While I think your post has some good information, it reads like a Guide to Hype. This isn't necessarily a bad thing: when used appropriately, hype can help to drive sales. But the key word there is appropriately. And it should also be mentioned that the sort of tactics you're advocating can be a turn off to some types of customers.

Take the idea of not missing out. If there's legitimate scarcity, by all means, say so. But if someone were to try to tell me that an ebook, a piece of software or something else that really shouldn't have any scarcity contraints on it is only available in a limited run, I'd likely roll my eyes and find something else to buy. Which isn't to say that this sort of tactic wouldn't work on someone else. But the point is you need to decide if most of your customers are like me or if they really will be the kinds of people to respond to that kind of marketing.

Similarly, certain tactics may work in some niches, but not in others. Having a giant inflatable gorilla might get attention for your used car lot, but it's probably not the kind of tactic you'd want to use at a Rolls Royce dealer when you're trying to project an image of sophistication and elegance. The same can be said for most of the tactics you advocate.

I also think you've missed out what I think is the best way to get people to buy from you: have the best product on the market. Yes, there are people who could sell bottled water to a fish, but I find that the most successful businesses aren't the ones that are most adept at reaching into their bag of tricks in order to convince people to buy something shoddy, but those that have real products that meet real needs for real people. With the bust businesses, at the end of the day the business makes more money than they spent on delivering that product or service and the consumer derives more value from that product or service than the amount of money they paid.

Yes, by all means learn to sell and market -- you won't be successful if you don't. But in my business, I find that my best marketers are former customers. A genuine recommendation from a real friend or relative is worth a thousand times more than anything you and I can ever say. And it's a lot cheaper too!

All that said, it's not a bad list. I just think people should really think carefully before deploying these sorts of tactics. Used appropriately, they can be very effective, but used inappropriately, they can do more harm than good. For instance, if you use too many of them too often, people will likely focus on the hype and not the product.

In the end, it all boils down to who your customers are, what you're selling and what your business goals are. But that's always the case, isn't it?

First of all, my argument isn't about being "righteous-like", it's about running a successful business. And my guess is you're only knocking being the best because you've rarely (if ever) had the experience of being the best at anything. But if you can't be the best, at least you can be the loudest, cockiest, and the most swaggering, self-aggrandizing and bombastic, right? And despite what you may think, I mean none of those as insults: as I said in my first response, the sort of techniques your advocating actually do work in certain circumstances. My only point -- and one you seem to completely failed to read or to comprehend -- is that these techniques aren't always appropriate for all situations.

I also think it's telling that in your response all your examples of successful uses of these techniques come from what I would describe as "Santa Claus" markets. Examples of Santa Claus markets include weight loss, self-help and of course, making money online. What makes them Santa Claus markets is that they all target people who are looking for a magic button, a magic pill or a magic mindset that's going to somehow turn their lives around, without any work or effort on their part or without changing their own behaviors in the ways that they already know would give them the effects they wanted.

Nevermind that if you want to lose weight, you're better off eating a balanced diet and getting exercise. Nevermind that if you really want to make money online, you're better off working really hard to deliver real value to your customers. It's comforting to believe in a Santa Claus who will bring you a package of weight loss or free money under the Christmass tree -- and who knows? Maybe he does really exist. I've never been to the North Pole. Have you?

Of course, Santa Claus markets also have an interesting advantage for the marketer -- it's easy to blame any failure in delivering on your promises on the customer. Are you not losing weight? It must be your fault for having that piece of birthday cake! Not making money? Obviously you didn't follow the directions!

In other types of markets, this just doesn't cut it. If a large number of users are unable to make phone calls with their new iPhones, it's almost certainly Apple's fault. It could be a hardware issue, it could be a software issue, it could just be a user interface that's not intuitive.

But even if the iPhone technically works, if users can't figure out that you have to click through seventeen screens to make a call, I very much doubt that Tim Cook would tell his design team not to worry because as you so nicely put it: "they are friggen lazy slobs of goo who lay on couches and eat buckets of ice cream and Doritos." All they need to do is click through sixteen more screens, right? But that's exactly the kind of attitude embodied by many (though certainly not all!) MMO sellers. Instead the MMO formula too often (though again, not always!) is this:

1. Hype!
2. Hype!
3. Hype some more!
4. Deliever a shoddy product.
5. Blame the customer when it doesn't work

But my point is while you may be able to get away with substituting hype-filled marketing for a genuinely good product, that's not a luxury most businesses have. Again, I'm not saying that your tactics are bad -- I'm just saying they don't work in all situations.

To illustrate, let's go back to our iPhone example. Let's imagine that you were coaching the Apple marketing team and so you were evaluating their iPhone landing page based on the advice you provided above. Here's the landing page: iPhone - Apple

Now let's grade it!

