Written on May 9th, 2009 at 12:05 am by Darren Rowse
Get 2 Weeks Access to ‘Become a Blogger’ for $1 [Exclusive to ProBlogger Readers]
If you’re looking for some more training in building a blog after our 31 Day challenge I’ve got a special offer for you in this post.
Since finishing 31DBBB yesterday I’ve had a number of participants in the project email me to ask what other training that they can do to keep improving their blogs.
The realization that it seems many have had is that when you invest time and energy into your blog it does improve – our 31 day project has led many people to really step up their blogs and continue to see them improve.
As a result of these reader questions I’ve approached Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick from the popular Become a Blogger course to see if they’d be willing to open up their course again to 31DBBB participants (and all ProBlogger readers). I chose Become a Blogger because I think it’s at a level that many 31DBBB participants will find useful.
Get Become a Blogger for $1 for 2 Weeks – Yaro and Gideon didn’t hesitate to agree and then blew me away by offering ProBlogger readers access to their course for just $1 so that people could sample what they offer and see if it’s something that they want to continue with.
The deal is simple – Become a Blogger is normally $77 a month (it goes for 6 months) but if you sign up as a ProBlogger reader you get a trial period of two weeks for $1. If you don’t want to continue just email Yaro and Gideon and canceling your membership.
What is Become a Blogger?
This is a course for those just starting out with blogging or who have started but are struggling to set it up a level. Here are the 8 modules covered in the video training:
- Get Your Blog Up And Running Fast And FREE
- How To Optimize Your Blog For Maximum Search Engine Performance
- How To Create Powerful Content For Your Blog, Consistently and Without Fail
- How To Use Images On Your Blog To Make You Stand Out From The Crowd
- How To Create A Different Dimension To Your Blog By Adding Audio
- How To Breathe Life Into Your Blog Using Online Video
- How To Create Multiple Streams of High Quality Traffic To Your Blog
- How To Make Money From Your Blog
There are a variety of good bonuses also on the sales page including a forum are and teleconferences to help you step it up.
You can read full details of what is included in the modules and bonuses on the sales page of Become a Blogger. They also have some free videos on that page to give you a feel for what the course is like.
PS – Don’t have a Blog?: if you don’t yet have a blog then this course is relevant for you as it does have a module on setting up blogs from scratch. Others who already have blogs will find modules 2-7 well worth their time.
82 Responses to “Get 2 Weeks Access to ‘Become a Blogger’ for $1 [Exclusive to ProBlogger Readers]” - Add Yours
Guillermo
May 9th, 2009 12:13 am
Sorry Darren… But I pass. Nothing coming from this guy Yaro can be credible.
From Darren: Guillermo – I’m totally fine with you passing. Yaro’s course will not be for everyone’s situation – however why the personal attack? Yaro’s helped thousands of people with their blogs and I know many ProBlogger readers would argue with you on this.
RhondaL
May 9th, 2009 12:14 am
Wow, Darren! That’s a great deal. Thanks for getting it set up for your 31 Days readers.
I’m already a member of Become a Blogger Premium, so I can tell anyone considering it that they will learn a lot from the program.
Jeremy Young
May 9th, 2009 12:20 am
Hi Darren,
I recently read Yaros free report and it did provide some geat tips and info, although the problem is you can only be in so many membership sites before you end up with info overload.
But I may consider your trial promo.
thanks
From Darren: Jeremy – yes it can be overload at times. No pressure to go for this one – if you think it fits your needs have a taste and see but if you find something else that suits where you’re at better by all means invest your time and money into that. I think the key is that you’re aware of what your needs and weaknesses are as a blogger and go out of your way to find things that can help you learn and improve in those areas.
Karenne Sylvester
May 9th, 2009 12:33 am
Darren,
You’re kidding. Seriously.
Yaro Stark is not someone most legit, even just starting out, bloggers trust.
I don’t know him from cheese but when I have visited his site (previous to this post) whether he is or not, ’cause maybe he’s on the up and up – he comes across as a “get-rich” type who got rich by getting others to pay him to get rich.
Your whole blogging course was absolutely invaluable.
In many respects you repeated stuff from your book however the discipline of coming back again and again to your blog, reread things and learn new tricks (or actually put the tricks into practice), well no price tag can really be put on that.
Seriously, have seen 71% rise in stats.
Make a group out of us, (have thoughts, will write in the forum properly) and you be there for us or really choose someone serious who has something to teach (not just the basics by medicinemen) and pay that person & we’ll pay more than $1.
Karenne
From Darren: Karenne – I’m really sorry but when someone says ‘I don’t know him from cheese’ and yet then says he’s not ‘legit’ I find it very difficult to take your comment seriously.
As I said previously to another commenter – if you don’t want to do the course because it doesn’t suit your needs or because it doesn’t seem to be your style then that’s all good and well but why the personal attack?
I think you say some good things in your comments – the ‘get rich quick’ impression that you get is understandable – Yaro is using his story of success fairly heavily in promoting his products – however because he uses it doesn’t mean he’s not legit.
Yaro has had real success with his sites and makes a very good living from them – as a result people want to know more about how he does it. I’m happy for you to critique Yaro’s ideas but please don’t resort to calling him not legit simply because of his sales page. This offer actually gives you the perfect way to check out whether he is worthwhile or not – for a dollar you can see what he’s made of.
BlogSEOExpert - SEO for Blogs
May 9th, 2009 12:40 am
Hi Darren,
Thanks a lot for arranging this deal! I would surely check it out.
I am sure this would be a good follow up for the 31DBBB series, as it looks like this would cover a lot of basic topics in depth.
Thanks again!
From Darren: BlogSEOExpert, that’s why I chose this course as one to promote here – I thought it’d be a good followup to 31DBBB. Not for everyone but hopefully some find it useful.
InternetHow
May 9th, 2009 12:53 am
I think this is really good offer for people to try Yaro’s course. You have a chance to decide if you should invest $77/month or not. I am sure 2 weeks would be enough to see what the course is about.
Robby G
May 9th, 2009 1:40 am
I loved the 31DBBB because it taught things beyond just starting a blog and the first steps of blogging. I need to find more tips on how to go from being a blog in the 500,000 rating on Alexa to the 100,000.
@Guillermo: Don’t know about your experience with Yaro, but I’d say he’s one of the most credible bloggers out there.
Thanks for the offer Darren.
Chanthirakumar
May 9th, 2009 1:44 am
I almostly started to make money through the bloggs and blogging.but not yet gain.your writing olso helps to my attempts
Jeff
May 9th, 2009 1:51 am
As much as I like BAB Premium, I do not know about that $77 price tag. I got in at $27 when it was first offered. And although it is a very good course, the price tag of $27 was the selling point for me. The combine price I paid for the course was $162, which I felt was a great price for the course. When Yaro, raised the price to $47 two weeks later after the debut of BAB Premium, I probably would not have signed up. I do feel that $47 is a fair price for the course. I cannot find the post on Yaro’s web site, but I did write a comment about why I purchased BAB Premium for the cheap price, not because the clever copywriting.
I just focus more on affordability, when it come to purchasing MMO products, because I have been burned in the past by one internet marketer, in which I overpaid for a product that was good but did not warrant the $1,000 price tag.
