Hi everyone!  I’ve had a lot going on recently so I figured it was about time for a summary.

So in no particular order…

1.  WPGen (LPGen on WordPress) is nearly complete! I’ve made a beta available to my VanCluteSolution.com members and am getting feedback on stability, etc.

This has been an extremely tricky project, largely because WordPress and LPGen both do a lot of complex URL rewriting, and getting them to play nicely together was anything but easy.  But also because WordPress has so many possible themes and plugins people can use, that it’s impossible to test for all of them.

WPGen has all the features of LPGen plus some new ones while I’ve been at it.  It’s going to be made available free of charge to all current LPGen-X owners.  This means that if you never upgraded to LPGen-X in the past, now is the best time ever to do it.  The cost is only $100 and that gets you the latest & greatest plus access to the WPGen beta (and of course the release version once it’s done).

WPGen introduces some pretty awesome possibilities with WordPress, that have never been available before.  Especially when paired with specialty themes such as ProfitsTheme, not to mention all the plugins out there, the combination of WP and WPGen become a lot more than the sum of their parts (and especially SEOs are going to be very interested in this)!

If you haven’t already seen it, here’s a sneak peek I gave of WPGen a couple weeks ago.

Existing LPGen owners can upgrade to LPGen-X here and get WPGen for free.

2.  Easy Prepop is getting closer to a releasable 1.0, but has been much more challenging than I expected. I’m hoping to release another beta shortly now that WPGen has finally reached beta status too.  There are some major new features in EP that I haven’t talked about yet but will soon, that are going to really rock some people’s world.  I can’t wait to show you!

3.  I’m working on the next case study for my VanCluteSolution.com members.  This one is all about list building with paid traffic, and based on the 4-part outline I already posted, it’s going to be rather “epic” once it’s all done.  I’ll probably end up with something I should sell as a stand-alone course once it’s complete, but for now the only way to get access to it at all, is to join us in VCS.  I’d love to have you as a member of the community so by all means, come check it out!

4.  On a different note, I recently got an iPad 2 (it was given to me, I still don’t think I would ever be willing to pay for one) and am trying to figure out real-world uses for it.  I mean sure it’s a very VERY cool toy and is fun to play with, but I want to see if I can really USE IT in my business.  To that end, I’d love to hear from you if you use an iPad, what your favorite apps are (no games though please, I don’t need more distractions! and how you use it in a business context.  Accessories too… anything you find indispensable.

That’s it for this update, but I’m sure I’ll have more to tell you about soon.  Stay tuned!

Jonathan

I released the original LPGen software almost 4 years ago.  And since that time I’ve been asked if there would be a WordPress version.

I always said no, largely because I wasn’t up on WP development techniques enough to want to tackle it.

This small amount of trying I did do, made it clear that this was just not gonna happen.  Wordpress seriously does not want you monkeying around with its URL rewriting, and since LPGen is SO heavily rewrite dependent, I gave up.

Well a few weeks ago I had a flash of inspiration (blame Jason Katzenback!  LOL) and went into overdrive, tearing LPGen apart and rebuilding it in WordPress’ image.

And now I know… I mean REALLY KNOW… why apparently nobody had done this already.

IT’S SERIOUSLY DIFFICULT!!!

There are so many possible scenarios and ways things can be set up with permalinks and plugins and more… that I almost – ALMOST – wish I hadn’t had this bright idea.

But, too late… it’s extremely close to being done, after 9 formal beta revisions and a lot more “internal” versions of my own.

And if I do say so myself… it’s pretty damn awesome.

Plus it opens up a huge number of possibilities to add to the mix, since WP already can do so much without having to code from scratch.

So anyway, just wanted to throw this out there… LPGen for WordPress (WPGen?) is coming – SOON!

Jonathan

I’ve had a feeling for the last year at least, that the “SEO game” is due for a radical change.  I didn’t know exactly what it would be (still don’t exactly) but I’ve felt all along that it would be related to “personalized search results”.  In other words, each individual searcher getting their OWN set of results that is unique to them, and influenced by their past activities rather than just by some algorithm in a black box.

