Indie Royale’s Valentine’s Day bundle makes no promises, unlike some people we know who promised us the moon on a string last February 14, but who showed up three hours late, drunk and with a box half-full of chocolates — all fruit-filled. You know who you are.

Indie Royale is offering its Valentine’s Bundle for pre-order at the lowest minimum price, $ 3.99, but is keeping the games a mystery until the big day itself. If you live life on the edge, don’t read the following clues before buying the bundle:

“The games offered this time include a fantastical first-person action-adventure game (Steam for PC), an IGF-nominated puzzle adventure title (Steam for PC and Mac, Desura for PC and Linux, DRM-free PC, Mac and Linux download), a ‘scorching’ single and multiplayer arcade-strategy game (Steam for PC and Mac), and a world premiere on PC for a pair of retro RPG-defense games (Desura for PC, DRM-free PC download),” Indie Royale writes. On its Facebook page it added, “None of these titles have been in previous standalone indie game bundles such as Humble, etcetera!”

Pre-orders will receive the Valentine’s Bundle the moment it launches, along with One Life Left’s “Music to Play Games by Too.”

Indie Royale Valentine’s Bundle offers a treat without the calories originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What is a guru?

Literally, a guru is a teacher. The word guru means “heavy” or “deep,” thus a guru is a person “heavy” or “deep” in knowledge. In this sense, a schoolteacher is a guru, a coach or athletic instructor is a guru, a fine-arts, or even a dance teacher is a guru. One’s parents are also gurus. In the religious field, where the word is most commonly used, a guru is a Hindu religious teacher. So a priest or any person learned in Hindu lore may be a guru. The main purpose of the guru is to teach. (Source: What is a Guru?)

Personally, I don’t believe in so-called “gurus” – whether they’re self-proclaimed or anointed. Never have. But I do believe in teachers and mentors. And I’m all for free enterprise – for everyone making as much money as they possibly can, with this caveat: Not off the backs of the desperate, naive, and people who can least afford it.

That’s taking advantage of people. I have a problem with that.

They’re Like Vampires

And that’s why I have a problem with some Internet Marketing (IM) gurus. Not all, but some. They’re like vampires… they stick their fangs into your neck, with no concern for your regard, and they just keep sucking your blood (i.e., money), until there’s nothing left but a trail of bodies of the broke, wounded, and disenfranchised.

That being said, if you have disposable income and want to give it to some guru, I don’t have a problem with that, as long as you’re not taking food off your family’s table.

Guru Groupies

Marketers who are gurus – self-proclaimed or anointed, often wear the label “guru” like it’s a badge of honor. That’s their prerogative, of course. And while I’m an expert in my field, as well as a teacher, I don’t consider myself a guru, and I don’t consider it an honor to be called one. I just don’t like the term “guru.” Despite my business success, and years of marketing knowledge and expertise, I don’t place myself above other people. I’m not better than you or anyone else.

Conversely, I don’t place anyone else on a pedestal either. I’ve never been into hero worship. For example, I’ve always been a huge Michael Jackson fan – all the way back to the days when he was “Little” Michael Jackson of the Jackson 5.

I have every single one of his albums/CD’s. But there was always a limit to my devotion – a reasonableness, if you will. I did not spend thousands of dollars to go see him in concert. I did not follow him around like a groupie, and I did not stand in line clamoring for his autograph, or bid outrageous sums of money for his sequined gloves.

This is the kind of irrational behavior I see exhibited toward IM gurus. They are treated like rock stars. Their fans follow them around like groupies, spending thousands of dollars on endless new product launches and expensive seminars. It’s beyond insane.

My Experience With Gurus

Let me tell you about my own personal experience with gurus. A few years ago, I purchased a couple of e-books and a software product from three different IM gurus.

The blood-sucking started almost immediately. Non-stop e-mails… one right after the other. Welcome e-mails, tutorial e-mails, new products launches, past seminars, upcoming seminars, etc., etc., etc.

I received over twenty e-mails from these guys in a period of only 48 hours. It was extremely irritating, to say the least.

Anyway, to make a long story short, that experience so disgusted me, I unsubscribed from their lists, and I actually requested a refund on two of the three products that I ordered.

I requested a refund because the products didn’t come close to living up to the hype – and that’s exactly the point: More often than not, gurus’ products DON’T live up to the considerable hype.

Don’t Believe The Hype

Gurus make everything sound so easy, don’t they? Just follow their “magic” blueprint, and you will “get rich in 90 days!” As a result of these outrageous and unrealistic claims, too many people approach IM thinking that it’s easy and doesn’t require any effort – other than to place a few Adwords ads, kick back, relax, and watch the money roll into their PayPal account. And while a rare few realize success quickly, the vast majority get hit with a brutal dose of reality. That’s right, the vast majority fail. What a surprise.

Let me tell you something, despite what some gurus tell you, success in IM is neither quick or easy. It requires time, patience, discipline and hard work. There are no shortcuts. Or, in the words of famous philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie…

“Anything in life worth having is worth working for.”

Hard work starts with education – learning your craft. If you’re truly serious about succeeding in IM, put in the work. In addition to reading articles like this one, read as many quality, online and offline small business publications as you possibly can.

A few of my online favorites include SiteProNews, WebProNews, ClickZ and MarketingProfs. My favorite offline small business publication is Entrepreneur. Buy books. Buy lots and lots of books. Learn as much as you can about sales and marketing. More importantly, apply what you learn. It can make all the difference in the world to your success or lack thereof.

