system mostly for research and comparison, who are answering our questions. So I didn't get a refund. I figure the price I paid was well worth the training (even if incomplete and lacking in detailed explanation of things like, the functions of the plugins included or the meaning / purpose of some of the methods taught) and WELL worth the community on the forums. Small circle there, compared to here on the warrior forums, all focused on this one strategy, so getting direct answers for ENE is working well there. Worth the price of admission.

                  Honestly though, if it weren't for the forum members, I would have gotten a refund. I learned a lot, but I ended up with far more questions that I couldn't get answered. There's just no support!

                  For my own adventure with ENE, I'd say the traffic siphon is pretty good. One of my keywords is on page 1, a few on page 2, a couple on page 3, etc. And I made a major mess up from the get go due to my inexperience. I took a REALLY large market, messed up my keyword research, and ended up in a lot higher competition areas than I would have preferred. Yet I am ranking. And earning some minor adsense along the way. So despite the abandoment issues, I'm glad I bought the program. It was a good place to start I guess.
                  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4449328].message }}
                  • Profile picture of the author 110ben
                    Originally Posted by JennySweets View Post

                    Well, I have to agree, the ENE autocontent plugin is pure crap. A member of the ENE forums, within the members area, has developed a Sweet plugin. It's still in development, at the moment it only pulls for 2 of the suggested categories, but he's been taking our ideas, observations, suggestions, and really tweaking it into something VERY NICE. It's different than other autocontent pullers, in that you have total control of the content it pulls. Something the other ones I've tried do not allow- which results in some pretty irrelevant crap coming to your site. Once it's complete, I for one will be affiliate selling it, I know that! I LOVE it and will use it across any site I need auto content for.

                    I'm also REALLY disappointed that Sean Donahoe has abandoned ENE. That's how it appears. Aside from one update to half of the autocontent plugin (which still has issues, big time, despite the update), he has been completely missing in action. Even the moderators on the members training forums have disappeared.

                    However, the members themselves are very helpful. We have some people over there who really know a thing or two, who are trying the system mostly for research and comparison, who are answering our questions. So I didn't get a refund. I figure the price I paid was well worth the training (even if incomplete and lacking in detailed explanation of things like, the functions of the plugins included or the meaning / purpose of some of the methods taught) and WELL worth the community on the forums. Small circle there, compared to here on the warrior forums, all focused on this one strategy, so getting direct answers for ENE is working well there. Worth the price of admission.

                    Honestly though, if it weren't for the forum members, I would have gotten a refund. I learned a lot, but I ended up with far more questions that I couldn't get answered. There's just no support!

                    For my own adventure with ENE, I'd say the traffic siphon is pretty good. One of my keywords is on page 1, a few on page 2, a couple on page 3, etc. And I made a major mess up from the get go due to my inexperience. I took a REALLY large market, messed up my keyword research, and ended up in a lot higher competition areas than I would have preferred. Yet I am ranking. And earning some minor adsense along the way. So despite the abandoment issues, I'm glad I bought the program. It was a good place to start I guess.
                    Hi Jennysweets
                    It sounds like you have achieved some personal positives if not a totally positive experience with the program which is always a shame.

                    Personally I think I would have asked for a refund if the promises don't add up but that is a personal view and based on the fact that too many people get away with promoting and selling crap.

                    If you have made some money on adsense and realized your mistakes on keyword research then i have to tell you that is a huge step forward.Actually it is a good thing to have gone for a tougher keyword than you thought as this will give you real incite as to where you should be pitching your key word competition.

                    Things can never be that bad if you have learned new stuff and moved forward......persistence is the key
                    Good luck
                    Ben
                    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4451906].message }}
                    • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
                      Originally Posted by 110ben View Post

                      Hi Jennysweets
                      It sounds like you have achieved some personal positives if not a totally positive experience with the program which is always a shame.

                      Personally I think I would have asked for a refund if the promises don't add up but that is a personal view and based on the fact that too many people get away with promoting and selling crap.

                      If you have made some money on adsense and realized your mistakes on keyword research then i have to tell you that is a huge step forward.Actually it is a good thing to have gone for a tougher keyword than you thought as this will give you real incite as to where you should be pitching your key word competition.

                      Things can never be that bad if you have learned new stuff and moved forward......persistence is the key
                      Good luck
                      Ben
                      My perception is exactly as Jennysweets described, I felt abandoned as a customer in this case. I'm really disappointed by the fact that neither Sean nor any moderator really stood up and recognized there was a problem with their auto-posting solution.

                      Even admitting the problem and saying they're trying to find or create an alternative thought they don't have any yet would have made me feel more "respected" as someone who had spent money in their product.

                      However, the method Sean teaches is good in my opinion, and the logic and techniques that form it are quite sound, I can say I learnt a lot and he opened my mind to a new way of building sites.

                      So to say, if I had to rate the "Extreme Niche Empires" experience as a customer, I'd rate the content as 8/10, the tools he included as 5/10, and the customer support as 0/10.

                      The only reason why I didn't ask for a refund was the quality of the content, but Sean has lost me as a customer for the future
                      Signature
                      Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

                      |
                      V

                      I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
                      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4487032].message }}
                • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
                  Originally Posted by Yoong View Post

                  Just wondering with ENE, I understand you have unique articles, but what interval are you posting automated content. If you forget about the site, and you build a massive auto contented website compared to how many unique articles you have, isnt this risky for adsense?
                  I'm currently posting between 1 and 3 articles a day. I scheduled a few hundred articles throughtout the next 8 months, with different formats -combinations of text, images, video, Q&A etc- and different posting frequencies for each format, so that the autoblogging footprint is not so obvious, I tried to make it look a bit more natural.

                  Regarding adsense, I made a change so that the Adsense ads are only displayed in my original content. For the auto-generated content I either use other monetization methods, or even none at all in some cases and just try to funnel the traffic from those posts to my main money-making, original content.
                  Signature
                  Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

                  |
                  V

                  I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
                  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4486973].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
              Originally Posted by Wealth Mentor View Post

              Ummm Warriors...this was a serious question above . I see more people applauding his efforts, and asking for more data...but everyone seems to be avoiding the question of helping him with the expenses for this experiment.

