Well, they’ve been very quiet for me. Sales are waaay slow. I thought for a minute that the trend in the books I am selling was toward the “make money online” kind. But then I sold some cookbooks, so who knows? I also admit I’m not giving enough attention to my listings. Definitely need to look at listing titles and see if I can’t do a whole lot better. And, as is always the case, I need to continue adding new ebooks.

And, of course, I’m continuing to work on diversifying my online stuff. I have several new blogs that I hope will draw in some adsense revenue, and I’ll be looking to add affiliate products there.

I stumbled across some information about a new system for getting started online that looks quite interesting. It’s called The Guru Assassin, and it’s being released on Thursday. I was very tempted by it, but then I remembered my promise to myself not to buy anything new until I got my blog system completely in place. I did ask for a review copy, and I’m very impressed. (They vary with each marketer and product, but review copies are generally more of an outline or part of the program so a reviewer can get a sense of what the product does.)

Anyway, not to take too much of your time, The Guru Assassin looks to be a pretty near perfect vehicle for folks new to internet marketing to get started, and get started making money quickly. The developer of the course, Jonny Andrews, says the “gurus” have it all wrong, that they tend to just rehash and recycle old information, and don’t really help folks. Having purchased a number of these new shiny things, I can attest to the truth of that. Andrews approaches this whole thing differently – even backwards according to the guru common knowledge – and gets results. If you’re struggling with how you want to get started, take a look at The Guru Assassin. It’s pretty inexpensive for all that’s being offered, too.

I’m off to work on my other blogs, hopefully to be more productive that I’ve been in the last few days!

Be well.

If you’re on any internet marketer newsletter or email list you’ve certainly been inundated over and over again with the Mega-Launch of the week. You get a bunch of emails, many exactly the same pitch with exactly the same headline, that some big-name guru is or will be putting out the very product you need to make it on the internet. (Personally, I like it when lazy affiliates just copy what’s been given to them, because then it’s easy to eliminate those emails without plodding through the pitch.) And apparently Tuesday is the best day to launch. Oh look, 87 new emails! Must be Tuesday!

A trend I’ve seen growing is that of the marketer who’s giving away his stuff on CD for a measly $7.95 or so to cover the postage for the big box of stuff he’s going to send you. There’s probably a “trial” subscription to their expensive newsletter that you need to agree to in order to get the big box of stuff. No objections from me on doing that, as long as it’s very, very clear on the sales page.

What leads me to write today are a few emails I’ve received about the latest greatest launch where the marketer tells me how he’s gotten this very special deal for me. One even hinted that he’d spent his own money to secure this incredible offer for his subscribers. Huh? I’ve already had a jillion emails telling me about this offer, including one from the guru himself, and I know it’s an affiliate attempt at sales. Why lie to me?

I know I’m not the only person who subscribes to lots of IM mail lists. In fact, many of the big marketers tell newbies to do exactly that so we can see what the big guys are up to and learn from their methods. Not one of them, however, says to lie to your list members.

The marketers who lie to me lose me as a member. Even if they have previously provided value in their information or products, it just brings me up short that they’d lie over something so inconsequential. Is this just a lack of good judgment or is it habitual behavior? Don’t know, don’t care. Either way, I just don’t trust them anymore. I’m outta here!

Harsh? Probably. Particularly for such a minor infraction. But my time is too valuable to me to spend it reading their stuff and wondering what little deception of half-truth or inappropriate advice I might be getting.

And here’s another thing. I’ve been looking at and researching and doing internet marketing for a couple of years now. I also have a lot of life/business experience that gives me a perspective on how I want to run things in an ethical way. How about the young newbie who looks at this kind of behavior as a role model? How does that help him? How does that help the world of internet marketing, already looked at by some as scammy?

If you take a close look at the really big, hugely successful marketers, both online and off, the folks who have been around for a long time, you see that they’ve built their businesses honestly and ethically. You don’t need to scam someone – or shade the truth a bit – to make massive amounts of money. The less than honest folks are eventually found out and their businesses crash – or in extreme cases are closed by the government.

Is it worth it to make a few bucks now and jeopardize your future?

Stay well, stay honest, make some money!