Virtual Impax

Category: Marketing Magic

  • Who owns your web site?

    Yet another less for the “Web Based Horror Stories” file.

    Way back in 2003, Bill (not his real name) hired a company to create a web presence for his brand new business. Bill wasn’t real web savvy, so he was grateful when his developer took care of everything for him. His web developer registered the desired domain name for him, built the site and hosted it for him. All was well for a while…. then, Bill wanted to make changes to his site.  He called, he emailed, he wrote but his requests to his web developer went unreturned and unacknowledged.

    As his frustration mounted, he took a class with my colleague. My colleague offers teleseminars on web marketing and during the class Bill learned about Word Press blogs. He learned that with a self-hosted Word Press blog that he could have it all. He could have an attractive web presence that was easy to update and maintain without having to contact his web developer every time he wanted to add content or change current content on his web site.

    He contacted his web developer. He wanted to move his site.  He wanted to use the same domain he had been using for years to promote his business and he wanted to use key images as well.  That is when his horror story began.

    Bill’s web developer replied quickly to this request.  The web developer informed Bill that he didn’t own the copyright to the site, they did. (Intellectual property must be transferred in writing and since Bill never signed a development contract with the web developer, they were right. It was still technically THEIR web site.)

    More bad news, the helpful developer had registered the domain name in THEIR name. Not only did Bill not own the web site he’d paid to have developed, he didn’t own the domain name either. The four year old domain name could have provided a nice launch pad for Bill’s new blog… but he didn’t own or have rights to the domain name.

    Believe me, I UNDERSTAND the temptation to just register everything in my name . It would be SO much easier not only for me, but for the client as well. However, it’s times like these when I want to point out to MY clients why I “force” them to go through the indignities of registering their own domain name.

    Bill finds himself starting from scratch all over again with the whole web development process. His content… lost. His domain name… was never his.

    Who owns your web site?  Who is listed as the administrative contact on YOUR domain name?  Did you sign a contract with your web developer?  Does it transfer ownership of the content of your site to you in writing?

    I’ve heard it said that business savvy is acquired through experience.  Why is it that experience is most instructive when it’s most DESTRUCTIVE?

  • If I knew then what I know now….

    The first day of the year is a great time to reflect upon the past and plan for the future.

    Cory on the “Internet Wonders” blog writes…

    If we had only known that niche marketing would become so infectiously popular, then we would have concentrated on this approach rather than waste time with MLM.  If only we had known that Google was going to shift algorithms and AdWords would establish new rules, we could have…

    Cory’s right to admonish the reader (as well as himself) to stop right there.

    It’s hard to predict what the , though many try to do just that.  Usually, good predictions are remembered while the bad just seem to fade away!

    Ten years ago, things were quite different on the web than they are today.  Web sites were almost universally coded in HTML.  Connections were slow…. interactivity was minimal… and if you wanted to watch a video, you’d click on a link to download it to your PC and then go to bed.  If you were lucky, when you woke up 8 hours later, the download MIGHT be finished.

    Today, the internet is filled with web sites trying to find favor with the Google gods.  For those who weren’t on the web a decade ago, the masses used to dance, sing and sway trying to find favor with deities of the day named Yahoo, Alta Vista and Lycos.

    From Hyperpeople: Mob Rules: Chaos

    “The world has changed.  The world is changing.  The world will change a whole lot more.”

    One thing of which I’m certain is that ten years from now, things will be a lot different than they are now.    We’ll look back at 2007 and say, “Who knew?”  Will it be some current upstart dethroning Google?  Will it be the implosion of “social networking”?

    I can’t predict the future and I won’t even try.  All I can do is share what has worked in the past for me and my clients is to create web sites (whether they be blogs or static sites) is to create a web presence with the VISITOR in mind.  No matter who sits atop the search engine throne, the one thing all search engines have in common is seeking out the BEST content for their visitor.

    As my 2008 gift, I share with you a philosophy which has served me very well over the past decade:

    1. Create your web presence with the search engines in mind.
    2. Make it easy for the search engines to include your site in their index.
    3. Create compelling content with your VISITOR (not the search engines) in mind.
    4. Promote your web presence like the search engines do NOT exist.

