I received a lot of emails with that (almost identical) subject title last month. My inbox is being flooded with the word free lately, it’s driving me insane! Free this, free that, grab your freebie here, your freebie is almost gone! 99% of them aren’t free however! Granted they don’t have a monetary cost attached, but they do require my name and email address in order to obtain what ever it is they’re giving away, which to me, isn’t free.

With my inbox count growing by over fifty emails a day, it has to be a pretty good offer to get me to pass out my address to someone new these days.

After seeing enough capitalized FREE ACTION PLANNER attention seeking emails (seriously, it’s like a bunch of deprived children all with their hands up), I decided to take a proper look. I have to say, not too bad! When you’re trying to make money online, it’s crucial that you avoid as many distractions as possible. To avoid distraction, productivity is key. Simply put, productivity is anything that makes your working life easier. Productivity does NOT include spending your time on Twitter or YouTube unless watching The X Factor is included in your course outline. (I really should take my own advice here… Twitter… baaad!)

What this action planner attempts to do is help you prioritize your time when you are working on those projects that you simply must get finished. I say attempt only because it can’t actually do the work for you, so it’s up to you to follow what you’ve written down. I tend to use my diary for marking down not only what I want to do for the day, but also what I have done already. This allows me to sit down at the end of each day to see what I’ve accomplished, handy when my brain has died and long forgotten what happened 15 minutes ago.

The action planner is a 72 page document that basically has a page for each day where you can list tasks you want to complete along with a few other tips and info. You print it out, and photocopy it until you have twelve copies – one for each month of the year. (If you’re one of those stationary/perfectionist nuts like me, you can get it covered and bound at your local printing store. I do that to any good ebooks I buy, I’m really quite crazy that way.)

At the end of the month there is a section where you can summarize all your key achievements and review your time spent. This will allow you not only to feel pride for what you have done but also see where all your interruptions are coming from. You know… Twitter, emails, twitter, catching up on blog posts, random link clicking, twitter, facebook, that great commercial on TV and…um… twitter?  In reality, the whole thing is what you want to make of it.

Download your Action Planner by clicking here!

This makes a nice change in blog posts doesn’t it? A freebie AND a good review! Don’t worry, Friday’s is choking on it’s sarcasm…

Over the course of 2009, there were a few products that had me salivating at the mere thought of how awesome they appeared to be. Unfortunately (and frustratingly), the two main ones I invested in turned out to be less than impressive with regards to following through on their pre-launch promises. One was even bad enough for me to spend more time and energy fighting for my money back than I did using the product in the first place. Mostly due to its price tag as well as it’s complete fallacy in what it promised. As you can probably imagine, I’m a little more skeptical when I come across the ‘next big thing’ that makes me go wow now a days.

Even though we’re only in January and I’ve got a whole year ahead of me, I think I’ve actually found my first “wow” product. Even as skeptical as I am, if it delivers and does what it says, then I agree with the current labels of “game changer” that are already floating around.

Video Marketing. I get that it’s the current way to go, but I just can’t do it. I hate the sound of my own voice, and the thought of putting my actual self in front of a camera makes me feel sick, literally. No big dreams to be a movie star when I was little and like most females, I can be extremely self critical which doesn’t help.

But, video marketing does work, I understand that, and of course there are other ways to make use of it without putting yourself out there for the world to see. A lot of videos out there are nothing more than PowerPoint presentations or images put together with Windows Movie Maker. I know, because that’s how I created the ‘teaser’ video for my Cash in Members product.

Ironically, a funny thing with me is I don’t actually tend to watch that many internet marketing videos, not when it’s related to promoting a product anyway. I watch a few, but it has to be a pretty good reason for me to keep watching. I have the attention span of a gnat most days and tend to be juggling too many things at once to really sit down and concentrate on something for more than a few minutes. That’s probably just a ‘me thing’ however, I can be a bit odd.

I think the main reason I prefer the written word to a video is because you can’t really ’skim’ a video. I find myself thinking “yeah yeah, sounds great but how much is it going to cost me?” With a sales page, I can scroll to the bottom and decide if it’s a price worth continued reading, or if it’s out of my price range and I can leave without wasting more time.

When I clicked a link in one of my emails recently and it took me to the Easy Video Player page, I had stop for a split second. At the bottom was a comment by Michael Fallon:

“WOW! Imagine having an opt-in form inside your video! This is going to be massive!”

Ok, you have my attention. We all know 2009’s catch phrase by now – “the money is in the list” – so when I see that this video software supposedly allows you to place your opt-in code directly inside a video, I’m going to stop for a moment and investigate a little further. After plugging my details into the website, I am taken to the next page with a behind the
scenes preview video. Going against my general nature, I click play and watch it.

All I can say is: Impressive.

Not only can you plug in your Aweber opt-in code, you can embed Paypal buy buttons, have the video redirect automatically to another website, use a splash image at the start and a few other handy little tricks. I’m starting to believe the claim that this software is set to change how Video Marketing works.

