What's with all the false 'Myth Busting' stuff right now?

Well said Shaun!

This is exactly what I have been saying for a long time now.

Thanks,
Fran

Haha - so even busting a myth busting myth isn't straight forward.

Andy, I have a newsletter that I call "The Real Truth About Making Online."

While I am sure most people who have been here for a while know most of
this stuff, you would be surprised how many people email me to thank me
for giving them the truth instead of all the hype they get bombarded with
each day.

Point is, while I understand where you're coming from, there are people out
there who, when seeing sales pages like, "Make $30,000 a month on autopilot
while doing no work", actually believe it.

I was one of them 7 plus years ago.

All of us who have solid marketing and business knowledge need to understand
that there are those out there who know nothing and what's old crap to
us is new to them.

I do agree with you about saying things like, "You've never seen this
before." I don't like that crap either because it makes so many
assumptions.

But I will say something like, "I don't know if this is something you're aware
of but if not, this might be of use to you."

I find that it instills more trust.

And trust me, there are people out there who read this stuff and say,
"Thanks, I didn't know that."

If nothing else, one of the main things I've learned in my many years of
marketing is that there are varied skill levels. That's why I don't worry
about selling a product that most people here would consider basic.

Somebody out there will find it to be quite helpful.

And if not, they can always ask for a refund.

On the other side of the coin, I never assume that anybody is stupid or
not knowledgeable. In fact, when people write to me, the first question I
ask is, "What do you already know?"

For those who know absolutely nothing, I'll ask what they're interested in
learning.

For those who give me a list, I'll either tell them I have nothing to add to
that or, in most cases, I simply ask them why they don't just take what
they know, which is considerable, and do something with it. But that's
another issue altogether.

I guess the point I am trying to make is that we shouldn't be so quick to
judge the so called "myth buster" and other secret stuff out there because
for some people, it IS just that.

I totally agree that the numbers of new people online is continually growing and they really do need hand holding.

I know for a fact that there are a lot of them signed into this forum.

But let's be honest people have the "wakening" at different times in their lives which means that it is not age related, so anyone can join the newbie class at any time.

To these guys some of these things are Secret because other people won't tell them.

That is why it is up to the likes of us to show them the way.

I kinda agree with what you're saying, Robert.

But...

I also think Andy has really got a point.

I don't think Andy is saying that the information is lacking in value. More that he dislikes the way people/marketers attempt to package the information as some revolutionary new concept.

It stems, in my opinion, from the need to be remarkable in the current market place. (Didn't Seth speak about this at a seminar once?)... the whole purple cow thing.

Marketers are so desperate to be remarkable, and to "stand out", that they feel the need to imply that the information they are sharing holds more weight and is of a higher value than it really is.

Which brings to question the fact that value is in the eye of the beholder.

But you, and I, both know that some of these marketers are telling their n00bs what is valuable and what isn't... the n00b has no point of reference, so is blindly believing the hype.

The main problem I see with this is:

The people doing the telling, are not giving their audience credit for the intelligence that they have. Personally, I think it is always better to assume your audience are bright, regular people, not idiots... Credit them with the intelligence to understand the truth.. and then give them the truth!

Jay

Hey Rob,

I guess I'm too stupid to get the message

Seriously though - I know that there are a lot of newbies who don't know things that we take for granted and would benefit from being told fundamental marketing concepts - I'm not going to argue about that.

But Jay was right, the thing that gets me is the BS and telling people "no-one will tell you this" "I guarantee you won't have heard this" crap that is blatantly false.

It's similar to the "the Gurus won't tell you this secret - you should sell stuff in order to make money" crap that many newbies pull to try and appeal to those who think there's some sort of guru conspiracy.

There's already enough out and out lying going on in this niche without people making out that every little piece of information is new and some sort of secret.

When it comes to charging people for information - I don't have a problem with that. I buy a lot of stuff just to hear someone else's perspective on something I already know about.

My problem is when false value and scarcity is put on stuff that is freely available in order to rip off people who don't know any better.

Now, when you get down to the nitty gritty there's a thin line between selling the sizzle and BSing, so some things need to be taken on a case by case basis, but the general concept of providing basic information that's freely available and putting a high ticket on it and telling people it's some new unique secret that is so powerful it will be pulled off the market any minute - it's just too much.

I've seen people disguise their affiliate program as a product to be bought many times in the past and it's always rubbed me the wrong way because I end up getting desperate people come to me for help after they've wasted thousands of dollars buying stuff from people claiming to offer all the answers but don't actually deliver anything more than an opportunity to sell their stuff for them.

I'm sure some people are comfortable operating like that, but it comes across as desperate and not something you would do if you actually believed in what you were offering.

Of course some people also differentiate between their business and their personal life and consider their business to be there just to make money and so will employ tactics that they wouldn't use in their personal life when dealing with people so this stuff is bound to happen.

I don't see the problem in questioning it though. Asking questions is only a problem if you don't like the answers.

Andy

I guess it comes down to ethics and what you're prepared to do to make money.

I don't watch QVC and I don't know anyone who buys stuff from it so it doesn't affect me.

That's not the case with IM. Because people come to me for help I hear a lot of stories about how they've been ripped off.

I recently spoke to someone who was looking after his sick mother and was about to lose his house because of money problems - he had been to several Gurus who had promised everything from success coaching to promotions to their list (which never happened).

The stories I hear about how badly people have been treated and how much they've paid for the experience is why I even bother doing these rants.

These people don't affect me because I don't buy their BS, but that doesn't mean that I should just keep quiet so that I don't annoy any potential JV partners who operate like this (some people here think like this).

If I didn't see people suffering from being fed all this BS I wouldn't give a moments thought, but unfortunately that's not the case.

Andy