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Ok, so the SuperBowl is over, and there are a new set of commercials to judge and discuss. Since a 30 second spot during the game costs anywhere between $2.5 to $3 million, advertisers need to bring their “A” game for this once/year event. The thing I don’t like about SuperBowl ads are that the big budget corporations dominate the space so the rich tend to get richer.
Here’s an idea: have a contest where some lucky small business gets a 30 second spot “sponsored” by the network airing the game. It would present a fabulous opportunity for us little guys and inject some new blood into the mix as well. Probably won’t happen, but it never hurts to toss the idea out there, right?
Which ones did you like best and least? Post your comments below the video.
Winners
In my completely informal poll (conducted via Twitter, Facebook and text message), the early winners seem to be:
1. Snickers (featuring Betty Davis)
2. Budweiser (no shock–they always bring it for the SuperBowl)
3. Dorritos – all were well received in my “straw poll”
4. Hyundai (like him or not, the play on Brett Favre in 10 years was great)
5. eTrade (the “Milk-aholic” line was classic!)
Losers:
1. Diamond Foods (Pop Secret & Emerald Nuts) “Let’s Get Aquatic” with people as dolphins (seems as though the message wasn’t clear)
2. Charles Barkley’s Taco Bell spots (I love Barkley, but I didn’t care much for the commercials either)
3. GoDaddy (I disagree but it seems as though some of my “constituents” don’t like their ad campaigns; as competitive as the online world is today, you have to do something to stand out especially for something as mundane as domain registration)
I recently got a copy of Mike Hill’s CPA Tsunami and have had some people asking me what I think of it so far so I thought I’d do a “mid-term” review of the product. Admittedly, I have only gotten through 1/2 the course even though I have had it for awhile. That’s what the holidays will do to you!
Anyway, here are my raw honest opinions/takes thus far:
1) The bonuses more than make up for a lot of what the program lacks. The collection of bonuses are worth the price of the program by themselves. The offer truly is a good one from that perspective.
2) The program itself isn’t all that earth shattering or even that well done considering the price point. It’s more or less Mike Hill sitting in front of a computer reading over slides on his deck that they periodically cut to shots of him talking then back to the slides. They have nice backgrounds for the slides and use color effectively, but that doesn’t compensate for some of the bigger pot holes that I’ll get to in just a bit.
3) One thing that Mike could have improved upon is stepping into his slides versus tossing the whole slide up there and reading over it. It makes it much harder to follow along because our natural human tendency is to read ahead so that’s a rather significant criticism of the program. It’s simply not that hard to step into slides point by point so I’m surprised and a bit disappointed at this oversight.
Maybe the coordination between showing the slide and Mike talking was tricky . . . I don’t know, but stepping into each point is something you’d (at the very least) expect out of a $2,000+ product. Sure, for a $197 product, toss your slides up on the screen with all the points showing and read over them all day long, but that’s unacceptable for a product at this price point. Sorry.
4) Something Mike has done very well: it’s as if he’s having a one-on-one conversation with you, and that’s something we could all learn from & model. You hear everyone say “write or talk to one person with your marketing,” and Mike does this throughout the course.
5) The packaging is absolutely top flight, and I believe that sold some people including yours truly. It looks cool, and that may make a difference for some folks. Hey, I’m vein and can appreciate cool packaging! LOL
6) There are some really good tips for beginners, intermediates, and advanced marketers so there truly is a little something for everyone. It’s not a heavyweight bout of rainmaker tips, tricks and pointers however.
Some of the stuff is a bit too basic, but I’ll cut it some slack because Mike & his gang were aiming to be a product for every level. I belive they’ve pulled this off, but some advanced level guys (no names mentioned–ha, ha) get bored and tend to zone out especially when there are 10 bullet points on a slide that someone is going to read over . . . our minds tend to zoom to the last point and wander away from there before the presenter is even to point #3.
7) The creative examples are good to model after, and that’s one of the strengths of this program. If you’re not sure how to craft an offer effectively with solid creative, this is a good course for you.
If you’re looking for a course that will take you by the hand and teach you exactly how to make a lot of money quickly through CPA networks, I’m not sure this will do it because I honestly haven’t finished it yet.
