UPDATE: This review is now outdated, and I do NOT recommend this product any longer. Additionally, the feedback I received from my readers who purchased this product was generally negative. Apparently the sellers did not deliver what was promised. I initially supported this product after attending their live presentation in Vegas, which in my opinion was high quality. I even went so far as to defend it in some of my comments below. But these guys let me down, so I’m sorry I recommended it. I am leaving this review here for informational purposes only. I have removed links to their site from this review.
12/09/2008
While we’ve seen a handful of “big” product launches in the Internet Marketing arena in 2008, this one will probably be remembered as the biggest.
It’s got a bigger “hook” ($100k a day) and more gurus promoting it than anything I’ve ever seen.
So before I jump into the nitty gritty, let me make a few things clear…
1) I was at the Vegas “invite only” event, where they unveiled Arbitrage Conspiracy. No I didn’t pay $10k to be there, but I could see why they would have charged that much.
2) There is no way to review the product in its entirety, because it’s going to be a 12 week course. In other words, no one has actually “seen” the product. So I can only base this review upon the content that was presented in Vegas, combined with what they are saying the product is going to be.
3) Everyone at the Vegas event signed an NDA, so I can’t reveal many of the details. However, some of the details have now been made public by the makers of the product, so I can talk about those things. Also, I am certainly able to give you my opinions about the content I received in Vegas, without revealing specifics.
OK, so I’m actually going to start with the bottom line, and then I’m going to go into more depth to justify my opinion…
Bottom line: I am fully recommending the Arbitrage Conspiracy product/program for anyone who understands what it’s about and is interested in scaling their PPC campaigns to high levels.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me tell you the good, the bad, and how I came to my conclusion.
In case you’re not yet familiar with the Arbitrage Conspiracy story, and the characters behind it, let me fill you in…
It’s about a guy named Aymen (last name withheld), who is reportedly making between $50k-$100k per day NET profit using PPC (pay per click). His main method is promoting offers from CPA (cost per action/acquisition) networks which pay per lead generated.
Aymen works with two other guys on this business, one of whom is a partner in the business. They have requested to remain anonymous, but I did meet one of them in Vegas. He was a very nice Christian guy… I wish I could tell you more about him, as he is proof positive that this business can be conducted with integrity.
The guy who is essentially “bringing” the Arbitrage Conspiracy to the world is Brad Fallon, a recognizable name in the Internet Marketing world. You may know him from such things as StomperNet, Free IQ, etc.
The first question a lot of people may have is… is this for real? After all, $100k per day is a lot, right?
And IF it’s real… then why would Aymen be revealing his methods to the world?
To answer the first question, I will say yes it’s real. I’ve seen their commission statements with my own eyes. But more than that, it’s really not as unbelievable as a lot of people may think. There are a lot of people making that much money; there are just not very many who are teaching how to do it.
A couple months ago, a product was launched by a guru who made $2 Million last year from PPC. It was touted as the greatest PPC revelation of all time. Now these guys come along who are making more than that every month. It’s only a matter of time before the next PPC guru comes along and says he’s making over $1M per day. The Internet IS that big, and it will happen.
To answer the second part of the question (why would he teach it?) is a little more complicated. The most frequent answer you’ll likely find is: because he wants to give back.
I’m sure that’s true, as Aymen and his associates are nice guys… but this obviously isn’t merely a philanthropic endeavor. After all, there are plenty of ways to give back to the world, other than revealing your trade secrets to your competitors.
The obvious ulterior motive is to make more money selling the program. And with a launch of this magnitude, plenty of money will be made.
The other ulterior motive (although publicly mentioned by Amen in an interview) may be less obvious: Aymen is starting a CPA network and wants to train an army of super affiliates to promote his offers.
So hopefully that satisfies everyone’s desire for a reason why.
Now, the most important part…
Can they really teach you how to replicate their success?
