I’ve received a TON of great feedback since releasing my free report, “Internet Marketing 2010: The Road Ahead.”  (Thanks, everyone!)

But I want to clarify a few things…

1.  My statement about “remove all testimonials.”

I was referring to RESULTS-BASED TESTIMONIALS.  That’s what the new FTC guidelines affect and the context of when I stated that.

Someone posted on a marketing forum that I was ‘crazy’ for giving such advice.  That as long as testimonials weren’t full of hype and outlandish claims that they are okay to use.

WRONG.

According to the latest guidelines (and again, I’m not an attorney and this isn’t legal advice) marketers cannot use testimonials that contain results from a product that the AVERAGE buyer of the product doesn’t achieve.

In other words, even a ‘tame’ testimonial that just says, “I really liked your book.  I made my first $50 a few days after buying it.”  According to the FTC guidelines, if the average buyer of the book doesn’t make $50 a few days after buying it, such a testimonial is considered MISLEADING and it’s against their new guidelines.

Yes, that’s how LAME these new guidelines are.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with someone stating how much they liked the product and what they got out of it, etc. but ones that state actual RESULTS (big or small) are the ones now under scrutiny by the FTC.

Will the FTC come after you if you use a testimonial that states someone made $50 a few days after buying your book?  Probably not.  But according to their latest guidelines it sure seems like THEY CAN.

2.  My statement that “Social Media sucks.”

Anyone that read all of my comments in the report about Social Media knows that I recommend everyone use it.  It’s great for building backlinks, syndicating content, and building relationships — and, yes, finding new customers.  I think social bookmarking and doing trackbacks (with great content) is a must.

Most of my ’sucks’ comments were aimed at Twitter and Facebook.  The sites most people think of when thinking of Social Media.  These are the sites that I feel many people are wasting far too much time on.  YES, you should definitely use them.  No doubt about it.

But when compared to other Internet Marketing strategies (PPC, building a list, creating products, making offers, working on copy & conversion, SEO, creating & distributing content) it doesn’t produce as much money.  Therefore, I believe one shouldn’t spend as much time using those sites.

This is exactly why I mention people should use these sites for a max of one hour per day.

Twitter and Facebook have become the new AOL Chatroom.  Even if you feel you’re using them “in the name of your business” it’s too easy to waste hours of time chatting and socializing with people on them.  If you don’t actively limit the amount of time you use them, they WILL hold your business back.

Here’s a Special Report I created for you…  In this report I cover a lot of things.

I talk about some of the things I’ve been up to and changes that are affecting Internet Marketing.

Here’s Some Of What I Cover In This Report:

• How I made a bone-head mistake and lost over $350,000.

• My thoughts on “Social Media” and why some will hate what I have to say.

• Did you know… The FTC just changed the entire game of marketing.

• Why your traffic generation efforts better get ‘smarter.’

• Don’t do ‘this’ or you and your business might be doomed.

• How you need to position your business and why.

Click Here To Download The Special Report

After reading the report make sure to leave your comment below!

And feel free to tell others about this report.

During this past weekend, I was excited to announce the release of a new Web Class I am teaching called “Money Mindset.”

It’s a 4-Week class with assignments and Q&A help. The cost of the class is $497.

The class doesn’t actually start until October 15th, so I have a lot of time left to do follow-ups and get more people to register. In fact, I’m sure many people were going to wait until the last minute to sign up — which is often the case with live events like Webinars, seminars, and conferences.

From a business standpoint, the campaign to sell this class (after only 3 days) was already successful. But to be honest, I didn’t see as many of my regular customers signing up as I thought I would. I’m sure many of them were going to register at the last minute, but it was something that got my attention.

I also paid close attention to the blog comments that were made in the post below this one where I had originally announced the class. While you can see for yourself many people are really excited about the class and even feel the $500 price tag will be a bargain for what they’ll learn.