I say that as an “advanced” level internet marketer that isn’t all that great with CPA networks yet. That’s the primary reason I got this course, and I’m hoping there are some serious “ah-ha” moments to come later in the program.
9) I will say that no matter what level you happen to be right now, you can learn a lot about offer formulation, creative, up-sells, cross-sells, and down-sells through this course.
You may not know exactly how to pull one off with your particular shopping cart & auto-responder, but you’ll understand the theory and tenets behind the concepts. It’s clear that Mike knows how to capitalize on a customer at the point of sale very well, and that’s the difference between a mediocre business and a high flying one.
10) The Value Trojan concept is pure gold! That might make up for some of the shortcomings mentioned above. Too many marketers get caught up in continuity programs that they design to break the bank from day one, but a much more powerful strategy is to implement Value Trojans as much as possible. Think “Consumer Reports” and their model for getting you into and keeping you in their program.
This did provide me with a significant “ah-ha,” and it’s something I’m trying to instill upon clients and partners alike because there’s more money to be made over the long haul with this concept than the traditional continuity models. If you implemented nothing else from this program aside from The Value Trojan, you’d improve your business significantly so I’m contradicting myself a bit with some of the earlier criticism.
The Bottom Line
Mike can show you a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff, but don’t go into this thinking you’re going to raise your game from a nobody to superstar in a week or two. You can add some cool components & tactics to your existing strategies that will improve results so that’s always a worthwhile endeavor in my opinion.
Overall, I’d recommend the CPA Tsunami, but I’d recommend it as much for the bonuses as the core content.
I would not have paid that much for just the core product. By itself, it’s not worth that much money as it stands today. I wouldn’t pay someone over $2,000 to more or less read complete slides to me no matter how nice they look, how well the packaging is done, or how good the bullet points are on the slides. As mentioned above, at least step into the slides so “students” don’t read ahead and get frustrated that it’s hard to follow along with the “instructor.”
Hopefully Mike & the gang enhance the core product to include some of the recommendations to make it better next time so the bonuses don’t carry the product quite so much. I believe it could be a great standalone product that could require zero bonuses to tip the scales with some tweaks here and there.
Report Card
Product by Itself: B-
Bonuses: A+
Overall Offer Including Bonuses: A
Overall Offer Sans Bonuses: D (if the product were offered by itself at the current price point and no bonuses, it’s not worth it)
Recently I filled out a request for information form at BuyerZone.com for outbound telemarketing and direct mail services. I did this for two reasons: 1) to help the folks who go through the List Samurai program identify potential quality vendors to connect with for their marketing needs and 2) develop a better understanding of the price points for these types of vendors for my own business growth needs.
Buyer Zone Homepage Screenshot
I filled out the request on Sunday in order to get some feedback on Monday and Tuesday as I create more List Samurai videos & slides, and boy did I get some feedback! To the tune of a phone call every hour on the hour starting around 9:30 AM ET. Here are my takeaways and friendly advice based on the experience thus far:
1) Many of these companies MUST be hurting for business based on the amount of phone calling and email attempts made in the last 36 hours. This means you can likely strike a pretty good deal if you play your cards right when approaching them. How can you do that? Simply don’t contract for services for at least 48 hours after the request. See what everybody brings to the table before furthering the process.
Also, it’s probably a good idea to sit back and see who responds most and how. If one particular vendor calls more than the others, they’re likely the one that will provide the most wiggle room on your first deal. This may also be an indication that their business health isn’t as positive as the others, too so be cautious.
2) If you don’t want to be hounded by the hourly phone calls, simply place a statement in the request for information form that says something along the lines of “searching for relevant providers and pricing information. Please do not call.” That’s what I wish I had done in this situation, but you live and learn, right? Next time I fill out one of these forms, I’ll include that caveat and if any vendors ignore the request to not call, they’ll be eliminated immediately for a failure to pay attention to the request. After-all, if they can’t follow simple directions at the outset, how are they going to produce when things get more complicated?
