I like to stay on top of the latest in the world of internet marketing – and what a big world it is!  I had the pleasure of attending the 3 day web marketing training event at the Brisbane Convention Centre in Southbank, called Armand Morin Live.

I attended Armand’s event last year in Sydney, and I learned quite a bit, so I was keen to see what Armand had in store.

About Armand

Armand makes a lot of money online, and has helped many people around the world do the same.  He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, but travels regularly to either speak or conduct training.  His team comprises of 6 people/ employees, recently reduced from 8.

He has previously trained and helped some of Australia’s more popular internet marketers, like Mal Emery, Jennie Armato, and Andrew and Darryl Grant, who have all been popular in their own right for a few years.  But I don’t see him helping anyone “new” or “up-and-coming”…  Not that I hold this against him.

Day 1 – Amazon, Online Marketing, Facebook and Sales Pitch for Internet Dots program

This is the first time I’ve seen Amazon.com mentioned seriously as a money-making opportunity for entrepreneurs.  I really enjoyed how Armand showed us how to get published on Amazon and take advantage of all their tools, like Create Space and Amazon Prime.

I think with some serious effort, and time-investment, combined with the right “hot-topic”, there is definitely money to be made on Amazon.

Next Armand discussed online marketing, and how to manage your pricing strategy.  He also suggested product options, and gave ideas on how to succeed and stand out online.

Leading into lunch was the sales pitch for his Internet Dots program.  The pitch was so cheesy, hard and fast, that I don’t really remember it.  But I believe this is a program he released in June 2011.

After lunch was Facebook Marketing time!

Armand wend into great detail on setting up a Facebook business page, and then how to do ads – standard ads, poll ads, sponsored ads, event ads…

It was great to have such insight to someone trialling all these methods – and I took note of the ones that worked best!

Day 2 – Facebook, YouTube, and Marketing Formula Sales Pitch

Today, Armand kept going with Facebook Marketing, showing everyone how to install and set up a tab or custom page in their Facebook Business page.

This part of the weekend, I did already know about, but it was still interesting to see that I’m doing it like the pros.

Leading into lunch was a Sales Pitch for re-selling MarketingInterviews.com

After lunch, Armand got stuck into YouTube Marketing, and this was a great session.  He showed us tools and tricks he uses to generate website visits from YouTube.

Finishing up the day, was a pitch for his 3 Day Marketing Event at his house in the US called Marketing Formula.

Day 3 – Marketing, Questions and Answers

I was feeling very weary and brain dead today, and a little “pitched-out”, so I didn’t arrive until after 10am.  It was very interesting though hearing a lot about marketing, and lessons and tips that anyone can use to market their business and/ or products online.

After lunch Armand discussed outsourcing and the benefits of having a team overseas – especially in the Philippines.  And he showed everyone how to set up their own WordPress website from a template.

And the last part of the day were Questions and Answers from the audience, which proved to be very insightful.

So that’s it, I’ve included some photos below and my thoughts on the pros and cons.

These are my overall thoughts:

Pros

Armand is a man of action, ideas and he’s very motivated.  He came from a poor upbringing and turned his life around and this is very motivational and inspirational for anyone wanting to make millions on the internet.

He has some great, sound knowledge, which comes from taking action, and trying everything online in terms of marketing.

I loved the bits and pieces I learned about Amazon, the Facebook advertising tips, and the cool things a marketer can do with YouTube.  For this training, I can say that the weekend was time well spent.

Cons

There are a few things about Armand that bother me and put me off.  Armand doesn’t like people, and is not ashamed to admit it.  Armand can be a bit cheesy, and annoyingly salesy at times, to the point where I just don’t hear what he is saying any more.

Armand doesn’t like being social or embrace real social media.  He doesn’t believe there is any value in taking time to engage with his customers or potential customers online.  And this is really against my values, and is probably the reasons I haven’t invested in any further products of his.

Also Armand is very contradictory in his presentations – to the point where I am just plain confused.  He encourages business to invest in great branding and great marketing, and then he tells them to get all their work done offshore or on Fiverr.  Not great for the Australian economy.

As a copywriter, and on behalf of all copywriters, I am a bit insulted when he tells everyone to get articles or blogs written for $5.  And I can imagine any web designers in the room were probably offended too.

If he really cared about branding, he would know that someone writing articles or blogs, who doesn’t live in the actual country, cannot communicate in the same way a native resident can.

I can see Armand spends tens of thousands of dollars (in education and money) on branding, copywriting and online marketing, yet he tells his students to spend 20 bucks.  However, then he asks the attendees to invest thousands of dollars on his programs.  It’s just very confusing.

Summary

As I mentioned earlier, Armand is a great internet marketer who has made millions online.  He also provides some great info, which is difficult to keep up with at times, so I just try to get one or two good ideas from the event.

I learned a lot of lessons at Armand Morin Live – about speaking, treating clients, online marketing, and I’m glad I did make the effort to go.