I’d love to be able to share the video with you all here, but the guys running it aren’t that silly… you have to opt-in and watch it over on their site.

This is probably one of the few times I would recommend doing it too. In fact, the first real big recommendation for this blog. Special. If you currently utilize video marketing, or you’re wanting to, then this could be an extremely handy tool to use and jump ahead of your competition. Yes, I was that impressed by it. Check out here: Easy Video Player.

Now, the software doesn’t physically launch until January the 12th, but if you sign up now as an ‘early bird subscriber’ you supposedly get advanced notification and the ability to get in and grab this before anyone else. There are also rumoured to be limited copies at the one time fixed price, although I have no idea if that’s a sales ploy or not so don’t quote me.

One of the emails I got said they would be switching to a monthly fee system once the first (what ever number) are sold out… which does raise an eyebrow as the behind the scenes video clearly states it’s a once off purchase and there would be no monthly fees. Hrm…

There are going to be limited copies at the small one time price (After they are sold out we will switch to charging month fee’s to use it) so you will need to be quick on Jan 12th to get your copy at a ONE time price if you want to avoid paying monthly!

The only thing I can be sure of is that my inbox will be bombarded with sales emails offering a wide variety of bonuses in order to buy through their link. Not only is there a nice commission attached to it, there’s prizes to be one for who ever refers the most buyers and they ask you for your list size in order to promote it. Even the welcome email informs you the ‘big guns’ are getting involved:

(It’s set to be a big launch with some big names such as Mike Filsaime, Sam Knowll, Rhys Davies and many more already on board to promote!)

Course, I’m not exactly sure attaching the name Mike Filsaime to your product is as useful as it used to be right now. Seems there were a lot of upset people when he released his 7 Figure Code ‘for free’. Even checking how people are finding this little blog via searches I see phrases such as +”mike filsaime” products +disappointing +”misleading” and mike filsaime bait and switch. Ouch.

I’ll be watching with curiosity to see how it all pans out. At the moment I’m not hugely into video marketing, so no decisions on if I will or won’t purchase it. Then again, everyone knows what YouTube is, that Google gives video results when you run a search and of course, combining the two is free. So maybe this is the exact right time to get into video marketing to promote either my product or affiliate ones…

As I said, I’m not one to rave about a product normally, but regardless if you plan on buying this or not, I highly recommend you at least check out the videos provided. It’s free to watch, you just have to have an email you’re happy to share. The Behind The Scenes Video tells you what it is, and there’s a new one for affiliates called The “Affiliate Video Funnel Technique” which shows you how you can make use of it if you’re only doing affiliate marketing. So this isn’t just for product owners.

I’ve got everything crossed for these guys that it all works exactly like they claim, if it does then it will be a fantastic tool in your marketing toolbox. Unfortunately I find it hard to drop my guard completely after being burned pretty bad last year.

Check out the videos:

Easy Video Player

P.S. I must admit, I find Josh Bartlett’s voice really easy to listen to.

P.P.S. I have no idea what the price is going to be unfortunately… sorry.

Updated

The release price is a mear $127 total. That is all you pay and you own the product for life. It’s stated at the bottom of the website however that this is a temporary price and will rise to $127 a month.

When most people hear the word ‘clone’ in the internet marketing industry, they think of the scams out there claiming you can clone people’s entire campaigns and make the same money they are making. *cough* Google Cash Detective *cough* I personally think of cloning PPC campaigns, cloning sales strategies, etc. When I first skimmed the sales page for Affiliate Clone X, I thought the same thing. However, it’s not quite the case. You’re not actually cloning anything belonging to anyone else, instead, you are cloning a marketing strategy. Much the same as you clone a cooking recipe.

In fact, I’m going to stop using the word clone all together, because really, you’re copying or following the steps required, not cloning. I asked a few people what their definition of clone was when talking in a non-genetic sense (ie not talking about cloning your beloved family dog, but instead a software program or a DVD, etc). All responses came back that they consider cloning to be an exact replica of the original product. An identical, mirror image created quickly, easily and preferably with as little involvement by the cloner as possible.

The so-wrong-it-wasn’t-funny sales pitch for Google Cash Detective is a prime example of the term cloning in an internet marketing sense. “With just a few clicks of your mouse, you can instantly and effortlessly copy the thousand dollar campaigns and make the same money“. I fell for it too, hook line and sinker. I was just getting started with affiliate marketing and the scary world of PPC campaigns; this advertised itself as a cloning system that worked and it was highly recommended by the so called Guru I was following mindlessly at the time. (A completely different guru to my other issue mind you… I know, when will I learn right?)

