"Countless once-skeptical businesses have changed their tune about personas. The successes have been well documented, but a lot of smart people continue to scoff at the idea, thinking personas are a touchy-feely attempt to connect with customers on, like, a cosmic level — and that you'd have to be some kind of marketing hippy to waste budget on fluff like that." grokdotcom
Ahhh, the joy of being so far ahead of the curve that the average visitor can't even tell. Do you know what's so nice about that? Only the most sincere apply.
In this day and age, everybody wants something for nothing. Throw out some free tips on how to properly comment on others blogs for attention and you're an instant hero. Or tell everyone that they need to find team members and be nice to them and you're placed on a pedestal with Clement Stone and Napoleon Hill. But whatever you do, don't show ingenuity. The movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" pretty much explains why. Conform or die.
Well, I'm Still Here... Anybody? Anybody? Beuller? Bueller?
In fact, I won't mention any names but very recently I suggested someone do something that would help step their marketing career up a notch. I was met with fear so I pretty much let it go.
A week later, the same person said that others had approached giving similar advice and that maybe it would be a good idea to implement it (now I know that was just a "manner of speech" because my advice is RARELY the same as anyone else). So I unleashed the BASICS of what would be going on and even offered 2 of my valued contacts for a kind of support that would unlikely be so readily given anywhere else.
And do you know what happened?
Not only did life intrude (which it almost always will because life mirrors our fear and hesitation) but the person started coming up with their own ideas again. So again, I am letting it go because a person has to be ready... ready to push through anything, ready to receive success.
And people who run around commenting on blogs solely for attention a) as their main way of getting attention and b) because someone who made it big elsewhere told them to, are doing so out of FEAR OF SUCCESS. I know this is true for more than one reason but mostly because, when given the opportunity to really advance, they take the ball and run in the opposite direction. I've seen it too many times.
Not One Person Reading This Right Now Suffers from Lack of Traffic to Their Blog
If Anything, That's Only A Symptom
So In my next article, I'll show you how to properly comment on blogs in an simple, but unorthodox way no one has told you yet. It's the antithesis to what those who never had to whore themselves out in the comment sections of others' blogs have been telling you. It's a way of putting others in the herd to work for you which is what the successful have been doing all along.
Now, run along everybody. Go get your red, hot personas here now that someone's talking about it as if it's the latest great newest thing that can BOOST YOUR CONVERSIONS BY 400%, WOWEEE!!
HURRY, GET ONE WHILE THEY LAST!
ps. Lest anyone feel a bit put off by the light sarcasm or forget why they are here, please re-read the title and subject heading of this blog. And get used to it.
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4 comments:
Sam,
You'd have a really great blog if it didn't have such a spammy tone and feel to it. You're obviously smart, but, yeah, the sarcasm is a bit of a turn-off (big difference between not being able to "handle" something and being turned off by it). It kind of takes away from all the great points you're making.
Are you encouraging "discourse" or annoyance? Time will tell...
You're making a lot of assumptions, too. Are you familiar with our work at all? We've been using personas to plan online and multi-channel campaigns for many years. (If you'd like, I'd be happy to mail you a copy of Waiting for Your Cat to Bark: Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing. It was a bestseller last year, and shows how to use personas in an actionable way. As you surely know, since you seem to know quite a lot about stuff you already know about, not all personas are equal. Marketers need a way to measure and optimize the assumptions they're making with personas. There's no automatic 400% -- although we've seen 10x that or more -- and if you think we were really saying it's "wowee"-automatic, maybe you should re-read the post.)
So, no, we didn't just discover personas (the case studies I liked to at the top of my post speak for themselves, so I won't bother). But a lot of people HAVE just discovered them as a useful marketing tool. And it would be arrogant of us to assume that's not the case. We see it every day.
Congratulations on being "ahead of the curve," though. I'm not sure bragging about it is any way to bring people over to your point of view, but at least it seems you're having fun.
Oh, and thanks for uploading that YouTube clip of Jerry Mander. Interesting stuff...
Thanks for the link!
Hi Robert,
I like my spammy tone and feel just fine, thank you. After all, spammy tone is in the eye of the beholder and while some people like caviar, others prefer pizza. That's just the way it is.
As to why discourse and annoyance have to be an "either/or" proposition, only you can say. But we all know that it's the grain of annoyance that causes the oyster to issue forth a pearl.
If I were only after the money of the visitors, I would be forced to be much nicer but that, of course, would prevent me from saying the things that everyone else knows but is too afraid to say.
In other words, I would be just like you.
And people are searching for information that can liberate them from their current set of circumstances and allow them to reach a higher level of living and functioning.
