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Don’t Spam Twitter Or You Will Die A Horrible Death | ||
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Ahhhh the Internet. What a crazy 24 hours it has been. If you followed yesterday’s saga then you know exactly what I’m talking about. Attacks. Insults. Accusations. Assumptions. Reactions. Disrespect. Punches. Kicks. Slaps. And more. Yes, just another day on the Internets. Well, I’m about to say something that will probably come as a huge SHOCKER to everyone, especially those that so passionately defended me; which I sincerely appreciated it… I WAS WRONG. Looking at the situation again after the dust has settled, I am man enough to realize that I was wrong in some of the things that I wrote yesterday and how I ‘positioned’ those that I wrote about. I was a hypocrite in the process. As many of you know, one of the primary things I teach is not to get caught up in NEGATIVITY in your marketing. Don’t spend time bashing your competitors or others in your industry. Because in almost every case no good will come from it. Your sole focus should be on providing great value to your prospects and to your customers. In the great free content you giveaway, as well as anything you ever sell to someone. If you stay focused on the positive, and truly work hard to deliver great value to your market, everything else will take care of itself. And if it doesn’t for some reason, there’s nothing you can do about it because you simply did your best. I broke this ‘rule’ yesterday. I read some blog posts that mentioned me by name and I became defensive because of how I felt I was being positioned. So I got all fired up and had a knee-jerk reaction and made my post yesterday. And while I truly had been wanting to express those thoughts on anti-marketing attitudes online for a long time, I realize now that the way I went about it was all wrong — even if I truly did feel I was ‘right’ in defending myself based on the situation. Since I wrote yesterday’s post defending myself and expressing my thoughts, Duncan Riley and Mark Hopkins have both responded with new posts. As you can see by their posts, the negative ‘cycle’ just continues to churn. As I post insults or imply things about them, they in turn find whatever ammunition they can find and return fire. It’s like a tennis match. The ball just keeps getting hit back and forth and ultimately isn’t going anywhere. This is what happens when people’s reputations are being challenged. And it’s a completely natural reaction and one that ANYONE would have. So now it’s my turn to defend myself against the latest remarks from them and hit the ball back over the net. But I’m not going to. Instead, I’d rather look at this from a more constructive point of view and have the three of us go back to focusing on the more important things in our lives — because, frankly, this type of drama is a waste of time and we all know it. Let’s start with Duncan Riley. Duncan kind of started things off with his original post that quoted an email I had sent to my list and he referred to me as an “ebook salesman.” I took offense to this ‘ebook’ remark because most people use that term in regards to someone selling a $19 ebook that promises to make people rich. And I get sick and tired of having the knuckleheads that DO sell that crap bringing the rest of our industry down. So I fired back at Duncan and included him in my long rant. His name came along for the ride and I essentially painted him as anti-marketing. In hindsight, even though I was bothered by the ‘ebook’ comment, I probably should have recognized that he was subscribed to my email list for a reason. After all, his original post was quoting an email he received from me. Even, though, in Duncan’s latest response he ‘returns fire’ he also makes the point that he likes my copy and likes to keep up with other marketers. Hence the reason I now see that it was completely unfair of me to just lump him in with everything anti-marketing. Which, ironically, is the very thing I was so passionate about when it came to defending myself — fighting back against the generalizations that all Internet marketers are evil and are only out to abuse the Internet and/or rip people off. So my apologies to Duncan. In hindsight I should have contacted him personally, expressed my concern over how I thought he was ‘painting’ me out to be, and taking it from there. As a side note, I’ve actually enjoyed reading Duncan’s writing for a very long time. Before he started his recent blog he was a long-time writer for TechCrunch where he wrote about up and coming startup companies — which is very far from anti-marketing or anti-capitalism. Let’s move on to Mark Hopkins. The situation with Mark is a lot different than Duncan. In fact, Mark really took the negativity to far greater lengths — even to a realm where so many things were unjustified and became personal attacks, in my opinion. But if I truly take a step back and look at things from Mark’s perspective, I can get a different view than my own. While I certainly won’t defend some of what he said about me and how he went about it, I am reasonable enough to see what motivated him in the first place. Mark has made it loud and clear that he despises MLM and other types of “referral marketing.” He feels that it preys on a large set of people in the process, and that any model like that is junk — and so even, though, BlogRush was free, it was based on a referral credit system and Mark just didn’t like the ’smell’ of it, so to speak. As many of you know, I myself am not a fan of MLM and don’t suggest my students get involved with it. Because the focus of those things are more about ‘recruiting’ others than marketing an actual product of value; and that’s, ultimately, in my opinion, a doomed business model. I think it’s better to build a business by creating ASSETS — such as your own products, your own customer list, your own content, your own marketing, etc. I believe the same money and time spent on building a business with your own assets will always yield far greater results than just ‘recruiting’ or promoting another company’s business. And, again, this