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Review Of The Rich Jerk
(Reviewed - August 2005)
Quick Summary
Review
Not too long ago there was a big buzz on many forums when somebody (going under the nickname
"kellyandsummer") was
selling a ClickBank affiliate site on eBay for $379,000. According to the figures given in the auction, the site had made over
$500,000 of profit since inception, and over $1,000,000 of ClickBank sales.
As you might expect, a lot of people (me included) were skeptical of the site's income claims.
But having researched the site and carefully followed the discussion threads,
while I have no way to verify the numbers,
I did eventually come round to the belief that they probably are genuine.
(And, of course, just because The Rich Jerk says that they were able to make a certain amount of money,
there is absolutely no guarantee, that you or anybody else will).
So what happened next?
kellyandsummer made an eBook,
"The Rich Jerk"
describing the strategies that they use on this and other sites - and as you can imagine this also
generated a big buzz on the forums - especially since the sales letter is very unusual and in your face
(some people might even say slightly obnoxious).
Now, while I thought the sales letter was clever, at first I wasn't sure that it was for me,
but after reading all the discussions, I eventually decided that I just had to find out.
So what did I think?
First off, let me tell you what's in the package, and who it's for, and who it's not for:
- After you pay, you get access to a fairly short (40 pages) PDF eBook. It's nicely written and clearly
formatted. I also can say that I only spotted one very minor error and one typo when reading, so the editing is up to
a good standard.
- The eBook is intended for people who have web sites, maybe dabbled in
affiliate programs or
selling online,
but just aren't getting the results they hope for.
As the sales letter explains, there isn't a lot of fluff, and there isn't a lot of unnecessary
background explanation (it's assumed you know how to build a web site, what
affiliate programs are, what
pay per click search engines are, etc. -
so if you don't already the basics of building a web site and Internet marketing, get some
experience, or read an introductory guide like
Insider Secrets first).
For me, and I expect most people with a little Internet experience, this brevity is a good thing. I
don't want to slog my way through hundreds of pages of fluff in order to pick up some good tips.
But, that said, I do realize that there are people who won't like this approach.
So, in short: Do NOT buy this eBook if you are complete novice, or need to be
hand-holded every tiny step of the way.
So what's in the eBook?
Let's do a quick review of the chapters:
- Chapter 1: Creating an Affiliate Website that Sells like Crazy
In this chapter, the author recommends a number of affiliate programs, and presents some information on
how to achieve best results with affiliate programs, including some
copywriting tips, and some other tips.
I guess you could find good affiliate programs yourself, for example by looking at free sites like
AffiliateCavern.com, however the other
tips, particularly the copywriting tips are valuable and presented in a way that I hadn't seen before.
- Chapter 2: Unique Search Engine PPC Strategies - that Kill your Competition
This chapter begins with some brief recommendations of some
pay per click search engines, but the meat of the chapter
is about making money with
Google AdSense and advertising using
Google AdWords.
The AdSense strategy is based around a very simple and easy-to-implement idea,
one that after reading you will probably slap yourself on your head and
say "why didn't I think of that?", but one that
I bet 99% or more of people trying to make money with AdSense have never discovered
(although I have to admit that I had ran across it before).
The AdWords section deals with advertising your own web site or product/service, and
presents a simple idea (along with many examples) for creating AdWords ads that will
achieve a high response. Again, once you've seen the idea, it may strike you as obvious,
but looking at Google ads, it's also obvious that the overwhelming majority of Google advertisers
never even think along these lines.
- Chapter 3: Search Engine Optimization Strategies
This chapter deals with Search Engine Optimization, and getting the
best results from spider-based search engines. The chapter presents some good ideas (both free
and paid) for increasing the number of incoming links to your site (and thus your Google PR and
hopefully ranking),
and discusses page-design factors, a few miscellaneous tips (including a useful Apache
configuration script), as well as discussing search engine cloaking.