              And NO....he did not ask me to ask this on his behalf. Honestly...this is the kind of data I would pay to join a membership site to get, if need be.

              I saw it expressed by someone on another thread that the Warrior forum was becoming a place where everyone wants all the secrets...but all for free. Since everyone is here because they want to make money, why not help out a fellow warrior when he is going way out there to be helpful to us.

              Just sayin'...
              Thanks a lot for your kind words in this thread WealthMentor -and everyone else-, I can't tell you how much your comments mean to me and encourage me to go further.
              Signature
              Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

              |
              V

              I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4487047].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
                Update, Aug 17th.

                Here I am with a new update.

                Social bookmarking

                As I told you in my previous update, I was going to start the social backlinking for all the sites.

                Each of the methods (BTF, GS2 and ENE) recommend different services, paid or free, that allow you to social-bookmark (is that a verb? LOL) your posts.

                I didn't want to become insane by using three different tools/services to do the same thing in the end, so I went with one of the solutions, which is using Ping.FM as a the platform where to publish my "updates", that in turn get distributed to different social networks and web 2.0 sites.

                I used an account I already had, that I was already using to promote a different site in the same niche as these three. As most of you will surely know, creating accounts in all the 2.0 sites and linking them to ping.fm is a pain in the xxx, so a few months ago I hired someone called "nexy" in fiverr to do it for me. The service was excellent, it was delivered on time (even faster than expected) and according to my requests in the gig.

                In fact I didn't have one, but 7 full accounts created and linked, here is the fiverr gig in case you are interested (no aff link):
                nexy: I will give PINGFM account with all available networks with pics and profile filled in it,Note Order 5 take 2 and for 10 take 4,but one account for $5 on fiverr.com
                So, I made sure that "my" (meaning my avatar's, as I'm using a pen name) twitter profile was indexed in google and posted a few updates in ping.fm to the main URL and a couple of posts in each of the three sites, in order to get those links.

                I'll do a few more updates the next couple of days, and see if these links appear in google.

                Article marketing

                That's what I'm currently working on, for the BTF site as I described in the previous update.

                I have created an article and spinned it once, and submitted both to different blogs in the Blogging Underground network. They are both published, with a backlink to my site in the content of the post.

                I'm extending this same article a bit further, and I'll submit it using AMR tomorrow. And also tomorrow, if I have time, I'll write the long article and submit it to EZA.

                If these backlinking methods are effective, I expect to see some improvements in rankings in the following days, I'll keep you posted!!
                Signature
                Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

                |
                V

                I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4487172].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author bolaji
            Wealth Mentor,

            Let's make the Tip Jar hap'n, cap'n!

            How do we do that?

            I've been interested in getting into niche sites for the past several weeks.
            And I discovered Bring The Fresh just 4 days ago.

            So imagine my pleasant surprise to find a full LIVE CASE STUDY on how it works,
            BEHIND the sales page.

            It's invaluable.

            The fact that Mikel has continued to share his progress, good or bad, is incredibly useful to someone like me. It shows that these tools do work... but only if you work them.


            Helping other Warriors to go in EYES WIDE OPEN is so very helpful.

            The focus and dedication, the public service, demonstrated by Mikel here (and note that HE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A HIGH WARRIOR FORUM POST COUNT... this is no guru!)

            The consistent contribution to fellow forum members...

            IT'S PRICELESS.

            This guy has never once even asked us to subscribe to his mailing list (which I might have asked for if I was Mikel... LOL!)

            You don't see selfless Marketers like this very often.

            Let's back this guy up and send him a tip for every update he posts.

            As I haven't done this before (give tips on WF), please share on how we can do this.


            YOU DA MAN, MIKEL!

            KEEP IT GOING!

            Bolaji.

            Originally Posted by Wealth Mentor View Post

            Anyone else feel this ongoing case study is valuable enough for a "Tip Jar" to assist Mikel with his content creation and other costs? He is single-handedly running this exhaustive test, so we don't have to invest (considerable) time and dollars towards gathering the data.

            An effort like this needs to have tangible evidence that it's much appreciated....
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4518534].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author Wealth Mentor
            Originally Posted by Wealth Mentor View Post

            Anyone else feel this ongoing case study is valuable enough for a "Tip Jar" to assist Mikel with his content creation and other costs? He is single-handedly running this exhaustive test, so we don't have to invest (considerable) time and dollars towards gathering the data.

            An effort like this needs to have tangible evidence that it's much appreciated....
            Okay...I've received a request and several "thanks" for my suggestion that we Warriors step up and back Mikel with some of the expenses he's absorbing doing this "case study" comparing 3 highly promoted systems: Extreme Niche Empires, Bring The Fresh and Google Sniper 2. I was thinking one way to do this is turn his experiment into a very low cost WSO.

            How many of you would be willing to pay Mikel like $3.50 to get exclusive access to his research data? We would pull this off the general forum, and he would provide future updates to those who help out by purchasing the WSO.

            I am willing to pay the WSO listing fee out of my pocket. I get nothing out of this except to try and ensure he can carry this work on. Because he's thoroughly testing these 3 systems out...I don't have too. That, to me, is priceless...

            If you don't see value in it for you...that's fine. But if you do see value in what he's doing, please say so and I'll pay for the WSO and let Mikel set it up.

            Let me know if you think this is a fair trade for what he is giving us. Thanks much.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4521158].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author bolaji
              Originally Posted by Wealth Mentor View Post

              How many of you would be willing to pay Mikel like $3.50 to get exclusive access to his research data? We would pull this off the general forum, and he would provide future updates to those who help out by purchasing the WSO.
              Great idea. I'm definitely in.
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4521293].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author Nile Vincent
                I wouldn't have a problem helping...

                I've got all three of these also...and this study is eye-opening!!

                Goes to show how much time and effort can really go into a project.

                Not just the 'one-click' thank you 'mam type stuff!!

                Nile
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4523758].message }}
                • Profile picture of the author JerryGP
                  Interesting study. I should give Bring the Fresh another try. Took me three months for one sale. Has anyone compared these programs and Commission Ignition?