For the most part, I feel Yaro is a stand-up guy, so if you are curious about the course, then check out the offer for two weeks and make your decision. I just have a high threshold when it comes to parting with my money. Other folks may be different.
From Darren : Thanks for your comments Jeff – fair points about the price. It’s certainly not as ‘cheap’ as it was.
Joreg - Nokia Mobil Talk
May 9th, 2009 4:19 am
wow, this seems like an excellent deal, I would not mind putting my blog on steriods, hehe, I’m signing up, my blog is relatively new but so far I aready have 83 RSS reader, 74 Twitters followers, almost 8000 page views, and a total of 2842 visitors, these numbers are representative of 1 month. So, I’m not sure if this is good or not but if someone can chime in it would be great.
Team Nirvana
May 9th, 2009 5:11 am
I love the offer. It sounds great for a newbie, but, after you have Spoon-fed us all these months and years over how to blog and be successful, I presume I can give this offer a miss Darren.
But, thanks a ton for conducting the 31 Day program.
GoldSEO
May 9th, 2009 7:16 am
Darren,
Enjoyed your 31DBBB 2009 series. It also made me create a spreadsheet where i/you/anyone can project (with some % of variation) the income as a blogger from his/her blog. I just wanted to share.
http://www.goldseo.com/news/input-return-money-project-blogger/
Thanks
Sammy Crane
May 9th, 2009 7:17 am
Karenne and Guillermo – People who doubt credibility of those they are unwilling to get to know or test for themselves are jokes and themselves lack credibility in my mind. If you don’t want to sign up then that is your choice – but don’t attack another person’s reputation by saying that they’re not credible or legitimate without giving them a go. I think that that is very poor form.
I have been in ‘become a blogger’ since it launched and have learned so much. It is the best investment I have made into the blog I am starting.
Ricky Buchanan
May 9th, 2009 12:51 pm
I must say, I loathe the style of the sign up page. It reeks of “get rich quick!!!” and is the sort of thing that would make me run the other way Very Fast if it wasn’t something Darren was recommending.
Not sure if I’ll sign up yet, there’s no indication anywhere which modules one would have access to in the first 2 weeks but it seems to imply it’s only the first module which is not something I’m interested in, topic-wise.
Scott Webb
May 9th, 2009 2:24 pm
@ricky I have to agree with the style of the page. It’s like those High Yield Get Rich Quick. You hit it on the head. I have no doubt that the information is great as Darren is sending the a-ok, but I just don’t like that style of page. It just seems fake and spammy. Until it’s different, I am going to have to pass. Which sucks because I’d love the information.
From Darren: understand the concern. I’m not a fan of the length and style of the page either and it’s a pity that it has put some off. I understand why Yaro’s used it though – the style certainly works, but perhaps more so for people a little less web savvy than my great readers here at ProBlogger.
Make Money Online
May 9th, 2009 5:02 pm
The deal seems quite worth it. I am pretty impressed with the price so thinking of joining.
carla
May 9th, 2009 5:10 pm
Sounds like a good deal, but I think I will try the 31 day course since I havent gotten to that yet.
Andy Merrett
May 9th, 2009 9:26 pm
$77 per month on how to “become a blogger” ? Wow…
Funny how Sammy is so full of praise for this kind of course, and calls anyone who dares to suggest it might not be worth the monetary investment “jokes”, yet doesn’t even want to leave a link to his/her own blog? Very strange.
Deepak @ BusinessAttitude.com
May 9th, 2009 10:03 pm
I joined BecomeaBlogger before… the videos are of very good quality. But I would say that it is only for beginners.
Emad
May 9th, 2009 10:39 pm
Hello Darren,
I think this is really good to make people try Yaro’s course. and its really a good idea.
ITrush
May 9th, 2009 11:41 pm
What a tempting deal here Darren, there are some points here that I’m really interested to know..
Jeff
May 10th, 2009 1:52 am
Sounds great I like the part on How to Optimize Your Blog for Maximum Search Engine Performance, I’ve been doing a lot of that lately.
But I’m sorry to say I’m going to pass, I’m just not ready to make a financial investment in blogging yet but do think it’s the natural escalation of the process. I’ve been blogging now for 3 months and while I do believe that some day I will join a program such as this I just haven’t explored all the free resources yet.
Great site and thanks for the offer.
I’ve been document my finding of the how to make money scams and your program sound legit I’ll make note of it for when I do decide to go up a level.
Tasha
May 10th, 2009 6:15 am
I am with Jeff and all the rest here, Yaro and Darren and the most honest blogger/teacher I have done research on to date. I’d trust them with my child (if i had one) They are honest and not out for your money.
A buck is the same as FREE to me Jeff so I hope to see all my class mates from Darren’s class in Yaro’s class to….let’s all win win win.
Thanks D for gettin us in on this (yet another ) great deal.
Much luv for ya.
Tasha
http://www.theeangels.com
Yaro
May 10th, 2009 11:44 am
Hi to all you lovely commenters here.
This is Yaro.
I’m not going to defend myself from all the people who left comments accusing me of scamming, because I know that’s not what I do.
I suggest everyone makes up their own mind. Try the program and see what we do.
We’ve spent almost six months straight developing over 50 quality videos in the program, and there’s still more to come.
If you like the course, stay with us, if not, don’t.
You know the world will be a better place when people judge others based on real experience with them, not just what they choose to perceive on the surface. Share the love people, not the fear.
Daniel Woodyer
May 10th, 2009 12:21 pm
I’d love to follow up on this $1 offer, but after reading Yaro’s free content (Which is amazing, I should say), I know I’m going to want to continue the membership and I can’t afford that.
Sure I can get 2 weeks, but those 2 weeks proably contains information which they’ve given out for free, and the best stuff comes afterwards.
Thanks for the offer! But I’m going to have to miss this one out.
Daniel Woodyer
http://www.amazingmoneymarketing.com
Jeff
May 10th, 2009 9:47 pm
I loved Yaro comment up there
“You know the world will be a better place when people judge others based on real experience with them, not just what they choose to perceive on the surface. Share the love people, not the fear.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Thanks Yaro
Terry
May 11th, 2009 12:06 am
Interesting comments.I was going to join up one of Yaro’s blogging programs but then watched his Membership site Mastermind offer and in it he extolled the virtues of a membership site as the only way to make real money online…
And in his promo he said he hadn’t really made real money until he started his membership site…
well I would well believe that but in his promo for Blogging Mastermind he says that he was coining it from Blogging and you can too yada yada yada.
He can’t have it both ways ie tailoring his message to suit whatever product he is flogging now.
I posted a comment on his website but of course he did not publish it.
Gideon Shalwick
May 11th, 2009 6:37 am
Hi Everyone!
Thanks for all the feedback so far. Yaro and I appreciate it lots to hear from all of you.
There seems to be a couple of people who doubt our sincerity though, and even though I know their claims are not true, it still kinda hurts, especially when those people have not actually tried out our course yet or got in touch with me with any questions.
We now have over 1,000 very happy members inside the course and I still get daily emails and comments from people saying how much they love the Become A Blogger course.