Do you have anything that can give them 400% more of that?
By the way, you're welcome regarding the Mander video. Thanks for expressing your appreciation of it. Kind of unusual what's going on here, huh... ;-)
Sam
Sam,
We give away free advice on our blog each day, and there's a very low cost of entry on buying a book -- a copy of which I've offered to you for free. To suggest that a person would only be considerate on a blog in hopes of squeezing money out of their readers says much more about you than it does about my intentions or those of the company that gladly exchanges its money for my time and vice versa. We blog because if we don't, people like you will continue to push lame tactics like aggressive, boring comments, only to lead them to sites with grade-school head games that make an "I've been saying XYZ all along" claim, without anything to back it up. Well? Let's see your client work with personas, Sam. Care to give us a link?
If everyone knew as much about other people and what they're thinking as you claim to, there'd be no need to plan anything with personas. Companies would just hire you and blindly follow your advice. (Is there any?) Sounds scalable AND smart, doesn't it?
Maybe you need a hug, but that's your business.
And, no, this isn't all that interesting or unusual. You're just digging for attention. Happens all the time.
Well, here we are! Isn't it great! Aren't we all learning so much from you?
Nope. I'm just wasting my time. And I'm done.
You know what they say about pearls and where you throw 'em...
:)
Well, free advice daily, what an innovation. Did you come up with that all by yourself? ;-)
I'll take your offer on the free book if your willingness to stand up for yourself is any indication of what I'll find inside. It suggests there'll be less fluff than usual since fluff is indefensible.
I have to admit, that was a very good spin to suggest that what I'd meant was that you were only considerate for profit when what was really said was that, unlike you, I am free to speak cleanly and clearly on matters because I am not currently motivated by profit. Sure, you can be kind and turn a profit but you neglect that sometimes it is kind to tell a client that they are being a stubborn jackass... or that they're still thinking like a consumer when they should be thinking like a producer. A captain of ship has to make sure his crew is content but he isn't limited to politeness only and he understands that "being considerate" can mean making an unruly crew member walk the plank for the safety and benefit of the rest.
"We blog because if we don't, people like you will continue to push lame tactics like aggressive, boring comments, only to lead them to sites with grade-school head games that make an "I've been saying XYZ all along" claim, without anything to back it up. Well? Let's see your client work with personas, Sam. Care to give us a link?"
That characterization of events begs the question, "Which came first, the comment or the blog?" ;-) But seriously, are you really giving me that much credit for inspiring you to blog? If that's the case, then you might want to read some Robert Kiyosaki and find someone else to motivate you. You don't seem too happy with me at the moment.
And, I believe it was you who used a (lame) tactic like screaming the aggressive, boring suggestion that one could expect a 400% increase in conversions.
"If everyone knew as much about other people and what they're thinking as you claim to, there'd be no need to plan anything with personas. Companies would just hire you and blindly follow your advice. (Is there any?) Sounds scalable AND smart, doesn't it?"
But companies do hire people blindly and follow their advice. There just comes a point when experience trumps academia and people can tell what you understand by your swagger. We see examples of pharmaceutical companies doctoring their data and of all kinds of companies who erred in their analysis. It's not as precise as you make it out to be yet people have nothing else to go on so, lacking faith in experience, they consider a false god to be better than no god at all.
"Maybe you need a hug, but that's your business."
Thanks.
"And, no, this isn't all that interesting or unusual. You're just digging for attention. Happens all the time. Well, here we are! Isn't it great! Aren't we all learning so much from you? Nope. I'm just wasting my time. And I'm done."
I understand why you might think that but what if you're wrong? Why don't you conduct a test and make sure your right... or are you suggesting that you're confident enough in your experience to make that determination? It not only seems to contradict the point you were making just prior but you also don't account for the time you spent here at all.
It's like you were sleeping and then just suddenly woke up and realized, "holy shit, i am wasting my time and getting nothing out of this exchange" and instead of wanting to increase your understanding of why that is, you just take your ball and run on home.
I want to be clear. I'm not simply saying that I was able to push your buttons. Anyone can jump up and down, or call people names and get some cheap attention like that. But there's a more valuable point to be understood... and if you get it, it will increase your conversions by 400% if you understand it! Guaranteed.
"You know what they say about pearls and where you throw 'em..."
Or that the devil quotes Scripture for his own purposes... Do you even know what happens after the pearls get trampled? They come after you.. And you came here to trample me. So get thee back, Satan!
Hey Robert, thanks for the exchange. You're a good sport.
Sam
ps. Hey Robert, if you come back, I'd be grateful if you left a link in your comment. I follow here.
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