AEIOUY is oozing envy and it isn't very becoming. I find it interesting that he is attempting to make money online at all. Perhaps he is an undercover capitalist? Why else would he have a web site called DaCowboys with (gasp!) advertising on it! (and very poorly optimized at that.. you should get my ebook) You can go to just about any newspaper and find infomation on the Dallas Cowboys. Statistics and standings are common... nothing new. News feeds from Yahoo and Dallas Morning News? Forums? Now there's something you can't get every day. Links to Cowboy sites... Cowboy roster... How very original... I'll bet you wouldn't be crying in your soup if your site had more traffic either, would you? Perhaps you should write an ebook and actually make money with your information? But that would make you a real scumbag, wouldn't it? Here's the bottom line. While I am sure Eric's book is very good read, he'd probably be the first to admit that there isn't anything revolutionary in it that couldn't be found on the net. Does that make it invaluable? Certainly not! (waiting for my copy, Eric!) There is nothing new under the sun. People want information compiled in a concise manner that makes it easy for them to apply it to their business. They are busy. Many people understand that time is money, and their time is better spent applying what they learned than hunting down the information in the first place. Why do you think the "for Dummies" and "for Idiots" books sell so well? Is it really because people are dumb idiots? No, it is because they are SMART and understand the value of time. Are there people out there "fleecing" the public? Yup. But I give refunds faster than ANYONE. In fact, I've gotten email compliments about how amazed people are when I actually respond to my email in a timely fashion. And those who have asked for a refund frequently thank me and tell me that the product may not have been what they were looking for, but because of my handling they would be watching for my next releases. You doubt the value of my material? Check the testimonies on my page. They are all real word for word, and that's just some of them. Are these people foolish for spending $97 on an ebook instead of hours on end compiling the information themselves? I guess if your time isn't worth anything, you would select the latter. You've got a thing or two to learn about running a smart business, friend. Being cynical and envious is no way to succeed in your personal or business life. Joel No, but I'll be at CES and Affiliate Summit 2nd week in January. Drop me a line if you are going to be there. Joel
Don't worry, Eric seems a kind writer. Anyway, his book isn't an ebook, but a paper book sold in bookstores, like his other books "MIDP for J2ME", "Java 2 Micro Edition", "Palm Database Programming" (published by Peachpit Press, and John Wiley & Sons). There are some five-figures (at least), such as Chris Pirillo, etc., but their sites were high traffic sites already, like MattL has said on a previous post. On a couple of threads at JC's forum, I've seen one of them, Gurk, with five-figure monthly earnings from AdSense. Naturally, his high traffic website was receiving a four-figure even with a bad AdSense implementation, before optimizing. About the secrets for 10x increasing, many of them have been mentioned here at Digital Point but, apart from details, Gurk says "The main thing I've learned from him is test, test, and test some more." So, you know, start using your 200 active channels.
Anyway, lets just say he is honest and move on. Shoemoney you were wring. And so are you webmaster. And we can also conclude that it isnt easy making tons of moeny with adsense even with an ebook. No traffic=no money is how I see it. So an even better ebook would be an ebook on getting traffic to your website. Then comes the adsense money. On a side note, I dont recommend adsense as a means on internet monitization. Thee are much easier ways to make money online than adsense. Infact, you can make even more moeny off-line.
