Rich Jerk – Laugh and Learn

My rating: 4 out of 5
Rich JerkI first heard about this book when someone sent me a note telling about some guy giving away a TON of info at a ridiculously low price, blah blah blah.

I’m pretty immune to that of kind of email, having spent more than I care to admit on so-called “infoproducts” that turned out to be rubbish.

I was just about to reach for the delete key when something caught my eye:

“By the way- I do NOT endorse everything this guy tells you to do, but I have to admit he’s compelling and I like his “tell-it-like-it-is” , no BS style.”

I thought, “sounds like my kind of guy” and clicked on over to the site.

First I laughed. Then I read the entire site — every word on every page.

I thought then and I do that that if you have any interest at all in copywriting, marketing, or the power of words, please read it. It’s truly a work of art.

  1. First of all it’s controversial, and controversy sells.
  2. Second, it’s compelling. He gives proof of his claims.
  3. Third, it’s funny. He entertains you.
  4. Finally, it appeals to our greed, our desire to make money easily. In other words he gives us hope

So I bought it. Being an Internet Veteran I already knew most of what was in it. And there are some black hat SEO strategies in there that I definitely do not recommend. BUT, there are a couple of truly brilliant ideas within these pages that make it a very worthwhile purchase. Usually If I get just one idea from a book that helps me make money, I’m satisfied.

I gave the Rich Jerk 4 stars. He wrote the most entertaining direct response sales site I’ve read in a long time and he gave me not one but two great ideas that I’ve already implemented on several websites. I would have given him 5 stars, but I don’t like all the black hat stuff, and face it, he is a little obnoxious.

p.s. Remember, controversy sells…laugh and learn from The Rich Jerk.

XSitePro is eXcellent!

My rating: 5 out of 5

I first heard of XSitePro (XSP) a few months ago, while reading the ezine of someone whose opinion I respect. He mentioned in passing that he was using XSP to build multiple websites and liked it a lot. No hype, just an offhand remark. I have plenty of website building tools, but my toolbox is never too crowded for another one so off I went in search of XSitePro.

It wasn’t hard to find, and everywhere I went I found rave reviews. Hmm. I started feeling a little excited, the way I always do when I find a promising new piece of software. I clicked on over to the site and within minutes I had whipped out my credit card and was downloading the software.

I opened it up and started clicking around (I never read directions). Within a few minutes I could see how easily anyone could build a nice looking website. It’s power is deceptive though—even though the interface looks simple enough, there are a lot of very sophisticated tools built in.

I can honestly say it’s one of the best pieces of software I’ve tried in a long time.

This review is not complete, but don’t let that stop you from checking out XSitePro