                  Thanks again for the study
                  Signature

                  To Motivate your day!

                  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4544627].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author raffman999
              Originally Posted by Wealth Mentor View Post

              Okay...I've received a request and several "thanks" for my suggestion that we Warriors step up and back Mikel with some of the expenses he's absorbing doing this "case study" comparing 3 highly promoted systems: Extreme Niche Empires, Bring The Fresh and Google Sniper 2. I was thinking one way to do this is turn his experiment into a very low cost WSO.

              How many of you would be willing to pay Mikel like $3.50 to get exclusive access to his research data? We would pull this off the general forum, and he would provide future updates to those who help out by purchasing the WSO.

              I am willing to pay the WSO listing fee out of my pocket. I get nothing out of this except to try and ensure he can carry this work on. Because he's thoroughly testing these 3 systems out...I don't have too. That, to me, is priceless...

              If you don't see value in it for you...that's fine. But if you do see value in what he's doing, please say so and I'll pay for the WSO and let Mikel set it up.

              Let me know if you think this is a fair trade for what he is giving us. Thanks much.
              Is this something you have discussed with Mikel or are you just putting it out there?
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4601000].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author Nile Vincent
              Originally Posted by Wealth Mentor View Post

              Okay...I've received a request and several "thanks" for my suggestion that we Warriors step up and back Mikel with some of the expenses he's absorbing doing this "case study" comparing 3 highly promoted systems: Extreme Niche Empires, Bring The Fresh and Google Sniper 2. I was thinking one way to do this is turn his experiment into a very low cost WSO.

              How many of you would be willing to pay Mikel like $3.50 to get exclusive access to his research data? We would pull this off the general forum, and he would provide future updates to those who help out by purchasing the WSO.

              I am willing to pay the WSO listing fee out of my pocket. I get nothing out of this except to try and ensure he can carry this work on. Because he's thoroughly testing these 3 systems out...I don't have too. That, to me, is priceless...

              If you don't see value in it for you...that's fine. But if you do see value in what he's doing, please say so and I'll pay for the WSO and let Mikel set it up.

              Let me know if you think this is a fair trade for what he is giving us. Thanks much.
              Yes, this would be a great trade...count me in!!!
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4874046].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author SteveSch
        $3.50 would be a steal. I'm in.

        mikel.perez.01,

        You can get access to Article Marketing Robot and Unique Article Wizard through Fiverr. Much better for testing than spending $67 a month for UAW.

        Ads on auto generated pages. I understand that the Adsense ads were removed and just placed on the original content pages. Clickbank allows you to make ads that look like Adsense but feature Clickbank products. Make 2 or 3, or 7, of these ad blocks and have them rotate so they don't all look the same.

        One Clickbank sale would be worth a lot of Adsense clicks.

        On another note:

        The dreaded OTO, or One Time Offer. I have put off buying products because of these offers. I know that everyone uses them and they generate some extra cash. But I would like the advanced training offer so I will wait until I can afford the entire package. Many times while I am waiting something else will come along. ;-)

        Steve
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4711633].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author raphullife
    I've bookmarked this. Thanks for sharing
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4417844].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author martyJames
    Great thread- thanks for this. Learning about some great WP stuff too
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4417939].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Nathy Curiel
    I looking forward to see which will do better..
    This way I know what to buy ! thanks
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4418710].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author JOleng
      Finally an update yeey !!!
      Congratz on making some money already.
      And as far as not doing as much as fast as you expected, don't worry about it. Just continue doing it even if it's going much slower than you expected.
      Remember that it's better to walk slowly than not to walk at all.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4427422].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Kurt Henninger
    I wonder if you have any thoughts on how these sites perform vs. larger content sites. I've seen in the last few months that sites with more content seem to perform better.
    Signature

    Lets' Connect On Twitter My Twitter Page

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4427630].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
      Originally Posted by Kurt Henninger View Post

      I wonder if you have any thoughts on how these sites perform vs. larger content sites. I've seen in the last few months that sites with more content seem to perform better.
      Generally speaking, my experience has been quite similar lately. Of all my sites, those where I add more content regularly and have more "depth" so to speak tend to rank better and keep their rankings longer without a huge backlinking effort.

      It's not that I've tried to build hundreds of sniper type sites, though, so maybe someone can report a different experience.
      Signature
      Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

      |
      V

      I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4486940].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Aris
    I've always have a thing for case studies... thanks for this Mikel, I want to click the thanks button, but it seem that my post count or something else hasn't allowed me to see the thanks button.

    Edit: Nevermind, I see the thanks button now.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4456765].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mittel
    No updates yet Mikel?We are waiting to see what progress you made from the 3 different programs.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4469300].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Transerfer
    Looking forward for news...
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4482760].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Wealth Mentor
    BRAVO!!! You are teaching so much...including the amount of real work that goes into having successful outcomes. So much for all those one-click solutions.....
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4487256].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author 110ben
    This is an excellent thread with loads of good info and makes you realize that this forum still has great people.
    Many congratulations and good luck.
    Rgds
    Ben
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4495252].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author glennforum
    This is a good online case study, it gives direction on what to do in terms of online marketing. However, it would be great to see some more updates.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4521186].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Sean Donahoe
    Wow... I just came across this thread and had no idea anyone had really put these methods to such an extensive test.

    I see some people are dissapointed with our support and I feel very ashamed that some of you have felt that we have abandoned this project as it could not be further from the case. We have a dedicated support staff ready to help with any questions you have at Internet Marketing Success Center and you can contact our team of Wordpress experts at any time with any issues or questions you have.

    The blogfeeder has been causing problems for some people due to changes in Article Directory attitudes to auto-posters after the panda update and we did add an additional article directory to the system but we do recommend tools like WP-Robot etc for more professional autoblogging. I was not trying to reinvent the wheel with autoblogging but understood that some people would not want to shell out $75+ for another plugin once they purchased the course.

    Actually we are in the process of adding another 1000 sites to our existing Extreme Niche Empire here at IMSC. So this system is under constant development and we will be releasing an updated version next year to stay in line with the current Google climate and changes.

