Make Money Online by Copying and Stealing From Garry Conn
Earlier this week I decided to sell two established sites on SitePoint.com. The purpose of selling these sites was to use the money towards a private investment. One site, a site that was 30 days old, EyeExamCoupons.net, was sold for $1,000 and the other site, a blog that was over 2 years old, OpticalBlog.com, was sold for $3,500. The money earned was more than needed for my investment and I was pleased.
These two sites sold very quickly and lead me to look further into the site flipping business. I spent some time looking at the current auctions listed in SitePoint.com, and to be honest, I was very disappointed in what I saw. I couldn’t believe that people were buying the garbage being offered. At that point, I knew quickly that I had a great opportunity to make money while also helping people at the same time.
I developed what I called The 30 Day Pre-Flip. The 30 Day Pre-Flip auctions are sites that are brand new and have absolutely zero record of income earnings or traffic, but have the high potential of earning huge profits. This is fully explained in the auction description. Potential buyers are welcome to bid at a very low price. If my site doesn’t sell during the 30 Day Pre-Flip period, I will then re-list the site after having documentation of earnings and traffic.
The only stipulation for the potential buyer is the fact that if the site isn’t purchased during the Pre-Flip stage, the cost will go up in order to acquire the site during the re-list. All in all, the model is simple: Buy Now for cheap (More Risk / Potential FOr Quick ROI) or Buy Later for more (Less Risk / Increased Time on ROI).
The problem I face now, which I guess actually comes to no surprise, is the fact that people are stealing my designs (literally copying my templates without even making remote changes) and copying my auction format descriptions (again… without even having the care to change anything) and duplicating exactly what I have been doing on SitePoint.com. In some cases, auction sellers even admit that they have copied (stole) from me within the auction description itself.
This creates a series of problems. Number one… people are stealing from me, that goes without saying. This doesn’t come to a surprise to me, it was my fault for not protecting myself. Number two… SitePoint.com buyers are now at risk because these Copy Cats have taken something that I have provided and turned it into a cookie cutter system, which degrades on the quality of the service significantly.
The reason why my sites being sold are successful is due to three elements. The design, the content, and the research. The problem that will surface with SitePoint.com buyers purchasing from the Copy Cats, is the lack of one of most important of the three elements: The Research.
With that said, the personal problem I also have with this is the fact that having people copy what I do puts my business and ability to earn money online at risk. I love more than ever to help people via my blog and my mailing list and even via SitePoint.com by offering amazing and high quality blogs and websites to sell; however, this comes – as I quickly discovered – at a huge price due to the fact that I have people who copy what I do and when I do it.
The same situation happened to me when I was active selling HostGator.com. While everyone aimlessly displayed HostGator.com banner ads on their blog, I was one of the only people that said, “Hey… instead of displaying these banners and hoping for the best, I am going to do something different than others and actually WORK for my sales commission.” And that is exactly what I did. I made it very well known to thousands of people that, “If you sign up for HostGator.com, I will build you a blog.” Very quickly after, then the Copy Cats start kicking in and duplicating what I do.
In fact, I even had a customer sign up for HostGator.com and ask me to install his blog which turned out to be in DIRECT competition with my business. Fast forward two months, and this same guy just emailed me a few days ago and asked for me to help him sell that SAME site on SitePoint.com.
I am the type of person who will literally stop my car, pull over and help someone stranded on the side of the road. However, my battle is being this way in a world that is full of people who care nothing more than themselves. Unfortunately, events such as the HostGator.com promo and the newly created 30 Day Pre-Flip get to me emotionally.
Ideally, it would be great to figure out a way to continue to help and teach the people who read my blog, who also have no interest in backstabbing me. But, I don’t see how that is possible. So many people complain about other bloggers who never help them and don’t teach them how to make money online. I try very hard to change this and provide the needed information here on my blog. But, once again, this comes with a price. Because those who complain about other bloggers not teaching them how to make money are typically the same people who would steal from the bloggers who do.
I am leaving out on a business trip to Pennsylvania Saturday morning and I will return home early afternoon on Tuesday. While I am gone, I am strongly going to consider what I need to do in the future with my blog. I enjoy and love helping thousands of people, but I don’t enjoy and love putting my business and my family at risk due to people who use my information against me.
