Proliferation of Domain EBooks, Courses

[sashas]

So I'd been away from active domaining for 3 months...

And I come back to find the market in tatters. LLL.coms, that great big barometer of the domain market seemed to find no takers at all now. What was once a risk free investment is now bleeding money (I know - I lost 2500 bucks on a LLL.com myself a few months back).


Anyhow, I got an email from Estibot the other day, promoting a website called DomainSalesMachine.com

So I head over to the site, find some guy I've never heard of telling me that he's gonna give away his secrets 'system' over the next 10 weeks for $197. Hmm, I wonder, and read on.

On the small, but excruciatingly painful read of a sales page, he pops up his download link about a dozen times, keeps on reminding me of the 'system' that he has in place to sell millions of dollars worth of domains each year. He, of course, doesn't give any details about the system, except that it is a 'system'.


And then I surf some more and find some more domain ebook sites that hadn't been there a few months back. Two of them are run by Phil Craig - a domainer I personally haven't heard of in my 1.5 years in this business - and the others run by domainers unknown (or hiding) on the major forums.


So what is your take on these eBooks? I'm tempted to buy them just to see what they have to offer, and to write an honest review for others. Most of them will serve the same info over and over, but as a serious domainer, I consider it important to check out new products in my field (just as any serious IM jumps on any new IM offering)...but when people right so outrightly scammy sales pages (read, DomainSalesMachine.com), I'm tempted to think otherwise..


Thoughts?

 

[Coopey]

I've always imagined these eBooks are akin to paying someone to compress the likes of NamePros down into 90 easily-readable pages that you can read in a day, rather then a few thousand threads that will take a few weeks to read.
Also wondering if anyone has actually paid for one of these and if it was the waste of money I assume them to be...?

edit: Ha, after I post the above message, I notice the Google Ad below the post is for 'The Lazy Domainer'- I could end up earning a few cents on someone clicking that thanks to the forum's revenue-share- oh, the irony.

 

[Spade]

My thought process has been simple. When you find something that works for you, keep it to yourself (or at least your immediate group). Why Spread the word on potential gold mines?

The answer. They have been thoroughly mined. The techniques that people are willing to sell you are more then likely exhausted and although may still work, dont work as good as they used to, and obviously aren't worth much to the one selling the secrets anymore.

When it comes to learning this industry, the best methods are ones you create for yourself.

 

[Traveler]

My thought process has been simple. When you find something that works for you, keep it to yourself (or at least your immediate group). Why Spread the word on potential gold mines?

The answer. They have been thoroughly mined. The techniques that people are willing to sell you are more then likely exhausted and although may still work, dont work as good as they used to, and obviously aren't worth much to the one selling the secrets anymore.

When it comes to learning this industry, the best methods are ones you create for yourself.

I can't agree more. When you find something that works, you don't sell it to someone else until you have made as much profit as possible. Then maybe you write an eBook showing others how to do what you did, of course by that time the easy pickings are already gone.

If you have more money than time then an eBook may not be a bad idea. I think most ideas are readily available on forums if you have the time to look for them.

 

[weblord]

it's called "greed" marketing they're usually living and thriving off the needs of others for money and may sell you even ridiculous products/services that you never knew it existed.

Keral Patel (nick) has written a very basic domain ebook it's a good way to start your technique in selling domains.

 

[mhdoc]

On the other hand NameClerk and Estibot are very solid and valuable members here so when both of them give a strong recommendation for a product I think it has to be taken seriously.

Since it's a clickbank purchase with a 60 day refund policy there doesn't seem to be a lot of risk.

 

[weblord]

yes you're right these 2 people here are commendable, im talking of "greed" marketing in particular not the site itself posted by the op.

On the other hand NameClerk and Estibot are very solid and valuable members here so when both of them give a strong recommendation for a product I think it has to be taken seriously.

Since it's a clickbank purchase with a 60 day refund policy there doesn't seem to be a lot of risk.

 

[ripley]

I was skeptical myself but my curiosity combined with the fact that I trust NameClerk, who's a fellow NPer, made me buy it.

I'm reserving judgment until Friday and at that time plan to post some initial thoughts.

ripley.

