My Declaration of WAR on Junk and Junk Material in Internet Marketing

Hello,

I must warn you… before you go any further that I am in mad rant mode today. And I will probably come under attack for what I’m about to say but I’m gonna say it anyway.

Yesterday I became massively frustrated. Like you, I received my usual avalanche of emails promoting this, that and everything else. Like you, I’m on a TON of lists and I can often receive up to 250 to 300 emails per day – on a “slow” day. I rarely unsubscribe because I like to know what is going on and who is doing what.

Like you, I delete most of the emails without reading them because if I did actually READ them all then I would be spending ALL day doing so. But I do skim and scan. One email caught my eye. So I thought OK, I’ll investigate this.

I won’t provide details because it isn’t my intention to single anybody out or personally criticize that person. I don’t do that. But here is what happened…

… I open the email. It was obviously an adswap from somebody I knew offering a freebie from a “good friend.” Is it just me or does anybody else get cheesed off about the number of “GOOD friends” that some of these people allege having? Even when some people ARE good friends of mine I still don’t say it because it sounds so… well, for the want of a better description – PATHETIC! And besides – NOBODY believes it, so why be so asinine?

Back to the email offer…

The subject was one that I am keen to know more about. So I read it and click the link. It lead to an opt-in form (predictably) so I thought: “OK, here we go again. I’m going to end up on yet ANOTHER list. I just hope it’s not somebody who will spam the living suitcase out of me.”

Dutifully, I enter my name and email addy. I go through the usual process and get the download page. First impression… poorly written, links flying all over the place, hard to understand, couldn’t locate the thing I wanted – CONFUSION CENTRAL! Basically it was a dog’s breakfast. So, I started clicking here, there and everywhere looking for the DAMN thing I wanted!

This wasn’t a sales funnel – it was a NEVER-ENDING maze of links, sales pages, banners, other so-called “free” offers, exit splashes and on and on it went. I backed out and started THREE more times before I eventually found what I wanted. Good grief! This person’s “funnel” was like Florida after a monster tornado had hit it. Cr*p everywhere!

Have you ever suffered through something like this? Talk about frustrating! Anyway, I had the zip file – FINALLY! So, I download it and open it and…

… Christ! Ugh, MORE of the same. God help me! After digging through the “treasure trove” of bone-ass (ie “bonus”) junk within, I FINALLY get the “report” that I wanted.

OMG! I could tell from a quick scan that this was nothing more than a “dress up” to make a clapped out old Datsun 180B appear to be a shiny new Nissan 300ZX. Key word – “APPEAR.”

That little exercise wasted about 25 minutes of my day and it left me feeling SOOOO disappointed. But also betrayed. I felt betrayed by the person who shoved it at me in an obvious adswap in the first place and I felt betrayed by the person who took me on their MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR only to get… more crap that will do nothing to educate or inform me. Well, I take that back…

… it DID educate me. It educated me NOT to be like that. Look, I KNOW that there really is NO free lunch out there but pa-lease – don’t sell me the sizzle then offer me a sh*t sandwich. Good grief.

Moving right along…

… I haven’t officially released this yet but, because of all I said above and because I don’t want to disappoint anybody in the way that I was disappointed, conned, fooled, cheated, betrayed then take this:

http://www.motivationselfesteem.com/Temple_Talk_02_December_2010.pdf

It’s my second e-newsletter. NO opt-in, NO horsing around with any circuitous route designed to distract you and NO tricks. Straight up information FIRST! After that you do what YOU want. Yes, there ARE links inside but it’s YOUR choice as to whether you click them or not. I’m NOT holding you hostage. YOU choose. All the links lead to (what I believe) are highly useful products or pages and NOT some crappy, cobbled together PLR (Public Lending Rights) piece of junk that was NEVER any good way back when the illiterate writer slammed it together in a psychotic burst of drunken stupor in the first place.

I hope that last bit made you smile, or at least smirk. But seriously, WHAT is the problem with creating information that is:

1 – readable and actually makes SENSE
2 – contains DECENT and SPECIFIC up-to-date information and
3 – is WORTHY of people trading their email address and name for?

Can ANYBODY tell me that?

The REASON that open rates and Click Through Rates (CTR) are at an all time low is because people are sick and tired of being conned, disappointed and betrayed by the very people who PROMISE and pledge to help them. Some people are gonna want to take me on for that comment. I don’t care. I don’t even care if I’m ostracized for saying it. I’m just sick of the bullsh*t. And I’m sure you are too! What is so wrong about providing VALUE? Huh?

