New Trend 100% Transparency

Hmm,

I demand that Coke and Dr. Pepper be transparent and give us their methods for making their product.

I think transparency is good to a point, but there are methods my business employs that I don't want any one to know or learn about.

The push for it is because there has been so much fraud, mostly (IMHO) around get rich quick and instant weight loss type offerings.

Here's the one mantra you need to know...

Do what's right.

Give good value.

Offer a decent price.

You'll cash checks all day long and not worry about the government coming to knock on your door.

Who's making these requests for more transparency? What type of people do you suppose they are?

I refuse to drink coke on the grounds that I don't know what's in it. It's a principle.

However that principle does not extent to Shiraz. Tastes gooood. Who gives a stuff if there's battery acid in the mix.

AS for IM transparency - it only extends to the sections of IM that have been flogged to death. The secret is out, they've made their money so there is no point pretending it's the Holy Grail anymore.

Any new scheme will still be cloaked in secrecy.

As well it should be! This is business not, not show and tell!

I want transparency in WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY PUTTING IN MY DAMNED CIGARETTES!

I'm also waiting for the world to stand still.

My opinion..

Transparency is a tactic that works for relationships based on the fact that people want it more than anything.

If they are to pay attention to you, that is.

There's no such thing as 100% transparency.

Furthermore, I don't think it's needed.

To take it one step further... I actually grow suspect of those trying too hard to be transparent... seems more like they have something to actually hide if they're trying to prove that they don't.

I take "transparency" with a grain of salt since it can be faked or manipulated like anything else. For the marketers that avoid black hat methods there is not much point since they have no need to "prove" they are legit.

Its never gonna happen... The BIGGEST companies make tons of money from the scammy ads. I still see lots of crappy CPA offers on yahoo and all the other major display networks. In the last day, I have seen a FLOG pitching another google adsense scam on yahoo, an **** type diet pill free trial scam advertised on yahoo, government grants CPA on yahoo -- and all these are on the front couple of pages on the site. There will always be scammers and as long as the big boys make tons of money from them (without much or any consequence) then they will be a way for them to keep switching and switching whatever junk they are selling today.

Its just like the boiler room stock operations of the early 1990's. The was a firm called hanover sterling. They got shut down and then a firm popped up named sterling foster. They got shut down then a firm popped up called First Hanover. It was a cat an mouse game. And if the whole fee structure of that business hadnt changed, it would still be going on today. The new boiler room is the internet. You just gotta decide how YOU are gonna operate.

Many of the IM info businesses and products will become worthless and lose a large portion of their target market if the product owner becomes transparent. For instance...

"Tap into this brand new traffic method where you can easily get yourself in front of millions of targeted people without barely lifting a finger" ---- suddenly becomes --- "Have you tried Facebook Advertising yet?"

Many expert Facebook advertisers will still be interested in the first statement above (until they purchase of course), however, they will leave the page immediately when hearing the transparent version.

"Uncover this hidden technique to instantly increase your optin page conversion rates by 200%" --- suddenly becomes --- "Put your optin form above the fold and write a better headline. Make sure you split test."

I agree to be transparent in what your product does and how it does it.

I think the push towards transparency would better be described as a push towards honesty.

I was speaking with one marketer at an event and he told me that his tactic was to have his sales presentation say as little as possible so people didn't know what they were purchasing. He said it worked really well...

I think his methodology is just wrong though.

Transparency? OK, how many threads trying to promote the ever changing "world cup" by new account holders have been deleted so far?

It's easy for certain industries and not others. For example, even within the marketing industry, the process for making a t.v. spot is - hire writers, write the screenplay, hire a director/actors, film it, etc. The magic is in how they do it and who they hire and how. They don't tell you that. Likewise the same can be said of link-building and things which are inherently useful to keep closer to the chest. What you post can be public but where and how should be guarded as the competitive advantage it is.

I am about to write a piece on this on my main site. I think there is something of a wake up going on in IM. "IM 2.0" anyone?

Honestly- I think this is being taken too far. It annoys me when all the people I'm subscribed to our pridefully displaying how humble and honest they are. It's just an annoying sales tactic.

I'm also sick of hearing people spew out lies like: "You can't get rich quick" or "you can't lose weight quick".

That's total bull****. There's only ONE way to get rich- and that's QUICK. The worlds far too cruel to get rich slowly. That doesn't mean you're going to make a million dollars in your first six months- but once you hit the point of having a steady income- you should be getting rich quickly.

When it comes to just starting out, I think it really depends on how much work you put in. You have to put an INCREDIBLE amount of work in the beginning before you even see so much as a hundred dollars.

There are just SO many contradictions, false information, and information overload that I would just reccomend new people to IM learn the foundations, work there ass off and start learning things to compound their success- while implementing.

That's really the only shortcut.


As for the "transparency marketing"- I like to stick with the 60-40 rule. Sixty percent awesome content that helps people with problems. Forty percent that promotes products that will help them even more.

Peace,
-Ryan Leonard

Actually you can be transparent and still be a huge seller.

It's the way that you present the information.

The vast majority of us know the contents of the Bible but that doesn't stop it being the biggest seller ever.

Obviously IM techniques no matter how amazing can compete with that kind of selling.

But with any printed resource book, you can sit in a book shop cherry picking the bits you want to know and 9 times out of 10 will still buy the book just incase you missed something.