    Here’s wishing you a year that is prosperous and full of health!

  • Make like a scout and be prepared….

    Last month, as I was writing the content for my monthly newsletter, I saw an opportunity for a colleague of mine.

    I met John when he began working with a web client of mine on my client’s PR campaign. It was a wonderful experience. While John is a Havard grad and I’m only a Manchester College alum, we both are preaching the same message from different pulpits. John preaches his message and guides clients to garner what he calls “earned media coverage.” I, on the other hand, preach my message of targeting your audience via paid media coverage and the web.

    In the meantime, I have ANOTHER client who is doing everything “right” in her quest for achieving “I’ll be a guest on Oprah some day.” Her efforts are in STARK contrast to the small business owner who contacted me a couple of months ago. While my client is making a significant investment in not only money but also time in preparing her marketing materials, this wanna be Oprah guest was adamantly opposed to spending more than the tiniest portion of time AND money to achieve her goal.

    So, I wrote a newsletter about my observations on the subject. “Do your marketing goals include appearing on Oprah“. Because, I have had clients who have “broken through” and been featured on nationally televised shows and each of those clients have told me it was their professional appearing web site PLUS that web site’s search engine friendliness that got the ball rolling for them. (more…)

  • On the web, experience could be your worst enemy.

    J. Paul Getty once said, “In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy.”

    Climbing Blogging SuccessThe other day, I was on the phone with a client when he told me, “I get complimented all the time on how “ahead of the curve” I am with my blog, but truth be told, I’m just following you. ” Later in the conversation, we began talking about his former web developer, to which he said, “He’s just satisfied making HTML web sites. The thing is, I don’t know of anyone who has made the jump from HTML web sites to blogs like you have.”

    In times of rapid change, experience can be your worst enemy.

    I wish I could say that I “saw” the explosive growth of blogging coming and jumped onto that bandwagon. I didn’t. I was literally FORCED into blogging by a client of mine.

    Last year (December 2006) I published my first book, Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results. Unfortunately, I began writing the book in March 2005. By March 2006, I began to recognize that the book was NEVER going to happen if I didn’t clear some “emotional clutter” that kept getting in my way. I hired one of my clients at the time to help guide me.

    Ernie Moore was a long time client and I knew he was the one to get me moving forward on my book project. Ernie suggested that I launch a blog to help build “buzz” for the book.

    My response: “UGH! Blogs are for people who DO NOT KNOW how to code in HTML!”

    Blogging opportunityHowever, Ernie was relentless (That’s what a coach is supposed to do!) and wouldn’t let me off the hook. Despite the fact that I had a perfectly good HTML web site waiting to promote my book (Find My Niche.com) I purchased a domain name and launched Beyond Niche Marketing to promote my book.

    It took my blog 9 months to emerge from the Google Sandbox, which fortunately just happened to be just a month after my book was published. Last June I ran the log files for both sites and was STUNNED at what I saw. The blog gets 10X+ the number of unique visitors the HTML site gets. VISITORS!!! Not hits… VISITORS! Those visitors also tend to return time and time again.
    The reasons the blog site is SO much more popular than the HTML site include:

    • It’s so easy to add a post (a.k.a. FRESH CONTENT) that I do it more often there than I do the HTML site.
    • More content = more opportunities to appear in searches
    • Blogs make it easy to trade links with other blog site owners (increasing PR and authority of the site).
    • The Semilogic theme and plug ins make the site very attractive to the search engines.

    The thing is, looking back the development/promotion of HTML site, I worked HARD to get the PR up to 3. HARD! Meanwhile, the rise of the blog site to a PR 4 was positively EFFORTLESS in comparison.

    Thus my “conversion” from an HTML web developer to a blog FANATIC.

    “In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy.”

    Don’t let experience be your worst enemy!

  • Matters of marketing and ethics…

    Rich Schefren has a post on his blog called “I don’t think we can be friends anymore.” In it, he describes his impressions of a recent “internet marketing seminar”

    There were 16 speakers, many of whom were clients of mine. It was an impressive lineup of self made entrepreneurs who got to their current position by learning, thinking, working hard, and marketing even harder.