For God’s sake – and for the sanity of all the rest of us – IF you are a marketer and you are using PLR to build a list, join a Giveaway or adswap then AT LEAST have the intelligence or decency to edit it, fix it up, make it relevant, UPDATE it, make it your OWN work or – at the VERY least – choose something that is not simply generic gobbledegook riddled with errors that is UNworthy of the reading or scanning or skimming time of your subscribers. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against the use of techniques. I’m against the use of con-artistry and abject laziness and the peddling of JUNK.

Anyway, I’m sorry if I have upset anybody here. If you are a purveyor of junk – and you KNOW if you are (coz I have had people tell me “I build my list with sh*t” – yes I HAVE! No names) – then FFS DO something about it! Remove all the garbage from your lucky-dip grab-bag and replace it with good, solid, ORIGINAL and HELPFUL information that will educate your readers.

This is not a Declaration of War on people. Some IMers have simply been taught all the wrong things or they have just made dumb mistakes. And mistakes can be rectified. I’ve made some mistakes in the past. I will probably make some in the future. This rant may be a MISTAKE! Moreover, this is my Declaration of War on junk and junky practices.

OK, I’m done. Please tell me what you think. I publish everything so long as it is coherent, makes a decent point and doesn’t engage in personal abuse of anyone – except me. If you want to do that then go right ahead but… hmm, no I won’t say that. Let’s just say that I have nuclear capacity myself. My silo doors are firmly shut but if you want to fire FIRST and engage in a missile exchange then be my guest.

Oh, and here’s that e-newsletter link again:

http://www.motivationselfesteem.com/Temple_Talk_02_December_2010.pdf

Let me know what you think of that too – good or bad.

PS1: I’m bunkered down with my flak jacket and kevlar war helmet on. LOL!

PS2: If this gets me off some marketers’ Christmas card lists or if I get a stack of unsubs out of it then so be it. Anyone who unsubs from my lists because of this doesn’t deserve to be on them in the first place. If you love receiving useless junk then go somewhere else – you’ll find it. FAST. It’s everywhere.

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Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************

Haters. We’ve all seen and experienced them – at work, the local shopping center, sometimes (if you’re REALLY unlucky) they can be family members and well… generally they are pretty much everywhere in society, unfortunately.

Most often the drivers of hate are race, sexuality, religion, politics and relationships.

Unfortunately, due to the “remoteness” of the Internet, places like the social media sites, forums and chat rooms can spawn these types and give them a platform to spew their bile on others. They do it over the internet because they are pretty sure they can get away with their dirty deeds without consequence. But there IS a consequence. They are just too consumed by their hatred to know about it or understand the effect that their actions are having on their OWN lives. Let me explain that…

We tend to attract what we put out. If we love we generally attract love. If we have success we generally tend to attract success. If we have evil thoughts we generally tend to attract evil thoughts. Remember the old saying: “Live by the sword and die by the sword.” ?

Why are these people like this?

Generally haters hate because they see in others something that they so desperately want in themselves but they believe they can never have – success, authority, friendships, ability, love, wealth or many other things that they are denying themselves. So, by throwing their hate out at everyone else all they are really doing is attracting more of the SAME to themselves. It becomes a never-ending circle for them.

I’ve written about “The Secret” quite a few times in my e-books, manuals, courses and also on my blog. Unlike what the Secret will have you believe there are two halves to achievement – desire and action. The action part is where the “rubber meets the road” so to speak. Therefore, when a critic or hater continues to engage in their “trade” all they are doing is sealing their own fate.

Recently I was unfairly abused in a Skype chat channel by somebody saying the most bizarre, spiteful and idiotic things. I’d never even spoken to this person before. There is little doubt that he was under the influence of alcohol or chemicals but that is no excuse. Often that is just a lubricant for saying or expressing what one REALLY feels. So all he did was showed me his true inner-self and flagged himself as somebody to avoid. And from the many comments I had with people who witnessed that ridiculous display of his they will too.

Like others – perhaps even you – I also get my fair share of hate mail. Again, it is sent by frustrated, jealous people who really don’t understand that they are damaging themselves more than they are damaging me or others that they send their bilious comments to.

