Disclaimer: This is my opinion and my opinion only. I am not making factual claims about the Auto Click Profits software. I express my opinion based on my review of the marketing material that is publicly available at the Auto Click Profits website and on years of experience using application software to automate a variety of tasks.

Here we go! Another automatic money in the bank scheme!!!

Some joker…sent an email with this headline How a scam works (URGENT). I have to admit…as a study in good copywriting…it’s a real teaser!

But here’s the sinker…I was taken in by the fact that the email came from a guy hailing as IM Trusted Reviews…don’t ask me who this is…I have no idea. I don’t even know how I got on the mailing list…but between the clever headline and the word trusted it was compelling. That’s what good copy does…it compels you. Even though I was suspicious, curiosity got the best of me and I opened the email.

Of course…then I just had to check out the video. Always hopeful about the possibility of discovering some bit of IM magic.

If You Offer Me A Case Study, Give Me a Damn Case Study!

The first criticism I have is that the email suggested that there was a Newbie Success Case Study to be had. I am always interested in case studies. Crap! The resulting PDF download was simply a copy of the video script.

And neither the video or the PDF is a true case study. In my mind a case study tells you the what, the who, the how! When you’ve got the real goods you are not afraid to show the detail. This is just some guy (Daniel Owens) waffling on about how all the other quick rich schemers are lying to us about how easy it is to get traffic and to make money in affiliate marketing.

But he’s not! Lying that is. He says and I quote:

I want to make sure right away that you understand this method and the automated software that I use is truly 100% unique. And I can guarantee that you have never seen anything like this before. And that’s exactly why I manage to make more money as an affiliate than any one else out there. And the results are fast. Way faster than any other method you’ve ever seen before. This has absolutely nothing to do with the stuff the gurus have been selling you in the last several years. They are either no longer effective or too time consuming. Stuff like search engines, adwords, pay per click, article directories, banner advertising, pay per view, facebook, email marketing, safelists, your own products, content writing, building websites, SEO, press releases, social media, video sites.

Then he says that in the next 70 seconds he’s going to show you exactly what he is up to but he never does. He shows you all his clickbank accounts but not once does he reveal anything about where the free traffic comes from or how his software actually works. He tells you a big long admittedly very convincing story. At the end of the video he says it will take only 5 minutes to install his software. (Where do you install it? On your computer? On a website? He never says.) Then you wait a few days and the money you deserve will just start rollin’ in!

The Whole Time I Am Watching His Sales Spiel I’m Thinking about the TV Show: Lie To Me

While I’m watching this guy…I’m thinking of that obnoxiously lovable character Dr Lightman…show me the light..in Lie To Me. Seriously, I wish I knew how to read the facial signs of people like Dr Lightman! There is just something about this guy in the Auto Click Profits video: his style…the words. I’m trying to remember what I’ve read in body language books. I’m wracking my brain: what are the signs of a liar?

What I do know is that my intuition tells me this guy is full of s**t! And since I’m reading Malcom Gladwell’s book Blink for the second time…I am immediately reminded about our ability to thin slice. Just trust your feeling! Yes…I feel certain this guy is full of it! Just like it says in the Malcolm’s book…I can’t rationalize it. I can’t say why I think the guy’s story is chock-a-block full of cock and bull. It’s just my life experience screaming out to me: He’s a liar!

He says he’s not a guru. But he knows how to get free traffic from a completely new source. And he’s going to show me! He goes on to show how much money he’s made in his 7 Clickbank accounts using his new automatic traffic getting software. In just three recent months this guy…as a newbie(?)¹…has made over $1,000,000 (one million dollars)?

It is all about some software he allegedly had developed as an unsuccessful newbie in a moment of crisis. He had just lost his job, maxed out his credit cards and had nothing to lose. He just had to figure it all out and then he found a way to automate it.

Push A Button. Make A Mint! Complete Autopilot. Unbelievable!

But pay attention to his use of this critical phrase: complete autopilot. So commonly used in internet marketing schemes. The idea is you get his software; you set it up just as he instructs; and you start earning heaps of affiliate commissions…and it is all on auto pilot!