- Chapter 4: Creating Your Own Informational Product
This chapter discusses the marketing aspects of creating your own info-product, be it an
eBook, member's web site,
or whatever.
The chapter does NOT focus on the nitty gritty of editing, compiling an eBook and what not
- but rather is about marketing strategies. Again, as with previous chapters there are some
very good ideas here, and many that I bet even experienced marketers will not have heard of.
If you have already made an eBook and are not getting good sales, then this chapter alone
could be worth the money. Put it together with the AdWords ideas in Chapter 2, and the information
in Chapter 3, and for struggling eBook authors, I think it's a no brainer:
get it now.
- Chapter 5: Buying & Selling Wholesale Goods
In this chapter you get some good information about buying and selling wholesale goods on eBay.
This includes excellent information about how to avoid getting defrauded or scammed, as well
as sources where you can buy stuff to resell.
I got the impression the author probably does not do this anymore (he even goes so far as to say
that he despises the associated manual labor, shipping, packaging, etc. that is necessary for this
type of business).
The chapter does NOT deal with the basics of writing eBay ads, and so on, so if you don't already
know that, you might want to also read something like
eBay Marketing MegaPack
- Chapter 6: Websites you can Make Profitable Right Now
This chapter returns to the theme of making money through affiliate web sites, including selecting
ClickBank affiliate products to promote.
The author also gives some examples of web sites that the author says have made him (I'm assuming
"kellyandsummer" is a him) over $1 million dollars.
I have to say that some of the affiliate programs chosen are ones that my personal ethics would not
stretch to promoting (even though many affiliate marketers do), but even then, the exact same tactics used could certainly be used for many other
affiliate programs/topics too.
- Chapter 7: Other Online Ventures to Consider
Chapter 7 is a very brief chapter dealing with two ways the author says that he has invested money
and made returns.
Frankly I didn't like this chapter one bit, and felt it detracted from an otherwise excellent eBook.
Far be it from me to tell you how to invest your money, but personally I would not invest any of my money in the
types of programs the author describes, and if I were you, I'd at the very least research
those programs at sites like FriendsInBusiness (check the archives there).
(By the way, I'm not suggesting that you take investment advice from message boards either,
but you may find good questions-to-ask, etc. at message boards, which help you with your own
research).
IMPORTANT:
If you want investment advice, you should consult with a professional
(and licensed if applicable in your jurisdiction) investment advisor.
- Chapter 8: Quality Products/Services I Highly Recommend
This is a one page list of resources the author recommends, some of which have already been mentioned in previous chapters of the eBook.
Conclusion
Overall, Chapter 7 aside (which I absolutely hated), I thought this was excellent eBook. I certainly think it deserves
an Editor's Choice award.
However, as I said do NOT buy this eBook if you are complete novice and need somebody to hold your hand
every step of the way.
Additionally, while I don't want to put you off, in the interests of full disclosure (as stated earlier in the review),
I must add two small notes of caution:
- While I have no reason to doubt the author's claims of their own success,
I have no way to verify these details either.
- Just because the author of a particular book or eBook may have
been successful,
it does not
automatically follow, that just by reading it,
that you will be successful too.
Success in business depends on numerous factors
(business acumen, access to capital, skill, ability to adapt
good strategies to your particular business, actually taking action,
etc., etc.).
Therefore, realistically, the most you should expect from this type of business book is
new ideas, insights and perspectives - which you can then hopefully adapt to your
particular business.
...And personally, I believed that I gained many new ideas, insights and
perspectives from reading The Rich Jerk.
To summarize: I think,
this eBook is really for people who already had some online experience, but want
to achieve a breakthrough to the next level. If you've already bought other marketing
courses and are getting no where, you need this eBook.
I certainly think with that in mind, even if you already know some of the ideas,
almost all readers will receive more than their money's worth from the eBook.
Click here to visit The Rich Jerk.
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