Clueless Affiliate

Mage Monster Review

Editor Note 1/1/2012: I still get comments for this WP Mage product so here is my quick update after initially reviewing it almost 2 years ago. Honestly, my opinion has’t changed much in the last year+ in that I think WP Mage tools are becoming outdated as google continues to revise it search algorithem. Yes, you can still rank for long tail phrases with WP mage posts but the quality and source of content that WP mage uses is so overused(article directores/flickr/youtube/yahoo answers) by autoblog tools and low quality sites that they just don’t rank or convert well.

The business model of WP Mage is to build hundreds if not thousands of “low quality” sites to make big money on long tail product searches but unfortunately its harder to make those sites rank for very long in google anymore and you are then left with a pile of garbage sites. Without Ebay listings in a Wp Mage site your site is not getting any fresh content and will just die a slow death in google unless you have content that makes sense to the visitor which alot of autocontent doesn’t. (You have to apply and get accepted into Ebay Partner Network). WP Mage came out in fall 2009 and there really hasn’t been much change to its methods which continue to get devalued in the search engines.

You can still rank in search engines with autogenerated content but you need to follow a more methodical method for ranking like I have mentioned in the past (like Autoblog Blueprint – which is now closed). If you are new to internet marketing then I honestly would recommend starting with how to build quality niche sites that last and become assets to you(that you could actually sell if you wanted) instead of chasing the dream of building hundreds/thousands of mini-autoblogs that make you $1 a day. You can read the page that lists the products I use and recommend page for what I like.

Personally I would take a look at Profit.FM as a complete LONG TERM model for building affiliate sites and an internet business. Here is my Review

Original Post and Review: 7/4/2011:

Mage Monster is the updated version to WP Mage software for creating fast WordPress autoblog sites. I have written about WP Mage in a past post so read through that long post which lays out what WP Mage is and its drawbacks.

Realize that I have only used WP Mage and NOT Mage Monster. I will wait for more feedback from actual users not just affiliates so I am not buying Mage Monster(even at the big discounted member pre-launch price). Therefore, I am passing on what I know  from comments from others that have bought it and who know in detail what changes Mage Monster provides vs. the base WP Mage plugins.(I have been a WP Mage user since 2009)

Mage Monster is essentially a beefed up version of WP Mage in that it adds some new functionality and features to the core WP Mage. These features are:

• Mage Monster – new desktop management from software for all your sites.
• Group Mage Plugin – integrate your wordpress posts with affiliate links from “group buying” sites(Groupon, Tippr or CrowdSavings)
• Opt-In Mage Plugin – for list building
• FB Mage – I believe it is a plugin that creates a Facebook fan page for your site and then links that fanpage so site can send your posts to your fanpage.
• Article Mage Network – Mage article directory where members can post articles to it and get links from other Mage users websites that use your articles.
• Advanced Training  / Webinars / Private Forum

Also, I did notice that Mage will integrate with The Best Spinner for content which is nice but I haven’t tested it and will be interested to see how well it works. (It’s hard to spin lots of posts automatically)

As I mentioned at the beginning, I would first read my past WP Mage post so you have a good understanding of the base WP Mage plugin and method. Now lets cover why I am not buying Mage Monster.

• The Mage Monster desktop is geared for managing tons of sites but I have read it runs really slow and has reduced some of the post customization that was allowed with CPMage/WP Mage installs. I don’t really use CP Mage since it links all your sites together through add-on and subdomains, and instead install my sites individually so I have more flexibility with them. I still have some sites linked in CP Mage and CP Mage covers the basics that I would need to update multiple sites. If you want a true wordpress management program then I have heard highly of WP Manager DX .
• Group Mage – integrates groupon and group buying affiliate links into 1 site. I haven’t really heard from anyone who has used this so far(it was released in the past to some WP Mage users as a bonus for buying some other product). I use groupon ads thru CPA networks and Commission Junction. Those banner ads automatically geotarget visitors already. I don’t really spend much time with groupon stuff but if i was looking to monetize it I guess Group Mage might provide some benefits but the problem is the content in many Mage sites is not targeted so might be hard to get conversions for localized deals.
• Opt-in Mage – an optin plugin for building a list. I already use WP Subscribers plugin for creating awesome opt-in forms(see my review) or you could just use free opt-in forms from your auto-responder provider. I don’t really see what is unique about this Optin Mage plugin ?
• FB Mage - listed in the Mage Monster sales material as the Google Panda update killer(Panda update placed more emphasis on social comments/updates with sites). This plugin I guess creates a Facebook fanpage for your website automatically and then sends your wordpress posts to the fanpage. There are already free wordpress plugins(like wordbook plugin) that will send your posts to a facebook fanpage (or I use HootSuite.com for $6.00 month to automate all in one place posting to all my social accounts – Ping.fm/Twitter/Facebook/etc…) for all my sites. wwwHootsuite also offers tracking and easy way to check all your updates in one place. Also, I personally like taking the 5minutes to create my own fanpage for a sites so it looks nice.
• Article Mage – is an article network for members where you submit your articles with your links to your site and other Mage user will place your article on their site giving you a backlink. Just like when you post articles in any article directory and people use your article. The difference being that WP Mage is a closed network so the articles won’t be as widely copied/used. There are some other equivalent service out there (seolinkvine / Traffic Kaboom ) but they cost money. I guess it depends on the quality of links you are getting. Most WP Mage sites are no pagerank/low quality so you will probably end up with links from low quality, unrelated sites .
• Training – I would hope there is lots of training for the $1500 +

So overall, my opinion on WP Mage hasn’t really changed. I only really use the Posting Mage plugin for mixing my content and the keyword Mage for scrapping Ebay content. I don’t really use the other plugins anymore and WP Robot really is a great alternative product with same functionality as the core Mage plugins. I feel like you will get superior training, knowledge and long-term roadmap for success with building affiliate websites with Autoblog Blueprint (I wrote past reviews on it).

Hopefully you found this helpful. I personally wouldn’t buy Monster Mage for the price as there have been lots of quality plugins that have come to market since WP Mage was introduced in 2009 and there really hasn’t been much in regards to big improvements in WP Mage functionality.

I guess if you wanted 1 source for your site building plugins then you can stick with WP Mage but they aren’t “Best in Breed” for what they do and many of the plugins in recent years that were added like Sitemap Mage and Link Mage have FREE equivalent wordpress plugins that do same thing(but better). Without Ebay Partner Network, I think many Mage users will have a hard time making much money just blasting out lots of junky Mage sites (WP Robot combined with phpBay plugins will give you same functionality for making autocontent niche sites with ebay product links for a lot less money than Mage Monster.)

* FTC Affiliate Disclosure- some of the products that I linked to above I get affiliate referral commissions on and some I don’t(because I was too lazy to sign up to their programs) but anything I recommended above is based on use and research are are high quality. Besides if I really wanted to push products that paid big commissions then I would have just written a positive review about Mage Monster as I know the affiliate commissions are MUCH bigger than anything I recommend )