These guys always use auto pilot to imply some push-button solution. But this guy says if you can press a few keys…you can do it! Install it. Push a button. And wham! You’re gonna make millions. But hey! I have a couple of websites that I could say are on auto pilot. I spent a lot of time researching a niche. Finding relevant affiliate offers. Setting up a website. Writing good copy. Getting traffic. No PPC!² Tweaking my copy. Getting more traffic. And that’s with a mere PR0!³ I can say my website is now on auto pilot because I haven’t touched it for six months and it’s earning money. See how that works? Complete autopilot!

Okay…to be fair…he does say you might have to spend 4 minutes and 18 seconds a day to run this business…not 100% autopilot. You have to do just a wee bit of work.

Now here is the real kicker. This millionaire-making software⁴ is just $39!

Can you honestly believe that such a piece of software is going to sell for a mere $39? (Not if you know anything about the cost of software development!)

AND! This $39 offer is only going to be up for a few days. It’s coming down any day now.⁵

And wait! There’s more! If you’re smart and you know the ropes, you can get the software for a mere $27! And there are only 3 copies left at that discounted price. Hurry. Offer ends soon!

You know what they say: if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!

Auto Click Profits?⁶ I think it’s a bit of a scam.

But don’t take my word for it. I haven’t actually bought the product. I’m just thin slicing!

My New Year’s Resolution is to unsubscribe from all the crappy internet marketing newsletters and to go for 90 days without signing up to any new lists. I started this process a couple of weeks ago.

I don’t need and I don’t want all that noise. Finally I’m getting more work done.

Sure…I like to see what everyone is up. Terrified I’m going to miss out on the newest developments. And I learn what not to do. But it is too distracting to be signed up to too many lists and I’ve learned that there are only a hand full of people that are worth listening. These are people who are honest about the realities of internet marketing. No false promises. No get rich quick schemes. Just sound useful tried and true practical advice.

And here’s the advice that one of them gave to me this week: are you getting emails making product offers but with no added value in the email? Why yes! I am! Unsubscribe from these leeches. Do it right now! Here’s a list of people who send out daily emails with little or no value just stupid one liners followed by an affiliate link.

These time-wasters send out crap like this:

You need to see this *special* video NOW; or I hope sincerely that your Holiday was Awesome, and time was well spent where needed. Mine was! Now click on this link!

Nothing of real value just email after email soliciting a click on an affiliate link. If you’re on their list I strongly encourage you to unsubscribe. Stop wasting your time and god forbid your money. Get rid of the distraction. Unsubscribe. You aren’t going to miss anything.

I am unsubscribing left right and center because I want to be laser-focused on something that I haven’t tried before…mobile marketing.

Mobile Marketing Courses

In the last two weeks I’ve purchased and reviewed three courses on Mobile Marketing. Took me a bit of time to find them. There isn’t a lot available.

One course was total crap. It did not tell me anything I didn’t already know. I asked for my money back. This is only the second time I’ve done that in all my ebook buying…and I’ve purcahsed hordes of ebooks and courses over the years.

The other two courses were totally excellent. Each provided completely different strategies and tactics for capitalizing on what promises to be a lucrative market.

I am not going to reveal them to you because well I am only just beginning to put what I’ve learned into practice. I like to make sure that the information published in a course is accurate and works. Besides I want to get the jump on the market. But I do have a link to what I think is the very best course hidden on my website. And one of the most valuable tips that this course revealed was how to do keyword research for the mobile market space. I’ve been trying to figure that out and it was right in front of my eyes the whole time! I just wasn’t seeing it. If you click around you might come across the link to the course.

A bit mean…sure…but no apologies. And full disclosure: it is an affiliate link. Why not? It is an excellent course by a guy with true integrity.

My suggestion for 2011: don’t ignore Mobile Marketing.

Mike Filsaime, undoubtedly one of the all time great internet marketing masters has launched a new product.

