WTF? Someone, please pinch me. I MUST be dreaming...It wasn't even 24hrs ago that I dared to hop on Twitter again (excuse me for a moment while I trigger BIZ STONE 's Google Alert... thank you) after a blessed couple of months away. Now, I know most of you are convinced that Twitter is the greatest things since sliced bread because a few "movers and shakers", coupled with the news-hungry media, (ignoring all possible downsides), keep pounding "the greatness" of Twitter into your vacuous skulls every chance they get (oh, how cool, I Twittered Rick Sanchez on CNN!!!). But, all Twitter is really good for is lining you all up like ducks in a row, or fish in a barrel, for some HEAVY-DUTY data mining so the REAL marketers can "slice, dice and filet" you as they wish.
I know that sounded like a lot to take in, but collect your attention and READ IT AGAIN.
So, I twitted out how disconcerting I found all the "Free CRAP!" people were giving away as inducements to their, most likely, CRAPPY products and programs -- after all, "the fish rots from the head back" so, crappy incentive comes from crappy planning likely leads to crappy products and programs -- and I got a reply from @PeteMoring telling me that I was underestimating people.
Oh Yea, Like That's Gonna Happen...
Folks, with the same unabashed confidence of the controversial Rush Limbaugh, I know greatness when I see it. And, likewise, I know crap when I see it. And the bulk of internet marketing is not about being GREAT because the masses are just so predictably ignorant and demanding. In fact, if I told you some of the stuff that the "big dogs" have said to me behind the scenes about their customers, it'd make your jaw drop.
So, anyways, I told Pete that, perhaps, he was underestimating me because, quite frankly, I don't make such observations lightly.
So Then, What's It About This Time?
Ok, as much as I might sound as if I enjoy doing this, I don't. If a marketer is attempting to over-hype something in a smart-aleck, "I think I'm clever." kind of way, I do. But when SINCERE people smog up the web with crappy marketing, I actually feel a little bad for them -- and this is one of those times.
Alright, I'm gonna cut to the chase...
(and I ain't sellin ya ANYTHING!)
One of the tweets I saw on Twitter read like this:
Please ReTweet this to your IM interested friends. JV invites to pre-launch here: (link removed) scheduled end of the month
Please ReTweet this to your friends? Is that how we market now? Is this what Seth Godin (Google Alert!) meant by "permission based marketing?" You get a whole bunch of people to follow you on Twitter, ignoring the fact that they're probably following 1,000 other people, and then you steadily drip them with mild pleas to annoy their followers who are presumably following 1000s of other people all doing the same thing to each other all the time and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on...
And because some schmuck with a large following and a microphone has better reach than most people, he tells everyone that doing that is the way to go, and everyone does it and what a big ass clusterfuck it becomes where, YET AGAIN, 99% of the clueless schmucks make next to nothing and 1% get lucky enough to get the early bird and make a car payment.
And the program owner, whoever that might be, makes more money than the their followers, but it's still a pittance compared to what GREAT marketing can bring in; yet they're happy with it because they, too, were once a clueless schmuck... except the only thing that has changed since then is that they have a clue.
BUT THEY'RE STILL A SCHMUCK!
Sam
ps. CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT! What follows is the specific page that inspired this blog post. http://90percentattitude.com/index.php?action=affsignup I have no affiliation with it, whatsoever. But, if you can tell even one thing that is drastically wrong with it, I will give you a choice of helpful products for free...
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