My Top Ten List Of Influential Old-Time Internet Marketers…
Last night I was thinking about the “old time Internet marketers”… the ones who were lucky enough to enter the Internet marketing field about a decade ago or longer and whose teachings have stood the test of time.
In my opinion people who are new to the field of Internet marketing would do well to learn from these people (at least, the ones who are still marketing) instead of learning from brand new marketers who shout louder and louder promises and spin more and more hype. Like anything in life, reputation has to be earned.
So, here are the “old timers” who have been most influential on my Internet marketing career. My apologies to those marketers who don’t appear on the list… blame my “old timer’s memory”. 
(there are no affiliate links in this list which is in alphabetical order)
Allan Gardyne. Allan has run his free Associate Programs newsletter since 1998 and maintains an incredibly impressive quality level. The domain name comes from back when affiliate programs were called “associate programs” because that’s what Amazon called theirs when they started way back in the ancient days. At Associateprograms.com you can read the back issues of Allan’s newsletter and join in the active discussion forum. [edit: Allan is also responsible for the excellent SpeedPPC time-saving tool, for anyone interested in Pay Per Click marketing.]
Corey Rudl. Corey was an Internet marketing pioneer and is still hugely missed. Corey blazed the trail all Internet marketers followed. The Internet Marketing Center is now run by Derek Gehl.
Declan Dunn. (what was his early domain name? I don’t remember it, but I do remember offering to buy it from Declan [update: it was activemarketplace.com]. Declan was one of the earliest affiliate marketers and published “The Complete Insiders Guide to Associate and Affiliate Programs” in 1998. He moved on to consultancy with companies such as American Express I believe.
Jim Daniels. Jim started out in 1996 with $300 and a 386 computer. He has since helped thousands of people start their own online businesses through his BizWeb Gazette and his “Make A Living Online” website/product. I think there are hundreds of thousands of subscribers to his BizWeb Gazette newsletter!
John Audette. John started and moderated the I-Sales digest back in 1997, one of the earliest and best discussion lists for Internet marketers.
Jonathan Mizel. Jonathan started the Online Marketing Letter back in 1993. It’s the longest running Internet marketing newsletter. Jonathan also hosted one of the first Internet marketing conferences at Boulder, Colorado, before moving to Maui.
Mark Joyner. Mark has created some of the most viral websites ever, such as StartBlaze and ExitBlaze. One of his earliest ebooks, Search Engine Tactics, was released in 1995… before ebooks were called ebooks…
Marlon Sanders. Marlon’s a massively influential marketer whose Amazing Formula was probably owned by almost every early marketer, including myself. Still producing innovative material such as his new Kindle report.
Michael Campbell. Michael recalls queueing for a copy of the Netscape browser when it was launched… back in 1994. He pioneered affiliate marketing making $750,000 in sales of cell phone accessories purely through search engine ranking techniques which he described in “Nothing But Net”, and then explained advanced strategies in “Clickin It Rich” and “Revenge of the Mininet”. Michael quickly adopts new technologies and is now augmenting his newsletter with podcasts, a blog, twitter and ustream.
Stephen Mahaney. Stephen’s team has been on the cutting edge of search engine updates and changes since 1997. They offer a membership site “Search Engine News” and ebook, “The UnFair Advantage Book on Winning The Search Engine Wars”.
… and an extra one…
Terry Dean. Terry had one of the earliest membership sites for people wanting to market online called NetBreakthroughs. He sold that site in 2004 to Kirt Christensen and (I believe) retired to pursue religious work, but is now back at terrydean.org.
Ok, so that’s my list… who have I forgotten? Who hugely influenced you before the “Y2K bug” melted the Internet?
Anyone else remember that? lol.
May 7th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Great post Neil!
Slightly surprised - but Britishly stoic naturally - to see no Brits on there I don’t think? Perhaps Mr Robson? As for others, Dr Evoy rather leaps to mind, as does the league-of-his-own Mr Halbert..
One particular marketer from that list I’ve never heard of before, I’m now leaping to their site expectantly
Alex
May 7th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
thanks Alex.
I learned a bit about copywriting from the SiteSell/Joe Robson Make Your Words Sell ebook… but I seem to remember that was post-2000.
I wasn’t personally influenced by Gary Halbert.
Neil.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I learned a LOT about the potential of internet marketing when I started working with Yanik Silver.
Ken Evoy’s Make Your Site Sell made me throw away the HTML tutorial books I’d just bought when it became obvious I knew all I needed to know to put websites together and didn’t need to mess around with “cool” techie stuff.
Who remember’s Mike Enlow’s Stealth Marketing/JV stuff … that was pretty cool?
