As I mentioned in my last post on this blog, the success of our Betfair Trading Course took me a little bit by surprise really, not because I didn’t believe my strategies, and methodologies worked – I know they do, and so do very many others via the course teachings, but the surprise came at just how lethargic the other courses were on the subject of Betfair.
I had not really looked at any other courses as I believe in making my own way, making my own mistakes in life, and not buying into the hype of a subject (especially with the internet becoming a seemingly ever-increasing factor on choice).
The Betfair Niche Was Seriously Lacking in REAL Instruction.
But when you consider that the topic of sports trading, or to cut that down further: Betfair trading, which has become so popular in recent years, you would really have thought that there would have been some substantial products already in the market, teaching people how to really trade – but that wasn’t really the case.
Sure, there were a few products, and courses out there, but none that anybody would, or could consider had the ‘wow’ factor, or that consumers of such courses were raving about based on profits generated from anything they had learned. This is why I knew my own Betfair course would become popular, fairly quickly – and that is exactly how it turned out.
If you read my story about how I became involved with Betfair, then you will have also appreciated that it was a long, sometimes difficult journey, and I literally trained myself on what does, and does not work in this world of gambling, and trading.
There were no silly sob stories about how I suddenly found a ‘break-through’, or other eye catching headlines that may attract readers. It was simple a case of hard work, and a lot of it!
So as stated, I decided to create the course mainly because there was a lack of quality out there…
I knew this because we had so many subscribers (for other products we had launched) asking for us to create an instructional portal that would teach them how to trade the Betfair Exchanges.
Sure, many other traders know how to trade Betfair, but can they actually teach it?; and be able to relate to the man, or woman in the street on exactly what they need to do to attain a certain level of success?
The problem with a lot of courses that try to teach how you a subject, is that there is far too much ‘philosophising’ involved, and some courses use such tactics to plaster over the fact that what they are actually teaching has no real substance behind it.
Therefore if I was to spend a considerable amount of time creating a course, I wanted it to not only be the best out there, but it had to be created to produce results for those people looking to trade – real results!
Looks Like We Have Raised The Bar For All
A good few months ago after we initially launched our course, I was contacted by a member who stated that since our course came along, other course vendors had ‘upped their game’:
Incidentally, Jon above also sent in screenshots showing himself making a consistent £350 per week, via the teachings on our course.
A few similar emails have come in since then, and the reason for that, is because we have now created a very loyal customer base; customers who had already purchased most other courses out there, and who wrote in to say that those other courses had started to add new content, and had made subtle changes – all since we had launched our own course.
I like to think I wear my heart on my sleeve, and it has been mentioned to me a few times that I have a definite, and direct style of teaching, and I will never apologise for that, because it generates the right teaching environment, but more importantly, it generates results for those learning how to trade.
Betfair Course Competitor Concerns
Now I am all for live and let live, but I do remember vividly a certain Betfair trader contacting us not long after we had launched the course to ask if ‘we were copying his own course’, to which I pleasantly replied that I had never seen his course, and quickly directed him to an email from a few of our own members who had compared the two courses.
The email content I sent back proved that what we were offering, on our course, was being received extremely well compared to what else was out there – including this trader’s own course.
At the time I made a video of this vendor’s email, the situation, and placed it in our members area (early members may remember this, as I have since removed that video), to see what our own members thought. The response was overwhelmingly pointing to the fact that what we had created was of such a high quality, that it could never be compared to this other trader’s course.
I won’t mention any names here, but being contacted by this other ‘pro trader’ was a very interesting encounter, as we had only (at the time) been launched a few weeks, and very many people were already talking about the membership we offered, and the training we had begun to roll out.
It was only a matter of days since we launched that the feedback started to come in.
Although I did expect some positivity, some of the emails I read really made me stand back and evaluate what we had just offered; and this immediately made me realise that what was already out there wasn’t ‘cutting it’ for many people who had paid good money to these vendors.
I wondered why this was, because as I mentioned earlier I did not study any courses on Betfair, I researched, and tested myself, and created my own principles, and methodologies.
When I started ‘putting pen to paper’ so to speak, on our own course, I simply thought to myself:
“What would somebody, brand new to trading, really need to learn”
And then I started the course content accordingly. I knew of my own early struggles into making a profit from the racing markets, before Betfair had even existed, so I already had an outline I knew I was going to follow.
