Joel Comm Adsense Secrets Controversy Interview [7:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (89)


I had the chance to sit down on Skype with Joel Comm last Friday and chat with him about the new Adsense Secrets 4 launch and the controversy that sprung up around the “continuity program” associated with the $9.95 ebook offer.

I let him address the concerns posed by some other bloggers and he addressed the way the “re-bill” worked as well as what value the continuity program would deliver in terms of value and the unsubscribe process.

Since we chatted, Joel has made some substantial changes to the way the offer is presented to address the concerns posed in the blogosphere and through consumer feedback. You can read up on the details of what he did to address the situation here.

There was quite a bit of controversy at the end of last week on the continuity program that Joel Comm was offering with his $9.95 deal for his newly updated AdSense Secrets 4.

Mark of 45N5.com pointed out that there was a continuity program that he felt buyers were being opted in for without sufficient mention up front.

I took a look at the sales page and the continuity program was mentioned in plain text. I think there could have been a little more highlighting of this, but compared to some continuity programs I have seen in the past where there is no mention or tiny print mention after the fact.

I got on Skype with Joel and we spoke about how things worked. He indicated that he was working to make some changes to make the process more transparent and to give the user a choice of whether to buy the ebook alone or the bundled ebook with the continuity program with his 1% Report. He pointed out that the 1% Report is actually a physical product that the user would get a free month of, accompanied by a letter with instructions on unsubscribing if they were interested so a recurring charge would most likely not be billed.

Well - yesterday, Joel posted an apology on his site that I think is worth mentioning and reading. He’s now tweaked the shopping cart to allow for easy selection of the solo ebook or bundled package. He’s also pledged to give 2 weeks of the revenue from direct sales of the AdSense Secrets ebook to a charity .

I think the apology is sincere and I commend Joel for stepping back and admitting he’d made a mistake. I think there are many marketers who wouldn’t have reared their head at all, and definitely wouldn’t have apologized, corrected the issue, and made any kind of move to make something good of the situation by donating proceeds to charity.

One request for Joel, or anyone else who is going to make an offer like this to affiliates where there is a really aggressively priced “lead offer” to get people on a continuity program (other than to be as clear as possible with consumers) PLEASE TELL YOUR AFFILIATES WHAT’S UP.

The affiliates can then make a call as to how they promote the product.

Would I have still promoted the ebook offer? YES

I think the content is good stuff and I like to promote offers from fellow believers.

I would however, have made mention in my copy of the continuity program so my referrals were educated and would go into the deal knowing what is up. The benefit would have been mutual.

God Bless,

Wade

I just got off of Skype with Joel - recorded a podcast that I will post here shortly where he talks about Adsense Secrets 4 and the controversy that seems to have sprung up around it.

At issue is the bonus item mentioned in this paragraph on Joel’s sales page:

Fast Action Bonus #3 ($59 Value - Yours Free!)

FREE Trial Membership - You’ll receive a free copy of the information packed newsletter on Internet marketing in the world, “The Top 1% Report”! You won’t find any of this information on the Internet…it’s too powerful. We’ll ship it right to your door along with an additional bonus CD exclusive to my readers.

If after the free report you decide it’s not worth ten times the subscription cost (which won’t happen because you will be blown away by the content in this report!), simply contact us and cancel your subscription at any time! Otherwise, you may continue to be in the Top 1% for the discount rate of just $29.95 every 30 days. Wait until you see the bonus that comes with your first edition! (Italics mine - WT)

I chatted with Joel on this and he is adamant that they not only will make it possible to opt out of this in the sale process, but also will prominently display the link to cancel the report subscription and kill the monthly billing on the credit card in the reports that are delivered.

Joel has corrected me on this - the “Top 1% Report” is a physical product . The initial copy of which will come with a cover letter that re-emphasizes the subscription details and provides details on how to terminate the subscription and re-bill if the subscriber desires.

I have asked Joel to kick me over as copy of the report/newsletter that will be sent to subscribers so I can see how the unsubscription process is handled.

More to come

God Bless,

Wade

I was just chatting with Jim Kukral about some of the recent happenings in the online marketing world and he directed me to the 45N5 Blog by Mark Wielgus where he pointed out some interesting facts about the new Adsense Secrets launch from Joel Comm.

I wanted everyone to have a heads up because I promoted the opportunity on this blog. Apparently, there is a $29.95 monthly automatic rebill that happens unless you opt out. I’m hoping that Joel is delivering access to some awesome content for that extra money. The content is great in the book for $9.95 - just know going into it that if that is all you want, you’ll need to let them know.

I’d love to have Joel on a podcast as soon as possible to chat on this.

God Bless,

Wade