The course has now been running for almost it’s complete 6 months, and the *vast* majority of people loved it so much that they decided to stay on for the whole course.
If you have specific questions about the course, or you would like me to clear up any issue, you can email me and I will *personally* respond to you. Just use the following address:
gideon[at]becomeablogger.com (replace [at] with @)
Thanks again for all your feedback. We listen to our audience and take immediate action whenever it makes sense to do so. We can’t run a successful business without your valuable input :)
Talk soon!
Gideon Shalwick
Co-Founder of Become A Blogger
needmoney.com
May 11th, 2009 9:58 am
*keyboard faceplant*
God I can’t wait until his course starts so all the blogs I like can get back to normal.
Solomon
May 11th, 2009 12:54 pm
Hi Darren,
I learnt a lot about blogging during the 31 days, although I missed several days. I will catch up them through following the posts.
Darren, I’m a tech-challenged guy and my efforts to get a professional blog has been a mirage so far, despite my sincere efforts. I want to know if anyone can design a blog and website at a very reasonable price.
I would like to join this program 2 weeks for $1
I’m not sure if I can continue to do so, as I want to invest in my blog design.
Thanks for the generous help, in advance!
Solomon
Kevin
May 11th, 2009 3:35 pm
People, don’t waste your time and money!
Write good content and you will succeed! But trust me it will take 5 years, plus!
Good luck
John
From Darren: so is it Kevin or is it John? :-) No need to be anonymous Kevin/John, I appreciate your advice – the whole ‘it will take 5 years, plus’ advice is actually pretty good. I’ve found that my own blogs tend to hit their first tipping point an year or two into their life and then keep growing from there.
Jeff
May 11th, 2009 10:12 pm
5 years plus, I don’t think so. I’ve been doing it for three months and I’m seeing traffic for all the keywords I hit.
But then again I’m a web developer and may be ahead of some people as far as the learning curve. Still 5 years seams way too long, maybe if you’re not doing it every day but a lot of blogging sites recommend blogging every day that’s what I try to do and it seams to work.
6 moths to a year that’s my guess but that’s only because of the learning curve. Once you have a better idea of what you’re doing it will come naturally.
The key is in good keyword research before writing anything. Find keywords you can get search results for and then write your posts. Just remember to write for people not just search engines this was my first mess when blogging. I wrote for search engines not people. Visitors would read what they needed and move on, I’ve since resolved this using analytics and doing keyword analysis. Now my click thought rate has gone up.
Go http://www.scamresearchcenter.com/post/Whats-Jeffs-Scam-Niche-Marketing.aspx if you’re curious about how to find and work on niche websites
from Darren: I think the length of time differs a lot for different people – however as I mentioned above in one of the comments – for me it was at least 12 months before I saw my blogs hit a tipping point that took them from a few hundred visitors a day into something more significant and able to produce me an income that I could come close to living off. In fact it was probably closer to 2 years on my first blog and on my more recent ones about 18 months. I suspect it depends a lot on the topic, how much competitions there is, a little bit of luck, what experience you have previously, what your profile is like before you start etc.
Faithson
May 11th, 2009 11:48 pm
Is this program still on? Please advise. Thanks
Raints
May 12th, 2009 4:58 am
Hi, quite interesting thing. Mabye i’m giving it a try.
ezFreeSamples.com
May 12th, 2009 7:26 am
Sounds like a GREAT DEAL Darren! I may check this out to help with my Freebies site at ezfs.us
cmp
May 12th, 2009 7:34 am
Darren, I gotta say, when people want to get into blogging and ask me about it, Problogger is the first place I send them to.
So it is with great disappointment that I see this post show up here, the place where I am sending friends for good, useful, high quality info.
Which brings me to my question…
How did this work exactly? Did Yaro pay you (and shoemoney, and john chow, etc. etc.) up front to “mention” this nonsense of his on your blog, or did he come to you with a special affiliate offer? It’s the same end result, really. You get paid to help Yaro get paid. I get it, but I’m just curious.
Why the curiosity?
Because I actually sat through all 5 pages of Yaro’s own bio when this guy was first brought to my attention a while back, and he appears to have failed (or just not succeeded significantly) at every single thing he’s ever done online.
Except one, of course.
Going around acting like an internet guru and getting people to buy (literally and figuratively) into his crap. Based on what I’m seeing, this appears to be the only thing he’s successfully done online. Congrats on that, by the way. And Yaro, if I’m mistaken here, please correct me.
So Darren, how does something like this end up on the blog I’m recommending to friends as a trusted source of quality info?
Just curious.
From Darren: cmp – first, thanks for sending people to ProBlogger, I am thankful for and honored by that.
Secondly – why the disappointment? I’ve linked here to a resource that I genuinely think could help people who have just finished a month long process of improving their blogs. I think this would be a good follow on learning experience. It’s relevant to my topic, of a good quality, developed by someone I respect, has been well reviewed by many of my readers….. not sure what else to say. In my mind it’s not ‘nonsense’ at all.
In terms of the ‘deal’ here. As you’ll know if you’ve read this blog for a while, this is a blog about making money from blogging. I talk about and use affiliate programs on my blog. Become a Blogger has an affiliate program associated with it which I participate in.
In terms of Yaro’s success – I beg to differ with your assessment. He’s built successful membership sites but also a successful blog. While his blog may not be as successful as A-list blogs – I’d argue that he’s built up a big enough readership that has enabled him to then launch his membership sites. The blog came first and then the membership sites.
Yaro talks in his videos about how the membership sites were the key to his success and the reason he really started making money – I agree with this BUT would argue that without his blog he’d not have had the success he did. I for one would never have heard about him unless he’d had his blog and I’m sure the same could be said for many others.
You see the real power of what I see that Yaro’s done is use his blog to launch his next thing. Many bloggers launch blogs simply to be the income earner themselves…. but I think their real potential is in how you leverage them to launch other things.
Yaro is one of the few bloggers that I know that has done this brilliantly. He’s taken a blog that has had some success and launched other things that have had even more.
Hope that that makes sense?
needmoney.com
May 12th, 2009 9:17 am
@Karenne Sylvester ^5.
Yaro
May 12th, 2009 10:51 am
I want to address this one to Terry…
When I was making the promo video for Membership Site Mastermind I did have concerns that I would express the message the way you have interpreted it – as if I never made real money from blogging and it was membership sites that made the big difference.
That’s definitely true, but you can’t look at this in simple terms.
My membership site could not have existed if it wasn’t for my blog. There’s a strong dependency there and while the membership site might *make* the money, the blog creates the conditions for it to do so. It’s symbiotic.
In terms of raw income just from blogging, I’ve made at least $2000 a month from banner sponsorship for a good 2-3 years and my affiliate income has steadily increased from about $500 a month up to $20,000 a month now.
That being said, my blog couldn’t do these numbers without my email list. The list grows because of the blog AND because of the membership site launches I do.
This whole process is very much interconnected.
One thing I can say, if I was *just* blogging and only using the techniques I teach in Blog Mastermind, I’d be doing at least $10,000 a month combining ad sales and affiliate sales, so what I present in the sales pages for both programs is true, I have no intention of misleading people.
