actually i am using a different client (infinity) but it turns out I was looking at an old/broken install, and my working install is installed at the base of my C:\Program Files (x86) folder rather than in its own folder.. discovering this simply clicking and dragging the
mod into the program files folder worked for me..
in this case it does seem as easy as click and drag: but if there are any other tricks related to modding, i suppose this thread could still be valid.