Want to waste your time and money? Then follow these techniques of Marketing Gurus!

by sixpl
27 replies
You must be thinking that I am a fool to suggest you not to follow the techniques of the marketing gurus! Yes, this is exactly what I am saying and to hell with all the bogus and nonsensical marketing techniques of these guys who call themselves gurus. Don't believe me?

Well, then answer this. How many people like you have you seen succeeding by following the techniques taught by these so called gurus? The only people who succeed by selling such techniques are these pseudo intelligent, intellectual, etc.-etc. marketing gurus who claim they know everything.

Let's go back to the question and this time read it carefully and seriously. How many people have you seen succeeding by following these techniques? How many articles have YOU read that had titles like "10 Best Marketing Techniques that all you need to Succeed." What happened? You read them and thought that's it. Bingo! "Boy, I have what it needs to setup my million dollar empire online and be the next big thing" or whatever.

There's nothing wrong in dreaming and there's certainly no harm in believing in yourself. But putting your trust on such self-proclaimed gurus who do nothing but mint money by selling their futile and useless techniques to gullible users on the internet is the worst thing to do.

Wasting your time and money in these shitty things that actually serve no purpose is the stupidest and the most pathetic thing to do.

Now, you would start thinking what I am blabbering about. What do I want to say and why I am being so cynical to these marketing gurus and their "time tested" techniques. "Time tested", really? Do you even believe it yourself? Trust me, you don't. I will explain everything. The context of this blog and what my suggestions are; but first, take a moment's break, and a deep breath and think “ have you ever seen such techniques yielding really good results? If your answer is yes; well, all the best to you! It's your time and money to waste. Let it go down the drain. But if you feel what I am saying makes a little sense, keep reading.

Let's first look at some of the techniques that several marketing gurus promote. Along with it, I will tell you when to ignore them and also how you should adapt them or completely replace them with something more workable.

Follow-up and Hard Sell
You must have heard this umpteen number of times. Follow-up and hard sell a product. The customer will buy it. Or, that don't give up on a prospect and keep following up. Images like the one below are used to shove the statistics in your face.



Alright then! Do you really believe this shit in this age of internet and online sales? I mean what the hell on earth someone is thinking when telling you to keep following up your prospects till they buy.

Now, something like it might have worked if you were selling insurance to an old timer who doesn't know much about the internet why finds it hard to slap the door on the face. But try selling the same way online and it would be a matter of seconds when you"ll be blocked. Internet offers enormous choices to a buyer but it also gives you an access to a humongous pool of potential clients. Why waste time following up someone specific when there are thousands more out there who need exactly what you are selling.

A Big and an equally useless email list

Alright then. Build big, bigger, biggest email list and the customers will queue up to buy your product! That's the most blatant lie a marketing guru will tell you and if you really believe this shit, then only God can be your saviour!



Do you know a big email list is of no use if the people in your list are not interested in your emails selling your product or sending them your newsletters? How do you know that just because they haven't unsubscribed to your list they are reading your emails? It's possible all your emails are already marked as Spam by most of them.

Instead, focus on building an email list that contains email addresses of the people who are actually interested in receiving your emails. Try engaging with your contacts and if you find some of them aren't interested in talking to you, unsubscribe them and trim your list. Remember, quality will qualify your email list as a potent marketing method.
Quantity will only create more mess than you can clean up.

Stop boosting and speak the truth
So, let's touch upon the way our "Best Friends", the Marketing Gurus talk. Most of them use similar titles to their content - 10 or 20 or zillion ways to give an Amazing Boost to your business or grow your business 10 times in 10 days using these simple techniques. Now, I am really sick and tired of listening to such bullshit. I mean, I'm yet to see someone increasing even 10% of the business by following these "Amazing Marketing Techniques". These are blatant lies and the best examples of how marketers boost.

Stop doing that in your business. A customer will buy your product not just once but every time if you are truthful and honest. Boosting or false promises will allow you to sell once but soon the client would know and the next time you approach him, he would... you know where he'll kick you! Why would you want that? It's not that you won't have to sell again in the future. Be honest and kind and build a relationship with your clients forged on trust.

You might say that the marketing gurus don't ever ask to lie or boost. But then, it's exactly they are doing when their titles are so catchy and project something that's too good to be true.