My heart tells me to push forward, but each time I do, I get screwed over. My gut and brain tells me that I need to keep my ideas to myself and lock them up securely and tell no one. One of the greatest qualities I have with my job and making money online is my capacity for creating ideas. My level of creativity is amazingly high, and I have no problems communicating this to people. I might not have the most practical business sense, but I do have amazing ideas that generate huge profits for me time and time again.
My business of making money online is far from being at risk. The problem at hand is with me making a decision on whether or not I continue to publish on the topic of teaching people how to make money online. Blogging and teaching others is very rewarding, but also is making a lot of money. My transparency, my honesty, and my eagerness to help others is something that has always come back to bite me in the ass.
I have a few days to decide on what I will do, but I am already leaning towards keeping anything and everything I do a strong kept secret from the public. I am sorry that it has to be this way, but I know no other way. I want and will continue to find amazing wealth from the Internet, I would love to take you with me, but I don’t see how that is possible continuing to do things as I have been doing.
If you would like to leave a comment or some feedback, you’re more than welcome to. Otherwise, I will address you and your fellow readers and subscribers when I return from Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
Best Regards,
Garry Conn
Popularity: 2% [?]
67 comments
Garry, you have always led the way in teaching people how to make money online. I can fully appreciate the spot you are in. People always want something for nothing and you provide a lot of “something”. This is a battle we all face when trying to share information. When we find something that works we find that everyone wants a piece of it. I guess that is just the nature of man however much we dislike it.
If you find an answer on how to do this they you will definitely be ahead of the game. Short of having a total membership site, I don’t see how you can keep people from copying what you do.
Have a safe and great trip to PA……..going to Pittsburgh by chance?? that is my old stomping grounds……. cheers……. Eric
Hi Garry!
I’m sorry that you have to deal with this – and that it may cost the rest of us dearly. You’ve always been amazingly forthcoming and honest with the knowledge and info you provide and many of us have learned much from you. Thank you for that!
You know, your membership site may be the perfect place for you to share your knowledge with others while controlling some of the damage to your own bottom line. You get to teach and help others, we get to benefit from your expertise – within the confines of a controlled environment. A mentoring group, if you will. I’m already a member of your site, but I’d be willing to pay a monthly fee for regular access to you and your knowledge, provided that it didn’t break the bank. LOL
Anyway, just something for you to think about.
Have a safe trip to PA (if you’ll be close to Johnstown/Altoona, let me know – I’ll buy ya lunch)!
Garry,
I agree with you, the copycats are trying to cash in on your hard work.. however, I don’t think they are as dangerous as you think. People know the name Garry Conn and people trust that what you bring to the table is legit. Your absolutely right when it comes to the research. I know for a fact that you are a keyword genius, and that the imitators aren’t. Most of your audience also knows that, which is why I think the imitators will fail in the long run. If one thing is for sure, you know how to adapt. I’m sure you will develop an even better design that nobody can touch. Perhaps there is a way to copyright specific pieces of code so that if these copycats grab it you can sue their asses off?
You know as well as I do that everyone is out there to make a buck, even me. I’d like to see some data after a year on which sites you sold vs. the copycat’s sites and see what pulled in more organic traffic/revenue. I bet the outcome wouldn’t surprise anyone.
I wouldn’t let it bother you too much. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and we are all very thankful to have somebody like you who puts their knowledge on the table for anyone who wants to learn the proper way to do things–and it’s all for free.
3 months ago I didn’t know anything about HTML/CSS. After buying your 1 hour video, I am now doing freelance web work for a number of clients. That’s the sign of a good teacher.
Safe travels!
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. When I had my e-bay fine jewelry business years ago there were LOTS of people who stole my ideas, set up their ads like my listings, even tried to sell the same things. It only strengthened my business. Customers who went to these other sites came back to ME, because they KNEW that they were going to be treated well, get what they ordered and knew that I stood behind my merchandise. If you’re honest and fair – those imitators will only serve to make YOUR LISTINGS stand out from the rest.
Hey Garry u have to do what u have to do to protect u and family because when u down and out aint none of these people gonna pay any of your bills.
Sincerly, Tisha
Only you know the answer, Garry. Do know that so many people value your quality information. It is too bad that a few bad seeds always tend to ruin it for everybody.
Hey bud, I have been there myself. I will not get into all of the details but I will say that my decision to tough it out lead to my biggest business failure. People are more interested in money than friendship or common sense.
