Jeff Walker, Eben Pagan and Obvious Adams
You’ve probably heard.
Jeff Walker just launched his Product Launch Formula 2.
Eben Pagan just launched his Guru Mastermind.
Both products aren’t cheap, but probably worth every cent and more.
I gotta confess, when I first started out, there was no way I could afford products at such price tags. But that didn’t prevent me from achieving the success I enjoy today, and it’s all thanks to a elusively obvious strategy that I want to share with you.
You see…one of my favorite books of all time, is “Obvious Adams, The Story Of A Successful Businessman”, published in 1916.
It’s a story about a guy called Adams who was successful by stating the obvious.
And this got people really puzzled because that was ALL he did.
Similarly, that’s exactly what my strategy is all about, exploiting the OBVIOUS.
- When someone tries to sell you a $10,000 copywriting course, you can be sure that the guy has used at least $9999 worth of his “Copywriting Bag O’ Tricks” in the very sales letter that tries to get you to part with your 10k.
- When Jeff Walker ‘launches’ his Product Launch Formula, how do you think he does it? Does he not use his own formula? It’s pretty much in plain sight as long as you pay close enough attention.
- When Eben Pagan teaches you how to create a product, would you be able to get a good idea of his process by analyzing his existing products? (Yes, I did buy the Double Your Dating Home Study Course, and it’s a great product!)
In all instances, you can pretty much get the ‘gist’ for FREE.
Notice I say the ‘gist’, and not EVERYTHING because you may not know a lot of the nuances that are involved in the entire process, (and that’s why you buy the product), but you can extract a LOT just by being an observer, and going through a simple reverse engineering process.
Reverse engineering is probably the numero uno skill of the most successful people in the world.
Consider this:
A good musican can listen to a piece of music, and be able to “know” exactly what notes are being played, and what instruments are playing it.
A good chef can taste a dish and tell you exactly what ingredients went in and how it was cooked.
You get the idea.
So what’s stopping you from reverse engineering internet marketing?
Let me know what you think by leaving your comments below. I really want to find out if my readers are capable of handling brutally honest content like this, and use this post as a gauge if I should continue dishing it out.
mamajama said:
haha… good one, Jo.
I’ve given up all so these so called “gurus”… HAH!
I’m sure if Jeff or Eben saw your post, they’ll be sending some snipers over… lol
Rhodes Kingsfield said:
I like this “Brutally Honest” post..
boy, will Jeff and Eben be seething if they read this, exposing the secret that’s costing thousands of dollars..
Gosh, Jo Han.
I really fear for your family..
Lock your doors and draw your curtains.
Alison Lee said:
Great to see another revealing post for the rest of us..
“The little guy”
Prior to this, I do suspect that most of the secret on those high ticket items can be reverse engineered.
Just need someone in the know to tell me it’s true.
Thanks Jo..
Suraj Luke said:
Dude, awesome insights!
Juho Tunkelo said:
Very good point, Jo Han. And seldom spoken out loud.
That’s the interesting thing about this business. A lot of it CAN be reverse engineered, and a small number of people do it all the time.
But most people lack the time, the skill or the perseverance to do it. Thank goodness for that, or nobody would buy any products.
Good point, indeed…
4D Prediction with Kumantong said:
I never thought of that..
The Anti Hype said:
Brilliant post and oh so true. If only I could help those poor unsuspecting Guru Fodder from spending their hard earned cash before they really thought about what they needed in their businesses.
These products are no doubt good. Worth the fee? That depends on the needs of the person buying. In the main, I’d say no because many people buying are simply looking for a magic solution, one that in reality doesn’t exist.
If those guys are after you Jo, they’re also be after The Anti Hype!
Marko said:
Very refreshing post, its nice to finally see someone telling it as it is…Golden advice! I have always applied the “Reverse engineering” concept Whenever possible in any situation (watch the masters at work & replicate) I live by and use this principle 110% in my marketing and work. Forget Buying the crappy materials out there, just watch how they do it, rinse and repeat..
