You're absolutely right about free advice and information, but this is something I have known for a long time. As an example, only yesterday I had an acquaintance call me about domain names and registrations. Should they use a dot com or a dot com.au because they are Australian based. I told them to run with the .au and explained the reasons why. I then told them I could get this for A$69 for 2 years and they replied that they could get it cheaper than that!!!! The time I had spent with them had I charged was worth at least $100 and they quibbled over $10! Amazing isn't it.

Agh! So that's what happened to you??? I totally concur about the freebie thing - I've learned the hard way that it has to be controlled as part of your marketing spiral, so the suckers and bottom feeders don't drain you dry before you can offer something for dollars!

I also agree with some of the earlier posts here - I have used MANY of your great suggestions to very good result - I am so greateful you were there with them when I was first starting out.

The idea of an ebook is awsome - if you had a ten-volume set of the tips, it'd be an internet marketing classic. I make ebooks - maybe I can help.

Please do let us know when you're ready to start up again - we'll all be curious and wishing you the best. I'm not sure, frankly, about a trade mag, for myslf, but I bet there are plenty out there who are.

I hope I hope I hope you will figure out some way of making all those tips available - now I wish I had copied and pasted the ones I liked best insteadof bookmarking them!

Again, my very best to you and a ton of gratitude.
aloha -
Angela
PIGEES.com

Engineers never throw anything away. I've kept most of what you've sent for quite a while. I'm sorry I didn't take the time or expend my limited resources to follow your lead.
I look forward to you new venture.

I'll greatly miss your ideas... I'm sorry they did not create the pay off you'd anticipated.

I'll point my readers to your new venture on my weblog tomorrow...

Chuck
http://work-at-home.business-opportunities.biz

Angela below says "I totally concur about the freebie thing" and then in the next paragraph, "I am so greateful you were there with them when I was first starting out". A bit of a contradiction there.
I am one of the ones who got a lot out of your freebies and I am grateful also that they were there when I was starting out. I cannot concur that it was a mistake. That's like saying, "you be there for me but forget everyone else - they are not important." Some of them are and some will be. Instead of having this pathetic little online pity party, Marcus, why don't you be the kind of person that Guru Marcus Allen of old would have been and celebrate all the people you have helped over the years, take all the good you can out of those years and then follow the breadcrumbs back to where you must have misstepped where I am sure you will find the road again. It is very selfish to leave like this with your last words being accusatory towards your subscribers (I think you called them sour grapes). Because that is what this is! Your subscribers ate up all your good advice that you indicated was freely given. I thought you were, and told other people you were, a bigger man than this letter shows. I feel like I have been hit below the belt twice - once because I am losing one of my better newsletters and the second time because you have tried to make us your scapegoats. Shame on you Marcus!

Hi Markus,

You are right. Like you I did the same exact mistake in giving away something people were paying hundreds of dollars for.

Over the years I got to appreciate your stuff, buyng some of the products you recommended and thinking of you of being more of a friend than a marketer.

Frankly speaking I was worried about you because you had just... vanished. Now that I know you are OK, I feel much more relieved.

I hope to you all the best. Keep in touch!

Nello

Further to my post below, may I refer you back to one of yours that was much better than you seem to think. Really all it says is BE POSITIVE but if you have forgotten you will find it on Marcus Allen's site at
http://www.marketing-ideas.org/step-by-ste...=198627067&T=731831

Hey Marcus,

I think Allen Freeman said it all.

Best of luck to you!!

I appreciate your e-mail. It makes me think what I am currently doing, giving away Freebies and have yet earned a penny from it.

I guess it's true, when one pays for somenthing they appreciate it it more and take ownership of it. I guess it could be compared to the Welfare System...it simply doesn't work.

Marcus,

I was probably on your list for 1 1/2 years or so. While I certainly didn't implement every tip you posted, hardly a message you sent me went without being opened and read. I know I got some really great ideas and I thank you.

But yea, the freebie stuff just doesn't work for the most part. If it's free, it's "worthless" in the eyes of most people. Package it up and sell it as an ebook and people still may not read it, but at least you made money. All the best in the future!

Boy, I'm kind of shocked. And a little confused.

I ALWAYS read Markus' emails because they were so short and so useful. But I'm confused as to why his list didn't make money because I don't ever remember Markus offering a product for sale. Is it the membership site that didn't pan out? If so, I understand. I balked myself at becoming a member, and perhaps it was because of steady stream of good tips, I'm not sure.

Markus, I'm sorry to see you go, I really am.

Well Markus, I for one will miss your excellent posts. I tried to read every one of your emails... and generally, was pretty good at doing so regularly. I wish you would continue, but I also understand your need to get something (cash?) in return for your generosity. Thanks for what you did do... from one grateful consumer of your minds products, free or otherwise.

I know about "FREE".... as I have been running MSN Entrepreneur Group for going on 9 years. We provide much the same stuff you do, and we do it for free as well. The difference between us is - I do this for fun, not cash profit. My payment is in a different form, which I get in spades. Of course, I can also afford my own philanthropy.

I wish you well in life.... all you need do is follow some of that sage wisdom you've shared with us, and apply it to an "earning endeavor" that will return what you need as payment for services provided.

Again, and like most others - thanks for all that you've given us...

Nick/Old Nikko
General Manager, MSN Entrepreneur Group
http://groups.msn.com/entrepreneur

Edited by author 11-17-2005 10:14 PM
Bummer man. Hate to see you go! I was a big fan.

I heard a speaker say, "When people ask me for free advice, I don't give it to them. I charge them $400 an hour. And do you know why? Because if you give people the advice for free, they won't do anything."

It's a tough issue, the free thing. And while I believe in giving certain things away for free, eventually you just gotta say, "Hey, this information has value and should be paid for."

Alan Wiess also once said, "Don't be afraid to stand by your value and charge for it."

Keep it real man.

Your fan,

Scott Ginsberg
www.hellomynameisscott.com

Glad to read that you figured it out Marcus.

I'll miss the info you share. While I might not have read every message when it came in, I did read every message when my schedule permitted me to. I even shared your ideas with my B-News subscribers.

My newsletters are for people who experience cognitive impairments and all concerned others. My list is under 500 and fluctuates upward when I promote it. Perhaps I should charge for what I do. I'm not as savvy as you and the others you are acquainted with. But my subscribers need positive ideas to inspire them to overcome barriers to their living productive lives. Maybe they would be willing to pay me for what I do.

My www.bisga.org website and the local site I built for Pittsburgh at www.pabia.org provide free info and tools for anyone who wants them. Maybe my mistake is that I'm giving my work away. Thanks Marcus. I wish you well.

John Pistorius
Pittsburgh, PA

Excellent last tip, Markus. I'll never forget it. Thanks for everything, and go get 'em tiger!!!

I absolutely agree with your last tip. When done within limits it's useful. Going overboard with free advice certainly loses it's worth.
Glad to see that you have the courage to call a spade a spade. I wish we had more genuine people like you around.

Wish you all the best in your future endeavours!
Sabiha Siddiqui
http://siddiquimarketers.com
http://bestbizoffers.com