    Yet table rush after table rush were for so-called “short-cuts” like Private Label Rights Products, Push Button Software, and you just sit at home and get rich while my company does all the hard work for you type products.

    On the one hand… the “learn more, think fast, work hard, market harder and smarter” mantra is NOT great “bait” for attracting throngs of attendees to your internet marketing seminar. Typical human beings (of which I am one) would much rather “get rich quickly and easily” …. oh, and I’ll take e a set of “washboard abs” which come from taking a pill while you’re at it!

    So most of these “marketing gurus” have a problem. They can honestly tell their audience what it takes to be successful.. WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO BE SUCCESSFUL… (time… talent…plus working harder AND smarter) or they can sell a “secret shortcut”.

    Like I said… great “bait” is essential to attracting attention. I created just such bait when I wrote and article titled “Why the best marketing tactics have failed you up until now.” The article was picked up by SEVERAL newsletters and my phone began ringing off the hook with “opportunity seekers”. I remember one call in particular from a gentleman late one Friday night. I have no idea what time zone he was in, but he began peppering me with questions from the start.

    “How much should I be paying for hosting?” he asked.

    “Um, that would depend upon what kind of web site you’re running.” I replied. “Asking me how much hosting SHOULD cost is like asking me how much a house SHOULD cost. A house with 11 rooms and an ocean view is going to cost more than a 1 room shack with a view of a landfill.”

    That was obviously good enough for him. “Fine. I want you to host my web site.” he said. “What kind of products oo you offer for me to sell.”

    That comment triggered a flash back to a conversation with a woman who came to me for help a few years ago. She had attended an internet marketing “get rich quick” seminar and had paid $8,000 up front for a fool proof “web marketing system”. To her surprise, it wasn’t working. People weren’t flocking to her site and they most certainly weren’t purchasing the products she had listed for sale (via affiliate links) on the site.

    In her case, I began outlining the traditional “steps” of successful internet marketing: learn more, think fast, work hard, market harder and smarter. She almost broke into tears as I outlined a way for her to salvage her $8K web venture. It involved posting articles to the site three-five times a week, launching a newsletter and building an audience. She obviously wasn’t prepared to do that. She thought she had paid her life savings to obtain a short cut.

    So when the gentleman on the phone began asking me what products I offered for him to sell on his web site, I politely explained to him that I specialize in working with business owners who already have a product or service. I didn’t think it was possible, but he sounded even more heartbroken than the woman I had disappointed years earlier with my dose of “reality”.

    Neither of those people became clients, though I knew EXACTLY what it would have taken to get them to sign up and I wish I could say I’ve only had two people come to me wanting just such a “hands free… you do the work, I’ll collect the cash” kind of set up. However, one thing that’s nice is that when I delivered my “bad news” and the person on the other end of the phone says, “DUH! I knew I was going to have to work to make money,” well… then I know I have a TRUE potential client on the phone. They’re as rare as gemstones… and I treasure each and every one of them.

  • So you claim you’re an expert….

    If you’re an independent service professional, you had BETTTER be an expert, especially if you want to charge $100 an hour or more for your services.  Whether it’s the web, the law or real estate, if you’re a solo entrepreneur chances are you’re selling your expertise in a subject matter as the basis of your business.

    So you’re an expert.  Congratulations.  Now what?

    manatcomputerbored.jpg

    Well, the next step is that you need to communicate this expertise.   After all, that will be the foundation of your marketing message. 

    There are a lot of ways you can communicate your expertise.  You can:

    1. Declare your expertise on your logo/business cards/business letter head, etc
    2. Write a book on the subject area of your expertise
    3. Launch a blog on the subject area of your expertise.  Post frequently on the topics in the subject area of your expertise.
    4. Deliver speeches and talks on topics within your area of expertise.

    If you’re smart, you’ll focus upon steps 2-4 and possibly skip step 1.

