When Can Honesty in Marketing Get in the Way?

Hey Warriors!

Yesterday a couple of people contacted me about 2 different situations so I wanted to share a little discussion about when being honest can hurt your income.

And before I start, let's say I'm not endorsing LYING, either. Just what you advertise up front is the issue...

1.) Health issues - unless it's a firesale for a WSO where people are raising money for a catastrophic illness, it's sometimes best NOT to talk about this up front - especially if you're a service provider.

Saying you have surgeries, are in and out of the hospital, etc., won't make a business owner hire you in MOST situations - it'll make them worry that you might miss deadlines or give them excuses since even health service providers sometimes USE those excuses over and over again when they lie about their late deliverables.

So instead of saying in your ad anything about doing this service because of this and that health problem, think of what the customer wants to know - things like:

-how long have you been doing this?
-how good at it are you?
-what niches do you specialize in?
-why is your price better in terms of value than your competitors?

2.) Country of origin/1st language - another person from India contacted me saying they're certainly not ashamed of where they're from, but hesitate in advertising that they're from there - because many marketers would probably try to get them to charge less. He's probably right!

And right or wrong, it's something we see a lot - so why put it in your bid? If they ask, fine! I wouldn't hide it, but wouldn't advertise it, either. No need to give them a reason to try to get you to lower your bid.

He also worried about English not being his native language. And let me tell you this person's language was FAR superior to mine. VERY fluent. VERY upscale. So why disclose it? If the marketer specifically said "English as a 1st language," then I would recommend just posting a bid saying that although you know 3 languages, you're proficient/fluent in English and post samples so that you put their mind at ease that your writing will result in major revisions.

I guess I'm skeptical. I remember transcribing a seminar for a top marketer and hearing him teach everyone the tactics he used to get me to whittle my prices. Now, I try to help everyone recognize the elements that might give them ammunition against them.

Again, don't lie - just maybe don't put certain things in the original bid/ad. If asked, always be honest and if, for instance, they say something like, "shouldn't your rates be lower since you're from India?" respond with something like, "Ghostwriting is a global service now, so the rates don't vary for top quality across the board much - only in the level of expertise that you invest in."

Tiff