9 replies
Poor ethics. Bad practices. Spurious get-rich-quick schemes.

I see a profusion of the above lately. Not just on our front-door here, WF, but all over. Was it always around? Undoubtedly. Imagine being blind for 5 years, though. One fine morning, your sight is restored. Many things you've seen a thousand times, things everyone has seen a thousand times, seem to pop onto your radar with starkness: steam rising from coffee, condensation on the inside of a window-pane. This is how it is for me with the above. Having taken quite a prolonged leave of absence from forums, several years, certain things - well - certain things pop.

So . . .

I figure I'll ramble for a moment, if you'll indulge me. And, don't for a second, take this post to be directed at the majority of people. The older I get (39) the less I am inclined to agree with my younger self on many subjects. I was quite hard on people in earlier years. Felt many of them, perhaps the majority, lacked a good code of ethics. Times change though, as I've said. On the whole, folks are pretty good.

This, then, is addressed to the minority. A minority, I should add, that quite likely operate with poor ethics not because they're bad people but because perhaps they know no better.

Honesty Sells.

You have a product to sell. And if you're here it must be a moneymaking product. You have a product; you want to sell it. I'm going to tell you how to do it . . .

The internet is rife with - how to say this politely? - ES-AYCH-I-TEE moneymaking products. Sham products. Half-complete products. Ill-informed products. And everyone, from the veteran marketer to the wet-behind-the-ears newbie, knows this. As a byproduct of this fact, there is a high level of buyer wariness. Who can blame us? Getting the sale is hard, therefore. And let us not forget that getting "THE" sale is not what it's all about. It's about, in many cases, getting "A" sale and getting "Another" sale and so on. The same person may buy from you every month, every day. Thing is, though . . . dupe him once, ruin his confidence for just a second . . . it's game over, my friend.

In practical terms, if you're here to sell (unlike some of us, no names, GRM, who are here to procrastinate, primarily), you can make life easier on yourself, make business boom, make yourself feel better, make others feel better, if you'd only follow one simple, all-encompassing philosophy: Honesty. People notice it. They respond to it. Before you know it, you have a reputation for it.

And the point of all this - although I'm sure it isn't lost on you - is this:

You get trust, you get sales.

Moderated: Articles like this belong on your Warrior Forum blog.
#honesty #sells
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  • Profile picture of the author Steeleton
    Very true.

    The marketers that can build relationships and earn the trust of their customers will do very well in this business...or any business really.
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  • Profile picture of the author ptcrefko
    Originally Posted by Get Rich Methods View Post

    Poor ethics. Bad practices. Spurious get-rich-quick schemes.

    I see a profusion of the above lately. Not just on our front-door here, WF, but all over. Was it always around? Undoubtedly. Imagine being blind for 5 years, though. One fine morning, your sight is restored. Many things you've seen a thousand times, things everyone has seen a thousand times, seem to pop onto your radar with starkness: steam rising from coffee, condensation on the inside of a window-pane. This is how it is for me with the above. Having taken quite a prolonged leave of absence from forums, several years, certain things - well - certain things pop.

    So . . .

    I figured I'd ramble for a moment, if you'll indulge me. And, don't for a second, take this post to be directed at the majority of people. The older I get (39) the less I am inclined to agree with my younger self on many subjects. I was quite hard on people in earlier years. Felt many of them, perhaps the majority, lacked a good code of ethics. Times, as I've said, change though. On the whole, folks are pretty good.

    This, then, is addressed to the minority. A minority, I should add, that quite likely operate with poor ethics not because they're bad people but because perhaps they know no better.

    Honesty Sells.

    You have a product to sell. And if you're here it must be a moneymaking product. You have a product; you want to sell it. I'm going to tell you how to do it . . .

