David DeAngelo - Now a Millionaire

[Razor Sharp]

http://gurublueprintblog.com/2010/06/01/an-information-billionaire-youve-never-heard-of/

Of course David DeAngelo is not his real name. Would you buy a seduction book from a guy named "Eben"? That's just bad marketing!

Anyways I own a few of his videos and they are actually pretty solid. Didn't even realize who he was till he started talking about how he started his empire with "Double your Dating"

 

[speakeasy]

I like David D and he was the first guru I started listening too awhile back. He really transformed my thinking in certain ways. The thing is, other than "****y and funny", I don't think he really has come up with original ideas. I think what he has done is read a lot of different material from evolutionary biology to psychology and basically congealed into one philosophy. He is more a compiler of ideas than an originator. Never the less, I'd say he's got the best material out there for getting your inner game together and the psychology of male-female interaction. He doesn't address outer game or technique really.

Funny thing is I've heard that he's not that good in the field himself, so it's an incredible feat that he became a millionaire off of basically summarizing the ideas of others in his ebook. I give him big credit for being a smart business guy and savvy in using the internet to promote his material. Selling ebooks and ideas takes very little overhead yet can be quite profitable if you've found your niche.

 

[taiyuu_otoko]

Dudes been around for a while, (check this thread, posted in 2001) and he's widely regarded as a master of internet marketing. He is a prime example of two things:

1) You're ideas don't have to be that original

2) With persistence, you can get rich

Never give up

 

[jonwon]

http://gurublueprintblog.com/2010/06/01/an-information-billionaire-youve-never-heard-of/

Of course David DeAngelo is not his real name. Would you buy a seduction book from a guy named "Eben"? That's just bad marketing!

Anyways I own a few of his videos and they are actually pretty solid. Didn't even realize who he was till he started talking about how he started his empire with "Double your Dating"

I believe he started out on this forum, he is in the Bible, cant remember the name, but I know he is there.
Ah, just read TO Post, is name was 'Sisonpyh'

 

[squirrels]

Somehow, I feel like people who profit off of this crap are underhanded.

I mean, think about it...how many people have actually benefited from paying MONEY for one of these week-long seminars or books-on-tape series? How many have even benefited from the WEALTH of FREE stuff that's on here?

As I've said before, anyone who has the CAPACITY to be a "Don Juan" can learn what he needs to learn to become one with a couple of weekends of just GETTING OUT THERE and TALKING TO WOMEN. There's no "system" that can substitute for that.

All the advice on here does for most people is give them some kind of feel-good high that lasts as long as they remember reading it...maybe about an hour or so, tops. If they're not ready to receive it, which most people AREN'T, they then proceed to go out into the world and behave in the same bass-ackwards way, then come back to the forum or to their books-on-tape or inspirational literature for another "quick fix".

Eventually you have hordes of people in the "Don Juan Crackhouse", who sit on the forum and are constantly getting "high" off of what's posted here, who act like they know everything about dating and sexing and getting women...but are they actually getting anywhere with women? Nope. They're either still struggling with the ladies, or they manage to get ONE second-rate woman into bed and then write up some 3-page post about how to "keep her" or why their "****y-funny" isn't working quite right.

I can't help but look at people who SELL this stuff as I'd look at drug dealers. Sure, they're "filling a need", but are they really offering value for the money they're receiving? Or are they just taking advantage of suckers? Is it OK to make money off of other people's failures at life and misguided depedencies?

 

[Razor Sharp]

Is it OK to make money off of other people's failures at life and misguided depedencies?

I dont see what's so underhanded about helping someone in a rut and getting paid for it. By your logic we wouldn't have therapists, self-help programs or even education.

I never got the vibe that DYD was trying to be a magic bullet either. It encouraged me to get out there and at least try something.

Say what you will, at least these guys are making a living off their talent, which is more than I can say for most people.

 

[Stud]

Of course it is not underhanded to sell self help material, no matter if it is for eating disorders, depression, or dating. You are forgetting that at no point did he put a gun to anyone's head and make them buy his ebooks, seminars, etc. If enough customers bought his products to make him a success, you should be congratulating him on his successes, not calling him a drug dealer.