Yes, I believe they can. When I produced The Next Internet Millionaire, I learned from Kris Jones (founder of PepperJam), that a successful Internet business can be built in three steps:
1) Find something that works. (period)
2) Replicate it. (period)
3) Scale it. (period)
It’s an ancient formula, and it’s been applied by many people to PPC since its inception. For example, Kris made $1M in one year from PPC arbitrage before starting the Pepperjam Network to scale his business to the next level.
So the CONCEPT is not new. All Aymen has done is taken a successful PPC model (developed largely by his own trial and error), replicated it, and scaled it into a $100k/day business.
And generally speaking, the business model is not new either. In fact, PPC arbitrage has been one of the most taught methods in this niche for the past several years. There are countless ebooks on ClickBank teaching it (I was initiated into it by Chris Carpenter’s Google Cash ebook years ago).
So what’s different about this?
It really comes down to the specific combination of tools and techniques that they are using to thrive in today’s market. Research is fundamental to their success.
Aymen and his team are truly on the bleeding edge of technology as it applies to their business. They have formulated a systematic approach to research, PPC implementation, landing pages, conversion, and every other element.
They’ve been able to leverage their system to the point that they only work part time (a few hours a day) in order to achieve the results they are getting. In my opinion, that’s impressive!
Their system is so good that it caused virtually everyone in attendance (including myself) to drop their jaws in awe of what they had presented to us.
OK so now it’s time for me to tell you what I DON’T like…
This is somewhat difficult to say, because I don’t want to tick off my friends who are launching this product. However, if I didn’t say it, this wouldn’t be Eric’s Tips. 🙂 If all I said were the same things as all the other “gurus” then you might was well unsubscribe from my newsletter right now, because you obviously don’t need more of the same hype.
I have a problem with the way they are positioning the course for newbies. For example, these are the top 3 bullet points on their current landing page:
“How he got started with a mere $50!”
“How to get completely set up and open for business in 24 hours!”
“How To Make Massive profits with No Website, No Product and No List”
I understand that a newbie can follow this system, but I do not believe those points are representative of the course as a whole. Although the business is fairly simplistic in nature (buy clicks to earn profits), I think their systems are more complex than they may realize.
Yes, Aymen got started with $50, but he also spent millions of dollars testing and developing his methods. There are also a handful of software and memberships that you will need to buy to implement all the methods.
Yes, you could get a PPC campaign up and running in 24 hours (or 24 minutes for that matter), but that barely scratches the surface of the Arbitrage Conspiracy methods. I consider myself to be an EXPERT, and it would take me a matter of weeks to implement all their techniques.
Yes you could make profits with no website, no product, and no list… but that’s not the emphasis of the program. A lot of their methods use landing pages, and landing pages are part of a website.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that if THOSE are the things that you want to do (start a business with no more than $50 investment, set it up in 24 hours, and make money with no website), then Arbitrage Conspiracy is NOT for you!
You don’t need to invest in a 12-week content-packed course to learn how to do that. You could go buy a $47 ebook on ClickBank and learn the basics of PPC.
So who is this for?
In my opinion, Arbitrage Conspiracy is for anyone who wants to go BEYOND the level I just described above.
It’s for marketers who understand that they have to spend more money on PPC in order to make more profits.
It’s for marketers who are not afraid of embracing new technology and methods.
It’s for marketers who can imagine themselves making $100k a day.
And it’s especially for marketers who already know how to create a profitable PPC campaign. If you fit that description, Arbitrage Conspiracy is a good choice for you, because it will show you how to take those same campaigns and crank them up to the next level, and then to the next level, etc.
Without a doubt, I would say this is the highest level of PPC education ever offered.
Whether you’re an intermediate PPC user, looking to ramp up to the next level, or a Fortune 500 CEO looking to figure out how these Internet geeks are making more money than your entire company… I recommend this course for you.
As always, you are welcome to leave your comments here on the blog.
Have a great day!
probably 12 weeks in the course because they only refund after 60 days (credit cards only give you 60 days to dispute) and they save the best for last, right, so they can hook you in until you can not get a refund.