Kevin Lam said:
Hi Jo,
You’re dead-on about “reverse engineering.” It makes me think of the movie “Paycheck” with Ben Affleck, where he starts from the end result to the beginning in order to recreate a better product based on the existing one.
I do this all the time and helps me build a critical thinking skill and achieve the things I have so far. You can learn a lot from gurus by just reading their sales letter, reading their follow-up messages and reading their newsletters. They’re consider a guru for a reason - they do what they teach, so why not learn from what they do?
I really enjoy reading your posts and newsletters although I seldom respond. I’ve kinda been out of the product launching and “guru” stuff for a while. I’m usually busy working on my own ad network. We’ve already put 18 months into it so we have to keep pushing. See you around.
Sincerely,
Kevin Lam
Tom said:
Jo Han,
Does this mean I should get a refund from purchasing your materials at Matt Bacak’s seminar in Atlanta? Hey, just kidding! But I will be applying this strategy to all the guru’s, including you, since you are so successful now! I am looking forward to working with you! To our future success!
James Brown said:
Hey Jo Han!
Its all too bloody obvious
Keep dishing it out mate - very refreshing to have a little brutal reality adjustment to stop me going wayward.
Best wishes…
Cheers
JB
Stuart Halpryn said:
Jo, once again you’re right on the mark.
regards,
stuart
NetActivated.com
InternetMarketingProfitCenter.com
Jeremy Gislason said:
Right on Jo,
You call it reverse engineering - I call it common sense:)
To many get into the anlyzing too much and never take action. Just launch your damn product guys!
We actually launched a product head to head with Jeff yesterday on our own:)
Micheal Savoie said:
A lot of people are plunking down their life’s savings thinking that whatever it is (the PLF or whatever) is going to do the work for them. If they just buy it and put it on their bookshelf, nothing is going to happen.
Same with Product Launch Formula… you can become the foremost expert on Product Launches, but if you don’t have a product to launch, or you don’t do the necessary steps, what have you got?
The fact that someone studies the actual launch process and comes up with a system from watching what works and what doesn’t will get you more than if you actually purchased the product, since you are taking action and without action, these multi thousand dollar products are just paperweights!
Have an amazing day!
Micheal
PS - I just wrote a rant about The eBay Slap on my blog, and a lot of people are responding to it both for or against. What do you think? Tell the world at:
productinaweekend.com/news/ebay-strikes-down-the-digital-download-auction/
Lina said:
I’m going to try it out and let you know how it goes. Thanx for the tip — good advice is always glaringly simple!
T.M. Harris said:
I agree with you Jo Han. As a matter of fact, I posted something similar on my own blog for my own email subscribers and RSS subscribers.
Instead of telling them to read into the obvious…I simply laid it out for them.
If you get a death threat Jo, let me know. I got your back.
Vincent Lim said:
I can relate to that,..
didn’t have much budget to spend on big ticket items when I first started out…
yep, it’s true..
School fees are paid in cash, credit or sweat.
If you reverse engineered it, the experience gained are Priceless!
Free Video Skins Downloads
Henry Omenogor said:
You hit it on the nail and the right target man.
Regards
Henry
www.BlogMillionairekit.com
Hamant said:
Hi Jo Han ,
You absolutely right.
I know that these hogh end courses can be a great wealth of knowledge but like you say its almost in plain site if you choose to study it.
Last year I studied a well known marketers product launch. Signed up to every list and the lists of the “gurs” promoting it. Signed up on the affiliate program and guess what…
I learnt more from each email followup and the blogs etc and the affiliate follow ups that I learnt from any course!
I read all the emails and filed it all and it was quite amazing how much you can learn from studying them yourself.
The proof and the methods are right in from of you when you choose to “see” it
Thanks Jo Han abd hope your family and Jo Hanson are doing well.
Hamant
Lani Gossett said:
I love what you said. It is so true. I’ve been studying these sales letters and though I haven’t made it work for me yet, I definitely get the idea. Thanks for the straight advice.
Lani
pg said:
Anyone ever wondered why every one of these “big” launches always have a server meltdown or payment gateway screwing up? To think such big wig like Jeff Walker should have prepared?
