The Inquisitr » john reese

Blogrush shut down

Duncan Riley — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:40:09 +0000

Blogrush, the blog link swapping service launched by internet marketer John Reese in 2007 has shut down.

The service delivered links via a widget placed on each participating blog, with users getting link exposure on other blogs based on how many impressions the widget had on their own sites. The service was highly popular among SEO and internet marketing blogs during its peak, according to Reese delivering 3.4 billion links.

In an email sent to Blogrush owners and posted on the Blogrush site, Reese states that the service wasn’t meeting its full potential after a number of issues over time, including quality control and attempts to game the system. Reese notes that no attempts had been made to monetize the service, and that they weren’t interested in selling it.

The likely beneficiary of the closure will be rival blog link swapping service Entrecard, which earlier this year had its own dramas when the owner attempted to sell it, then changed his mind in the space of days.

Please Don’t Lynch The Affiliate Marketers

Duncan Riley — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:35:50 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Mental note: don’t ever mention John Reese in a post again. My post the other day, about Twitter which mentioned John Reese continues to spill into unintended consequences. I’ve received my first ever hate mail since starting The Inquisitr, which was an interesting experience, but after my response to John’s interesting attack on me, via a third party I’ve had some correspondence from John and as far as I’m concerned the matter is over (I’m also told he’s a great guy from someone who is well positioned to make the call).

Again I find myself taking a moderate, middle stance, that may mean that I now face being attacked by all parties (a bit like copyright law), but I simply ask this: please don’t lynch the affiliate marketers.

Mark has some interesting words up on Mashable about affiliate marketers and I respect his right to an opinion, but in this case I don’t agree with his conclusion. Suggesting that all affiliate marketers are bad is like suggesting all black people commit crimes because some of them do (a stereotype) or all American’s are dumb because some may reasonably note that the current President is (another stereotype).

Here’s the thing: affiliate marketers are like any people in any space: you get your good people, and you get your bad people.

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and/ or corresponding with a couple of high profile people in this space. Joel Comm for example is one guy I use to be quite hard on until one day I actually got to know what he was doing. Today not only do I think Comm is a great marketer, I also believe him to be a generous human being (he helped promote a Twitter charity cause a while back I was helping promote) and someone who is creating value by pushing boundaries and doing new things. There are others as well.

Another common stereotype is to lump multi-level marketing and affiliate marketing together as Mark has, and yet they are quite distinct. MLM is multiple levels of income based on a sale, where as affiliate marketing, for the purposes of someone selling online courses, ebooks or similar is one tier. The difference between MLM and affiliate is that with MLM your profit is dependent on building a network of people to sell for you, and getting them to do the same over and over again, where as affiliate marketing is either you creating a product and offering people a commission, or you selling someone elses product and getting a commission. I was involved for a short time in MLM in the 1990’s, I attended seminars, rallies, the whole works…and I hated it. I hated having to sell hope to people on the basis that they go and signup 6 people on one line then get those to sign up 10 then so on and so on. As far as I’m concerned the deeper the levels, the worse the product is. Affiliate marketing is a far more honest business, and I’d even extend that to 2 level programs where your affiliates might sign up other affiliates for a 5% cut or similar (note the difference to classic MLM is that the majority of the profit still comes from the first sale, not the tier.)

Is there bad in affiliate marketing? hell yes. I’ve seen some awful products over the years and the hype and rhetoric surrounding these products has been borderline criminal in context with what was being delivered. But the important thing is to note that this isn’t every person in the space. There are good/ great operators, and really bad ones. We don’t stereotype in other areas, we shouldn’t do so here.

And if you’re wondering whether I actually believe what I just wrote: I’ve only just purchased Secret Affiliate Code from Craig Beckta. I haven’t got through all the items so far, but what I’ve read is impressive, and the videos good value. Interesting that they’re still gaming Hubpages and Squidoo as a sales tactic though

Afternote: just as an aside, because I disagree with Mark on this point, I don’t disagree with his writing overall. It’s so good to see passionate, opinion based writing on Mashable.