10 Of My All-Time Favorite Marketing Books

1. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word by Joe Sugarman

2. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

3. Cash Copy by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

4. Cashvertising by Drew Eric Whitman

5. Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples

6. Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

7. Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins

8. The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy

9. How to Write a Good Advertisement by Victor Schwab

10. Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz

There are, of course, many, many more outstanding marketing books that I could name, but the one’s listed above are classics and should be part of every serious marketer’s library.

Good Gurus, Bad Gurus

Despite my rant, I want to strongly emphasize, I’m not painting all gurus with one broad brush. Like with everything in life, there is good and bad. That applies to gurus as well. There are good gurus and bad gurus. There are some good, responsible gurus out there who give back generously – who aren’t taking advantage of people – who provide excellent value for the dollar – who don’t promise results that they know they can’t possibly deliver. They are conscientious, honest and responsible marketers.

And then there are the bad gurus who rip people off by selling over-priced, inferior products, and promising “pie-in-the-sky” results that they can’t possibly deliver. They never give back, they just take and take and take. They give IM and gurus a bad name.

I’ll say it again. Success takes time, and it requires hard work. Always has, always will. There are no shortcuts, and if someone tells you otherwise… they’re probably trying to sell you something.

The Tortoise and the Hare

Are you familiar with the story “The Tortoise and the Hare?”

It’s a classic Aesop fable about a hare who one day ridiculed a slow-moving tortoise. In response, the prideful tortoise challenged his much faster mocker to a race.

Not unexpectedly, the hare soon left the tortoise in the dust. In fact, the hare was so far ahead and confident of winning, he decided to take a nap halfway to the finish line.

Alas, when he awoke, he found that the competitor he had mocked, crawling slowly but steadily, had already won the race.

The moral of the story is…

“Slow and steady wins the race.”

Conclusion

I learned a long time ago that you can give people advice that’s in their best interest, but invariably, they’re going to do what they want to do. But do yourself a favor. If you’re a guru groupie – if you’ve been drinking the kool-aid, as it were, take a discerning look at the amount of money you’ve invested in guru e-books, courses and seminars, then look at the amount of your return and ask yourself… has the money that you’ve spent been worth the investment?… Or anywhere close?

If you’re honest with yourself – really honest, more often than not, I think you’ll discover that it hasn’t.

Then the question becomes, what are you going to do about it?

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Guru Kool-Aid: Are You Drinking It? – A SPN Exclusive Article

SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

If you’re into high strangeness in the mobile realm, you’d be wise to check out the video of the Optimus Vu that LG just posted — just follow the break. While our Korean translation skills aren’t quite up to par, we’ve been able to decipher that this boxy number packs a 5-inch touchscreen and a rather unique 4:3 aspect ratio. The telltale capacitive touch buttons reveal this as an Android device, which the Korean manufacturer suggests is more comfortable to hold than traditional portrait-based solutions. It’ll be interesting to see what this means for application compatibility, but for the moment, we’re going to keep digging for more specs. Oh, and if you happen to know Korean, don’t be afraid to drop additional tidbits into the comments below.

[Thanks, Byungjin]

Continue reading LG teases Optimus Vu Android smartphone with 5-inch screen, 4:3 aspect ratio (video)

LG teases Optimus Vu Android smartphone with 5-inch screen, 4:3 aspect ratio (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The combined Predictive Experience (PX) platform will manage more than 2.5 billion speech and online self-service interactions annually, enabling large businesses to derive and apply insight and intelligence across these customer service interactions and delivery channels. With this combination, 24/7 Inc. will be positioned to generate total revenues of more than $ 250 million annually by delivering solutions and services that enable large businesses to anticipate consumer needs, simplify the consumer experience and learn from every consumer interaction. Consumers today not only expect businesses to deliver service in more natural and intuitive ways but also expect these same businesses to be able to reach out and interact intelligently with them across a wide variety of channels, including on mobile devices, through social media, on the Web and even through the living room TV. This consumer expectation has created a key need for businesses to gather, analyze and gain insight by using Big Data to proactively anticipate and predict customer needs.

“24/7 Inc. and Microsoft are helping Avis deliver customer experiences in the way that customers want to be served,” said Thomas M. Gartland, president, North America, Avis Budget Group. “We applaud the agreement between the companies that will harness the power of Big Data, apply advanced analytics to that data, and bring more intuitive experiences to customers. We see the future of customer service and are working together to lead the way.”

24/7 Inc. and Microsoft will forge an R&D partnership moving forward, and 24/7 Inc. will utilize Microsoft Tellme speech and natural language technologies for natural user experiences in customer service. 24/7 Inc. will also be integrating its solutions with Windows Phone, Bing and Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Microsoft and 24/7 Inc. have also agreed to a shared technology road map and a long-term IP licensing agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio for speech-related technologies.

Only time will tell if this filters into rival companies or has a direct impact on Windows 8 tech lines, but it's certainly a bold step in the right direction.

HotHardware Forums

On-rails arcade shooter House of the Dead 3 is coming to the PlayStation Network on Valentine’s Day, according to the official Sega blog. Just in time for you and your sweetheart to blow apart a few zombie heads, the game will be available for $ 6.99. For the next two weeks following its release, a free avatar will be included with purchase, making it a little like getting a Kit Kat bar with your very own Whitman’s Sampler.

PlayStation Plus members have an even better deal: They’ll be able to get House of the Dead 3 for 30% off until February 28, and will also get an exclusive theme and a few more avatars with the title. And starting today, PS Plus members can download the demo of the game, an exclusive that lasts until February 21.

House of the Dead 3 on PSN next week, demo out now for PS Plus originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget HD Podcast 285 – 02.07.2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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