Blimey what a mouthful! Tiffany Dow has released a WSO that she claims will help everyone with that constant burning need to buy more and more WSO’s but what a title to give it! Does WordPress even allow titles this long, we’ll have to see 🙂
The nice thing about the arrival of Tiffany’s WSO is that is fits in well with my promise last week to do more WSO reviews and after going though it, I have to tell you that I have changed my mind slightly on the whole “no affiliate link thing”. It sounds great to stay clear any accusation of making affiliate cash for good reviews, but this WSO has convinced me that there is at least one other person out there who is able to stay morally neutral while still making money.
As a result, affiliate links are back.
Tiffany was open enough to admit that she hadn’t spent a whole load of time on the sales copy for this WSO and it’s certainly not a mega-graphic extravaganza like some of the stuff being pushed on the forum these days, but she has obviously done the work needed to identify a clear audience on the forum and target them with this WSO.
Cashing in on SNOS (just to save my fingers) is a timely encouragement to serial WSO buyers to create reviews of purchased products as they are implemented. In a sense doubling the value of the SNO by forcing implementation and maybe making affiliate sales along the way. If the SNO comes up trumps and works, then you’ll also make money from the technique and your review will grow in authority because you’ve actually used the product.
Tiffany suggests carrying out the process (and there’s plenty more detail about the actual technique that would be unfair to include here) over a period of time and revisiting reviews periodically.
Circular Queasiness
In fact, she also suggests doing the whole thing to the “Guide to Cashing in on Shiny New Object Syndrome” and it’s at this point that I have to express a little queasiness.
I can see her point about it being good to get started somewhere and the fact that you have this WSO in your hands already makes it easy to use as a practice piece, but it’s not an ideal fit for an ongoing review – at least not in my mind.
Not only that, but in encouraging sales of her WSO, she only adds to the SNOS of others. That whole circular side of internet marketing is the one that leaves me worrying for the state of my soul sometimes. 🙂 I’m experiencing a similar angst with Dean Holland’s Quick Start Challenge at the moment. There’s no doubt it’s a great course, but every task is focused on creating internet real estate that talks about his course – using pupils to build his presence.
I’ve always struggled at fairgrounds on the rides that make me go round and round – never on the rollercoasters, so maybe I was always destined to hate this kind of incestuous selling. The ancient societies of the world used to call it Ourobouros – the snake that eats its own tail….I digress.
Anyway, if you do buy WSO’s on a regular basis, this is definitely an interesting twist on the process. I could see it getting to be really hard work if you buy more than one other WSO a day, but if you could get through the work of implementing each one as well as reviewing it, you’ll probably end up a wealthy bunny fairly quickly!
Summing Up
So where does that leave me on Tiffany’s product? I’m going to give it an 8-ish and the only reason it’s not a solid 8 is that I’m already “doing it”. I think the content is worth an 8 for someone that has never written a review before and the idea of forcing the implementation is excellent.
Here’s my totally unadorned, no pressure link if you want to check it out.
Hi Martin,
I share your concerns about the snake eating the tail. Deans strategy is a clever one but he does keep saying that if we keep taking action then we will all benefit.
His honesty about his results is such that I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because I have perhaps let those doubts stop me from taking action in the past. Perhaps too much thought is bad – just keep taking action and have some faith is my strategy at the moment.
Nice thought-provoking article!
regards
Mark Salmon
Hi Mark,
Yeah, I’ve adopted the same policy – just learning how Dean has done it and trying not to overthink the process. Roll on week 4 🙂
I like the idea of actually using a wso and then reporting the results/experiences as a genuine review but it seems to me that this form of product is about instant gratification for the buyer. They buy on the buzz because the next day something else even better is released. Also, is there much point reviewing a product that sells for $7. I guess not all products sell for this price but it seems like a lot of work for this kind of reward.
Hi Adrian,
The whole thing about making the review an ongoing process actually helps with the temptation to WSO-hop as there’s an element of being committed to the WSO in the review. I think its a nice twist which may actually help one or two folk – I may just be beyond saving in that regard!
As for the commission, you’re right about the relatively small amounts involved, but this is a huge marketplace and the result over time should be a blog that ranks well (and quickly) for these reviews, allowing you to get in on the initial buzz. Some launches compare very favourably to other IM marketplaces like Clickbank – I think the biggest drawback is how fast they get pulled down, leaving the review going nowhere.
The only trouble with reviewing WSOs is the fact that some of them close down quite quickly, you would have to be fast to get your review out.
Good Luck anyway.
RoseG
Hi Rose,
That’s exactly the conclusion I came to when I wrote my follow up post to this one. WSO releases come and go so fast that it is very hard to monetize them (and stay ethical) before they disappear completely.
No-one on the forum wants to wait even a week for a medium-term test as the dime-sales drive the prices up mercilessly and then the WSO gets closed anyway.
Martin