is just my opinion. As I explained to Mark in my ‘defense’ to his ‘pyramid scheme’ attacks on me, I setup BlogRush as multi-tiered referral system because I wanted to give the users the benefit of the ‘network effect’ when it grew virally. With all the other services online that have grown from viral marketing, the only core benefit is to the company that owns the service — the users get nothing out of doing the marketing for them. It was also done to help the small blogger without much traffic have a chance to leverage the network effect, otherwise a 1:1 exchange ratio doesn’t do them any good; because they don’t have much traffic to start with. But even aside from that, I see Mark’s point about the ‘overpromising’ marketing for it and have told him that we’re working to change it. I never stated I was perfect and neither is my marketing. And, of course, BlogRush is a free service and trying to call it a pyramid scheme is a reach — even, though, Mark makes a good point that it still takes people’s time and even uses up some space on their blogs. Fair enough. If Mark truly feels passionately about his dislike for anything related to that multi-level stuff then that’s certainly his right. In Mark’s responses he has pointed out that I unfairly painted him as an “anti-marketing hippie” and that he has long been posting about things that are the opposite — of which I was unaware. So while I got mad at his personal remarks towards me (and how he tried to paint me as a huckster selling things to ‘my victims’) it was unfair of me to make the anti-marketing insinuations about him and do to him exactly what I was so against — the generalizations about Internet marketers. So as tough as it may be for me… My apologies to Mark Hopkins. Mark didn’t like the marketing of BlogRush and probably even some of my other marketing and that’s fine. It’s his right to feel the way he feels. If he wishes to continue to post negative remarks about me, my business, my products, my marketing, etc. so be it. There’s nothing I can do about it but do the best I can to deliver value to my customers — because at the end of the day, those are the only people I am accountable to. And finally… TWITTER. I think it goes without saying, but Duncan put a creative ‘focus’ on what wasn’t said in the email I sent out about Twitter that started this whole thing, and so I want to clarify it once and for all… I didn’t say it word-for-word in my recent email encouraging people to use Twitter, but I’ll say it… DON’T BE A JACKASS AND SPAM OR ABUSE TWITTER. As many of you know, I’ve already expressed how blatant promotions and pitching on social networks and other social media DOESN’T WORK. Social media is best used to give great content and great feedback in any conversation and eventually lead people to your blog or other areas where you’ve posted great supporting content. Then after someone has had a change to see what you offer in terms of free content does the process start towards being interested in doing business with you. Perfect example: as many of you know I hit the Facebook limit of 5,000 friends in less than 5 days from the time I announced that I set-up an account to my list. For those of you that made it into that group of 5,000 you know that you’ve never seen me ‘pitch’ or heavily promote my own products, affiliate links, or anything else. I’ve only used it to interact with people and to syndicate or announce content I posted on my blog. So don’t spam Twitter. Don’t direct message people links to your sites. Don’t overpost URLs to your stuff — otherwise people will “unfollow” you and then Twitter will serve no purpose if no one is ‘listening’ to anything you post. If you make a new blog post, by all means share the URL with people following you. But always keep in mind… What’s In It For Them? They aren’t following you to get blasted with advertising. They’re following you because they believe what you have to share and say is interesting and has VALUE. So the moral of the story from all this drama is this… far greater returns will happen for you and your business if you stay focused on the positive and on creating value and not getting caught up in negativity towards others — justified or not. I am now moving on from this drama and going back to what I do best and what makes me happy. I suggest others do the same.
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« Wake Up Call: Web 2.0 Wouldn’t Exist Without Internet Marketers | Traffic Secrets 2.0 Launch Date? » |
June 20th, 2008 at 7:49 am
[…] Don’t Spam Twitter Or You Will Die A Horrible Death » […]
June 20th, 2008 at 8:00 am
New day battle roars on! Find what works best for your business and hammer it home…. May we all find our dreams and prosper without the drama!
June 20th, 2008 at 8:02 am
start giving away and making friends, especially if you already got filthy rich selling ebooks or flash content that is the same in a different format. Make sure everyone gets a fair chance at grabbing a slice of the pie and is not just a game for those who are privileged, whether by information or contacts. this is what web2.0 is all about. which is not what making money online is all about. chop off those who will continue selling outdated info for the next years in their 20 ds ebooks and make sure that info is well out there and real feedback from real people is pulled back in. this is what makes you rich, not just an ebook slave.
June 20th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Wow, well I’m truly impressed with your integirty and comittment to a higher purpose of value to customers. MOST of all, your humanity around seeing things for the other’s perspective, accountability on your role in the negativity and your ability to forgive and start fresh again is just awesome. I got involved with the whole web 2.0 approach because it happens to validate exactly how I approached my business to begin with…so it’s huge for me to hear you John, the person who brought us into the internet marketing ‘light’ through stomper, come right back to a place of honor and integrity. You made my day and made a loyal advocate out of a mere fan! All the best and more to you.