Think about it, with the ability to download just about anything off of torrent sites, enough people actually went out and paid for his content. Obviously he is not a snake oil salesman, but someone who has developed a product that actually helps others.

Most people who purchased his product probably did not want to go onto forums and deal with haters like you, squirels.

 

[Mistic]

This guy is an all around douche bag. So what he's a millionaire. That just means there are a million idiots out there. No surprise. This guy has the most boring, uninteresting personality and theories. The first time is saw this guy on a video years ago, I knew i'd never listen to a word he had to say.

 

[Razor Sharp]

lol, Mistic you are actually making my point for me. Sure there is nothing revolutionary about his content. You could find most of DYD concepts for free right here. No, his genius is pure marketing and I am already learning a lot from that.

Seduction is a lot like sales, in fact a lot of the same terminology is used (buying temperature, closing, etc). The guy may not be the most interesting person in the world, but the point is you really don't have to be if you present things a certain way. Its not what you have to say that counts nowadays, its your presentation and how you say it.

What I do find interesting is his ability to turn mediocre content into big money, working from home in his pajamas. That definitely appeals to me as I hate my current job and can't wait to tell my boss to f*ck off.

I got put onto affiliate marketing from a friend of mine, who built his online business about a year ago. His gains were modest at first but now he's totally independent and gets to travel everywhere. His websites make money for him while he sleeps. He hasnt reached six figures or anything yet, but he's comfortable, pays all his bills and has lots of free time. That definitely appeals to me, because time is the most precious resource we have

 

[speakeasy]

I got put onto affiliate marketing from a friend of mine, who built his online business about a year ago.

What kind of business does he have? What is he selling?

 

[Razor Sharp]

Software, e-books, videos, business-to-business applications. You can get a pretty good idea of what's selling right now by looking at clickbank's marketplace listings. http://www.clickbank.com/marketplace.htm

You do need some rudimentary knowledge of how websites work, how to write newsletters and other basics. There are also a lot of free promotional tools which submit your site to search engines, social networks, etc. A lot of people are making serious coin this way. Others make modest gains, but still a nice supplement of funds considering you just "set and forget" your sites and receive passive income.

Here is an article outlining the underlying strategy: http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-i-optimize-for-minimal-effort.html

 

[squirrels]

Of course it is not underhanded to sell self help material, no matter if it is for eating disorders, depression, or dating. You are forgetting that at no point did he put a gun to anyone's head and make them buy his ebooks, seminars, etc. If enough customers bought his products to make him a success, you should be congratulating him on his successes, not calling him a drug dealer.

Think about it, with the ability to download just about anything off of torrent sites, enough people actually went out and paid for his content. Obviously he is not a snake oil salesman, but someone who has developed a product that actually helps others.

Most people who purchased his product probably did not want to go onto forums and deal with haters like you, squirels.

A drug dealer does not put a gun to anyone's head and make him buy his product, either. My point is that almost all the people who buy this stuff go through it, get a brief "fix" of inspiration, then fall back down into their rut. You have to have heard the phrase, "self-help junkie".

Don't confuse the fact that people were willing to PAY for his material with the idea that his material is worth what it's being represented as worth. By that definition, Bernie Madoff is an honest businessman as well.

I mean, yeah, I guess I have to give him credit for finding enough people stupid enough to pay him money for this information instead of getting out there and acquiring it for themselves, but what bothers me is how these "gurus" pretend to OWN this information and proceed to PROFIT off of it, when really it's free-to-all. What gives him the right to slap his name on it and charge $50 or $100 or $1000? It's like those people who wanted to copyright the color blue or something.

 

[kxf]

tt

A drug dealer does not put a gun to anyone's head and make him buy his product, either. My point is that almost all the people who buy this stuff go through it, get a brief "fix" of inspiration, then fall back down into their rut. You have to have heard the phrase, "self-help junkie"

Right...so people of business world wide should not create and market products because a number of consumers lack the motivation to get the most out of those products...you come across as angry in some ways as though you view "the rut" as a situation forced onto people of which they can not escape and then some big bad business man comes along and takes there hard earned cash! evil!

