Outright Lies & BS in GRQ Copywriting

[247Copywriter]

How many copywriting headlines have you read which really piqued your interest?

How many sales letter have you read which promised to deliver the earth but when it came down to it... in cold hard reality, failed to meet your expectations?

How many sales letters have you read which promised you the most simple money making system this planet has ever seen... simply click on a few buttons and everything is done for you... tens of thousands of dollars in your bank account for very little work?

Do you believe such outrageous claims?

Have you ever bought into such claims?

And if so... what was your experience based on such claims? Have you made anything like the thousands of dollars as promised or were you let down like a balloon, farting it's way in ever decreasing circles around the room?

Have you ever written sales copy, turning an otherwise extremely mundane product into something which patently it is not?

How do you feel about being asked as a copywriter to market such spurious products? How do you feel putting your name to such work?

Do you feel that it's acceptable to essentially use outright lies and BS in your sales copy even if in your heart of hearts... you know that the buying public has no chance of making anything like the claims made in the sales copy?

Please feel welcome to discuss...

[Ken_Caudill]

Give yourself two demerits for the balloon farting analogy.

Gawd.

[Alex Cohen]

Do you feel that it's acceptable to essentially use outright lies and BS in your sales copy even if in your heart of hearts... you know that the buying public has no chance of making anything like the claims made in the sales copy?

Of course not. As children, we were taught not to lie. That was a life lesson ... not something to be forgotten or thrown away when convenient.

Alex

[Pusateri]

Originally Posted by 247Copywriter

Do you feel that it's acceptable to essentially use outright lies and BS in your sales copy even if in your heart of hearts... you know that the buying public has no chance of making anything like the claims made in the sales copy?

.

It's perfectly acceptable. For a con artist. Not for a copywriter.

The burglar and the locksmith use the same tools.

[247Copywriter]

Originally Posted by Alex Cohen

Of course not. As children, we were taught not to lie. That was a life lesson ... not something to be forgotten or thrown away when convenient.

Alex

Originally Posted by Pusateri

It's perfectly acceptable. For a con artist. Not for a copywriter.

The burglar and the locksmith use the same tools.

For the record... I completely agree with both of you.

Unfortunately, both here and elsewhere we're seeing copywriting headlines making the most outrageous claims. Claims which I most often take, with a whopping great pinch of salt, the old adage springing to mind...

"If something sounds too good to be true, it's probably a crock of you know what."

But we're seeing these claims all the time...

And unfortunately the sales copy employed is fooling many. And of those one's it does fool, they're often parting with cash that they don't really have available. Or at least, it's money which could be better spent on other things their families really need right now.

Trouble is... these kind of offers are rampant at this present time.

I don't want to mention specific headlines but some of them are just outrageously ridiculous. Far too good to be true...

And the sales copy employed... the psychology used... the deceptive triggers inserted at key points within the sales copy are designed only to part the prospect with their cash - I just don't think it's right.

Whatever happened to just good, honest, down to earth copywriting truth?...

This is what the product does, this is how it will benefit you, without all of the hype and the latest highly persuasive, mind control copywriting chops.

It royally gets on my nerves because at the end of the day it's bringing the whole Internet marketing business arena into disrepute. And reputable professional long form sales letter copywriters too.

One gets to the point that you can hardly believe what anyone says anymore. Skepticism has rocketed to new levels.

These sales letters, well they're being written by someone or persons unknown who know exactly what they're doing...

They're more than well aware of the power of their sales copy psychology. And they're putting these out there, probably knowing in advance that the product represented by the sales copy... is a load of rubbish, by any stretch of the imagination.

Preying on people's desperation during this recession, creating and raising these false hopes, preying on these dreams of making it one day... you can see the temptation for the more unscrupulous marketers out there. And true enough, they are making (a few of them) an absolute killing. But is it right to present this as the norm' rather than the exception?