June 20th, 2008 at 8:30 am
The “Don’t spam twitter” debate is off track
People should know that I love it when you tell me when your new blogs and podcasts are up! I’m afraid the backlash will make twitter devoid of use… But obviously don’t overdo it or actually spam… such as direct message people. Because unwanted messages are spam.
When I follow someone I expect to hear about what they’re doing… including what they’re writing!!
June 20th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Hey, nice walking the talk.
It takes a lot more self-reflection capability than most of us have to be able to step out of the hurt/anger/defensiveness cycle and make a retraction like that.
A lot of times it seems like the “rule of thumb” in the marketing world = “anyone doing more of it than me is a sleazeball and anyone doing less is a moron”.
So we pretty much all tend to think that we’re right and everyone else is just doing it wrong. Which makes it all the more impressive that you would stand up and recognize which parts are “your stuff” and separate that from “their stuff”. You’ve certainly earned my “hey, you’re totally not a sleazy e-book salesman” award …
June 20th, 2008 at 9:18 am
John
I started writing a comment to you last night about chilling out and allowing what others say about you to run off your back and then deleted it before submit.
I figured you may come to this yourself. And you did. well done.
The only person you have to live with is yourself. If you are confident in what you do and your intent is transparent and pure, people will feel that. What some may judge you as is their feelings, not yours. You can’t control them you can only control your reactions.
Getting fired up only serves to affect you in a negative way.
Bet you are feeling better today.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:27 am
A well written end I hope to all the drama. I feel there is nothing wrong in selling your
your wares anywhere as long as you have quality product and you mean to provide the
customer value for money.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Well I for one am glad about the events that transpired yesterday. Yes it was a crazy day. And it affected a lot more people than just you, Duncan, and that Mark dude.
I posted about it on my blog as well although my initial reaction was “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”. I ended up not listening to my own advice (the hypocrite that I am) and called a certain somebody a douche. I’m seriously cranky and rude sometimes.
However, I felt awful afterward even though he said some insanely ridiculous things. He commented on Alice Seba’s blog and I asked him if he was on crack. That was just not necessary of me either. I also said that you oozed integrity so I’m glad you came back with this post.
So in hindsight, we’ve all learned a little sumthin sumthin here.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Before I came across this post after I twittered you:
“ShannonCole @johnreese You once said something very smart.. time wasted responding to negative comments is time taken away from growing your business. less than 5 seconds ago from web in reply to johnreese ”
I’m glad to see this post. Many people get caught up “topping” the other person… just arguing back and forth.. never getting anywhere.
Now John.. get back to work.. You have Traffic Secrets 2 stuff to get done…
~Shannon
June 20th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Great post John, and totally understandable about getting caught up in everything. It’s good to hear your thoughts though.
Have a good one,
Ryan
June 20th, 2008 at 10:27 am
How fitting an end to this ridiculousness that the purported snake-oil salesman - the underhanded hyperbole prone guy who deceitfully disguises CDROM’s that he well knows are actually “ebooks” - the unholy one who has come forth and perpetrated this great BlogRush Pyramid Scheme upon the unsuspecting and immaculate blogosphere — how appropriate that HE is the only one making any sense and is the obvious “victim” of what I view as the BIGGEST problem facing social media - UNFAIR CHARACTER ASSASSINATION and trading on others’ name/fame.
What John has done over the last 24 hours without even intending to is deliver a definitive case study on modern reputation management. Tres precise.
What the FUD purveyors and screeching linkbait harpies are going to learn is that as they exercise that inalienable right of free speech to broadcast their “unique and personal” opinion so widely, they had better actually have something veritable and of substance to say because the world is quickly catching on that you are almost always completely and unmitigatingly full of shit.
And when you get called on, like John and all of the others have called this one out, you are going to be PWNED.
Best,
Brian McLeod
Miami, Florida
June 20th, 2008 at 10:59 am
John, at the end of the day there is one thing that matters.
You are successful, they are losers.
They can damn you day and night but at the end of the day you make mucho fungolas and they are jealous of you.
If they could do what you do and make the money you make - I bet they wouldn’t be complaining so much anymore.
This is common John, its a fact of life that people are going to hate you for no other reason that you do what they wish they could do. Anyone who is successful in any field will experience jealousy and the more successful you become, the more jealous people get.
This is just a few nerds at their keyboards trying to piss you off because they dont have what you have.
Dont let these dorks get to you man, thats all they are, L-O-S-E-R-S
Remember how Halbert would say focus on the foxes and ignore the hounds? Well this what you gotta do John.
Quit trying to be everyones friend, if you try to be something to everyone you will end up being nothing to no one. Focus your efforts on the people who do appreciate you and know what you are doing.
You cant educate man, you can only take existing desire and channel it. Dont try to teach these dorks the difference, its an unprofitable waste of time. Just focus your efforts on the people who already know how things really are and sell to them.