The real secret of course is the combination of strategies I use, and if you combine Become A Blogger Premium and Blog Mastermind and then move on to Membership Site Mastermind you pretty much have the entire formula for my half a million in revenue over the passed 12 months.
Or, just read through the last four years of blog entries I’ve done and extrapolate the concepts there.
Yaro
Gideon Shalwick
May 12th, 2009 12:27 pm
Yeah I think 5 years is a bit long. In fact, if it takes you that long you are doing something wrong.
I’ve just started a new blog with a friend, using the same model that Yaro and I teach, and it’s only been a month, and we get between 100 and 200 views on our site already, with around 20 to 30 optins to our newsletter per day.
At this rate we will have around 5,000 subscribers within 6 months without doing any other promotion for our blog.
And then, add to that the potential new subscribers that gets added with a launch of a new product… it could only be good.
Now, keep in mind that no one (including myself) have even promoted the site to their email lists yet. So it’s definitely doable if you set things up right and follow the lessons we teach.
To see proof of our results, you can visit http://www.freemagiclive.com and also our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/freemagiclive .
All the best!
Gideon Shalwick
Co-Founder of Become A Blogger
cmp
May 12th, 2009 12:36 pm
Thanks for the reply, Darren. And I do hear what you are saying. I just have some issues. Maybe it’s just me, but it’s hard for me to see a point for you to recommend something that you have ALREADY done, and done better.
Problogger is the only resource about blogging any of your readers will ever need in their entire blogging lives. Sending them to this Yaro guy for the same info you’ve already covered (and covered better, and are more qualified to cover, etc. etc. etc.) just seems silly and completely pointless for your readers.
Now if you combine this with the fact that you are making money by doing this, and it makes it look, to me at least, that’s it’s just you trying to make a buck. And I guess I can’t really fault you for that, it’s what you (and I) do. We make money online. I just don’t like seeing it done in the way I’m seeing it here. And I equally don’t like getting emails from a couple of the people I’ve sent your way asking me if they should indeed spend their money on this crap (my opinion, I know).
I mean, do you honestly think there is one reader of your blog that actually needs to be sent to Yaro to learn how to install wordpress? Or register a domain name? Or learn what “RSS” means? Or any of the other basic info you yourself have already covered and made available for free on this very blog?
And yeah, my preexisting dislike of Yaro and the seemingly infinite number of people like him is definitely playing a role here too. But this probably isn’t the place to fully explain that.
From Darren: cmp – thanks for your compliment – I appreciate your vote of confidence in ProBlogger.
However I don’t have a problem with recommending someone else even though I’ve covered a lot of the same ground here on ProBlogger. A couple of the main reasons being:
1. Yaro’s course is up to date and organized logically – Yep we’ve covered a lot of the same stuff here at ProBlogger but here at ProBlogger I have written 5000 or so posts over years. As a result it can be hard to find the best and most relevant stuff. Also some of the content from 3-4 years ago is dated.
Yaro’s courses are presented more in an order that builds upon one another, it’s condensed and it’s all up to date.
2. Yaro brings a different perspective, set of experiences and voice – this blog is largely about my experience of blogging and as a result is just one person’s view on the topic. Yaro comes from a different perspective and as someone with more experience in internet marketing brings a unique perspective. I actually think that somewhere between what he teaches and what I teach there’s some pretty good perspectives and a well balanced approach.
Lastly – yes I do make a buck from promoting Yaro’s courses. I don’t have a problem with that and don’t hide the fact by cloaking links or pretending that I’m not anywhere. However I don’t have a problem with that as I feel I’m recommending something:
1. relevant
2. of a high quality
3. something that is useful for my readers
4. something that I’ve had a lot of positive feedback on
In the end if it meets those criteria I don’t have a problem with recommending it.
By no means will it meet everyone’s needs and I don’t hype it up to say that it does. Incidentially I particularly like the offer above because it has a trial period at very low cost. It also has a money back offer if people sign up and are not satisfied. I’ve seen Yaro honor this a couple of times.
In the end if you don’t like it – don’t buy it. If you’re not sure – give it a go for a couple of weeks and see if it is ‘crap’ (your word) or not. At least then you’ll be better informed to critique Yaro.
Lastly – is there anyone who neds to learn how to install WP or other basic information. Abosolutely. I get questions on those basic things every day. The information is available online for free but some people like a little hand holding and the personal support of others – and are willing to pay for that.
Steve - Make Money Online
May 12th, 2009 7:34 pm
It sounds like a good package for anyone who needs help getting a presence on the web and web 2.0 is certainly the way to go as more people look for other forms of communication on your website.
Yaro
May 12th, 2009 10:36 pm
I’m curious CMP – why do you have a pre-existing dislike of me? What did I do to create this condition in you?
Yaro
Yaro
May 12th, 2009 10:46 pm
CMP – To answer your question about my passed “successes and failures” there’s certainly been many on both sides of the fence.
I’ve made about $180,000 selling websites, some I built from scratch, some I bought, improved and sold later. The niches of these sites were things like small business, mini-bikes and rap music.
I made about $100,000 from a proofreading business that I set up to be near-passive income using systems.
And of course my newbie training done as a 20 year old and onwards was running a site devoted to the card game magic the gathering, which made some nice spare change money, but was worth a lot more to me in experience gained.
I also had a failed English tutoring service and several websites I built and never really followed through with. As all good entrepreneurs know, you have to fail to succeed.
It’s been a roller coaster mate, but if it wasn’t for these stories my blog wouldn’t have the influence it does because I’d have nothing to write about.
I think I know where you’re coming from, but correct me if I’m wrong…
You love that Darren provides such great content and gives it all away for free. You think he should be supported for that, but not by selling affiliate products that sell similar information.
You consider my information inferior to his, and I charge money for some of it, which probably annoys you.
There are points there to be argued of course, and when push comes to shove I know I can’t please all of the people all of the time, nor can Darren or any blogger.
We all have haters – it’s a sign of success – and if you’re one of mine I guess I should thank you, it demonstrates I have recognition in your life, even if it’s not the kind of recognition I’d like to have.
Yaro
cmp
May 12th, 2009 11:56 pm
Hi Yaro. It’s hard to exactly pinpoint what it is that I dislike about you, but I will do my very best.
You’re a guy who takes pictures of himself next to his car and uses it to sell a product that is, for all intents and purposes, HoW To GeT RiCh OnLiNe!!!! You do a lot of stuff like this that really just reeks of everything that is scummy about the whole “make money online” niche.
You appear to have lacked any real world experience with actually being significantly successful online UNTIL you decided to start a blog about how to become significantly successful online. To me, this is a fat guy selling a weight loss product who then uses the money made to go get weight loss surgery.
You appear to me to have learned what you currently know through resources such as Problogger. So, to sell a product containing virtually identical info makes it look like you are just taking free information (which was written by someone more qualified than you) and selling it in your own reproduced way. You’ll then make money off this, use it to further build your brand as an internet guru/expert/whatever, which will then allow this cycle of stuff that annoys me (and others, I’m sure) to continue over and over again.
You say stuff like this: “As all good entrepreneurs know, you have to fail to succeed.”