Sounds fishy to me…
By the way, I read that he is closing the gates tonight….
So anyone here bought the product? I am just seriously wondering if it’s really worth its weight in gold.
Hermie said:
Hi Jo Han,
It’s true, you really can learn a lot from the sales letters, videos, auto responders and blogs of Internet gurus. Like what you just posted on reverse engineering their copies or presentations.
I like your example about the good musician and the good chef. Problem is, many newbies are not like those talented and skilled musicians and chefs yet. They are newbies, precisely. So they can’t quickly distinguish between musical notes or between ingredients yet. They’re not at that level yet.
So these newbies who have money to burn or to borrow get excited and believe they can reach the level of the gurus by buying those expensive courses.
These courses really can shorten the learning curve of newbies but still the newbies still need to spend time and patience and do a lot of hard work to be able to put into use the ideas from those courses. And reaching the level of expertise of gurus take time. Maybe you can achieve that in a shorter time with their brilliant ideas.
I can compare that with going from point A to point B. You can do that by driving a beat-up car that can stall in the highway in the middle of winter. Or by driving a brand new expensive SUV with all the latest technology like GPS, heated leather seats, anti-lock brakes, etc. but you have to pay the price.
It’s all a matter of choice and the balance of risks and rewards. For newbies who don’t have the money for the expensive courses? The choice could be… reverse engineering (Thanks for articulating this, Jo Han.), by being very keen in analyzing and reading between the lines those sales copies, videos, auto responders, blogs, etc. And buying excellent but not expensive Internet marketing courses! You have to use a lot of gray matter and less money and still shorten the learning curve.
I personally have bought a lot of these courses, ebooks, etc. and not a few are really crap material or difficult to understand and implement. But hey, I’m learning and have become selective now. But I had to go through reading a lot of them to learn to distinguish now which ones are good or bad from reading the copy only and researching the background and track record of the author. If it’s anonymous, I’m suspicious already. If there’s too much hype or a lot of conspiracy stories in the copy. Not for me.
That’s why I bought your course. It’s solid info and brilliant strategies learned from actual experience and a lot of learning from the gurus too. Thank you, Jo Han Mok.
I hope these ideas help. It’s gotten long though.
Hermie
miguel said:
Hi Jo HAn ,is very interesting what you explain about reverse engineering,is easy to say it but is not easy to do it. For you is easy because you have a collection of all these master of the past( Jo, do you have any idea where I can get a copy of the these rare out of print books?) for us is difficult because we do not have these
tools that helps and motivate us to change our way of thinking.I think that You must offer again your copywriting web Empire course( at the time was offer by you serious financial stress put me out of bussiness) cos from the sales letter only I learned a lot. I think that JEff and Eben are good but when you analize all the program without letting that emotions detour you from reality,what really matters is the brutal,powerful copywriting tricks that they use in their launches,without it none of their launches,never were being sucessful,even Frank Kern admits that. I want to know your opinion.
Dan J. vmsbonline said:
Hi Jo Han,
A very insightful post indeed. I have been doing exactly what you intimate but hadn’t realized it until I read your post.
By the way, where can I get this book ‘Obvious Adams?’ It sounds fascinating.
Back to internet business and marketing. After about 14 months of reading gadzillion offers of astounding businesses that ‘broke the code,’ ‘reveals the secrets of Croesus,’ and gives me $48,000.00 worth of “gifts” for my $49.99 purchase, I’ve become totally skeptical and mistrusting of 99% of what I read in sales copies.
And emotive phrases like ‘fire your boss’ and ‘throw away your alarm clock’ simply don’t work — not for me, at least.
It also seems that 99% of netrepreneurs are in the business of teaching others how to run an internet business; or how to build lists. Strange, isn’t it.
It’s fun trading insights like this. Do continue with such ‘obvious’ reflections.
And have a fantabulous day.