If other people are pissed at you - fuck them, theyre not going to make your life better so cut-them-out.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:12 am
John you’re absolutely right about moving on to focus on building your business, rather than defending it.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Well said. You are showing your integrity by showing how their arguements could be valid and trying to see things from their point of view. I commend you Sir!
June 20th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Nice job John!
You said it best - just avoid the negativity - and get back to doing what you love…
Check please…
June 20th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Tough lesson to learn. I hear your regrets regarding your reactive post yesterday. Too bad things got off the rails so far. There will always be negative reactions to who we are and what we stand for. The challenge, as you have learned, is to not get dragged into the mud. The unfortunate side is that these “online fights” stay alive in Google world for a very long time. You did the right thing by writing today’s post.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:42 am
And to think just a few days ago I thought I was slick sending John a direct message with a link to check something out… YOIKS.
At least the message was directly related to what he was Tweeting about at the time.
When people call you out it’s hard not to answer back. I don’t think anyone could blame you and sometimes the most interesting conversations & content come flying out in the heat of the moment during reactionary type of convo’s like this…
Just when this was starting to make for some interesting reading John graciously bows out :(.
Just kidding, of course!
June 20th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I posted this on my blog yesterday:
“… My experience of John Reese is that he is very open to feedback; he is willing to admit when he makes a mistake; and he genuinely cares about his customers.
On a related note, I have much more respect for a man who admits he made some mistakes …”
You’ve just demonstrated the take home lesson me: There’s nothing more important than a person’s integrity. One’s character plays a central role in any leadership position, whether it’s the President of the United States, a journalist, or an influential business owner.
I am much more likely to purchase your products and stay on your list because you are a man of integrity. It’s something many business owners or managers don’t ever seem to understand.
Mark
June 20th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Nuff said - glad to hear your “buy-in” here on the issue, John.
The people who know you, and follow you - I doubt any of them really got the wrong idea.
I don’t think there was any real malice intended by Duncan and Mark - just a case of leap before you look. (Now they’re in the middle of a mini sh**-storm)
Keep up the good work.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
[…] Thursday and Wednesday were two really productive days for me. Some really interesting stuff is going on and there wasn’t enough time to browse through the internet and look for news. Anyway today I’ve checked out John Reese’s blog at http://www.income.com and I’ve found this amazing post he had written. I strongly recommend you to read it, because it covers some very important things related to web 2.0. You can find that post here. […]
June 20th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
hmmmm interesting post! Very much exciting and easy to follow, the tension could be felt through the whole entire thing!! Also, Glyphius is a great way to create unique headlines so that your readers attention is grasped from the very beginning! GREAT WORK
June 20th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
You really are a great guy, John!
This post, here, is a perfect example of why I’ve been so impressed with you over the years. Great job!
June 20th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Your manners show. Nice follow up.
Already ahead of you on the suggestion.
June 20th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Good way to wrap things up, John.
It’s interesting that all this time, the discussion seems focused on the symptoms (eg actions) resulting from a difference in the paradigms that each blogger/marketer involved in this situation has been using.
I don’t think this issue will be resolved at the symptom level and diving into the ‘root cause’ analysis and discussion is going to take way more time which could be better channeled towards building your business.
It’s a great example of a “agree to disagree” scenario.
If anything, it’s been an instructional discussion in permission marketing and direct response marketing for newer marketers.
PS: I’d suggest those who’re still resorting to name calling (ie idiots, failures), focus your energies on something more positive as it’ll help you move closer to your goals.
Cheers!
June 20th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Classy - very well done.
One of the hardest things to do is take a step back and try and see things from the other point of view, and everyone is right in their own mind.
Good work on exposing the ego AND posting it for the world to see.
Steve
June 20th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
This is a fascinating post, hope you have taken a step back to realize sometimes it’s better to let things play out for a bit before responding.
I used to be quite reactive and I would have responded the same, this thing with Mark and Duncan are just opinions at most. I don’t know if you ever heard that … Opinions are like A*%holes, everyone has one.
If you look into work from Wayne Dyer, he talks about how if he has an audience of 1000 people, he knows there are 1000 different opinions the he cannot influence anyway, so why bother.
John, I think your work has put about tons of value to many, including myself. It doesn’t mean that everyone will see you in the same light… and that’s ok.
You seem to be on a great mission to educate those who want to dive into the world of making money online. The content you have put out to date has been of value to many.. keep up the good work. Know that there will always be an opinion and in the big picture it doesn’t matter anyways.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
John
Stumbled upon your blog site right now and enjoyed the read. I agree that the internet would be would be dead without marketers although a lot of so called marketers would make the
internet a better place if they were dead!
Good content and ethical selling practices will always win out on the web,
something the SEO’s still have to learn.
It takes a big man to apologise.
Well done
Steve Coleman
June 21st, 2008 at 3:45 am
Thank you John.