Several years later, I can see what I did wrong and what I should have done. I discovered that most people who don’t wake up in my home every day need to be on a need to know basis only. That is probably going to be hard for you considering what you have done with your blog and where it has put you.
Today, I simply do not co mingle my businesses. Segmentation has become my friend. No one part of my income can drag down another part.
Good luck buddy.
so sorry to hear that Garry, well i think most people’s copying your method because your method is making money for real ( from adsense ) you provide them with google analytics and adsense data.
They tired of following other ‘Guru’, follow this step, buy this buy that, but no income. They want REAL prove just like what you did
am i one of them? you tell me. LOL
Have fun in Pennsylvania !
ps : congratulation for your sites !, u just made like ,,, $5000 this month ? You rock man !
Hi Eric,
Thanks bud! Running this blog and covering this topic has so far been an amazing experience. My personality holds a lot of weight in what I do. Two years ago, I would have written a very hateful post, and acted like a total ass. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel like venting a lot. When things go wrong, I always have the urge to vent on the blog. I guess over time, I have learned that does much more harm than good.
I love this topic and I really enjoy helping others. Sometimes, I don’t realize the level this blog is at. People tell me that I provide excellent information, but sometimes I really wonder because the growth of this blog is very slow. Other blogs such as JohnChow.com have 20k subscribers, and produce much less quality information.
It is hard to cover this topic because while it earns a personal reward knowing that I help people, it doesn’t put too much money in my pocket. With that said, I really enjoy writing and blogging in general and there is always a cloud over my head about covering a different topic – one that I would enjoy writing and something that would monetize very well.
I try to expand myself all the time, but ironically my niche is with AdSense, keyword targeting and organic ranking. Having these abilities coupled with having a PR5 blog at my disposal really makes things hard for me to keep going on the current topic, which as you know, is something burns me more than rewards me.
I don’t know man… I have got a lot of thinking to do because there are some many people, such as yourself, who really enjoy reading my blog and reading what I write. I don’t want to disappoint anyone, but on the same token, I am not very adaptable to situations such as this. It has taken a lot of me to bite my tongue and keep myself from looking like an enraged idiot. lol
Hi Wendy,
Thank you for your feedback. That is the problem in this situation. I feel like when these things happen that people who follow my blog suffer from it. The problem is not you or majority of my readership. The problem occurred when I decided to use my blog and my mailing list to promote my auctions.
I sold four sites. Two of the four sites sold from ONE garryconn.com reader. The other two sites sold from SitePoint.com traffic. I am sure that if I had chosen NOT to blast out the info on my blog and mailing list that the other two sites would have sold by way of SitePoint.com’s traffic.
However, as that may be a solution, but who really knows. I can’t assume that the copy cats are people subscribed to my blog or mailing list, although I do suspect that.
Also, as I now reflect on this situation, I say to myself that I should have kept these auctions private. But then on the flip-side I feel that by keeping them private, I cheat my subscribers from having an excellent opportunity to purchase something from me.
I think if I do decide to keep flipping sites, I may open up a separate mailing list and cherry pick who is allowed to subscribe to it. That way, I know who my potential customers are and they can go through a pre-screening process. What are your thoughts? Can you think of something else.
Thank you for your eagerness to provide payment into the membership site. This is my FIRST time running a membership site and I have to admit, I am not very experienced with running one. It is MAJORLY different than blogging. My problem with the membership site is learning how to effectively run it and continue to extract the data from my head onto digital paper or video within the site.
Hey, Garry. It’s a tough call for sure. I was worried about that as soon as I saw you advertising your listings over at Sitepoint. I had hoped that I was just being paranoid, but apparently not. People can try to copy your sites and your structure but they can’t copy the links that you may have pointing to those sites that make them earn money.
Good luck. Let me know if you’ll be passing through Maryland.
Hi Garry,
Whatever you decide, thanks for what you have done so far. There will always be people screwing you, and the nature of the internet is that they can screw you more easily than ever – think how easy it is for phishing scams to copy websites so they appear to be genuine.
You have to be true to yourself. Do what is right to others, and let the people who see life a different way face their consciences/Maker in good time. There is an ultimate good in the world, we just might not live long enough to see it!
Hey, and what about all those IM gurus who encourage people to “learn” from others by finding the effective PPC ads and doing rip-offs?! Just a matter of how far you go with plagiarism, and how much is allowable – “standing on the shoulders” of those who went before, as I think they put it when a scientist builds a better mousetrap from the work of those before him.