Ok. I am reading these posts on the 14th and the product launched on the 11th. They are only selling 500 right? Are you telling me that those 500 have not sold yet? What a joke, these are the marketing ploys that we are taught to do to others yet we fall for them ourselves! This guy is a Christian yet lies on his website and the emails he askes affiliates to send out about attending a 10K event they never attended? This guy is started a CPA network but will not share his name? I hate to say it Eric but I really think you need to re-consider saying someone is a Christian in your posts until after you see the fruit as you may intise a fellow believer to buy based on a remark like that. I have been tempted to lie to make money but I have a Lord to answer to and I will not do it. I would rather not sell my soul for a few bucks and hurt real people with my lies as people are people and hurting financially at times and these people are laughing all the way to the bank with their ad copy directed to sell a dream. I am not saying anything about the product, but the ad copy and every thing else has seemed underhanded like usual…the things I fell for before I saw the pattern. I am curious to see how long they will be selling thier last 500 copies.
Todd, Not any more. I spent a lot of years as a marketing consultant. This was how I learned a lot of what I did. I went to look at your site but it wasn’t responding. I wanted to get an idea of what you do now.
The inside word is that they’ve sold 3.5x that. I don’t recall hearing the 500 figure. I do know they are doing a second launch soon with some bonuses thrown in.
Pingback: Against Video Spam Pollution - Beware the Time Parasites ::
Pingback: Arbitrage Conspiracy - Another Pump and Dump Scam? at Supercharge YOUR money
I fully agree with Eric that it’s not really good for newbies (because, I tried with my Free Classified Ads) but, would be helpful for internet marketers who already got some knowledge in PPC and to enhance their business to next level.
Thanks,
RKMailer
Given the recent Bernie Madoff investment scandal, which involved seemingly very smart and successful people getting themselves caught up in a Ponzi run by Madoff, are you absolutely certain that this guy is really making the kind of money that he claims to generate with this “system”?
Hi Amy,
If you don’t mind me asking, when did you here this and from whom?
I’m considering taking the course if their offering it a 2nd time.
Thanks, Joe
Hello Eric,
Congrates my friend, I wish you and family a Happy New Year!
Oh, by the way, your tips have been very informative. I’m about to begin a
PC Support Business Online. I’ve created an ebook so far but I need a
professional looking ebook cover for it and I’m in the process of creating
a website with informative “How to” videos.
So Eric thank you again, and Congratulations Desi Triplett
They have been sending updates out to affiliates. One of the updates included the leaders sales wise and gross sales. The relaunch was actually just a continuation of the original one.
hi, i have lots of start up capital, but no website, no product, and no experience in ppc. i have above average intelligence. would i be able to exploit this opportunity as well as others who have a website? do you know off hand how much of an additional investment is required for the software etc.
is the training course a once in a lifetime deal, or will it roll around again, and finally, when does it start?
thanks!
Paying $2k for anything like this is ridiculous in my opinion. In fact you can use another well known product out there to accomplish the same thing, and it only costs $97.
Check it out on my blog MakingMoneyExperts.com
Hi Eric:
I’m new to this blog and am going thru your courses.
I have also signed up for AC, which also offers a Money Back Guarantee after finishing the course (in addition to the 30 day guarantee) if you are not satisfied plus $500 for your trouble. Seems like they are very confident that most will be satisfied.
My question (or concern) is: Why are you planning to leave IM? I am hopeful that it’s not because it is too much work, or the returns are too low.
And of course, where will you be spending your time after leaving IM?
Thanks,
Ron
Ron, I’ll most likely be devoting more time to missions work, and audio/video productions, which I enjoy.
IM can be a lot of work, but no that’s not why I’d leave it. It’s because it has been so lucrative that I am able to focus now on my other passions.
Also, when I say I’m leaving IM… I’m primarily talking about leaving the “guru” business and getting out of the public eye. There are aspects of my online business that would probably remain running on autopilot or I would get others to run it for me. Or I might just sell those parts of it… I’m not sure yet.
For IM newbies, I think Affiate Payload is more suitable than this $2k course.
From one Ron to another, Happy New Year!
Ron, I’m with you: Keep learning and Improving.
Btw, where are you located? I’m in Fair Lawn, NJ.