I am extremely impressed with your brutal honesty and integrity. You took a very
negative situation and totally turned it around.
You took the high road, the best road.
Stay well,
Albert Grande
June 21st, 2008 at 4:21 am
Why is it that the one thing that generates so much interest is a fight, its like a school playground when one kid pushes another and then the other pushes back and everyone comes rushing round to watch and to cheer on the fight. And suddenly a gladiatorial arena is created and everyone is baying for blood. Kind of reminds me of the coliseum in Rome. It doesn’t matter that the weapons are words instead of swords. It generates the same deep seated emotional reaction in all the participants. I spent two hours reading Rick Butts post and all the replies about stompernet the other day which Any Jenkins briefly alludes to in his comment on the previous post and I thought that this was going to turn into another similar saga.
Bravo John for having the integrity to step back from continuing such a cheap spectacle, the courage to admit you overreacted and the humility to apologise. My respect for you increase’s as you lead by example and practice what you preach. I hope others who are attacked or criticised in the future will remember this response and throw water instead of petrol. Emotional conflagrations don’t add any real value to anyone’s lives.
Thanks for being a real human being and a role model and mentor I can aspire to emulate.
June 21st, 2008 at 5:23 am
Thanks for the great feedback and kind words everyone.
Ian - I think people love fights because most of us are simply BORED with the usual day to day. Fights and conflict really ‘rock the boat’ and create something interesting to watch unfold; because much of it is unpredictable.
It’s like watching the Jerry Springer Show.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:48 am
The end of a post on http://www.1to1million.com
—–
Twirgins should aspire to become Tweeters and not Twits.
Twits just barge in thinking they can make some quick money, by spamming everyone with affiliate links or begging for followers. Twits die young because desperation is an ugly thing.
Tweeters communicate with integrity, build relationships, network and succeed in the long run.
—–
Now in reaction to this post….
I say… “You Sir, are a rare and remarkable man. I aspire to have just one grain of your Integrity, Maturity and Humility. You are the one who inspires others with your own inspiration. Many others shared your reaction to the original post. You have raised yourself above the cesspit and brought us all with you. For that I heartily Thank You!”
June 21st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
They both said something that could put a wrong perception upon you. But I also do think that you slightly over-react to the whole situation. I understand how it feels when people try to smear your reputation, hence the reaction.
But to able to say SORRY first (even if you’re not the one who started it), is and act of a brave man. It shows more of your integrity.
I hope this puts a stop to it.
June 21st, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I don’t have anything profound to say.
I just wanted to add my voice to the people who think you’ve done the right thing by taking the high road.
June 21st, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Hey John,
Great post. I always enjoy reading what you have to say. You are a man of integrity and without leaders like you in the IM community, the web truly wouldn’t be what it is today.
Keep up the great work.
~Darren
June 21st, 2008 at 10:48 pm
WELL that was nice and all but, I’d still like to drag them outside and kick the s&^% out of them.
hehe
just kidding el juapo
~Eric
PS - show them that video of you and Kern fighting… that’ll shut them up. lol
June 22nd, 2008 at 2:54 am
Very dignified of you. Just keep doing what you do John. Criticism is all art of being successful.
Suhail
June 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 am
[…] 2. Why post it here on my blog instead of a comment on the Income.com blog where the discussion/debate is already raging? […]
June 22nd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Yeah, I’m not much a fan of the negativity volleys… though, to be honest, I AM a fan of lawsuits for slander and libel. Sure, they’re a pain… but they are often useful for protecting your reputation. (Not to mention that I love to see justice!)
I know that I’m probably in the minority on this… but my former boss never hesitated to do it… and he now owns the Cleveland Caveliers… so I’d have to say that he knew what he was doing. :oP
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
You had me at “hello”, but lost me when you said MLM is a doomed business model.
Ignorance and rash judgements sparked this debate, and i’m frankly disturbed you would paint a broad brush like that.
I’ll just let it end there.
Jaded people exists in every market… Internet marketing and Network marketing; in fact they’re kissing cousins.
When people are willing to publicly tear down people, for no good reason, they have issues.
It’s natural to want to defend yourself John, but so is realizing that people just don’t want to get “better.” Arguing with these kinds of people is usually wasted effort.
Just my two cents.
Corrisa
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:05 pm
@ James -
My guess is, and this is just a WILDLY speculative hunch…that your former boss, you know, the one who now owns the Cleveland Cavaliers, has a FAR better grasp on what is considered libelous - or slanderous than you do..:-) Fortunately, big boys and girls can sort of duke it out a bit without resorting to specious threats of suits for skinned knees and bruised egos, don’t you agree?
It actually AMAZES me that people dunk their heads so deeply in the sand with all of these sorts of arguments on blogs of their favorite online marketers- and the defenses they create in the comments like this did - the first (and last) bastion of a bad defense is ALWAYS attack the messenger like above ( “are jaded, has issues, don’t want to get better, etc”) rather than open your mind a wee bit wider to see if there isn’t a SLENDER shred of truth to the gleaned.