    Autoblogging and the methods we recommend work very well to create real income over time and like I say, its all about scale and automation.

    We are also working on much more simplified versions of this approach for future products and even our next product Commission Commando is based on AutoBlogging to some degree with more emphasis on Social Media Traffic to ignore Google and its updates.

    I am actually in the process of adding 2 more article directories to the blogfeeder but again, I do recommend more pro tools like WP-Robot that have many more years in the field behind it

    You can also get free content feeders from places like Blogger High that work pretty well but not in the same vein as Blogfeeder and WP-Robot.

    I was also asked why we removed the forum. There was 2 reasons, 1 there was a lot of spam and abuse and we were not able to keep up with a lot of that and also because of the perception that we were not supporting this product. We wanted to direct more people to the support center so we can help people more directly. The forums rather than being a help ended up being a hindrance in that regard.

    So, after reading this excellent thread I hope that helps clear some things up and I would also like to invite everyone to check out our new TV show IMSCTV here and leave any comments you feel like.

    Also you can ask a question directly on our site and if enough people ask the same question we can make it a subject of future shows.

    All the best

    Sean

    IMSCTV - IMSC TV | Just another WordPress site
    Ask a Question - Ask Sean a Question
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4616769].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author raffman999
    So is this still a live thread? Or is it the proposed WSO now? No offence Wealth Mentor, but I think we need to here from Mikel on this.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4641374].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author olmate
    Thanks for your in-depth analysis some really valuable information here, has answered many of my questions about article posting and making correct use of article spinners. Will have to test some of these out myself
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4712127].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author thair
    hi mikel: i just want to thank you for the huge efforts and time you have invested in this live case study operation just to help out fellow newbies on this forum you are really a caring and genuine person. i promise that if you ever create WSO i'll purchase it without demanding a reviews or even asking you whether it will help me make money or not ...just pm with your email for future contact..
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4712861].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author sandy11
    Thanks for sharing this.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4715113].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author gurruwiwi
      Excellent thread!!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4839687].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author BuzzBee
    Hey man, keep it up!! You are doing a great job!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4846288].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author crooner
    Being caught in the "endless shiney object syndrome" I really appreciate this post.
    thanks again for giving insight on how to work at this stuff.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4850901].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author 4morereferrals
      Okay...I've received a request and several "thanks" for my suggestion that we Warriors step up and back Mikel with some of the expenses he's absorbing doing this "case study" comparing 3 highly promoted systems: Extreme Niche Empires, Bring The Fresh and Google Sniper 2. I was thinking one way to do this is turn his experiment into a very low cost WSO.

      How many of you would be willing to pay Mikel like $3.50 to get exclusive access to his research data? We would pull this off the general forum, and he would provide future updates to those who help out by purchasing the WSO.

      I am willing to pay the WSO listing fee out of my pocket. I get nothing out of this except to try and ensure he can carry this work on. Because he's thoroughly testing these 3 systems out...I don't have too. That, to me, is priceless...

      If you don't see value in it for you...that's fine. But if you do see value in what he's doing, please say so and I'll pay for the WSO and let Mikel set it up.

      Let me know if you think this is a fair trade for what he is giving us. Thanks much.

      Id gladly donate a Backlink Energizer plugin and up to 10 BLISS CLuster paks [ web 2 accounts ] for the energizer installs to post TO - as well as advise and assist in the backlinking indexation process and tips.

      pinging and rolling rss feeds by themselves may not produce the quality results they want.
      Signature
      Rank Ascend Network - High PR Links / Guaranteed Rankings Increase
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4851960].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author MrKlean
        Wealth Mentor,

        Excellent idea my man! What's happening with the tip jar and where can I go to sign up? To be honest, I don't see how a measly $3.50 even comes close to covering everything that Mikel's putting into this project.

        In my bricks and mortar business that I run daily, I am always amazed at the amount of people that want something for nothing and it seems that it is no different here.

        It disgusts me when you offer up a suggestion to help out a fellow warrior and most everyone just glosses over it like they never saw it. They don't deserve the rest of the story.

        I agree 100% that this should be a membership or WSO for the rest of Mikel's results.

        Who cares if Mikel is in on this or if you've talked to him. I could care less. Mikel has gone further and worked harder than most, putting in the time, effort and money to MAKE these programs work where 99% of IMers would have given up already.

        And a big thank you to JennySweets and SteveSch that have added additional information to this project with their own helpful advice.

        I've also learned that I won't buy Commission Commando or any product with Sean's name on it as well. It seems to me that if there were problems with their forum or whatever, they should have kept their members alerted throughout the entire process. Just stay in touch and we can understand, but when you skip out and then try to come back with excuses, it's over.

        That's the way it is in the real world. When you drop the ball, nobody cares why, you just have to start over. It can take years to build up a reputation, but only one bad experience to tear it all down.

        WealthMentor, I'm in as soon as you tell us how to help Mikel out. Forget all these cheap bas*ards and free loaders, (and you know who you are) they aren't worth our time. Their selfishness is evident in those who ignore your suggestion.

        When Mikel states that he has a life and family to tend to, it seems that no one cares about that, apparently most warrior members could care less and simply hound him even more for more information. Sorry, but a simple "Thanks" and "Great job!" don't cut it in my book.

        WealthMentor, if you need any money to cover getting this done, just let me know. It takes money to make money and I'm in it to win it brother. Good luck to those that want to help Mikel and to hell with the rest. There's no such thing as a "free lunch" folks and Mikel seems to be the one paying for the rest of us right now.

        Mikel, keep up the excellent work and I don't just promise to buy any of your future WSO's, I guarantee it. What you are doing says alot about you and I for one, will support you from here on out. Anyone as unselfish as you are, deserves more support from the rest of us. If everyone were like you, the world would be a much better place. Count me in.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4857557].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author marketwarlord
          Hello all,

          I wanted to step in a say a couple of things. I was around when this thread started, but was not paying close attention somewhere in the middle until now.

          I'm am for the WSO idea for the test results. I think that is a great idea. Certainly worth the information.


