EzSEO Newsletter # 167
This week:
1. I Got a Refund for Google Cash Detective.
2. Review of Colin McDougall’s Club - So Far.
3. Don’t buy an Article Submitter!
Hi again.
I went away for a break last weekend, so there wasnt a newsletter. It got me thinking about the hours I work. In the last few years of running an online business, I have rarely taken off a weekend, or any other day for that matter. For nearly 365 days a year, I have answered emails and support (yes, even on Christmas morning).
The funny thing was, I had to force myself not to login to my support desk last Saturday and Sunday morning. It was weird! It was even more weird not to open my email client.
But, you know what? I came to the decision that from now on, I will be taking weekends off. I think I deserve it, and more importantly, my family do.
That brings me onto a dilemma. Do I continue to publish this newsletter on a Sunday, or move it to a week day. If you have any preference, let me know. The good thing about Autoresponders like Aweber, is I can write the newsletter on a Friday afternoon, and queue it to be sent on Sunday as usual, if that is what people want. Let me know what you want (contact details in footer of this newsletter).
This week, I’ll tell you why I got a refund on Google Cash Detective, and the much chea-per alternative I am now using. Plus, a quick review of Colin McDougall’s mentorship program so far.
Let’s get on.
—– ——– ——– ———- ——- ——- —–
1. I Got a Refund for Google Cash Detective.
—– ——- ——- ——- —- ——— —– ——-
In the last week, one of the most eagerly awaited software releases of all time, came and went.
For those who turned up, you would more than probably have had problems getting through to the site, and finally, when you did get through, it was sold out.
I managed to get in, and buy Google Cash Detective (GCD), and have since had a refund.
After purchasing, I was redirected to the download page, but the links to download the software did not work, nor did some of the links to help files. All of this could have been due to server overload, but I wasnt impressed. What made things even worse was that no email arrived with my download URL details, and I also didnt get an invoice.
OK, teething problems.
I contacted support about the invoice, and 6 days later I got a reply that they would give me one (but they didnt say when). It was already too late, I had requested a refund (which has subsequently been processed).
OK, the buying experience and support was poor, but what about the software? Well, I have to be honest and say that I loved the software because of the power it put into my hands. While there appeared to be several bugs in it, I did get meaningful results out of it. I could of lived with the bugs until they were fixed, and kept the software, if it had not been for a couple of issues.
#1 - The Google Cash Automator is a $97 a month subscription (first month free), which you are subscribed to when you buy Google Cash Detective. This tool is the companion to GCD and is shown in several of the pre-launch videos, but it is an extra.
#2 - There were additional charges, per keyword phrase, for collecing some of the PPC information, and they charge you in $50 blocks.
#3 - My credit card details were in someones system, ready for debiting (for the above two services).
Being able to get information on competitors PPC campaigns is hugely valuable, and this software, and the subscription services are great at accomplishing this, for a price.
However, I am not convinced the software was ready for release (even the download was called a beta), and I wasnt too happy about the extra costs involved.
On top of all this, I wasnt happy with the videos released during pre-launch suggesting you steal other people’s ads (this was something that Michael Campbell wrote about at length in his newsletter). Michael pointed out that ads are copyrighted, and that you could get into legal problems for following that advice.
I was sorry to remove this application from my system, because I did want the information it provided. However, in todays Internet Marketing environment, there are usually alternatives, so I went searching.
I reviewed a piece of software a while ago called Competition Dominator by Goran Nagy, but that really didnt have the features of GCD. I have heard that this tool will be upgraded, but no timescale on that, so the search continued.
Finally I found what I was looking for, and what was more suprising was the pr1ce tag. This script does most of what GCD does, and currently c0sts just $67.
I bought it, and installed it in about 10 minutes. I hope to be able to bring you some videos of it in action soon, but for now, all I can say is WOW. The author has certainly over-delivered on the features of this script.
This software, unlike others, has NO HIDDEN costs, and it can help you identify profitable campaigns of people promoting affiliate programs. In fact, to date, this script recognised affiliate links from 15 networks/programs.
If you are interesting in seeing exactly what this script can do, I suggest you read the sales page. I can tell you though, that I am very very happy with this purchase.
