How Transparent Are You, Really?

by art72
21 replies
Warriors,

Being I am in one of my philosophical moods, and remaining quite optimistic today, in spite of a profound reality...

How many of you believe; the true path to success online is to infuse, almost submerse yourself into every project... as the real YOU?

As opposed to being what you "think" your audience wants to see you as?

Just a daunting thought...

-Art
#transparent
  • Profile picture of the author 711gemstone
    I think being yourself is the best way to go. You don't have remenber any falsehoods that way and people wont be disapointed with you.
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  • Profile picture of the author ExRat
    Hi art72,

    Originally Posted by art72 View Post

    How many of you believe; the true path to success online is to infuse, almost submerse yourself into every project... as the real YOU?
    I'm not sure if it's the true path to success but it's a good idea
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by ExRat View Post

      Hi art72,

      I'm not sure if it's the true path to success but it's a good idea
      This is true. lol.
      In some cases, transparency could be detrimental to sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author SerenityS
    Could you elaborate a bit on the question OP?
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    • Profile picture of the author art72
      Originally Posted by SerenityS View Post

      Could you elaborate a bit on the question OP?
      Simply put. I have roughly 4 or 5 projects, some where I prefer to be me, take it or leave it. Others are in niches that almost require some embellishment.

      When I posed the question; I was thinking along the lines of Rich Little, who used to 'impersonate' so many different voices, he once openly admitted to having forgotten what his own voice sounded like.

      In my earliest efforts to establish credibility online, it seems a daunting task to determine which "voice" I should convey in my writings for example. As I seemingly possess the ability to write in several mindsets.

      Clearly, the choices are unlimited and depends on the audience, and the chief aim of choosing between the priority of making sales? or reaping the long-term benefits of relationship building and establishing ones reputation?

      Knowing the difference, can be a major handicap. One to wit, has played a major role in determining when? or perhaps where? to be oneself, and let "the dogs out" - so to speak.

      While I prefer the latter, and believe wholeheartedly; relationship building is quite possibly the best long-term approach... at times "over-embellishing" seems so much easier, far less challenging, and brings greater financial rewards sooner. Especially when, many of us spend countless hours pounding out ideas alone, at time's expense.

      Personally, I am not looking to be in any spotlight or for any hand holding. But, it too appears their comes a time one must 'loose' the shell and venture into bigger arenas to achieve any real measure of success...

      I think the question was in an effort to just putting it all out there, as opposed to F***ing around and 'hiding' behind a laptop and a payment processor.

      Unfortunately, I have yet to accept the "responsibility" of being capable of influencing positive changes and growth in another's life, when I have worked my @$$ off for 7 months for FREE (*or at a loss really) trying to change my own stars.

      Today might serve as that day, I say; "WTF" - and dive head first into the shark pool naked, and see just how well I can swim.:p

      *Referenced to a WSO I am working on...

      -Art

      PS - I am crippled by maintaining a clear conscience, and remain as honest as the day is long, so that too may explain how the question "weighs" regarding online marketing.
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      • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
        I tell you one thing Art, the more I read your posts the more I get tempted to try and bend your arm to do a bit of writing for me.

        I'm not being rude, I genuinely like the way you write, take that as it's meant to be, a bloody great compliment.
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        Wibble, bark, my old man's a mushroom etc...

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        • Profile picture of the author Rsberg
          Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

          I tell you one thing Art, the more I read your posts the more I get tempted to try and bend your arm to do a bit of writing for me.

          I'm not being rude, I genuinely like the way you write, take that as it's meant to be, a bloody great compliment.
          I was just thinking the same thing Richard!

          Very well received writer
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      • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
        Originally Posted by art72 View Post

        Unfortunately, I have yet to accept the "responsibility" of being capable of influencing positive changes and growth in another's life, when I have worked my @$$ off for 7 months for FREE (*or at a loss really) trying to change my own stars.
        I absolutely agree that transparency is vital.

        But I wanted to note that you aren't just working for "free" on that project. Hopefully it will pay off more than you could imagine.

        I've primarily made most of my money online with niche websites, website creation, and other projects I've been working on. So there isn't much to hide lol.

        I'd be more interested in the really really big guys out there that try to trick people into buying their products with fake screenshots and whatnot.

        That level of transparency, isn't transparent at all. And I hate when they say they are transparent when they are just scamming people O.o

        Create a good product, be realistic, you don't have to hide everything during that process. Heck if you're working for that long, you should also be building a list, creating hype, and getting ready for when it's released. Use your own product as a way to get people excited about it (doesn't have to be related to IM either).
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        My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author FraserC
    Hi art72. Transparency is a powerful tool in a marketer's toolkit. If you're transparent and open about who you are and how you work, it builds confidence in the minds of your audience.

