Is Joe Polish a taboo subject on this forum or does'nt anyone know anything about this character. I posted a question on June 4th and no one responded. I was just curious about this dude because of the impressive claims he makes concerning marketing. I am just trying to find out if this dude is a DUD.
Thanks guys.

no clue.

also check out the ICS forum.

thanx --- Derek.

I was a former Piranha member. And I will say that I learned a few things. What I mostly learned, is that I needed to learn about marketing.

About 10 years ago, I invested $800 in the Piranha package. Joe's material didn't fit my style of doing business. That's not to say that it's not helpful to some people. I know a lot of successful people have done very well with Joe's stuff. So it really comes down to what you're comfortable with.

Going back to what I said above, "I mostly learned that I needed to learn about marketing"... Investing $800 made me very conscious that I needed to get more serious about marketing. That investment was honestly the biggest benefit I received. I realized that I needed to see a return for that expenditure. And although I didn't get the return on investment from Piranha, I did go and become a student of marketing. I read many books on marketing. I educated myself by reading what the masters had to say about marketing. And I have Joe to thank for that. If I hadn't invested in Piranha, I doubt that I would have ever made it a preoccupation to seriously study marketing.

If you want to study marketing on your own as I did, here's a list of good books that will give you a solid grounding in marketing. As the old saying goes - "give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime." My thought is that it's best to learn how to fish.

You can start by reading all of Dan Kennedy's books. Essentially that's where Joe got most of his early ideas from. Gary Halbert was another person that mentored Joe in the early days. Dan Kennedy's books have a lot of good ideas.

From there you could go on and read the early masters. David Ogilvy is the father of modern marketing. Other early pioneers of marketing are Claude Hopkins and Albert Lasser. Their books are still in print and are gems for building a foundation in marketing. Another classic is "Tested Advertising Methods" by John Caples.

Here's a partial list of some of my favorite marketing/business books. They're all excellent...

"The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding"
by Al Ries and Jack Trout

"The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing"
by Al Ries and Jack Trout

"The Little Red Book of Selling : 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness"
by Jeffrey Gitomer

"Cold Calling Techniques: (That Really Work!)"
by Stephan Schiffman

"Experiential Marketing"
by Bernd H. Schmitt

"How to Drive Your Competition Crazy"
by Guy Kawasaki

"Triggers"
by Joseph Sugarman

"Customers for Life"
by Carl Sewell

"SPIN Selling"
by Neil Rackham

"Raving Fans"
Ken Blanchard

"How to Win Friends & Influence People"
by Dale Carnegie

"Think and Grow Rich"
by Napolean Hill

"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"
by Stephen Covey

"Psycho Cybernetics"
by Maxwell Maltz

And of course - read the "E-Myth" by Michael Gerber


I hope this is helpful to you.
These books will open the world of marketing to you.


Wishing you success!






Rick Gelinas
encapman

Rick hit the nail square
I was a member. It served me well I undoubtably made lots of money off
of somethings Joe teaches.
Joe learned from all those masters Joe pointed out and put his spin on things and came up with materials for not only the carpet cleaning industry but several others.

If you are looking for a quick fix to get running fast with out doing the reseach on why things work then go ahead and get Joes, BRC or a few other packages out there.

Then go out and read read read the books Rick listed and and several others also
Joe has a list on his web site.

What will happen is you will see why and what makes things work the way they do.
The priciples behind the marketing materials why things are set up the way they are and what makes people jump.

Once you have that down you will be able to create things that suit your style and the way you do business.


I was in Joes Coaching club for a while and got lots of good nuggets, what I learned to most was I needed to read and learn all the time. That brought me to have a business coach in stead of a marketing coach.

I can't thank you guys enough for your input. A special thanks to Rick for giving all the information. Rick I have had others tell me that you are only in this for the buck, but after spending some time on this forum I really believe that you have figured it out; Help people succeed and so will you. So thanks for everything, and great success to everyone trying to make an honest living.

I have always been inspired by Rick's integrity, his knowledge, and his spirit. I would invite him into my foxhole to do battle with the business world any day of the week and twice on Sundays-- He is a true friend.

If you read through the archives you can get some great marketing pointers and also technical advice. That's one of the best things about Excellent Supply it is for us all to succeed.
I wonder where the info about Rick being in it only for the buck came from hmmm? Rick returned 3 phone calls from me helping do quotes before I ever bought anything!