          In response to MrKlean and in the defense of Sean Donahoe, I will say that I agree that things went a little downhill with the whole forum and support thing for ExtremeNicheEmpires, however; I have been following Sean for a good while now. He is one of the few people I still trust. He has always tried to be upfront and transparent and helpful.

          I definitely realize that one bad tasted can ruin the many good ones, but I suggest not discarding Sean as a leader in this space. It appears that Sean and his group learned from the mistakes with their support team and forum from the last product and have greatly ramped up their efforts for Commission Commando. (No, I am not trying to plug that product) I just want to point out, that he is trying to make things bigger, better, and easier for people.

          Sean's stuff has always been solid and good and I have only seen improvements as time has gone on. If you were unfortunate to be introduced to Sean for the first time through ExtremeNicheEmpires, I suggest to at least keep your eyes on him a bit longer, I don't believe you will be disappointed.

          That's my two cents. I am looking forward to the test results and the fruition of the WSO plans for the release of the information... please someone let us all know when this comes about.

          thanks all!
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4857710].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Nile Vincent
          Originally Posted by MrKlean View Post

          Wealth Mentor,


          WealthMentor, if you need any money to cover getting this done, just let me know. It takes money to make money and I'm in it to win it brother. Good luck to those that want to help Mikel and to hell with the rest. There's no such thing as a "free lunch" folks and Mikel seems to be the one paying for the rest of us right now.

          Mikel, keep up the excellent work and I don't just promise to buy any of your future WSO's, I guarantee it. What you are doing says alot about you and I for one, will support you from here on out. Anyone as unselfish as you are, deserves more support from the rest of us. If everyone were like you, the world would be a much better place. Count me in.
          I agree with this completely! I'll also help out covering add'l expenses...just holler at me...
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4874102].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author Nile Vincent
            Just wanted to check in and see how this is going...

            Looks like we're all still holding our breaths!

            Patience...
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5226244].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MrKlean
    You are right MarketWarlord. I won't completely sign Sean off as I respect anyone who is willing to put their a** on the line to launch any type of IM product, especially here in the WF where people will call you out on it. I just need a breather because I too have experienced other so called gurus that dropped the ball after I've devoted much time and money into a project from them. I'm calmer now and you have definitely made me realize that I may have been a little tough on Sean. After all, he did come back here to explain the situation and I do give him props for that. But in the 50 years I've been walking around on this rock, I've found that customers aren't always so forgiving. I understand how things can go awry and would just like anyone who may have read my reply to realize that when you launch an IM product, you are asking a lot of people to trust you and when that trust is broken it is extremely hard to rebuild. I wish Sean the best. He is apparently back on top of his game again with Commission Commando as I get emails from all kinds of gurus promoting his products (probably 3 or 4 a day) so, he obviously has an extensive following. Sorry if I came off too harsh, but everyone should learn from this. Heck, I'm not sure if I would ever offer a WSO or IM product just for the very reasons that he's mentioned. I'm sure I will end up checking out one of his products in the future. It's inevitable when you're talking about someone like Sean. He obviously has his foot firmly planted in the door and I doubt anyone will ever completely shut him out. Live and learn my friend.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4858074].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author marketwarlord
      Originally Posted by MrKlean View Post

      You are right MarketWarlord. I won't completely sign Sean off as I respect anyone who is willing to put their a** on the line to launch any type of IM product, especially here in the WF where people will call you out on it. I just need a breather because I too have experienced other so called gurus that dropped the ball after I've devoted much time and money into a project from them. I'm calmer now and you have definitely made me realize that I may have been a little tough on Sean. After all, he did come back here to explain the situation and I do give him props for that. But in the 50 years I've been walking around on this rock, I've found that customers aren't always so forgiving. I understand how things can go awry and would just like anyone who may have read my reply to realize that when you launch an IM product, you are asking a lot of people to trust you and when that trust is broken it is extremely hard to rebuild. I wish Sean the best. He is apparently back on top of his game again with Commission Commando as I get emails from all kinds of gurus promoting his products (probably 3 or 4 a day) so, he obviously has an extensive following. Sorry if I came off too harsh, but everyone should learn from this. Heck, I'm not sure if I would ever offer a WSO or IM product just for the very reasons that he's mentioned. I'm sure I will end up checking out one of his products in the future. It's inevitable when you're talking about someone like Sean. He obviously has his foot firmly planted in the door and I doubt anyone will ever completely shut him out. Live and learn my friend.

      I definitely hear you. I have been trying to get my nerve up to do a product and put it in a WSO. It seems that trust is a frail thing, especially in the IM realm; and for good reason. It's too easy to take advantage of people... and some people sure do that.

      I agree with you that people need to realize that putting something out for others to use is a serious undertaking. On the flip side... that is what I kind of like about this forum and the WSOs. If your stuff survives that... then it is a really good sign that it is of value.

      Nice talkin to you! Best of luck too!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4858121].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author tacoverhoef
    It has been about two months now for last update on this post. Is Mikel already back from his holiday?

    Love to hear more about this topic.

    Or is this already down the WSO route?

    Anybody got insight on Mikel, like how he is doing right now or where he is, maybe some of you know him personal?

    Anyway hope to see something happening in here soon.
    Signature
    The Action Taker
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4863671].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Tacarigua
    I find this case study quite interesting. Can you give an update with respect to the performance of each program? I would really like to know the results so far.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[4871293].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author HenkJ
    I just came across this thread today while checking Warrior views on EME before buying into it. I have had some success with GS2, but have been folloing Matthew Carter's training over the past few months.
    This thread is easily the most valuable forum contribution I have seen in my two years in this game and I am happy to contribute to the Tip Jar. $3.50 just seems far too little to keep Mikel motivated... Is anything happening on the idea? Mile, are you still at it?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5338532].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Nile Vincent
      Originally Posted by HenkJ View Post

      I just came across this thread today while checking Warrior views on EME before buying into it. I have had some success with GS2, but have been folloing Matthew Carter's training over the past few months.
      This thread is easily the most valuable forum contribution I have seen in my two years in this game and I am happy to contribute to the Tip Jar. $3.50 just seems far too little to keep Mikel motivated... Is anything happening on the idea? Mile, are you still at it?