It didn’t work. Most ‘cloning’ tactics don’t. The people already doing it, especially via PPC already have a big lead over you. The idea is a nice thought – to be able to instantly make the same amount of money with only a fraction of the work. Who would say no to that? But very rarely, if ever, is it that simple. Thankfully, Affiliate Clone X only makes use of an incorrect name in it’s title, for you’re not really cloning at all…

To bake a cake you first mix the flour, then add the sugar, eggs and so on right? Well this is much the same. Affiliate Clone X gives you the steps needed to produce a similar result at the end, however all results will vary depending on many different factors each time and as such, it’s not really an exact clone. (Who says they are going to ‘clone the recipe for tonight’s lamb roast’? No one. I dare say most would comment they are going to ‘follow’ the recipe. That said, Affiliate Follow X really doesn’t have the same ring to it, am I right? )

While you’re not cloning anything in the typical sense, the steps provided to you to follow are fairly decent. The basic formula is to locate Private Label Rights (PLR) products to sell, ideally products that come with a pre-made sales page, thankyou and download pages, graphics, word format, etc. You then take these products, edit them, improve them and make them unique before spitting it out as a PDF and uploading the required pages for clickbank to approve it for sale. Then just find affiliates, build a list and whammo, let the money roll in.

Again the main problem falls in with the use of the word cloning. (Not the actual ebook). It’s misleading. The methods taught are very sound, many a big name in the IM world who now creates their own products, started with PLR. It’s certainly a good launching pad. However, there is a lot more to it than just picking up any product and following the steps – PLR has been around for a while now and like anything, there’s a lot of crap out there. You need to find the good stuff, the golden nugget in amongst all the dirt. And not all private label rights products come with a pre-made sales page and more.

The only other issue is the constant mention of additional expenses. Hire a copywriter to edit the ebook itself, or at worst perfect the sales page. Locate and employ the services of the graphically gifted because you’ll be changing the title of the ebook and thus, need the provided graphics altered. But what if your product then doesn’t sell? While yes it’s not always a lot of money to hire these people, if you’re doing this for every product you try and make ‘your own’, then it can add up quickly. Very quickly if you are not recouping your costs.

Not to mention on top of that you’re going to be buying the PLR products you will then on-sell, and remember, you need the quality stuff which is going to be more expensive. I’m not even going to address the recommendation of a dedicated server to host your product launch day – I maintained a dedicated server for one of my membership sites and they are not cheap, nor are they easy to get set up if you’re unfamiliar with the technical side of website hosting.

All that aside, the information provided is very thorough! Surprisingly so. So far it’s covered all the points I had questions about, even going over how to locate affiliates and JV partners to promote your product both before and after it’s official ‘launch day’. It does leave out the teeny tiny step of where you actually go to find people who might be interested in promoting for you, skipping instead to the ‘What do you do if you can’t find the owner’s name on the sales page?’ dilemma. It’s the middle step of which sales pages you need to find and consider that isn’t mentioned. A fairly important step if you ask me.

Overall though I actually think the ebook is quite good. If you’re looking for a way to start making money online, then this could very well be your beginning. I’ve already mentioned the uses PLR can provide you, although I still stick by my opinion that you should be very wary of using it as your sole content. That said, if you are willing to put in the time and effort to alter any PLR packages you plan on using, and have a way of finding affiliates to promote it for you, then by all means check out Affiliate Clone X.

Please note this isn’t an ‘easy ride’ option to rolling in $45,000 a month like the author claims, if you are just starting out you’re going to have your work cut out for you. You’re going to need to learn where to get the best PLR products to use, it’s going to take time improving them, editing them and then getting everything set up. If you don’t already have an email list, or ways to locate affiliates and JV partners to assist you, you’re going to have to work on that too.

But, and it’s a big but, the general method taught does make money (and certainly has in the past) if you are willing to put in the time and effort. If it sounds like something you’re interested in, put aside everything else, concentrate on only this for the next three to six months and see what you can produce. And of course come back and let me know as I’d love to hear about it!

If anyone does pick it up, or use similar strategies it teaches, myself and I’m sure any readers would love to hear your feedback!

P.S. One fact I did find very interesting is that I received no emails about this product. None. Given how many people out there have my email address on file, and the launch day for it was on the 10th of December, that’s a little odd. A big thankyou goes to @Bourne2Share on twitter for bringing it to my attention because it is one of the better ebooks I have read. Information wise it’s pretty packed and gives you everything you know. Just go into it using your head and you’ll be fine.

P.P.S. I did have one chuckle. At the very bottom of the sales page is the paragraph:

What? No affiliate link. No contact button. No and no. You see, I don’t want thousands of people flooding to my site and asking me if I am the real deal. And my affiliate program is off-limits for non-buyers. And here’s the truth: I have no intention of qualifying myself. I didn’t go through all this just to get my word out to non-believers. If you know you know, and if you don’t… that’s fine too. But I will say this: if you want to hear my voice and know what the guy behind the industry take-over sounds like, then go back to the drop-down box at the top of this page and sign up to the Bombshell newsletter. Just be prepared for the truth – and $500,000 worth of reasons why APX has already given thousands of your competitors the drop on you. The affiliate program – and my personal contact e-mail address – are reserved for my buyers, guys who know a good thing when they see it, guys who can see through the mist, and are prepared to take action to live the life they really want. The decision is yours to make, but make it fast because I may not be here to set you right tomorrow.

And right underneath is a contact and affiliate link LOL! There’s also no opt-in/sign up section to the newsletter.