In this post weâll go over my relationship with other SEO bloggers and take a serious look at the Elite Retreat.
Why?
Well I got tons of IMs about my Pink Hat SEO post last week: people wanting to know if I have some kind of gripe with Shoe or Aaron or Lee Dodd. One blog commenter even asked if âfrosts [my] ass to see them make this kind of money?â
No. Iâm not that type of person.
Getting upset or jealous because someone else is making money is negative energy that should be removed from your life. Business is not a zero sum game. If someone else is making money that doesnât mean that thereâs any less money for you to make. If someone else is successful I look to see what they are doing right and emulate it.
Hereâs my take on the elite retreat:
For the right audience $5000 is a bargain. While the presentations about PPC Blogging SEO and community will probably be useful in and of themselves the real benefit here is going to be from the interaction.
The âStrategy Sessionâ and âGroup Discussionsâ will allow attendees to get inside the minds of how successful online entrepreneurs think. More than anything thinking the right way and learning innovative ways to tackle various projects are the keys to success. Many . . . I would say MOST . . . people in the corporate world do not have their heads around what it takes to create a successful online business. Thatâs where the interaction with people who are successful can make the biggest difference.
Even starting to learn something like that is easily worth the 5 grand.
When you read the fine print of the elite retreat thatâs when things get juicy. See where it says âAction Plan Follow-Upâ? That means to me that attendees are going to be able to fire off quick questions to the speakers for a couple months to come. Getting high level input on strategy from people who have done it is one of the real benefits that Iâm sure many have overlooked.
How do I know this is such a benefit? Because two of the speakers are already in my Instant Messenger. While I donât chat all that much with Aaron Shoemoney has given me advice that has helped me make literally tens of thousands more dollars. It cuts both ways though one of the things I showed him . . . something that took him about 20 mins to change . . . is now making him an extra $14k per month.
If you donât have the contacts itâs hard to get the attention of the right people. The elite retreat is a step in the right direction for people who need to build connections.
Do I have a gripe with any of the Speakers? Of course not. The Pink Hat SEO post was a harmless joke. Most people thought it was funny â including Shoemoney and Aaron.
The real URL for the elite retreat is
http://www.eliteretreat.info/
.info? They must be fucking spammers. 
