Just for the record – I commented unfavourably on John Reese’s Traffic Secrets 2.0 some time last year – I still think a lot of it is long winded and I don’t think the action plan (or whatever he calls it) works particularly well, but I have actually referred to some lessons a few times for ideas and putting them into action, so I obviously didn’t think it was as bad as I thought

This year I’m getting much more organised with developing my businesses for the long term, which means developing long term plans and really working them. It doesn’t mean I won’t have some side projects and a little fun though

While video when done right can be highly effective and something I don’t use enough, there is also the danger of overuse. And that is certainly seen in the internet marketing space.

These days hardly a day goes by without receiving an email urging me to watch a video explaining why I have to buy X product. Sometimes they look tempting and I save them for later, but the fact is I rarely have enough time for video and if it’s too long I’ll start multitasking and will miss something vital anyway. It’s also one of the big problems I had with Traffic Secrets 2.0 recently – if you want me to watch video send me a DVD, otherwise audio is far better.

If you’re going to target me you really need to do it through audio, as I will take the time to load it up and listen at the gym, which in a normal week amounts to 4 1/2 – 5 hours. Outside of this timetable I will often set aside time away from the computer to listen to something if it’s really worthwhile – unlike video, where I give up on many presentations, especially when they’re 50 minutes or more.

I guess these gurus are testing, but I can’t see how anyone can devote so much time to watching videos when we’re all being bombarded with them and I have really missed Ed Dale’s podcasts.

Anyway, I mentioned in a previous post about Internet Marketing This Week, a weekly podcast by Ed, Paul Colligan, Lynn Terry and Michelle Macpherson and it hits the nail right on the head. Ed has been saying how podcasts are coming back bigtime, but I don’t really think they ever went away – it’s just that the next big thing arrived.

I’ve been thinking of producing a podcast for one of my niches, but there is a podcast in the niche and it’s not hyper profitable, but on the other hand I half feel like doing it for the hell of it.

One thing I have done since the summer though is to go through John Reese’s Traffic Secrets 2.0 and Stompernet’s Stomping The Search Engines 2.0. As a reminder, TS 2.0 cost $500, caused me a few problems and had lousy customer service, STSE 2.0 cost $10 or $20 postage when I subscribed to The Net Effect, Stompernet’s new magazine, so while there is no contest in terms of price it is interesting to compare them side by side.

Traffic Secrets 2.0

I must admit I was expecting big things from John Reese, as I’ve benefited from some of his pearls of wisdom in the past dispensed in interviews etc, but TS 2.0 didn’t do it for me. There is far too much filler and quite frankly I couldn’t concentrate on the videos for long because of that. The content was added to the website in MP3 format, which at least allowed me to listen at the gym, but still, it is all too vague and lacking the killer content I was expecting to find although maybe I’m not who it’s aimed at, so perhaps there are people who have genuinely benefited.

I also got a couple of DVDs from Frank Kern with Traffic Secrets 2.0, which are quite something. If you’ve come across Frank in the past you’ll pretty much know what to expect, but he really holds your attention and has a completely off the wall sense of humour.

Stomping The Search Engines 2.0

I’ve had issues with Stompernet in the past and for me they come across as being far too corporate for their own good, but I thought I’d check out STSE 2.0 anyway – for that price I’d have been stupid to miss it. I had listened to the original course, so had an idea of what to expect. The course is far more compact that TS 2.0, and better for it IMHO.

Among other things it really gets down to the nitty gritty of keyword research, on page factors, off page factors and a very strong section on link building by Dan Thies. I’ll also say that I had no problem with the order process and delivery of The Net Effect and STSE 2.0, although there are many people who have had issues and are really fed up with Stompernet for it – one of my big complaints previously.

Why is good customer service so elusive?

It seems to be a common problem for internet marketing companies to have extremely poor customer service, and I don’t know if it’s genuinely because they are taken by surprise by the number of orders they receive, poor planning, scalability issues, they’re let down by delivery fulfillers or they just don’t care, but one essential piece of the marketing jigsaw is customer service – get this wrong and it can crucify you.