    To not be transparent is to tie one hand behind your back. Very skilled people can pull off non-transparency, but it just raises the complexity.

    Feel free to Google my name. :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
    I don't personally believe in self-identity and the real you. Being transparent to one's self means accepting there is no you.

    Originally Posted by art72 View Post

    Warriors,

    Being I am in one of my philosophical moods, and remaining quite optimistic today, in spite of a profound reality...

    How many of you believe; the true path to success online is to infuse, almost submerse yourself into every project... as the real YOU?

    As opposed to being what you "think" your audience wants to see you as?

    Just a daunting thought...

    -Art
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  • Profile picture of the author NACAdam
    I believe in Karma and well I have tried to hide/fudge results in the past and ended up with less money than when I was completely transparent so I will only use transparency in my marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Originally Posted by art72 View Post

    How many of you believe; the true path to success online is to infuse, almost submerse yourself into every project... as the real YOU?
    I'll leave the "true path" part to philosophers with the benefit of hindsight. It's the path I have chosen for myself because it's what I believe in, and I've also determined I'm not smart enough to remember multiple identities -- I have enough trouble remembering this one incarnation of me.
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  • Profile picture of the author Vendzilla
    Whether in person or online, the perception of transparency can be very important given the distrust in present society.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Rankin
    If your projects are truley something your passionate about then I say for sure, be yourself. If you have projects that you have figured would be a good way to make money, maybe not too many have thought about, do what you think they need. Unless you have some great idea outside of what you love, just be yourself, I think, unless your quite the actor, your would be customers will be able to tell the difference.
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  • Profile picture of the author 711gemstone
    Being true to youself and others also works in all aspects of life too. It can be very fun too.
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  • Profile picture of the author StepAhead
    Trasperancy is truly a powerful tool in internet marketing. The opportunities for you in future depends upon how fair you are with your clients or audience.
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  • Profile picture of the author art72
    Thanks Everyone for confirming my initial affirmations.

    There's was ever-lingering temptation pressing heavily upon my instinctual nature, and at times it obscures my long-term vision. For as much as it's worth, I want to stand in the corner of the greater good, and uphold a higher standard of ethics in business and in life, regardless of the superficial outcome.

    Ultimately, it amazes me the behavior I witness both online and off. Just the sheer amount of BS people create by not seeing the domino effect it creates, is astonishing. Though, I consider myself a cultivator, and one who uses said BS for both fertilizer and fuel, CDarklock perhaps said it best in another thread tonight, and I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing these words; anger motivates!

    Some have mentioned Karma, others incarnation, and implies there are those maintaining a measure of 'empathy' toward the vision of preserving for the next, and those whom still possess a concern, certainty, and conscious awareness of their actions, and of posterity itself.

    Unfortunately, too many people are making empty promises, claiming to be able to deliver, and impersonate being honorable... in this all out display of the "I need's, I want's, and I gotta have's syndrome." - It reminds me of Charlie Brown's teacher... "Want... Want... Want..., Want... Want... Want..., Want... Want... Want - WAH!"

    This often comes at a price greater than they can repay or afford, and it affects us all. Call it ignorance, for lack of a better word. *Only now, it almost appears to be a growing epidemic, more likened to a conscious and "willful ignorance!"

    To see people suffer by it angers me. Yet, it fuels my pen with an inspiration like nothing I can behold. Hence, the balance is maintained.

    This forum is about making money, and I make no mistake that this a great place for learning to do just that, as the necessity and demand increases in today's troubled economy... or ones perception thereof.

    At the end of the day, "value" can only be measured by an individual's perception. A perception that is often established by what one has, or s/he can seemingly obtain or behold, as opposed to what they can deliver, convey, or contribute.

    I am transparent! -Yet by judgement of the blind; remain obscured.

    Entertaining this thought, leads me to believe; I can broaden the vision of the blind...

    But how?

    - When it's clear the majority of people seem to prefer "not" to see.

    If such a bold statement were false, and ignorance is NOT governed by the majority, then explain why there are so few... good leaders?

    Now, I conclude in a personal admission that explains my initial reason for posting this earlier...

    I have come to 'accept' that suffering, be it voluntary or involuntary can be one hell of a 'teacher' once you 'connect' with others and feel their pain... as the majority sit awestruck, left wanting, and waiting for change. Pains derivative; humility, has taken a likeness to me, I think.

    As a self-taught artist, philosopher, and writer of sort, I believe to have submersed myself in the pain of others willing-fully, intentionally, and consciously. Yet, conditioned myself to 'think' I'm not qualified to express the solution, or speak on the majorities behalf.

    As to hold ones tongue in reservation for the greater consequence perhaps.