Pretty much everyone on Neil’s list apart from John Audette - I was on the I-Sales list back then but don’t remember his name.
Ah … those were the days, when GetResponse and Aweber cost $19.95/month PER autoresponder!!
May 7th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Great list of A-level marketers, I’ve learned from most of them.
I’d also add:
Willie Crawford
the late Jim Wilson
Dr.Ralph Wilson
All success
Dr.Mani
May 7th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
@ Nick
LOL, yes, and domain names were only through Network Solutions and for a minimum of $70 for 2 years. IIRC.
Neil.
/wave Mani.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Great List, Neil!
For me, the only names missing there are Jimmy D Brown, who turned one visit to a Sears photo studio into most of the systems we use today for viral e-book marketing, and Carl Galetti, whose Internet Marketing SuperConference is running for the tenth straight year in Vegas next month.
Cheers,
Doug.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Sheldon Nix led me to Marlon Sanders and Terry Dean. So those would be my big 3. And Tom Antion started his Great Speaking newsletter prior to Y2K I believe. He led me to Cory Rudl.
Oh, you can lol all you want at the Y2K bug and threatened “meltdown,” but I can assure you a lot of people worked very, very hard to keep it from being a meltdown. And while they missed a few things and had to work hard as the year changed so no apparent meltdown occurred, it’s those folks who have you lol instead of crying that you lost access to your money. It was no “joke.”
May 7th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
@ Doug,
Thanks for your comment.
@ Rich,
Sorry to upset you. It was just a little wisecrack.
“The fact that countries where very little was spent on tackling the Y2K bug (such as Italy and South Korea) fared just as well as those who spent much more (such as the United Kingdom and the United States) has generated debate on whether the absence of computer failures was the result of the preparation undertaken or whether the significance of the problem had been overstated.[1]” (source: wikipedia)
Neil.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Anybody involved in internet marketing today has been influenced - whether they know it or not - by Ken McCarthy. He put on the first ever internet marketing seminar back in 1994. He then founded The System Seminar, which is still going strong, and which is where many of the “gurus” - including some of those who put on big seminar events today - got their first internet marketing education.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
That is a great list of names, especially Mark Joyner, Jim Daniels and Cory Rudl. I learned a lot from all of them. Great list, Neil. Also, it’s good to hear Terry Dean is back out there. I had not known that.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
That is a powerful list of marketers. I have learned from a lot of them and am on some of their newsletters religiously. It is from their teachings that I learned to start my own Master Affiliate program which will help all people be able to make a lot of money in internet marketing. Thanks Neil, this is an excellent post to pay respect. What about Frank Kern or Derek Gehl.
May 7th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
@ Bernard,
You’re right. I think Michael Campbell said the something similar on Twitter, ironically…
https://twitter.com/dmcorp/statuses/789181793
I’ve never interacted with Ken though.
[edit: @John, I don’t know when Frank got started, but I wasn’t influenced by him back in the 90’s. Derek I mentioned under Corey as he runs the IMC now.]
Neil.
May 7th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
That is a good list, but how does someone new to the game get to speak with someone like you or any of the people on this list? It would sure be beneficial for new people to be able to learn from those who have done it by speaking with them for 15 minutes or so.
May 7th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
This is very interesting,
can You inshort state main techniques these famous internet marketers are doing? than We,beginers can get alittle bit deeper insight…
Regards,
Miroslav Turcinovic
May 7th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Yep. Matches my early influencers list pretty much exactly:
Cory Rudl - The gigantic early IM course. Wasn’t as well organized as I would have liked it to have been, but was chock-full of amazing details.
Declan Dunn - His book “Winning the Affiliate Game” was incredibly well organized and I think the first one I got with those nice flowcharts. Still relevant today.
Jim Daniels - Was stunned when he would personally respond to my emails BEFORE I was his customer, something I practice to this day because of that experience.
Jonathan Mizel - Anatomy of a Marketing Rollout. While it didn’t give great guidance about getting statistically significant results, it drove home a basic principle of direct marketing better than I’ve ever seen: “If the most qualified prospects don’t take your offer, then its unlikely nobody else will, so test with the most targeted traffic first.” Of course it seems obvious, but I talk to so many people who still don’t get it.
Marlon Sanders. Amazing Formula. Need I say more? I had that formula plastered to my computer at one point and even carried it in my wallet. LOL
Michael Campbell. Well, just about a zillion years ahead of everyone else. Anybody want to buy some batteries?
Stephen Mahaney. I just remember my brain kind of exploded the first time I read Unfair Advantage. Was so far beyond me at the time.
