The Tony Shepherd Thread

[BlackTopHat]

I'm starting this so we can have a place to discuss Tony's methods and how we are adapting them for our own purposes. I post more from my point of view later but you needn't wait. More soon...

Thoughts?

[Mr. 20/4]

this is a great idea for a thread! following...

[NoJob]

@BlackTopHat, great idea!
My thoughts: I like Tony's approach to doing business. Too many people just want to sell, sell, sell. Their lack of respect for their customers is readily apparent. I believe that you have to entertain, educate and then sell - in that order. (in Ben Settle's Infotainment book he says "I know lots of rich entertainers, but no rich teachers) The entertaining thing is the hard part which is why IMHO the Content Genius Workshop is in such demand. I have a dummy email with 169,118 unopened emails from marketers - I read all of Tony's emails. Enough said.

So, what am I doing? I recently bought a domain with the intention of hosting a niche blog from where I would sell Workshops/Info Products in a style very much like Tony. My niche has lots of FB Groups and I am already a member at some of them. My plan was to join more and use them to promote the blog and build my list. BUT after reading the Free Traffic Workshop, I'm scrapping the blog idea and proceeding more along the lines of that report. I have lots of free stuff to give away and 3 'paid' workshop ideas partially done. (I will continue to use the FB Groups to promote)

All thoughts welcome!
Cheers,
NoJob

[ohhhouch]

(01-14-2022 05:08 AM)NoJob Wrote:  @BlackTopHat, great idea!
My thoughts: I like Tony's approach to doing business. Too many people just want to sell, sell, sell. Their lack of respect for their customers is readily apparent. I believe that you have to entertain, educate and then sell - in that order. (in Ben Settle's Infotainment book he says "I know lots of rich entertainers, but no rich teachers) The entertaining thing is the hard part which is why IMHO the Content Genius Workshop is in such demand. I have a dummy email with 169,118 unopened emails from marketers - I read all of Tony's emails. Enough said.

So, what am I doing? I recently bought a domain with the intention of hosting a niche blog from where I would sell Workshops/Info Products in a style very much like Tony. My niche has lots of FB Groups and I am already a member at some of them. My plan was to join more and use them to promote the blog and build my list. BUT after reading the Free Traffic Workshop, I'm scrapping the blog idea and proceeding more along the lines of that report. I have lots of free stuff to give away and 3 'paid' workshop ideas partially done. (I will continue to use the FB Groups to promote)

All thoughts welcome!
Cheers,
NoJob

Thanks for the input.
Since you said you read all his emails ,have you bought anything directly from him?
The reason I would like to know is I've noticed a stark difference between the two approaches.
The Tony's approach of entertaining first definitely generates a 6 figure income for him.
But the big name marketers (think Jono Armstrong) do just trainings and selling (rarely entertain) and they make millions.

So I'm wondering the later more direct approach of selling might not look good to customers, but that clearly gives the big results.
I'm deciding on my own approach to emailing right now, so that's why I wanted to hear constructive inputs from both sides.

[DacInBC]

In reply to Ohhhouch's comments re other marketers making more. Tony makes as much as he wishes. If you read enough of his teachings, you will find that back in the day, he did the churn and burn style marketing to reach his targets, then about 10 years ago, had a complete change in his philosophy. And to be clear, Tony sells every day. There is not an email he sends out that does not have a link to purchase something, it is just far more subtle than the hammer on the head.
Tony has a smallish email list by industry standards, with about 20,000 on it, where I would bet other marketers would be 50,000 or more.

Tony only spends 3 hours a day on his business, where other marketers probably spend far more.

So I am not sure it is a fair comparison.

Now it comes down to what you want for an outcome, if it is a million dollars, then you are going to be working hard. If it is a comfortable living, then you will work a lot less.

At least that is my takeaway from reading a lot of his stuff. The Inner circle stuff shared on here covers a lot of his day to day stuff.

[ohhhouch]

(01-14-2022 05:30 AM)DacInBC Wrote:  In reply to Ohhhouch's comments re other marketers making more. Tony makes as much as he wishes. If you read enough of his teachings, you will find that back in the day, he did the churn and burn style marketing to reach his targets, then about 10 years ago, had a complete change in his philosophy. And to be clear, Tony sells every day. There is not an email he sends out that does not have a link to purchase something, it is just far more subtle than the hammer on the head.
Tony has a smallish email list by industry standards, with about 20,000 on it, where I would bet other marketers would be 50,000 or more.