"(1) People buy reputation"

I think the iPhone is doing a pretty good job on cashing in on its reputation. Apple has certainly built a brand for themselves -- and they're landing page reflects that. Good job Apple!

Score: 1/1

"(2) People buy quick hits of hope"

Unfortunately I don't see any lottery mindset here. The idiot marketers at Apple have completely failed to mention how buying an iPhone will make you rich or thin or solve any of your other problems. All they keep blathering on about are things like features...

Score: 1/2

"(3) People buy because they are friggen lazy slobs of goo who lay on couches and eat buckets of ice cream and Doritos. They should make Dorito flavor ice cream. lol"

On the one hand Apple does stress that the iPhone has a featureset that makes a lot of things easier. They mention iOS 9, iCloud and Apple Pay. But unfortunately, they really aren't pitched as "Done For You" offers. I mean you still need to turn on the phone, you still need to set up the iPhone to work with your email account. In short, you still need to do the work; the iPhone just makes doing the work easier. So it's not really a "done for you" solution. But can we be generous and give them at least 1/2 a point? I think so.

Score 1.5/3

"(4) People buy Celebrity And Story"

There are certainly plenty of celebrities who use iPhones. But looking at the iPhone website, there is basically no "star appeal" whatsoever. And really all those un-asked for celebrity endorsements really count as using your customers as marketers -- and we all know that that sort of thing is useless, right? Sorry, can't give Apple a point here.

Score: 1.5/4

"(5) People buy PROOF factors"

Another dud for Apple. No testimonials. Not a single one. Even though the iPhone is probably one of the most reviewed products in the history of the world. Definitely a big fat zero here.

Score: 1.5/5

"(6) People buy because they are uncomfortable or in trouble or desperate or emotional"

Yet another big Apple marketing failure! Their copy doesn't seem in the least targeted on preying on the anxieties of their potential costomers. Don't they know that their customers "are about to get fired, divorced, be put in jail, lose a house or car, have to move in with mom, unemployment benefits are about to run out, about to retire, etc."? Apple can fix all of these things with an iPhone and should definitley be touting that in their web copy.

Score: 1.5/6

"(7) To not miss out"

Oh, Apple, what's wrong with you? Don't you realize that you're supposed to create scarcity? Instead of trying to sell millions and millions of iPhones, what they should be doing is limiting the amount of iPhones they sell! Perhaps to match the amount of book sales the OP claims he made on his "Best Damn Internet Marketing Book Ever Written" they should limit the stock to 2,000. I'm sure that would make Apple a lot more money! Alas, they didn't do that, so I'm force to give them another goose egg.

Final score: 1.5/7

Given their final score, obviously the crappy marketing team has a lot to learn from you. Maybe they'll buy your book! (That is if you haven't discontinued it in order to create some sort of false scarcity.)

A final point about former customers. Happy former customers not only market for you, but they also buy from you again and again. And it's much, much easier to sell something to someone who's already been a happy buyer than to try to find new customers all the time. But they also can and do talk and recommend businesses and products -- though obviously there are some people who are more influential than others.

I know this because I frequently meet people who know and love my business. For instance, when I moved into my new home a little over a year ago, at least four of my new neighbors on my street were excited to learn that I was one of the business co-founders. And many of the people that I meet mention how they learned about my site through a friend, perhaps someone who recommended our Facebook page or someone who recommended they look at our site to do some shopping. And many really do mention how they recommend us to their friends.

Your experience with former customers sounds different, but I'd chalk that up to two reasons. First, with your site's Alexa rating just under 300,000 (an admittedly imperfect measure) and your bragging on your site about having sold a "whopping" 2,000 books seem to suggest that you don't actually have that many customers to begin with. And given your obvious disdain for the people you ostensibly serve (they're "friggen lazy slobs of goo", they're "desperate" and "emotional", etc.) I'm guessing that of the few customers you have are generally not very satisfied.

In light of the above, it's no wonder you don't think much of the idea of past customers being good marketers. That's obviously not going to be a winning strategy for someone whose business motto seems to echo P.T. Barnum's "There's a sucker born every minute." But just because something doesn't work for you doesn't mean it won't work for someone else. And just because something does work for you doesn't mean that it will work for someone else.

Regardless, my point is not to "depend on my customers going out there and doing all my marketing for me" -- as I said in my first response, you won't be successful if you don't know how to sell and market. But I do think leaving the product out of "how to sell" is foolish. There are no doubt a long history of products that have beat out better products mostly based on their superior marketing. But I think that's the exception rather than the rule.

So while bravado and name-calling might get you ahead in some industries, they won't in mine. And while your 500-or-so Twitter followers might be impressed when you tweet vacation pictures from Disney World (I guess to show just how much money you make?), my 1.5 million Facebook followers (with a TaT currently running well over 1 million) are far more interested in quality content and quality products. But at the same time, I'm pretty sure that tactics I use very successfully probably wouldn't play as well in an MMO context. Your techniques are probably much, much more effective than mine would be -- which is a big reason I steer clear of MMO niches.

