Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:54 am Post subject: James Martell's Affiliate Marketers Handbook
I was just about to order James Martell's Affiliate Marketers handbook when I read the following the the current issue of 'Revenue' the Affiliate Magazine:
"Speaking of things going down the toilet. Insiders claim noted affiliate educator Jim Martell has been having a tough time of late. Martell, who has books and online seminars on how to become a successful affiliate, has seen many of his top students leave the fold. Many of his sites are now being delisted and several of his prot?g?s who were earning beaucoup bucks are now struggling just to make it over the four-figure threshold. Martell hasn't communicated what's happening to his devoted students, leaving most confused, very frustrated and ticked off"
This was, amongst other things, in the article 'the webcrawler' by THE SPIDER.
I am not posting this to denigrate James Martell in any way. I would just like to know if there are any people out there having problems so that I can make an informed decision. I am also posting this to the James Martell site under a support ticket
Joined: 09 Aug 2003 Posts: 1838 Location: Columbus, OH
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 2:56 pm Post subject:
I'm not aware of any recent delistings, only the 1st-in series from Google that happened some time ago. That series has rebounded nicely in MSN by the look of things. Perhaps "the spider" is a little behind the times. _________________ Robert
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Joined: 12 Feb 2005 Posts: 164 Location: Montreal, Canada
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 7:06 pm Post subject:
Hi Joe,
Like Robert, I'm not aware of any recent problems with his sites, but the rest of what you quoted is definitely true from what I've heard from a few of his top students. If you look around the site that sells the book, you'll notice 1 or 2 testimonials gone
I didn't know about this either, all I can say is that my sites started getting higher rankings when I started to part from the strict JM method, by adding blogs, rss feeds and such. That said, the book provides fundamental information worth the price.
JonB _________________ Spy on my two brothers and I as we create and launch our first digital product!
Step by step progress blog: Click Here
Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 12:44 am Post subject: Update
Hi Joe (and all),
James Martell here.
Brian Littleton, President of ShareaSale alerted me to the article when I attended Affiliate Summit a couple weeks back. I pointed out that the "anonymous" writer in 'Revenue' magazine was referring to my "1st-in" sites which as many know received a PR0 penalty from Google in September 2004. An issue that I talked about extensively on my Affiliate Buzz audio newsletter.
...As for the PR0 problem, it was limited to me, -- and not too be confused with the infamous Google update (Nov 2004) which affected all types of sites including (students, non-students, merchants, etc.) on Google, which I also covered on the buzz.
Both events were the catalyst for my release of the 2005 version of the handbook, -- which I provided free-of-charge to all purchasers of the 2002 edition.
As for my sites, I am happy with their progress, and my businesses are doing fine. In fact, this year is already off to a much better start than last year, and last year was great! (And thanks Robert, you are correct that "the 1st-in series has rebounded in MSN". The series is doing well.)
As for students, I still consistently receive emails from students who are doing very well, and from some who are struggling. This hasn't changed since I originally started training students in 2001.
As for the testimonials on my site, both Colin McDougall and Rene Tse who were students of my live trainings held in 2001.
And I am in contact with both of the on a regular occasion, and consider them friends.
I should also point out that both Rene and Colin are self-sustaining and are running their own businesses, and have been for years.
I provided their training early on.
Since then, they have both also come up with their own style and methods, which I encourage everyone to do as they progress in their own businesses. Both have had their struggles from time-to-time, as do we all, but both are very resilient and have done very well.
I am happy for them both.
Keep in mind, they both took the initial training 5 years ago, -- and they're still here. They must be doing something right.
In fact, Colin also just launched his own e-book (which I haven't read yet), called the VEO Report.
And JonB, thank you for pointing out that you have been adding blogs and RSS feeds. It was never my intention to create clones (or even "Martell" style websites for that matter).
My goal was to develop an entry level training program that would take someone who knew nothing about the business and give them a chance at succeeding by keeping them focused on the tasks outlined. And the first task at hand is the development of a quality site that has a fighting chance to getting highly-ranked at the search engines.
No small task, considering all of the distractions available online.
