Clearly nothing posted here is independent. I’m certain that I will never see this post actually approved.

Nothing more than typical internet marketing smoke and mirrors.

Caveat emptor,

Tom

I think it’s going to be really really hard to offer a “typical” perspective of a buyer in some markets. I used to sell custom software, and we wanted people to write reviews on the software, but I don’t think we ever got one review. That was often times even after walking the customer through setting up the software and showing them how to implement it.

I can definately see people abusing the system, as they already to. Ask.com is probably the most abused site I’ve seen. People will ask where the best place to buy a product is, then answer with a different account, then downrate all the posts that responded differently they wanted.

I’ve also seen it done with McAfee’s site verify. A site owner can “add thier site” then review it positively. And if you want to put a bad review on a site that you know is committing fraud, McAffe’s site “breaks” every time.

I’ve seen big companies like Sears, and Bed Bath and Beyond, as well as lots of little companies noone cares about use these kinds of “tactics”. For me, I’ve written software that tells me exactly what I need to do for SEO to be able to compete with these guys, and that’s how I know what’s real and what’s not, but if you don’t have custom “tracking” software that tells you what someone is doing and how they’re getting thier position on Google, or Google Base, or Google Local, how would you know why they’re the ones google loves?

Everyone should know, anytime there are rules, there are people that will break them for money.

For the guy who doesn’t know where this comes from, “It is better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” That’s actually in the book of Proverbs, in the Bible.

Anyway, if this gets seriously implemented, then people will pay to have people write bad reviews as well as good ones. And that, while it would be funny, will just muddy the waters even more. I feel for people who can’t tell the difference between what’s real and what’s not. On the internet especially, most of the time, a “marketer” is just a well paid liar.

And if this post seems somewhat pessimistic, you should see what the data I’ve got says. Most of the internet is noise, the parts you see are just a tiny fraction of what exists, and most of the rest is built just to game the system. Google, and lots of other large companies are “in on it”. And most people will never know. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I woulds say that they change or make rules like this AFTER they figure out how to use them to thier advantage. But I’m not, so I’ll just write some more code this weekend and see if there’s anything I can learn from how they use bad reviews.

All the best to you Glenn, I love your stuff, I love that you love your wife, and I think anyone who is irritated by your mushiness is either jealous or hard-hearted. Either way, they must be wearing their grumpy pants, don’t listen to them.

Mike

I was planning on joining your Hyper Responsive Club for a while. I missed out before when I believe it was cheaper because I was gone helping my family, so I’ve been putting it off for a bit.

I’m sure it’s worth 10X the money, but I’m part of 2 memberships from people that work in the same niche as me plus a couple other memberships (including Perry Marshall’s Renaissance Club – which is where I first heard about you) and I have been learning a ton from them, so I don’t want to completely overload myself.

So for now I’m sticking with your free information and combining it with the other stuff I’m learning, but I think at the end of the summer after I’ve got more stuff done and got my business a little more organized I’m definitely going to join.

I’ll saving the coaching board for those who can better utilize it. I know I’m not in a position to properly use that kind of help. I know it will be of better use to someone else, but in the future you’ll definitely see me there.

I’m definitely learning lots from you, so once I’ve sorted things out a little more I’ll be getting everything you’ve got to offer. I promise.

Thanks Dr. G!

Shawn

My overall strategy in most markets is to “be the best radio show” so that people have so much good information from me, they’ll purchase my products when they’re ready to implement, step by step.

For what you’re describing in particular, the Hyper Responsive Club is the best solution, perhaps coupled with the personal coaching board when you’re ready (either with me or one of my underlings).

No pressure and ANY of this at all though – enjoy the free materials if they’re working for you!

Dr. G

PS – The coaching board is closed now, but I’m going to open a few slots in the next few weeks, and I have someone underneath me who’s willing to work at a lower rate (who’s built successful, full time income using the process already) so you can get on the waiting list if you’re interested.

I must say that I agree with the positive comments above (at least the ones I read) and I appreciate you taking the time to respond to people\’s comments.

I have only one complaint, and it\’s basically a testimonial. It\’s kind of like those things you\’re told to say in a job interview when your employer asks about your negatives and you say something like \"I\’m a perfectionist\" so it could be seen as a positive.

Anyways, my one issue with you is I have never had any desire to buy anything from you because I can\’t even use all the free stuff. I just went away for a youth conference and went and visited my family for a few days, and when I got back I had a bazillion hours worth of audio interviews and reports & cheat sheets waiting in my inbox for me to go through.

