Interview with Derek Tomei . . .The Niche Cloner By Cort McCadden Dec 15, 2006

Email this article  Printer friendly page

Cort: Today we have a guy that has been involved with numerous well known Internet projects like PeopleSoft. I know that you are one of the “hotshots” in Internet Marketing; however I would like to know what you did before your Net involvement. When was this? What got you interested in the Net?

Derek: Well actually, I’m not really a hotshot or a Guru. I’m just a plain old Joe that found ways to make money online doing what I love to do. Prior to ever getting online, I was a software consultant for companies that use PeopleSoft software.

PeopleSoft is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software application that large companies utilize to manage their businesses. I was one of many leading consultants in the PeopleSoft industry and provided other professionals with a wealth of information, knowledge and experience through a member community website that I created.

I started marketing on the Internet back in 1998 when I founded my first niche-specific membership sites related to niche-specific industries in Enterprise Performance Planning (ERP). These sites include, (PeopleSoftPros.net) and job board (PeopleSoftPros.com) with over 30,000 plus members.

These sites are now the number one online PeopleSoft-related membership community and career sites on the Internet. It is here, where my online success began. Then I began to duplicate these niche sites for several other industries creating one niche site after another that generate an automated and ongoing stream of cash. This is where I started.

I don’t make my main income from Internet Marketing to other Internet Marketers. I make my money from my non-Internet Marketing niche sites and I help others to learn what I did through Internet Marketing.

Cort: Boy, Derek, you certainly have taught me a great deal about membership sites and I'm planning on starting one related to my field of expertise. Did you see the value of Email Marketing almost immediately after it appeared? What made you get involved with Email Marketing?

Derek: I never really saw the TRUE value of Email marketing until I joined the Internet Marketing circles. I first learned about it when joining the late Corey Rudl’s Marketing Tips newsletter. Only after this, did I start using Email Marketing in my membership and career sites. Now I can clearly see the power of Email Marketing and how you can quickly generate leads and sales by clicking a button.

Cort: Yes, so many of us have been helped by the late Corey who left us a such a early age. What are you doing to avoid the ever present spam filters from putting your email in spam folders? Are you considering using PDF files to send your ezine like I have started to do?

Derek: Currently, I am just using SPAM assessment software like SPAM ASSASIN. I am very careful to not put the wrong words and even sometimes just send a very short email that will lead my members to a web page where the meat of what I want to say is. I have used PDF’s on occasion, but I do not regularly use a PDF as my eZine. If you think I should, I would love to here your success stories.

Cort: Actually, we have been pursuing what you do with more success. We send out a SHORT email to have them go to either our blog or web site. What are your feelings about Plain vs. HTML Email Marketing? What about the Audio and Visual Email?

Derek: Almost all my emails are plain text. Even if I use HTML I simply put plain text in it. I don’t want to distract my readers with graphics. I want to deliver information to them quickly and ensure that they click any links that I might have in there. I am a huge proponent of audio.. I use it on almost every website. And It is a great way to communicate with your list.

Cort: What have been your biggest successes in your business and why? Failures? What would you do differently if you could do things over?

Derek: My biggest success is getting started online in a niche that I know and love and watching it grow exponentially on its own. I was one of the first people to have a niche membership site and job board for PeopleSoft. And I mean a good quality one with tons of quality content. My sites have grown mostly by word of mouth and through search engine marketing. Being number one in Yahoo! For the keyword “peoplesoft jobs” is a huge success!

Cort: You bet it is!

Derek: My biggest failure I think was not knowing how to market online prior to launching my sites. I did a lot of trial and error and made many mistakes. I wish I would have learned more about Internet Marketing tactics early on. For instance, if I only knew about viral techniques, affiliate programs, email marketing, and back end sales.

I’m not sure what I would do If I could do things over.. I would probably say to quit my 9 to 5 job much earlier in my career! LOL!

Cort: Amen! What would be your advice to Internet newbies concerning Email Marketing?

Derek: My best advice would be to stop wasting all of your time and money trying to get all of the information that you can before you take a leap. Just start doing it. Get the basics that you need to know for making money online and then just take action. There are really only 6 basic steps that you need to know. I have them in a report that I would be glad to give away to your members.

Here are my special offers….

Free access to my Newsletter
http://www.derektomei.com/newsletter.html

Free access to my Secret Success Warriors product.
http://www.secretsuccesswarriors.com/DEMC/

Cort: These are totally AWESOME especially the Warriors's product which has been invaluable to me.


###
Cort McCadden also known by his real name Hugh Simpson is a former consumer investigative reporter for Post Newsweek TV and the co-founder of the website http://www.moneywiselife.com and the new blog http://moneywiselife.blogspot.com where he shares up to date consumer awareness tips for especially seniors since he has reached 60 this year. He is also an emergency preparedness consultant and he encourages you to download the FR** Emergency Preparedness Guide at http://www.usprepared.com offering tips for preparedness on both man made and natural disasters.

Check out other articles in this week's issue: