Want to know the fastest way to elevate yourself to guru status? It’s all in the 3D ebook cover. Fake testimonials endorsing you is a close second, but putting your name on a 3D ebook cover (even if you don’t have an actual ebook) is super fast and practically guarantees that you’ll be taken seriously.

Now, after years of needing some graphic design skills, you can make your own 3D ebook cover, totally free. No expensive software, logo designers, or Photoshop skills required! It’s all online in a new Web 2.0 style web app called 3D-Pack.com.

You just upload some flat images and it makes a 3D box you can download. It’s simple enough that any non-guru can use it. I actually used this for a fake software cover in an older blog post which makes a fine example.

Best of all, there are three styles to choose from, so if you want to sell a fake CD-ROM, there’s a graphic for you too.

Just take a look at these serious covers in the gallery:

OK, OK, those were cheesy. This is about the best I could find:

And the rest were porn:

NSFW box 1
NSFW box 2
NSFW box 3
Just Plain Nasty

But whatever you’re selling, now you can be cool and get rich quick just like the gurus! The 3D cover is essential to obtaining guru status, so the sooner you use it, the better.

[2008 update - it looks like they removed the stupid, cheesy ebook covers I was linking to!]

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It seems I may have counted Myspace out too soon. I figured I should give up on it, considering the amount of spam going around there. But they may be cleaning things up now…

It’s a big maybe, but lately I have been seeing a lot of deleted profiles, meaning they are actually catching spammers. “Too little, too late” you may be saying, but I’m going to hold out a little bit of hope.

Especially because they just took a step in the right direction by banning an upcoming book called “Myspace Marketing Tips.” It was basically Myspace flexing it’s big legal team muscle (and shutting down a small entrepreneur,) but at least this could cut down on spam.

Let me start at the beginning…

Last Friday I was reading an email from Allan Gardyne of associateprograms.com. Normally I love his ezine, but this one seemed a bit fishy. It started off by trying to create a little suspense and urgency, with the premise that Myspace is going to shut down the sales the this new ebook that teaches how to legitimately market on Myspace. Myspace didn’t want anyone profiting off of their name, so they claimed a trademark violation.

The ebook’s author, Debbie Cohen, doesn’t have the ability to fight the legal powerhouse, so she had to give in and agree to take the site down. However, they gave her a week to take the page down since the person who does her website is “out of town.”

Hmm… do I smell a publicity stunt?

Hey! I wrote this ebook that’s so good that Myspace is shutting me down! The website will only be up for another week, so get your copy today before it’s too late!

I’m not falling for this one.

She could legitimately sell the book under a different name that does not use the actual word “Myspace” and they couldn’t do anything. For example, just use “new social networking sites” instead. Problem solved. However, that would not make a good “David vs Goliath” type story for the publicity stunt…

(By the way, there is only one “legitimate” way to market on Myspace. You scroll down to the bottom of myspace.com and click on the “Advertise” link. It’s that simple. There are a number of other crafty ways to market on Myspace, but they violate the Terms of Service so you run the risk of getting banned.)

As for this promotion, Allan says he wants to help the underdog. Also, Debbie has a hard life, and doesn’t need this setback. This may be, but many people have it harder. Saying you should buy her ebook because she deserves to be successful is a crock. What about the people that don’t have a school system to teach them to read and write, and therefore aren’t offering an ebook? (Don’t get me started on this issue…)

Plus, if Allan really wanted to help, why is he taking a commission using his affiliate link? Why not send people straight to www.socialsitesmarketing.com?

And on top of that, the sales page is not exactly professional. I’m not sure if it would keep anyone reading long enough to close a sale. So why would a super affiliate promote something like that? It’s a mystery to me.

So let’s take a quick look at the sales letter and what this ebook can do for you…

The cover mentions such topics as How To Set Up Your Profile, Find Groups Allowing Ads, Effective Bulletin Tips, and Ads to Maximize Clicks. I learned all that stuff in no time just by being a member of Myspace…

One thing that stood out to me, is that the book reveals “43 groups that don’t ban ads.” Whoopitty doo, sounds about as effective as autosurf traffic. The people in those groups are only there to post ads, not read them. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Conversion rates on myspace are pathetic at best, even with a very good offer that looks nothing like an ad. And contrary to what the sales letter says, Myspace is already filled with spammers - it’s not some untapped market.

If you think you’ll get rich by promoting your “how to make money off the internet” ebook on myspace, think again. Save yourself the trouble and try something else.

As Allan said at the start of his newsletter, “This stinks.”

I would say that it stinks because I don’t want to see any more spam on Myspace, and for Allan I bet it stinks that he won’t get as many commissions since the book is only on sale for a few days!

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And the verdict is…

Adsense Is Alive!

From the jury of Joel Comm comes a new report titled “Adsense Is Alive.” Man, this subject just isn’t going away…

I was weary of downloading this free report, mainly because I am sick of hearing about this stuff! But I did it anyway so I could report back to you, and I’m glad I did.

First, I’ll remind you that Joel Comm was pushing the Instant Adsense Templates product and that is probably why he wrote this ebook. But, if you get past that, this is a great book!

Not only does Joel do a good job of sticking with the truth, the book is hilarious! Honestly, I highly recommend checking it out. You’ll be glad you did.

I enjoyed it enough to give you the link, too: Adsense Is Alive

(Just watch out for the upsell once you request the free report…)

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Adsense, that is. Adsense is most definitely still alive, and Scott Boulch even admits to that in his Life After Adsense report. I’d go as far as to say that Adsense is alive and well, although my thoughts are in line with Boulch’s books.