It’s a balance, but some don’t have the scruples to realize there are limits.
Best,
Alan
I think it is time that you stop sharing people about what you know on this blog and make a paid subscriptions blog. where we pay $15 per month or something to read your posts
in that way it will benefit you 
Sounds like you’ve got the right idea to segment your list.
Two folks I admire Tiffany Dow and Perry Marshall have both done this with perfect precision.
Tiffany makes customized lenses and plr content. She gives her list the option of opting into these list from a link within her main enewsletter and avoids confusion along the way.
Perry Marshall whose list I’ve been on for 5 years, just sent an email yesterday which said the following:
“I need your feedback today. This will only take 10 seconds.
Some people hear from me almost every day.
Some people, maybe only once or twice a month.
Quick question for you:
Do you want more from me? Or less? Or keep it the same?
-I’m creating a special list for people who want to hear
from me ANY TIME I have something good to share.
There might occasionally be days when it’s 3-5X.
If and only if you’d like to be on this list, click this link:
(“Yes Perry send me emails any time you have
something on your mind – I want EVERYTHING”)
-On the other hand, if you want to get LESS email
from me than you’re getting now, click this link:”
Trust me giving your list options will make a world of difference keeping the peace high and unsubscribe rates low.
Cheers!
Safe journey Garry … whatever you decide will be for the best of your family …. that’s what matters.
If you have to ‘lock down’ your info I don’t blame you … I’ll be sorry to lose your insightful views and helpful tips but I fully understand your position.
I understand how you feel. Sadly, this is what you will be putting up with day in and out as your successes become more obvious.
I am also honest and tend to trust too much – a bad recipe for online success. You need to do what is best for you and those you care about…. just know that you have obviously had an impact on many lives and that, in itself, is a great accomplishment.
(I just payed for your VIP membership and have not been given access to the VIP section of the forum yet – will you be giving a refund?)
Looks like my timing was off this time around – was looking forward to getting some tips and learning…. take care and good luck… Cris
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the feedback and no, you got in in time. Send me an email to garryconn@gmail.com with your username and I will get your account upgraded to the VIP membership plan.
Garry,
That was an amazing post and I could tell that it came straight from the heart. I’m sorry to hear about the situation that you have found yourself in and wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide.
I did enjoy receiving notification of your auctions, but was only quick enough to click the link for one of them before someone else had already sealed-the-deal and for that one I decided to not act (for various reasons)…
I have some more to say, but rather than post it here in your comments, I’m going to send you an email.
As I’ve always said, “You are the man.” You are one of two bloggers that have actually gone out of their way to help me and I appreciate it. Someone mentioned that imitation is a form of flattery. I guess it is. Unfortunately, in today’s world, you can’t prevent the theft of your ideas because of the scum out there. In the end, though, you’ve always got to take care of #1. Have a great business trip to PA.
Hi Nick!
Sounds good man… I look forward to reading your email.
Hi Garry, Man… that REALLY SUCKS!
But it doesn’t surprise me one bit, I’ve been around people too long and yes, they are even able to steep lower than this!
Why don’t you just outright sell (uncreated) sites for an XXX amount of dollars to those who are willing to buy from you? Everyone knows your reputation and abilities when it comes to that. They’ll know in advance that they will be purchasing a site that will be built by Garry Conn himself! A site that will be created with all the right ingredients mixed into it to achieve the highest level of monetary success and rank!
All this could be done INVISIBLY behind the scenes through private messaging or email. In that way no one would be able to steal your creative idea or design and your buyer would enormously appreciate that fact.
I understand though, you must do what you have to do. One bad apple is usually enough to spoil the whole lot.
Good Luck,
Alfred
Garry, I have learned so much from you. From your blog post I can tell how upset you were and how annoying to see people copy your work. Truth of the matter is, there are just some lazy people out there that just want to leech off of others. Your heart has always been in the right place and for that you are blessed. In situations like this they say “if it does not kill you, it will make you stronger.” I pray you come out stronger.
+1 … a good idea by Alfred
Alfred,
That is an amazing idea… totally! Thank you very much. Is there anything more that you can add to this via email to garryconn@gmail.com.
Totally! Agreed… way to go Alfred… amazing. I love it
I for one would be happy to provide a niche phrase to Garry, ask him to set up a site, monetise it and then happily pay him for his efforts.
