CBC Kelly: Are All Who Portray Themselves As Successful Really So?
November 21, 2008 by Reba
Filed under Blog, Cross Blog Conversation with Kelly McCausey, Hot Topics
Continuing with my Cross Blog Conversation with Kelly McCausey at Sparkplugging WAHM 2.0 after she answered my questions to her here, I’m now going to attempt to answer…
Do you ever look at someone who calls themselves successful and think ‘eh…they don’t seem all that successful to me.’? What creates the disconnect between what someone thinks about themselves and what others see? What do you see that seems to make their self statements unbelievable?
You know Kelly, your question comes at a time when I’m starting to scrutinize who and what I want to promote on my website and at the forefront of my mind are all the ’so called’ internet marketing gurus. ‘Fake it ’til you make it’ seems to be the mantra of the times for these people and for that and other reasons I won’t get into right now, I’m starting to get really picky in who and what I promote. And Kelly, the reason I have to do this goes right back to the heart of your question.
I’m sure many internet marketers feel that in order to compete in a competitive industry they have to ‘fake it ’til they make it’. And I agree that a certain level of confidence is necessary for a small business to survive, but when I get 15-20 emails from one marketer in a week about his new launch, I begin to wonder if the ’scarcity tactic’ he’s trying to employ is truth or fiction. And what about when they come back after the stated closing date and re-open the offer? What am I to think but that they didn’t sell enough the first time around? The way they treat their list, it’s a wonder they make any sales at all.
For the last few years I’ve been working a day job and haven’t been entrenched in the internet marketing scene until I started this website. Now that I’ve been at it for a few months I am blown away at the incestuous nature of the people who lead this industry. The arrogant portrayal of themselves and their million dollar launches after they and all their friends (always the same group) bombard my email box is getting to be quite annoying. Can you believe I had 30 emails in a ten day span from one marketer with 10 of those emails coming on one day? Not to mention all his “friend’s” emails promoting the same product launch? Geesh. I’m sorry, I’m starting to rant, but it’s really starting to get to me.
I read a fantastic blog post by Rick Butts the other day titled “I Am Joe’s Email List – An Open Letter To Internet Marketers” and I guess that’s what got me started thinking. The post was from last summer but like I said, I’m just now getting back into the industry, so please forgive me if it’s a post ‘everyone’ has already read.
Now, having said all that, I do want to add that I’m not talking about ALL the top people in this industry, I still find a few that honestly give great information along with a few offers here and there. These people and their products are the ones I will continue to promote. And if you look through my site I don’t think you’re going to find any offers from the “idiot emailing gurus”, at least not recently.
So anyway, back to your questions, how can I tell the difference between someone who’s really successful and someone who’s faking? What gives them away? I don’t know that I can always tell the difference, especially when it’s someone who’s been faking for a long time. When little clues come across like I mentioned above I tend to wonder, but really there’s no way to know for sure. I just hope that ultimately honesty will prevail.
But you know, to quite honest, I really don’t care if someone’s ‘fakin’ it ’til they make,’ it just doesn’t matter. If their product is good and worth the money they ask for it, let ‘um fake it. Just don’t act like an email idiot. Give me good information along side the offers. Give me a reason to look forward to hearing from you. And you know, I think there are some people out there that fit that bill, and those are the people I’m going to continue promoting.
Kelly, I guess my answer turned into a bit of a rant, I’m sorry about that. I hope I actually answered your question. So now, my question for you. Do you think the online community is hungry for offerings that are more “boutique” in nature? Can an affiliate marketer make a success of themselves without the “idiot emailing gurus” by marketing great products by writers and teachers that are not part of the “internet marketing guru inner circle”?
Looking forward to your response Kelly!
Reba
No related posts.
Hey Reba, great post!
Can I get a clarification on ’boutique’ – by that do you mean offers from lesser known specialized marketers – or is it something else?
Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. Lesser known, new to the market, or very specialized offerings. When I think of ’boutique’, I think of items that aren’t marketed to the masses, like indie films, indie music, or specialized fashion. Those items that aren’t marketed by the big labels in their industry. Quite often the people who create these products go on to be big, but get there in a grass roots kind of way,
You know Kelly, come to think of it, you may already be the person I’m asking about. You market only very specialized information that’s very focused to your market and it’s mostly lesser known, new, or very specialized material. Do you think I already answered my question?
A lot of people trying to break into the internet marketing world feel defeated before they even get started. The sad thing is many have great experience in a very narrow portion of the overall industry or maybe their offline experience gives them great insight into what makes a person successful. These people have a lot to offer and if we market their products instead of the products produced by the “emailing gurus”, our readers would not only get the great information they seek, but will also be saved from guru shark attacks I mentioned in my post.
Boutique Internet Marketing Products. Hey, maybe I coined a new phrase for the internet marketing industry. Oh, what about Grass Roots Internet Marketing? Could we have come across a new segment of the market? Hmmm…maybe we should figure out how to test to see if it’s viable…
[...] my Cross Blog Conversation with Reba Collins, read her last response to me – it’s very thought provoking. She now asks [...]
[...] away from my rant about the internet marketing gurus and the email overload I’m experiencing (see my last post in this CBC)…and that’s a good thing. I was just in fit about the whole situation. However, having [...]
Hey Reba,
You hit this on the nail! Great post.
This is definitely one of the reasons I’ve unsubbed from A LOT of lists. Some of those lists were hypey, greedy, deceptive and empty promises just to make a buck. There, I said it. LOL!
Kelly made a comment in one of her replies to you: “It’s not just about price. It’s about trust and world view,” I couldn’t agree more with that statement. People want to know that they can trust you and at the same time they want to be able to pick up your recommendations based on whether or not is worthy of the purchase.
I really don’t care if they’re fakin’ it until they make it, as long as they follow through with the offer
BTW, glad you’re back! ~ Regina
Reginas last blog post..How To Increase Your Profit Through The “Backdoor” – Part 1
Hey Regina! Thanks so much for stopping by and weighing in. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday.
You know, by the time Kelly responded to this post and I responded back, I had cooled off a bit and realize that there are a some marketers who email a lot that I actually learn stuff from, so you have to be very discerning when you decide to unsubscribe. But, once you sign-up to a list it usually doesn’t take long to figure out if that marketer is a scoundrel or not, does it?
Reba
[...] my pledge to promote, review, and recommend the ’boutique’ marketers (see my comment on this post to understand what I mean by boutique) who have great products, I want to introduce you to a new [...]
[...] then Reba then Kelly then Reba then Kelly then Reba then Kelly then Reba then [...]
I just wanted to say Hi because this is the first time I am ever posting on a forum. I do not know if this is allowed or not to post here, but I hope I won’t be banned from me. So be happy for me that I finally achieved posting on a forum after many years of neglect!