Even though it’s rumored that average people bring in big money with crappy websites, you would think that a big time internet marketing guru and super affiliate with his own ebooks would have a nice site.

It wouldn’t have to be a wonderful site, not even Web 2.0, but it should work…

Which is why I was astounded at this monstrosity that is Ewen Chia’s site:

(Click the image to see a full-page screenshot, and here to see the original page.)

The screenshot is from Firefox, so perhaps the page worked in IE, but c’mon, that’s bad terrible!

Couldn’t his huge income from affiliate programs allow him to hire a designer? He could have at least traded an ebook for someone to come in and make a few CSS tweaks.

Whatever the case, it’s pretty funny to see an internet guru with a site like that!

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Today I was greeted with a few spam comments that made it past Akismet. A couple basic ones, then one crazy message from TheBaldChemist.

It basically said “stop writing about stupid stuff like marketing and SEO. The only way to make money is to buy my services.”

Here is a screenshot:

(I have since edited the comment, obviously.)

Anyone else get this one? It looks like something that he’d post on every internet marketing blog. It would be really funny if it was a joke, but I think his site is for real, and he’s just blatantly advertising. So I had to add his site to my spammer list

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Adsense arbitrage is one of those dumb business ideas that won’t seem to go away. Kind of like tag cloud pages. And the “million dollar [insert noun here]” sites.

If you’ve been out of the loop for a while, Adsense arbitrage involves buying cheap clicks and sending them to a page full of Adsense ads, hoping to make more per click than you paid per click.

That covers the basics, and that’s all we need to cover today. That’s because I want to talk about that basic, core business model and why it’s flawed.

(Talking smack on Adsense arbitrage is nothing new, but this idea just popped into my head one day, so I just had to write it out.)

Think about this concept:

Even when you get past the scammy second-tier PPC sites and the crappy MFA pages… The business logic is crap!

See, advertisers don’t spend much per click on the content network; the search results are where it’s at. But unless you own Google.com, you’re stuck at the content network in the land of low-priced clicks…

It’s an uphill battle from the start.

But let’s say you get super lucky and do days of niche research and find a keyword that will pay you $5 per click on the content network.

Well, as soon as you send some non-converting clicks to that advertiser, they’ll notice the problem, and immediately decrease their content network bids. Then you’re done. Chances are your net loss is pretty bad, because you would have spent some money on all the testing.

And that is the outcome when you found your own niche. If you’re buying lists of hot niches, by the time you see the list, the niches are no longer profitable.

Try it again? Maybe there’s another good niche?

Quit while you’re ahead buddy!

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Tempted to immunize your system now that germs are running rampant?

If so, stick to Robitussin, because Spybot Search & Destroy has been found to cause adverse side effects.

Possible side effects include:

• Loss of income
• Link blockage
• Redness on the bottom line
• Pain, in the ass

Be careful!

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It’s no secret that copywriters know how to write killer headlines. (If it was a secret, I don’t think anyone would be paying them to write their sales copy…)

That is why I have decided not to offer any advice about headlines, other than this: Go somewhere else if you want real headline copywriting advice.

So if your content sucks, you better write some good headlines to sucker people in! (And then use more copywriting tricks to persuade them into staying!)

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Some days I find a great blog post demeaning some new website or software. Today was one of those days.

This time, it’s Website Grader that sucks!

(Although after reading that, I had to test it out for myself, and it does provide some interesting stats free of charge. I might even use it again.)

BTW, here is a link to Website Grader itself, but word going around is that it sucks

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Is there any integrity in internet marketing?

That’s one of the questions I asked myself before starting this website…

You can probably guess my answer, considering that I went ahead with the “Internet Marketing Sucks” project

But it’s always good to have concrete reasons, and I think taking advantage of cancer patients is definitely a reason that internet marketing ranks low on the integrity scale.

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