I’m an entrepreneur. I never had to fail to succeed. I know it happens, but to say it HAS to happen when I myself am first hand proof that it doesn’t… you’re just stating nonsense as fact, and it’s pretty hard to not dislike that.
I can keep going, if you’d like.
John
May 13th, 2009 12:09 am
So it’ll be $77 after the trail period I assume?
Terry
May 13th, 2009 7:44 am
Message to Yaro…
Thank you for addressing my comments here on Darren’s blog.
But you could have done it on your own blog…where I made pretty much the same point.
Instead you canned my comments.
Thats cool.
Editorial control and all that.
But you would have gained more respect in the eyes of many if you allowed all reasonable comments on your blog, not just the ones which tell you how great ‘Become a Blogger’,'Become a Blogger Premium’, ‘Blogger Mastermind’, ‘Membership site Mastermind’ is.
Message to Gideon…
Thanks for responding to my email.
Terry
Yaro
May 13th, 2009 8:43 am
Hey Terry,
If your comments were “canned” at my blog it was my spam filter that picked them up. I LOVE responding to criticism on my blog because it’s my best way to show my integrity, so I rarely delete things like that unless they are comments that are just slander without any real critical thought behind it.
There are a lot comments on my blog right now as I type this that I’m itching to respond to due to the recent launch.
I haven’t had a chance yet because my priority has been to support my new customers, but it will happen. If your comment is in there, I’ll reply there too.
Yaro
May 13th, 2009 8:54 am
CMP -
I know exactly what you mean about the “making money only by teaching how to make money”. There’s definitely an element of that in my blog given the nature of the topic.
I like to think that I’ve only been able to teach this subject because I made money in other fields before teaching it, but if that’s the box you want to put me in, fair enough.
Most people who attempt to make money teaching how to make money never do. The ones who do actually know something from practical experience. I fit into that mold.
I can see you’ve decided to selectively view parts of my work and lump me as this person with characteristics you don’t like.
I’ve avoided enough flame wars to know when someone doesn’t like you their field of perception is too closed off to what the other person is saying to change. They’ve made their choice, they see the evidence how they want to see it, and case closed.
Unfortunately that’s why there is so much hate and fear in the world. I don’t want to contribute more to it so I’ll accept that you feel this way about it and leave it be.
Good luck with your projects!
Yaro
cmp
May 13th, 2009 9:15 am
Yaro,
So basically you are agreeing with me on the “make money by teaching people how to make money” point, and you’ve decided to ignore the rest of what I said with the old “I see that whatever I say won’t matter, so I won’t bother saying anything” approach.
In my experience that tends to translate loosely into “uh, you got me on that one” most of the time. Always fun.
And you can’t really tell me that my view of you is selective when you specifically ask me to tell you what it is that I dislike about you. If you asked me to list my “likes” as well, maybe my previous comment would have come off a bit less selective looking. But when you ask solely for the dislikes, you are only going to get dislikes.
And I don’t think I am doing anything here that is even remotely flame war-ish. I think I am bringing up valid points (which you asked for in the first place) and I’m doing it in a pretty civil manner.
My field of perception, as you call it, is wide open here, and all of my opinions can be changed.
Feel free to change them.
Jade Craven
May 13th, 2009 9:19 am
Hey CMP
I recently went to a meet up with Melbourne bloggers. Yaro came up quite a bit in the conversation. While some of us disliked the sales tactics, we all agreed that his information was quality and that he was someone worth knowing. This was quite surprising considering the diffeerence in blogger demographics.
There are many reasons why I trust him and like him:
- He was successful in other aspects of internet marketing prior to starting his blog. This shows that he knows how to run a business, not just a site.
- He covers many topics not talked about on problogger. I love this as there are so many aspects of online business that apply to bloggers, but don’t really fit in here.
- His paid content is AWESOME. I was blown away with the content in Blog Mastermind. I had to stop after 4 months due to budget issues, but I would love to get the final lessons. Despite the price tag, its chock full of quality.
I understand how you can hate tactics, but that doesn’t mean you should dislike the person.
I’ve read/experienced a lot of paid products and programs. In most cases, just making that first connection leads to extra income, referrals and leads.
Yaro – keep it up :) I may not buy anything from you for a short while, but thats because of personal circumstances. I would definitely be in your other product, membership site mastermind, if I could. xxx
- Jade
Brandon Carroll
May 13th, 2009 9:31 am
Yaro, Darren, CMG—anyone…
Yaro provides a service that. when followed, can be successful for people. Darren does the same here, but in a slightly different way. I am an instructor and I teach some of the same stuff as other instructors- but in a different way. I dont know why people are so upset. If they don’t like your style they don’t have to slam you for it- they simply go somewhere else. I personally have taken the same training from two different people and got totally different results.
Anyhow- I like Yaro and I like Darren because they are different and I can glean different bits of information from each. Both provide great information and as such, should get paid for their work. How they get paid versus how others get paid is nobody elses concern. It’s not illegal. Maybe there is some envy there when people see the numbers. Why do people care so much?
Anyhow, I’m half way through the 31DBBB and finished with the 1st module of Membership Site Mastermind. Thanks Guys! Keep up the good work.
Brandon
Anyhow,
Yaro
May 13th, 2009 9:32 am
Ok CMP – what do you like about me?
Answer that first and then I won’t have to repeat myself when I offer replies to change your field of perception.
Nick Morton
May 13th, 2009 9:50 am
Hi
I recently found Yaro’s site and he’s taught me a great deal about blogging before finding problogger, Seth Godin or SEOMoz etc which are all great sources.
Does that mean Yaro’s work is no longer valid to me? No, of course not. I dig the style. Everyone has to start with the basics and work up. His style is easy to understand and I enjoy getting the feeds and watching the vids.
Yaro. I think you have the positioning spot on. I’ve recommended his EJ site to loads on my mates in business (but not in the business of blogging) who are new to this and you’re helping them out learning the basics.
Big shout out to Darren too, your 31DBBB was a great programme. Many thanks.
Josh
May 13th, 2009 9:52 am
Is it just me or it is getting hot in here? :)
Thanks for the offer Darren/Yaro/Gideon. I understand why you ask people to pay for it. Presentation of material is something that people pay for everyday. All of the information in this course is, of course, available free online on sites like Yaro’s Entrepreneur’s Journey, and Darren’s ProBlogger.
The difference is (and it is a key difference and the whole reason why you have to pay for it so take note) that the information is presented in a teaching course type of format which is easier to digest, aligned chronologically into lessons in a way to maximize learning.
The value of the course comes from presentation and convenience, something that could be incredibly for beginner bloggers (the target market of ProBlogger I imagine) with expendable income.
With that in mind, I think it’s very appropriate to offer this type of affiliate offer after the 31DBBB.
My $0.02,
Josh
Veejay
May 13th, 2009 10:01 am
CMP – what on earth is anyone on line doing if not trying to make money.
Yaro and Gideon are no exception neither, I suspect are you.
Yaro is imparting his knowledge to people who are thinking they would like to join in making money on line but haven’t the slightest notion where to start.
Yaro and Gideon are showing these beginners how to make a start for free. Then if they want to continue to learn a fee would be quite acceptable because they can see a way to earn enough to pay.