But how can that be if Adsense is dead?

Well here’s the deal with that. A book titled You Might Not Make As Much Money With Adsense Anymore just would not have the appeal or create the buzz that The Death of Adsense did. Simple marketing principles.

Adsense is past its prime, though. When it first came out it was pretty simple to add it to your website and make quite a bit of money. That was before Google, and their Adwords advertisers, lowered payouts to publishers like us. Adsense can still make you money, but there are many other methods that can make you much more with just a bit more work!

If you haven’t read Life After Adsense, you should do that as soon as you finish reading this post. And I’ll tell you why you should…

1. It’s free.

2. It doesn’t take all that long to read.

3. Boulch is totally right about the earnings drop, whether you have junk sites of nice, white-hat sites.

4. Like me, Boulch calls himself a “disgruntled webmaster.”

5. Boulch has real business experience. Read about that on page 32 of the report.

6. The methods taught in this book have always been known to be more lucrative than Adsense.

That’s right, the stuff he talks about isn’t really new. But it has been pushed aside in favor of Adsense, which promises earnings with very little effort on your part.

7. The people telling you that this report is a lie are the same people that are selling products to help you make money with Adsense.

And one minor complaint…

1. The ebook seems to conveniently leave out the fact that some of these techniques are pretty hard and require quite a bit of work.

There you have it. Head on over to lifeafteradsense.com and get your free report.

And don’t forget to check back here, as I have some more thoughts on what Scott Boulch is doing…

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Spending too much time on the beach causes you to miss out on all sorts of stuff, especially deaths. Apparently Google Adsense died on August 1st, and I had no idea! I feel bad now, because I am still collecting checks from the deceased party! With funeral expenses what they are today, I’m not sure where this money is coming from.

But if you are like me and missed out, there is a report out there called The Death of Adsense. It explains everything you need to know about “the death of adsense and return to common sense.” The 18-page report was prepared by Scott Boulch. It’s a nice, quick read - just the way I like it.

Don’t have the report? That’s OK, I’ll summarize it here.

In a nutshell, the report tells why Adsense is no longer the money-maker that it once was, and it alludes to a new technique that will move you up the food chain so you can “sell your clicks for $5, $10, or more!”

Although Adsense is far from dead, the report makes some valid points. For example, if you are just making auto-generated crap sites without real content, you’re moving in the wrong direction. And if you are building quality websites, it’s still hard work to make a significant income from Adsense. Especially with the Adwords users paying very little for clicks from the content network (ie. your website.)

So, the odds are stacked against you. But the odds are stacked against you in pretty much any business venture, so that’s nothing to be surprised about.

Stay tuned for my thoughts on Boulch’s follow-up report, Life After Adsense. (which is still available at lifeafteradsense.com if you are interested)

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Hopefully by now you have seen all the marketing for Affiliate Project X, a “new” ebook touting some pretty outrageous claims. I say “new” because the book itself is new, but what are the chances that the content is anything different than the countless other courses? (which promise the same thing, anyway…)

I wasn’t going to write about this, but the claims seem so far-fetched, and there are a ton of them in the lengthy sales letter, so I figured why not! In my quick scan of the sales letter, I found about every sales letter gimmick known to man! Don’t be ashamed if you fell for it, I’m sure many people were swayed by the massive sales pitch.

Actually, maybe you should buy it. The author claims that his “bombshell” formula is “pretty much foolproof.” That must mean that pretty much anyone, including fools, can do it and make $5000 per month. So as long as you know the difference between “foolproof” and “pretty much foolproof” I think you will make the right decision

OK, enough fooling around, let’s get down to business. This ebook supposedly reveals all the secrets that no one else has revealed. But according to Ewen Chia, who also knows a thing or two about being a super affiliate, it in fact does not reveal anything new. Although Ewen could just want you to buy his products, I’ll have to side with him this time. I just don’t see the point in this new book.

My favorite line is where Ewen writes, “Frankly I find it incredibly hyped up and strange that so many marketers are recommending it like it’s the next best thing.” I don’t. They want commissions, so they recommend it!

I recommend checking out places like the SitePoint and Digitalpoint forums. You get great info there, but there are no commissions involved, which is why you don’t see the gurus promoting those links!

Oh, and as one final note, I was checking out user comments on blogs that reviewed the book. The majority said the book was not worth it! Need I say more?

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It may surprise you, but there are a lot of things that get on my nerves! But since I only have so much time to write, I’m only going to tell you about one of them now. And that one is… not making any sales! That totally perturbs me, and for good reason!

A while back I put together a free ecourse on a niche topic, with about a dozen emails to be sent over the course of a month. The course was built relating to an ebook I was selling, and as the ecourse went on, the subscribers were subjected to a few ads. These were all ads for the full ebook. Not only were the subscribers highly targeted prospects, but they were given a special deal on the ebook. A real special deal. I figured quite a few people would buy, but it just didn’t work that way…

I advertised the course, even did an Adwords campaign, and got people to signup. I was expecting to see some clicks or something after a month or so, when the subscribers would be getting the final messages from the autoresponder. But nope. Nothing at all.

So what did I do? Nothing. I pretty much forgot about it and hoped for the best.

Well, an entire year went by, and still nothing. I finally got fed up, and, for the first time since the initial work, I took a look at the ecourse to see if I could figure out the problem.

I’m not sure if it was my keen eye for marketing, or just common sense, but the problem stared right at me: Instead of ordering links in the email, I had left [insert order url here] in the message. I guess I had put the course together before finalizing the sales page…

It turns out, you need to actually give someone a URL if you expect them to go and buy something!

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