I highly recommend using services such as BuyerZone.com to find quality vendors and potential partners, but you may want to include some basic contact & follow-up instructions especially if you’re not looking to be called a lot on the phone. In the vendors’ defense, they are following up to a request as best they can, but sometimes that follow up is a bit extreme.
There is also a brief podcast below that shares my experience and advice. Enjoy!
I vowed yesterday to talk a little more about the SPAM issues of late including what all happened with Infusionsoft. I just got done creating a podcast that talks about everything in a lot more detail and shares, what is likely, a little different perspective on what is spam versus those crying wolf at every turn.
Listen in on the podcast and let me know what you think in the comments afterward.
It’s been awhile since Wes and I have been able to do a Southern Social Media podcast so I ventured out solo. You know Wes will get all territorial next time we’re together for the podcast, but I wanted to talk about six predictions for 2010 made by Dave Armano. That’s what this solo podcast is all about so enjoy!
Today, I’ve been doing battle with Infusionsoft over an email campaign to a small sample list of 3,150 dentists in nearby areas (from Louisville, KY).
To make a long story short, Infusionsoft has terminated my account even though I have been a Certified Marketing Automation Coach for nearly 2 years with them. In fact, I was in the original certification class that paid quite a bit of money (like $2,500 out of my own pocket) to get certified so I’m none too pleased that Infusionsoft and the nerds in their compliance department have taken such a stance with me, but life goes on as they say.
I have never committed any previous “violations.” I’d argue that I haven’t violated the CAN SPAM laws in this instance either, and I’ll present my side of the argument below.
In the spirit of learning and sharing experiences, I thought I’d share the details of the email in question that was sent and how it IS compliant with the CAN SPAM regulations set forth on the GOVERNMENT’S website (for a complete rundown, go here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm)
The Primary FTC CAN-SPAM Provisions
Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.
Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.
Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.
So there you have it in a nutshell. Let’s look at the email I sent and determine (together) whether I’m “compliant” or not.
Initial email sent to dental pros on 12/10/09
Ok, let’s pick this thing apart as objectively as possible.
FTC Requirement #1: Don’t use false or misleading header information
The header information used my primary email address and did not hide behind any IP spoofing or multi-IP addressing schemes. Check.
FTC Requirement #2: Don’t use deceptive subject lines.
The subject line for this email was: “Couldn’t your business benefit from more qualified leads?” The email is about a free eBook on lead generation and list building for small and medium businesses. Deceptive? You tell me. Wouldn’t a small business owner benefit from more leads coming into his/her business?
Additionally, that subject line is relevant to just about every business owner and executive out there because lead generation is the key to sustained business growth. Most people realize that, but many uninformed people still want to cry “SPAM!” at every turn no matter how relevant the offer or email happens to be.
FTC Requirement #3: Identify the message as an ad.
What is that I see just above the header image and body of the e-mail? Sure looks like “This is an advertisement.” Check.
Good old Roger isn’t trying to deceive anyone with the email . . . he knows it’s an ad, and he’s not afraid to say so.
FTC Requirement #4:Tell recipients where you’re located
My full mailing address is clearly stated in the footer section along with a phone number to reach me should someone have questions, concerns, or any other problems. I took it one step further than required by providing the phone number. I simply wanted people to know there was a real person behind the email that they could actually talk to.
My objective was/is to be as transparent as possible.
FTC Requirement #5: Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you.
In the footer section, there is a clear and easy way to opt-out immediately by simply clicking the link. No more emails or messages from me once you click that. Check.
As mentioned in point #5, once you click the link, that’s the end of the messages from me. Request honored immediately. Checkmate.
FTC Requirement #7: Monitor what others are doing on your behalf
Doesn’t really apply to this situation because I wasn’t hiding behind anything. Everything was above board and in compliance with the FTC requirements as set forth.
Now, I cannot control someone else mining my email address and sending out emails through a third party as if they were me that I do not control . . . none of us really can to be blunt.
If someone wants to scrounge up a bunch of email addresses and blast away, they can do that although it’s illegal. I can only control what originates from my own accounts and the third parties I employ to carry out those actions. You’re in the same boat so I’m preaching to the choir here.
What constitutes true “SPAM?”