I broke the course down into the basics, from the very beginning, because I knew was what was required, and then I segregated all the content in a progressive style, each with various videos explaining the basics, the software, and how to actually start trading in a positive way, always copying exactly what I do myself when making a profit.
I also knew that trading Betfair was not easy, so I promised to only give information, and instructional content on what did work – no BS, so to speak, and members have definitely thanked me for this, and continue to do so.
We still receive the same type of testimonial emails today, as we did when we launched. For example I am writing this on the 8th May 2018 (I may publish it later than that), and only yesterday yet another testimonial email came in from an experienced Betfair user, which I will show below:
And this again highlights the point I was referring to just a minute ago, about producing a REAL course, that creates REAL results for users, and not just a product philosophising on a subject just because you, yourself happen to be good at it. It needs real instruction to produce such results, and that is what I always knew this industry lacked.
12 months down the line we still have a fully fledged Betfair Trading Course that very many members have claimed to be the best that has ever been produced (I must have at least 100+ emails from members stating this sentiment), and although this is extremely humbling to hear, and read (as I never set the course out to be a market leader of any kind, but it seems that is what is has become), it does seem to attract a certain level on envy.
False Comments By Competitors
I remember just a few weeks ago on another forum, a supposed customer of ours said that our course was ‘crap’ and that another course (coincidence?) was much better. Hmmm….
So I dug into our database, and the name of this poster was not even a member, which immediately suggested that a competitor was trying to create a bit of ‘damage intention – fake news’ at our expense.
Of course I replied with the facts, and stated that he was not even a customer of our course, and he did not respond – which wasn’t that much of a surprise.
But this also shows the lengths some vendors will go to try and damage the reputation of a product that is seen very positively by users.
And again, if you have already read my Betfair history article, you will also have read that I certainly do not need the money from trading, or the sale of courses; which although is a great position to be in, it also means that if a user of our course does not see the value, we immediately give them their money back, albeit refund requests are as rare as unicorns running through the snow – even with such a generous guarantee.
Just to prove this point, today is the 19th May 2018, the day I am actually publishing this blog post, and I offered a refund to a member just yesterday, who seemed to be becoming frustrated with his progress. Here is a snippet of his reply:
As you can see, we cannot even give refunds away when offered, as members can see the value immediately after they join, which is very pleasing, and the whole reason we created the course.
Giving Customers Real Value
Where products and courses are concerned, if people have been making money selling products for a good length of time (other vendors), and then a competitor enters that same market, it goes without saying that they would see this as a threat to their income stream. A bit like if you had a hair salon, and a rival opened right next door to your shop. You’d be concerned for your ‘takings’, and profits, yes?
We see it the opposite way.
The way I look at a market – for ANY product – is that if what you are offering does not tick all the boxes, and create the results that those same customers were paying for, then you should not be taking, or keeping their hard-earned money.
If you have been serving up inferior products, taking money from people, and somebody else comes along and does a better job than you, then who is really to blame?
This is commerce at the end of the day, not a charity.
So if you do see an unsavioury comment about our course, just think to yourself ‘why’ that could be, and if the many hundreds of members who have sent in testimonials could be wrong, and we also show live feedback from members on our course – could they be wrong also? I think you already know the answer to that.
Especially with all the positive course reviews from industry related websites, who have actually tested what we offer, and made profits themselves, then considering the course has now been around for 12+ months, if there were any doubts, they would already have surfaced.
Copying The Market ‘Leader’ – You Expect It
But we have also been sent messages of support from members who do have memberships with other vendors, and course suppliers, and who have directly claimed that certain aspects of what we teach are now being copied by others.
Oh, the irony 🙂
So much so, and just to give you an example, we have a few members who have emailed casually over the last 12 months, to say that other courses they are still part of, by other traders, have started to almost replicate what we have done, and just to give you a snippet of one email that came in recently:
“Hi Stuart, he has now started doing a q&a on his course, which is a blatant copy of your member feedback section, and started using similar annotations on his videos that you used from the beginning, lol, still not a patch on yours mate”.
Now obviously when people have their own product, they will see what else is out there, although I certainly didn’t – I couldn’t care less what baloney other ‘pro traders’ are filling their customers’ heads with – not my responsibility.