Isn’t it possible, Corrisa, that there are people who care DEEPLY about the ecological correctness of the online selling space and believe that offers designed to part the vast majority of weak minded masses from their hard earned dollars is actually a pretty not so nice thing to do - EVEN if it makes you a pretty penny in the process? Or do people who simply have a different opinion “not get it”? I mean - not to point fingers but your landing page above promises “secret wisdom of the sages” and all of that timeless sort of wisdom that we all kind of realize is a bit tired, trite and silly. Don’t you agree? Or does that make me full of issues?
You don’t have to be a hippy or an anti-capitialist to believe in marketing with a conscience. And the VAST majority of all the direct marketing psychology is very, very simple and takes a DIM view of human beings, and our fundamental nature. Capitliazing on that is fair game and often fun and profitable as many of us have learned - and while you may be able to PEE on everyone’s shoes and tell them it’s raining, you can’t protest TOO much when a few people yell out it’s safe to leave the umbrellas inside.
I’m NOT one of those people, by the way..:-) It’s just important to know that there are.
John I like both you and your stuff - but unfortunately, no matter how many people you may have helped along the way….you ARE an ebook salesman to 99.9% of the world who gets a birds eye view bio should they be interested. It’s just the way things, and people are.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:09 am
I understand your thoughts at the time of the post. It is very hard to take someone putting doen what you are very hole hearted in. I am very impressed that you appoligized to everyone for the post you had. This make me very interested in this.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Hi John
I’m glad you stopped fighting with the other two guys on twitter. As you know it takes two to fight. I for one really hate fightng.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and why you thought the way you did. Good thinking in my opinion.
Meg McNeal
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Always great to see that even those at the top are human.. leading by example.
thank you
June 24th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Congratulations John - not only have you provided us a passionate but articlulate commentary laced with insights but you have been big enough to swallow your pride. Well done and thanks.
June 25th, 2008 at 3:15 am
Good good. John, u are at its best. And, have you tried Glyphius yet? Give it a try and tell me how its works. BTW good job.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:51 am
hi john..you can’t please everyone..but the good thing is we learn from every mistake we make and we go on living our life for the better..as long as we have a good purpose, we would definitely succeed..
Kudos to your good attitude!! Hoping to learn much from you soon.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Still no Traffic Secrets 2.0 launch hype… Will it ever release?
June 25th, 2008 at 11:09 am
John, the “Struggling Series”…. revive it with some help regarding traffic generation, which would be a great lead in to TS 2.0, and *finally* get this blog back on track towards what should be its principle mission…. helping people start and grown an online business! LOL The drama is awesome, I love it… others love it, it keeps us coming back… but some educational nuggets thrown in here and there via the “Struggling Series” would really be great!
June 25th, 2008 at 11:53 am
John,
I follow you on Twitter and I am one of your fans on Facebook.
I’ve handed over money for the first version of Traffic Secrets and never felt sorry for doing so because the integrity of your products is a reflection of the creator.
That’s just the type of person you are. Period.
-and-
The retraction did not come as a surprise to me. I knew you would step up to the plate and share a very valuable lesson with us all… even at the expense of feeling humiliated.
That’s just the type of person you are. Period.
So my marketing friend…. carry on. We’re all behind you.
All good things,
Bonnie Gean
June 26th, 2008 at 12:55 am
In regards to project BR.. I see we’ve both had our “failures”.
And I’m also starting to think an Internet Marketer works best at the late hours of night.. passing on sleep for an idea.
Or that’s how it’s starting to seem for me at least.
Your Friend,
Dan Sweeney
June 26th, 2008 at 6:48 am
We don’t fall in love when we are in the company of someone, we fall in love when we are off by ourselves thinking about them afterwards.
Its quite clear that we enjoy being in each others company and like having fun together. And its also plainly obvious that a butt naked angel called cupid doesn’t shoot an arrow into our butt.
But it is when you are on your own and you find yourself thinking about someone in such a unique way, that allows you to list all the qualities about them you really like, and imagine yourself with them connecting together with the flow of your personalities, is when a feeling of love begins to take place deep inside of you. And although you may try push these feelings down or talk yourself out of them, you only find it comes back 10 times more powerful than ever before, allowing you to fall into deeper emotional states of falling for this person during moments of the day. With me, according to my experiences with people, theres always potential connections that can be built between us as human beings.
When you recall a time in your past when you fell in love, where you then able to stay cool, in control of yourself and the relationship? Or where you calling that person everyday, always wanting to see them, thinking about them and eager to experience a growing connection with them?
Heres the point: We do not fall in love by “tripping” over or falling into a “hole!” Love is a process we do to ourselves! And there are always new ways to discover how love can manifest between us - to the point where you act upon it right now!
