Hot Topic: How do you define a truly 100% honest marketing approach?

False.

False. A college textbook is an information product. The information can be found elsewhere with a little effort. So the publishers and colleges are harming the students by selling them textbooks for the materials they are studying?

False. You don't know me or what I sell... How can you say that I often provide people with false hope?


Are you kidding me?

All marketing is, is the art and science of selling things to people.

The best marketing focuses on offering up solutions to peoples problems, and content does matter.

Keep that in mind whenever you have an ethical dilemma.

IMHO, there is no selfless deed. Why would someone donate to charity? To fulfill their need to care and give back to society.... Marketing? You're right! Time is valuable. Most people don't have time to search for the information. So, a person who knows how to market a product or service deserves fair compensation for their efforts to give the end user what they want.

If you know what your market really wants and you know how to create value for that market.... then there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

My question to you is: If you create quality websites with interesting, original content you actually care about, would you put a disclaimer on your website that says "All the links on this website are affiliate links and if you purchase anything when you click on those links, I will be making money off of you."


It's kinda saying, "Yeah, I'm in the Sales and Marketing industry. Yeah, this is how I put food on the table, but I don't really want to sell anything to you."

I've been in sales for over 6 years. I now run a brick and mortar business. I've asked the same question you're asking a few times over the years.

So if you're struggling with this issue, then you need to dig down deep and ask yourself if this industry is for you. Otherwise, you won't be aligning yourself with what you truly want to do.

I'm glad you beat me to this thread, Kevin, you saved me the time of addressing all the false assumptions the OP made. Happy, you'll get on a lot better of you stop projecting your values and doubts onto others.

I've seen this one guy do a great job selling things that I think are total quackery, such is holographic plastic lumps that you stick on the bottom of a vehicle to increase fuel efficiency. Complete nonsense. The guy sold huge quantities of that junk to a car dealership. Why did he sell it so well? I'm not sure, but I doubt that he really believed that those plastic lumps do any good at all, except add funds to his bank account when he sells them. Is he dishonest? Yes, I'd reckon so. He's been doing this for years. Selling crap, making lots of money, squandering his money, selling some other crap (he specializes is selling crap, that's his niche), making lots of money, squandering it. Broke, then wealthy, then broke, then wealthy again, like an accordion. It boils down not to what people really need, but catering to what they desire, so that emotions and yearnings take over logical thinking.

I'll try to answer your questions too -

Great products barely need any marketing at all, satisfied customers will create a buzz for you. - No they don't. Nothing creates a buzz on it's own. You need to initialize it. You need to popularize it, and you need to tell the world about it. Then, if the product is really good, it'll carry on, on its own.


Creating and selling 'information products' will possibly harm your customers, since they can get the information for free with a bit of effort - False. The customers are not paying for the information, which i agree, they can find for free if they make the effort. The customers pay for information that has been tried, tested, refined and complied into one volume for easy understanding. They're paying so that they don't have to make the effort of looking for the info. You're making the effort, you're doing a service and hence, you're completely justified when you ask for money/services in return.

In addition, you often provide people with false hope. - Not really. Although I agree that a lot of products over-promise and under-deliver, but I think a wise customer will understand that all he is getting is information, and whether he makes something out of it or not depends completely on him and him alone.

~ My two cents

I ain't takin' your deeply-flawed and bi-assed poll. You know why? Because your choices clearly point out how YOU feel, not how others may feel.

First, why does the "Yes" have to be qualified with "I think so"? You have "No" standing on its own, why not "Yes"?

Second, if you had an option that said, "Yes, I'm a nice honest person, and I'm doing just fine", then I would have selected that option.

Third, your cynicism and/or ignorance is more sad than anything else.

Finally, of course "some of us won't like this thread"! You are being combative by saying that those who DO succeed must not be honest or nice. THAT, whether you like it or not, is the subtext of your bi-assed poll.

That's why I ain't takin' it, and I hope others join me in not doing so.



All the best,
Michael

p.s. To the proofreaders out there: the extra 'S' provides a subtext of its own.

You have a lot of faulty statements in your post, starting right off at the top...

As pragun06 said, this doesn't happen on its own. Where do you think all these satisfied customers came from? Clearly, the marketer had to do some heavy marketer if there's actually a "buzz" happening. And most of the time, the marketer has actually planned to create the buzz. These things don't happen by accident.

Ok, next point in your post...

Just kidding. I'm not going to dissect every piece of your post, as the posters before me did a pretty good job of it. Listen to them.

cheers,
Becky

A good product or service will sell itself to some extent via word-of-mouth, but for a product or service to have any meaning for someone it first has to exist in their minds. How do you get it to exist in their minds in the first place, hopefully to inspire some to buy it? Answer: Marketing. You can also broadscast word-of-mouth (testimonials).