Tony only spends 3 hours a day on his business, where other marketers probably spend far more.

So I am not sure it is a fair comparison.

Now it comes down to what you want for an outcome, if it is a million dollars, then you are going to be working hard. If it is a comfortable living, then you will work a lot less.

At least that is my takeaway from reading a lot of his stuff. The Inner circle stuff shared on here covers a lot of his day to day stuff.

Thanks for the valuable response
In my opinion, it depends strongly on the quality of list.
The big marketers have a literal buyers list (they launch every few weeks), so I believe they can get away with a more direct approach.
As for Tony, he says he buys solo ads to build his list - so these people might be interested in the topic, yet are not 'buyers in heat'.

And also it goes without saying- that marketers who are using personal videos are having far greater results than Tony could ever imagine. Nearly all big time marketers get on camera, whereas Tony refuses to do so.

[NoJob]

@ohhhouch, thanks for your thoughts. I think the point DacInBC is making is that this is a choice, laidback lifestyle VS Money. Tony has clearly chosen the lifestyle . . . and 5 figures a month is nothing to sneeze at.

Also, you should note that he isn't buying solo ads anymore (read his Free Traffic Workshop) so his list is very responsive. In answer to your question, no I haven't actually bought any of his products but I have or have read almost all of them.
If you think the 'Big Launch' model works for you, go for it. For me, the massive email list required to play in the MMO/Internet Marketing niches (if that's where you're going) make it not worthwhile. It really is an "old boys club" and I'm not one of the 'boys'.

Also, and this is key - I'm NOT in the MMO/Internet Marketing niche. I'm in a market where I'm already consulting. I love my chances with his methods!
Cheers,
NoJob

[DacInBC]

@NoJob, thanks for sharing. Yes, I was trying (and apparently failing) to show that yes indeed, it is a personal choice of Tony to only make 5 figures a month and enjoy life.

Without sharing your niche, I was wondering how his techniques would work in other niches, please update us if you use them. I see his techniques working well in the MMO niche, but not so sure about a lot of other evergreen niches.
On top of that, at least with the Solo Ads provider he mentioned, it is very limited in the niches. So I am not sure you can even use his solo ads method to drive traffic to your funnel, again making me wonder about his methods working in other evergreen markets.

D.

[NoJob]

(01-14-2022 08:31 AM)DacInBC Wrote:  @NoJob, thanks for sharing. Yes, I was trying (and apparently failing) to show that yes indeed, it is a personal choice of Tony to only make 5 figures a month and enjoy life.

Without sharing your niche, I was wondering how his techniques would work in other niches, please update us if you use them. I see his techniques working well in the MMO niche, but not so sure about a lot of other evergreen niches.
On top of that, at least with the Solo Ads provider he mentioned, it is very limited in the niches. So I am not sure you can even use his solo ads method to drive traffic to your funnel, again making me wonder about his methods working in other evergreen markets.

D.

@DacInBC,
Have you read his Free Traffic Workshop? If not you should - it makes the Solo Ad thing irrelevant.
Re. other niches - imagine for a moment you know a lot about Social Media or FB ads or getting leads from TicTok/Pinterest . . . don't you think there are a TON of car dealers/insurance agents/mortgage brokers etc. who would gladly pay you for your knowledge?
Simply put, people like these have been getting clients offline for decades but things have changed and these folks NEED help. Be that help.
Cheers,
NoJob

[DacInBC]

(01-14-2022 09:10 AM)NoJob Wrote:  @DacInBC,
Have you read his Free Traffic Workshop? If not you should - it makes the Solo Ad thing irrelevant.
Re. other niches - imagine for a moment you know a lot about Social Media or FB ads or getting leads from TicTok/Pinterest . . . don't you think there are a TON of car dealers/insurance agents/mortgage brokers etc. who would gladly pay you for your knowledge?
Simply put, people like these have been getting clients offline for decades but things have changed and these folks NEED help. Be that help.
Cheers,
NoJob

Hi NoJob, thanks for adding to the conversation, sounds like you are selling leads, which is great.

I have read his free traffic and the solo ads. I can assure you, based on the inner circle stuff that is shared on here, as well as how new his Solo Ads workshop is (and is still being promoted by Tony), that he is most definitely still doing solo ads.
The Solo Ad is far from irrelevant from what he is saying in the inner circle stuff.

Tony has no idea, nor interest in Facebook or any other social media for promoting things and getting people on his list. I was surprise by his free traffic method, as it is so simple, but he must be getting people to promote for him via it.

D.