Living as an expat, you don’t always have the benefit of exposure to a complete marketing ecosystem, thus when you hear of a marketer who seems to be “doing things” for the first time, with a huge following, it can shake you up a little.
Up until a week ago I hadn’t really heard of Chris Cardell, thus I have been a little blindsided.
He seems to be supremely confident about what he teaches though I think this claim (from an email newsletter) would require a huge amount of supporting evidence.
I am, modesty aside, Europe’s leading authority on Pay per Click Advertising and Website Conversion
You see in my mind just because someone teaches the most amount of people about a topic doesn’t make them a leading authority.
Here are some more quotes from a seminar sales page
Europe’s Leading Authority on Entrepreneurial Success
I am Europe’s leading provider of Marketing, Internet, Sales, Business and Advanced Thinking information to Entrepreneurs.
I believe this video was intended for a squeeze or sales page, and then syndicated on Youtube
Chris Cardell Reviews
Chris Cardell – A client’s view
A review from a happy customer who also works with Lee Duncan, a guy I met through the Stompernet forums.
Chris Cardell Essential Profit Strategies Review
A review of one of Chris’ products by Paul Simister – Paul comments here on my blog fairly frequently and we follow each other on Twitter – in many ways Paul is one of my competitors in the SERPs for many products and product launches, but I trust his reviews without question. He has mixed feelings about the value proposition for someone experienced in online marketing.
Chris Cardell PPC Expert
My initial research regarding Chris on his PPC expertise came up a little blank, as for instance I didn’t see him advertising on terms that would be best suited for his coaching program, or his own name.
That being said he does provide a module for Parry Marshall’s Adwords training on the difference marketing to a UK audience, so I would assume by inferral he does have some significant experience,
Innovative Offline Marketing
From what I have been able to track down from internet sources it seems Chris takes a very much Offline >> Online approach to direct marketing with great success.
Beermat Advertising
Small business owners love the odd tipple
Conferences
Chris Cardell seems to run yearly conferences with headline speakers such as former & current “Dragons” from the popular BBC TV series “Dragon’s Den”
Here is a link to his conference in 2009 – I don’t know whether they are high content or a pitch fest.
He was also a recent speaker at the Glazer-Kennedy Info-SUMMIT
Jackie Ewing had some nice things to say about his presentation
Chris Cardell As Seen on TV (inc BBC)
This is something I haven’t been able to verify – there are constant messages about being featured on TV, possibly as a “halking head” subject matter expert but I haven’t been able to find any video clips.
If you search the BBC archives for Chris Cardell there is no mention at all.
Chris Cardell In The Sunday Times
There is mention in much of his marketing about being featured within the Sunday Times. Searching The Times Online I did find one mention of Chris Cardell in a resource post covering online resources of wannabe entrepreneurs. Paul did mention half-page adverts in the Sunday Times which may be his more visible presence.
I have been cited in The Guardian once, so maybe we are on a level footing 
Chris Cardell on Twitter
There is a Chris Cardell twitter account and at first glance I wasn’t too sure whether it was legitimate.
Whilst I haven’t confirmed directly, various recent references cirtainly seem to tie up with his offline activities, so whilst it could be faked, I am currently looking on it as being legit, though not heavily promoted.
Chris Cardell V.I.P Club
Paul reviewed this extensively, but I took interest when looking at the sales copy to the Chris Cardell V.I.P. Club which included something about new PageRank updates and penalties about paid links.
The phrase I take exception to?
New This Month: December 2009
Click image to see full size screenshot of December 2009 sales page
My personal opinion is that if something is stated as new information, it should be new information.
On first glance Chris doesn’t seem to have blocked internet archive crawlers, but here is the last captured version of his sales page from August 2008. Maybe the crawlers have determined that the page hasn’t really been updated in a year.
Most of the content is exactly the same.
I have no problem with continual continuity sales models and access to his V.I.P program is using a fully upfront free plus shipping trial offer with continuity, though the continuity is forced and refer to Paul’s review if you want to cancel.
The offer as you might expect if you have seen similar offers is compelling offering a huge amount of value up front.
When I take exception is the expectation that the content is brand new. The paid link PageRank penalty fiasco was October 2007 – I was right in the middle of it. Chris might be using a variation of Ryan Deiss’s continual launch model, but it is also possible all the material is available as soon as you sign up.
This doesn’t invalidate the information, it isn’t new information (though it might be for new members)
I haven’t joined the program, but this does taint it for me.
Chris Cardell Affiliate Program
Before writing this post I did hunt around for an affiliate program – Chris seems to be using 1ShoppingCart so there is an affiliate program built into the platform, but I couldn’t see any evidence of him using it proactively – it could well be that it is used as a private program, especially when he is speaking at public events, or as an affiliate for himself to add an extra layer of tracking. There are currently no affiliate links in this post.
Chris Cardell Overall
Chris seems great at presentation, he used to work for Capital Radio thus if he can present information to people in a way that help them understand it better and take action, that is a valuable skill.
That would make him a “leading source” in my mind, not “the leading authority” though maybe I am picking up on something which is more semantic.
The value provided by a “business guru” is being able to communicate and teach, and Chris Cardell seems to be able to do that with distinction. It seems what he teaches is a cross between Stompernet (inc their F5 taining with Paul Lemberg) & Rich Schefren, though claiming “leading authority” status in the vast range of topics covered is in my mind probably stretching things a little.
Chris is doing great with authority by association – Perry Marshall, Frazer – Kennedy, various BBC Dragons, and I believe he is now doing a PPC teleseminar with Jay Abraham (Wed 16th December & Thurs 17th Deccember 2009).
That is the current state of my research, I thought I would publish it for the benefit of others and as stated this overview doesn’t contain any affiliate links, I just found it interesting as an industry observer, and I thought in publishing it my UK readers could add some further perspective. (I would love a scan of the half-page adverts run in The Sunday Times for instance)
p.s. This doesn’t seem to be the same Chris Cardell who was formerly Jupiter Media President & COO. Jupiter Media is now known as WebMediaBrands. I spent a long time trying to work out if there was a connection.
Tags: Chris Cardell, Chris Cardell Review, UK Entrepreneur
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