    Step 1, declaring your expertise,  is probably the least effective way of communicating your expertise.  From your prospective client’s point of view, it’s "easy" for you to declare you’re an expert.  The next thought in your prospective client’s mind when they see or hear you declare that you’re an expert is usually, "Prove it!"  That’s what steps 2-4 are all about.

    Steps 2-4 are all ways in which you’ll prove your expertise.  For example, when you write a book, you are instantly awarded a certain level of "expertise"…. a well written book that is well promoted and sells a lot of copies affords you even more "authority".  However, merely getting your book published no matter what the quality of the content is usually enough to get you points in the "expert" category.  Being able to say to a potential client, "Here, read my book" is a great tool to demonstrate your level of expertise.

    Launching a blog where you post frequently on your subject matter area is another GREAT way to DEMONSTRATE your expertise.  Many authors actually pull their book content from their blog posts and vice versa.  Blogs are an expert’s best marketing tool.

    Finally, speaking frequently on your topic is another way to demonstrate your expertise.  Do you speak better than you write?  Then video tape yourself and post those short videos to your blog! 

    In any case, communication is key in demonstrating your expertise.  Potential clients must be ASSURED of your expertise before they’ll pick up the phone and call you.  That’s why blogs are GREAT marketing tools for indepdendent service professionals.  Your blog allows your potential clients to "test the waters" without taking a HUGE leap of faith and contacting you, whether by phone, mail or email.

    That’s why I HIGHLY recommend blogs for clients who want to demonstrate their expertise. 

  • There is no such thing as a set it and forget it successful web site

    I try to use Fridays as a day to manage my business.  Well, things have been REALLY hopping around here for the past few months, and I haven’t checked on some of my babies… my now ORPHANED web sites, in apparently a VERY long time. I’m truly embarassed as to the state of disrepair of these web sites.  What’s really, really sad is two of these sites used to pull in NICE traffic.  Now, they’re mere shadows of their former glory. 

    I blame blogs. 

    My blogs in particular… including this one!  It’s all their fault really.  They’re just so DARNED EASY to manage.  I can log in, write a bit and click "publish".  VIOLA!  I’m in and out in a fraction of the time it takes to upload a big file via FTP. 

    But it’s not just the ease of posting the content that makes me blog over creating HTML pages.  For example, on one HTML site I had created to experiment with affiliate income generation… there were CJ banner ads scattered all over the place.  Managing those banner ads was ALWAYS a chore… just from the HTML side.   Keeping up on who was still USING CJ as their affiliate manager and who wasn’t was yet another dreaded task.  If someone I was signed up with dropped CJ, their links went dead and I got to go searching through the site to find all the instances of that advertiser’s links.  Admittedly, that’s just part of playing the affiliate game. 

    Another part of playing the affiliate game is attracting traffic. Without traffic, you won’t be making any affiliate sales and you won’t get traffic until you get some inbound links.  You can do everything right, but if you don’t have some inbound links, well… you’ll be working very hard for a very puny return.  

    In HTML land, creating those inbound links was virtually impossible!  I mean sure, I published articles which helped a little… but I’ve found that if you’re publishing a web site outside the traditional "web developer" network, getting people to hire their webmaster to add a link to your site is difficult for most of us.  So difficult that I recently received a $20 bribe if I would link one of my more popular sites to another site!

    In blog land, those bribes are called "pay per post".  However, in blog land you can generate those inbound links easily (in comparison)  by using trackbacks.  PLUS you can exchange links with your fellow bloggers, confident in the fact that 7 times out of 10, they’re going to approve your trackback link to their blog.  (After all, they like that inbound link as much as you do!)

    The moral to the story:

    There is no such thing as a set it and forget it web site. 

    Your Word Press blog based web site makes web maintenance SO much easier for the average business person.  You can see incoming links come in as you sign in to your dashboard.  You can visit the person’s blog and easily create a link from your next blog post to that nice blogger who linked to you.  Sometimes, it’s as easy as saying , "Hey, thanks for linking to my post!"

    My experience has been that when I go to check my stats on my ACTIVE blog sites, I’m pleasantly surprised by what I see…. in stark contrast to the sinking feeling I got seeing the triple digit traffic figures for my "forgotten" web sites.  