Terry Dean is back. We had a brief chat by email. He has new sites:
http://www.mymarketingcoach.com/
http://www.MonthlyMentorClub.com/
May 7th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Hi,
Very nice! I certainly enjoyed this post and all the
wonderful comments.
Wow! Those guys are just like an allstar hockey or
baseball team.
Best regards,
Laurie
May 8th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Great list Neil.
Sitting at my desk, just behind me is Cory’s ‘The Insider Secrets To Marketing Your Business on the Internet’. Date: 1999. It even came with a little program on diskette to scrape email addresses!
I also own the Amazing Formula and then the Big Course.
I remember Declan telling a hilarious story about a Chinese who flew over to learn from him. And Jonathan’s show in London, laughing all the way to the bank.
Living and working in the Web2.0 world now, makes it feel like another age. Which it probably is in Internet terms.
I agree with Dr. Mani adding my good friend Willie Crawford. And want to add two more names: Paul Myers and Phil Whiley. Learned a lot from both.
May 8th, 2008 at 2:48 am
Neil,
I am sure this is a great list. I am familiar with many of the names but a few I have never heard of.
I have only been involved in Internet Marketing for 2 years and am still learning. Although, these men haven’t influenced me directly I feel certain the people who have helped me learn, learned many things from the men on your list.
I am curious, if you made a similar list of women who are influential in Internet Marketing who would be on that list.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:58 am
Hi Neil,
One of the first “big” IM info products I ever brought (back in about 2000) was from Mike Enlow. His stuff was awesome, and most of it is still very current today, even thought it’s 7+ years old.
He’s very much under the radar because he’s a very ill guy (so I gather) and has not been in the public eye for quite some years.
His instructions for putting together JVs (especially in the offline world) were (and still are) magnificent, and very usable to this day.
Aside from Mike, there’s an Aussie guy who also had quite an influence on me that most of you won’t know of. His name is John Counsel, and he’s a master marketer in his own right. At one stage he was the moderator of the I-Sales Digest as well.
A lot of his focus these days is on MLM, which is an area I lost interest in many years ago, but he’s still a VERY SMART marketer with HIGH integrity.
A last quick mention would have to be Paul Myers. He’s always got something good to say that’s worth reading!
Enjoy.
Eran
May 8th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Hi Neil,
Thank you for the kind words. I’m both honored to be in your top 10 list and humbled by such great company. I remember back in ‘94 paying $100 a month for hosting. Yeesh!
My top 10 list would include the Wizard of Ads Roy H. Williams. Sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer. Success expert Jim Rohn. The Active MarketPlace trio Declan Dunn, Patrick Anderson and Michael Henderson. The Planet Ocean duo of Stephen Mahaney and John Heard. And the rest of the Boulder Summit gang Jonathan Mizel and Marlon Sanders.
It wasn’t until after I had published my first book NBN in ‘99 that I heard about icons like Ken McCarthy, Dr. Ralph Wilson, Phil Wiley and the others.
But I think that the underlying message Neil is telling us, is that our time is finite, that we need to pick our teachers wisely. And sorry to contradict you my dear friend, it’s not that I was, “Lucky enough to enter the Internet marketing field about a decade ago.” I’m doing what an early teacher of mine told me to do. “Find out where the people are going, and try to get there first.”
Michael
May 8th, 2008 at 6:08 am
Greetings….
Thanks for mention — interesting timing. I just rejoined the fray with my son Adam last week with the opening of our new office. Adam is brighter than me so I’m going to take care of the business stuff in order to turn him loose.
Striving Again,
John
May 8th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Such Top 10 lists always have to leave people out, but they certainly stir comment writers into action with their own opinions.
Two that would have made my list are the two P’s, Paul Myers and Phil Wiley for the the teaching in their long running newsletters and books. And Mr Wiley would help add another Brit to add to your American top heavy list.
Many others who could be included in a longer list are in the Top 50 on Gurudaq
John
May 8th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Hi Neil,
Funny your name is not there? Put it in please.
Carl
May 8th, 2008 at 8:58 am
@ Case, yes, I agree, Paul Myers and Phil Wiley would be in the running too. I also remember that version of the IMC course… it was white, wasn’t it? I remember a chapter where the details of how to send many emails using different ISP accounts were told, but with a “you shouldn’t be doing this” emphasis. I think those details were gone in the next version as Corey took some heat about it… from Allan if I remember correctly. See this newsletter issue from Allan in 1998 for more info. )
@ Darwin, a list of female Internet entrepreneurs… from the top of my head… Rosalind Gardner, Audri Lanford, Sharon Tucci, Sylvie Fortin, Alice Seba, Tinu Abayomi-Paul and I’m running out of steam… perhaps we need a new blog post…
@ Eran, another vote for Paul Myers (cool) and that’s also a couple for Mike Enlow, whom I don’t know.