So you do what works for you, I'll do what works for me.

Oh yeah, ok? yeah, uh huh, that's what I'm saying... lie to people. lol. I'm not saying to lie to people or misrepresent. Look, these are not my laws of the universe managing human beings, these are what they are. It's not my Earth, but it is what it is.

People will NOT buy offers too often that say: Lose 50 pounds of fat over the next 13 years following these steps.

People WILL buy "lose 10 pounds this month" or "lose 3 pounds in 24 hours"

How hard is that to understand and should be basic common sense to anyone with half a molecule of brain matter left.

And as far as "hype" goes... call it hype, call it sizzle, whatever, it sells. AGAIN, these are not my rules and I did not invent them, but they are what they are.

If anyone are the liars here, it's the BUYERS!

Buyers are liars.

(did he just say that out loud? Oh no!)

Case in point:

-- [Buyer]: I hate, hate, hate up-sells!

Meanwhile, they buy, buy, buy up-sells (this is not my law of the universe!)

-- [Buyer]: I hate, hate, hate shiny new objects

Meanwhile,they buy, buy, buy shiny new objects. (not my law)

-- [Buyer]: I hate hype and sizzle and buzz

Meanwhile, they SWARM to the products with hype and buzz and sizzle.

Here are more reasons why people buy:

-- to gain more comfort
-- to not miss out on opportunities
-- to get out of trouble
-- to gain more security
-- to gain more peace of mind
-- because they are bored and want entertainment
-- because they are living lives of quiet desperation
-- to gain more cleanliness
-- to do as the tribe does
-- Vanity
-- Gain Significance
-- Gain power
-- Rule supreme
-- to win
-- freedom
-- gain more health live longer
-- to be more beautiful

Don't get me into the 7 deadly sins now!

Don't get me into fascination now!

I can go on all day

I've been studying this stuff for a couple decades now. You're debating the wrong guy.

However, you naysayers, knock yourself out, it's quite entertaining on my end.

This is right on!

The supposed 'lazy slobs of goo who lie on couches eating Doritos and ice cream' who in in reality, actually might lead a healthy lifestyle, might be buying a product related to fitness, wellbeing and healthy eating (to name but a few). It's likely then, in contrast, that the person sitting on the Internet all day vending the products is perhaps the 'slob'? Generalisation, in this case, you'll see, is unfitting.

Many sellers are also marketing in many different niches (under pen names too in some cases) so building fame for onself only serves purpose when topic is concentrated. Another reason why generalisation doesn't apply here neither. Self branding is viable only in certain situations.

I think perhaps you've concocted some hard and fast rules, but ones that are applicable to yourself and your business (and others who might be doing similar). Likewise an edgy and controversial style of insider teaching or product marketing will only be suitable for some.

Some good points raised, albeit diluted amidst those pitched umbrellas.


Bingo bango.


Daniel

Certainly Eric's post is right in so many ways.

As someone who has been in sales and marketing online and off, and started up businesses in a variety of market places, I have found it is certainly true that people believe what they see rather than what is.

It is almost always the skilled marketer that makes more than the creator, unless the creator is the marketer... in-which case the creation will often be heavily focused on those things that will make it sell, rather than the proclaimed purpose of the creation.

It is my opinion that as marketers and product creators that we understand what is, (the need to market in a way that will get results), while remaining responsible product creators by producing products that are genuinely useful to the market place (i.e. buyers).

In real world examples, the clapper was created by an inventor who almost went broke when a marketer came in and bought all rights to the invention. It saved the inventor from bankruptcy, but made little or no profit for the creator.

The marketer on the other hand sold millions of dollars of the product.

The people who bought were often the same market, but the difference was how it was marketed that changed people from just looking and thinking... "oh, thats nice"... to deciding... "that looks useful... so I am going to get it".

Victor Kiam is a master marketer and someone who routinely buys fledgling companies and markets their products until the company is sound and sells the company for a nice profit.

He is the one who bought Remington shavers and made the commercial "as close as a shaver, or your money back". He also bought Royal, a company that made a high end metal vacuum cleaner that cost hundreds of dollars, and reequipped the the manufacturing plant so that it could make a cheap plastic vacuum that had a pretty color and a sexy name. Compared to the original Royal, it was a piece of junk (in my opinion), but it was cheap, a pretty color and had a sexy name and the marketing was spot on, so it became one of the most popular vacuum cleaners on the market in the U.S..

It's name is "Dirt Devil" - Essentially, a disposable vacuum.