But the emails are only semi-organized and I just don\’t have the time to go through everything and act on it, and I don\’t really know which stuff is the most important until I\’ve gone through it.

It\’s not information overload, it\’s just too much stuff without a specific step by step plan from the start.

Now, the solution is probably for me to buy something from you, but I am already working on stuff so I have put it off for now until I can get more stuff done.

I think you replied to one of the earlier comments saying something about a low-cost membership with one step per month to do, and I would be very interested in that, but right now I don\’t want a bunch of stuff to work on and it\’s hard to go through your stuff, but I know if I don\’t go through it right away, I never will.

So it\’s really a good complaint, and you are providing tons of great value and I have enjoyed the content you\’ve provided, but I\’ve just gotta take more time to apply it, which is difficult when I\’ve got so much stuff from you to go through – especially after I take a week off.

Maybe it\’s just a time management issue or maybe I just need to hire some people to help me get more done, but it just seems like you\’re sending too much too often.

However, I still listen because the stuff you give is amazing, and I\’m working on unsubscribing from everyone who doesn\’t provide EXCEPTIONAL value so I have less people to listen to and more time to act.

Now that I\’ve typed out all of this, I\’m thinking it\’s probably all an issue on my end and you\’re really doing everything perfectly fine…but after typing out all of this I might as well let you see it…if nothing else it will help you with your research and understanding your market.

Love your information & I now have some videos & a cheat sheet of yours to check out before I\’m caught up from my last few days without internet.

Thanks Glenn,

Shawn Horwood

I just don´t have up to now anything bad to say about you and hope I won´t. I´m very greatful for all the good free information you give away. I´m a new memmber in your Membership Club and I´m just waiting for my first month lesson and then I´ll let you know so make sure it come with good information or I´ll hate you my friend -:)

Blessings!
Orestes

An antimonial from me to you. It was an easy one to conjure up. You love to work with MP3s and video. Those formats drive me so nuts I rarely open your emails because I know they’ll say ‘Listen to 20 Minutes of…’ I so much prefer to work with written words. It is a real pleasure on this occasion to actually see a blog to respond to.

Any more antimonials are a little harder to come up with, because the advice you give just plain works. I’m English and in the UK, focus solely on results, am surrounded by get rich quick social media charlatans, and I thoroughly approve of the FTC stance (which is possibly why they are all over here… ).

(And Dave J, the publisher market is an odd bunch. I think it starts out by saying ‘does anyone actually want to hear from you…)

I gotta say, I really (jealously) do hate you!

As someone who runs an agency (and likes to think I get good results for my clients), I look at what you’ve done and how great of a brand and following you’ve created by giving out great information, and think to myself “I can do that too”.

Why am I sitting around feeling like my clients don’t have a clue how I am helping them (as I double or triple their business), when I could be giving them the keys to the castle, charge them for the information alone, and only handle the clients that actually appreciate the amount of time and energy it takes to build a good PPC campaign.

On top of that, I’ve never used the survey technique, which I’m still in the middle of digesting.

Bottom line, I “hate” you because you do a great job, your information is top notch, and quite advanced. (You love those comments, don’t you??!)

BTW, I personally use the strategy of starting with big picture stuff with business owners (not in the information marketing business – I still haven’t gotten that handled). e.g. margins, advertising as a percentage of revenue, and teach them about goals => tracking, tracking, tracking.

It’s amazing how many people spending tens of thousands of dollars/month on marketing don’t do these basics. Or the multi-million dollar corporations who have no target metrics.

Hey, it’s only fair, you give great content, help tons of people, so I guess I’ll give you my 2 cents.

Thanks a ton for your great information, it’s nice to see another professional’s approach to search.

Lots of respect from a fellow (can I keep that title) professional. Please don’t cancel my monthly membership

I first purchased the $1000 market research product you developed. This was several years ago, it seems at least 4 years. The package arrived with some pieces damaged and the license agreement I was supposed to agree to before unwrapping one piece of the package had two pages with only one page visible. So I couldn\’t read the agreement. I tried to get help via email and no one ever responded, so I sent the package back within the 30 day refund period.

The funny thing about that experience was that it was totally incongruent with the impression I had (and still have) of you as being a very high quality person. All of your free audio programs you came across differently than the experience I had with a high price item. So several years later I purchased a smaller product, had a good experience with that and then have continued to be a regular customer. And now I belong to your monthly club and the content there is superb and I\’m just beginning!

Thanks and best,
Shawn