Based on some of the recent things I’ve seen change when I use Google (my search engine of choice), and by some information I’m not at liberty to discuss, I’m more convinced than ever that the “end of SEO” is coming.  Here’s why I think the way I do (based on things I can legally discuss):

1.  As Google goes, so does the rest of the (SE) world.  Every time Google implements something, everyone else follows suit – eventually.  So I’m using Google in all this discussion but it will apply equally to other SEs, just delayed.

2.  Google has been making search results more personalized for some time already, just by things like Geo-IP location detection.  In the last year, I was on the phone with a friend and we were trying to look something up together.  It was maddening because we COULD NOT get his results to match mine, because our IP addresses were returning different data.  This was true both of the actual search results, as well as Google Suggest.  Everything was localized to our individual areas.

3.  Google is constantly fighting the “black hat SEOs” who are trying to game their algorithm, so it’s in their best interests to stop them from ever being able to game any single algorithm.  Personalized searches would stop (nearly) all current BHSEO tactics cold.

4.  Google makes money from advertising.  The better the response to the ads for their advertisers, the more Google can charge for them.  Advertising is a quality vs. quantity game for Google.  I saw some recent metrics on how much money they make from their “big budget” advertisers vs. everyone else… it was staggering.  A tiny minority of their advertisers are responsible for the VAST majority of their revenue.  The more they can do to push the “little guys” out of Adwords, the better it is for them as a company.  Personalized searches should give even better results for the big players, and make it that much harder for the little players to work their way into the organic OR paid results.

5.  With the introduction of Google+, Google has a huge wealth of data they can mine.  Once people adopt this platform (assuming of course that they do), then Google will begin knowing things about you that they can use to tailor your search experience way further.  They’ll know things about your friends, about which of your friends you are most similar to, who’s taste you most likely share, etc.  Add to this the new “+1″ concept, and Google has an incredible amount of information about things you like, and therefore are most likely to want to see related items come back in your search results.  Eventually over time they’ll be able to build some sort of relational map between different search results and the people who liked them, and more precisely target individuals both for organic search results, as well as paid advertisements.

I could probably come up with more, but I think that’s enough to get the point across.  All of these things together, mean that the days of being able to SEO for a specific term and get that term to rank universally for everyone – are soon to be gone.  How do you SEO a term when there is absolutely no guarantee that the same search term will return the same results for any two people?  And how do you check your rankings when they’re now meaningless?

I think SEOs had better start changing their ways – and FAST – or they’re going to find themselves overnight, the victims of a complete and total loss of traffic to their sites, with absolutely no way of recovering it.

Jonathan

Here’s a video that will show you… it’s some pretty cool stuff!

http://vanclutesolution.com/11057/sunday-sneak-peek-1/

Jonathan

Just found out that Gauher Chaudhry has a batch of physical DVD sets of his PPCFormula 2 course leftover, and he wants to clear them out before he launches PPCFormula 3 next month.

You can get them for just $497 until they’re gone, and that’s less than half the regular price as I recall.  Plus his OTO after you buy, is PPVFormula for only $397.  As you may know, PPVF is where I initially learned all about PPV myself, so I can’t recommend it highly enough.

There’s less than 100 sets left and I know his list has over 50,000 people on it so… if this interest you, you definitely need to decide quickly!

Enjoy,

Jonathan

I just got this email from Amazon.com:

Hello,

For well over a decade, the Amazon Associates Program has worked with thousands of California residents. Unfortunately, a potential new law that may be signed by Governor Brown compels us to terminate this program for California-based participants. It specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers – including but not limited to those referred by California-based marketing affiliates like you – even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.

We oppose this bill because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive. It is supported by big-box retailers, most of which are based outside California, that seek to harm the affiliate advertising programs of their competitors. Similar legislation in other states has led to job and income losses, and little, if any, new tax revenue. We deeply regret that we must take this action.

As a result, we will terminate contracts with all California residents that are participants in the Amazon Associates Program as of the date (if any) that the California law becomes effective. We will send a follow-up notice to you confirming the termination date if the California law is enacted. In the event that the California law does not become effective before September 30, 2011, we withdraw this notice. As of the termination date, California residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned on or before the termination date will be processed and paid in full in accordance with the regular payment schedule.

You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of California. If you are not currently a resident of California, or if you are relocating to another state in the near future, you can manage the details of your Associates account here. And if you relocate to another state in the near future please contact us for reinstatement into the Amazon Associates Program.