And the training has and continues to work for many, -- and I continue to keep readers up to date on my password protected 'Updates' page.
[I edited out the URL links at the request of the site administrator] _________________ James Martell
Net Guides Publishing Inc.
Joined: 12 Feb 2005 Posts: 164 Location: Montreal, Canada
Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 3:36 am Post subject:
Hi,
I definitely recommend picking up Colin's VEO Report, it's full of great insights. And from his newsletter it seems that his method is working. And hey, if you don't want to take it from me, listen to Michael Campbell, he mentioned it in his newsletter today. Let me know what you think should you buy it
Interesting to see some of the AM "press" go into National Enquirer mode. (Or "Sun" mode as we might say in UK.)
Anyway, on a constructive note, my understanding of the expectation built into JM's manual is that students could choose to use it as starting point to even bigger and better things.
Apparently, quite a few have done just that - most out of the glare of publicity but some, like Colin M, are up for it. Whatever floats your multiple streams of income boat 8)
VEO report 1st edition was a bit raw and in need of editing.
The 2nd edition (I have both) is a lot more polished and easier to follow.
There's probably a lot more to come - how about some Camtasia tutorials for the SSI stuff.
I guess the bottom line for me is:
Which would I rather do?
1-Read tittle tattle part rumour / part truth in a trade journal (who's existence to some extent depends on such material to bring in the virtual eyeballs for the advertisers..)
OR
2- Research & Build sites and choose how to enjoy the related freedom and profits and fun! (if it aint fun, get a job...) _________________ Discover How To Create Incredible Yet Reachable Goals - in this FREE 14-page report:
Goal Setting Report
I thought I'd best clear up a few misconceptions that may have arisen from James' earlier post.
Quote:
As for the testimonials on my site, both Colin McDougall and Rene Tse who were students of my live trainings held in 2001 are still listed the Audio & Video link in the main menu.
Fact: James removed my testimonial weeks ago, only because I thought it may give the wrong impression. Having thought further about it though, I did follow his methods in the early days. It still a great primer, especially for those just getting started.
I am just operating at a much higher level now.
I also recommend, that you don't limit yourself to just James' training. You will need to read what others have to say, use your head and a little common sense, and make the business your own.
I will always be grateful to James for instructing me in the rudimentaries of affiliate marketing, and he did have problem with PageRank at Google, however that was in 2004.
My main problem occured with an update Google did ("Florida") in late November 2004. A lot of us we're effected, and not just James' students, it was a MAJOR update and many affiliate and merchant sites got hit. We all had to make adjustments and still do.
It's a work in progress, and one of the main reasons I wrote the VEO Report.
At the time ("Florida"), my own monthly commissions fell by almost 40K. As a husband, father of two small girls and a full-time Internet marketer, I was frantic for help to get out of the hole and back in the game.
Fortunately I sought and got help from Wayne Porter, Rosalind Gardner, Matt Cutts, Andy Williams and Michael Campbell, who graciously shared their time and expertise with me on a variety of topics including; list and relationship building, pay per click advertising, the benefits of writing real product endorsements, and the perils of designing pages strictly to attract search engine traffic.
James didn't cover some of those topics in his material, yet I believe they are fundamental to building a sustainable affiliate business.
Fortunately, with this basic knowledge under my belt, I am successfully rebuilding my business. Adding my own twist to the mix now has my sites being listed at the top of the search results in Google in a matter of weeks, not months like before. I call my method 'VEO' or Visitor Enhanced Optimization, and it is the basis for my recently published VEO Report.
Although I do not endorse his book for seasoned veterans like myself, it is still a good manual for those getting started. _________________ Free Web 2.0 Marketing Report
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Last edited by Colin McDougall on Wed Feb 08, 2006 11:00 am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 206 Location: Seattle, WA - USA
Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 1:36 pm Post subject: VEO report
veoreport.com/
Has anyone of well earned stature reviewed the VEO report? I am a beginner marketer but from all my time on this forum I have grown wary of Google algorithm changes and before reading Colin's sales letter I had already decided I would find a way to not depend on a SE for traffic, but build a site that stood up to algorithm changes. (like Allan's old site he mentions sometimes).