    Which is why, when people contact me about creating a web site for them, I let them know that I am PASSIONATE about blogging.  I am quick to regale them with my own personal experience and  after today, I’ll be able to clearly illustrate how pathetic the traffic numbers are for the "set it and forget it " web site!

     

  • Seven Deadly Sins Your Blog May be Committing

    Whether it’s time to bring your practice to the Internet or re-vamp your current internet presence, here are 7 deadly sins you need to avoid as you prepare to launch a blog and present your marketing message to the world.

    Deadly Online Marketing Sin #1: Avoid the "no name blog" trap.

    The best things in life may be free, but when it comes to establishing a business blog, a free blog is a huge mistake. Whether it’s a free account at WordPress.com or a Blogger.com blog, when you use a free blog service there’s no way to keep it a secret. The long and cryptic URL instantly gives you away. 

    Unfortunately, setting up shop on one of these sites just reinforces the assumption that you really are small potatoes and aren’t ready or able to compete in the global marketplace.  If you would, by chance, beat the odds and build a respectable following on one of these free blog sites, you’ll find that valuable traffic doesn’t really belong to you, it belongs to the company hosting your blog.  Migrating your blog from one of these free sites to a self hosted site is one fraught with peril.  (Fraught…. who talks like that?) 

    A self hosting blog allows you to launch your blog under your own strong, easy to spell URL.  For less than $20 per year, you can register a domain name that describes your business. Click here to see if your preferred domain name is available. 

    A self hosted blog allows you to create email addresses with your domain name as well.   When you send messages to potential clients, to your bank or to suppliers, [email protected] (not real) looks far more professional than [email protected].

    Best Strategy: Even if you don’t have a web site yet, start right with a self hosted Word Press blog.  Acumen Web Services offers self hosted, no web expertise needed Word Press blogs.

    Deadly Online Marketing Sin #2: Web sites that don’t look the part.

    Start up is tough on everyone, but image is everything, especially to a solo entrepreneur launching a service based practice.

    Your web site is your face to the world. Your clients may never see your office, but they will almost always see your web site. While an impressive off-line office address may be out of your reach, an impressive online presence can be had for a fraction of the price of a year’s lease on quality office space.

    Best Strategy: For less than $60 you can pick up a professional web site template from Template Monster.com. If you’re looking to "dress" your Word Press blog,  they offer Word Press Blog themes as well.

    Your Web site should be the best marketing piece your business has simply because it’s likely to be seen by many more people than most paper brochures. 

    Just as you "dress up" to interview for a job,  your web site should too!  Every visitor is a potential employer (a.k.a. client!)!

    EVEN BETTER: Visit Acumen Web Services.  It takes you step by step through the process of establishing your blog.

    Deadly Online Marketing Sin #3: Photo disasters….

    Make sure the images on your web site are professional in quality. If you’re going to feature your photo on your site, make sure you get head shots done by a professional. There really is a difference between the photo shot in your back yard and the one shot in a professional studio. Lighting, composition and image quality are all readily apparent even to the casual visitor.

    Speaking of professional photographs, if you use stock photos,  be sure you or your designer has purchased the rights to use a particular image. The fines for using images you don’t have the right to use can easily run six figures, not including attorney fees.

    Best Strategy: Use a professional web developer for your web design project. Ask about images and copyright information. If your designer/developer tries to dismiss your concerns, find another developer immediately.

    Deadly Online Marketing Sin #4: The "if I build it, they will come" syndrome.

    One of the most common mistakes independent service professionals make is to assume that a business web site instantly attracts clients. Nothing could be further from the truth.

    Don’t wait to start marketing your practice online. As soon as your blog is launched, begin posting pillar articles to your blog.  Pillar articles are foundational posts that set the tone for your entire blog.

    If you’ve launched an Acumen Web Services Word Press Selft Hosted Blog, then your new web site comes designed with search engine success in mind.  Which style of permalinks should you choose?  How do you create (and maintain) a site map?  You don’t have to worry about those questions because your Word Press blog is already optimized!