I think most would agree that an electric shaver is unlikely to shave as close as a razor, so selling it based on that guarantee is hype. But if it does a reasonable job, (even if it is not as close as a razor), most buyers will be satisfied with a close shave and the convenience of an electric razor over the inconveniences of a straight razor.

Many buyers of vacuum cleaners are looking for something that is cheap and will still do at least a basic job of vacuuming. Dirt Devil meets this demographic need.

The marketing compels the buyer into action.

The big problem I see, is that talented marketers use their skills to sell empty promises. Then buyers become jaded and the whole industries pays the consequences.

So I would encourage all of the marketers and would be marketers to remember that buyers are very much just like you. They will be persuaded by hype, hope and charismatic presentation.

But ultimately, those that actually open the product. (a significant number do not), and make the effort to go through it, will want to find the solutions and substance that was promised. Just as you want to get what you paid for... so do they.

So do not get lost in the methods of marketing. Use them to compel buyers into action, and back it up with quality products, information and value.

So true. It's almost sad how simple it is once you get the formula.

I feel like in that sense, I should do my part and provide value and create or promote quality products. Can't really do much more than that.

Hey guys, there's some really interesting posts here and although I'm being a bit cocky here for my own entertainment purposes, there's some good stuff here in this thread.

Yeah Mark, I like your post.

BUT, value is relative. A lot of you all are harping and getting stuck on the topic of value. Who is to say a product is valuable or not? It's in the eye of the beholder.

I bought a consulting offer for $8,000.00

The first call I had with the consultant lasted about 15 minutes and was just a quick call. that call to me was worth the entire 8k. That is before I even went to the workshop or logged into the site, or got on the group calls (I still have not watched or gotten on even one of the group calls yet)... and in 15 min. I felt the value.

At the workshop, one guy, during break was complaining that he felt he wasted 8k and was hoping it got better from there.

You can think your providing tons of value, and overload your offer with tons of stuff for example, yet your customers really dont want 18 more videos to watch and 44 more ebooks to download and sift through, as an example. Many just want the cheat sheet from the sales copy where you promised that!

See?

Now, we should all try to provide more value than what the price tag is asking, but that value you provide will NOT be the driving force to your income most of the time.

Just trying to help guys, just trying to help.

The side commentary and debating from some here is the fun side effect part... but truthfully, I'm just giving advice.

Relying on being the "best" is a dangerous game. A lot of people don't need the best. They need good enough, at a price they see as good value, and presented in a way that leaves them feeling smart for having bought.

Take me, for example. I use a $20 pair of earbuds with my tablet for listening to music and podcasts. I'm happy with what I hear. Before I bought these, I also listened to a $200+ set from Bose, and I couldn't hear the difference. Having a Bose logo (or Apple, for that matter - I use a Kindle Fire, not an iPad) wasn't worth the difference in price to me, even though I could tell that the Bose earbuds were technically superior. At my age, and my hearing level, that technical superiority was wasted on me. So I dropped the double sawbuck and went on my merry way.

So what sold me on the pair I bought, if it wasn't technical superiority?

The pair I bought not only had acceptable sound, they came with three different sizes of the little silicone ear thingies, so I could choose the size that fit most comfortably.

While I have railed against shoddy products in the past, I do believe that delivering a good product competently presented will tip the profit scales in your favor.

Thanks Eric. Great Post.

Also, I think Kilgore had some really excellent points. Some Niches it is not applicable. Of course I think Eric was referring to more direct response.

But hey look, I know you guys have been going at it a little bit on this Thread, but I think both you all have a lot of really awesome redeeming value here.

I think there is a fine line in promoting a product and building up excitement in the marketing end of it while maintaining the integrity of your product and how effective it can be in truly helping your customers

I strive to promote products that are at the "top of the heap" in helping people. Doesn't have to be #1 but the closer the better.


Anyway, thanks again for both of you contributing so much here


- Robert Andrew

It doesn't matter for as long as you are happy.

...just mind those mannequins in the isles.

Eric, is the real deal. I know I got a couple of his products in the past. Just really quality stuff. Especially that Blowout Protege Extravaganza. I do not think he sells it anymore but incredible value for incredible price

Anyway , just waiting for "Instant Cash Machines" or @tmz or @t&a or whatever his name is to come in here and turn this Thread upside down.LOL
Just like clockwork...watch

Merry Xmas everyone

Hey Eric,

Got anything to say about this?

P.S. @Annie -- 8,000 USD is NOT Php3M++. It's JUST Php360,000++ -- 1 USD = Php45.XX+/- (been so for the past several years now). As far as I can remember, the highest was around 1 USD = Php55.XX+/-, which was in the mid 1980s ...

Both sides have good points in the discussion, and I got an idea from this thread. Not sure if it's a good one yet, but anyway it inspired me, so thanks for that. ;-)

wasnt this covered already in the original post?

-Ike Paz