@ Michael, “our time is finite, that we need to pick our teachers wisely.” Absolutely. Plus, with some products costing thousands of dollars, some people won’t be able to financially recover from picking the wrong teacher. Personally, I’ve never spent over a thousand dollars on any infoproduct, and I don’t think I’ve missed anything spectacular over the last decade.
Regarding, “Find out where the people are going, and try to get there first.”, when you use that knowledge to take others with you, it’s called “leadership” and I thank you for it, Michael.
@ John Audette, good to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by. It’s great to hear you and Adam are back. Good luck with your new venture.
@ John, more votes for Phil Wiley and Paul Myers. Now I know I’m in trouble.
Thanks for the Gurudaq link. I made it clickable.
@ Carl, thanks, but I can’t claim to influence myself.
Neil.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Naturally not, Neil, but you influenced a hell of a lot of other people and I think this blog is beginning to get a little wider than your initial intention. Let’s call it not “your” top ten, but “THE top ten. (Wink,wink)
Carl
May 8th, 2008 at 10:53 am
just got interest with this because i just enjoy reading and making comments and i do love working around my computer..
May 8th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Great post. See mine:
Jimmy D. Brown
Gary Halbert
Corey Rudle
Allen Says
Neil Shearing
:)
May 8th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Thank you Neil for sharing this with the broader ‘ making money via internet opportunities community’. Personally, i have come across a few of these names, but haven’t had the time (or is this just an excuse for not being tructing enough) to really pursue research. I am an absolute newbie to all of this. At the moment and for the last year and a half, i’ve focused on selling ebooks and other digital media on various internet auction sites. Although my sales per month have increased and consequently my income, i am still doing this part-time only - since it is not yet enought o sustain my current lifestyle. I have recently decided to branch out a bit and have become involved in blogs, ptc, ptr, surveys etc. Progress is slow, …but there’s progress. I want to try and narrow my focus, but am struggling to decide which way to go..!! Any ideas
May 8th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Neil, I think you’ve got it. I would have added Allen Says, Kevin Nunley, Michel Fortin and I second the mention of Jimmy Brown too. His was the first affiliate product I ever sold, under Allen’s influence. And thanks for the mention in the comments!
May 8th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Hi Tinu,
Thanks for your comment and welcome to the blog.
I hope the “Evergreen” launch is going well.
Neil.
[@ Thomas, progress is good. Keep doing what works and improve it through testing. Try new things and adopt them if they work better than your current methods]
May 9th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Lynn Terry would be another one to the girls list–on mine anyway. I became acquainted with Alice Seba and also Liz Tomey through her.
But, I have to say, it was you, Neil, who started me off even giving this thing a remote thought. Your scamfree policy convinced me that not all of the hype was just that. I’m a timid sort, so I’ve gotten off to a slower start. Too, I’m easily boggled by information overload. I end up doing less than I intended, or, worse, nothing at all.
Due to some unfortunate financial setbacks recently, I’m reevaluating my goals, and am looking to apply myself more seriously to making something work here. If I can stay focused . . . I really need to master that technique no question!
May 10th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Great post Neil…
That list would not be complete without putting Nathan Andersen and Keith Baxter right at the top. That way the true developers and creators of authentic value on the web could see the list for the value it brings.
Keep up the great work and keep raising the standard higher!
May 10th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Hi Neil
Thanks, yes it’s going fine. It was kind of unexpected and sudden, those and other circumstances meant I didn’t have the chance to ramp up as I normally would. Thank you so much for mentioning it.
I’m enjoying your blog a great deal and digging through the archives to find all your gems.
May 14th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Hi Neil
Thanks for such a good list. All of them are really awesome. I have read their tips in my earlier day (Still reading) and its help me a lot.
Shimul
May 21st, 2008 at 8:19 am
Hi Neil, Thanks VERY much for including me. I’m truly honored. I can think of quite a few pioneering marketers who could have been on the list.
Could I be a bit cheeky and slip in a mention of our SpeedPPC? It’s vastly different from anything I was doing in the early days online.
May 21st, 2008 at 10:41 am
Hi Allan,
Thanks for dropping by and saying “hi”. This blog post is turning into a mini reunion.
I’ve edited the post to include a mention of SpeedPPC.
Neil.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Hi Allen:
One of the most influential marketers for me has been Ken McCarthy. He seems to know everyone from wayback and into right now.
He has an easy going manner and a genuine interest in all things direct marketed.
Check him out!