    Best Strategy: Be certain your web site is designed with the search engines in mind. Ask what is being done to make your site "search engine friendly" during the design and development of your site.  If you’re using a Word Press blog, make sure the right plug ins are installed.

    Deadly Online Marketing Sin #5: It’s called the WORLD WIDE WEB for a reason

    Don’t forget to put your location and phone number prominently on your Web site. Web sites are frequently used as a customer looking at it while calling the company.  Many businesses find that customers will refer to something on the Web site, but they actually buy products or order services on the phone.

    It’s also a good idea to put your mailing address on the site. If you’re working from home, get a PO Box or a virtual office. It adds to the comfort level of knowing you are a "real" business.

    Best Strategy: Even if you’re a virtual service provider, there’s a sense of comfort for your customers in knowing what time zone you’re in. Include contact information prominently throughout the site.

    Deadly Online Marketing Sin #6: The banner barrage

    Joining a banner exchange will probably not help bring traffic to your Web site. Putting four banners on a page in addition to buy now buttons for Google plus six or seven other affiliate programs just makes your site look cheap.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a blog or a traditional web site, greeting a visitor with a barrage of ads is just another way of saying "Get Lost!"

    Think about it. When you see a google ad words box on a site, the first thing that comes to mind is, "Hey, why don’t I try one of those links".

    If you join affiliate programs you’ll find that you get much better results if you provide links to specific products in context, rather than a generic button to those companies’ home pages. This way you provide a service that makes sense for your business, rather than another distracting button on your Web site.

    Best Strategy: Because of the search engine friendly of Word Press blogs, many people use them to make SIGNIFICANT money with affiliate programs.  However, just placing affiliate links in your blogroll isn’t a good way to drive traffic to your affiliate links.  Talking about the product or service within your posts will!

    Deadly Online Marketing Sin #7: What do you do again?

     

    The final deadly sin is to have a Web site that doesn’t quickly convey business you are in and the solutions you offer to your visitors. While it sounds like another no-brainer, you’d be surprised at how many small business Web sites leave you looking at them for minutes while pondering, "What is it exactly that these folks do?"

    Remember, a confused mind says "no". Make sure your message is crystal clear from the moment your page loads.

  • Marketing Guru: a dirty word in my book

    Usually, by the time clients land at my front door, they’ve been around the block and signed up for multiple newsletters on how to make their web site work as a marketing power tool for their business.  As a result, I frequently get a "first hand look" at special announcements from many so called "marketing gurus".

    Here, in the written word, I put quotation marks around the term "marketing guru" to denote the phrase as a "slang" term.  If you heard me speak the sentence, you’d hear my voice fluctuate as I spoke the words.  If you were to sit across from me and watch me speak the words, I’m sure you’d be amused by the facial expressions that just naturally accompany my utterance of those words.

    To earn the deragatory title of "marketing guru" in my book you must usually:

    1. Be providing little REAL value to clients through your work.

      Usually this is demonstrated by merely rehashing what others have said or things they have read. 

      These wanna be marketing professionals rarely offer real life case studies of real live business clients because the only marketing experience these "marketing gurus" have is marketing their information product business.

    2. Be dedicated more to his/her own practice’s success than he/she is to his/her client’s success.

      The "marketing guru" in my book is more interested in peddling his or her wares than he/she is providing valuable information on what works and what doesn’t in marketing.   Again, this is because the "marketing guru’s" experience is limited to his or her promotion of his/her information product.

    In the interest of time, I’ve posted to another blog I author the particular event which caused me to write this defining post.   In my post, Resisting the irresistible…. or how NOT to be a victim of a really great sales letter I admonish my client (and my readers) to try not to fall into step with the swaying of the snake charmer’s body.  Instead, step back and watch a master work.

    Watch what snake charmer’s like this are DOING to promote their product instead of getting caught up in the sales frenzy being generated.  Watch the way they work their bodies and the way they match it to the music they’re playing and try to create your own similar song.

    Notice how the song being played was created JUST for this particular audience.  It’s then carefully delivered to that specific audience.  The "marketing guru" in question doesn’t have my name on his mailing list… he has my client’s name and email on his list. 

