Review of James Martell’s “Affiliate Buzz” and “Coffee Talks”

As a supplement to his Affiliate Marketer’s Handbook, James Martell also sells a bi-monthly audio subscription called Affiliate Buzz.  In each edition of “the Buzz”, James has a conversation with his friend Charles Johnson. Charles plays the role of interviewer and asks James various questions about his business and affiliate marketing. Each show lasts approximately 30 minutes.

As a supplement to the Affiliate Buzz, Martell has also recorded a series of audio programs called Coffee Talks. In these recordings, James Martell plays the role of interviewer and has conversations with various people in affiliate marketing. His guests have included affiliate managers at major affiliate networks, Bronwyn Bamber (one of his top students), Sherman Hu of WordPressTutorials.com, and experts on the topics of autoresponders and adding audio to your site.

Affiliate Buzz Review

What I like:

I like the short format of the audio recording. I like that sometimes there is actually occasionally useful information in the conversations. I stay subscribed because I do get some benefit from the recordings.

What I don’t like:

Sometimes I find that Charles Johnson, the interviewer, really plays it way too dumb. For a guy who supposedly makes his living from the internet and has worked alongside James for many years, Charles asks some really basic questions and often just repeats what James has said. Perhaps his role is to ask the questions that a newbie would ask. In the last year, his simplistic approach has really started to grate on me.

Oftentimes the recordings are just 30 minutes of fluffy nothingness about James’ Cobra replica (a car), or how “beautiful” or “awesome” an undisclosed student’s site is, or some other discussion about James’ methods that dances on the perimeter of disclosing something of value. I’m often left wanting just a wee bit more information, and when a new issue is released, I have high hopes for some good solid content. On a rare basis I get a nugget, and I suppose that’s what keeps me subscribed.

There was also a time when Charles was the case study for one of Martell’s “Affiliate Bootcamp” training seminars in Canada. Supposedly, Charles built some sites following Martell’s methods on the topics of hammocks and bean bag chairs (if my memory serves me right). In the last two years, however, we haven’t heard a peep about the progress of those sites. I like to think that Charles just got busy with his other projects or changed focus, as any of us might do. However, since he was a “case study”, I would like to hear some updates.

Coffee Talk Reviews

What I like:

The interviews with Bronwyn Bamber, one of Martell’s most successful students. Her real-life, down-to-earth sharing of her successes and failures with Martell’s methods was simply captivating. The two recordings of conversations with her were simply put: pure gold. I also like some of the other interviews, and have gained some new perspectives listening to these industry insiders speak out. I also like the uncapped length of the conversations. Some have been short like 45 minutes, and others have been close to 90 minutes long.

What I don’t like:

Too often James talks about himself and his own successes when he is supposed to be interviewing someone else. 

For example: In the first Bronwyn Bamber interview, Bronwyn shares how she first met James and his wife at an Affiliate Summit Conference. Her little story was just fine. Then James practically repeated the story from his perspective and went on and on adding very little new information and eating into time that could have been devoted to some real content.

I find Martell does this in a lot of the Coffee Talk conversations, taking over for the guest instead of simply letting the guest speak and then asking further probing questions.  I have occasionally found myself talking back to the recording saying “Shut up, James, and let your guest do the talking.”

Overall Recommendation

Is the Affiliate Buzz (and Coffee Talks) subscription worth $9.95 per month?

If you’re a newbie and want to hear some fluffy conversations about James successes, then sure. The Coffee Talk interviews are useful to a point and help give further context to the world of affiliate publishing beyond James’ personal methods. I’m a subscriber and occasionally get a nugget out of all the recordings.

However, if you’re looking for solid content, as of July 2007, it’s rather lacking and I would say use the money to pay for site hosting instead.

The subscription is available when you purchase James Martell’s Affiliate Marketer’s Handbook, and is also available separately at:
http://www.affiliate-buzz.com