Yesterday a lovely lady (hello “Possum”) exchanged emails with me about a group of haters who had banded together to criticize her very unfairly and in a very public manner on Twitter. Why? What POSSIBLE benefit will they get out of that? Can ANYBODY tell me?

Here’s what I think… these people have never developed beyond the childish taunting and bullying that we see in so many of our schools. In other words, although they may have children of their own and might even have responsible jobs, that part of their brain has never developed beyond childhood.

I took a quick look at what they were saying about this lady and it was appalling. Even worse, some of the people promoting all that trash really should know better. They are openly destroying their own reputations. How foolish is that?

However, to end on a pleasant note, I also get a fair few emails like this…

“I read about the fellow who gave you such a hard time about your “content” and I was flabbergasted. I would have been as hurt as you were. Obviously the fellow had some issues that seemed to blow up on him when he viewed the product he received. Your product just happened to be what was in front of him when he blew. I have never viewed anything on your website that didn’t fail to leave me with a positive attitude adjustment with a smile on my face. And if it helps, I will tell you what your website has done for me. I was at the end of a very negative relationship in my life and I had no way out. Or so I thought. I found your website and even though I have never ordered anything because I am on welfare, it helped me to build the confidence and the courage to change a pattern my life had been replicating since the day I was born. I am now happily pursuing a dream of mine that I know has merit and will work because I finally believe in it. And why? Because of your life changing views, advice, and attitude. In fact, as soon as I can afford it, I will be ordering one of your ebooks fairly soon. Your enewsletter is great as well. Increasing it to ten pages is a wonderful idea. I look forward to the next one. But under no circumstances would I feel bad about what that other fellow said. He may have read the content but he didn’t digest it, understand it, or implement it, or he would have been sending you his thanks. Believe me, sir, when I say you have helped many more people than you have angered and that, in my opinion is far more important than one angry fellow blowing steam. Thank you for your insights and positive suggestions. I can see the light and I am following my dreams, thanks to your site.”

For confidentiality reasons, I can’t say who sent me that but THANK YOU! That is what I live for and why I do what I do to help people. And to any of those who have attended any of the Internet Marketing seminars that I’ve been at you will know that what I say is true. I may look like a man of war but, at heart, I am a man of peace.

So, to the haters… to sum all of this up – the person you are REALLY damaging when you send your unprovoked messages of hate is YOU! You are the one who is attracting all this negative energy into your life by the two-fold combination of your thoughts and actions.

And to the receivers of those terrible comments as Jesus said:

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:24)

Well… maybe if they read this they will now but, will they have the sense or good grace or courage to ameliorate their wanton ways and, in doing so, IMPROVE their own world? I wonder.

You are most welcome to leave a comment below and let me know what you think. Feel free to disagree with me. Anyone who makes sense gets published.

PS: If you haven’t yet read my November “TEMPLE Talk” newsletter then you can view it here:
http://www.motivationselfesteem.com/Temple_Talk_01_November_2010.pdf

The Christmas December issue is about 97% complete and will be out next week.

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Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************

SURPRISE! My very first 100% NO opt-in free newslettter.

Here it is: http://www.motivationselfesteem.com/Temple_Talk_01_November_2010.pdf
I hope you like it. I’ve tried to add a diverse range of self-improvement and internet
marketing articles, reviews and even some humor for you. (Well, *I* think my jokes are funny…)

If you want to read it online or save it as a pdf to your hard drive or even share it with others then that is your choice.

I don’t know about you but I occasionally just like to get something TOTALLY free that I don’t have to give my name and email addy over for. I expect you feel the same.

THE REASON FOR THIS IS BELOW – IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I AM DOING IT:

… something happened last week where a very ungrateful person downloaded my free 72 page ACTION Planner then proceeded to email me all in CAPITAL LETTERS saying that it was rubbish and that he was sick of my “kak” – whatever kak is…

… Oh, I just looked it up in a search engine. (dearie, dearie me) Here’s the definition according to Urban Dictionary: “South Africanism for Sh*t Pronunced: KUK.”

I guess that makes sense since his email address indicated that he was sending from
South Africa.