Dan J.
marjorie said:
Dear Jo,
i have read all the above. Along with a few other emails you have sent me. Here is my question/deliema, How, if possible, can i have all this stuff set up and running within 30 days, generating income? For i am an absolute ‘newbie’ and there seems to be soooo many of these types of deals promising one to get rich quick. I don’t have a lot of money yet and am bound to my apartment. I sincerely am in need of true help to establish very much needed stream of income. I believe this to be possible for so many folk are already doing from the looks of email advertizements i recieve. Please HELP!
Respectfully, Marjorie
Non-Obvious said:
Yeah right as though reverse engineering is an easy to do stuff.
If you want to launch rockets like houston, unless your russian, or you have big budget and big brains, not likely you stand a chance.
Takes lots of learning, and manpower. Don’t worry, nobody’s going to assassinate you. Because the majority of buyers won’t know squat about reverse engineering.
Unless you yourself are already a guru, you won’t know how to spot the process to a tee. That’s my take.
Tony said:
Hey All,
The things that won’t work, or will cease to work, they teach you. The things that are making them moolah, they keep quiet to themselves.
that’s IM for you, courtesy of the gurus.
And somebody said why they’re all teaching you only list building. The gurus know this works for them, ie., to distract you from true and latest money making strategies.
Gary McElwain said:
hI johan
I have to agree with you wholeheartedly. If these big time marketing guru’s are going to see you their information.
More than likely they will use it in the process. Follow it copy it and then use it.
The more you put this into practice, the little things you missed, will work their selfs out. Thanks for the insight.
Gary McElwain
Rocque said:
I agree with the ones who are not the gurus. Well the ones who are not the gurus who say, that they get promises after promises and pay for courses after courses and that is it. From there they are really stuck. The gurus have their lists. I found out about this blog entry because of your list. I am on everybody’s list it seems.
I learn from reading the free things now and rereading all I have paid thousands to learn from. I think I have enough material.
There are so many free ways to learn. Still the most difficult thing is getting that list.
As far as reverse engineering maybe we need to just ask people who are on everyone’s list to visit our sites and join one more list. LOL.
Reverse Engineering…Sounds like a good idea to me. More garlic is needed on that pizza!!! :o)
William Laker said:
You are my description of a “TRUE GURU”!! One who shares the inside workings of what’s really going on, on the IM sceen, and offers information like you have, as someone who really cares about the “SUCKER NEWBIES LIKE ME” from wasting what litle money we have to work with to try to accomplish our dreams, without asking for money like every one else. You are “ELITE” in my book!! Please don’t change, and continue to care about use newbies, who are foullish still looking for the magic bullet to bring us the success we trully want ad “NEED”.
Based on the example you set, I Hope that someday I’m can folloow in YOUR footsteps!! You are an example to us all of whaat a so called GURU is trully supposed to be!!!
In admiration, appreciation, and respect, I am;
Yours Trully
Bill Laker
bill.laker@roadrunner.com
Crazy Man said:
But Jo Han do you walk you talk?
You have organised seminars to attract newbies to sign-up with all those ‘gurus’ you bring in
Allen P. Morgan said:
Cool cat-out-of-bag post here Jo Han…
I guess they will do you no bodily harm for this..
Virtual Assassination, maybe..
BTW… W.K. Lead Generation System rocks.
Yew Heng said:
Amazing revelation!
I have just written a post on my blog based on this amazing revelation.
Jo Han, how about creating a product on this?
The product sales headline is “How To Reverse Engineer Any Internet Marketing Products And Own them For Yourself, Absolutely FREE!”
Awaiting to buy this product from you. Hee…
Yew Heng
www.embraceinternetwealth.com
EwenAutoPilotProfits said:
Hmm..
I can see you’re stealing the show here.
Big Sacrifice.
Shirley said:
Hi Jo Han,
Thank you for such blatanly honesty truth. But, wish that it was revealed much earlier.
Anyway, it’s still going to save many innocent people from buying the product before knowing that they could learn a great part of it by reverse engineering it.
Lizzie Rocks said:
I have heard of newbies who keep buying product after product and yet not doing anything about it… so it is the gurus’ fault that these newbies never made any money?
My take is that the sales copy always sing the praises of the product. And it is probably that good… but whether the product will really bring you the riches you dream of? It is really up to the individual…
just my 2 cents.