    The internet is rife with - how to say this politely? - ES-AYCH-I-TEE moneymaking products. Sham products. Half-complete products. Ill-informed products. And everyone, from the veteran marketer to the wet-behind-the-ears newbie, knows this. As a byproduct of this fact, there is a high level of buyer wariness. Who can blame us? Getting the sale is hard, therefore. And let us not forget that getting "THE" sale is not what it's all about. It's about, in many cases, getting "A" sale and getting "Another" sale and so on. The same person may buy from you every month, every day. Thing is, though . . . dupe him once, ruin his confidence for just a second . . . it's game over, my friend.

    In practical terms, if you're here to sell (unlike some of us, no names, GRM, who are here to procrastinate, primarily), you can make life easier on yourself, make business boom, make yourself feel better, make others feel better, if you'd only follow one simple, all-encompassing philosophy: Honesty. People notice it. They respond to it. Before you know it, you have a reputation for it.

    And the point of all this - although I'm sure it isn't lost on you - is this:

    You get trust, you get sales.
    Being nice, kind, honest, patience and giving gratitude is one way to success online or offline business. And it is not hard to do. That's why I tell my students that before starting anything, look at their attitude first.
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  • Profile picture of the author gcozzens
    Well said and I agree. It's also see the trend where the people who are looking for the Get-Rich-Quick scheme are also the people who never actually implement anything.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Like you said in the title of this thread, "honesty sells." Unfortunately, so does dishonesty, lies, and half truths. The challenge for most consumers is to apply the BS test to something before they lay their money down.

      It's not always an easy thing . . . trying to figure out from a simple sales letter what is truth and what is not. Many people, when they see something they think they want, lose all common sense and good judgement - they simply give in to their emotions and hit the buy button. Emotionally charged sales letters often generate lots of sales for garbage products.

      As the OP suggested, if the marketer can instill genuine trust in his subscribers and clients, he/she makes the buying of back end products a much easier and less painless chore for the prospect.

      The real money in IM comes on the back end . . . it comes from buyers that trust you with their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 25th purchases (which are often at high cost).

      The very best to you all,

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author Lucian Lada
        Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

        As the OP suggested, if the marketer can instill genuine trust in his subscribers and clients, he/she makes the buying of back end products a much easier and less painless chore for the prospect.

        The real money in IM comes on the back end . . . it comes from buyers that trust you with their 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 25th purchases (which are often at high cost).
        Unfortunately, most people have a myopic view of things. They want the quick sale, the fast buck. For them, there isn't even such a thing as repeat sales. They can't even grasp the concept.

        So they lie and deceive in order to hit their goals. The perplexing thing about this is that they lie to themselves too, in order to justify their means. For them, selling a product by hyping up the claims and even making them up is called "increasing ROI."

        We even have a forum member here (among many, I suspect) openly admitting that he makes up stories about how he uses the Amazon products he reviews, when in fact he doesn't. He calls this "storytelling" or something like that. Go figure.
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        • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
          Originally Posted by Lucian Lada View Post

          He calls this "storytelling" or something like that. Go figure.
          Reminds me of going through training to be a car salesman.

          The training taught you to get a deal from a customer at a price you knew was way too low, then go have a coffee with the manager, before coming back with a counter offer, then back to the manager, back with a counteroffer.....on and on until you got the highest price possible...even if the manager was not on the lot.

          They called that storytelling, also. I called it lying and quit.
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          • Profile picture of the author Tom Addams
            Originally Posted by Barry Unruh View Post

            Reminds me of going through training to be a car salesman.

            The training taught you to get a deal from a customer at a price you knew was way too low, then go have a coffee with the manager, before coming back with a counter offer, then back to the manager, back with a counteroffer.....on and on until you got the highest price possible...even if the manager was not on the lot.

            They called that storytelling, also. I called it lying and quit.
            This story gave me a laugh. I'd have quit, too!
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  • Profile picture of the author NeedBucksNow
    True that. Much rather deal with somebody that is willing to go the extra mile just to help somebody then someone who is new to the "game" & actually believes they can start off making $1000 a day from trying to sell a product that says they can.
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