If you are at all interested then here’s part of what he said:

“PROVIDE YOUR SUBSCRIBERS REAL VALUE…YOUR STUFF IS LIKE SOMEONE GIVING AWAY CLOTHES THAT THEY DONT WANNA WEAR ANYMORE! SERIOUSLY, PUT YOURSELF IN MY SHOES: WOULD THE KAK THAT YOU GIVE EVERY WEEK ADD VALUE TO YOUR LIFE?…NO!!! YOU WANNA MAKE MONEY NOT ADD VALUE. ADD VALUE, THEN YOU WILL MAKE EXPONENTIALLY MORE MONEY. ADD VALUE. CONTRIBUTE. GIVE WITHOUT ASKING FOR ANYTHING IN RETURN.”

How lovely huh? Abusing somebody for downloading a free planner that has been used by over 11,778 people (at last count) from all over the world, some of whom have been very pleased to receive it and are using it to great advantage to get their projects completed.

I DID give without asking for anything in return, except his precious name and email address – which has since been purged from my autoresponder.

Anyway, he caught me at a REAL bad time for such personal abuse – after I had spent
2 intense hours (UNPAID, I might add) just helping somebody on Skype. I was pretty exhausted and frustrated that I hadn’t been able to get any of my own work done. And then in comes his highly abusive, critical and confronting email.

My immediate thought was a line from Bruce Springsteen’s epic song “Born to Run.” ie: what you have just done buddy… “Its a death trap, it’s a suicide rap.” coz I was mad as hell at what he said and I could feel my alter-ego coming forward telling me “LET ME HANDLE THIS!”

I just knew I was gonna have a Bruce Banner-Incredible Hulk moment and I hate it when that happens coz when somebody steps over that boundary with me sometimes I just know that the yin is going to control the yang – if you get what I mean. In other words… dark will control the light for a short while.

Well… suffice to say dark did temporarily prevail and I did something I don’t normally do. His smart-alec and completely unwarranted abuse was about to receive a return of service that he wasn’t even gonna have a hope in hell of dealing with. I retaliated.

Now, before you think I’m a bully-boy – I’m NOT! I detest confrontation. But sometimes I just get fed up with the ugliness of some people. I don’t like being an emotional punching bag for attackers and haters. Nobody does. And in my opinion it’s pretty gutless to gob-off at a complete stranger like that when all they are doing is helping people.

I know there are haters out there. I see it on Twitter a lot and this isn’t the first time I have copped something like this in a nasty email from a total stranger. What is it with these people? Normally I just let it go but this time I didn’t.

I now feel remorseful for doing what I did because I’m not usually all that provokable. But when I go off I do tend to explode. And he had me at about Defcon 2 with his unwarranted personal abuse. I won’t tell you what I did because I’m not proud of it but…

… it got me thinking. How can I turn around this really ugly clash so that I can make a positive out of a really negative situation?

I was laying in bed the next morning – don’t worry I’m not leading up to an overshare here – feeling like an idiot for taking his bait and being silly enough and nasty enough to respond the way I did. So, I’m laying there thinking: “There really IS a lot of “kak” being peddled on the internet. I just don’t believe I am adding to it. “

I spend a lot of time producing truly unique products and manuals and they are all designed to help and teach people. I have never used PLR because, seriously, the vast majority of PLR being pushed at people for the purpose of list-building is hideous. Most of it is just generic nonsense and half the time it is written in pigeon English that is difficult to read and almost impossible to understand.

And some of the peddlers are pumping out 10 to 20 emails per DAY! No wonder so many people are getting frustrated and infuriatied and feel the need to hurl abuse at somebody. I just wish they would attack the right targets.

So, I made a decision to offer some 100% pure content of a range diverse enough to have something for everybody. NO opt-in required. Yes, there are some links in my pdf and some lead to opt-in options but… YOU be the judge. You are under NO obligation to click anything. And be sure to read my disclaimer on page 6.

I’ll let you in on a little secret…

I was laughing to myself while I was writing that so, even though it’s a serious message, I am delivering it in a frivolous manner.

I hope you enjoy this e-newsletter. I really liked putting it together. I’m one of those weirdos who actually ENJOY writing. Actually, rather often I am writing and laughing at the same time because I often write exactly what I would say and I can say some pretty off-beat stuff at times. TBH I really have no idea where some of my comments come from – it’s like I’m having this conversation with my alter-ego. Creepy huh?

