Inside Corey Rudl's Internet Marketing Center
Today I had lunch with Chris Reynolds, the Affiliate Manager for Corey Rudl's Internet Marketing Center. We had a great conversation over delicious sandwiches at Moonpennies (1103 W Pender Street, if you're ever in Vancouver - and if you are, phone me - I'll meet you for lunch!) and after we ate, I got a sneak peek at where the action happens in the IMC office.
It was certainly an enlightening day that made me think about a lot of stuff. First off, the office is right across the street from where I used to work for the Canadian government -- my last "real world" job for this lifetime. I remembered all the rush hours I drove through and the busy and hurried lunches and most of all, waking up really early. ICK! So, immediately, I was thankful for my favorite job in the world --- entrepreneur.
And before I go further, I have to say that when I first got online in 2002, I ended up on Corey's email list. Can't remember how, but I subscribed somewhere along the line. I always found his promotions to be a bit hypey and incomplete and when I canceled the ISP address I used to subscribe, I didn't miss his email. But 2 weeks ago, when Chris contacted me saying he wanted me to promote the Internet Marketing Center's products...I decided to keep an open mind. After all, I knew the company had proven success stories and I also knew that they valued the stay at home mom as a vital market (and geez, if you don't know it already, I have REALLY soft spot for the mamas!). So I "allowed" Chris to send me this GIANT box of course materials to review. I am part way through now and I will tell you -- I have received some FANTASTIC information. I will have more details once I sift through it all.
But back to the subject at hand, after lunch we went back to the office. The Internet marketing center now employs 75 full-time employees. I was kind of thrown for a loop because when I think about doing business online, I almost always think of doing business from the comfort of home. Okay, I'm not making the millions that Corey is, but I also don't have the overhead he does. He's in a downtown Vancouver office, paying a heck of a lot of people to work for him. I also know there's others, probably PROFITING what he does, still working from home and not managing such a huge staff.
So, I see the positives -- Corey employs 75 people in my community and that makes me very happy. If I could provide a full-time income to half as many people, I would be incredibly pleased. And Corey himself is nowhere near rainy Vancouver. He now lives in sunny California, but still contributes to his home-town community. That's pretty cool.
But let's get to the other side of the coin and this is really just between you and me, okay? The fact that the marketingtips.com website is really kind of ugly and sorely out-of-date came up. I asked about this, and apparently, it was an issue of keeping the right web designer and getting
him/her to complete the job. He also told me about the complicated testing system that all their product sales letters go through and I said, "Don't you know that Armand Morin has a product that will solve this?" and he said, "Yeah, is it good?"
Of course, I assured him it was...but then he told me that the employees in that section were responsible for testing, so how they did they tested largely depended on their own motivation.
So, here I am thinking...what a pain in the ass to have all these employees. So, what's the best model? How do you maintain the increasing profitability without lending yourself to such bureaucracy (which really reminds me of when I worked for the government - and nobody needs to be reminded of that).
I also found out (and Chris may kick my butt for sharing this), that they are now reviewing John Reese's Traffic Secrets and studying how he managed to sell as much product
as he did on one day. Chris deduced that it was certainly due to his relationships with just a few people who promoted the course for him. CLEARLY (And here's me trying not to say, "No sh@#t, Sherlock" -- but of course, I mean that in the most respectful way)!
But that's not all...as I told Chris. I said John is a REAL flesh and blood human being and people were primed to buy his course because they liked him. He has personally touched the lives of others and personally strives to help them and shares a heck of a lot of information...absolutely for free. The Internet Marketing Center doesn't really have this. Ever tried to contact Corey Rudl himself? It's just not possible. Corey is too busy and given all that he manages, that's not a surprise.
So, it brings me back to the whole "big company" dilemma...is it worth it? If your business is growing like this, how do you avoid it? Or should you avoid it?
It was certainly an enlightening day that made me think about a lot of stuff. First off, the office is right across the street from where I used to work for the Canadian government -- my last "real world" job for this lifetime. I remembered all the rush hours I drove through and the busy and hurried lunches and most of all, waking up really early. ICK! So, immediately, I was thankful for my favorite job in the world --- entrepreneur.