I love how in the video he talks to your failures and makes you feel good about it. I am referring to the beautifully crafted pain points and positive traits. Very clever. Clearly a master copywriter. Sucks you right in. You have what it takes! Your failure is proof! You just haven’t found the right formula, the right secret!

If you are new to the game (or you have yet to crack it) and you have any common sense at all this thought should have been flashing through your mind:

If it seems too good to be true…

After all Mike claims that you will start “…making profits right away…”; like within minutes?

How Can You Possibly Believe It?

Come on. Does that sound believable? It’s believable only if you already have a list in his niche or you are expert at buying and driving traffic.

He made a big deal at the start of his video about all the internet marketing hype. Aren’t you sick of the hype? He promised to tell the truth. But he glosses over the main truth: he’s providing a push-button system but you have to provide the marketing and traffic. He merely mentions this critical and key success factor and only once in the almost two hour presentation. A mere mention and only once!

You’ve Got To Have a List!

Honestly? You are not going to earn money as quickly as he implies if at all unless:

• You already have a hot list in the internet marketing or make money niches; and
• You really do know how to drive traffic.

He said it briefly at 1:30:46 into the video and I’d like to quote verbatim…

“You don’t need to hire anyone or have any staff. This is all setup to run itself with minimal attention by you other than supplying the marketing and traffic.”

That last point is a major crux of the success of any internet marketing business. Traffic and lists. Traffic and lists. Traffic and lists. If you ain’t got these at this point in your business then you can forget about the overnight success that Mike is offering in this launch.

There Are No Secrets!

I’m not saying you can’t do it…eventually. I am not saying you can’t skill up…eventually. But I am saying that this is just more of the same I-have-the-secret-that-will-make-you-rich-overnight hype that Mike Filsaime tsk tsks at the start of his presentation.

There are no secrets. All the secrets have been sold dozens of times and in dozens of ways.

Here’s why you should have been thinking this is too good to be true: he says you don’t need any technical skills; you don’t have to be an expert; you don’t have to have an existing business;

And again I quote verbatim: “Remember, we do it all for you.”

Except the traffic part. Were you paying attention when he talked up the case study? That guy had a list! To succeed with Mike’s product either you have to have a relevant list (so you do have to have an existing business) or you do have to be an expert at driving traffic. And if you haven’t succeeded thus far with internet marketing then you don’t have either of these two critical and essential factors that I think is needed to start earning profit immediately with Mike’s Profit Plan.

But the kicker for me is when he says: “Your success is my success so I have a vested interest in your success.”

Why Doesn’t He Give It Away?

Really? If that’s true and if his new system is truly the missing secret and if it’s true that you will start making profits immediately…why doesn’t he just give it to you? I mean if it is that good and it is going to make him so much money (because you’re going to give him your list or send him some traffic at your expense) why does he need to sell it? Yes I understand that if you’re going to partner with someone they have to show their commitment by investing something.

Actually, the price for his system is very reasonable if you ask me. But only if you already have a list or are skilled at driving selective traffic.

But the real problem I have with this product launch is the pitch. It is not honest and the fact of the matter is: this launch is specifically targeting all of those suckers in the market place who spend thousands of dollars looking for the get-rich-quick secret.

When he’s talking through the pain points and positive traits he’s empathizing and talking straight to the masses of internet marketing wannabes. And his Franchise Model is so good that even though you haven’t succeeded up to now you can succeed with his new system because this is the missing secret!.

There is something inherently dishonest about Mike Filsaime’s product launch presentation. Given the audience that he is clearly targeting he should have made more of a point about the need to have a qualified list or be skilled at driving traffic.

Yep! Like I said: if it seems too good to be true…it probably is.

Mike Filsaime…he’s slick.

Advice for the Internet Marketing Newbie

Do you know what I mean when I refer to the emotional buyer?

The conventional sales wisdom is this: people buy stuff based on emotion. They then use logic to justify the buy. Even when you realize and understand this truism, you still buy on emotion.

You’ll come across this idea if you study the art of copywriting…somethiing you will need to do at some point if you’re going to develop your own internet marketing material.

And it is amazing how this emotional buying works. Even when you know that you’re doing it and you shouldn’t…you still do it! So you have to be strong. You have to say No! I’m not buying.