All the best,
Nicholas Finnegan
June 26th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Just joined twitter and started following people, then a post showed up with your name and here I am.
I agree, too many sell posts isn’t the best, but that’s one reason we’re on the T isn’t it? To share what we do and think?
At least that’s why I’m here and spend the time… just another networking AND socializing…
opportunity.
I”ve not yet been in a position of having to defend my “being” who I am or what I say on the internet, I’m just beginning to be known… however in offline life this has happened and it’s not a pretty thing, the thoughts that go on inside of us when we’re in the defense mode.
As a creative energy coach this is way to draining to your physical body, the mind game you play with yourself…whew, can’t you just feel the vibration eating away?
Congrats on letting it move through you and on to the other side of your power positoning.
Kareen Ross,
Your Creative Energy Coach
What’s Your Smile Telling The World?
June 26th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
John,
I think we’ve all been in the middle of things like this at some point.
I congratulate you on taking a deep breath and squashing the impulse to fire back yet again.
I know its not easy to silence the voice of indignation when you feel you’ve been unjustly accused.
It requires a lot of character…
Well Done.
Steve
June 27th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
-
IS THIS ALL A BIG SCAM - A Clever Marketing Strategy ? ?
Could this argument drama between Duncan Riley/Mark Hopkins and John Reese
be a clever marketing strategy/ providing drama for us readers? clever marketers can
try almost anything to pull a crowd of eager, anticipated visitors/fans just like
yourselves.
What do you all think?
-
June 27th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
John,
Glad you were able to be the bigger man here and just walk away. I believe it was you that said you can’t please everyone and you will go broke trying to do so, so I’m glad you came to your senses so to speak.
On another note, I disagree with you regarding this…
“As many of you know, I myself am not a fan of MLM and don’t suggest my students get involved with it. Because the focus of those things are more about ‘recruiting’ others than marketing an actual product of value; and that’s, ultimately, in my opinion, a doomed business model.”
Stereotyping MLM in this fashion is just as bad as people stereotyping all internet marketers as scammers and porno site runners. MLM is a multi-tiered affiliate program. Nothing more, nothing less.
There are some companies that are exactly like you described if not worse. There are also some companies that have legitimate products that are helping millions of people, many of which have never nor will ever participate in the opportunity. I personally know several people who make a six figure income from MLM just on their own personal sales and residuals, NOT counting any sales or residuals generated from their organization of distributors.
I would be willing to bet that you have thousands of students who are learning from you so they can market their MLM business online. Are they all “doomed to failure” as you put it? Are the 60+ million people worldwide that participate in this business model doomed to failure simply because they choose to participate in a affiliate program that pays on multiple levels instead of just one level?
What about the stock holders of MLM companies? I know one MLM company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange whose shares have increased over 4000% in a 15 year period. Are those stock holders all doomed to failure because they choose to invest in a company that has a multi tiered compensation structure?
Still love you man, just completely disagree with your comments on the MLM industry.
Roosevelt Cooper
June 27th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Roosevelt,
My opinions of the MLM industry are based on my own experiences as well as those of many others that I know. It is merely my OPINION, but it is what it is. Are “all” MLM companies doomed to fail? No. Are 99% of them? In my opinion, YES. There’s a reason so many MLM companies come and go. Many of them that showed the most promise were ones that were run out of business due to the model itself.
The fact of the matter is, 99.9% of those that ever get involved in an MLM opportunity do so with the focus of recruiting others. This is the foundation of the MLM model itself, and ultimately why it’s an outdated and DYING model. And this isn’t just my opinion; many other industry analysts agree that the model itself is growing weaker and weaker.
Are there some MLMs that sell legit, quality products? YES, absolutely. But they are few and far between. And I also believe that if they truly have easily sellable, quality products that they are better off using distribution based solely on a direct sales model and not on a multi-level. It’s simply a MATH equation. Take the money being dispersed via recruitment and give it all on a PER SALE basis and the marketer will make a lot more money.
I don’t suggest my students get involved with MLM opportunities because I think they can put the same time, energy, and expense into something else that actually grows and builds ASSETS for themselves. All things created equal, it’s a lot easier to build a long-term business outside of the MLM model.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:35 am
John,
Thanks for your reply. I can respect your opinion and the experiences and observations that you have gone through to formulate that opinion. From the little I do know about your background, I’m sure if I had the same experiences and observations, I would agree with you 100% I just have a different set of experiences and observations that have caused me to formulate a positive opinion on the MLM business model, when it is used to promote a product that has a legitimate value to an end user (meaning someone who isn’t involved in the opportunity.)
I have observed how the MLM industry has helped people to make more money, create more time freedom and develop knowledge and skills that make them a better person and more valuable in the marketplace. I’m not even just talking about people that I’ve read about or heard about, which are a lot of people, BTW. I’m talking about people that I know personally whose lives and bank accounts have changed for the better because they participated in a SOLID MLM business opportunity. Some of these people would have never been opened to the idea of starting an internet marketing business. Actually one guy in particular that I’m thinking about can barely type an email and forget about adding an attachment!