That is not all that is oozing around here. You are quite the salesman. Fortunately I have saved millions of dollars over the years not buying e-books. You don't even know how many sites I have. You really know very little about me. Thanks for your dissection of my site, as innacurate as it might be. How many sites do YOU currently run Chitika on? What is your daily income from chitika ads? Do you run ANY sites with Chitka on them that are not releated to selling things to other webmasters? The reality is what you are selling is stuff you likely compiled from other sources. (Like digital point here), and repackaged to sell to people who didn't know any better. You can feel free to do what you want, but none of that makes you an expert in anything except taking advantage of those who don't know better. I don't disagree with any of that... I may disagree with the perceived value you are providing. It is not like you wrote a 500 page novel packed with information. You wrote an e-book of information mostly compiled from other people and sell it for an extremely high price. Perhaps people find value in that... I don't see the value. That doesn't mean I begrudge how you make a living. Let us just be clear THAT is how you make your living. You don't make your living as an expert webmaster. You make your living selling "secrets" to other people. Go back and read what I said. I never said anything about your content. Especially your adsense book. I never read it and have no way to know its value. I made some generalizations on e-books in general. I did take exception with your releasing of a chitika book, because it is highly unlikely you have ANY secret information to reveal in it. Feel free to send me a copy and if I find anything worthwhile that I did not already know I will come back here with hat in hand. So again, while you strike while the iron is hot, I perceive it as just an attempt to make a quick buck and take advantage of people. There is not enough knowledge out there about chitika yet to make such an e-book worthwhile, unless you work for Chitika. You need to learn something about being a salesman. Being overly-defensive is no way to convince people you know what you are talking about. Pretty much every one of your replies in this thread has been off-target in terms of what you should do.. You are here with an audience of people who are potential customers of yours... Unlikely 95% of the people here are the least bit interested in the Cowboys. You really need to learn how to defend yourself and present your position without being so hyper-defensive and obnoxious. Maybe I will write an E-book about that.
By the way I just saw this link on your blog site: http://www.joelcomm.com/trs80_emulator_page.html Since my first computer was also a trs-80 with a tape drive.. I am just going to drop the whole thing. I think I actually have my trs-80 in storage somewhere.
aeiouy, LOL! Joel needs to learn something about being a salesman? Tell me you're kidding. LOL! AHAHAHAHAHA. Says a lot about how you perceive business.
He charges 97 for the book becasue that is how much he can charge while maximising profit. It is called linear optimization used alot in sales.
Joel has presented himself as an arrogant, self-important wanker ripe with insecurity. I think what made my day though was seeing Shoemoney, the originator of the thread and the fraud allegations against Joel, brown-nosing him for an interview at PubCon. That tickled me. Pete
Yeah, if people are willing to buy it at $97 a pop, he should refuse the sales? He's spending time writing new ebooks to sell, what are other people doing? Complaining about him writing a new ebook. LOL! Great sense of business.
Its not about accusing him for writing..its about whether his ebook worths $97 or not, which I strongly doubt.
That deosnt matter. People are willing to pay that much for it. Its like software. If costs microsoft a few pennies to make it but people will pay $100 for word. I think you are just jealous webmaster that your adsense earnings suck. And you are coming accross as a sore loser.
I don't think that's for you or anyone else to decide. He sets it at $97 and people believe it's worth it, hence all the sales he got. People are saying the information contained are generally available for free, etc. but there are people who don't know about these forums, are too busy to read these forums, or have a hard time understanding the tips found in these forums. $97 would be well spent to those people. This is just basic business, not hard to understand.
Doesn't matter if people buy it or not. Like I said, I don't begrudge him conducting his business. That doesn't mean I have to say I think he is doing a good job or providing a beneficial service to people. Just because someone pays a drug dealer for a rock of crack doesn't mean the drug dealer should be praised. People make millions of dollars taking advantage of others... Not sure why that in and of itself should be a respectable goal. Obviously different people have different moral standards and codes they live their lives by... Again though.. Nothing about it means anyone here has to support it or condone it.
You are free to think that, as you feel happy, if only. My adsense earning is a secret and I am pretty happy with it. I dont need to whin or brag about it. jealous?? Nope, I might not be making 25k/month but I am not doing any stupid TOS violation.
First, it does matter because that is part of what this thread is about. Second, it doesn't matter what you think, YOU are obviously not his target audience. Third, just because his service is not beneficial to you DOESN'T mean it is not beneficial to others. Fourth, that analogy is the WORST I have ever read online. Selling an ebook and selling drugs is not even comparable. Fifth, he is not taking advantage of others, there are no moral standards selling his ebook. Bottomline, IMO, you're jealous of his success and it shows clearly.