The comparison you have made between a drug dealer and DD is clearly born from an unsound mind, in fact you sound crazy..bro..and are more interested in protecting those who fail than seeing the potential that his products can offer.

Don't confuse the fact that people were willing to PAY for his material with the idea that his material is worth what it's being represented as worth. By that definition, Bernie Madoff is an honest businessman as well.

Worth is subjective- due to this there are many out there that feel they have got there full worth out of these products and there are many that do not.

I mean, yeah, I guess I have to give him credit for finding enough people stupid enough to pay him money for this information instead of getting out there and acquiring it for themselves

Oh..your going to give Him credit? Well..that is nice of you! There is just the small detail of exactly what foundation you are standing upon when you hand out this "credit"...

As for people being stupid for paying for this information well..i know more than many who would label each member of this forum stupid for having to look for the information in the first place(free or paid for) instead of naturally developing into a man and having the skill set come with ease as they did...

Sounds to me as though whats stupid or not is down to ones own perspective,position and needs in life..if those needs are met by buying an audio program with the information wanted laid out in front of you instead of having to use time searching through random posts on a forum then i see nothing stupid about it.

but what bothers me is how these "gurus" pretend to OWN this information and proceed to PROFIT off of it, when really it's free-to-all. What gives him the right to slap his name on it and charge $50 or $100 or $1000? It's like those people who wanted to copyright the color blue or something.

I have heard him say "my idea" "i came up with" several times how ever i fail to see the small print on each product stating all ideas are 100% original from the god who is known as DD..maybe you should pull your finger out of your ass and be more interested in what people have to say instead of turning it into a "who thought of it first"..who f"cking cares?

As for what gives him the "right" to slap his name on something and sell it?
Its not even worth going in to, 100 million + in sales speak for them selves and his success..Good on him

 

[OzyBoy]

He's a millionaire now. I say congratulations to him. He is good at what he does.

 

[Razor Sharp]

A drug dealer does not put a gun to anyone's head and make him buy his product, either. My point is that almost all the people who buy this stuff go through it, get a brief "fix" of inspiration, then fall back down into their rut. You have to have heard the phrase, "self-help junkie".

I can only speak for myself and in terms of PUA lit, I only bought DYD and Neil Strauss' The Game (which is more novel than self-help book). Not saying that junkies don't exist, but to follow that metaphor not everyone who uses drugs is a hopeless addict. Some folks are capable of moderation and plain common sense.

By your logic, nothing in the world that is remotely addictive should ever be produced, which is as absurd as me saying that motor cycle companies should go out of business because people can become addicted to adrenaline rushes and its dangerous.

Don't confuse the fact that people were willing to PAY for his material with the idea that his material is worth what it's being represented as worth.

Who is really qualified to decide what something is worth to someone else? You are working off the assumption that most people are willing to wade through forums to find this info. Not everyone has such inclination and would rather have answers delivered to them for a fee rather than dig for them. It's a perfectly reasonable demand.

At the end of the day who is really better off.. the "sucker" who buys an e-book, learns enough from it to improve his game and move on - or the "enlightened" fellow who got all that info for free on a forum to which he has devoted thousands of posts, hours and energy? Ultimately nothing is really for free. Time is money too (actually its more valuable by far)

By that definition, Bernie Madoff is an honest businessman as well.

Madoff robbed people blind and was rightfully convicted of fraud. There is a BIG difference!

I mean, yeah, I guess I have to give him credit for finding enough people stupid enough to pay him money for this information instead of getting out there and acquiring it for themselves, but what bothers me is how these "gurus" pretend to OWN this information and proceed to PROFIT off of it, when really it's free-to-all. What gives him the right to slap his name on it and charge $50 or $100 or $1000? It's like those people who wanted to copyright the color blue or something.

Yes, the game has been hashed and rehashed a million times, there is nothing new under the sun, etc etc. But it's not like the guy just copied and pasted sosuave articles. He took a few of the basic principles and weaved them together in an easy-to-read format which made sense for a lot of people. THAT is where the value is.