 

[sashas]

On the other hand NameClerk and Estibot are very solid and valuable members here so when both of them give a strong recommendation for a product I think it has to be taken seriously.

Since it's a clickbank purchase with a 60 day refund policy there doesn't seem to be a lot of risk.

This was the first thing that got me interested in these ebooks. I've always liked Josh (Estibot) and his product.


From my own perspective, I don't mind sharing my "secrets", because in reality, there really is no secret, just some common sense.

 

[Spade]

From my own perspective, I don't mind sharing my "secrets", because in reality, there really is no secret, just some common sense.

Hmmmm, not all are as Common Sense as you might think and not all people have common sense.

 

[weblord]

laymen's common sense is different from a domainer's common sense.

 

[sashas]

Hmmmm, not all are as Common Sense as you might think and not all people have common sense.

Quite so...

laymen's common sense is different from a domainer's common sense.

Even more so...

 

[mhdoc]

I'm reserving judgment until Friday and at that time plan to post some initial thoughts.

ripley.

I'll be looking for that.

 

[TheBulldog]

In general, once things reach e-book status, they are typically about worn out completely or there is such little life left in them, that they aren't worth the money to buy them.


I have always thought that if these "secret" systems worked so well, why in the world have we seldom heard of these guys, and why would they want to tell someone else about this when they could make more money just keeping it secret?

 

[briman1970]

I was skeptical myself but my curiosity combined with the fact that I trust NameClerk, who's a fellow NPer, made me buy it.

I'm reserving judgment until Friday and at that time plan to post some initial thoughts.

ripley.

I'm looking forward to it. :tu:

 

[Dangerman]

Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know.
Lao Tzu

 

[soggyindo]

Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know.
Lao Tzu

nice.

also remember the two NPers you are referring to get a commission of sales - they're hardly going to tell you it's a waste of $...

i was tempted by the spiel, but then thought "why would he tell you the keywords he was going for" (and the place that he was getting people to reg them automatically for him, and the place he is selling them to)? if he was really making $1m a year, he'd be crazy to ask for the extra competition IMO.

 

[henniemeijer]

I am not saying this is the case in this situation, but some people actually like to help others. Not because they are good samaritans and better than the rest, but because it makes them feel good. Money does not have the same value for all people in all situations.
Another reason why people help in forums/ebooks and whatever is to satisfy their ego by showing others how smart they are and getting complimented for it now and then.(show off)
This may and does cost them money because others catch up in information, but to them it can be +ev(expected value) because they derive emotional satisfaction from it.(amateur psychology )
Sometimes giving away good information can even be plus ev because of long term relations one builds up as people start trusting you more and also will send valuable info back to you.
Therefor you may want to think twice before always assuming nobody gives away valuable information for free/cheap at their own expense.

Putting an (e)book together and selling it is a pleasure by itself to some people if they manage to get it done.
I would get satisfaction from it even if I had to give away some information which costs me some money.
But again no opinion about this ebook as I do not know it.
Also people who you think you can trust(like mentioned people who recommend it) can always fall for the quick buck(or morally owe someone a service) in certain situations,while they normally would not go for recommending something they do not value high enough and everybody seems to have a price depending on their situation.

 

[sashas]

I've been parlaying in internet marketing of late. This is one field that is literally littered with ebooks, video seminars, etc (the 'Make Money Online' niche).

While some of them are scammers, many of them are selling good, solid information in their ebooks. Some even reveal real 'secrets' - things you wouldn't know unless you experimented a great, great deal.

So no, all ebooks and ebook authors aren't selling trash. Some of them actually have lots of good things to say. I can't say this about the domain world, but in many other fields, ebooks are the best way to learn about stuff

 

[accent]

Depends on the knowledge of the audience. Many here could put together a basic guide to domaining that would be of great value to someone who is just beginning. There are certainly many people who waste tons of money before they learn what they are doing. All that information is here at Namepros, probably within the first ten pages of threads, but it is not organized for easy access, and in truth most noobs spend first and ask questions later, if they don't just give up.

So, if the market for the book is assumed to not include NP regulars, it may be of value to some people. But wild claims of easy money just degrade all of us.