In fact, I’m amazed that I get away with some of the things I say to people coz I usually just say exactly what I think which is often not exactly “politically correct” – something else that I detest. Having said that I’m not into saying hurtful things to people like: “You are one ugly mother-focker” – apologies to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator and getting it tangled up with “Meet the Fockers” – a REALLY funny movie (just in case you haven’t seen it…)

So, with all of the foregoing out of the way…

If you have any comments or queries or suggestions on how I can make it better for issue 2 then please share your thoughts here. I’d be very interested to know what you think would be the ideal length for an e-newsletter such as this. I don’t want to make it too long but then I don’t want to make it too short either. This time I opted for a short 6 page read. But I can make these as long or short as you want. I’m thinking about 8-10 pages might be about right. Tell me what you think.

Oh, BTW, feel free to distribute this e-newsletter to whoever you want. You can send it to a friend or use it as a bonus to an offer, send it to your list as a no opt-in thank you. Whatever. I don’t care. Just DON’T change it.

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Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************

Well, I’m pretty sure that you probably won’t like what I have to say today. After being all nice and condescending and inspirational and motivating with my last four life tips today I’m going slap you around a little. Maybe you deserve it. Well, you be the judge.

Today I want to talk about why you probably aren’t all that happy with the way your life is heading. Or has been heading. Because you can change course in an instant… IF you want to. The question is… do you really, really want to?

You see, like so many people (me included sometimes) you have problems, disappointments, things that don’t work out so well, things that are holding you back. The buzzword these days is ISSUES. And generally when people start talking about “issues” it’s as though they are miraculously caused by other people and are somehow the fault of other people. *cough* BULLSH*T! *cough* YOU are the person that needs to take ownership of whatever issues you have. Nobody else.

Let me tell you this – whatever problems, whatever disappointments, whatever issues you may have you also have the POWER to resolve them. In almost every instance YOU were the one who caused them! I’m not talking here about people who have been born with an affliction or those who were unfortunate enough to have been born in a war torn or poverty stricken country. That was fate at work. You can’t control that. But you CAN control so many other things.

What I am talking about is the journey that lead you to having that crappy low-paying job where some boofhead boss makes your every working minute a living misery. Or that lack of self-esteem issue that you THINK you have (but NOBODY else does – even when you try so hard to convince them that you do). Or your so-called lack of confidence. Or the toxic influence of some person who invades your life space and splatters you long and often with their negativity and general life bile. Or that garbage relationship you are in. Or your lack of education. Or whatever else it may be that bothers you and STOPS you from turning into a butterfly. Sigh… you just have to stay that ugly caterpillar. Really?

Here’s some tough advice… Whatever your issue is – YOU manufactured it. Fix it. Do you really think that anyone else cares? Or SHOULD care? It’s YOUR damn life! Stop falsely believing that the world owes you. The world owes you JACK!

“Oh yeah Gary that’s easy for you to say.” Yep it is. But I have had to work hard to get through my own challenges. I’m still doing it in certain areas too. But I’m a work in progress. Can you say that? Are you doing ANYTHING to improve your outcomes?

Seriously, that person you see at the top of this blog page is a far, far cry from the wimpy, mommy’s boy, snotty-nosed little kid who was frightened of his own shadow and who was continually getting his face smashed in at school. I did something about it. Take a look at this milksop. That was me! (Even back then my mouth ran faster than my skinny little legs could so you can probably understand why I got smacked around so often by much bigger and stronger kids. Slow learner in that regard, I know!)

OK. Enough of me. Let’s see how bad your “issues” really are. What would you do to get rid of them if you had the opportunity? How about this…

In one of the modules of my www.journeylifedestiny.com course I challenge people to swap their problems with somebody else – without knowing what they may receive in return. You know what? For EVERY person I have ever posed that option to NEVER once have I had anybody agree that they would do it. Why? Would you?

Would you bundle up all your perceived inadequacies and so-called problems and put them up for swap with an unknown person? Be honest. You just wouldn’t, would you?

Hmm, I’ll bet that got you thinking…

What if you got an even bigger collection of problems in return? You see, most people are extremely comfortable with their status quo. It’s good to be able to whinge and moan and be all upset about what a miserable hand you have been dealt in life. But how many people will break through that self-restricting paradigm and do something about it to fix it? Not too damn many. And – punch below the belt moment coming – that’s why we have winners and losers.

I told you I was going to be tough. In fact, I really started to blow off steam after this point but I am saving it for a future post. I bet you really can’t wait for that huh?

Tell me what you think – and… because I didn’t hold back then don’t you hold back either. If you want to get stuck into me for being an insensitive jerk then be my guest! Go for it.

Please share your comments below. I always do my best to answer each and every comment, or question.

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Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************