If you go this route … add me to your list of potential customers!
Good to know
It’s on the way.
Hi Gary,
I just recently found your blog and am sorry, but not too surprised to learn of what’s been happening for you.
There’s probably no way to control what other people do with information they come across online, whether it’s from a public blog or a paid membership site.
Whatever your decision is, I wish you all the best. You’ll still manage to find a way to help people even if you choose to take this site offline. It’s in your nature and most likely can’t be denied. It may just look very different than anything you can imagine right now.
Warmly,
Theresa
Even better is if Garry found the niche phrase for you.
Garry,
I have been searching for years for a person as honest and helpful as you. I am serious! I signed up immediately with your site as a member not just because the content was good, but because YOU came with it. I have only been a member for 2 weeks, and I have had at least a dozen personal responses from you to me. When you are busy, you let me know. Most of your responses have been within minutes of me posting or instant messenger you. I visit your site several times a day. I feel like you are right next to me when I read your material or watch a a video teaching.
There are always going to be people stealing and not giving credit where credit is due. I think these people that stole intellectual property from you will be rewarded justly. We reap what we sow. Obviously, you have sown great seed!
I think you have a following of people that help others. You are teaching us to be teachers/mentors. I have had people respond back on the forum and give me all the help that I need and more. I implore you to keep your website open as I have never found anything like this in my life.
Whatever your decision is, I will respect you. I will be praying for you this evening and over the weekend. You have blessed my life tremendously in the past 2 weeks.
Best regards,
Mark Keeler
That was sincere; I know what you mean. I have done so many favors for people I should apply for non-profit status.
Some people use and use but still don’t see it that way; not at all.
Enjoy your weekend.
I have to play devils advocate for this one. Here is how I see it. Firstly site flipping is a business model that doesn’t have to many different ways to do it. Of course you are going to have people copying other people, watching the competition and trying to do something better.
Look at how many site flippers use the revolution theme, why? Because it’s one of the best looking themes out there but it’s now saturated and site flippers are turning to the woo theme. There are only so many themes you can use so you are going to get people putting up the same stuff.
Look at the offline world. How many grocery stores there are, car dealers, fast food, car washes, I could go on and on and on. There are only so many business models that have proven successful and those will soon get copied and sometimes dominate the one they copied.
That’s competition and that’s business. You have to rely on your credibility and your connection with your clients. If you are serving them well then it doesn’t matter how many copycats you have.
Don’t let the copycats detour your focus and change your business model. What you do works and you need to keep doing it. You can’t worry about these others.
If you spent all your time chasing the copycats you would not be in business. Take it as a compliment that you have found something that works. If you look at sitepoint how many sites look the same? How many of the same niches do you see over and over? That’s the business.
I believe that the internet has grown so much is because it allows us to copy and expand upon others ideas. It allows us to learn much quicker which in turn is best for everyone.
Gary you have a great blog and you have helped a lot of people so keep that up and don’t let a few copycats detour you.
Garry,
I agree with your philosophy. I am a new cat on the block, but business is business and there are rules no matter where it’s conducted from the outhouse to the penthouse. I am the type of guy who will show and give respect to others and will do anything within reason to help someone until I get burned. From reading your post you sound pist, and with reason. You may not want to hear it now, but I respect you alot more because you put all your cards on the table and that’s how I like to do things. I would like to learn more from you about the online world. I am wanting to learn and network, meet people and make money. I look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks,
Robert
I agree with Craig. Competitors are always going to see what is working for you and copycat it. The key for you is to continue to do it better than they do. Even if you weren’t running this blog people would still copycat anything of yours they found to be successful.
Have a great trip and we should catch up sometime.
Hope all is well with you…
- George
Hi Gary,
That post by Alfred makes sense for you. You have the reputation and credibility to make that work nicely for you.
Lee
Everyone, I have an idea working off Alfred’s idea.
I was, I think, the first guy to pay Garry money for a video… and that was after I ripped it off from him (I thought there was a technical error in what he was doing so I told him and then paid him anyway). Why? Because the video and the effort he has put into this blog for the couple of years I’ve been following it was worth it.
Here’s the idea: 100 of you commit to buying 1 site off Garry for $100. Don’t even ask what the site is, I’m sure it’ll be quality. That’s a total of $10,000. Garry, take the money, build the sites, take some time off to document what those 100 people need to do to build an effective strategy around it to fully exploit it and build on it. Use the money to build a closed mini N/W (email or web based) of like minded people (screen them all!).