I just can’t see why you need to slate him so vehemently – you wouldn’t be just a little bit green by any chance would you?
If Yaro were not open and above board, do you think he would bother to answer your criticisms of him?
He is right – he should just leave you with your opinions and let it go at that.
There are hundreds of others who have a high opinion of him, and I am one of them.
Jeff
May 13th, 2009 10:05 am
I’ll chime in on this – I don’t have the same anger that some of you guys do towards Yaro, but I actually subscribed to Blog Mastermind for 5-6 months and found all of the above criticisms to be basically true.
Darren’s blog and book had already taught me almost everything Yato had to say. The only added value I got out of the course for me was the audio interviews with OTHER experts, one of whom happened to be Darren.
The part that left a sour taste in my mouth was the feeling that Yaro was always holding back “the good stuff” for sometime in the future.
I understand that Darren makes his living from affiliate programs, and I understand his target audience is brand new bloggers, but this is one series where I wish he hadn’t made the hard sell – it soured me on Problogger in the end because I felt misled.
Yaro has a great blog, and friendly customer service, but he DOES strike me as a get rich by talking about it type. I still wish I’d saved ~$500 bucks and stuck to Darren’s book.
cmp
May 13th, 2009 10:11 am
Yaro,
What do I like about you? Honestly, not much. Which is why I commented here in the first place. I’m not saying I hate you, I think you suck, or that you’re stupid and you smell. You certainly seem like a nice enough guy, a helpful guy, a guy who cares about his users and all of that wonderful stuff.
I’m just questioning your credibility with pretty valid points and opinions, and am looking for equally valid responses that prove me wrong, change my mind, or both.
Edward
May 13th, 2009 10:15 am
Hi everyone-
I am a newbie blogger-
and I have to say that I have found the become a blogger course very useful, and good value for money- and I am dam sure that there are other people starting off who read this blog who will also!
I always remember something simple my mum taught me- “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”
If you don’t like someones course etc, then ask for a refund, and get out of it!
Much better to do that at the time rather than have the poison of resentment live on in your life, I think… And often healthier for all concerned to deal with it mano a mano at the time…
Just my take, thanks Yaro-
Alexis
May 13th, 2009 10:39 am
Can we get a great deal like this for the membership mastermind course? That’s the one that’s a stretch for me to pay!
Jeff
May 13th, 2009 10:42 am
Yeah, just to clarify:
I think Darren’s a great guy, and Entrepreneur’s Journey is a good blog – Yaro takes a much more philosophical approach to his writing about internet business than most, and there are some genuinely good insights.
I just felt that his paid content didn’t live up to that standard, and that his email list felt like it promoted every big launch, not just things he thought were quality.
For Problogger, I was confused that Darren promoted a paid and expensive product that was ultimately less helpful than his own free content or book.
Darren Rowse
May 13th, 2009 10:44 am
cmp and Yaro – thanks for all your comments.
However I am sensing this is just going in circles. If you’d like me to introduce the two of you so that you can sort it out via email please indicate that you want that with a comment that includes your valid email address (I’m assuming yours isn’t a real one cmp?). I’d love to set up an email exchange and even help moderate it as I genuinely feel you could work it out.
If you’re not interested in communicating privately on this I’ll take it as an indication that you’re not genuinely interested in making this conversation more constructive and will close the comments. Happy for you to keep chatting here but I’d also like to see a commitment that you’re willing to try sort it out in private also. The balls in your courts.
Seth W
May 13th, 2009 10:53 am
I am not going to add to the Yaro hating or Darren lecturing… Personally Darren can do whatever he wants with his blog and I am just thankful that he has been willing to put so much great content on it. Also, 31DBBB was wonderful!
Yaro and Gideon’s become a blogger program has also been enjoyable. I remember first using the videos when I started blogging. They were great!
Everyone has their own style, tone and personality. That is what makes blogging great! Find what you like and stick with it.
Thanks Darren for always having your readers in mind and providing wonderful services. Yaro, don’t sweat the small stuff, you’ve helped a lot of people.
Leigh Peele
May 13th, 2009 10:57 am
Being a “student” of Yaro’s I have to jump in for a moment here. It is much better than dealing with database issues on a forum that is for sure.
When I saw this comment “You’re a guy who takes pictures of himself next to his car and uses it to sell a product” I had to laugh a little bit.
Yaro has explained how blogging and the other aspects on working online has afforded him to support his life. This including a house and a car.
It was a Suzuki Swift, seriously.
I remember this because this was one of the reasons I liked Yaro from the beginning. I thought it was refreshing to see a guy infront of (what looked like) a townhome and a nice, but simple new car.
http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/images/articles/end07/carhouse2.jpg
Not that showing proof of your income is a problem, but really you think that is comparable to the guys who stand in front of the mansions with an Aston Martin?
Yaro isn’t flashy, is highly ethical, and has real quality control. In my industry that is rare, and it is really true in any industry.
I am a member of all three of Yaro’s courses and not one hasn’t been exactly what it was stated as.
CMP you may have valid points, but they are clouded with bias.
You are also relaying (intent or not) that everyone should learn from one source and one source only, or that someone else couldn’t add something to a topic. That isn’t the case at all. Sometimes you can have two people explaining the same process, but with a different story.
Take for example a man explaining to another man how to cook a frozen pizza.
“Man A: Take the pizza out of the box, put it in the oven, and cook it on 450F for 20 mins.
Man B: Preheat the oven to 450F
Move the rack to middle level so that you can optimize position for cooking.
Take the pizza out of the box.
Before putting it in the oven remove the clear plastic wrapper.
Place the pizza on a flat baking sheet.
Place in the oven and cook for 20 mins. Try not to open up the oven door as much as possible as it will change cook time.
Let cool for 5 mins after done. ”
What are the odds that someone is going to mess up as much with Man B’s directions?
Less.
I am not saying that Darren is A and Yaro is B, or that Man A is wrong, it is just a difference in instruction relay and explanation.
I am a reader and Fan of both Darrens and Yaro. I will say that Yaro is the one that made that “click” happen and who I turn to for the majority of my information or for a starting point to move forward from. It helps to keep down information overload.
Because of that click by the way it has left me in a very nice financial place and I am sure my future will be even better. I owe a lot of that to the help of Yaro and is K.I.S.S. blogging principles.
Mike
May 13th, 2009 10:58 am
I’ve personally met Yaro and I can say he’s a stand up guy who cares for his users.
But his latest sales copy has the classic ‘this is the only way you can be rich online’ feel to it. These so called gurus follow these ‘cheesy’ sales tactics because they work for a ton of people, but others can see through this.
Be authentic, be real…we want to see the real Yaro, not another cheesy sales launch that’s being done because it’s time for you to make more money.
cmp
May 13th, 2009 11:03 am
It’s cool with me. And the email I’m using is indeed real.
sds
May 13th, 2009 11:30 am
cmp,
Yaro offers a money back guarantee which means it’s impossible for anyone to get ripped off. He is offering to teach me something I don’t already know.
I have paid much more than Yaro’s asking price for courses that weren’t great but guess what? The one or two things I did learn gave me positive ROI.