    My client obviously hasn’t read my free resource on what Google loves…. but then again, she’s paying to have me on retainer to ask these questions personally.

    My final "word of warning"…. most of my clients are engaged in making what is called the "Major Sale" by Neil Rackham in his work on SPIN selling.  Selling an information product is an example of a MINOR SALE while selling services is almost universally a MAJOR SALE.  Ah, there’s the rub!  Many of these marketing guru’s are selling marketing information that works for MINOR SALES products and not MAJOR SALE services.  So while more than a few of these "marketing gurus"  are probably well meaning, they don’t realize that there really is a difference in marketing these two distinctly different types of products and/or services.

    Want to learn more?  Pick up my book Beyond the Niche.  I’ve got to get back to work!

  • Yet another way to piss off your customers…. fail to deliver what you specifically promise to deliver!

    Interestingly enough, shortly after my last post, I had a conversation with a friend in which she vented her frustration about a product she purchased online.

    After 10 years of marriage, my friend’s husband decided to "trade in" my friend on a "newer" model, leaving her to navigate the ever treacherous waters of the "dating scene".  Newly single, she like many other Gen Y members turned to the internet for advice.  During this search, she came across an information product web site.

    The marketing behind this information product was SUBERBLY crafted.  The product developers showed incredible insight on crafting a compelling message.  They understood that no one was going to show up on their web site and fork over $500 for their info product on the first visit, so they offered a tempting free bribe in exchange for signing up for their newsletter.

    According to my friend, the ensuing monthly mailers were exquisitely crafted to create a compelling pitch for the product.  Dan Theis does a WONDERFUL job of outlining this strategy in his post :

    How Internet Marketers Use "Straw Man" Logic To Sell Products

    The way they [internet marketing gurus] convince you to buy the product they’re pushing involves a lot of "straw man" arguments. Let me walk you through the basic template they’re using here:

    1. If you have failed at (SEO, marketing, business, life) it’s not your fault.
    2. You’re not failing because you didn’t actually put in the time and effort to do things right
    3. No, it’s not your fault, it’s all those evil "gurus" who aren’t telling you the whole truth!
    4. As an example, watch us construct a straw man and knock it down
    5. See, we’re smart, and we’re trying to help you.
    6. Open your wallet now.

    Well, on one particular day, an email landed in my friend’s inbox from this internet marketing, uh I mean DATING guru.  In this edition, he happened to hit upon a scenario that my friend was currently experiencing.  It was as if he’d been spying upon her or was in some way psychic.  In this email he wrote that after a honeymoon period, the man in the relationship would pull back and stop calling.  According to the email, his information product would not only tell you WHY your man is doing that, but WHAT you MUST do to save the relationship.

    As you can guess, my friend had NO TROUBLE finding her credit card and purchasing the product.  After all, she was going to find out EXACTLY what to do to save her faltering relationship!

    The DVD’s arrived in short order and my friend consumed the series in short order. 

    IMAGINE HER FURY to discover that while the series did indeed explain WHY her gentleman friend had pulled away, it failed to direct her in what she needed to do to salvage the relationship!

    Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

    Not only was my friend venting to me, she was venting to EVERY SINGLE WOMAN SHE KNOWS!

    Ouch!  My advertising mentor taught me long ago that a happy customer will tell 3 friends… and a disgruntled one will tell 12.  Recent research puts the second figure at closer to 16.  My friend is on track to beat that estimate.  She is now a woman on a mission.  She’s not only telling every one she knows, but she’s also spending time online warning others. 

    She’s also taking advantage of the site’s "30 day money back guarantee"….. and is fully prepared to contact the state’s attorney general if they fail to refund her money as promised.

    By promising something he had no intention of delivering, he’s not only going to get to refund her the $497 she paid, he’s also going to have to battle the bad PR my friend is so intent on delivering.  All because he over promised and under delivered. 

    That’s one of the perils of tightly targeting a niche market.  If you fail to deliver what you promise, your customers usually spread the word quickly to destroy you.