      Yes, one day at a time...making progress on all three...damn, these are not the easy so called "make money quick" programs...I don't give a damn what the promoters are saying...
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5361362].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Srdjan
        Well done to all, especially to Mikel, count me in

        Good contribution thanks everyone!

        Best regards
        Srdjan
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5374305].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author rusy123
    No update so far in this exciting thread?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5479679].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author xxxJamesxxx
    I haven't read the entire thread but I bet GS 2.0 got it's ass wupped.

    James Scholes
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5480090].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author hendarin
    I really eager to see the result over the next 2 or 3 months. I don't know about BTF and GS2 (I don't have them) but ENE is very very good tutorial, top notch, unfortunately it has One drawback. Within the course, Sean shows an example (real website that he built from the scratch step by step, so anyone can follow it easily) with all the easy but very smart traffic strategies and excellent tools that he provide, but I could not find that site live, why?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5502070].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author itchydog
      Sean took down his example website after he finished making the videos.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5513905].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author hendarin
    I become Bring The Fresh Full Disclosure member recently, I have to say that the materials are excellent, but as a fresh member, I have also to say that communication with Bring The Fresh Owners are very insufficient, because I bought their "Deluxe Guaranteed Rankings DFY package" on 29th January 2012 (My PayPal payment ID transaction number is 05B072838G158230U), but up until now I don't know the status of my order. I have sent e-mail twice to 'kellysfelix@gmail.com' (on 30 and 31st Jan 2011) and another one to 'kellyandmike@bringthefresh.com' early today (1st feb 2012). Those 2 e-mail addresses are the official contact point within the members area.

    I write this not to rush bring the fresh team with my tiny order, I just want to know the status of that order.

    I am still waiting for the reply, and I write this in warrior forum, hoping that either Kelly or Mike or their staff can see this post and can help me out
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5531048].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author hendarin
    @Itchydog : thanks for your info
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5531281].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author hendarin
    Mike have contacted me, and also Mario from BTF, it seems that we had little problem on e-mail communication but now everything seems OK.

    To Mike and his team, Thank you very much for your attention
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5549385].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
    Hello all, I'm back!

    This may be a long post, as I plan to cover the following:
    1 - An explanation of why I've been missing all this time, which I think I owe you.
    2 - The situation with the sites I created for the experiment as of now
    3 - Important conclussions about this experiment
    4- What do you want me to do of this thread from now on?

    So, here we go.

    1 - What I've been up to.

    Well, I've been up to a lot of things in the past months, and there's an important lesson I've learned in that time:

    No matter what your plans, intention and schedule are, LIFE GETS IN THE WAY.

    I was moving to a "new" apartment closer to the center of my town (BIlbao), which I was having rehabilitated. Long story short, the works that should have ended in July ended in October, after no few headaches for me. Moving there was also a slight nightmare, and afterwards I had quasi-legal problems with one of my new neighbours.

    So I was severely distracted for months, and I could only focus on several offline projects I had signed contracts for with a few customers.

    So, lesson learned: never again assume that things will always go smoothly, and plan your efforts and compromises assuming you'll be working at your maximum capacity and efficiency.

    The good news is all is well now, so I'm up and running again. And I don't plan to move to a new place EVER

    2 - The situation with the sites

    As you can ssume from the previous section, I haven't had time to work at all on those sites, so they've been "on their own". How have they done since I last reported?

    - The GS2 site stabilized at position #1 in Bing, and page 3 in Google and Yahoo. The daily traffic curve looks like a function generating random numbers between 1 and 7 , with less than 100 visits a month. I only achieved one conversion (physical product sale), so I've lost a few bucks with this site.

    - The BTF site is stable at position #11 in Google, #5 in Yahoo and #3 in Bing. It receives a few more visits than the previous one, but nothing significant. I've also made a single sale, that mostly covered the cost of the domain.

    - Regarding the ENE site, the situation is more complex. If you rememeber, I created 9 money pages, plus many automatically generated posts. Supposedly, the auto-blogging part of the equation should help the main pages get up in the rankings.

    Well, here's what's happened:
    • The money pages have not reached any top positions. The highest one in Google is at position #15, the lowest one is nowhere to be seen. The highest ranking one is at position #14 in Bing, the lowest is nowhere. And the best position they achieved in Yahoo is #36.
    • But, and that's important, the auto-generated posts, being focused in longer tail keywords, are in fact ranking for many different keywords all around the keywordsphere (nice term, huh? :rolleyes, and driving traffic. The site got approx 400 visits / month last year, in january they grow to 800 / month. And these pages that get traffic for long tail keywords are funnelling part of that traffic to the money pages.
    • And, regarding monetization, I haven't made any physical product sales, but if you remember I installed Adsense (in the money pages and the home page), and am getting -after tweaking and optimizing placement of ads- an average CTR of 5,8%. It is not the best of my sites, but it's not bad at all either. The CPC is not high, though, so I've made close to 100$. Enough to cover for the expenses and make some profit, but not to live off of it.
    I'd like to give my opinion on the programs themselves, apart of how my sites performed:
    • GS2: The site is active, and George is still running webinars for members and adding content. I think that honors him, considering how many marketers launch a site and then never add a single comma to it, or even take it down after some time.
    • BTF: The site is also active, with a forum where members can interact, and Mike and Kelly show up often to interact with members.
    • ENE: As I already said in some previous post, Sean mainly disappeared, leaving the members with a plugin that only partially worked and with no replies. If this has changed lately, please correct me, but that's how things were when I last checked.

    3 - Important conclussions about the experiment

    Here's the thing... if we think of this experiment as a pure "case study" of what someone wanting to build an affiliate site can find on his way, I think I can consider it a complete success: I think I found every possible issue you can come across

    I had technical issues in the case of BTF, I had personal matters getting in the way, I had to decide that I'd do some things myself and outsource others, I found that each method recommends different services (for instance, backlinking services) and you can't follow instructions to the t you will end up being a member of every service out there...