Web 2.0 Exists Only Due To People Like John Reese. Show Them Some Respect Now

Duncan Riley — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:28:29 +0000

I wrote the other day about the flood of marketers about to hit Twitter now Stompernet and Blogrush promoter John Reese was emailing his “list” telling people that he gets more traffic from Twitter than any other source.

My one error is that I called him an ebook salesman, he doesn’t sell ebooks, he sells membership packages to services that include promises such as “Want a ton of links & traffic?” and sign ups to other people’s services. Oh, and the packages are “multimedia courses” (example) not ebooks, so my mistake. The pitch in his emails looks similar to those from people selling ebooks, not might I add that there is absolutely anything wrong with either as a business. I’ve had the pleasure of corresponding with a couple of high profile people in the ebook and affiliate space, I won’t name drop, but there a plenty of good and really smart people in this broader space doing amazing things. I read and follow what a lot of people in this space are doing because as someone who worked in marketing and has a degree in marketing, I love seeing the different things they put together and the often amazing salescopy. I might be one of the few people on the planet who subscribes to these email lists because I love the marketing art of them.

Now note that I didn’t slight nor slander Reese once, but I know when someone like him sends an email out telling people to get on Twitter because the traffic is “far greater than the traffic from Facebook or any other “Web 2.0″ service” then people who don’t play by the rules are going to start flooding Twitter with spam because John Reese told them that’s the new traffic goldmine. Ignore the 1 second he added about playing by the rules, etiquette, blah blah blah…. The first 5 paragraphs of his email are dedicated to talking about Twitter as a great driver of traffic and why people should sign up now. Then there’s mention that people should see what’s acceptable and follow etiquette…but he doesn’t necessarily spell out that people shouldn’t be spamming it.

I’d also note at this juncture that the post was actually really about Twitter, not about Reese. Any regular reader of this site knows that I’ve been following negative Twitter stories closely for weeks. This is one post in a long line of negative Twitter stories (and I’d note, Twhirl is once again reporting : limit exceeded, paused 5 min…grrrr).

What I didn’t perhaps know when I wrote the post is that Reese may actually be delusional and not altogether there up top. In an overboard, bizarre and rambling response, Reese claims that Web 2.0 wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for people like him…and I’m not paraphrasing here, it’s in the title of the post.

Reese goes on to clam that I should have read his email. I not only read it, I printed it:

If you haven’t yet created a Twitter account you’re really missing out.

This service has exploded in growth in the past few months and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon. There are now MILLIONS of users and it’s becoming mainstream.

I’ve been running some interesting tests and I’m already seeing some great traffic results — far greater than the traffic from Facebook or any other “Web 2.0″ service.

Facebook and the others certainly have their place, but Twitter is more powerful. At first I didn’t really “get it” but now I do and my traffic stats don’t lie. IT WORKS.

As a communications tool, Twitter is probably only 2nd to Email right now. It’s a great way to network with people as well as to drive visitors to any of your sites, blog posts, etc.

BUT DON’T WAIT…

Create a Twitter account NOW and start ‘following’ people you want. Others will eventually follow you in
return.

That’s how it starts. Then there’s the magical line. The line that apparently makes Reese a saint who has done no wrong.

Observe how others post and you’ll quickly learn the culture, etiquette, and uses for Twitter.

One line.

I wont reprint the rest of the email because its mostly instructional, but the important thing to note: there is no mention of don’t spam Twitter. No mention again of learn the rules, be a good Twitter member. Plenty of instructions about adding people and going viral, but zero instruction about how not to simply spam Twitter.

And even here, we are presuming that people read past the first few paragraphs as well. Most don’t. Most will read “Twitter = traffic” and that’s exactly what they’ll sign up to Twitter for.

More bizarreness:

Hehe. I love the irony in the fact that Mark created his post based on a blog title that contains “Pending Sign Of The Twitter Apocalypse.” Great use of hyperbole, Duncan. I actually think that title rules!