And before I go further, I have to say that when I first got online in 2002, I ended up on Corey's email list. Can't remember how, but I subscribed somewhere along the line. I always found his promotions to be a bit hypey and incomplete and when I canceled the ISP address I used to subscribe, I didn't miss his email. But 2 weeks ago, when Chris contacted me saying he wanted me to promote the Internet Marketing Center's products...I decided to keep an open mind. After all, I knew the company had proven success stories and I also knew that they valued the stay at home mom as a vital market (and geez, if you don't know it already, I have REALLY soft spot for the mamas!). So I "allowed" Chris to send me this GIANT box of course materials to review. I am part way through now and I will tell you -- I have received some FANTASTIC information. I will have more details once I sift through it all.
But back to the subject at hand, after lunch we went back to the office. The Internet marketing center now employs 75 full-time employees. I was kind of thrown for a loop because when I think about doing business online, I almost always think of doing business from the comfort of home. Okay, I'm not making the millions that Corey is, but I also don't have the overhead he does. He's in a downtown Vancouver office, paying a heck of a lot of people to work for him. I also know there's others, probably PROFITING what he does, still working from home and not managing such a huge staff.
So, I see the positives -- Corey employs 75 people in my community and that makes me very happy. If I could provide a full-time income to half as many people, I would be incredibly pleased. And Corey himself is nowhere near rainy Vancouver. He now lives in sunny California, but still contributes to his home-town community. That's pretty cool.
But let's get to the other side of the coin and this is really just between you and me, okay? The fact that the marketingtips.com website is really kind of ugly and sorely out-of-date came up. I asked about this, and apparently, it was an issue of keeping the right web designer and getting
him/her to complete the job. He also told me about the complicated testing system that all their product sales letters go through and I said, "Don't you know that Armand Morin has a product that will solve this?" and he said, "Yeah, is it good?"
Of course, I assured him it was...but then he told me that the employees in that section were responsible for testing, so how they did they tested largely depended on their own motivation.
So, here I am thinking...what a pain in the ass to have all these employees. So, what's the best model? How do you maintain the increasing profitability without lending yourself to such bureaucracy (which really reminds me of when I worked for the government - and nobody needs to be reminded of that).
I also found out (and Chris may kick my butt for sharing this), that they are now reviewing John Reese's Traffic Secrets and studying how he managed to sell as much product
as he did on one day. Chris deduced that it was certainly due to his relationships with just a few people who promoted the course for him. CLEARLY (And here's me trying not to say, "No sh@#t, Sherlock" -- but of course, I mean that in the most respectful way)!
But that's not all...as I told Chris. I said John is a REAL flesh and blood human being and people were primed to buy his course because they liked him. He has personally touched the lives of others and personally strives to help them and shares a heck of a lot of information...absolutely for free. The Internet Marketing Center doesn't really have this. Ever tried to contact Corey Rudl himself? It's just not possible. Corey is too busy and given all that he manages, that's not a surprise.
So, it brings me back to the whole "big company" dilemma...is it worth it? If your business is growing like this, how do you avoid it? Or should you avoid it?
3 Comments:
The only time you should limit growth is when it involves a cancerous tumor.
Seriously, growing too fast can be as such, if the focus doesn't remain on customer service. Ever try to call your credit card company to ask a simply question, and end up pressing more buttons than a video poker addict? You need to first "dumb it down" before you build it up by being able to take care of customers' simple questions, or you can simply FAQ-et about it :-)
- Dave aka HiFiWebGuy.com
Yep, it's not for me either. Sure I outsource a lot of my work -- but I won't be collecting employees or building an office outside of my home. That totally defeats the purpose of why I build an online business.
Ditto for me - Simple is better ;)
But it sounds like a nice outing you had, and I really look forward to hearing your review of the material. I still get the newsletter, and have the infamous course here in my office - agreeing with your comments, too, but look forward to any 'new' insight you want to share!
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