I don’t know if the numbers are right, maybe it’s 50 people @ $100 – $200, you tell us Garry. If it’s somewhere in that range. I’m the number Member #1 (or maybe #2 after Alfred.
Cheers, Ray
Hey Garry,
I actually saw your design and ideas being stolen this morning as well. I was checking through SP this morning and I saw the most recent listing was a StartUp Website for sale called DominosPizza-Coupons.com being sold by some other guy. Interested, I clicked on the listing and visited the site for sale – an exact copy of a site you had listed only hours earlier except with different content.
All I can say is that I honestly feel bad for you – however, at the same time, in a way it’s actually a compliment to you to show you the quality of your sites.
Simon
Stealing’s not nice, lol. Congrats on your sales Garry – and best of luck with your new projects.
Well Garry – this is sad, but unfortunately I too thought the same thing – someone will take the “idea” and run with it. However, I had no idea they would simply lift the exact replica of it. That stinks.
Gary Sitepoint is Idea heaven, it gives monetizing stats, traffic details, and if they ask questions alot of em are just probing to find out the details that you dont list. I recently had a site sold went down to new york to complete the deal, after I turned over the details and how to get the links and how i monetize the site and what affiliate acount to set up to get paid, he decided to not buy the site. I know he is just going to build his own. I can have the best site in the world, with out traffic it wont make a dime. Thats what people dont understand. Case in point, I have a blogger site that is free of course, I built it I think 2 years ago. I havent touched it but it gets 12000 hits a month. And still makes money. Point is it’s a crappy little free blog, but it’s an original niche and it’s keyword and image loaded, I wont disclose the site, for odvious reasons. But the point Im trying to make is A well built site will make money regardless of how it looks, it’s the links and long tail keywords that bring the traffic, and all the effort that goes into promoting it. Your list is what gives you an advantage over many. So even if I build Garryconn2.com it wont make a dime unless I put in the effort and that’s what people dont understand. Making money online takes work and the greatest Ideas in the world will fail if you dont take the time to get the traffic, and that is where most people are lost, and dont have a clue on how to get the traffic needed to suceed even with a crappy free blog let alone a well thought out idea. I could go on but I wont. Good day.
Hi Garry,
I’m sad to hear of such unfortunate incident happening. One bad rotten apple is indeed enough to spoil the whole lot.
I’m not sure how you could totally eliminate such incidents from happening again. Perhaps you could minimise it by emailing those within your list and delete the bad apple(s) from your mailing list.
Anyway, I believe you are the one truly with substance. The copycats are those without any substance. They won’t last long enough in this business.
OpticalBlog sold to one of your readers also. You are the main reason I bought it. It’s the first sight I ever bought. You reputation is what sold ALL the sites very quickly. I think the fact they were on Sitepoint was of little consequence. I wouldn’t worry too much about the copycats. That said it still stinks.
dude are you serious?
What do you expect? I guarantee everything you’ve done isn’t original, you’ve learned from others and people learn from you. That’s how it works man.
Even the “hostgator” campaign wasn’t original dude, you just did it the Garry Conn way. Could anyone who’s ever offered to setup a blog, website, provide free support, or whatever in exchange for folks joining their suggested hosting provider say you “stole” the model from them? lol
Do you expect to teach people how to make money and then they just not use it? You are teaching people to do what you do, of course that will create competition. However, the net is so large, opportunity abounds man…
There’s an abundance of opportunity for everyone.
You teach people how to build niche blogs, would you not expect them to use your process to build niche blogs?
People see a successful site sell on sitepoint, do you not think they will try to copy what is working? I have buddies who get ripped off all the time, their format of listing stolen, site designs, everything…
you adapt, you figure out what you can do to set yourself apart and you adapt to it. People will know your brand man, there is infinite possibilities out here dude, if folks are just copying, but not putting out the quality you do…then…
IT DOES NOT EFFECT YOU
You know your work, and your customers know you work. You should be building a list of people when they buy your sites, so you can offer them other sites in the future without needing to post it on sitepoint.
If you do what works, and you put it out there for people to see it working, they are going to use it. That’s how business works.
That’s why everyone started selling 5 dolla footlongs lol, they saw subway killin it so they did it.
Same thing
you’re smart enough man, adapt….