Allan, have you read the VEO report yet? I am curious what someone of your experience thinks of it. (sorry Colin, but I have no idea who you are.)
P.S.
Quote:
My own monthly commissions fell by almost 40K.
Are you serious? Holy crap LoL, that is a good deal more than I have been averaging in an entire years income the past few years.... How do you make such a nice income Colin? _________________ HIGHLY recommend DreamHost! for your hosting needs.
TPX Design, web / graphic design & development services.
Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:15 pm Post subject: Re: VEO report
k0unt_zer0 wrote:
veoreport.com/
Has anyone of well earned stature reviewed the VEO report?
-----------------------------
Allan, have you read the VEO report yet? I am curious what someone of your experience thinks of it. (sorry Colin, but I have no idea who you are.)
Andy Williams, Rosalind and Andrea from Golden Pinecone had great
things to say about Colin and his E-Book. Personally I found it
very interesting to read. _________________ www.plus-sizes.findoutnow.org
Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 5674 Location: by the beach, Australia
Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 12:36 am Post subject: Re: VEO report
k0unt_zer0 wrote:
Allan, have you read the VEO report yet? I am curious what someone of your experience thinks of it.
Thanks for the compliment! Sorry, no. So many books, so little time...
However, I wholeheartedly agree with Colin that it's shortsighted to design pages strictly to attract search engine traffic.
On the other hand, I believe there's still a lot of value in James's instruction manual, especially for anyone who is prepared to add a little of their own brainpower to the equation. _________________ Allan Gardyne
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:02 am Post subject: James Martell's Methods
Colin
In view of your remarks on 4 Feb, would you still buy James Martell's book if you were looking at affiliate marketing now or do you think I would be better off with Rosalind Gardner's book or maybe Affliaite Classroom.
Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:55 am Post subject: Re: James Martell's Methods
JoeWatson wrote:
Colin
In view of your remarks on 4 Feb, would you still buy James Martell's book if you were looking at affiliate marketing now or do you think I would be better off with Rosalind Gardner's book or maybe Affliaite Classroom.
Joe
I'm not Colin, but I'm going to chime in here anyway
I've bought both James Martell's book and Rosalind Gardner's book but haven't read Affiliate Classroom.
Personally, I think Rosalind's book offers a better general plan as she talks about the things that Colin mentioned above - list building, pay per click and relationship building. I didn't get anything about any of these topics out of James' book. She doesn't get into the specifics as much, as in do this specific thing, followed by the next, followed by the next, etc.
James' book, on the other hand, offers a more thorough system with a step-by-step plan for setting up a site according to his methods. The question is, does that plan still work?
I suspect it does for some people and not for others, but the ones that are seeing success have probably made their own changes to the way they are doing it. In my own case, the "by-the-book" system doesn't work any longer. I saw the same kind of results after the November 2004 Google update that Colin mentioned. Not a $40K loss, mind you, but my money-maker sites suddenly weren't making money.
In my opinion, the absolute #1 factor to being successful is building a list. If you have a list to market to, it doesn't matter what happens with Google or any of the other SE's. I think Rosalind Gardner does a good job of teaching this, but you will need to be able to take the information in her book and figure out ways to actually apply it. She doesn't hold your hand through building a site.
The other thing I would recommend about the Martell book is if you buy it, buy the subscription to the Affiliate Buzz as well. The Buzz is a twice-monthly audio newsletter that James puts out and he often talks about new ideas and techniques he is trying.
I find that the updates page for the manual itself doesn't always have this information on it, and I think there have been a lot of changes in the affiliate landscape even since he updated the book last year. I've taken some good ideas out of the Buzz that I wouldn't have had otherwise.
After all that, to answer your question I would buy Rosalind's book for a more complete plan. I would buy James' book if you don't really know how to set up a website and want a more step-by-step process to actually build the site but would only use that as a basic framework to build around, using Rosalind's methods.
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2006 1:58 pm Post subject: james Martell's Methods
I would like to thank everybody who gave their comments on my original post. I have decided to buyt Rosalind Gardner's book based on these comments and I will see where I go from there
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