I will agree with you 110% that if your students have the time, energy and resources to build their own business as opposed to ONLY building a MLM business or even serving as an affiliate for a product, they should build their own business. This is something that I have always done and will always continue to do. However, I also believe that if you can build your own business and market products that you earn an affiliate commision on, even if those affiliate commissions are based on a MLM compensation model, I believe you should do so and not limit yourself.
In any case, I think we can both agree to simply agree to disagree with each other.
Also, let me go on record to say that even though I sometimes disagree with you, I’ve always been able to benefit tremendously from your insights and your opinions. Just ONE strategy I’ve learned from Traffic Secrets, I have so far earned over $70,000 in revenue (and it’s still increasing daily) and for that I will be forever grateful to you and your company!
June 28th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Hi M.Reese
I came across a PDF document called the rebirth of internet marketing, let me tell you that i love it. I’m new the internet marketing and trying to learn here and there and it’s about 4 months now and I feel that every where i look for methods or way to learn everyone is outhere to sell me something. I understand that this is the way they make money but really how is a beginner is suppose to learn when what ever you buy to leatn affiliate or anything else the only thing they want you to do is buy the product and on top of that they are not give you to whole picture and a the end I feel more lost than when I actually started
Well all that to tell you that the way I think is exactly to SERVE my product
Just want to tell you that it was nice to read your pdf file you sound like a honest man and I wish you a lot of sucess!
June 30th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Hey John,
As a customer, and someone who believe you to be the very best of what Internet Marketers can strive to be, I was happy to see you defend yourself. I know it’s not what you want to spend your time on… but sometimes the negative stuff just builds up and the time comes to speak up. I’m glad you did! Hopefully it felt really great in the moment to get all of that stuff out.
In the years since I first saw you speak at The System, I’ve known you to be an ethical, VERY hard-working, positive person… who wants nothing more than everyone else to succeed the way you have. I appreciate that… and appreciate everything you’ve done to be a great example to everyone working in our industry. Keep up the great work.
Hope you are well,
Kelli
July 1st, 2008 at 9:15 am
No John, you shouldn’t have contacted Duncan and “expressed your concern over how you thought he was painting you out to be”…
What you should do is understand that some people won’t like some things about you or the way you do things, and then be OK with that.
If someone says you came across as an ebook salesman, it’s because (to them) you did. There’s no point you disagreeing with them and saying it’s not true - it might not be true in your opinion - but the person doesn’t have your opinion, they have their own. And like it or not, it’s as valid as yours.
July 1st, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Twitter is a great tool and should never be used for spamming. Simple for the reason that people can “turn you off” and choose not to follow you.
Its a great way to get your message out, but its also a great relationship building tool as well
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
MuVar is an awesome!!
July 6th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Drama between you guys? Why? Don’t understand the insults, however not everyone’s going to make money the same way. Some people like affiliates, others market their own products, some make a living on ebay and some make money the MLM way. Whatever works for’em.
I personally enjoy reading many different articles, blogs, forums and newsletters from many different experts in many different fields.
I’m glad you stopped it and went back to focusing on what your readers really want.
Leave the drama to the soap opera blogs and whatever other blogs focus on that stuff.
July 8th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Spamming twitter is terrible, I’ve seen people selling affiliate products and other stuff, ugh that’s the worst.
July 14th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
[…] follow John Reese and he once posted on there to watch your message, then after Mashable mocked him he retaliated and now on the eve of Traffic Secrets he has a goofy picture on Twitpics that makes him look like […]
July 19th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Just a short message: I enjoyed reading your article regarding Twitter. As a newly Spirit on the Twitter Community, it was a pleasure to learn some interesting tips from you. Thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts on this. As well, to see that You are a sensitive human…thanks for your authenticity. And -
Congratulations on 2.0!
July 21st, 2008 at 1:17 am
I love John Reese.
And I wish I were as skinny as him!
There is no bonus for reading my comment…
LOL
Rick
July 21st, 2008 at 8:59 am
What a way to step up. Most of us would have responded as you did yesterday and many of us would have gone even further.
Stepping up today and letting us know that you shouldn’t have responded as you did proves to me and others that you are a better man than most of us.
Great job,
Thanks you for the example,
Doug
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:56 pm
[…] to his credit Reese does man up in his followup post “Don’t Spam Twitter Or You’ll Die A Horrible Death” about the whole thing and actually calls himself out for getting involved in this BS. He […]
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:12 am
Hello John,
Very nice post. I love your income blog
cheers
John
July 31st, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I have a question for all the guru’s on this blog?
How does one actually make money online? I sure can’t figure it out and I’ve spent thousands. Love the discussion about negativity and rants etc. But to quote the great Wendy’s ad campaign - “where’s the beef?”