Creating a sense of urgency
Okay! It's something you'd have already seen. You go to a website or a shop and see an offer - "Order in next 10 hours and get this or that free". If you've been advised to do something similar by a marketing guru in a "subtle" manner then ask him get lost. The best way to sell is to time your sale when a potential buyer needs a product and decides to buy it. Creating urgency could help with a flash sale but if want to make a real good offer and a long term relationship, better negotiate a discount with your clients individually.

Free (read crappy) gifts
That's the worst thing to do. Offering an ebook that nobody wants or something stupid that has no value. Avoid it. Your customers need stuff with real value, not some nugatory free crap, and they are willing to pay for it. So stop being a pain in their (you know where) and give them something useful.
Instead of telling them how lucky they are to receive your free stuff, invest the time and money in offering to help them in some way that will help you develop a meaningful and useful long term relation with them. If you want to give away anything for free, give them your time. They will appreciate it and trust me, will always keep trusting you.


Now that you've seen how marketing gurus propagate techniques that help no one except them to make money, it's time to use your brain that you've preserved so carefully. Use your own judgement and logic and stop following the herd. You aren't going to get anything out of it and will only end up losing your money and time. It's better to take a nap instead of listening to the idiotic ideas promoted to you as "expert" thoughts.
#follow #gurus #marketing #money #techniques #time #waste
  • Profile picture of the author dvir0776
    intersting thanks for sharing.
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  • Profile picture of the author danieldesai
    Originally Posted by sixpl View Post

    Follow-up and Hard Sell
    Which reasonable and experienced marketer says to follow-up and only hard sell?

    Following-up is so much more than cheap sales tactics (not that hard-selling doesn't have its place).

    What about providing value and entertainment?


    Originally Posted by sixpl View Post

    A Big and an equally useless email list
    Which reasonable and experienced marketer says to poorly target people?

    This only happens if your lead magnet isn't congruent with what you offer.

    If you're building an email list, and people aren't interested in the product you promote, then the problem is that your product doesn't fit what they opted-in for, or at the very least, isn't useful to those particular people.

    Your lead magnet is supposed to function as a pre-qualifier; this tells you that people have an interest in what you offer.


    Originally Posted by sixpl View Post

    Creating a sense of urgency
    I've never utilized this but...

    It actually works.

    Urgency/scarcity is one the simplest but most effective things you can do to convert "fence-sitters" into customers.

    Of course, you should have real urgency and scarcity, you don't need to lie to use this.


    Daniel
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    • Profile picture of the author sixpl
      Originally Posted by danieldesai View Post

      Which reasonable and experienced marketer says to follow-up and only hard sell?

      Following-up is so much more than cheap sales tactics (not that hard-selling doesn't have its place).

      What about providing value and entertainment?




      Which reasonable and experienced marketer says to poorly target people?

      This only happens if your lead magnet isn't congruent with what you offer.

      If you're building an email list, and people aren't interested in the product you promote, then the problem is that your product doesn't fit what they opted-in for, or at the very least, isn't useful to those particular people.

      Your lead magnet is supposed to function as a pre-qualifier; this tells you that people have an interest in what you offer.




      I've never utilized this but...

      It actually works.

      Urgency/scarcity is one the simplest but most effective things you can do to convert "fence-sitters" into customers.

      Of course, you should have real urgency and scarcity, you don't need to lie to use this.


      Daniel

      Well there are many. When I first joined sales profession, I did some research on effective selling strategies. Most of the sites that rank well on Google suggested with proper data that you should 'Follow up'.


      In reality this tip never worked for me. Everyone has different ways of saying things and some people politely say 'No'; some are straightforward while others may never say no but their body language says they will never buy.

      I also get lot of follow up email (mostly as a result of email automation). I feeling so irritated.

      Similarly other techniques mentioned over here are very aggressively pitched. I am not saying it never work. However it can't be generalized. Most of the people are becoming smarter today and they know that Urgency is created for sales purposes and that is why they think it is more of a deceit than a genuine offer.
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      • Profile picture of the author danieldesai
        Originally Posted by sixpl View Post

        Well there are many. When I first joined sales profession, I did some research on effective selling strategies. Most of the sites that rank well on Google suggested with proper data that you should 'Follow up'.


        In reality this tip never worked for me.
        That's because you're not following up correctly.


        Originally Posted by sixpl View Post

        I also get lot of follow up email (mostly as a result of email automation). I feeling so irritated.
        Well, at least this explains why you're edgy.

