He had a couple good ideas but after google cracked down on reviews and turned his 30-40 customer reviews to 1, it was obvious he was cheating. Always liked dave though and think his "program" of going to employers and offering a discount to employees is pretty solid. He was actually on to a couple good ideas, explained them poorly.
I agree he had some decent stuff. He also was giving away his monthly postcards with no strings attached. While not flashly or polished they could still have been a useful tool saving someone from the time designing a piece.
I can't believe he took the beating from Fred all these years and then drops off because he fudged on some Google reviews.
Depending on the business structure this could depend greatly. Because I still go on most jobs and I have to be very carefull about time and scheduling. I dont know that massive blanket marketing would work well for our model. Im thinking for that cost you could maintain a well ran website, have a small phonebook ad, and do alot of targeted direct response. I might also spend a portion on promotional items for customer retention like magnets and brochures. I really direct response marketing because you get the customers you want that you have picked not just the customers that come along
In the seo group there is a thread where he admits to leaving fake real reviews.......adding reviews from other sites or handwritten notes using fake accounts or services like fivver. He says 3 or 4...I counted many more http://mikeysboard.com/forum/group.php?discussionid=10&do=discuss
So since the penguin and the switch to the new review system targeted fake reviews and the offenders Dave went from 30+ to ONE.
Now he has nothing to talk about because 90% of his post were about his USP...his reviews.