Ivan Correces said:
great post, but what does this have to do with death threats?
Eric said:
You’re right Jo Han…
But not to forget sometimes it’s hard to see the whole picture when it’s obvious that the gurus wanted to hide the “secrets” from you.
It took me quite a while to figure out the difference between “Pill Gates” & “Warren Knights”…
You know what I mean.
potcallingthekettleblack said:
Isn’t this a case of the pot calling the kettle black?
I remember Jo Han selling his products to people on the Net. He gave them the rights to re-sell them with the attraction that those very products could earn them thousands of dollars as it’s from none other than JHM himself. The price tag? Some ridiculous amount like US$997.
The fool really thinks he can rake in the thousands of $ just by selling the products? You’d certainly be the fool to make the internet marketers all the money to buy big stuffs.
It really gives Internet Marketing a bad name. I’ve seen all the ruses being used besides this:
Only 17 people left.
After this the price will go up.
Sign up now for special bonus.
Product can easily cost $3000, but I’m selling it to you for only $97!
One word to all these craps: DUH!
you marketers get all the $ first and then you try to play around with the internet consumers like they are some dumb puppets.
Edwin Twist said:
Of course it’s the gurus fault the newbies are making no money and no progress.
The newbies are being fed rubbish, junk food, and overnight leftover dishes. How else would they be kept from becoming a serious threat to the gurus’ status and livelihood, other than purposely malnourishing them, much like the subjects in african nations?
The stupidity and sickness of it all.
And the gurus are to be thanked? Look at the devastation all over!
How many newbies are operating with real success systems in place?
Instead they’re bamboozled with steep learning curves, false hopes and deceptive techniques such as “the money is in the list”…
I say, lets puke on these fartmouths.
Ed.
William Laker said:
I couple of days ago I sent you an e-mail or opened a ticket, I don’t remember which, But I ordered and paid for the “PILL”Man e-book twice. I want the e-book but I only want to pay for it once.
Yew Heng said:
After watching the Product Launch Formulae 2.0 and looking at Jeff Walker’s marketing story, i pretty much have an idea of what is inside Product Lauch Formula 2.0
Turning the sales letter sideway? Hope marketing?
I don’t really think Product Launch Formula 2.0 is anything new. Look at Armand Morin beginning of the year promotion of Internet Marketing Explained. The marketing model deploy by Armand for his product is pretty much Jeff Walker’s Product Lauch Formula 2.0.
Ultimately, one thing never change. Human nature never change. Marketing to the human nature is the key to success.
Lubasha said:
Thank you guys,
After reading your comments I bought Jeff Walker’s PLF 2 course.
Yep, you can use any reverse engineering but it does not make newbie to gist the recipe and move faster.
Charles Lau said:
When I first see how the other marketers been marketing Jeff’s PLF so aggressively, Jeff is obviously telling me a story over here.
I see that the marketers seem to be asked to create a product of their own to sell along with PLF. What do I mean? Jeff could be asking these marketers to take this advantage to create one product which is worthed their affiliated profit to sell to their database. So, the minimum requirement of being Jeff’s affiliate is to have their own database first.
Hence,
PLF Marketer’s Product = Market Price of PLF
And to make PLF more successful in selling one of the most expensive products on earth, the marketers and Jeff seem to have a pre-launch campaign to warm-up their database. Jeff keeps on doing some boring videos of himself walking with his dog, saying how good his product may be. And his marketers are doing email marketing to keep their database informed of the release date.
And the whole marketing campaign seems to be in these steps:
1) Pre-launch announcement
2) Launch announcement to buy now
3) “Server down” discount and bonuses (To give some bonuses to those who have not bought.)
4) Last Chance Selling to sell to those hesitating ones
5) Sold-out but Re-opening for last sale
6) jeff has successfully created a rich database who can spend!
Anyway, nice blog you have here.
Chris Lockwood said:
Jo Han,
You really hit the nail on the head with this one.
For those looking for Obvious Adams, it can easily be found in downloadable format for free via a Google search.
Isn’t doing a search for something you want a fairly obvious thing to do?
Chris