Now, this all brings me to the next and primary point. I understand that people are fed up with email marketing to a large extent, and I’m no different, but that doesn’t mean every piece of email that comes from someone unknown is SPAM. I’m sorry . . . look at the FTC regulations again and how they have built in requirements for sending unsolicited emails. Read them and then re-read them.
Where in there does it say “you cannot email someone you don’t know or send them an unsolicited email under any circumstances?” It more or less says that if you’re going to do that, here are the requirements you must follow . . .
Just because you didn’t explicitly ask someone to email you doesn’t constitute SPAM when they do . . . very similar to the telephone. How many calls do you get per day from people you don’t know? If you run a business, chances are the majority of incoming calls are from unknown people until they become regular customers.
Do you not agree?
The regulations don’t say you can’t ever email someone you don’t know or email them a relevant offer! The entire act was designed to dissuade repeated pharmaceutical and porn related emails that were bogging down people’s inboxes at an alarming rate.
It also was designed to make marketers responsible for the emails they send versus repeatedly sending the same garbage with no recourse for the recipient. That’s the intent . . . there are plenty of marketers out there that violate the hell out of this even with the regulations in place. I get that, but I’m not one of them nor are my clients!
The shady marketers setup shop through some offshore email provider and blast away . . . you’ve undoubtedly seen the emails for Viagra, Cialis, and plenty of sketchy offers out there. Let me ask you this: when you get one of those emails, how closely are they following the CAN SPAM requirements? They’re not . . . THAT is SPAM . . . not every single unsolicited email you receive on a daily basis.
Here’s a Challenge for You
Look through the emails that come to you/your business from people inquiring about something business related or looking to do business with you . . . I’d bet 80% of them are from people you don’t know, have never heard of, or have no idea what they’re emailing you for until you open the email. Right?
If you’re receiving regular business emails from someone, trace the origins of your relationship to the first email exchange (if you can). Who emailed whom first? Were you close business acquaintances prior to that first email? Were you friends? How did the relationship start? My point is someone had to reach out to the other to get things rolling.
Furthermore, how many emails to your business account are from friends that have absolutely zero business purpose? How many of your friends’ emails were explicitly solicited? Remember, this is supposed to be your “business email” so how much junk do you have from people you actually know that aren’t looking to conduct any form of professional business with you? It’s something to think about, isn’t it?
Email Intent
Consider this blurb from the FTC site:
What matters is the “primary purpose” of the message. To determine the primary purpose, remember that an email can contain three different types of information:
Commercial content – which advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, including content on a website operated for a commercial purpose;
Transactional or relationship content – which facilitates an already agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer about an ongoing transaction; and
Other content – which is neither commercial nor transactional or relationship.
If the message contains only commercial content, its primary purpose is commercial and it must comply with the requirements of CAM-SPAM. If it contains only transactional or relationship content, its primary purpose is transactional or relationship. In that case, it may not contain false or misleading routing information, but is otherwise exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.”
Was I FTC CAN-SPAM Compliant?
SO I ask you, was my email in compliance with the FTC requirements for CAN-SPAM as laid out on their website?
Look, you can flame all you want about unsolicited emails, but they’re part of doing business as long as you comply with the requirements and regulations stipulated. It’s time the over-sensitive types quit designating every unsolicited email as SPAM especially when the email passes all the tests for compliance.
The Bottom Line
I’m not recommending you ever truly SPAM anyone. I’m merely stating that relevant commercial email that complies with the regulations set forth by the US FTC is NOT SPAM no matter how many times you want to cry it.
Furthermore, if someone requests to be taken off your list or you repeatedly email them the same stuff over and over, that’s not in compliance with the requirements either so don’t misunderstand the spirit of this post.
If I cried SPAM over every piece of unsolicited email received, I’d never have acquired that first customer, partner or referral because email is a major business communication vehicle today, and it’s one I much prefer over the telephone.
What’s Your Take?
I welcome your comments and feedback. I realize this is a touchy subject for many, but I hope we can engage in some healthy dialogue here.
If you’re looking for a course that will take you by the hand and teach you exactly how to make a lot of money quickly through CPA networks, I’m not sure this will do it because I honestly haven’t finished it yet.
