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The Rich Jerk Ratings |
|
Effective Methods |
4 |
/ |
10 |
|
Ethical Methods |
2 |
/ |
10 |
|
Value for the Price |
6.5 |
/ |
10 |
|
Current & Real-World |
7 |
/ |
10 |
|
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|
|
|
|
Overall Rating |
49% |
|
Visit The Rich Jerk Website
Review
The Rich Jerk caused quite a stir when first released. But is it worth all of the
attention its controversial content caused it to receive, and can it really help you make
more money online?
When I open an e-book, especially one stating that the author made millions with the
information in the book, I expect to see an author's name on the cover. Yes, I know many
of the e-books on the market are NOT written by a person who has that name, but at least
an author is listed. Not so with The Rich Jerk. This was my first clue of misgiving about
this e-book's usefulness in teaching me how to make money on the internet. The second
clue was the fact that the author's tone was arrogant to say the least. In places, it was
down-right insulting to the reader! I found much of the e-book to be more of an ego trip
for the mystery author than valid, useful information.
Realizing that I have experience making money via the internet, I found many of the topics
included in this information to be extremely questionable and a few that could almost
certainly get your barred by Google because of direct disregard for Terms of Use and Terms
of Service. For example, TRJ recommends using cloaking methods that, if not directly
"black hat" are certainly in the grey hat area.
To make matters more confusing for a less than expert web entrepreneur, much of the
information is in two sections. The advanced level information is in the front and the
basic information is in the back, but you only find that info once you read the entire
advanced portion.
In Chapter 1, about Affiliate Networks,
you will find some sensible information about
which affiliate networks, such as ClickBank, are must-join for the affiliate marketer. But
then, I've read this same information, worded differently, in hundreds and hundreds of
other e-books. There is nothing secret about affiliate networking and selling affiliate
products. The secrets of the sales letter, again covered hundreds of other places, are
revealed in this section. For any good internet marketer, all the education required to
write a compelling sales letter is to read a few good ones written by others and follow
their example by creating interesting in your own product with the use of hope and
urgency.
In fact, the only useful idea I got from reading Chapter 1 was the use of the negative
sales letter. This was a rather unique take on sales letters, but again no great hidden
secret. It does, however, greatly improve on the yellow-highlighted, dozen-or-more-page
sales pitches so commonly seen online.
Chapter 2 addresses Pay-per-Click Advertising
and wording of great PPC ads. It is a
no-brainer that if you word your PPC ads better than the next fellow, you'll get more
clicks. Google AdSense and AdWords are addressed in very short sections of this chapter,
but in the latter sections there is some decent info for the novice in these areas.
Chapter 3 takes on the SEO arena of getting traffic.
Many of the SEO tips are useful, but
are readily found elsewhere such as free searches on Google for "SEO Techniques" or
similar searches. This chapter is the area that suggests that you should employ "black
hat" techniques. I fail to understand why someone would advise you of good ways to make
legal, ethical money on the internet only to tell you to employ techniques that will
probably cause you to be banned from the very sources of your traffic your site needs, and
consequently nullify your income!
In Chapter 4, Selling Your Own Informational Product,
there is valid info about developing
an informational product such as an e-book, building a website for marketing, getting
leads, and turning your website into an affiliate program for others to promote your
product. This chapter is, perhaps, the only really useful portion of the e-book, but it
fails to explain any of the foibles to be overcome with such a venture which the novice
could use to prevent failure.
Chapter 5 addresses buying wholesale products and selling them on eBay.
The facts about
buying/selling on eBay are pretty much common sense and covered (except how to buy
wholesale) on eBay's own website. The useful portion of this chapter is how to avoid
money scams involving wholesale purchases. Many of these are common sense, but for the
person just starting out and in the "pink cloud" of early success, it would certainly be
good cautionary info to consider. There is a list of suggested wholesale providers listed
here.
In Chapter 6, websites which allow you to begin making money right
away, such as ClickBank are explained in more detail. The author provides samples of sites that he
or she claims have made over $1 million in profit for him. One website, stated as currently earning him
money and having made a killing for him in the last two years, strangely did not come up
when requested and did not appear on any search engine results I checked! Now, I am not
saying that the site didn't or doesn't exist, but from the info in the e-book, it was
not a URL I could locate using any common method of searching.
Chapter 7 suggests entering into e-Gold and other such ventures, none of which have I
heard of anyone having great success with. There was nothing of value I found in this
chapter whatsoever.
Chapter 8 contains the supplemental information for novices
and, in this section, there is
some pretty good informational material. However, in the sections for experts, it would be
nice if there had been mention of this material in the back of the book so someone could
readily find it. Yes, of course it is listed in the table of contents, but who reads the
TOC? The book might hold some value for a beginner if the sections were referenced when
the expert info was presented such as "see Chapter 8, Section D for beginners info" or
something similar.
Summary
Overall, I wouldn't recommend that anyone rush online and purchase this e-book. There
were far too many questionable or dangerous areas contained in the book and there are far,
far too many really great books to help someone begin making money on the internet to
waste money on this tarnished info. Instead, spend the money on a good, ethical,
well-written e-book or two.
The Rich Jerk is not an e-book that was found to be especially helpful. It contains a few
tips and techniques that may be of value, but those were much too few and far between. The
e-book could, in fact, be dangerous to the novice internet marketer who fails to
understand the intricacies of the Google TOC and TOS. The book was disorganized throughout
and written in a condescending tone through the entire first chapter. Information that was
checked, such as a listed website, did not appear to be valid. Black hat and grey hat
techniques were not only mentioned but were highly recommended, when there is no need to
use these less-than-ethical techniques to make money on the 'net.
Intended Audience:
Internet marketers, webmasters, web designers, affiliate network marketers. Intermediate
to advanced with novice info in the back of the e-book.
Pros:
- The Negative Sales Letter approach was very helpful and informative.
- Cautions on wholesale purchase scams useful, especially to the inexperienced.
- List of affiliate networks useful for novices.
Cons:
- Promises made are often unrealistic, even though the book warns that other books will make
promises that are unrealistic!
- Advocates use of unethical practices that can result in Google ban of websites.
- Overall, very disorganized with expert knowledge in front, novice in back, and no
cross-references.
- Info about website stated to be making money for author was no located using any common
URL location techniques, making the entire work less than credible.
- Portions of the text written in arrogant tone and condescending manner to reader.
- Book is filled with affiliate links to the products it endorses, creating the impression
that the only reason the author recommends them is to line his/her own pockets.
|
|
The Rich Jerk Ratings |
|
Effective Methods |
4 |
/ |
10 |
|
Ethical Methods |
2 |
/ |
10 |
|
Value for the Price |
6.5 |
/ |
10 |
|
Current & Real-World |
7 |
/ |
10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overall Rating |
49% |
Visit the Product Website
Due to its poor quality, this Product
is NOT ExtraProfit!Bonus Qualified
Visit the Product Website
Due to its poor quality, this Product
is NOT ExtraProfit!Bonus Qualified
|