I don't think a third-party could do it because it'd be way too easy to buy them off. A company like Love Systems, it'd be worth it throw $5000 or $10000 at them to get the "stamp."

I think it'd have to be a handful of the most reputable coaches who got together and set an industry standard together.

(04-16-2011 04:19 AM)Mark Wrote:  I don't think a third-party could do it because it'd be way too easy to buy them off. A company like Love Systems, it'd be worth it throw $5000 or $10000 at them to get the "stamp."

I think it'd have to be a handful of the most reputable coaches who got together and set an industry standard together.

Yeah, didn't think of that. I mean maybe Consumer Reports or something can't be bought off, but some random dating coach evaluator is a different story.

Though if a bunch of coaches got together, wouldn't all the other dating companies just say the whole thing was some self-serving marketing ploy? I guess there's no easy answer.

That's getting me thinking. Another thing the community needs is a code of ethics. There's all kinds of things therapists aren't allowed to do, because it may compromise how they care for their clients. The kind of marketing they can do is pretty limited... all kinds of things the community could use.

To actually come back to the original topic:

I like that the old layout is back. However, I liked it more when there were more "Best of" articles in the different categories. I just think that there are a lot of really helpful post that don't deserve to just fade away in the archive (eg that 15 lessons article, the recent 80/20 rule article, etc. etc)

Another thing: the link to the 50% Rule post is broken.

(04-17-2011 01:44 AM)cobrastyle Wrote:  To actually come back to the original topic:

I like that the old layout is back. However, I liked it more when there were more "Best of" articles in the different categories. I just think that there are a lot of really helpful post that don't deserve to just fade away in the archive (eg that 15 lessons article, the recent 80/20 rule article, etc. etc)

Another thing: the link to the 50% Rule post is broken.

This just made me think of something:

What I never got is why more blogs don't manually organize their archives more. Maybe if a blog is posting day to day news it doesn't matter, but for blogs that put up timeless advice I never understood it.

They'll write all these brilliant posts, but in the archive's they'll just be automatically ordered by month and date, and it's a total random cluster fuck to browse through for someone who discovers the site a few years after it got started.

It's not too too bad if a blog's archive page is one long list of posts, but if someone has to manually check every month separately, and each month has multiple pages, forget it. Even worse is when you just have to click 'older posts' 500000 times. So many good posts totally get lost.

Some blogs will have automatically generated 'Most popular' lists, or have things organized by categories, but it's still unwieldy.


Why not create a special archive page where all the posts are custom rearranged into a useful order, and by category? Start here, then go here, here's a side-section on this issue, this stuff is more advanced. Even if it was done with only the blog's most important stuff it would still be very helpful.

It's not like it really matters that one post was technically written before the other and that info has to be preserved above all else.

+ 1 to UniqueSnowflake

But IMO Mark is already half way there with his "get started" and "best of" categories.

I agree with you guys, and often go back and forth on which articles should get more exposure and where they should get exposure.

The problem is that all of that organizing (both sidebar and archives page) has to be done manually more or less, which is a huge pain in the ass.

I'm still playing with it though, so keep the feedback coming.

The main Practical Pickup site is great layout wise and access wise to the get started/best of posts...for the forum, once we get some key threads going it would be great if they got pinned or stickied so that they don't get lost among more specific threads.

Randomly about the regulation thing...it's all about caveat emptor -- buyer beware. I've only bought two products related to pick-up or dating self-help -- DeAngelo's DYD before I even read The Game or knew anything at all on a whim and then G3 recently. The first was a newbie impulse eBook buy and the second because I found someone whose free content I really liked.

Mark -- you're the man, but after doing some due diligence, I don't think I would purchase many of the products you cross-promote in your newsletter. Initially, this made me question some of your credibility but all of the past posts you've made on your site and especially all this stuff now with the forum and your honesty and candor -- I love it. I understand affiliate type marketing is part of the business so I'll just skim and delete the emails I don't like.

With that whole regulation thing, it's up to the person to make sure they're buying a quality product or service, especially before they sink a couple grand into it. Of course it'd be nice to see an "industry standard" but how is that going to emerge if pick up stuff is a small community whose business models rely on referral/affiliate marketing? I'm going to choke the next time I see an ad that says I'm one of only 150 people in my area eligible for some system or any other tactics that remind me of buying a car.

Anytime there is regulation, you also set up a barrier to entry. You don't need a degree in mental health or interpersonal communication to be good with women, but the degree would signal some credibility. I think this is also about what the role is of the coach we're talking about here -- how much are they supposed to be dating coaches and how much are they going to be therapists/life coaches? We're all about self-improvement, but honestly, the focus of my self-improvement is mostly with women since I'm doing pretty well with everything else. I'm confident and have a great lifestyle, but just have issues translating that into the level of success I'd like with women. I need someone that can help me learn how to make the small tweaks necessary to getting the big results. Coaches already have or lack credibility based on their results/experience or in Mark's case...his blog signals he knows what's he talking about.

Anyways, rant off, just chipping in -- the site looks pretty good overall!

That's a good point about regulation. And I have to say, even though I sympathize with a lot of disgruntled guys in this market (there IS a lot of shit out there), I find the whole moralizing and "hate" bandwagon to be pathetic to put it mildly. There's nothing marketers in this market do that they don't do 2x as much in health markets, car markets, beer ads, vacuum cleaner infomercials...

Consumers have to be smart and pay attention to who/what they're paying for. That's never going to change.

Also, the newsletter is going to be cleaned up in the next month or two... Some of the affiliate stuff will be gone, but some will stay. Again, it's just part of the biz.

First, I wanna thank you Mark and of course all the other members here for the great advices in the forum! Its the first forum I really enjoy being part of. The other PU forums, where I posted, were kinda frustrating, since most answers in threads were either bullshit or by wanna be alphas, who just wanted to point out how much you dont know about PU and that you should read the basics first (what EXACTLY the threadopener did wrong, was never mentionend, just read the basics, thats all). I remember a MOD closed my thread about a question about strategies for daygame with the explanation: "just go out and try out what works for You." Thank you very much for the great advice!

Here I find almost all replies (very) useful, since they are sticking to the facts, coming of a healthy understanding of seduction and lifestyle in general and often have a "scientific" background.


But I would like to see more sections in this forum, specially one for Lay reports or for current issues in a seduction phase would be VERY helpful.

@Mark: Btw, have you wrote some LR in your blog? I would love to read some, since I find find them very educative but unfortunetly almost all LR´s I´ve read stick to the old PU material.

These are the only ones still up:
http://www.practicalpickup.com/tales-of-...s-part-one
http://www.practicalpickup.com/tales-of-...s-part-two
http://www.practicalpickup.com/tales-of-...part-three

They're from last year. I have a PDF of like 15 of my LR's from between 2006 and 2009. It's a bonus to one of my products, but I don't pass them around a whole lot anymore or anything.

I've had some requests to write more and I've played with the idea of writing some more this year. We'll see...

There will be new forum sections as the forum grows and expands. Still not enough active members yet.