And for Heaven’s Sake Stay Focused!

In my humble opinion staying focused is the single biggest challenge for the budding internet marketer.

Once you get on just one marketing guru’s email list you will be inundated with messages offering you the next latest and greatest must-do-or-have marketing tactic for both small and rather large fees.

The reason that everyone wants to get into the internet marketing niche is that the buyers (that’s you!) have a voracious appetite for false promises and are very willing to pay for them.

You Must Become an Unemotional Buyer to Survive the Onslaught of Internet Marketing Hype

So here’s where becoming an unemotional buyer is key. You don’t need every course that comes along. You simply don’t. They almost all contain the same information. Believe me when I say this: every damn promise to reveal to you some magic secret is just hype!

As soon as you realize that truth you will find it much easeir to get your emotional buying under control.

They Aren’t All Sleeze Bags But…

I am not saying that all Internet Marketers are sleeze bags. And I’m not saying that you shouldn’t invest in a good course. There are some very good step-by-step internet marketing courses. Some free and some paid. Do your research and you’ll find them. I list my favorite sources on this site. But once you invest (either time or money and time) then you must follow through with it. Follow the advice, plan and tactics of your course investment. Or make your own plan based on the course’s content. But then you must see it through before you buy another course.

If you’ll just do that you will learn so much more than if you buy 3 or 4 or 10 courses and then let them collect cyber-dust. It is all about the return on your investment. If you don’t use what you learn in a course to take action…there will be no return on your investment!

Buying every Tom Dick and Brad’s Internet Marketing Course Is a Hopeless Learning Tactic!

To learn what does and does not work you must follow through on a limited set of learning materials. Buying every every Tom, Dick and Brad’s course is simply a waste of your money and a hopeless learning tactic. The only way you will learn how to do this stuff is by doing it!

Of course…it is much easier to buy and read ebooks and watch videos. Don’t you feel like you’ve accomplished something each time you do that? But what exactly do you accomplish by reading a million ebooks and watching a zillion videos?

Nothing.

Don’t Be Distracted by the Hype Pouring Into Your Inbox

At some point you must take action. Get or make a plan then be focused and follow your plan. Don’t get distracted by all the hype that pours daily into your inbox. In fact, my advice is to complete your daily tasks…whatever those are…before you even think about opening your email. Better yet: setup a completely separate email for all of your internet marketing subscriptions. Open that email box only when you’ve done your day’s work on your plan.

Then when you do read your email and your heart starts pounding because someone’s told you you’re doing it all wrong and you have to get this course and you’re thinking OMG I want that course! I have to have it! I just know this is the one that is going to get me over the hurdle!….

Take a deep breath and realize: it isn’t. And it won’t. What is going to get you over the hurdles is focus and follow. Focus on your goals and follow your plan. Do the work. Don’t worry about that stupid hype in your inbox. Unsubscribe! And if there is a tool or a course that you really really think you need or want, sleep on it. It will be there tomorrow and the next day. ¹

There Is No Magic Secret

If you don’t stay focused and stop all the emotional buying, you’ll waste hundreds if not thousands of dollars seeking the elusive magic secret.

There is no magic secret.

Enough reading and research. Set your goals. Make a plan. Then focus and do the work. Follow the plan. Get some results. Analyze them. Take what you learned and go to the next level!

This explanation of link building is for newbies.

Link building is all about getting other webpages to publish a link back to one of your webpages.

The Reason You Want to Get Backlinks?

The more external links (links from other pages on the web) that point to one of your webpages the more kudos that page gets with the search engines. These external links are called backlinks because they point back to your webpage.

And the ultimate reason for developing a network of backlinks to your webpages is traffic. And traffic brings the doe.

There are two ways that backlinks bring you traffic. Sometimes a backlink will bring traffic directly to your website. But the other effect backlinks have is on the positioning of your page in google search results. The higher your page is placed in search results the more chance you have of getting search traffic.

So every one is looking for fast and magical ways to get lots of high quality backlinks. It is a way of influencing how important Google thinks your webpage is for a given topic.