If you don’t want to share anymore due to fear of competition, then don’t lol.
Move to the background and offer private coaching, make them sign non disclosure/non compete agreements, and work with a group of people. I’m sure you can find a group of people that would pay nice money for personal coaching from the Conn man.
There is always another way to make things happen, but always know what you put out in public is just that, public, and in business people follow and try to copy what is working.
Ouch, lots of empathy. How lousy that somepeople have to rely on stealing to make a living instead of using their own intelligence to create something unique.
Hi Garry,
To be honest I have not read all the comments here. But what I would like to say is that the way you should have gone about this is that you should have offered the site(s) to the readers here and then you should have offered it on SP.
That would have served 3 purposes, the first is that you would have been able to raise the cash you needed, second, someone who follows you/respects you would have got the site and the third (most important) is that the idea of such niche sites would have remained within the group.
Some people may disagree but I can some what guarantee that the idea would not have been stolen had it been kept within your readers, and the proof is that you had already mentioned the eye coupon site here in one of the posts where you said it only took a few hours to set the site up etc, but the idea was not stolen.
Hope that made sense…Thanks
Amir
My advice is to hold steady on your course but adapt as needed. No need to throw out the baby with the bathwater…so to speak. You are doing a superior job and that is why you have a following which lends much credibilty to all your projects and endeavors.
Lee
Kudos to the idea Alfred brought up, and super kudos to Craig and Normal Joe for tellin’ it like it is.
Get aggressive – you’re branded – you’ve got some really fun (and profitable) possibilities ahead of you now…
Gary, one thing about it is that you have a brilliant mind and you are talented, no one can take that away from you. Those who do not have your vision will not be able to succeed no matter how much they copy your work. I can understand and appreciate your position because you want to help people and you want to share your knowledge with them. No matter what you will continue to be profitable and I would say that this opens up an opportunity for you to start a coaching program, one on one mentoring success training for those who want to pay you a consulting fee, which I know many will. There is always a silver lining in every situation and this one allows you to take things to a higher level.
Wishing you continued success!
Gary, your ideas are not original, coupon sites are done on everything. If they copied your layout then why wouldnt they if they liked the layout and used your idea, the design was just some words and a few adsence ads, There just landing pages anyway,You know search engines love content, one page of content is never gona make anyone rich. you could crank out 100’s of them things, and say what you like, you’ll make money, and the others will be lucky if they see 1 dollar a day in adsence. And offering theme installs for getting your hosting, hosting ads pay anywhere from 50 to $100 per sign up, So you installed there theme, that takes just minnutes, so Id say stop crying, your making money left and right. Your gona be allright gary. And the person who wanted help selling the site offered to pay you hundreds of dollars for again very little work on your part.Many people dont make 1 dollar a year from there sites. Your not doing this for your health, you make good money, but your just a squerel trying to get a nut like the rest of us. I luv ya Gary, but get over it, and make some more sites, you sell them fast and they cant take more than a few hours to crank out.
I’ve learned a TON today just from reading comments – but, hey, I’m not stealing (sorry, just kidding). I agree Joe – I think we sometimes need to step back and take the abundance approach. Everything’s kind of been done before, and it all won’t matter in a year, because it will all be re-done again – abundance is out there.
The internet is full of creeps and thieves on both sides. The dis-honest marketers abuse the newbies and the thieves abuse the honest marketers. It really is like the wild west without laws and regulations for the most pat everyone is at risk.
It is cool that your subscribers are actually trying to convince you to take their money for a membership site!
It is too bad that there is virtually no one to trust when there are so many honest people on both sides. The “gurus” are not trustworthy to be sure and the less well known marketers are obviously in it for the money too.
Where else can the success rate of those who purchase information products be in the 1% area and yet people just keep buying into the dream.
I hope that you continue to offer advice and opinion because I do believe that you are one of the good guys!
Nail. Head.
It’s obvious.
If Gary is saying if you want to learn from me, you have to pay for it, but once you have the knowledge that I’ve taught you, you use that knowledge in competition to me, I’ll moan about it, it just goes to show, what hopeless faith he must have in himself from the beginning.
Writing this blog post above is just well, extremely weird and insulting to his readers.
What am I paying for if I cannot use the information provided?
Am I paying to use his information or not that he teaches?
If the latter, why don’t I simply go elsewhere?