—————————————————
2. Review of Colin McDougall’s Club - So Far.
—————————————————
I wrote about Colin McDougall’s private mentorship program last week, and so I thought I would give you an honest appraisal so far of what is going on inside this club.
If you want to read what I wrote about it last week, you can read that in section 4 of this newsletter.
Colin’s Fly Club has now been open for about 2 weeks, and in those 2 weeks, Colin has already covered a lot of stuff. There are several podcasts, and videos already there, showing what goes on behind the scenes as Colin starts on a new site.
Colin has shown his members a glimpse of the future, with a video on one aspect of Web 2.0., which was also designed to get his members thinking about what topic site they want to build. This membership site is all about action, and Colin has told me that some of the members are already feeling a little left behind. This is an indication of the hands on approach to this mentorship program. Colin wants all of his members to succeed, and that means, if you join, you will be expected to build a site, and take action.
I am sure he has suprised more than one of of his members with personal phone calls of support and advice. This personal approach is something Colin seems to do very well.
On 11th June, Colin provided a check list of tasks to his members which he entitled “Site Preparation”. These will help members do the market research necessary to decide upon the niche thy want to focus on. There are videos every step of the way.
Colin has been very busy, and I am a little surprised by how much he has already posted. I can certainly see why some people are feeling a little left behind. However, this is a good thing, since I have seen mentorship programs that seem to do nothing but give you a task one month, and then you have to wait a month for the next task.
Those who are on this program are lucky. They have a very successful marketer, taking them by the hand, and showing them exactly what they need to do. With personal phone calls, and personal email support, Colin is certainly giving himself a lot of extra work, but then that is what Colin is about. He wants people to succeed, and will work on a one to one basis where necessary.
If you have been sitting on the fence about this program, I would recommend you decide one way or another soon. Members are liekly to start building their sites soon. If you have any questions on this mentorship program, Colin has told me that you can contact him at: questions@flyonthewallclub.com
If you send him your Skype or Google Talk details, he’ll contact you for a chat, and be happy to answer your questions.
NOTE: If you dont have Google Talk or Skype, I recommend you download Google Talk - it’s fr.ee (it will allow you to talk with anyone in the world who also has this software installed).
If you go to the sales page of Colin’s program, you can watch a video he created showing a very powerful technique. I have used techniques similar to this, to achieve top 3 rankings on Google in as little as 2 days.
Watch Colin’s video about half way down this page:
—————————————————
3. Don’t buy an Article Submitter!
—————————————————
Yes, you read that right. In the last week or so, Brad Callen has released a fr.ee article submitter. The latest version has 85 article directories (there is a Pro version with 660 directories if you want), and it works very well.
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that Brad had released a directory submitter as well, with a great fr.ee version of that as well. You can get that from here:
Both of the above are quality tools, and neither will c0st you a dime for the basic versions.
Well, that’s it for this issue. If you want to read the recent issues of this newsletter, you can read them online at my blog:
http://ezseonews.com/blog/index.php
For older newsletters, you will need to visit the old archives at:
http://ezseonews.com/archives
Have a great week!
#######################################################
Visit the subscriber Bonus page for free reports and other subscriber-only:
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please recommend it to your friends. Also if you have any tips of your own, questions or comments, please use my support forum at ezseonews.com/support.
Any tips or questions & answers I print in this newsletter will also be put up on the web version of the newsletter with a link to your site
if you want it. That’s extra free traffic for your site as well as an incoming link to your site.
The contents of this newsletter is copyright 2007 Andrew Williams. If you want to republish any of the articles, you must get permission from the author.
This newsletter disclaims all responsibility for the advertising copy or the product advertised. You cannot rely on the fact that the newsletter has examined the product or recommends or endorses the product, unless it clearly says that it has, when you make your decision whether or not to purchase the product or interact with the advertiser. You are advised to do your own investigation before buying. Additionally, this newsletter may accept articles that we do not write or investigate the accuracy of and for which we may receive direct or indirect benefit or compensation. We specifically disclaim any responsibility for the content of such copy.
#######################################################
