I’ll be leaving out the name of the guilty party behind this blog post because I don’t aim to drag his/her name through the mud – as much as I’d really like to I’ll refrain, for now at least. Here’s the story in a nutshell:

I meet a person at the hotel bar during an internet marketing seminar and I quickly realize they have little personality & are there for one reason: “pitch, pitch, pitch.” I eventually submit to then neverending barrage of self-promotion & salesmanship & take a few minutes to listen to their well rehearsed script. Surprisingly, the idea behind the product was really great. I checked out the website later that night in my hotel room, and I even signed up for an account. The product itself was ROCK SOLID. I did a little “googling” and couldn’t find a single person with anything bad to say about the marketer behind this product.

I finally decide to put out a promotion for this person. The promo did pretty well. I earned over $500 from sending one email to a sub-list of my subscribers. I go ahead and add a promo to this product in my auto-responder at this point – realizing I’ve found what looks to be a winner. After a few months of running the follow up message I earned several hundred more dollars in commissions for a grand total approaching $1,000.

The first affiliate payment took about 60 days longer than expected to arrive. I was a little concerned but I realize sometimes stuff comes up. Life happens fast, people get busy, everyone needs a vacation, and so on. At this point I kind of “red-flagged” this guy in my mind but I continued promoting his product even though he never replied to my email informing him I went ahead and did a promo. The follow-up message I setup in my auto-responder continued to bring in sales.

Fast forward a few more months, and I’m owed 3 months worth of commissions worth a couple hundred bucks, and they’re ranging in delinquency from 2 months – 4 months. I open a support ticket with a gentle nudge to see what’s going on… only to get no reply. I send another email, no reply. I open my office window and yell up the street, my neighbors reply telling me to shutup. I verified there is signs of life on this planet & people can hear me… I email again, no reply. So now I know it’s not me… it’s just HIM.

Bad customer support + doesn’t pay affiliates + ignores support desk & emails = jerkoff marketer

It’s a shame the product was pretty good. I’m glad he at least delivered a little value to the customers I sent him but quite disappointed that I’ll likely never get the money owed to me. I can only hope I see him being annoying at the hotel bar of a future seminar and I can warn his next possible affiliate victim of the risks associated with falling for his trap.

Then again, perhaps this is an isolated incident? Maybe I somehow fell between the cracks…

Well, I opened one last support ticket in the hopes this dude redeems himself but I think the outlook is grim. I’m just glad that my customers got what they paid for and every one who purchased the product really liked it… I’d rather get ripped off myself then ever let my customers fall victim to someone like this – and that’s exactly why I review every product I promote.

END OF RANT

We’re now 48 hours into the launch and momentum is really beginning to pick up!  There was so much “launch hysteria” earlier in the week that many affiliates and JV Partners were finding it tough to send out a mailer…  On top of all that, even the Partners & affiliates who DID send out mailings had to worry about all the other launches that were going on – because surely your list subscribers were seeing the madness that was taking place earlier in the week, because we all know there’s a lot of “saturation” in the “IM” niche – and most subscribers are on several lists.

Well fast forward to today and I’m ecstatic to announce that the few people who did get their mailers out are having fantabulous results… and the really nutty part is – I don’t even think “Fantabulous” is a word!

Current JV Leaders

So far Shawn “Old Man” Casey is really starting to run away with the show – and letting everyone know why him & Tellman really ARE the email kings.  No one can even hold a candle to Shawn quite yet… he sent out a special mailing that is converting upwards of 4% so far from what I’ve seen in early Clickbank analytics reports.  On a recurring product, that is absolutely phenomenal.

But, the crazy part is – he’s not the only one having such great results.  This sales letter is really kicking major booty thanks to the great copywriter who helped me put it all together!

My local buddy and fellow “Pittsburgher,” Mike Steup, isn’t taking “no” for an answer either.  Mike sent out a mailing today that really cleaned up and he’s holding steady in second place with conversions that are really close to Shawn’s unbelievable rate.

Bringing up third, and not far behind Mike at all is an “unknown” with Clickbank ID “HOMESCTB.”   HOMESCTB – you’re off to quite a rip-roaring start!

HOMESCTB, if you happen to be reading this – get in touch with me through the support desk so I can call you by name in future JV Updates & let the other affiliates know exactly who is kicking their butts ).

There’s still a LOT of time left and we’re only just beginning… several other affiliates have made sales but so far the top 3 big dogs mentioned above are taking home the lion’s share of commissions.

