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Why An Internet Marketer Changes Direction
By TheAntiHype | June 7, 2008
Hi, I don't remember seeing you here before. If you're new here, welcome. If you despise the hype on the net as much as me & like a laugh, keep up to date with my latest posts by subscribing to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! The Anti Hype
What really caused Eric’s change of direction?
I used to read Erics Tips but stopped when I unsubscribed from most of the lists I’d signed up to because I was sick of the endless pitches - all dressed up as providing information I needed but in reality were just trying to get an affiliate sale.
Now there is nothing wrong with affiliate sales - it is in fact my favourite business method - but what is wrong is the blatant pitches of product after product that people haven’t even taken the time to look at themselves.
To be fair to Eric he did always give a review of the products but he still suffered from my mass cull because I always felt somebody other than my own best interest was at heart!
Today, I was asked to comment on what Eric had said at his blog and I particularly picked up on his headline
I’m tired of contributing to the hype machine
To quote Eric:
I’ll still promote some other people’s products if I feel it is warranted, but I’m definitely stepping out of the “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” guru game. The problem with that method is that I’ve ended up promoting some products that my readers didn’t really need.
My other gripe with the guru “pitch fest” is that I’m seeing an increasing amount of deception in some marketers’ marketing materials. It seems that a lot of marketers have pushed the “hype” envelope to the point where they think it’s OK to flat out lie to make more sales.
Oh, yes. Thank you Eric for that. If only more people would reach the same conclusion.
However, the reason for this post is the conclusions I drew after considering what Eric said in his post and reading the link he provided to:
Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business
That post starts off with a story about the Gillette business model. You know give away the razor and people pay an ever increasing price for the disposable blades. Once there was just a blade, then twin, then lubrication strips etc etc
The conclusion drawn is that the internet is moving to a big giveaway - indeed this is true with free information videos sprouting up almost every day.
But there is a big difference. The free razor was a ploy to get people used to disposable blades and into the mindset that new blades were purchased on an ongoing basis thereafter because the razor on its own was useless.
The internet “free” model works on a different principle - Reciprocation
Simply put “I owe you one for that” - a feeling of obligation.
In other words give away free information and some people will feel obliged to buy something. That is quite different to needing to buy new blades because the old ones are blunt.
Business works on the principle of making a profit.
It does not give stuff away for free for nothing!
Things are given away for free for a reason and as consumers it is up to us to identify why. Do those guys in supermarkets give away pieces of cheese or chocolate because they’re just real nice guys? Or maybe they think you’ll like it so much you’ll not be able to resist the discounted first purchase.
So, is - $0 the future of business?
Yes and No. Free will always be used as the lure - it is the current “gimmick” to get us to buy something and in the main it works really well.
We’ve seen sales, 2 for the price of one offers, buy one get one free offers (remarkably similar to 2 for 1!!!). There will always be “free” but it will never result in no money changing hands.
SIDENOTE - For some reason this came to mind as I was writing - Do you know why you “have” to shampoo your hair twice?
A marketer was once asked to help with poor sales of shampoo. He simply added the words “shampoo, rinse, shampoo again” to the bottle and sales were effectively doubled as the liquid was used twice as fast. Simply brilliant!
Returning to Eric, I commend him for his stance. He doesn’t want to be a grey-haired CEO working 60 hour weeks. I’m with you on that Eric (I’m a bit late on the grey bit though 
) He talks about getting out of business to do other things like spending time with his family and other issues with greater long term impact.
The most important point about life is that we have a choice. I choose to work from home - like Eric the life of a CEO is not for me. As far as I know we have a limited time on earth and there is no point getting to the last day with regrets.
Go for it Eric & good luck.
By the way Eric, I’m in no position to be critical of your tactics but there is something incongruous about adding a “pitch” for 7 Figure Secrets at the end of a post that says you are cutting out promotions.
The Anti Hype
Topics: General Guru Fodder |
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Good post.
If you are in business your objective should be to make a profit.So pitching for a sale is fine BUT let's have some honesty in what is happening. By the way I'm on the list of a certain "guru" and no matter how hard I try I cannot unsubscribe - the links never work. I'm now so sick of this person I pay no attention to anything she says nor would I use her links under any circumstances. Thanks for your thoughts Teri. Mark
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Denises last blog post..The Joy of Mowing: Wild herbs in the Yard
I've started unsubscribing again. Everything went quite and now for some reason I'm getting stacks of promotions again - thought I'd got rid of most but NO. There's one persistent culprit I cannot unsubscribe from - the link never works. There is a great feeling when you press UNSUBSCRIBE though! Mark
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