Okay...Wow. That's a New One on Me

10 replies
I get all sorts of emails from Internet Marketers because I've put my name in more than a few opt-in lists. Until now, however, I had never received an email from a fairly well-known guru like the one I got today. It blatantly criticized someone else's freshly-launched product and suggested another product instead, (the suggested product being one that the emailer makes money from.)

Is this normal and I've only now noticed it? I realize that the business world can be cutthroat (although I refuse to do business that way), but it made me wince. And it sent me right to the delete button.
#okaywow
  • Profile picture of the author spidey2306
    Dissing someone else's product is a pretty low way to sell you product. I would never buy something from someone who felt he needed to say bad thing about another product in order to make his product look better.
    If it was an objective review of another product in which he pointed out some flaws etc then that's different.
    Even if he compared features of his own product to the competitors product then that would be fine.

    How did he critisize the product, did he blantantly just rip into or did he do a fair review?
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    • Profile picture of the author traces2757
      Originally Posted by spidey2306 View Post

      Dissing someone else's product is a pretty low way to sell you product. I would never buy something from someone who felt he needed to say bad thing about another product in order to make his product look better.
      If it was an objective review of another product in which he pointed out some flaws etc then that's different.
      Even if he compared features of his own product to the competitors product then that would be fine.

      How did he critisize the product, did he blantantly just rip into or did he do a fair review?
      He didn't "rip into it", and even said that it was probably good, but he subtly listed reasons why you shouldn't buy it without actually saying that you shouldn't buy it. It was cleverly worded, but the message was obvious. And he definitely states why you should buy the other product instead.
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  • Profile picture of the author craigraphael
    I am a subscriber to literally hundreds of marketers and I've seen this kind of thing also. As someone that runs a review site, this kind of behavior rubs me wrong.

    I've seen other review sites totally diss on marketers like Mike Filsaime and other gurus and it truly offends me. The truth of the matter is that these guys are "gurus" because they are successful and when you have 500,000+ customers and affiliates, you WILL have SOME that are not happy.

    I make it a point to not diss on anyone unless I know that they have had legal issues or have been involved in some scandal that has public records to verify it.

    I actually posted a blog post and defended the "gurus" because more often than not, when someone uses a product or service of some kind that has a money making opportunity attached to it, it is most likely because they do not know what they are doing. It doesn't accurately define the product or service.

    That's my 2 cents....good luck.

    Sincerely,

    Craig Raphael
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  • Profile picture of the author Mr. Write
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author Gail_Curran
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      • Profile picture of the author Nick Brighton
        Gail,

        There's a difference between comparison and outright slander, particularly if it is unjust slander.

        If you sold me an eBook and I didn't receive it (due to technical reasons), or perhaps I didn't like it and tried to get a refund but couldn't get through to you for legitimate reasons, would you be happy for me to pitch your biggest competitor's product to my list of 10,000 people instead, whilst slagging you off and creating an army of 10,000 people who will NEVER buy from you again, even if you didn't have a chance to defend yourself (or even know what has happened?).

        Plus, if you've ever worked in sales, you'll know that the #1 rule is not to slate the competition. Why? Because it creates a sense of distrust in YOU. Your prospects think "If he/she is saying that about THEM, what do they really think of ME behind my back?".

        Or they might just think you're so bad at your job that the only way to win people over is to try and convince them that everyone else's product is crap.

        If you're any good at selling, you should be able to embrace competition and let your relationships with your prospects do the selling.


        Originally Posted by Gail_Curran View Post

        I must be missing the point... the emailer is giving you his opinion, which is obviously subjective. Whether or not you buy his product instead of the big name product will depend on how much you trust his opinion.

        Why isn't it ok for him to compare his product to the big name product? How can he do that without pointing out the other product's deficiencies (as he sees it)?

        As long as he isn't maligning someone else's character, what's wrong with him saying that his product is better?
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      • Profile picture of the author traces2757
        Originally Posted by Gail_Curran View Post

        I must be missing the point... the emailer is giving you his opinion, which is obviously subjective. Whether or not you buy his product instead of the big name product will depend on how much you trust his opinion.

        Why isn't it ok for him to compare his product to the big name product? How can he do that without pointing out the other product's deficiencies (as he sees it)?