Is AC about the same as Carlos and Lupe’s Traffic Tactics? AC gets traffic thru ppc and TT gets traffic thru media buys – right? From these 2 which do you recommend more? I know both depend on calculated risks but which one is safer? better taught? worth my time?
Yes I’m certain he’s making the money he claims. But that doesn’t mean you or anyone else will make that much.
I’ll be doing ebook covers in a lesson, but in the meantime you could always outsource it.
I would estimate the extra tools at about $1k. Then the main startup costs will be testing campaigns. I believe the course starts this week. I do not know if they will be offering it again.
It is not the same as traffic tactics. Between the two, I would recommend AC. Media buys require more capital (which may be borrowed in some cases). As far as risks… in general I would say PPC (AC) is less risky because you can really start small and scale it up. On the other hand, media buys should not be too risky because any offer you’re sending traffic to should be PRE-tested and PROVEN before your first buy. In other words, you would need to send huge amounts of PPC (ideally cheap, poor quality PPC traffic) or other traffic to your offer BEFORE making a media buy, because you want to optimize it for the mass market. Thus you should know the approximiate results before making the buy, which might be $10k-$100k+ of traffic. And as you may have seen the review on my blog, I do not recommend Traffic Tactics. While Aymen was teaching cutting edge techniques in the seminar I attended, Carlos and Lupe were teaching stuff that was years old when I saw them speak.
Hello Eric,
Thanks for your review. I am a newbie on internet marketing although very successful in other businesses, I am looking to diversify and also new ways to promote my regular business on the internet. I don’t have any problem with the investment, but my question is, do you think it is a good training for somebody new? My concern is mostly time wasted, not money, I learned that good ideas are worth to invest in, what would you suggest?
George
This is a comment, I think people who complain about a $2,000 investment without knowing what the whole course is all about, it is not smart.
College education cost tens of thousands, yet, most people according to statistics change careers or just make enough money for a living.
IF you can learn skils for $2,000 that can teach you skills to earn more than what 99.8% of the population is earning, I am for it!
My parents spent thousands in my education, however, I followed a different path, invest in seminars and books, people where criticizing me because I was spending in books, seminars and audio/video recordings.
Today many say I was lucky because I am earning more than 99.5% of the population, close to seven figure a year, in a relative short time for traditional marketing.
$2,000 is nothing if it teaches only ONE more idea that the $99 courses, that small difference, or what I called the Slight Edge, could earn me millions more!
I am diversifying my business into the net, and I am willing to invest in it if I want to go to the next stage: Multiple seven figure per year.
I think was Zig Ziglar who says: “If you feel that education is expensive, try ignorance”
I will add, “Look at your income, if it is not in the 7 figure per year, then shut up and listen”
George
If you’re cool with investing $2k+ in your PPC education, I would say absolutely go for it. I can think of no one else who is actively teaching PPC that is more qualified than these guys. I personally have made good money from PPC for the past 3+ years, so I can tell you its a viable business model and most likely worth your time to learn it.
Thanks!
I am in,
Thanks
George
Eric,
Did you ever review the Nitro Blueprint ?
Thx, Andrew
Eric…. I joined your mailing list about a couple of weeks ago and I have read the various comments made by you and others and of course the lessons. I definitely do appreciate them as I do like to hear from both sides knowing in the end that is still my choice to proceed with something or not.
As a “newbie” in internet marketing, but one who has many years in IT and very computer literate, what “should” a newbie waste his money on (just kidding) to begin their involvement in Internet Marketing.
While I may have the necessary funds to do AC, I personally like to set very realistics goals in the beginning, be successful at obtaining those goals, gain the confidence and the knowledge from reaching those early goals, and then develop harder goals. As you say at times… scale…
Thanks for your time….
I bought Arbitrage Conspirancy 3 days ago.
I bought it from my home, went to my girlfirend and tried to login for the first time, the login didn’t work altough I used the right id and pw…
I tried to login from my home pc, no chance.
I WROTE 3 TIMES TO the AC support, no satisfing answer to my problem. Now I sent out every 2 – 3 hour a mail to them.