    One to wit, if applied could not only help others, but doing so could be a vision of success I am running from myself... one to wit, I cannot simply wash my hands of!

    A powerful semblance often spoken, seldom seen. A peace, unity, equality, liberty, and freedom... that neither money, nor superficial scales can measure.

    I warned you... that the script geist had hold of my pen today, and a profound reality unveiled.

    All the Best,

    Art
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  • Profile picture of the author RyanLB
    In service businesses - I am as transparent as can be without exposing my entire business.

    With other websites, I am not transparent at all. Many of my websites do not link back to me at all. Mostly because there would be no reason for people to contact me. These are mostly info sites.
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    I'm a Freelance Copywriter that helps Agencies, Startups and Businesses Educate Their Audience and Grow Sales
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    • Profile picture of the author MattVit
      So I take it you're high at the moment?


      No, I like transparency. A lot. Not only did I build a successful news website in the wake of WikiLeaks, but my desire for honesty and transparency filters down in other places too.

      I'm not promoting my WSO here, and I encourage you only to read it for the sake of seeing how I'm transparent... But if you look at my sig, and scroll to the bottom of the FIRST post, you'll see I list the number of pages, the format, and all that jazz. In the middle, I have REAL screenshots which ACTUALLY relate to the WSO.

      So many times I see deceptive, misleading WSOs. One WSO which I won't name said it was X pages long, but when I got it, it was in the LARGEST font you've ever seen (like, 6 lines of words per page. It looked like it was written by a 10 year old).

      Transparency good! Make s-m-r-t.
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      • Profile picture of the author art72
        Originally Posted by MattVit View Post

        So I take it you're high at the moment?
        High in the greater sense of the term; "Yes" indeed and in the pursuit of trust perhaps.

        Not artificially, at least for the time being.:rolleyes:

        @CDarklock

        Being I've been living in Florida for 25 years, and clearly remember my New England accent creating some language barriers down here at first, it wasn't too well received, and in time my accent adapted to my surroundings. As I am sure my writings will do with practice in marketing.

        However, if I get to drinking or get pissed off, the northern accent still kicks in, every now and then.

        The 'iceberg' theory makes sense, so long as I'm not the one taking down the next Titanic, as I prefer to help people stay afloat.

        That definitely puts in into perspective, and I certainly don't expect to be emailing my lists 90% of my personal life story, although later on, it may make for a heck of a read, a few good laughs, and a foundation for a "What NOT to do" book.

        Especially, for those who've been through or are going through hell, and lived to tell about it. Still working on that part myself.

        The hard part is knowing how much too reveal, and how much is better left unsaid, and tucked away. I really don't have anything to hide, but have come to expect if to pursue the direction my writing takes me, it could be the equivalent of opening "Pandora's Box" if misinterpreted, and could have the opposite desired effects.

        After all, many of the writer's who inspire me were martyrs, and it still perplexes me that many who do seek and speak truth, are the ones responsible for creating much of the influences maintained in modern philosophies, but suffered greatly at the expense of their efforts.

        It's ironic, really. To fear being destroyed by the very people you seek to help. Hence, knowing the measure of "How much" to reveal rings clear.

        I see it here all the time. Good people, teachers and purveyor's of wisdom extending courtesy, knowledge, and marketing insights, only to often be devalued by students who couldn't apply the simplest measure of respect for those who handed them the keys to 'unlock' any door.

        It often seems at times, competing with thieves is an exhausting process, they lie, sell junk, make sh!tloads of sales, and we the moral remain... to endure repairing the damage created in their wake of destruction... and somehow "hope" remains, as was so in Pandora's Box.

        -Art
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by art72 View Post

    As opposed to being what you "think" your audience wants to see you as?
    We are all icebergs.

    10% is on display; 90% is under the surface.

    I'm from Virginia.

    I spent years in speech therapy training myself out of one serious Southern accent.

    That was a choice.

    I could have bucked the trend and kept the accent, fighting my way through a career in the tech industry while sounding like one of the Beverly Hillbillies.

    But when I got the accent under control, I got more respect from the people around me, because I didn't sound like a backwoods moron anymore.

    That doesn't make me not from Virginia.

    But I chose to take that approach because, while being from Virginia is part of my iceberg, it doesn't have to be part of the 10% sticking out of the water.

    There's nothing wrong with not putting the whole iceberg into everything you do.

    What's wrong is trying to hide the 10% that's sticking out of the water (usually by pretending something you made up is that 10%), or pretend the 90% that's under it isn't there.

    We all change. We all grow. But whoever you are, there's nothing wrong with your iceberg, and there's a 10% you can put on display that people will like. It may not be the 10% you wish you had, and they may not be the people you imagine liking it... but it's like Mick Jagger said: you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need.
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    "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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