        Of course, the solution is to unsubscribe from those follow-up emails...


        Originally Posted by sixpl View Post

        Most of the people are becoming smarter today and they know that Urgency is created for sales purposes and that is why they think it is more of a deceit than a genuine offer.
        This will depend on your positioning, and the expectations your audience has of you.

        If you're honest and your audience trusts you, they'll recognize that you're serious when you say something is a "limited time offer" or something similar.

        However, if you position yourself as someone who panders every hot new trend, that can seriously detract from your credibility.


        Daniel
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        • Profile picture of the author sixpl
          Originally Posted by danieldesai View Post

          That's because you're not following up correctly.




          Well, at least this explains why you're edgy.

          Of course, the solution is to unsubscribe from those follow-up emails...




          This will depend on your positioning, and the expectations your audience has of you.

          If you're honest and your audience trusts you, they'll recognize that you're serious when you say something is a "limited time offer" or something similar.

          However, if you position yourself as someone who panders every hot new trend, that can seriously detract from your credibility.


          Daniel
          But what if I receive mails even after unsubscibing many times. . .

          I agree with rest of your points. .
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          • Profile picture of the author jdjenkins
            Yes, there are a few people who seem to be impossible to unsubscribe from. I just filter them straight into the Spam or Trash folder.

            Most people I subscribe to get filtered into a "Read Later" folder, bypassing my Inbox. That way, it's easier to see "important" messages. Not that there are many of those, really - especially once you've set up lots of email filters!

            Cheers,

            Jon.


            Originally Posted by sixpl View Post

            But what if I receive mails even after unsubscibing many times. . .

            I agree with rest of your points. .
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          • Profile picture of the author danieldesai
            Originally Posted by sixpl View Post

            But what if I receive mails even after unsubscibing many times. . .

            I agree with rest of your points. .
            Then those persons emailing you are spamming.

            That has nothing to do with legitimate email marketing.

            So no, that still isn't what experienced marketers say you should do.

            Daniel
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            • Profile picture of the author celente
              Originally Posted by danieldesai View Post

              Then those persons emailing you are spamming.

              That has nothing to do with legitimate email marketing.

              So no, that still isn't what experienced marketers say you should do.

              Daniel
              i love it.

              people call it spamming, however 90% of the big IM'ers you would never even know make HUGE money from having real email lists, with real clients, and that make real money!

              email marketing is even more huge than most think, yet newbies they still come in here and whine on about how email marketing is a scam, and does not work.

              Its an oxymoron!
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  • Profile picture of the author ANDREIS
    There are so many people following wrong suggestions just because everybody repeats the same false advice all around the forum and all around the web. Many times people give suggestions just because they've read it somewhere else and they automatically spit that out when related question is asked while in fact they themselves don't really understand what the truth is. This is the number one reason why people online fail - listening the wrong advice. The number 2 reason why people fail is - reading about what should be done to make money, but very often not knowing how to do it properly. If you want to make money - it's HOW to do it, not just WHAT to do!
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    • Profile picture of the author sixpl
      Originally Posted by ANDREIS View Post

      There are so many people following wrong suggestions just because everybody repeats the same false advice all around the forum and all around the web. Many times people give suggestions just because they've read it somewhere else and they automatically spit that out when related question is asked while in fact they themselves don't really understand what the truth is. This is the number one reason why people online fail - listening the wrong advice. The number 2 reason why people fail is - reading about what should be done to make money, but very often not knowing how to do it properly. If you want to make money - it's HOW to do it, not just WHAT to do!
      I agree with both of your points. There are very few people who have real experience. And at the same time there are fewer who, after reading the blog post, able to apply the techniques correctly.

      Both the cases are dangerous and ultimately make them loose money. What I suggest is either you outsource to experts or you hit and try.
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  • Profile picture of the author EPoltrack77
    Its a business and not a hobby or some play toy that when done right it prints money. Well maybe but thats besides the point...

    There is a process to success with the Internet and affiliate marketing and when you follow the process you get certain results.
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    Working to achieve higher results...
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  • Profile picture of the author kartherma
    Or in some cases a play toy hobby that prints money too...
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    You must be thinking that I am a fool..
    Actually, yes, I do.

    When you write an article that tells people what they already KNOW - they think you are smart.

    When you write an article that tells people what they WANT to hear - they'll tell you how right you are.