I never bought a such expensive product and I’m already disapointed with their support.
Maybe should I refound?
Robert
PPC classroom 2.0 was a great course. I spent $77 for the course but did not stay for monthly subscription.
Total 10 modules and tons of bonuses: great.
It is unfortunate lot of IM gurus did not promote it probably they were out of loop when anik launched it. Since no money IM gurus did not discuss or promote or review it.
$2000 too much for PPC education.
1. wait for ppc classroom
2. perry marshall book: $47
would be sufficient.
Thanx for the review of the AC. I did look at it and consider signimg up. I’m glad I read all the comments that were made re: AC/ After reviewing, I decided this is not for newbies like me. I appreciate all you have taught us up to this point. I did finally get a website up, but I know it needs revisions. I know you are busy with all of your stuff, new baby, holidays, computer issues, etc.. I can’t wait for you to resume your course. However, I was wondering if you would have time to comment on my site? http://www.1159online.com I would value and appreciate any comments you could give. Thanx for your diligence for us newbies. Hope things are settling down for you and your wife and family now. May God Bless!
No I wouldn’t refund yet, based on that. This is the way these product launches almost always work. They sell a ton in a short period of time and get totally overwhelmed with support. It takes them awhile to catch up. Then they realize they need to repair their reputation, so they hire a huge support staff, and support becomes really good. Why they can’t just hire a bigger support staff to begin with, I have no idea, but I’ve seen it happen a dozen times.
I do think they will improve though, based on my experience with them so far. I had a couple questions for them, as an affiliate partner. It took them over a week to respond. But since that time, their communication has consistently gotten better and they have become much more responsive.
Eric,
I just got wind of this, got excited, clicked to buy but got a ‘we’re closed now’ message. What is a buyer to do?
John
What can you tell me about traffic geyser? Does it work? can it been done else where?
traffic geyser is a good program. You can read my review and case study at:
You can submit your videos without TG, or with other tools, but TG is the best I’ve found to date.
I’m not sure if they will be opening it back up. I’ll try to find out for you.
George, this is the best comment I’ve seen on this arbitrage conspiracy topic!
At first, I was a little hesitant due to the price but then I compared it to the online college courses that I have taken. The Arbitrage Conspiracy course was a little more than $100 more than a college course. After looking at it that way, I purchased right away! Education is education…and this education has the potential to make me a lot of money. I didn’t get that same feeling with my college courses.
I feel I’m lucky to have signed up for the course. I’m already through the first week and the material is excellent so far. I don’t regret purchasing it at all.
By the way, great quote…”Look at your income, if it is not in the 7 figure per year, then shut up and listen”. I’m saving that one.
Thanks for the perspective on the Arbitrage Conspiracy however it’s not right for me at this time. What do you recommend for someone just getting started with IM? Thanks.
Eric,
Thanks for the perspective on the AC. While it’s not for me at this time I do what to start making money online. If you were just starting out, what would you do? Where would you begin? Thanks.
I learned PPC from Chris Carpenter’s Google Cash, which would be a fairly inexpensive option for a basic education (it focuses more on CPS than CPA).
Alex Goad’s Affiliate Payload offers some education in CPA, including sneaky tactics, also for a cheap price.
I would like to make a comment as someone who has been behind the veil so to speak. I purchased the course and have been studying it for the last 2 weeks. Eric – Please tell me that it gets better. I would not at all call myself a newbie but I do have somewhat of an education on PPC marketing. I am a member of stompernet and have been running some fairly successful PPC campaigns. In two weeks of “learning” from these guys I have not been introduced to one new or interesting concept about PPC, IM, CPA, or any other abbreviation. I bought this course under the guise that this would be the greatest thing that has ever hit the market. I was a believer because some internet marketers whose opinion I trust gave there glowing endorsement of it. Namely Brad Fallon and Eben Pagan. Eric – Please tell me that this will eventually turn into the most mind blowing PPC to CPA course that has ever graced the internet because right now I fell like I got duped. I paid 737 for the first month and right now I feel like I’ve thrown $368.50 right down the tubes. The funny thing is that Jerry West said that the course was too simple and he left in the first 45 minutes. I defended them saying that the people who had stayed were thoroughly impressed by it and I want to git it a try. So Eric – As someone that has see the whole picture. Tell me that this thing gets better. PLEASE!!