And I’m amazed that it isn’t talked about more, until just recently I came across Lynn Terry through Internet Marketing This Week, also with Ed Dale, Paul Colligan and Michelle Macpherson. Lynn’s big bugbear seems to be lack support for both customers and affiliates, the latter of which resonates with me as I have been unable to sort out an issue with the Immediate Edge affiliate program that I first raised in September. To be frank, that is pissing me off and I really hope that it is sorted soon and while I value my membership of Immediate Edge, I certainly won’t continue to promote it, let alone push it more.

I’m sure I will get some value out of this, but it’s going to mean digging deep. Luckily the content has just been released as audio only so I can listen to it at the gym. Video is ok, but I find unless it is a DVD – so that I move away from my PC – I start to multitask. From that point of view I think audio is much better as I can really focus on it for the 90 minutes or so that it takes me to go to the gym and work out, but I guess it depends on individual learning styles.

I haven’t taken a look at the content in any details yet, I’ve flipped through the book that comes with the 12 CDs, but it does look pretty comprehensive and covers social strategy as well as the usual search engine traffic, which is all good. The book appears to be a transcription of the material on the CDs, which yields some interesting results – “face book”, rather than “Facebook” for example and my favourite is “twirl” in one sentence and “twurl” in the next. Not big complaints but could be confusing if you follow the course from the book and are unfamiliar with the terms.

One of the downsides that I see is the size of the box that contains the course – it won’t fit on my bookshelf. To be honest, I’d much rather have been able to access the materials online rather than have my office cluttered with it, but I guess by shipping a physical product the perceived value is higher and John Reese can make more $$$.

I do have a couple of complaints about customer service though. As shipping was delayed I had to change the delivery address, which I eventually managed to confirm after several emails and a support ticket went unanswered. Eventually I had to contact John Reese through Twitter to get a response. And even though the new delivery address was confirmed, FedEx still tried to deliver to my home address, with me on holiday for the whole of August. When FedEx failed to deliver they did at least phone me and so I had it delivered to my holiday address.

Another problem with the order concerns the tracking cookie. I ordered through Ed Dale’s link as he was offering his course of buying and selling websites. Before ordering I cleaned out the tracking cookie as I’d taken a look at several offers, but when I finally clicked Ed’s link the cookie didn’t register.

Despite being assured that this as in hand by Customer service, it wasn’t credited to Ed Dale, so I don’t get his course. I’m still trying to sort this, so hopefully will do soon. Customer service is an important element of the tactical marketing mix and my experience of Traffic Secrets 2.0 in this respect has left me underwhelmed.

Anyway, I’ve got a ton of stuff to do before I get stuck into TS 2.0, but will write something once I’m actually doing something with it other than use it as a giant paperweight.

First thing is that it’s cheap – $397 with lifetime updates and you get a physical product shipped to you. That probably makes it worthwhile buying, especially if you live in Europe with the dollar being the way it is.

The other thing is the insane bonuses being offered by the gurus to get you to buy from them. But here’s the thing – some of them aren’t using an affiliate link.

Brad Callen is offering you his 3 top internet marketing software titles if you buy from him. Frank Kern is giving EVERYONE who buys in the first 12 hours some free internet marketing DVDs and doesn’t make a dime from the promotion. I think I’ve seen an email from Jeff Walker, Jason Moffat… and I must have forgotten someone.

And Ed Dale is offering the online version of Dominiche, his course on buying and selling websites, to anyone who buys through his link.

So… I spend £397 through Ed’s link and get a $2,000 course – ok, so I don’t get access to St*mp*rn*t like in the full version, but that suits me – plus I get some DVDs from the always excellent Frank Kern PLUS I get lifetime upgrades to Traffic Secrets.

PHEW… this is a no brainer – I’ll even give you Ed’s link so you can get Dominiche too.

http://www.trafficsecrets.com/edale