To avoid confusion, we would like to clarify that this development will only impact our ability to offer the Associates Program to California residents and will not affect their ability to purchase from Amazon.com, Endless.com, MYHABIT.COM or SmallParts.com.

We have enjoyed working with you and other California-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program and, if this situation is rectified, would very much welcome the opportunity to re-open our Associates Program to California residents. We are also working on alternative ways to help California residents monetize their websites and we will be sure to contact you when these become available.

Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

OK, does anyone else besides me think this is absolutely insane??  Not that Amazon would choose to terminate all California affiliates, but that the government would entertain legislation like this???

Perhaps I’m missing something as I am almost rabidly non-political, but if the largest affiliate networks like Amazon, eBay, and Commission Junction terminate affiliates in states that pass this kind of legislation, then won’t revenues DROP dramatically, resulting in LESS sales tax revenue to be collected??

PLUS, say I was generating $200k/year with one of these affiliate networks.  I now lose all that income, which means I also don’t pay INCOME TAX on it!

I fail to see how this could be anything but a completely losing proposition for the US economy.  Online retailers lose new customers and revenue that was being previously referred, affiliates are now potentially “out of a job” and contribute to the country’s unemployment problems, and the government gets less tax money into its already-barren coffers.

Seriously.  WTF?!?!?

Jonathan

OK did I miss something?  According to Google’s AdPlanner, Wikipedia.org accepts advertising and is in the Google Display Network:

Advertising Accepted

Yes

Google Display Network

Yes

Can someone explain this to me?  I see no ads on wikipedia and never have… ?

Jonathan

I thought this was too funny and revealing not to share.

I was speaking with someone from a web toolbar company the other day.  They have a very cool product and a private affiliate program and they pay per install, like most any toolbar offer you might find on a CPA network.  They want traffic and specifically had a reason to want to talk to me.

They’re working with a “big brand” ad agency out of New York, who is running traffic and getting data for them, etc.  This big agency apparently decided to try popunder (PPV) traffic to see how it would perform.  Their consensus?  Popunders weren’t worth pursuing because out of 2,000 pops they “only” got 18 installs.

EIGHTEEN INSTALLS ON SOMEWHERE BETWEEN $2 AND $20 WORTH OF TRAFFIC AND THEY SAID IT DIDN’T WORK?!?!?

For those who may be unfamiliar with PPV, let me explain just how cheap this traffic is.  You can get this traffic for easily anywhere from $2 per 1,000 pops, to $10 per 1,000.  If this company got 18 installs on 2,000 impressions and paid $10 per 1,000 impressions, that means they had a per-user acquisition cost of $1.11.

Now to a toolbar company, the value of an install has got to be a hell of a lot more than $1.  So if they can get installs for around a buck, they’re laughing all the way to the bank!

And this was just an initial small test… but this big ad agency thinks it’s not worth doing.

Can they really be that blind?  Do they just not know how to optimize to increase the ROI?  Do they not have more networks to go to for increased traffic??

Well frankly I don’t care.  This guy knew me and knew I was a PPV guy, so now I’m going to be handling their PPV traffic needs and watching the installs roll in.  Madison Avenue’s loss is my gain!

I’m just shocked that a supposedly very highly regarded agency, who really knows what they’re doing, would not see the tremendous potential in PPV after that initial test.  It’s like they don’t know how to calculate basic metrics or something.

Jonathan

I had a great webinar with Mike Colella from Adbeat.com, he gave a great overview of the system as well as a lot of really solid fundamentals when running paid traffic campaigns.  Whether you think Adbeat is for you or not, there are some great resources in this webinar so I highly recommend you set aside the time to watch it!

http://www.adbeat.com/webinar/ttvideo

Also he made a special offer just for the webinar attendees at the end, and I decided at the last minute that it deserved a bonus too.  That deal is only good until the end of this coming Saturday, May 21 so if you’re at all interested in adding Adbeat to your toolbox, make sure you move quickly!

Enjoy,

Jonathan

Here’s a free video for you.  You’ll have to op-int to get it, and I’m pretty sure you’re gonna like what I share…

vanclutesolution.com/squeeze/

If you like it, leave a comment and click the “Like” button please. 

Jonathan