Phill Mason

I came across a relatively new Internet Marketing product review site today I really liked and their approach to the IM world was refreshing. It was direct and very realistic – that’s very rare these days and something I can easily relate to – Great work Paul Timmons.

Guru products and their added bonuses
Something I’ve been meaning to write about for many months now and reading Paul’s blog finally pushed me to get on with it.

I was very disappointed with the recent video from Mike Filsame regarding James Kumner’s "Traffic Crusher". I didn’t care much for the opening scare tactics. Using Citibanks recent huge redundancy figure’s in my opinion, was is poor taste. After watching the drawn-out half an hour video just to find out what the link was to the product, I would have had a little more respect for Mike had he said, ‘Right this product and massive list of bonuses are worth a total of $4184 and that’s what you’ve got to pay if you want it’! Now that would have shown some respect to his current paying customers, but oh no, lets put the viewers of this video through a painful "You’re Not even Going To Pay" slide upon slide. To me that selling approach has exactly the same effect as "This Product Is Not Worth" Bla, bla, bla, and so on.

I am so sick of seeing Guru’s water down their "amazing" offer with lame bonuses; to the point that it immediately puts me off if they offer them. I wonder when they’ll wake up and realise that moving the so called ‘free line’ by adding loads of bonuses is actually having an adverse effect and I would guess that most customers would appreciate more value in the product (if it’s actually worth it) as apposed to clearly stating that this product is so lame on its own, I’m attempting to bump up its value by adding all my old stuff that doesn’t sell anymore.

Come on Guru’s, if your product really can make the amount of money you say it can, then why would we need any bonuses that we haven’t got time to go through added on top?

I really like Mike Filsame, so this is not a direct dig at him, as most Guru’s are pursuing this sales approach at present, its a general whinge at all Guru’s who cannot see how this sales approach effects their credibility – wake up, re-price and trash the bonuses.

You don’t see Darth Vader being a jerk everyday!

This is part of the original Star Wars film footage that has been messed around and tweaked by "Blake", who’s clearly a master of the video editing tools. Keep an eye out for more from "Doomblake" on Youtube. Anyway, this is right up there as one of my favourite short funny film clips – just my kind of humour. Take a few seconds to chill out and have a laugh!

It’s not everyday you get to meet your mentors, so when the opportunity presents itself, you should take the time to go and meet the people who have made a difference in your life. For me this day was Sunday 31st August 2008 when I had the pleasure and privilege to finally meet Internet Marketing Guru – Ed Dale.

Below is an image taken from my phone (quality not too super duper) of Ed receiving two of my CD’s – the original cast recording of ‘Mmm Mmm The Musical’ and a copy of ‘Up At The Albert’ by rock band ‘Boned’ which is an EP of the short set we played at the Royal Albert Hall in London for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Ed being a fellow musician and an ex-thesp himself, could really appreciate what effort is involved in writing, producing and performing a show like this and that gave us a real bond of interests outside of the internet marketing niche. We also had a chance to visit a few guitar shops down the famous Denmark Street and had lunch together just prior to the final Thirty Day Challenge meet up later that day.

It’s always really strange when you meet someone for the first time as you never really know what they’re like in "Real Life", but due to Ed’s huge visual internet presence from many of his training programs, you’re given the sense of a friendship before you even meet him and I’m happy to say Ed was exactly as I’d hoped and imagined he would be. He’s just like he is in his videos, calm, real, collective, funny and passionate about what he does. I’ve met TV celebrities, comedians and a handful of rock stars before and have been left with a hint of disappointment with some of them after they were not what I’d hoped they’d be like when we met and sadly this is quite often the case. Celeb’s are simply regular people like you and me and only thrust into celebrity status due to their job’s commitment and the press.

Now I’m sure Ed like many other Guru’s would not class themselves as celebrities, but in many people’s eye’s they are and their regular appearance in our email in-box and on our computer screen’s makes them so. I know this must sound like an "I love Ed Dale Fest", and perhaps it is, but I really just wanted the opportunity to record in writing how grateful I am to have had the chance to learn from someone like Ed, as he has helped me in my online business ventures in more ways than he could ever imagine. So, thank you Ed, your contribution to my Internet Marketing knowledge has been enormous and I hope to continue to learn from you for many years and even though we are half a world apart, aside from being a great mentor and a fantastic fashion advisor, I truly feel that I have found a great friend and hope that we get many more opportunities to share some quality time. And for those readers who are thinking it, no I don’t want to marry Ed – we haven’t even kissed yet!

Here is a handful of mug shots I managed to grab from my phone whilst at the meet up in London. A truly great bunch of people all sharing a similar passion for online success and I wish each and everyone of them – plenty of it.

I’m looking forward to meeting more people from the Thirty Day Challenge and hope that they’re all taking something away from their 30DC experience as I have. From the early days of Dale & Kern as an ‘Underachiever’ to the present day Dale & Raine offering that is the amazing ‘Immediate Edge’ I’m more than happy to stay in the loop and continue to widen my IM repertoire from those who seem to really care about what you get from it. Thanks Ed, keep doing what you do best.

It sure was fun – Meeting Ed Dale.

Cheers Mate
All the Best

Phill Mason