I think it’ll get better.
As I said at the top of my review, “I can only base this review upon the content that was presented in Vegas, combined with what they are saying the product is going to be.”
So I do not know exactly what the course will be like… but based on what I saw in Vegas it gets a lot better after they cover the basics. When they got the the “cranking” stage is where I started getting really impressed.
But of course you can see how you feel by the end of it, and take them up on the guarantee if they don’t deliver.
Eric,
Thanks for the recos!!
Tony
Well so far I am peeved. No course materials. Sometimes PDFs of each video only contain the title of the video. They must be kidding. No Pdf is longer than 3 or 4 pages and with virtually nothing in them. Absolutely shocking videos. Cannot SEE any screen shots. The power points are good. Totally unprofessional in presentation. Still waiting for the true grit and we are 4 weeks in to the course.
Didn’t buy through you Eric.
Can only hope the guts of the program comes soon. Have learnt a bit but for $2000 ….am I peeved.
I personally feel like they are delivering plenty of value in the videos. But maybe I knew less going into it than a lot of marketers… I’m not sure. Thanks for the comments.
Eric
I feel a bit disgusted with myself regarding my post above. Got me in bad moment.
I think I had best give it a bit more time before thinking about trashing it. That is only fair. Please delete my posts.
Rick
I’ve been receiving your tips for a few weeks. Generally, as this blog post, good information. Thank you for that. I’m in my sixties, so I’ve been around awhile. I’m a radio broadcaster, writer and producer and successful copywriter. I paid the $2K for Arbitrage Conspiracy. I just cancelled after the 4th week. Here’s why. Aymen does not teach the material. Instead he has a flunky presenting the materials. It is, without doubt, the worst presentation I have ever heard. He pounds on the desk, snorts, smacks his lips, coughs, sips water, stutters, repeats himself over and over. He rushes his speaking, and in the process mumbles most of the time. He sounds like a razor blade salesman with a mouth full of samples. He gets totally lost in his train of thought and sounds like he’s stoned on something. He sounds very young and inexperienced. The material is presented in 5 to 9 video clips per week done in flash. All that is presented are a series of bullet points that he loves to underline, circle and write stuff all over the bullets. Everything is totally generalized. Any practicals lead to screen shots impossible to read, and he never really completes any actual forms as a practical demonstration. Those that are presented are vague and so general they are of no use whatsoever. They keep hyping the course with, “don’t worry about that now; (current subject matter) it’s all covered in week four.” (Down the road). When you get to week four, it is never delivered as promised. All the videos each week are no more than 5 to 17 minutes maximum each. They invite questions, but never answer them directly, if at all. Their customer support is a total joke. Questions get answered in the same generalize vague manner with no useful information. I had to email four times before the customer support person understood what I was asking, and finally when they did, they said, “that’s coming up in week 7.” They spend more time on further hype and answer a few general questions each week in the “Q&A”. He keeps stroking himself as to how great he is, and that all you have to do is “crank, ramp, and bank” but never tells the details of how to do that. For newbie’s to the internet, this is way over their heads. They present HTML code like “random ad rotator” and never explain how to set that up in Google. This course is a travesty and embarrassment. The presenter is nearly impossible to handle listening to. If I were you, (just a suggestion) I would withdraw your recommendation in a New York minute. Totally ridiculous. Good luck. Yours to success, Joe.
Hey Rick, I can delete them if you really want. But since you posted anonymously, I think its fine to keep them. You paid good money for the course, so it’s only fair that you can give your impressions of it.. even if it’s premature to judge the overall.
Thanks for the comments. I still think the content is well worth the price, but I can understand some of your frustrations. I believe the guy on the videos is Aymen’s biz partner Emmanuel, who is actually the guy who creates most of the campaigns… so he’s as much or more qualified than Aymen to do it.