If there are conditions on what, where and how I can use Gary’s information, which isn’t completely unique and has also been copied from elsewhere, why should I continue to buy into him?
What use is Gary’s information if I cannot use it?
He’s making a complete mockery of himself here. Hey I’m Gary, I have great original information that you cannot do without, I am the leader, everyone follows me, you can pay to follow me, but don’t you dare use my ideas for yourself, use your own original ideas instead.
Hmmmmm, what am I paying for again?
Garry – The information that you offer is quite helpful. That being said, from experience, I have found that ignoring these so called copycats is the way to go. Spending time talking about it, which seems like a lot is a waste. You are good at what you do, so stick to it no matter who is trying to move in on you!
Garry, why don’t you brand your sites as made by Garry Conn on the auction description. If some copy cats put a description that says made by Garry Conn you sue their ass and make some money of them.
Garry,
This is my first time on your blog so I’m not star struck. I’m shocked you expected people to do nothing with the information you share.
You gave information to hungry business people. They copy your style. Now your upset ???
What else did you expect ? If you don’t want people to copy your ideas, don’t share them. Thousands of internet marketers make $50,000 per week and tell no one their secrets. But that might cost you too. It’s not by accident you got skills and a desire to share it. Take advantage of that.
Why don’t you create a membership website where you teach people creative ways to make money online ? Charge something. Teach 1 new skill every months. Get an assistant to help the members launch each project. Just some ideas.
Heck, you just mentioned good ideas, I might want to copy in my CPA campaigns.
Besides, there is nothing new under the sun. Stop whining…
The only time there were going overboard was by copying your templates.
Come on Garry! Only if I’ll put a mask with your face printed on her I’ll make tons of money giving interviews and autographs! And if I’ll start to copy you for real, than, my dear friend… Lol!! You always make me laugh! I’ll still alright! Your bank accounts(i’m joking!)… Come read Wayne’s poem and mine on wayneJohn.com ! Bye. P.S. Hey, i can’t comment here!… Is something wrong.
I think this is a brilliant idea! I was actually flipping my own niche site (still on auction at DP) and I listed your niche sites as a ‘price guide’.
Initially I was getting bids because people thought I was you; though once I mentioned a few dozen times I wasn’t bids slowed down and have stopped at $250 for a site with rev. Not bad but hey…!
The idea though selling the research could be more profitable.
Considering the infant age of the domains you sold, it good money.
Those who give freely to others will always have and never want for anything. Those who take from others will always be chasing others to take from and will always want and never have anything.
Garry, do what you do best…there will always be an abundance for you and your family. This is the natural law of the Universe.
Gary,
If I were you I would keep your best ideas to yourself. We members are not paying for you to reveal ‘everything’, that is not a good business strategy for you to take. The approach you have and the instructions and lessons you provide in the members area are top notch and put us in good stead to develop our our creative ideas. What you do, in your own private business is up to you – but I would steer clear of SP etc or you will always be looking over your shoulder. Market yourself privately, sell your own custom built sites to customers with a proviso signed agreement not to replicate your systems.
If you reveal all in the public arena, expect the worst!
Copying is a good sign, it is your public acknowlegment that your stuff works.
Now you have that boost to your self esteem, GO UNDERGROUND!
All the best
Juno
Garry, this is sad, but you cannot stop coping your ideas. People who copy, learn only to copy somebodies ideas. They never learn to use their brain power to come up with something fresh.
Join the club, your not the first victim, and your ideas arent that original, your design skills are great, and you know what your talking about, but your not the king of niches.
Garry,
I 100% with you…but pls don’t close out your true followers. Open a closed membership site so you still can share your ideas and work. True workmanship everything you do in this field. That couping sites are huge. You should never sold any of that!
Good luck whatever you decide to do.
Joe
(p.s. you still offering free blogs for hostings??)
Sorry to heard that Garry!
You may start a membership site. Your websites are awesome, practical and they make money.
Joe
Gary,
If you place sites for sale on sitepoint and digitalpoint or wherever and then you blast your list so that your “thread views” shoot up, of course you are going to be a target.
I assume the purpose of you emailing your list is two-fold, but you might want to setup a “private” sale for your list only, although that will probably result in overall less sales.
I just had a successful WSO and I’m going to “steal” one of my buyers “systems”.
It’s a no-brainer, and ethical.
Can you blame them(us)?
Glad to see you are still blogging away.
Leave a Comment