    You are lecturing from NO position of authority - with NO reputation of success....because you are a totally anonymous member. You tell people it's better to build a list of people that want to hear from you? No!!! Really???

    ....and these are worthy nuggets, too...

    ...I mean what the hell on earth someone is thinking

    ... if you really believe this shit

    ...I am really sick and tired of listening to such bullshit.

    ... not some nugatory free crap
    I actually agree with one thing you said:

    It's better to take a nap instead of listening to the idiotic ideas promoted to you as "expert" thoughts.
    I'd start with this thread.
    Signature
    Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
    ***
    Live life like someone left the gate open
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    Originally Posted by sixpl View Post




    A Big and an equally useless email list

    Alright then. Build big, bigger, biggest email list and the customers will queue up to buy your product! That's the most blatant lie a marketing guru will tell you and if you really believe this shit, then only God can be your saviour!

    .
    No need for God being your Savior here lol
    There is some Truth to what you say. But there are certain Marketers who do concentrate on Quantity. Not saying it is Noble or altruistic but they make hand over fist in money. And they do have Success.

    - Robert Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author Zodiax
    Who cares if following-up works for one person or another.

    If it profits you it's nothing something you should be overly obsessed about.
    Signature

    'I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion'
    -Muhammad Ali

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    • Profile picture of the author sixpl
      Originally Posted by Zodiax View Post

      Who cares if following-up works for one person or another.

      If it profits you it's nothing something you should be overly obsessed about.
      Individuals will not care but Academicians and strategist will definitely care. If they can discover some techniques that works universally then new people can do it quickly. In evolving world knowledge is everything. And knowledge is not by accident it happens through such fruitful discussions and brainstorming. .
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  • Profile picture of the author nicheblogger75
    All I can say is that I agree with the OP when he says that a lot of "gurus" are pushing bad (or outdated ) information.

    However, a lot of the tactics that the OP claims will never work actually do.

    Let's take list building for example.

    In my 8 years of experience building lists I have come to understand that there are basically two major schools of thought.

    Let's call the first one "quality over quantity," better known as "relationship building."

    This method is the one that was employed by all of the "old timers," as I like to call them. These are the pioneers of email marketing who mastered the art of gaining trust and providing massive value. They made selling seem effortless and they were so good at it that even when they were selling to you you didn't realize it. They segmented their lists by moving leads who purchased onto a special buyers list. They would then treat their buyers like gold and enjoy conversion rates through the ceiling when they sent out a promo to them.

    Somewhere along the line, the good old "work 15 minutes a day and make 6 figures" mindset pushed it's way in and gave way to the method I'm going to discuss next.

    That brings me to the next method, which I like to call "churn and burn."

    This form of email marketing involves adding massive amounts of prospects to your list using just about any traffic source that would produce opt-ins. The leads were rarely segmented and the marketer didn't care if they came from tier 1 countries or Timbuktu. If there was any chance they had a working credit card of PP account then they were welcomed on the marketer's list.

    With the "churn and burn" method, there was absolutely NO value offered. Every email was a promo, and it often involved bombing the list with 3 or more promo emails every day. Buyers were never separated from the main list, and many different kinds of products were promoted. The marketer basically threw promos out there until they found one that stuck, and then they would push the crap out of it until they extracted every last penny from their list.

    Unfortunately, method #2 gained massive popularity and gave way to tactics like ad swapping and click banking. Why did this happen? Well, simply put, it works. Not only can a marketer make lots of money doing this, it's easy. They don't have to bother with taking the time to create valuable content for their subscribers. They really don't care one way or another if their subscribers leave their list, either. The mindset is that unsubscribes don't matter as long as you are replacing them faster than you are losing them. For instance, if a marketer loses 100 subscribers on any given day but adds 200 new ones, they are still getting ahead. Hence the term "churn and burn."

    Now, lots of people reading this right now might think that any successful "guru" would never preach or practice "churn and burn" list building. The fact is that if they think that they would be wrong. In fact, some of the most popular and successful "gurus" adopted that method as their main form of list building. Not only that, they taught this method on a massive scale to other marketers, who in turn taught it to others, etc.