If I find I don’t care for Yaro’s content I’ll get my refund. No biggie.
cmp, your personal attacks reek of arrogance and bias. I bet you’re a huge bore to all who are forced to interact with you in the dirt world.
Always the smartest guy in the room aren’t you?
Your comments and generalizations are unfair. I know I’m supposed to take the high road here, but screw it. I think you’re an a-hole.
Yaro – I’m in. See you on the call tomorrow night.
Yaro
May 13th, 2009 11:47 am
Sorry about the Darren, I did get caught up defending myself here a lot more than I usually like to because this can be a time suck. We can leave it at that.
I’ll end with one comment for everyone else – don’t judge anything by what is being said here. Study the information provided by people and assess the value you receive personally.
Whether that’s Darren’s blog, his book, my free reports, my blog, my paid courses or any other resources out there.
Be open minded and gravitate to what actually helps you, not what brings you down.
Yaro
Yaro
May 13th, 2009 11:56 am
Oh, one more thing – Jeff – if you didn’t get your money’s worth from my program please email supportATblogmastermind.com and I’ll give you your money back.
I’m not in this to take money from people who don’t get value from my work.
Hendry Lee
May 13th, 2009 12:05 pm
Most people do that because of jealousy. Or naivety.
There is a value in packaged content. That’s why people go to concert, buy DVDs of music videos and still purchase audio CDs.
That’s why people buy books, read blogs, listen to podcasts, buy training videos, etc. They want different experiences. I don’t know anyone who read a blog the whole day.
A course is a compilation of hundreds of hours of work. Think of a blog as a raw format of content. And a course is an organized one. If you can’t find value in a course, feel free to do the hard work but don’t presume everyone should do that.
Adam Sicinski
May 13th, 2009 12:20 pm
As a fellow Australian blogger I have genuine respect and admiration for Darren and Yaro. I believe that both of them have a strong and positive influence on the blogging community and are no doubt ‘thought leaders’ within this industry.
Personally I haven’t gone through Yaro’s MasterMind programs, however I have been a part of other Membership sites, and in the end it’s not so much about the content that a Membership site offers it’s members, but rather about how the content is organized, accessed and how much time it saves me from having to browse through hundreds of free articles on the internet trying to find what I’m looking for.
There is a lot of trash out there, and it’s therefore great to find high quality content all in one place, which I have no doubt Yaro provides given the high quality of his free articles, online resources and special reports.
Membership sites may very well not provide you with unique information, however what they do is organize it in such a way that enables us to utilize this information to its greatest effect all in one place. I personally don’t run a Membership Site, however I do organize content on my blog within Mind Maps – organizing large scale topics and making them easy to understand on a single map at a single glance. The content of these Mind Maps isn’t unique, however the organization of the content allows for quick integration, and saves people time. In the end that’s what Membership Sites are about. And therefore if Yaro’s Membership Site will save you time, than that’s worth a lot of money.
Both Yaro and Darren provide a wonderful service to bloggers around the world, and I would probably not be blogging today if it wasn’t for the positive influence.
Edmund Pelgen
May 13th, 2009 1:12 pm
Holy Crap! I sense a lot of jealous tension in these comments. Here’s my 2 cents worth as a fellow Aussie who lives just down the road from Yaro.
I run an online marketing and web design company and have been doing so for the last three years or so. When I was learning the ropes as it were the two resources that I discovered that helped me get a sense of the lay of the land were Yaro’s and Darrens blogs.
I’m fortunate to have found them first because they were like to mates in a new city who tell you which parts of town are off limits and where to go to get a decent meal.
I have followed both their blogs and through them I have been introduced to online mentors I would deem as reputable and through them I have gained my online education.
I’m cringing when I read some of the haters comments because it’s like someone criticising your mum when they don’t even know them.
To those that criticise because they feel Yaro’s page is too salesy or “get rich”, then you simply have to get over yourselves.
Yaro’s sales page is a long form style that works effectively to sell and inform potential customers of what he is offering.
I see many traditional businesses set up “non salesly” sales pages that NEVER SELL ANYTHING….it’s simply the medium and it is effective.
You simply demonstrate your “newbieness” by those stupid comments.
I save all of yaros sales pages in my swipe file as they are the best looking and least kitchy and cheesy in my opinion.
Also please don’t criticise re the whole “earn money online” thing..that’s like going to a bar and criticising them for selling alcohol…ProBlogger and Entrepreneurs Journey are about earning a living online and they are probably the most reputable duo out there.
I give you a nice “monty pythonesque” clip on the head for those rather nasty criticisms….imagine if someone talked about your mum like that..shame on you!
Congrats to both Darren AND Yaro for their success..they did it themselves and in their own way..you should wish for the same rather than being an angry little soul.
Cheers
Ed
Chris Webb
May 13th, 2009 1:22 pm
It’s amazing that our new world of Social Media affords such intense and specific discord over an individual’s need to publish their rationale for not purchasing an offer they’re not interested in, and holding the publisher to “rights” over the ethical rationale of promoting said offer.
I went to a newsagent this morning and bought a diet coke. I didn’t buy Sprite because it tastes crap and I don’t like all the sugar in real coke.
Funnily enough, I can’t find a website where I can have a fight with all the Sprite lovers to tell them why I didn’t buy their drink.
In short, I don’t believe the publication of a (clearly relevant) offer made with (clearly genuine) trust warrants a picketing march from an audience who are delusional if they don’t think they’re learning about (a) Blogging and (b) Making money with it.
Derek Clark - Geek Politics
May 13th, 2009 1:58 pm
I just want to say that I have found Darren and Yaro to both be very genuine and helpful guys. People talk about “getting rich blogging by talking about getting rich blogging” and that may what they do, but there are a ton of sites that try this and fail miserably. You don’t actually have success in that field unless you actually know a little bit about how it works.
I haven’t taken Yaro’s courses mostly because I’m cheap, but based on the free content at his blog and the fact that pretty much every major online marketing / blog about blogging website promotes him, I am confident that his content is good and he knows what he is doing.
Darren, thanks for the great resource that is Problogger and being a guy that will stand up for his friends.
Yaro, thanks for having the guts to come here and defend yourself and know that most people who read what you have to say think that your content is great and you are a genuine person.
rose
May 13th, 2009 5:03 pm
I’ve been reading both Darren’s and Yaro’s blogs for awhile and a Blogmastermind student of Yaro’s. I had the privilege of briefly meeting Darren @ the Blogworld Expo in Las Vegas last year. Blogging, Social Networking, Membership sites…it’s BIG industry! . I found out about various blogging tools, software, TWITTER etc. before they started appearing on major news stories and everyone jumped on the twitter bandwagon. Yaro’s program is just another tool to help would be internet entrepreneurs to succeed.
People like to criticize without fully studying the issue. He doesn’t just merely regurgitate information he finds online, he documents his experiences and gives you very useful tips . He shares some of the successes of his past students. He’s very candid in documenting his experiences and I like that. I don’t like people that provide testimonials and that’s it. Yaro really connects with his audience.
Membership sites can provide great value. I look @ it as furthering your education. I don’t think I could’ve learned Photoshop as in-depth on my own had I not taken a class and learned from others critiquing my work.
