As marketers, we all have a responsibility to the buying public. That responsibility comes in many forms. It comes in the products we sell, in the honesty of our sales pages, in many other things…one of them being how we behave at our favorite marketing forum. This article has been inspired from a recent incident at one of my favorite marketing forums. I think you will find it most sobering and helpful.
Everybody has an opinion. And you know what they say about opinions. Anyway, one of the easiest places to throw your opinion around is at a marketing forum. After all, you’re just a user name there. Who’s going to know who you are or what you really do? It’s easy, when it’s all so anonymous, to just throw the bull around. Well, this is where many forum members enter the world of irresponsibility. I’m going to give you the specific example I’m talking about.
A debate went on about what turns people off from buying a product. Anyway, a few people said that they don’t like long salescopy and that there should be options for people who just like the facts, such as a short sales page. Now, the problem with this is not that they’re expressing their opinion. The problem is, they make it sound like it’s law, like THIS is the way it SHOULD be. The problem with this kind of thinking is simple. I’ll explain why.
A person who is new to the forum, say somebody who is interested in becoming a copywriter, will read these opinions and immediately think to themselves, “Oh boy, these guys don’t like long sales letters so I better make sure mine are short.” They’ve taken these opinions as fact and that is dangerous. The truth is, each person should test to see what works best for them for THEIR product.
Some products, short copy works better. Others, long copy does. There is no one size fits all in marketing. Everything MUST be tested.
However, by expressing YOUR opinion as fact, you are misleading those who are just starting out and accepting everything that is said as the gospel according to whoever. And this is just plain wrong and dangerous. It’s why so many marketers fail. They listen to bad advice laid down as the law.
So please behave responsibly at your favorite forum.
You never know what new marketer is going to be hanging on your every word.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
Tired of busting your behind for peanuts online? Go to my web site and find out how I earn a monthly income that exceeds 5 figures and how I can help YOU do the same. Get your free report at http://www.mysecretarticles.com/report.html.