The feedback we get shows that we have created something unique, and that my own teaching style is something that is appreciated, and it is great to read the comments from members who have stated that – and shown very positive results from the training, that’s all we are concerned with.
Should We Be Flattered? We Are!
But what this shows, is that the courses that were already out there, were quite passive (some may say lazy) in their approach to their content mainly because there was no competition in the market place.
Now that we have come along, and proved to our thousands of members that there is a definitive way to learn to trade, the copying of our style has begun.
I suppose when you are in any industry, or niche, and a new competitor starts to attract a lot of positivity, you would start to take notice, maybe even purchase the course, and then make changes to your own content (now that you are being compared to something new), especially if you had already established a name for yourself, which other pro traders already had.
It is almost flattering, well it is flattering, to be considered the training course to copy, by professional traders who have been well publicised for many years.
It is also extremely amusing the see the trader who accused us of copying, frantically changing his own course to try and attract the levels of members, and positivity that we now enjoy, and have always enjoyed since the first week of launch.
Thinking Out Loud (Proud) Moment
So this post is really a ‘thinking out loud (proud) moment’, to be seen as the course that is now being copied in style, in an attempt by others in the niche to try and attract a similar level of positivity (and course membership sales, let’s face it!).
What does surprise me, and it would definitely surprise me if I was a member of somebody’s course that is now adding basic content, is why didn’t these vendors/traders offer what their customers needed in the first place?
And if not, then isn’t it now the case that they have been taken monetary payments for a product that simply didn’t live up to expectations?
It’s a good question, when you think about it.
If you are going to have a product out there that you think is the best of it’s genre, then why would you suddenly start offering materials, and content that should have already been there, and would have already helped your paying members?
No matter what the reasoning, the fact that our course is making large waves in this industry, and that other well known traders are following our lead, proves that we are definitely moving in the right direction – and always have been.
Sometimes we will get emails from prospective course members and they will immediately ask us:
“Is your course better than XXXXX, and if so, how?”
My immediate thought to such emails, which I always read with a wry smile, is to think, well “If that prospective member knew that we are being copied by the very trader they are talking about, and his course, then he would not be asking the question”.
My second thought is always “Try other courses first by all means, then try ours, and then you will see why we get so many positive comments..”
My third thought is always regarding the daily positivity that we receive on the training that I created, and the sheer mass of emails, and positive screenshots that have come in over the last 12 months, and continues to come in daily.
I think to myself:
“Ask this other trader to show you similar emails, profit and loss screenshots from members, and see if they match up to what our course content receives. Also ask them why they don’t offer you a 100% money back guarantee, if they are so confident in their teaching, and the results of their members”
The moral of this blog posting?
So to sum this up, we are proud to have created a product that is now being copied in style, and theme by other so-called ‘pro traders’, but it is far better to be leading the field in this niche.
The way we have done that, is by creating a course that already detailed what budding traders needed to know; produces results for those who are parting with their money, instead of just making sales on ‘perceived’ reputation.
I had no reputation in the Betfair arena when I launched the course, but my teaching, and feedback is testament to what we offer.
The fact that we are causing other traders to frantically change their own course, add extra videos, change annotations, style and try to keep up, makes me proud to have entered this market, and even prouder to have very many members who consider me somebody who has changed their trading success.
Live and let live, but know that certain products offer more value, and results than others by default. There is no point pretending to offer a service, or product just because something new has entered the market that could affect your gravy train.
You have to be the pioneer of a market based on substance, and value. It’s the only way, and your customers will thank you for it.
It’s like when Dyson invented the bag-less vacuum cleaner, they paved the way to real quality that their customers appreciated them for, and were prepared to part with their money due to knowing exactly what they were receiving in return.
The Vacuum industry watched Dyson from afar, including Vax, Hoover and the likes, dismissing his original ideas, although after the launch of the Dyson bag-less cleaner, competitors quickly followed suit in pursuit of profit over substance – It is this reason that I now only buy Dyson vacuum cleaners.
Dyson were not only the innovators, but they are so confident in their product, that they also offer a 5 year unconditional guarantee because they truly understand market forces, and customer satisfaction – based on results/value/substance.
Trying to change after somebody else has offered the correct way, and you will be shown to have taken payments, and loyalty for an inferior, and potentially unfit product – that goes for any product, any service you may offer, and in any sector.
Where results are concerned, myth will always meet reality in the end.
…Consumers will then make their choices.