Do these kind of tactics employed give a fair representative view of the overall Internet marketing industry?

It seems to me that most people right now aren't really making a great deal of money. Everyone, everywhere is really tightening their belts.

And raising this kind of false hope, telling people it's as simple as clicking a mouse a few times to make shedloads of money or creating a high five or six figure list in mere days - well, it just staggers me. I'm almost despairing at the amount of absolute rubbish out there at the moment.

Never thought it would come to this and if anything, the situation just seems to be getting worse. It's actually depressing reading a lot of these lies and BS, for that's exactly what a lot of this crap is at the end of the day.

I wish I could state that a lot of these offers, they're fooling nobody.
Unfortunately and sadly the opposite seems to be true. And one knows that in a hell of a lot of cases... they're essentially pouring money basically, straight down the drain.

There's my take on the situation.

Do you agree? Disagree? Or are you somewhere in the middle?

Views welcome...

[Ross James]

Cliff Notes:

Headlines making outrages claims and not backing them up with the value they claim.

They are rampant, everywhere

deceptive triggers breaking moral code

bringing internet marketers into disrepute

preying on people desperation during recession, raising false hopes

wants to know if this is giving a fair representation of the online market place

observation that people arent making money, everyone is tighting up their wallets

raising false hope

never thought marketers would ever reach these lows


--


Sounds about right to me, I'll have to agree, most of the **** on the internet is basically garbage. I think we can use this to our advantage, stand out in the market place by delivering absurd amounts of value up front. I'll tell ya a guy that does this really well, his name is Jason F. I was just on a free webinar last night, it was a PPC webinar and I learned a lot from just the free content. I would of bought the product at the end but there was a couple problems. One, it' wasn't Jasons product and two I couldn't afford paying over a grand for it, not at the moment anyways.

-Ross

[Pusateri]

Is the drug dealer the problem, or is it the user? One does not exist without the other.

Same with these marketers and their buyers. People who continually fall for these offers deserve what they get. You can be a victim once, or even twice, but after that there is no one else to blame.

These are the same people who play the lottery and call it a retirement plan. They are children who never get past 'I WANT.'

I want to be rich.

I want a new car.

I want a pony.

If they would ask themselves just once, "What does the other guy want and how can I provide it AND charge him for it?" they might get somewhere.

Mature people looking for real opportunity don't fall for GRQ. They understand that building something worthwhile takes time and effort. Those are the customers you want, because if you serve them well, they will buy from you again and again.

The other type, even if he buys from you, will never be a repeat customer because he won't do the work it takes to get to the next level. He never gets anywhere, which is probably for the best.

There are two old sayings: "God watches over fools." and "A fool and his money are soon parted." I don't believe they are contradictory.

[methomas]

Originally Posted by 247Copywriter

How many copywriting headlines have you read which really piqued your interest?

How many sales letter have you read which promised to deliver the earth but when it came down to it... in cold hard reality, failed to meet your expectations?

How many sales letters have you read which promised you the most simple money making system this planet has ever seen... simply click on a few buttons and everything is done for you... tens of thousands of dollars in your bank account for very little work?

Do you believe such outrageous claims?

Have you ever bought into such claims?

And if so... what was your experience based on such claims? Have you made anything like the thousands of dollars as promised or were you let down like a balloon, farting it's way in ever decreasing circles around the room?

Have you ever written sales copy, turning an otherwise extremely mundane product into something which patently it is not?

How do you feel about being asked as a copywriter to market such spurious products? How do you feel putting your name to such work?

Do you feel that it's acceptable to essentially use outright lies and BS in your sales copy even if in your heart of hearts... you know that the buying public has no chance of making anything like the claims made in the sales copy?

Please feel welcome to discuss...

This is a sure way to get about as many refunds as you had sales.

I always get a refund when the product doesn't live up to the hype. I feel that this is the best way to punish this type of ads.

And I refuse to write blatantly false copy!