Edward
May 13th, 2009 5:25 pm
Yes to the last two comments!
and I would add a quote of my own “Sour Grapes Feed No Man, Least of all Him who Offers Them”
Big John
May 13th, 2009 6:31 pm
I know Yaro personally, infact I shared a coffee with him just recently here in Brisbane. I offered to buy him cake but he declined :)
The thing that struck me about Yaro, was that unlike other internet marketers that Ive met, Yaro is completely grounded and a genuine guy. Its obvious from the outset, and others who know Yaro will agree. Yaro isnt about the dollar, he just has a passion for what he does, and I believe he enjoys sharing his knowledge with people who simply want to learn from him.
To suggest that Yaro is anything but a decent guy, who has nothing more than the best intentions for his work and clients is nothing more than grossly incorrect.
I would put money in Yaros hand any day to learn from the guy, and I say that with 100% commitment.
CMP youre a moron mate.
Big John
SATISH -- Technotip.org
May 13th, 2009 7:10 pm
@Darren Rowse @Yaro @Gideon Shalwick
I trust all you guys..
One thing I got confused with the above post!
In 2 weeks time, how much of the above mentioned modules will be covered?
I think those 8 modules are for the whole course..
Gideon Shalwick
May 13th, 2009 8:38 pm
Hey Satish
As part of the 2 week trial, you get access to:
- The first two modules of the course (19 videos in total)
- The members only forum area
- The teleconference page
- Yaro’s Master The Mindset audio series
- The Roadmap To Become A Blogger report
Our next teleconference is 26 May which is in about 2 weeks time again (we just had one today that lasted for almost 2 hrs – we got a lot of really good questions from existing members and we stayed on the call until Yaro and I answered every single question).
All the best!
Gideon Shalwick
Michael
May 14th, 2009 4:59 pm
I don’t know Yaro but apart from some comments here I haven’t read any negative feedback on his work. I must say however that I think the costs of his Mastermind Membership course in particular is ridiculous. I respect his ultimate objective is making money but I think he is being greedy in charging so much to a group of genuine people most of whom will not end up making a cracker out of their online endeavors. He does portray his courses as surefire get rich fairly quick schemes if his customers religiously follow his instructions. We all know that won’t happen for the vast majority. He should have more respect for a lot of little people trying to raise themselves up – charge a fair price but don’t gouge them.
Hendry Lee
May 14th, 2009 8:20 pm
If there’s a thing that I learn from such criticism, usually it is the fact that the blog readers feel like they own the blog. They want it to be what they want. Mostly that means without any ads or affiliate promotion.
Just get over it. This is life. It is not always what you want. Rather than wasting time, just skip any post that you dislike. Although I’ve been a reader for years, I admit that I only read perhaps 1/5 or less of the posts in problogger.net, but those that I read, I learn a lot from them.
Angela Lewis
May 17th, 2009 1:08 pm
Hi all,
I am Yaro’s virtual assistant and support desk for Blog Mastermind and Membership Site Mastermind.
I have just been reading a few posts here and wanted to share my view, because I probably know better than anyone what goes on in terms of Yaro’s ethics and customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction.
I see all the complaint and praise email first, and I can tell you complaint emails generally only arrive due to a misunderstanding (can’t get into forum, etc), and very rarely at that. Yaro puts EVERYTHING into creating the best programs he can, and he is far more concerned about helping people and doing the ‘right’ thing by everyone than making an extra dollar. He instructs people every day to NOT take his program if he feels that might not be in the right place to learn, or if he feels he will be taking the last of their money. He’s much more ethical than most people I know would be in his situation, and I’ve come to realise that it is because his priority is maintaining his reputation as an honest guy, even if it means he loses money.
He has always honored refunds, even when I think the person is taking advantage of the whole system, he will give them their money back with good wishes.
CMP – It really makes me laugh when I see his sales page images with his car and his house, because he is not a boaster in real life at all, most of his non-internet marking friends have no idea of his success. But isn’t it obvious that these common style of sales pages are done in this fashion because they work? They show what he has accomplished so that people who trust him enough to hand over their cash.
In the end, he gets so much email from happy customers telling him how their blog has improved since employing his advice (both free and paid for), that there is no question that his programs are valuable. If someone doesn’t want to buy it, them that’s fine, but I find it sad that there are people who seem to be so negative about it instead of thinking ‘Hey that guy is doing well for himself, he must be doing something right, what can I learn from him?’.
I won’t be checking the comments here again because I’m really busy, but you can email me at support@blogmastermind.com if you have something to say!
Angela
Michael
May 19th, 2009 2:53 pm
Hi All,
Back to basics.. – Yaro’s defense.
Information
CMP – There was a comment about Yaro’s content just being the same content as other sites.. (I cant remember and cannot be bothered quoting)
I would argue that everything we know in our heads came from somewhere else. We are taught our whole lives.
Even the guy teaching how to sprint 100m learnt that from other coaches, lecturers, own experience etc (see my point)
I believe that Yaro understands his topics
Information Overload
There is so much information out there! There are so many wrong ways of doing things. I am happy for Yaro – or anyone else who creates an information product to:
- do all the research
- work out what works and what doesnt work
- explain to me the content in the order I need to understand it
- support me through the things I do not understand in forums and coaching calls
This is what Yaro’s and Others membership sites do for us
Value and Trust
I dont know about you but I value my time. That is one thing we have a finite amount of. (Some people actually have a countdown timer – showing them how many days, hours, mins, and seconds they have to live – that would stop you wasting time)
I am happy to pay $27, $47, $77, $whatever – If I can see that it is saving me time – and allowing me to focus on what I do best.
Let the Information provider work it out – you TRUST the process and just do it..
The Fat Guy Selling Weight Loss
Yes, Yaro is selling information about how to sell information. However the positive side of this is – he gets to understand his content twice as much as anyone else.. Follow me on this train of thought. For the guy who is writing a membership site about running 100m – he spends his time – learning how to do membership sites AND hundreds of hours on how to Run 100m. Yes, 2 different topics.. Yaro gets to Hyper Focus on one topic. And so does Darren. These are the guys we should be listening to because their knowledge is ‘amplified’ – that their delivery mechanism AND their topic.
You cannot get better testing and feedback than that.
Success
Success is measured in so many ways. Mates of mine are some of our countries wealthiest people. I am fortunate to be surrounded by huge success every day. From sports people to business people. Everyone of these guys is a basic human underneath. You do not know they have money when you first meet them. That is not what they talk about. (The poor want-to-be’s are usually flashing their watches, cars, talking it up) These guys are normal friendly guys. Content in their success for their own sake – not for other people opinions. Only after getting to know them for a while do you realise they have achieved unbelievable success – you stumble upon stories of success – like you need to extract it from them.
The thing I like about Yaro is he is not talking about getting rich quick – (I dont really know anything financial about Yaro except for what is in this blog comments.)
He presents a comfortable income, comfortable house, comfortable car – and a sustainable approach to an income.
He helps you build ‘assets’ with your content – not just hunting for money every day.
Chill out guys, just be nice to each other – humans need humans – and congratulate people on making the world a better place.
Michael
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