    If we think of it as a SEO experiment, my feelings are my performance has been so-so. I did most of what was advised in the methods, but not all. I think the final positions in the rankings prove that finding an easy keyword, an EMD, and throwing a few backlinks at it, is not enough to get to #1. But it doesn't disprove it's possible, either, you just need more consistency over time, something I have not done.

    Of course, even though it was not the objective of this thread, money-wise the experiment has been a complete failure. But I think I'm the one to blame; the reason lays in the ultra-strict constraints I set in the beginning trying to be "scientific".

    If you re-read my first post, in order to try to give each method an igualitarian treatment, I forced all of them to target main keywords in the same niche, related to physical products, using the Amazon marketplace, and centered around products that shared some "functionality" or benefit to the user.

    Well, this may have helped me compare them SEO-wise (though, as you may remember, I had to stretch the limits of GS2 a bit), but has set the foundation for a complete monetary failure.

    I now think I should have let each of them "fly free", and lead me to whatever keywords I could find in whatever market, and see how they performed, each on their own merits.

    My final conclussion, if someone didn't already know that: this thing ain't as easy as we're sometimes made to believe.

    Sure, these methods can work, and I know because I have some other sites that are profitable, but only after a lot of work, testing and tweaking. "throwing anything" at Google or the visitors is not enough, not anymore.


    4 - And now, the final question: what do you want me to do from now on?

    Regarding the three sites I built, I will let the GS2 and BTF ones die, and keep the ENE one, and work on it a bit more because I think it has some potential.

    So, the alternatives now are:

    a) I do nothing more with this thread, and leave it here as an interesting experiment. Sometimes things have to have a beginning, and have an end, and maybe the time has come to close this thread.

    b) I try to run the same experiment again with three new sites, this time focusing on monetization, giving more freedom to the three methods. I'm not especially motivated to building another ENE site, but what the heck, if that's what you want I can do it.

    c) I run my own experiment, based on the GS2 / BTF / ENE techniques, but mixing and tweaking them, following a strategy that has given me good results in other cases. And this time, giving you much more detail (even revealing the sites and keywords) This would be like a WSO unfolding in front of your eyes.

    Oh, by the way, I don't plan to make a WSO of this thread, though I'm really really thankful to those that offered to heklp me on that endeavour. I have several WSOs in mind but they'll be centered around what I want to be my core business, and it's not "how to make money online", so if I do something else here, it would be for free.

    So, what would you like me to do? I'd love to hear from you!
    Signature
    Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

    |
    V

    I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5680556].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author notquiteaguru
      First of all thanks for your great case study it was a great read!
      As far as where to go from here, I think you have 3 solid options. I say you should go for C with a twist...
      take on myself and two other students to each work one of the methods and document everything to turn it into a WSO
      Signature

      Still Under construction
      www.notquiteaguru.com

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5695804].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Jnorman
      Mike,

      I like "option C" also. I think you have brought great knowledge to us and I for one would look forward to seeing more of your case study. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help in your endeavor.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5702874].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author .
      Originally Posted by mikel.perez.01 View Post

      So, what would you like me to do? I'd love to hear from you!
      Hi Mikel
      I used to live in Getxo - near Bilbao

      Although I love the idea of case studies, I think we need to face the facts
      this is 2012.... you can't build an authority site as a case study, an authority site needs to be build with a BUSINESS MODEL in place not with a "keyword sniping mentality"

      Building a site to get ranking for just 1 - 2 keywords is like working on a beautiful sand castle ... it will be destroyed eventually.

      what it will be cooler is .. instead of you creating these sites based on SOMEONE ELSE model..... create your own

      Don't follow other people, instead tell us what you have learned, and create an amazing authority site but with a clear business plan and not with a "let me follow what so-called gurus are telling me to do"

      just my 2 cents.
      Un abrazo!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6208993].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author denominator
    Thank you for doing the case study, great read.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5695978].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author marketwarlord
      Thanks for the work you have put into it and your report of the results.

      I was happy to hear that ENE came out a little bit on top. I have been using it for a while in a few different ways and have been pretty happy with the results. I have been making about $100 per week using it on a site and haven't really pushed hard on getting the site ranked well. I am back in the saddle on it and expect to drive this to the point where I am making upwards of $50 to $100 per day with it on one site.


      I look forward to seeing anything else that comes out of this study. Let us know if we can be of assistance.

      Best regards,

      Anthony
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5696215].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author freelinks
    I love this case study because you are only promting physical products.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5696247].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author HKSEO Rotzee
    Gotta love case studies, thanks for the time and effort.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5697059].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author KellyFelix
      I think you hit the nail on the head with option C:

      "I run my own experiment, based on the GS2 / BTF / ENE techniques, but mixing and tweaking them"

      I think this is the most important lesson you can get from any product. When you follow something to the T, you are doing yourself an injustice, because you are likely able to add additional steps or creativity that we as product owners may have over-looked, simply because we aren't you and we don't have your own unique perspective.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5697857].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author immoneymagnet
        Originally Posted by KellyFelix View Post

        I think you hit the nail on the head with option C:

        "I run my own experiment, based on the GS2 / BTF / ENE techniques, but mixing and tweaking them"

        I think this is the most important lesson you can get from any product. When you follow something to the T, you are doing yourself an injustice, because you are likely able to add additional steps or creativity that we as product owners may have over-looked, simply because we aren't you and we don't have your own unique perspective.
        Not trying to be negative here whatsoever....but I can't help but point out Kelly your sales page says "You need to follow my instructions EXACTLY"

        I mean I do know that in every method there has to be some creativity...in other words I agree completely with your post here. BUT I remember thinking when I read that part on your sales page about following your instructions EXACTLY...made me think maybe I should just do that...not deviate at all from the steps.

        But maybe not
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6149692].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
          Hey, guys

          I'm back here, thanks for your attention and compliments.

          OK, I'll be running a new experiment. I'll be starting next Monday, which I think is May 7th.

          It will be an interesting experiment, as I'll do two different things:
          - Create, rank and monetize (well, try to) a new site.
          - And try to relive two old sites of mine that have tanked this month due to Panda? Penguin? Any other weird animal?

