Blogging For Fun And Profit - Simpleology Course

Have you heard of Simpleology? Maybe you've heard of Mark Joyner?

Well, if you haven't, you're in for a treat. Mark has been involved in Marketing via the internet as long as, if not longer than, any other Internet Marketer worth his/her salt. Mark is small on hype, and big on value. So...

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

Then meet me here, if you'd like, for an honest discussion of what's right--and what's wrong--with Simpleology's foray into blogger training.

"Build It And They Will Come"

A line straight out of the delightful Kevin Costner film, "Field of Dreams", just doesn't apply in the online world. Or does it?

I can't begin to count the number of times I have seen the line quoted, by experts and novices alike, as they point out such a thing only happens in the movies. Having built and marketed web sites since the mid-1990's, I tend to agree.

So imagine my surprise when I found a site I had yet to develop had received five orders over the summer!

Let's back up a bit. Nearly two years ago, I decided to sell a product I loved, but couldn't seem to find from anyone but the manufacturer (who was only selling the product wholesale at the time.) I purchase several cases of the product wholesale, created business card magnets at VistaPrint, and set up an osCommerce install on the new domain. I put up a splash page saying "future home of..." and then started to work on developing my new site.

Shortly after that, I found out I had to have cataract surgery in both eyes.

I had the surgeries, about two weeks apart, and found I was unable to complete any web site work during the recovery period. Staring at the computer monitor was downright painful, especially between surgeries! By the time I was able to work again, I was behind on my obligations. My new web site had to go on the back burner.

Fast-forward to September this year. After having issues with my dedicated server, I upgraded my host managing software to the latest version. While cleaning up the inevitable loose ends, I discovered several emails for this web site I had never finished developing, including the five orders.

I built it. They came. They bought the product.

Does that prove we've been wrong all this time? I don't think so. What I believe this does prove is the right product, with limited availability, will sell itself. With no page rank and only one IBL, (that I know of,) I'm getting traffic from organic search results. And sales.

What is it? Simply Silk™, an organic silk plant cleaner. Simply Silk is superior to any other brand I've ever tried, and apparently a lot of other folks feel the same way. (The product description for the 32 oz. bottle was "yada", I kid you not.) Needless to say, I went in and fixed up the site.

If you want to get an idea of what it looked like "before", check out the demo of osCommerce. The "after" is a much abbreviated site that only sells Simply Silk, Silk Plant Cleaner.

Money Back Guarantee...

...No questions asked. The authors of Membership Superstars were true to their word.

There was a little glitch, however. I had to ask twice!

I had received a welcome letter, so to request my refund I simply hit the "reply" button in my email program. That request was returned with the failure notice "Sorry, no mailbox here by that name."

I'd like to think it was an oversight, and the email address now exists. Still, it did leave me wondering if I'd made a big mistake trusting these guys in the first place.

Not to worry. I found another address with the email payment receipt. I re-sent my original request to the new address and within 24 hours I received a Refund Confirmation from ClickBank.

The product may not be right for me, but it appears the guys behind it are trustworthy.

Buyer Beware: "Membership Superstars" Videos

I am so disappointed!

I just pulled out my credit card for a $97 set of videos called Membership Superstars. (There's a limited time offer of $50 off, so I only paid $47, but it may be full price by the time you read this post.) The promise is to give you the nitty-gritty details of how to do membership sites right, and make lots of money at it.

I've been wanting to do a membership site for 2-3 years, but haven't had the time to develop it using a CMS (content management system) product. I figured these videos would have a specific software program in mind, but I wasn't expecting what I got.

These videos are essentially a tutorial for using a specific product. A product which is only available if you sign up for a monthly service. A monthly service from the guy selling the videos, (of course.)

The real problem with this is the membership software is not available as a standalone product. It's bundled into a high end package consisting of a collection of software products designed to help you with your ecommerce site.

There are three packages available, but the least expensive package doesn't include the membership software. In order to access the membership software the tutorial is for, it will cost a minimum of $99.95 each and every month! That's more than I pay for my dedicated server!

I guess my age is showing. I still think of $100 as being a healthy chunk of change. But then, I can remember when a candy bar cost a nickel and a popsicle was 7 cents. My first minimum wage job paid $1.80 an hour...

Anyway, if you are interested in doing membership sites and you don't have a problem with paying for the tutorial plus $100 a month for the suite of services, over and above your hosting fees, this may be the program for you. If so, you can access the sales page here: Membership Superstars. (This is not an affiliate link.) On the other hand, if you're not up for the additional monthly charges, don't waste your time and money buying the videos.

My next step? I'm going to take them up on their "100% Risk Free On My Dime Guarantee" and ask for my money back.

I'll let you know how that turns out.