I discovered Social Power Linking through Jack’s free “Authority Black Book“. Well actually, that’s not exactly right. The book referred me to a product which had been removed from sale. That was disappointing because after reading the Black Book I REALLY wanted to buy Jack’s new product. Right now I’m having a lot of success with social marketing and I want to learn as much as I can about it, and Jack is probably the most qualified person on the planet to teach me. 

As it turns out, the product was withdrawn because Jack was developing it into a membership site. Now, I’ve seen membership sites in Internet Marketing and SEO which charge anything up to $800 per month. So when I found out that Jack was only charging around $30 a month I jumped at the chance.

Note: I can’t guarantee the price will stay at that level, but the fee is locked in once you join.

Heck, you can easily pay $30 a month for a single link from a medium PageRank site. SPL shows you how to get hundreds of links from high-PR, high-authority sites for free. But it’s not just about links for SEO. It’s about generating TRAFFIC.

OK, so what do you get for your thirty bucks? Being a membership site there will be new stuff added as the site grows, but here’s a summary of what’s in there right now:

• Introduction Video 
• Quick-start Guide (pdf)
• Objectives (pdf)
• Authority Black Book and Bending the Web (these can be downloaded separately without joining SPL but are included for convenience. They are excellent guides)
• Social Power Linking Intensive Training (these are recorded webinars that you view with free software. They are split into two files and run for several hours each)
• Supporting files for the webinars (guides, slides from the webinar etc)
• A FREE copy of Web2Submitter ($47 value – not sure if I’m supposed to mention that, but there you are)
• Buzz Group (probably THE most valuable resource in SPL)
• 60 Day Marketing Plan (more on this below)
• Training Videos (covers a number of Web 2.0 tools, sites and resources)
• Exclusive Reports (using Digg, StumbleUpon, Squidoo, HubPages, Propeller and more - pdf files)
• Quickburst Topic Reports (pdf files)
• Training Audios (mp3)
• Jack’s original Power Linking e-book

The 60 Day Marketing Plan is heavy duty stuff. Trust me, your head will be spinning after reading this. But, this isn’t just a guide. It’s an actual blueprint for building massive traffic. In fact, it’s the same plan which Jack’s staff use for clients who pay up to $50,000 a year for his services. You’ll see that as you read the plan – it’s an internal set of instructions for his staff. This is powerful stuff. Mind you, there is a LOT of work involved with implementing this plan (which is why Jack has staff to do it), but even if you just use a fraction of this stuff it will be effective. This is no GRQ (get rich quick) plan or a “lazyman’s” guide. It requires real commitment. After all, you’re running a “real” business, aren’t you?

The Buzz Group helps you overcome one of the main difficulties with social marketing – submitting your own content. Many Web 2.0 sites frown upon submitting your own content. Doing so can quickly get you banned. I know, I’ve been banned from Digg and on another site my rating is so low I can’t do anything. Jack’s been through all that. He had the same experience with Propeller (Netscape). The training course covers how to avoid getting banned while still promoting your own content, but the Buzz Group provides a way to get your content submitted and voted on without having to submit it yourself.

Summary Review

Right now I’m hungry for any information and resources I can get on Web 2.0 and social marketing. Social Power Linking more than satisfies that hunger. If fact, the only criticism I can make is there is so much information to digest you have to set aside large blocks of time to get through it all. And then more time to apply these strategies. But apply them you must, because by golly they work!

Social Power Linking Affiliate Program

Concerned about the $30 per month membership fee? As I said at the top of this review, it’s peanuts compared to other membership sites. However, here’s how you can make your membership effectively free. Just make two referrals and your fee is covered. The affiliate program is only available to members but pays 50% commission. There are plenty of tools provided for affiliates such as banners, email messages etc. My advice? Become a member and use the techniques in Social Power Linking. Then write a review in your blog, just like this one, and give your first-hand experiences with SPL.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: SPL has been replaced by a new service called Blog Success. All of the tools and resources from SPL are included along with a whole bunch of new resources. Check out this case study for more details. Blog Success have also released this free tool - well worth downloading.

Technorati Tags: Blog Success, Social Power Linking, Jack Humphrey, Social Marketing, Web 2.0

Web 2.0 marketing is an area I have been paying a lot of attention to lately, particularly on the site you are reading right now. It’s been VERY effective. For example, a review I posted on this site achieved a #1 listing on Google within 24 hours of me posting it. Try doing that on your regular, static website! Yes, I can manage to achieve good, long term rankings on my traditional sites. But you can’t deny the speed and effectiveness of blogging & social networking.

So with that in mind I was keen to delve into Web 2.0 Traffic Stampede. The main strategies examined are:

• forming friendships with influential people and gaining their trust
• tapping into those people’s contacts and their contacts
• which Web 2.0 sites to join for best results
• how to get your message across for maximim effect and minimal cost

Other topics covered are:

• creating a Web 2.0 blog
• syndication
• plugging into other Web 2.0 sites
• niche marketing and creating buzz
• advertising and promotion
• the ideal Web 2.0 site

Chris’s book is an excellent introduction to Web 2.0 marketing. If you’re never attempted this style of marketing then you’ll find plently to learn. It’s well witten and follows a logical progression from understanding social networking to putting strategies in place.

However, if you consider yourself beyond the beginners stage, and are already experimenting with social marketing, you might find yourself wanting some more detail. There are a number of Web 2.0 sites presented with info on how to use them, but I wouldn’t call it an exaustive list. I should say however that I wasn’t aware of most of the sites presented and I am now using them to great effect. So on that count, the book scores a win. I just wish there were some more sites examined. I’m really hungry for this type of info at the moment.

Actually, I’ve been on my own voyage of discovery and have found some real gems. I’ll report on those in another post, although one of them is so good I’m not sure if I should “tell”. I probably will though. I’m not very good at keeping secrets

Inclusions: 

Web 2.0 Marketer’s Bible

This is an “unadvertised bonus” included with Stampede. Chris describes it as “an insider’s guide to how my mind works when researching all aspects of Web 2.0?. It covers topics such as social networking and goes into more detail on advertising, such as how to use banner ads in the Web 2.0 world. Some good info here.

Clickbank Marketplace Report

Here’s where it gets interesting for affiliate marketers. This is a three part report which discusses 37 products, mostly from the Clickbank marketplace. Chris admits that many of the reports were written by a freelancer and he’s yet to review what they’ve written. His rationale was that he wanted to get the reports out as quickly as possible but that he will be sending an updated version. I think perhaps he should have waited because some of them are not well written.

The second part of the report examines which parts in common did well and which didn’t. The third part looks at creating your own product. A surprise inclusion was a “swipe file” which actually includes all the sales pages of the products reviewed.

Despite the slightly dodgy reviews on some of the products, what this whole Clickbank Marketplace Report represents is an excellent guide to which Clickbank affiliate products to promote. At a glance you can see if the product was successful and what percentage of the sale you will earn as an affiliate. Why waste your time promoting losers? Although, I have to say, you should ALWAYS purchase the products you are going to promote. And if YOU feel it is a dud, say so.

Summary Review

All up, I was pretty happy with Web 2.0 Traffic Stampede. I would like to see more detail on some of the Web 2.0 sites discussed and perhaps some more case studies, as well as more actual sites. I’m discovering new ones every day. But it’s a great beginners guide to the new frontier of social marketing.

Technorati Tags: Web 2.0 Traffic Stampede, Social Marketing