Don't be mad because some dudes are actually making a decent living with their writing when the only demonstration of your talent can be found in the sad, depressing little posts you write. The fact of the matter is that Eben wrote that ebook in a matter of weeks and created a fortune for himself out of thin air. You've written thousands of free posts for YEARS and have nothing to show for it - not even the happiness or fulfillment that comes from helping others.

The term "sore loser" comes to mind here.

 

[SamePendo]

I haven't seen the complete video in the link, but I have always wondered how people who sell "things" that can be "pirated" make money. I mean, for example, getting DYD is easy to get on napster. How to jump through that?

 

[Razor Sharp]

Most of them make their money off people who are either honest, lazy or frankly have no idea how to pirate anything.

Of course nowadays marketing has gotten far more advanced. If you are really good at optimizing your sites for Google, using strategic titles, keywords and domain names, then you can actually stay a step ahead of the warez/hacker crowd. You can plan ahead for search terms like "<myproduct> torrent", and set up domains and one-page sites to redirect traffic. Or you can go the simple route and choose a name for a product that uses terms so common that searching for it on torrents/rapidshare/etc yields millions of irrelevant results.

A good example of such an approach is http://confidentialconversions.com/. I challenge you to find that product on any file-sharing network. You might find it on paid networks, but definitely not on a free one (which is what the majority of cheapskates use).

Personally I pay for everything. I don't have financial problems and am glad to support people who make products that I find useful.

 

[SamePendo]

What about the case in hand, Razor? I mean, just look for DYD on napster and it's all over, and you dont have to be internet-savy to know about napster downloading.

 

[Razor Sharp]

Once a product reaches critical mass, it doesn't matter who pirates. The numbers just add up in your favor every time. Eben achieved this by really marketing the hell out of DYD, making it visible in the places where people are actively searching to deal with their problems (forums, google, etc).

The whole approach here is to put yourself in the shoes of someone who has a desperate problem and is ready/willing to shell out some money to fix it. It's much easier to push sales on this target group, than trying to convince folks to buy (a very antiquated form of marketing at this point).

He also offered the e-book at a fairly reasonable price, along with some extras that only registered, paying members had access too. That's yet another incentive for people to purchase. Offer them support or inclusion into an "inner circle" helps them get more value from the paid material than its pirated counterpart.

You'd be surprised how many people actually support out of honesty too. Not everyone is as cheap and underhanded as you are

 

[Mistic]

lol, Mistic you are actually making my point for me. Sure there is nothing revolutionary about his content. You could find most of DYD concepts for free right here. No, his genius is pure marketing and I am already learning a lot from that.

Seduction is a lot like sales, in fact a lot of the same terminology is used (buying temperature, closing, etc). The guy may not be the most interesting person in the world, but the point is you really don't have to be if you present things a certain way. Its not what you have to say that counts nowadays, its your presentation and how you say it.

What I do find interesting is his ability to turn mediocre content into big money, working from home in his pajamas. That definitely appeals to me as I hate my current job and can't wait to tell my boss to f*ck off.

I got put onto affiliate marketing from a friend of mine, who built his online business about a year ago. His gains were modest at first but now he's totally independent and gets to travel everywhere. His websites make money for him while he sleeps. He hasnt reached six figures or anything yet, but he's comfortable, pays all his bills and has lots of free time. That definitely appeals to me, because time is the most precious resource we have

I agree. In fact, I used to be a retail sales trainer for a system called: Retail Selling Made Easy. I used the 9 step method verbatim for gaming women. I was most successful when I was honest about it with the woman I was selling. After I would explain the system, I would follow it up with, "Now why dont you guess what step I have you on." Women love the brutal lighthearted honesty. We'd have a laugh, then I would tell them what is going to happen when I get to step 7.

I used this system to write a book I used to sell online called. "Penis Selling Made Easy" also by the name "Supersize Your Sexlife." The book was funny and had some good info, but as you said, the marketing is the only part that matters. And spending all day for months online trying to promote stuff is worse than death for me. So I let it go.

I have often considered teaching my methods, as no one else in the PU community focuses purely on the marketing angle. I was going to have special workshops for guys who are in the sales field, as they could relate the info very easily.