The Launch Contest & Prize Details

The launch contest was extended due to all of the launch hysteria earlier in the week so that I can really reward those dedicated affiliates who are promoting hard – and you can see the new contest dates & details here in case you haven’t seen them already:

http://www.profromgojv.com/links.php

The launch contest will be based on sales made during a full 30 day period from the launch date which will range from March 24 all the way until April 24.  Check out the link above for more information on the prizes and contest qualifications.

Do You Want That Special Edge?

I got special permission to allow other affiliates and JV Partners with mailing lists to use that “top secret” email copy that is nailing down steady 4% conversion rates for the current JV Leader – Shawn Casey.

If you want access to that special email copy – get in touch via the support desk or let me know how to get in touch with you by leaving a comment below.

I’ve also been getting several questions about the free membership contest that was mentioned a few weeks ago – the winners will be announced sometime in the next few days.  I’ll be posting a blog update naming the winners and giving special instructions on how to claim your new membership!

So far I have it narrowed down to a few final contestants but it’s a tough decision.  You can vote for other contest participants or submit your own entry all the way up until the winners are announced sometime later in the week by reading this entry and following the simple instructions:

Free ProFromGo Membership Contest – Enter or Vote Here!

If you have any questions, comments, just use the comments section below to get everything off your mind and out onto the table.  I read my blog comments religiously.  If you feel it’s more appropraite – you can also feel free to contact me through the support desk by using the “Support” button in the menu above.

Thanks to everyone who is making this launch such a great success so far!

So here’s some very brief background info:

This subscriber signed up for information regarding “how to get traffic from Twitter” at my site www.TwitterHints.com

After receiving a few of my informational messages giving him pretty detailed step by step tips for taking action to make this stuff work for him, he replied to an auto-responder message with the following (the ONLY thing I changed in his message was the deletion of his name so he can remain anonymous):

“Hi Chris,

I wish I understood how all this works. LOL

It’s far too complicated for the ordinary person to try.

I’ve no ‘plugins’ on my blog.

No posts, either. What do I know that anyone would want to read?

I’ve been selling for 4 years and resisted a blog until 3 months ago.

The “install WordPress in seconds” actually took two LOOOOONG days.

Once the theme is in, that’s all that can be done with it.

I don’t use it at all because I’d need to pay a programmer to go past the initial set-up.

I have no accounts at any of these kiddies’ social sites and don’t really see the point.

Even if I did, there’s no way to put the silly looking buttons on the blog.

Therefore, no blog. No loss.

How would anyone find it to read it?

I’d be too embarrassed to tell anyone I was playing with adolescents’ websites. LOL

Twitter -sounds childish – does it have a purpose for anyone over 15?

Or is it like MySpace and all the others, a hangout for lovelorn teenagers.

Regards,

(Name Deleted for Anonymity)”

After reading the email I did not feel irritated.  At first, I almost didn’t reply because I thought there was little chance of getting through to this lost soul who has already lost the battle for traffic before it’s even begun.

But after a little pondering & thought, I went ahead & replied to our anonymous friend with the following message… I did let him have it a little bit, but only because I was hoping to inspire him to change the way he is thinking, and open his mind to new possibilities:

“Hmm,

Sounds like you’ve already got it all figured out then… so why the waste of time emailing me?

I don’t mean to sound rude, but I don’t get your email at all…

If you’re so sure that all of these “kiddie” social sites aren’t worth the effort then why did you even bother following up with me or joining the email list?

I’m getting loads of traffic from Twitter & my subject matter is not childish whatsoever, but heck, maybe I just got lucky…

I have a feeling that if you took a few minutes to try out some of the things I recommend in the email course you’d see this is a worthwhile way to get quality traffic for free.  I can’t do it for you & if you don’t have the technical skills to set this stuff up that’s not really my fault & doesn’t necessarily mean this stuff doesn’t work.

Where there’s a will there’s a way.  I’m sure you could benefit from my information if you put it to good use, but you have a very “defeated” attitude that won’t get you far.  I hope you can figure out a way to turn that around & make this stuff work for you.

If you’ve been selling for 4 years then you should be able to pay a programmer a few bucks to help you out.  I found a programmer on Elance that I’ve been using for years and he would setup a blog for me & follow all of the instructions in my report if I told him to, and he’d probably do it for about $75.

Excuses are like hurdles that you are putting in front of yourself.  Stop making them and you won’t have to jump around as much & you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish when you set your mind in the right direction before you start moving your feet.

Chris”

I hope that you who are now reading this blog entry aren’t doing this to yourself.  You shouldn’t hold yourself back based on prejudices or ill-formed assumptions.  There are always new & changing possiblities, especially when it comes to internet marketing, because after all, a big part of our business relies on technology – which IS constantly changing!