IM4Newbies Internet Marketing Community

[Mike Merz]

I have to say ... the John Reese's Traffic Secrets course campaign was one incredible example of using build up and high level joint ventures.

As one of his 'platinum' JV partners, my experience was comparable ... if not greater, than Mark Joyner's Farewell promotion ... in terms of exposure regarding a high ticket product.

What are your opinions of "Hurricane John"?

Regards,

Mike "and yes, I knew John before he asked me to promote ... AND I own the course" Merz

[CorpRebel]

[Mike Merz]

[alice]

Before I say anything...Mike...you know me...I mean all this in the nicest, most sincere way. And Rick, I think you know me well enough too, fellow SSWT'er.

Only in your marketing world was it big...that's the curious thing. I didn't know who John Reese was until about 1 month ago and coincidentally, I had been working on a traffic program myself, so I had to pay attention.

But really, it's like a good 'ol boys club (with a few women sprinkled in) and those on the mailing lists were exposed...and...yuh...that's a lot of people, but that's not all the people. There are many more people in the online biz world that he hasn't effectively reached. And yes, I reach one of those untapped markets.

Sure, in part, my message is out of bitterness and John's ignoring my request to be an affiliate. But I reach a very specialized target Internet marketing and they don't spend money until someone trusted tells them too and I am a trusted one. And he ignored me.

So, here's what I think and here's where I may be burned at the stake, but please know this is very much tongue in cheek. Here's young John Reese (2 years my senior) who has quietly been making a @#$!-load of cash on the net for quite some time. I applaud him for that!

Now he's been trying to get more attention and so he has to launch this monster product. Instead of making more money over the long term, he goes for one big blowout and wants all eyes on him. That's pretty cool, but after reading the same "personal email" from my favorite "guru" (translation - same email from every big marketer that John asked to be his affiliate)...I'm not sure the campaign was DA BOMB.

Certainly, I sound negative and I think the whole marketing campaign was so contrived...yet, I have no doubt it was successful. And when people suggest that what John is offering is not worth a $1000 that pisses me off. This guys knows his stuff and really gets into the nitty gritty. Hell, if I were a newbie, I'd pay $50 to see what's on his sales page.

Alice
_________________
Internet Marketers - Are you Ignoring up to 38% of Your Target Market?

[CorpRebel]

[alice]

I'm not "really" bitter. I shall survive and continue to promote other great things.


Hey Mike - Your blog doesn't allow me to leave comments. Flooble says:

[Mike Merz]

Hey, Alice! ... Rebel!

I'll have to check out the Flooble problem ..

In regards to John, he's been pretty courteous and responsive since our first interactions about a year ago.

I've known of him a lot longer ... through Paul Myers and Fran Kern, but we never crossed paths.

As far as being an affiliate ... he approached me ... a little later than his 'inner circle', but early enough to put my system in place.

In my opinion, you were a shoe in, Alice ... but John's not one to go out of his circle without recommendation ... regardless of the stats.

Understand, too, that I have spent much of my years high level networking ... I'm on a lot of Big Boy AND girl JV lists, through developing and nurturing of friendships, alone (of course, reasonable exposure doesn't hurt, either ...

I have the course ... and went through it, though not completely (I'd STILL be going through it, if that were the case.)

But I saw enough to make me happy to promote it ...

And even though my site was down for 5 hours, soon after launch on August 17th ( ), I did ... and continue to do, pretty well.

But not at the expense of the customer ... I'd like to make that clear.

You could easily get a thousand dollars worth of results from the info in that course ... if you apply it.

Mike "I see Lynny made the affiliate list, too .. " Merz

[alice]

[Jason Lewis]

I personally think that the whole Traffic Secrets promotion is one hell of a learning and inspirational experience.

My take is that if you are visiting an Internet Marketing forum like this one, then if you are honest with yourself, you wouldn't mind being in John Reese's shoes right now.

Whether you have already created your own products or just promoting affiliate programs, I'm sure you'd love to achieve a fraction of the success that John achieved in just one single day!

Here's what went through my mind as the promotion went on...

Great build up on the John's blog. To be honest, I made my decision to buy as soon as I saw Gary Halberts testimonial weeks ago. Obviously not based solely on that, as I've been on John's newsletter a while and heard him on teleseminars etc. Gary's opinion holds wait for me, and he just seemed quite emotional in the testimonial. I thought, it's either great acting or a fantastic product.