HOWEVER…

You’ll also notice quite a few people expressing their disappointment over the price. They are really interested in the class but just can’t afford, or justify, paying $497 for it.

Our office received quite a few phone calls and email support tickets expressing concern that they really wanted to attend the “Money Mindset” class but the price was too high. We’ve gotten that feedback on some of our products before, but never like this. This is the ‘loudest’ the volume of feedback has ever been.

The economy is still obviously affecting a lot of people. While many are actually prospering right now in their businesses, many of my other customers are struggling.

Now I’m certainly never one to make excuses for high-dollar marketing products that I sell. As Gary Bencivenga once told me (btw he’s one of the top copywriters in history if you don’t know his name) marketing products are actually UNDERPRICED compared to other products; if they are quality training products that can actually produce results, of course.

I also believe in the matra of “getting rich while enriching the lives of others.” I’m an entrepreneur myself and when it comes to Income.com, my marketing-related business, I focus not only on truly helping people but also on making my company wildly profitable.

With that being said, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before when it comes to pricing products for maximum profitability…

The cheapest marketing product (non-subscription) that I’ve ever sold is Traffic Secrets 2.0 at $397. In fact aside from that product all the others are $997 and up. I, again, make no excuses for charge high prices for products I believe offer 10X+ the value. Many of my customers will vouch for the fact that they are bargains for what they contain. HOWEVER…

Because I’ve noticed the real EXCITEMENT people have about this “Money Mindset” and the disappointment so many have expressed because of the high price…

I have decided to CANCEL THE CLASS completely.

All the customers that ordered will be receiving a full refund this week.

What I’m going to do instead is change the format of the class away from the live multiple week platform with Q&A/coaching help, and instead go into my studio and produce “Money Mindset” as a digital home study course.

And then I am going to release it and make it available for only $97. And, no, I’m not planning any upsells, forced continuity, or anything. Just this course by itself for only $97.

But… but… but… there must be some other sinister scheme, right? After all, I’m a marketer. Or “marketing guru” or whatever you want to call me. And all marketers are bad, capitalist pigs right?

Well, in this case there honestly isn’t some evil scheme.

So Why Would I Do This?

Is this just a scheme to make more profit!? I seriously doubt it. I’d have to sell 5X as many to make the same amount of revenue. In fact, releasing recordings of the original class and being able to offer a $250 commission to affiliates would generate a lot more sales activity than if I did the same with a $97 price and gave a $50 commission.

Now don’t get me wrong… I’d love for it to sell thousands upon thousands of copies at $97 and generate some great revenue for my company - after all, we’ve got some pretty high overhead and payroll that need to get paid every month. But that’s honestly not the sole motivation for doing this…

I believe in this “Money Mindset” method a lot. I know it’s going to help a lot of people. I truly believe entrepreneurs NEED it. And who knows, maybe it will spin off into a real book that I may write. I’ve had plans to write a real book for years and haven’t been able to follow-through because I keep changing my mind as to what I’d want in it.

And from a business perspective, I think if I can help a lot more people with this product (by selling it for far less than any marketing product I’ve ever offered) it will also generate some loyal customers that may go on to buy my other more expensive products when they can afford them.

So I just wanted to share some random thoughts with you about what I decided to do and why.

I’ll keep you posted on the development of the home study version and when it might be ready for release. Thanks to everyone for their visit in “Money Mindset” — I’m really excited about it!

~John

Today I’m excited to announce a new 4-Week Web Class that I will be teaching…

It’s called “Money Mindset.”

I believe the right mindset about how/why/when/where to make money is absolutely key to someone’s financial success.

Many know by now that I’m a HUGE believer in having the right mindset when it comes to starting or growing a business.  And now for the first time ever I’m going to teach a complete systematic approach to figuring out what you want in your life and then how to strategically plan and take action in order to get it.

Check out the video where I make the controversial statement…

Is ‘The Secret’ A Bunch Of B.S.?

Click here to watch the video and learn more about my new Money Mindset 4-Week Web Class.