        As long as he isn't maligning someone else's character, what's wrong with him saying that his product is better?
        Actually he couldn't really compare the product because he stated that he didn't buy it. Like I said, it was cleverly worded, but the bottom line was that he was saying "don't buy this, buy my product". If I read this on a review site and he had actually used the other product that would be completely different. I thought that the email, however, was in very poor taste.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick Brighton
    Originally Posted by traces2757 View Post

    I get all sorts of emails from Internet Marketers because I've put my name in more than a few opt-in lists. Until now, however, I had never received an email from a fairly well-known guru like the one I got today. It blatantly criticized someone else's freshly-launched product and suggested another product instead, (the suggested product being one that the emailer makes money from.)

    Is this normal and I've only now noticed it? I realize that the business world can be cutthroat (although I refuse to do business that way), but it made me wince. And it sent me right to the delete button.
    Hi Tracey,

    It's either a coincidence, or I know exactly who you're talking about. Wouldn't happen to be someone in the weight loss/fitness niche would it?

    If so, I think I got the same email and it made my jaw drop. I said to myself "That's sales faux pas if I ever saw it." Rule #1 in sales...don't diss your competition, it will KILL your sales success and relationships with your prospects.

    I couldn't believe it. And what was even more baffling was that it was coming from someone who really should have bigger fish to fry than worry about a $67 payment or something...when he's raking in millions a year from his Clickbank product.

    EDIT##

    I don't think it is the same person, which makes things even worse. Anyway, the email I got was from a BIG CB product owner and he was basically slagging a company off because he had a bad experience with them, and instead of just saying his piece, he actually crafted it into a pitch for "one of his marketing buddies" competitor services.

    If he hadn't pitched a competitor at the end, I wouldn't have thought twice. I just think it's childish and close minded, unprofessional and worse still, could land you in seriously hot water if this company decides to sue you for slander and associated damages...

    ...and I don't care WHO you are.
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    • Profile picture of the author traces2757
      Originally Posted by Nick Brighton View Post

      Hi Tracey,

      It's either a coincidence, or I know exactly who you're talking about. Wouldn't happen to be someone in the weight loss/fitness niche would it?

      If so, I think I got the same email and it made my jaw drop. I said to myself "That's sales faux pas if I ever saw it." Rule #1 in sales...don't diss your competition, it will KILL your sales success and relationships with your prospects.

      I couldn't believe it. And what was even more baffling was that it was coming from someone who really should have bigger fish to fry than worry about a $67 payment or something...when he's raking in millions a year from his Clickbank product.
      No, it was actually a fairly well-known person in the IM niche. But yeah, no matter who is doing it, I think it's bad business. Certainly turned me off.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nick Brighton
    And to add to that, think of it like this:

    You don't see Coke slating Pepsi publicly do you? Why not? Because they can't just say "Pepsi are a terrible company, they do this and they do that..." and then turn around when facing damages claims and say "But it was just our opinion, we're entitled to it..."

    The world just doesn't work that way. Thats the power of influence for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author sam12six
      Originally Posted by Nick Brighton View Post

      And to add to that, think of it like this:

      You don't see Coke slating Pepsi publicly do you? Why not? Because they can't just say "Pepsi are a terrible company, they do this and they do that..." and then turn around when facing damages claims and say "But it was just our opinion, we're entitled to it..."

      The world just doesn't work that way. Thats the power of influence for you.
      You're right, but I think things are slowly sliding in the direction of being able to bash another product in your commercials.

      When I was a kid, they didn't even name the competition. They said, "99% of sane people choose Coke over the other leading brand of cola", or something like that.

      It wasn't 'til a couple of years ago that I started seeing "In a blind taste test, 99% of sane people chose Coke over Pepsi."

      That's just one step away from being able to say, "Pepsi just doesn't taste very good, that's why 99% of sane people prefer Coke"
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      • Profile picture of the author traces2757
        Originally Posted by sam12six View Post

        You're right, but I think things are slowly sliding in the direction of being able to bash another product in your commercials.

        When I was a kid, they didn't even name the competition. They said, "99% of sane people choose Coke over the other leading brand of cola", or something like that.

        It wasn't 'til a couple of years ago that I started seeing "In a blind taste test, 99% of sane people chose Coke over Pepsi."

        That's just one step away from being able to say, "Pepsi just doesn't taste very good, that's why 99% of sane people prefer Coke"
        You have a point there. I remember when I started noticing companies advertising that way. That doesn't make it right, though. And knowing that it's more accepted in the business world now than it used to be didn't stop me from unsubscribing from that person's list.
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