I then got bombarded with promotions from people acting like they had just discovered ice cream or something. There were experienced marketers that until now I hadn't heard hardly a word of hype from, suddenly explode in hype expletives!

We've already seen the Farewell package and now the Traffic Secrets package, what's next?

If you are lucky enough to be in on the BIG product like those two, you should definitely look at who done well out of it.

I agree that quite a number of people promoting John's package hardly changed the wording of John's pre-launch sale letter. I bet those guys didn't do as well.

It was great to see the savvy ones set their autoresponder to get you right at the last moment. Some of them were very clever in their attempts to get you to click on their affiliate link last. The frenzy was so hot, that if someone sounded like they had just an ounce of extra info before the launch you just had to click and see.

The extra bonus products marketers were throwing in were another great thing to see. Great because it wasn't just one person doing it. A number of people had the foresight to butter up the already excellent deal.

This sort of promotion doesn’t come round very often. However, the marketing principles used to hook you are valid in every day business.

Great Anticipation…look at Harry Potter, Star Wars etc

Massive Social Proof…great ‘after the course’ testimonials from people that had made the course work for them.

Authority…A very large proportion of the Internet Marketing Guru community were putting their reputation on the line, by giving this their strongest recommendation.

Reciprocation…John produced an excellent PDF newsletter prior to the launch with some truly great info that he could have easily charged for.

Scarcity…Perish the thought that you could actually miss out on the first batch of DVD’s produced. Sounds stupid but people were genuinely worried that if they didn’t get in early, they’d miss out completely.

Commitment…Having the: ‘Sign up to get on the early notification list’ built up a strong level of commitment amongst potential buyers. The notification list was free to join. Easy to sign up wasn’t it, as there was no money to part with at this stage…then when John tells you the product is now on sale you kind of feel committed to buy. I mean, you have told him you want to be on his early bird notification list after all!

Oh and did I forget to say that he hired top Internet copywriter Michel Fortin to write his sales letter…all the bases were covered, even a spread the payment plan.

Even if you have no intention of buying this, learn from the marketing that’s been applied. It’s been an education to see so many marketing principles at work on the same promotion.

Well, that’s my view.

Jason Lewis
_________________
For Great Ideas That YOU Can Profit From...Read The Business Brainwaves Newsletter ==> http://www.BusinessBrainwaves.com

[freddmf]

[freddmf]

I just contacted someone that knows about this program.

This is such a joke - and EXACTLY what I expected.

$1000, with a $500 sales commission to the guru's --- so the other marketing junkies jumped in to pocket the $500 commission.

First day, 1000 units -- that's a cool one million -- 50% for him, 50% for the other junkies.

Not a bad take for the junkie marketers --

As for the suckers that bought in, should have taken the family on a weekend vacation. Or handed out samples of your products/services. Let word of mouth work for you. Your greed got the best of you --

I am seriously willing to eat my words if someone can show the SALES generated by this (I could care less about traffic -- it means nothing). And, I'm talking REAL sales of real products and services -- not more stupid junk marketing crap.

Take care,
Fred

[Mike Merz]

Hey, Fred ..

I can always count on you to add just the right amount of controversy to keep things moving ... j/k

I am a consultant ... with clients, both online and off, ... and a number of them are repeat and ongoing accounts.

I am an affiliate marketer ... and, yes, on the 'good ol boys' list.

Everything I recommend ...

A) Has potential derived value equal to it's cost ... or better ... if utilized.

B) If for some reason it doesn't (to that consumer) ... there's a money back guarantee (a prerequisite).

You can be coerced into buying a can of chili by an advert ... not like it ... think it absolutely sucks.

Does that make Hormel unscrupulous?

Funny ... I read a now famous John Reese Traffic Secrets Review (not recommended rating by the author), recently ... loaded with alternative, less expensive services (all affiliated ..).

If I didn't know the author was being honest, I'd assume he was doing something unscrupulous ... riding the coat tails of a successful campaign, and using it as a vehicle to derive an affiliate commission from the services he represents, potentiating the results by downgrading the product that is drawing the audience ... but I know better.

Regards,

Mike "at least Fred hasn't mentioned affiliated alternatives in his rant" Merz

[freddmf]

[Mike Merz]

[Dennis]

Personally I'm happy for John.

And, I was glad to hear of his success, if for no other
reason than the 10k that he donated right off the top
for Dr Mani's heart kids.

THAT is what sticks in my mind. And THAT was worth
every email and/or post I've received or read.

Dennis Wagoner