[...] – in fact there is an interesting review of the 2007 version of the course from Friar’s Review of Brian Clark’s Teaching Sells that time around it was $97 for the special price for the first 3 months – and then recurring [...]

Wow there’s a lot of cynicism here. A jazz guitar master named Jimmy Bruno has a paid subscription site for $20/month. He has a ton of video lessons, forums, etc and he asks students to submit videos of themselves. Then he responds with his comments in another video. Definitely more involved than just posting content but he has over 1300 subscribers. It’s like a private lesson but with the ability to watch content over and over and chat with the community via forums. You can also watch all the other student submissions and Jimmy’s response. To me this is much better than ad supported sites, affiliate programs, etc

kher Cheng Guan I’m glad you liked it. The ebook really was just a sales pitch.

This is one interesting review I was waiting to read. Without fear or favour, you really hit the nail on the head. To me, Teaching Sells is just another “make money” stuff.

Teaching does sell.
(I have made over $13 so far)

Chris That was pretty awesome, but I think that the claim was that Copyblogger was one of the top ranked blogs. Alexa ranked 7819. Teachingsells.com was created for this report, and likely the upcoming membership site.

Aside from that, awesome. He also fails to make the connection between book reading by the general public, and the need Businesses have for consultation. There’s also no connection between creative expression, and B2B consulting.

I’ll give the program a passing grade in the “make money” category, but a failing grade in bridging the gap from artistic creation to business consulting.

My issues with this paper:

-the pencil/pen usage in space is an inaccurate analogy. The simple solution was not a pencil because it would require a sharpener for space travel. Might as well spend that money on the pen.

-he is missing a key promotional tool when he mentions his experience in website marketing in the late 90′s. Not only was email viable but the newsgroups were a big source of readers. I ran a fantasy sports site back then and the newsgroups got me hundreds of readers. When my draft guides came out I had 300-400 daily visits via advertising there.

-the claim that teachingsells.com is one of the top blogs on the internet is bullshit. RL ranks much higher on Alexa which is the standard for marketing measurement online. It is the Neilsen of the internet. Flawed yes, but none the less it is the yardstick.

-the author fails to make a connection between book reading stats and blog reading stats. More people read blogs then books on a weekly basis.

-the author thinks we are just moving from a focus on products to one on marketing. That happened hundreds of years ago when Adam Smith was writing papers. But it really took off in the 1950′s. How does someone who claims expertise in marketing ignore the history?

-I loved the ’10 things’ list. How can catering to a niche attract a vast audience? You can’t mass market and still look to hope to hit a very targeted audience.

Like you said, it is a sales pitch.

JACC You’re right that the aim of the membership program is directed at B2B information. That’s called consulting. Hardly revolutionary, even though the presentation style may be new.

I’ll probably have to say this more than once, but tried to say too many things at once in too few words and the result is a bit of a clusterfuck.

Maki I apologize for the sloppiness of that portion and have rewritten it. I understand that there’s careful consideration on your part regarding even whether to accept a joint venture or affiliate.

Isn’t it valid, though, to ask whether or not an affiliated promotion may have an element of bias, even if only subconscious?

I’m a subscriber of yours, and I would not be one if I believed that what you do is in any way unseemly or unethical.

Rich I knew you wouldn’t, and yes. You get to keep the spoon.

I couldn’t finish reading your post. It was too much work.

Can I keep the spoon?

My opinions on Brian’s report was honest and if you’ve read Dosh Dosh for some time you would know I never promote stuff that I didn’t think was useful for readers.

Dude, the referral links were disclosed too.