Backlinks Effect Page Rank, Or So They Say!

When it comes to page rank, Google is the baseline and conventional guru-wisdom says: if you rank with google you’ll rank with the other search engines. So just focus on pleasing google and you’ll please every one else.

What do we mean when we talk about page rank?

Page rank is a value that Google assigns to a webpage. Page rank values range from 0 to 9. The higher the number the higher the page rank and PR0 (page rank zero), by the way, is a rank and it is better than no page rank!

Also when we talk about page rank we are talking about the rank of an individual webpage not a whole website. Google ranks webpages not websites. So you might have ten pages on your website and each page might have a different page rank.

Okay…so why is page rank so important?

Before I answer that question you also need to understand that page rank is assigned to a webpage for a given keyword or phrase. Google decides what a webpage is about when it indexes or adds the page to its inventory of pages. So whenever google assigns the page rank it assigns a page rank for the topic that it thinks the webpage speaks to.

So…as I mentioned earlier…the reason that page rank is seemingly so important is this: search traffic!

If you want people to find your website by searching with google (or bing or yahoo or…) then page rank becomes an issue. The higher a page ranks for a given search term the higher that webpage will appear in the search results. That’s the theory. And if your webpage appears in the top position on page 1 of google search results for a given keyword then you are in a coveted spot (assuming the keyword is valuable). The top spots get the most traffic!

Page rank is not a black and white reality. There are other factors at play. How relevant google thinks the content of your page is to the search subject is also a factor in where your page appears in the search results.

Going back to the subject of link building: google takes into account the number and quality of backlinks that are pointing to a given webpage when it calculates and assigns a page rank. Allegedly!

And more links is not necessarily better. Links that contain a relevant keyword are more valuable than poorly labelled links. And links from a page that itself ranks highly with google is more valuable than a number of links from other lowly ranked pages. Links from sites with a .gov or .edu extensions are thought to be a premium.

Think of page rank in terms of authority. A webpage that has a high page rank such as a PR8 or PR9 for a given keyword is considered an authority. So if that authority page contains a link back to your page and the link is on topic then it factors higher in googles page rank calculation for your page.

So just stop and think for a minute about this page that you are reading. What do you think this page is about? Is it about link building or page rank? What will google think this page is about? If you are going to link to this page (hint hint) what phrase would you use in your link?

Disclaimer

I could be completely wrong here in my explanation.

I have never ever found a complete and detailed explanation of page rank such as I’ve written on this page. And the reason I mention this: my explanation could be faulty. I don’t think it is but…I’m no guru.

All of the gurus who talk or write about page rank, they forget where they came from. They assume that you and I have the same background knowledge that they have and they fail to adequately explain the exact meaning or importance of page rank.

I have pieced together this understanding of page rank through various sources including very expensive courses on internet marketing and search engine optimisation and by asking page rank questions on various forums. My questions mostly go unanswered.

If only I could interview the illustrious and famous SEO geek Leslie Rohde. Surely he could allay once and for all my many questions and doubts about page rank!

What I know about page rank is this: it isn’t as relevant as search volume, competition, keyword relevance and quality backlinks. I have pages that appear in high positions on page 1 of google search results with only a PR0 and with just a few backlinks: high keyword demand and low competition. I also have pages with a PR3 lots of backlinks but that appear way down the list on page 20 of search results: high competition. The competing webpage that appears in the top spot has a lower page rank and less backlinks but lots of .gov (more authority) backlinks. In comparison, my page is not as keyword relevant as that top listed page.

My advice: learn how to research and pick profitable keywords for your business or chosen niche, find quality products, write good fat content, work hard to build a network of value-passing ¹ backlinks, do not spam and don’t worry about page rank.

This is a simple exercise in keyword optimisation. According to the Keyword Blueprint tool there are 2,432 daily searches for worpress followed by 2,975 searches for worldpress and a staggering 545,693 daily searches for wordpress.

Which word were you searching for?

If you were setting up a webpage to get wordpress targeted traffic which keyword would you use?