    IMO, this is why email marketing is in the state it's in today. Is it dead? NO WAY! Email marketing is very much alive and will be the top form of online marketing for years to come. The fact, remains, however, that every day it becomes just a little bit more difficult to convert subscribers into buyers. Not only has the "churn and burn" trend made people skeptical of Internet Marketers, it's made the AR companies tighten up the reins because they need to protect themselves at all cost because if they can't get emails into inboxes then they won't be in business very long.

    There are often many arguments about what method of email marketing is better. As it pertains to profitability, I'm not really sure what the answer to that question is. I'm not even sure that one way is more ethical than another. One thing I am sure of, though, is that making money from an email list is becoming more and more difficult every year.
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  • Profile picture of the author Regional Warrior
    [DELETED]
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
    Originally Posted by sixpl View Post

    Wasting your time and money in these shitty things that actually serve no purpose is the stupidest and the most pathetic thing to do.

    If you want people to listen to you, you need to first give respect to your audience.

    This involves setting aside emotions which yield unappealing sentences which result in something like the above.

    Like you, yourself so stated in another thread, 'You can be a dog on the Internet' and thus, so can a person who's emotionally challenged on a topic, still portray himself with a bit more dignity, lest the Strategic Content Marketer' could well appear to be an adolescent on a rant who lacks any comprehension of strategy, content or marketing.

    When we understand what we teach, we shine without effort and we don't need to shout and scream.
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  • Profile picture of the author MattB27
    forum rules: 4. Do not post complaining about specific people, guru or newbie. We're not the Internet police and we can't do anything about it. And we don't have a clue if the complaint is even valid. Most of them turn out not to be. So, the claim that you're just trying to "alert our fellow Warriors to this problem" most often means nothing. Even when that's your sincere intent, which isn't usually the case.
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  • Profile picture of the author PartnerwithJoe
    That's a bit angry, though it resonates with my thinking. It surely drives me bananas to see how people are being fooled to follow these useless tips. Needless to say, Facebook techniques for free traffic... which they themselves don't use. What a shame!
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  • Profile picture of the author KinneyJ2014



    Work Smarter and Harder
    Making money online takes hard work. This means being efficient


    if you are spending time reading the endless emails that drop into your inbox on a daily basis you may feel that you're working hard on 'research' but actually you're just reading sales copy.


    You need to work smarter and harder to accomplish more and make money - and then get your money to work for you.


    Have a Plan of Action

    Just like in any other business, you must have a plan of action in order to be a successful internet marketer


    Tip 1: Do Your Research

    Tip 2: Don't Believe Everything You See

    Tip 3: Don't Become Overwhelmed or Sidetracked

    Tip 4: Perfect It and Stick With It


    Internet marketing requires persistence, hard work and patience.
    You won't become rich in the very beginning, but you have the potential to do so in the very near future.

    Finding an internet marketing tip or two and finding the right mentor for you can help you to find online success.
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  • Profile picture of the author michaelkoehler92
    Yeah I agree, a lot of scammers out there unfortunately
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  • Profile picture of the author christinehopkin
    That`s really useful tips and nice way to deliver in market. It is very important to understand and being aware of these steps.
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    Research Executive at VirtueNetz

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  • Profile picture of the author mizokidsgames
    Agreed! but some time in some cases it works (occasionally).
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  • Profile picture of the author Arun Sarathy
    Eye-opening article and speaks blunt truth. Something really required for all the new bloggers who get misled by established 'marketing guru's. Cannot be far from it!
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  • Profile picture of the author I Love Webtools
    These are very good points but most people I follow say much of the same thing. Provide value and don't screw over you readers and customers.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Originally Posted by Regional Warrior View Post

    Please mods open the article sub forum so this crap can go there!
    Forget the opening post. It's a half-baked rant with just enough truth to make the rest stick out. Even bullcrap is good for growing flowers (or fishing worms )

    Originally Posted by celente View Post

    i love it.

    people call it spamming, however 90% of the big IM'ers you would never even know make HUGE money from having real email lists, with real clients, and that make real money!

    email marketing is even more huge than most think, yet newbies they still come in here and whine on about how email marketing is a scam, and does not work.

    Its an oxymoron!
    Read it again, celente. Daniel was talking about emailers who ignore unsubscribes, not emailers in general.

    Originally Posted by Regional Warrior View Post

    This should be removed or put in the off topic section nothing of substance here , I am amazed how some of the comments saying how good the article is
    After all this time, why would you still be amazed? Lots of people don't know shit from shinola, and wonder why their shoes smell bad.
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