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I asked Drayton Bird some questions...

by Glenn@AllGoodCopy
14 replies
He answered them with a video - standing by an old door.

I thought you guys might find it an interesting watch.

You can see it here.
#asked #bird #drayton #questions
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Originally Posted by Glenn@AllGoodCopy View Post

    He answered them with a video - standing by an old door.

    I thought you guys might find it an interesting watch.

    You can see it here.
    Is the video a pre-sell for the affiliate product pimped below it?

    Alex
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    • Profile picture of the author Glenn@AllGoodCopy
      That's a bit cynical, Alex.

      I do regular Q&As with copywriters as I think it gives a good insight into how we all work differently.

      As for the PS, I thought it was a useful and appropriate link for people who wanted to get more from Drayton.

      Did you not find it an interesting watch?
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      • Profile picture of the author Angela Rose Weber
        I got the email a few days ago, and thoroughly enjoyed the video. Those were great questions!!! Plus I love Drayton - he has such great advice!

        The title and theme of the email made me roll my eyes at first, "Drayton Bird wants to kill me", but then once I watched the video and he said the same thing I thought it was clever.

        "giggles"
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      • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
        Originally Posted by Glenn@AllGoodCopy View Post

        That's a bit cynical, Alex.

        I do regular Q&As with copywriters as I think it gives a good insight into how we all work differently.

        As for the PS, I thought it was a useful and appropriate link for people who wanted to get more from Drayton.

        Did you not find it an interesting watch?
        "A bit" of cynicism is a good thing.

        I'm sure you'll agree: any recommendation that inures to the benefit of the individual giving it should be taken with a grain of salt.

        Alex
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        • Profile picture of the author BrianMcLeod
          Originally Posted by Alex Cohen View Post

          "A bit" of cynicism is a good thing.

          I'm sure you'll agree: any recommendation that inures to the benefit of the individual giving it should be taken with a grain of salt.

          Alex
          I know your intentions with your post are good, Alex.

          I believe Glenn's intentions with his post are equally good.

          Most folks vastly overestimate the value of piking something here, methinks.

          So maybe Glenn picks up a whopping dozen new subscribers in the process of sharing a custom video shot by Drayton Bird himself - good for Glenn!

          When everyone else shares similar value with the forum they too can bask in such illustrious benefit. </snark>

          All BS aside, here's how I tend to weigh posts like this:

          Initial Criterion: Is linker an active member of the forum?

          If Yes:

          Link > Awesome Thing > Benefit to Linker = Probably OK to post

          Link > Benefit To Linker > Awesome Thing = Probably Not OK to post

          Personally, I share far less cool stuff here than I do elsewhere precisely because of this kind of blowback.

          That kind of sucks, honestly.

          I've pushed past my default resistance to linking to anything of mine here recently because, despite the inevitable griping, there's also lots of genuine appreciation.

          Appreciation wins.
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          Brian McLeod
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          • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
            Most folks vastly overestimate the value of piking something here, methinks.

            So maybe Glenn picks up a whopping dozen new subscribers in the process of sharing a custom video shot by Drayton Bird himself - good for Glenn!
            The webpage he linked to promotes a related affiliate product beneath the video (no compensation disclaimer btw).

            My original question was: is it a pre-sell page?

            Since becoming a member of the forum, I've been under the impression that all selling is to be done in the signature section of posts OR one of the paid sub forums.

            If I'm wrong, so be it. I've been wrong before.

            Alex
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            • Profile picture of the author ReferralCandy
              Originally Posted by Alex Cohen View Post

              The webpage he linked to promotes a related affiliate product beneath the video (no compensation disclaimer btw).

              My original question was: is it a pre-sell page?

              Since becoming a member of the forum, I've been under the impression that all selling is to be done in the signature section of posts OR one of the paid sub forums.

              If I'm wrong, so be it. I've been wrong before.

              Alex
              I get where you're coming from. From where I'm standing, I think it's helpful to take a moment to think about the objectives and reasoning behind any rules we might have.

              When we're asked to do our selling in our signatures or in paid sub-forums, what's the objective? We're all salespeople one way or another, even if we're just selling our perspectives and personalities.

              The objective of the restriction on sales is to keep the community lively and interesting instead of turning into spammy, unhelpful and frustrating swathes of blunt, off-topic sales.

              If Glenn's doing any sales on the page that he's linked to, I think that's no different to if he did some sales in the signature of his post. He promised an interesting video, and he delivered on the interesting video. If we only cared about the video, we're welcome to watch the video and get out of there.

              That's an acceptable state of affairs, to me. I'd like to see more of such content being shared, useful and thoughtprovoking stuff. I don't mind if there are ads on it if they feel relevant or interesting. It's the random noise that we want to protect our community from.

              Just my $0.02.

              -v
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              • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
                Originally Posted by ReferralCandy View Post


                That's an acceptable state of affairs, to me.
                Yep, people draw their line differently.

                A link to a sales letter: most people here would say no.

                A link to a video with a related affiliate offer: most people here could care less.

                As Walter Cronkite would have said, "That's the way it is."

                Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    He's new to me but clearly comes from a great lineage. I enjoyed the interview.

    The "standing by an old door" phrase is a bit odd. Ho hum. An "antique door" sounds much more impressive.

    I went and checked out Drayton's "Bird Droppings" blog and was quite amused.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sean Fry
    ^ It's Drayton f-ing Bird dude. No grains of salt needed. The guy got Drayton to answer some great questions and produce a 20-minute video, and you're jumping all over him for putting an affiliate link to his videos? (which would be of interest to the people who frequent his blog and this forum anyway...)
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  • Profile picture of the author Glenn@AllGoodCopy
    Jeez!

    Do you really think it looks like a "pre-sell" page? Have you been around the site generally?

    It's a 20 minute video of pure content on a website that's full of content - about direct response copywriting.

    And the PS is an unobtrusive line at the end.

    I'm genuinely sorry to cause a fuss; I was just sharing a bit of what I thought was interesting content from my own site, which I think is filled with interesting content.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
      Originally Posted by Glenn@AllGoodCopy View Post


      Do you really think it looks like a "pre-sell" page? Have you been around the site generally?
      Why would I go "around the site generally"? I went to the URL given in your post.

      And yes, I've seen affiliate pitches masquerading as blog posts before. Many times. A free video or an article... and then the pitch.

      Alex
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