Yep, that’s a post title about how completely screwed up Twitter is given months of downtime and completely clueless management. Indeed I’ve even followed with other posts themed on Revelations from the bible. And they didn’t involve Reese. They are all about Twitter….or perhaps Reese in his delusions believes everything anyone writes is really about him?

Where next? It’s hard to pick from the long self important ramble that is Reese, a guy who I might add actually writes decent sales copy who I’m still getting email pitches from.

To paraphrase: Reese believes that internet marketers made 2.0 and that there is some great, vast conspiracy against people like him (someone please pass the bong). Apparently Web 2.0 wouldn’t exist without guys like him and us non-marketing commies should so some respect…or something like that (more bong please).

So lets get end of the world!

The survival of Ideas, Sites, Services, and Companies on the Web are ALL dependent upon the activity from Internet marketers. I just wish more people would start to realize it.

Someone call Zuckerberg + Brin and let them know. Fake Steve Ballmer, are you reading this? Even Fake Jerry Yang?

I didn’t bag Reese’s profession, even if I disagreed with him pitching Twitter as a traffic tool and really nothing else. I certainly didn’t deserve the complete crap he’s dished in return, and although I may not have had any opinion of him before today, I certainly do now.

Pending Sign of the Twitter Apocalypse: It’s Being Talked About By Internet Marketers

Duncan Riley — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:00:58 +0000

Twitter has had its fair share of ups and mostly downs lately, but if you think Twitter had its problems now, wait until every second person on Twitter is trying to sell you an ebook, because the internet marketers have discovered Twitter.

This email from well known ebook salesman John Reese:

If you haven’t yet created a Twitter account you’re really missing out.

This service has exploded in growth in the past few months and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon. There are now MILLIONS of users and it’s becoming mainstream.

I’ve been running some interesting tests and I’m already seeing some great traffic results — far greater than the traffic from Facebook or any other “Web 2.0″ service.

Facebook and the others certainly have their place, but Twitter is more powerful. At first I didn’t really “get it” but now I do and my traffic stats don’t lie. IT WORKS.

As a communications tool, Twitter is probably only 2nd to Email right now. It’s a great way to network with people as well as to drive visitors to any of your sites, blog posts, etc.

BUT DON’T WAIT…

Create a Twitter account NOW and start ‘following’ people you want. Others will eventually follow you in
return. Observe how others post and you’ll quickly learn the culture, etiquette, and uses for Twitter.

It’s not rocket science. In fact, it’s a lot of fun.

You really need to start today because the sooner you start the sooner your followers list will start growing and more people will see your posts — which will then virally grow from there.

*******VERY IMPORTANT********

MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW ME!

(I’m actively posting all the time.)

Create an account then go here: http://twitter.com/johnreese

Click the “Follow” link that shows under my photo.

That’s it. Everytime I post you’ll see it in your main “timeline” area.

* After you click to “Follow” me look at the right-hand side of my profile page. Click the blue “Followers” link and you can see all the people currently following my posts. Follow some of these other marketers so you can get involved.

Twitter is extremely VIRAL. When you make posts (called “tweets”) they can be exposed to all the friends (followers) of others. Then they can choose to follow you.

I think Twitter is going to really evolve into a “must use” marketing tool. It’s a great way to announce you’ve just made a new blog post, released a new product, or anything else you’re up to.

I’m already seeing 400+ visitors each time I make a tweet that I’ve made a new blog post.

So trust me, this is no flash in the pan. In fact, this may be one of the most powerful marketing
tools ever — it just depends how it evolves.

But so far you’d be crazy not to use it. It’s producing great results.

Take 2 minutes to create an account — heck you’ll want to do it now so you can at least get your name before someone else takes it. Or your company or product name, etc.

Just go to http://www.Twitter.com

Then visit my page at:
http://twitter.com/johnreese

And click “Follow” that is displayed under my photo.

(That’s all there is to it.)

See you on Twitter!

* You’ll definitely want to be following me on Twitter because I’m going to be doing some really cool stuff with it soon.

Yours For Online Profits,

John Reese