In November 2010, Jason Van Orden launched a course called Traffic Attraction Formula. I was one of the beta students, I promoted it as an affiliate, and I genuinely believed the course was worth the money. It was a solid training program on driving traffic to websites and online businesses.
The product is no longer available. The affiliate links are dead. The bonus site I built for the launch is long gone. So why keep this post around? Because the story itself contains useful lessons for anyone building an online business today.
The Reality of Product Launches
Traffic Attraction Formula was a classic internet marketing product launch. Dozens of affiliates mailing their lists simultaneously. Huge hype. Big promises. Limited-time availability to create urgency. If you have been in the online business space for any length of time, you have seen this playbook a hundred times.
Here is what I have learned after watching (and participating in) these launches for over fifteen years: most of the products launched this way no longer exist. The courses are taken offline. The membership sites close. The creators move on to their next product. And the affiliates who promoted them are left with dead links and outdated review content on their websites.
That does not mean every product launched this way is bad. Traffic Attraction Formula was genuinely good. Jason Van Orden was and is a legitimate educator. But the launch model itself has a shelf life, and that matters if you are building an affiliate business around product reviews.
What This Teaches Us About Affiliate Marketing
If you are building an affiliate marketing business, think carefully about what you promote. Products that disappear leave you with content that generates zero revenue and dead links that hurt your SEO. Evergreen products — tools, platforms, and services that have been around for years and will likely be around for years more — make better long-term affiliate plays.
That does not mean you should never promote a launch. Launches can generate significant short-term revenue. But balance your portfolio. For every time-sensitive launch you promote, make sure you also have evergreen content promoting stable products that will keep earning commissions for years.
The traffic strategies Jason taught in that course — creating valuable content, building an email list, understanding your audience, showing up consistently — are the same strategies that work today. The specific tactics change. The platforms evolve. But the fundamentals of attracting traffic by providing value have not changed at all.
Build your business on fundamentals that last, and you will not have to worry about which specific product or platform disappears next.
Hey Mark – so, the gist of the course is teaching you how to do podcasts effectively. Sorry, I’ve been so busy I didn’t even watch the video on site – that may explain a lot. Thanks!
Sorry – that should be question mark after effectively as I don’t know – I’m asking – thanks.
Yes — building an authority brand using a blog and podcasting. It’s a proven formula that Jason has used for some time with great results. He is the master, and the course is really great.
Mark,
I think this might be good for my wife who is a photographer. We’re trying to get an information marketing business going around the digital photography niche. Do you think this is the right program for this?
Thanks
Hey Fred — I certainly do think it could be. The course teaches you how to podcast — so you need to be comfortable with that idea. Jason makes it very easy.
But the bottom line is that you can really help people that need help with cameras, and this sort of approach will really put you in position to do that. If you can imagine yourself or your wife as the experts on some aspect of photography then this really could be for you. The content that you could create in this space is endless.
Greetings Mark! Does one have to travel to participate in this program?
Nope. Jason may (or may not) host a live event. He has done that in the past. But that event would be optional, and would likely be recorded. In any case, the course is electronic (video, PDF, forums, webinars, etc).
Hi Mark,
I’m impressed with your endorsement of Jason’s course. But I have to say, I’ve been burned several times and am very cautious. I would like to communicate with you offline. Can we arrange something?
Kent
Sure. Send me an email or submit a ticket and we can set something up.
Thanks!
Mark
I’m watching the video right now. It sounds like it focuses more on content marketing. I’m a bit skeptical when I hear of people who have “fool proof methods” for creating endless content.
There is no question that this is content marketing. As far as “fool proof methods” for creating endless content, Jason is referring to the fact that he teaches how to make sure that you don’t run out of stuff to talk about (that people want to hear about). That is the fool proof part. He’s really not trying to over-hype it — he is just trying to address the common objection that people have about “not having anything to say”….
My opinion is that this is a more suitable program for photographing fans worldwide. If you are looking to start a marketing business going around the digital photography niche Fred, you have come to the right place.
I was reading some of your posts and wanted to comment and could not, so just found this post to let you know that, that some posts don’t allow comments. Thanks.