Sunday, July 26, 2009
RANT: I Guess I'm Now a Bad, Bad Man
As I talked to a client last week, he casually passed on to me a complaint he had gotten from one of his resellers. I provide marketing tips to his resellers. Most of them have absolutely no experience with running a business. I provide them with free training on the basics of starting a business, as a service to this client.
I charge these resellers nothing for this. They get every bit of it for free.
The reseller had complained because he had found AN AFFILIATE LINK (gasp!) in something I had written. He was outraged because, as he said, "I just want to make money selling your stuff; I don't want you trying to make money off of me."
A majority of the tips I offer this client's resellers tell them how to start and grow their business without having to buy any of the costly tools that many marketers try to sell them.
I let them know that I have a more in-depth, paid training program available if they want that kind of extra training. And if I tell them about something that would get them where they want to go with their business faster than they could by doing it the free way, I suggest it as an option.
And, if that tool offers affiliate commissions to referrers, I direct them through my affiliate link.
But I'm not one of these guys who send out pitch after pitch screaming, "Your business is DOOMED if you don't buy my latest pitch-of-the-day."
So, there you have it. I'm a bad, bad man. I presented a potential solution to someone who might find that solution helpful. That makes me (gasp!) a MARKETER!
The myth of ivory-tower marketing
I have to chuckle at prospective business owners who figure that business can be done from an ivory tower. He HAS A PRODUCT. That means that people are supposed to come running to him to throw money at him.
Nobody's supposed to suggest anything to him that could help him reach his potential customers more effectively -- unless they're willing to do it all for him FOR FREE.
I feel sorry for guys like him who think the world is under obligation to throw money at him just because he started a business. I feel sorry for guys like him who feel that business is a one-way street. I feel sorry for guys like him who are so caught up in fear, that they see any recommendation that involves any effort or expense as a personal insult.
A different way to view the marketing you see
Because there's a different way of viewing the marketing that you encounter than as a personal insult. You can see it as part of learning how to market better yourself.
Look at the marketing you see around you every day. If something feels like it misses the mark with you, ask yourself why. What about it left you feeling like it wasn't for you? What would the solution that was offered have needed to make it useful to you? Was the product or service offered not something that you needed? Was the approach poorly done?
Rather than send an outraged email to his supplier complaining that they were recommending he buy something he didn't want, he could have used it to start learning about effective marketing.
I doubt, though, that he has any interest in learning anything about marketing effectively. He probably sees himself as being too high and mighty to dirty himself with any form of marketing. After all, isn't it the world's responsibility to reward him richly simply for saying, "I have things for you to buy?"
I give him about six months before he folds his failed business and blames the world for not doing "what they were supposed to" and buying his product. I give him six months before he complains that the stories of making money with an online business is nothing but lies because he didn't get rich at it. I give him six months before he finds another "get rich quick" scheme that gives him even less chance to actually make money.
He turned his nose up at literally thousands of dollars of free business-building advice that I've provided this client's resellers -- all because he felt it was his right never to be exposed to any recommendations that might not be free.
That's sad.
Jeff
As I talked to a client last week, he casually passed on to me a complaint he had gotten from one of his resellers. I provide marketing tips to his resellers. Most of them have absolutely no experience with running a business. I provide them with free training on the basics of starting a business, as a service to this client.
I charge these resellers nothing for this. They get every bit of it for free.
The reseller had complained because he had found AN AFFILIATE LINK (gasp!) in something I had written. He was outraged because, as he said, "I just want to make money selling your stuff; I don't want you trying to make money off of me."
A majority of the tips I offer this client's resellers tell them how to start and grow their business without having to buy any of the costly tools that many marketers try to sell them.
I let them know that I have a more in-depth, paid training program available if they want that kind of extra training. And if I tell them about something that would get them where they want to go with their business faster than they could by doing it the free way, I suggest it as an option.
And, if that tool offers affiliate commissions to referrers, I direct them through my affiliate link.
But I'm not one of these guys who send out pitch after pitch screaming, "Your business is DOOMED if you don't buy my latest pitch-of-the-day."
So, there you have it. I'm a bad, bad man. I presented a potential solution to someone who might find that solution helpful. That makes me (gasp!) a MARKETER!
The myth of ivory-tower marketing
I have to chuckle at prospective business owners who figure that business can be done from an ivory tower. He HAS A PRODUCT. That means that people are supposed to come running to him to throw money at him.
Nobody's supposed to suggest anything to him that could help him reach his potential customers more effectively -- unless they're willing to do it all for him FOR FREE.
I feel sorry for guys like him who think the world is under obligation to throw money at him just because he started a business. I feel sorry for guys like him who feel that business is a one-way street. I feel sorry for guys like him who are so caught up in fear, that they see any recommendation that involves any effort or expense as a personal insult.
A different way to view the marketing you see
Because there's a different way of viewing the marketing that you encounter than as a personal insult. You can see it as part of learning how to market better yourself.
Look at the marketing you see around you every day. If something feels like it misses the mark with you, ask yourself why. What about it left you feeling like it wasn't for you? What would the solution that was offered have needed to make it useful to you? Was the product or service offered not something that you needed? Was the approach poorly done?
Rather than send an outraged email to his supplier complaining that they were recommending he buy something he didn't want, he could have used it to start learning about effective marketing.
I doubt, though, that he has any interest in learning anything about marketing effectively. He probably sees himself as being too high and mighty to dirty himself with any form of marketing. After all, isn't it the world's responsibility to reward him richly simply for saying, "I have things for you to buy?"
I give him about six months before he folds his failed business and blames the world for not doing "what they were supposed to" and buying his product. I give him six months before he complains that the stories of making money with an online business is nothing but lies because he didn't get rich at it. I give him six months before he finds another "get rich quick" scheme that gives him even less chance to actually make money.
He turned his nose up at literally thousands of dollars of free business-building advice that I've provided this client's resellers -- all because he felt it was his right never to be exposed to any recommendations that might not be free.
That's sad.
Jeff
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