(note: this is an example of what not to do with Social Media)
Stop Me if you’ve heard this one before. .
I’ve got this amazing product that I want to share with you, that’s going to replace your current income with money from the internet and it’s so easy
I thought it was easy too, I have this really sad sob story as to why I developed this product, connect with this story and buy now!
And if you haven’t clicked on the first two links (cause it was so obvious my product was SOOO awesome) here is the third link!
Most of what is taught in these secret Internet Marketing classes follows the method of the letter above, give or take. But I know for a fact that unless the email is solicited (i.e. I was interested in buying what you are selling) that anytime an email has 3 links in it, it’s a bona fide internet marketing sales letter. I also know for a fact that whatever this person is selling I’m DEFINITELY not interested in buying. Especially when 4 or 5 of my friends send me the EXACT SAME SALES LETTER.
In the interest of fairness, yes I did post the Tony Robbins sales letter onto my blog. However, my intention (value proposition) was to help people get discounts to an event I know that some of my friends in my network ALREADY planned on attending. I disclosed everything regarding the proposition in the beginning of the post.
The other pet peeve in the internet marketing realm is the ‘annoying ‘ lead capture page. Mind you, I respect that most blogs have some sort of ‘opt-in’ mailing list. That’s respectable. Some places even go the more ethical route and do a ‘double opt-in’, where a confirmation email is sent to make sure the recipient wanted to sign up in the first place. But it’s considered a ‘lead capture page’ where potential clients qualify themselves to your company in order to business with them.
What’s the difference between a respectable Lead Capture Page / Opt-in letter and an annoying one? I know that again I’m not interested in buying if when I get to said LCP, a video AUTOSTARTS asking for your email in return for some ‘perceived value’. If there is some javascript applet that offers you some more value (or a one time offer) as you navigate away from the page (and I specifically block popups, so there is some kind of counter-programming going on) and the second page is even worse than the first. If it was so awesome why didn’t you offer it the first time? I will inevitably develop a lead capture page for my IT Business. However, it’s not required for my readers. I’d prefer you contact me if you want to, not because I tricked you out of your email address.
Oh, and it gets better, this product I was pitched today was about monetizing your Social Media audiences as a turnkey system. On the premise of being ‘ethical’. Yeah right. That’s already been done before.
Last point, one of the main reasons why I like my business is because I can see building and scaling my business, because it’s something I enjoy and love. Internet Marketers come and go. While they may be selling one product and making millions with it, for some reason that pot of gold runs out. They develop a new product, or they re-package their old information and re-sell it. Their sales cycle is around 6-12 months, and they always need more! They are serial-monogamists in that regard, tied to the next idea that’s going to fool them today. And they assure you that this product, THIS TIME, will be the millionaire jackpot. Thankfully, I think many of the people that are still around and sustainable are not employing these shortcuts and tactics. While these people have more balls than brains and are making more money than I am at the moment, I totally do not envy their position.
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