          It'll be interesting to see the results.

          I'll create a new thread for that, though. I'll post the link here so that you can all get to the new one.
          Signature
          Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

          |
          V

          I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6150900].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author Mary Davis
            Mikel -

            Thanks for your time and effort in sharing your results with us. I will be following your new adventures closely!

            Ebiz Mom
            WebPro Golf
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6153754].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Big Al
    Option C as well.

    Markets differ and people differ. You have to find out what's working for you and make that better. That'll differ for everyone. Experience is the best teacher and courses are simply guides that teach you (hopefully) from other people's experience so you don't have to start from scratch.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5719150].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author itchydog
    I say you build 100 of each, log the time you spend on each, the money you spend, earnings, traffic and then create a nice table showing which method is more efficient when you look at time spent vs money spent vs earnings, lol.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5719349].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mookes
    I think your 3 methods is totally great for long term,
    1. Bring the Fresh by Kelly Felix and Mike Long
    2. Extreme Niche Empires by Sean Donahoe
    3. Google Sniper 2 by George Brown.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5719392].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Nile Vincent
    Option C: this one sounds very interesting...and also sounds like you'd have your
    heart in it to the hilt!

    Good luck, and let us know if there's anything we can help with...
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5843261].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Steadyon
    Hi Mikel Perez,

    Thanks for taking the time to do a case study and for posting back recently.

    I don't want to pour water on what you have done, but am i right in saying that for all the work you did, you only made two sales?

    If this is the case, then surely that can merit doing all the work you did or paid for.

    Please correct me if I have misread something. It's just that I see so many people try their hand at IM and make zero or next to zero.

    I make money online but mainly by selling physical stuff.

    Thanks.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5870979].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author bolaji
    Hey folks.

    Don't know if you're aware or not, but Kelly Felix just launched Bring The Fresh 2012 as a Warrior Special Offer.

    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...s-revenge.html
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5908909].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author llncm
      Do you own this my friend?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5931807].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author bartholomä
    I was especially interested in hearing how Google Sniper perfoms vs Bring the Fresh as I am definetly going to sign up for one of those two.

    Everyone has some bad luck once in a while, glad you found a place finally.

    Thanks again for the case study, maybe you can repeat that from time to time or even build a website around it? (sounds like quality content and interesting to me).
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5962875].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Piero
      I'm a brand new buyer of Kelly's BTF (bought a few days ago), and I'm still wading through all the content, so am not in a position yet to offer any meaningful feedback. (Bought it and prepared to settle in for a few days of undisturbed, focused study and preparation/implementation....LOL, and life intervened...still- onwards and upwards)

      Hey! Idea for one of the "serial" WSO creators: "Life intervenes: How to ....."(fill in the blanks):p

      However, it has become clear to me from reading this really excellent thread of Mikel's that things aren't as easy/simple as they might appear on sales pages and that a certain amount of improvisation/addition may be needed to really crack it (as Kelly also points out)....time will tell though, as I intend following the BTF method to start with. From what I've seen to date, their forum and support is alive 'n well and a good source of support- for me, this resource alone is priceless.

      MANY thanks to Mikel for freely sharing the result of your time, money and dedicated work...this is truly priceless (using that word again, I know, but I do use it quite literally). Not many IM'ers would do this kind of thing. Thanks again.

      Mikel, as to your question of which way to go: I fully agree with Kelly that option c) I run my own experiment, based on the GS2 / BTF / ENE techniques, but mixing and tweaking them would be great.

      I look forward to your future posts in this thread.

      Piero
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5963962].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Plato
        Hey there Mikel,

        thanks for your time and input to this interesting case study.
        Option C. sounds nice ..
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5970378].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Vija
    I really appreciate the time and effort you put in this. Thank you very much for the amazing case study.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5963941].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author inazuman
    I've bookmarked this. Great thread- thanks for this. Learning about some great WP stuff too
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6181004].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
    Hi, guys!

    I just started my new experiment.

    I decided to open a new thread, you can follow it here (and don't forget to subscribe to that one in order to stay up to date):
    http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...xperiment.html
    Signature
    Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

    |
    V

    I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6208312].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author robftprod
      Hi
      I really enjoyed reading this thread
      I was hoping you had time for one more post on this experiment
      What happened to each site after the recent Penguin update?

      Thanks
      Rob
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6208795].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author mikel.perez.01
        That's easy to answer: nothing. Neither good nor bad, they are getting the same traffic they were before, and ranking in similar positions.

        Unfortunately, that was not the case with all my sites, as you'll see in my new case study
        Signature
        Need some high-quality lead magnets to build your list?

        |
        V

        I'm giving you giveaway rights to two of my plugins!
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6208820].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author mrultra
          Banned
          [DELETED]
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6209031].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author omgfirstmillion
            Hi,

            Thanks so much for this experiment, you´re awesome. I must say I´m shocked with the poor monetization results from the sites. The BTF sales letter talks about incredible figures, like 1 million wise! And yet your BTF webpage had this results?? I´m aware you didn´t work that hard on it, but still... definitely not so easy as they make it look!

            And by the way I´d love if you make a new experiment with option "C", would really like to see your mind completely free to create an experimental site mixing these three methods and making a case study like this one.

            I live also in Spain, by the way.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6261320].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author timpears
          Originally Posted by mikel.perez.01 View Post

          That's easy to answer: nothing. Neither good nor bad, they are getting the same traffic they were before, and ranking in similar positions.

          Unfortunately, that was not the case with all my sites, as you'll see in my new case study

          Well if that was the link given in the OP, it was a dead link. I would like to know what the outcome is as I had trouble following Bring The Fresh and seldom go there any more.
          Signature

          Tim Pears

          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6817245].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author SamDermot
    Banned
    Great advice and tutorial for experienced as well!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6261408].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mitchmelkonian
    Banned
    subscribed and will follow intently.....thanks to everyone who's posting helpful content!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6815199].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author K Mec
    Hi Mikel, you are taking so much pain...waiting for the results...
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6817223].message }}

Trending Topics