You know,
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the perfect ending to an all-day hackfest of, oh lemmee see, hmmmm, 8 hours, combined with the joys of dealing with Honorable Son II’s bloody nose, added to the excruciating pleasure of feeling my rear melding itself to the chair in which I’ve been sitting for the past two centuries, is not….
Being treated as dumber than dirt.
I mean really. At least dirt has happy little amoebas doing their happy little amoeba dance, after which they receive the insanely non-intelligent email I did and start laughing their happy little amoeba single-celled bellies and then fire up Twitter to tell their paramecium buds all about it as well.
My gosh. What some people need to learn about doing business online could swamp the Titanic.
Anywhos, there I was, sprawled over my keyboard in a brief shining moment of rest, thinking to myself, gee! I’ve only had 5 cups of coffee today! Let’s get more! when all of a sudden, “ding!” went the computer. A new email had arrived with a title that focused on Mother’s Day, a superior gift and some really effective emotional action words. Of course, I opened it up and was immediately seized by the following (copy changed to make it generic):
Get ready for a Mother’s Day Event unlike any other…
Best yet…it is Free to you and every mom you know who
who deserves this unique and unforgettable experience!
Well now! Flap my earlobes and call me Dumbo, but what deserving mom wouldn’t jump at such a sterling opportunity! So I visited the site and opted in for the free gifts, figuring they’d be delivered via autoresponder. When nothing showed up in my inbox, I took another gander at the site….and that’s when I figured out:
Sure you get the freebies….but it’s only AFTER you spend $97 on the pitched product that stares at you from the sales page.
Now, it certainly IS possible that my ability to process logic and reason has dissolved into a caffeinated-haze of neuron misfirings, but correct me if I’m wrong:
Free means FREE.
Right?
It doesn’t mean, spend $97 first to get the free thingees.
To say this left a bad taste worthy of a schoolbus full of un-potty-trained toddlers is saying an understatement.
Look – I have no problem with giving away value-added bonuses to help jounce sales along.
I have no problem with marketing hype (so long as it’s based in reality), as I firmly believe it’s every customer’s responsibility to do their due-diligence prior and inform themselves prior to buying anything online.
I do, however, have one big huge bleeping problem to leading unsuspecting customers along, only to hit them with a $97 cost at the very end.
It’s just not savory to me. It smacks of dishonest marketing (and I’m certain that wasn’t the intention of the marketer).
So let me now ask you!
Do you lead your customers on as well?
If so, do you realize that making a NEGATIVE impression leaves far longer lasting results than the majority of positive reactions?
And that folks like me will probably post about it… and most likely name names (which is something I have yet to do)?
You can make money online by being forthright with your sales pitch. Check out my sales page for 7 Days to Your Auction Success – you’ll see how I show the readers the cool bonuses AFTER I’ve done my job as a marketer by selling the product involved. I don’t coyly hide behind false promises only to let it slip at the very end, oh, and you’ll have to spend X amount of money to receive them, too.
See?
Making money online can be done honestly and with ethics. Don’t kiss YOUR integrity good-bye by dabbling in false profits – treat your customers as the intelligent people they are and you’ll reap the rewards in the end.
Enjoy!
Barbara
#BEGIN highlights of this blog writing post:
Beginners blogging tips: Treat your customers as you’d like to be treated.
Intermediate and/or Advanced blogging tips: Learn excellent copywriting tips to compel the call to action you want.
#END highlights of this blog writing post
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Loved the post, you’re right, I get so mad too when people take me for a fool (or take their customers for fools), and try to use marketing techniques on me. Dishonest ones. Hate it!
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Barbara,
Yes it stinks, yet big name IMers continue to do it.
My solution is to delete the email or move on from the offer, never to return.
The only thing worse are those programs that give an automatic discount when you try to navigate away.
Lowell
And what about those ‘Talk to a Live Customer Service’ thingees that pop up ONLY when you try to leave the page…. That definitely kills the product for me.
I tell you I don’t do that my customers
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Wise indeed!