You know what I’m talking about?
Those long, run-on pages of text filled with giant headlines and full of all kinds of hyperbole and implied promises of overnight wealth and success. All you have to do is buy their secret formula.
I see a page like that, and my immediate reaction "sleazy snakeoil salesman."
People know in their guts when something is icky. You might not be able to put your finger on it exactly or quite articulate why it’s icky, but you just know it.
The latest creative argument from the peddlers (i.e., Internet marketers) selling this baloney is that anyone who objects makes the mistake of thinking they are the target market. So anyone who expresses their gut-level disdain is automatically "not our target market." Oh, how convenient.
So who exactly is the target market then? I know who it is. It’s any dumb sucker willing to believe the hype. Internet marketers prey on people’s own greed, laziness and cheapness.
Does the sales page work? Sure. It works on all the aforementioned greedy, lazy, cheap dumb suckers who desperately want to believe that there is some secret magic formula to creating massive numbers of customers and getting rich quick.
Do I ever want to make money that way? By preying on the ugliest traits of human psychology?
Absolutely not. I’m not in business to make money off dumb suckers.
Successful, effective marketing doesn’t require you to be misleading, dishonest or unprincipaled.
Excellent copywriting and design can communicate and accomplish all your marketing objectives without any of the sleazy manipulations the sales page peddlers tout.
Thanks for commenting. Yeah, the virtual assistant term is really completely idiotic to...
4 Comments
Ickiness. You hit the nail on the head. I have a (former) client who, over the years, honed her specialty until she reached the pinnacle, which is creating those sales pages. They are a complete turnoff to me, too.
How about real interaction with people instead of throwing magic words in new and different arrangements (not really any different than any other sales page when you come down to it) at people?
Ohhh, I believe someone made you mad, Danielle!
Seriously though, I understand what you’re saying. It’s the same feeling you have from some used car salesmen (no, not all of them).
Excellent copywriting and design portrays the real you, the “you” you want others to get to know. That’s what we should all strive for – authentic relationships.
Vickie
LOL, no, no one in particular made me mad. After being assaulted by yet another sales page, I was reflecting on my revulsion, and the fact that I wish I could avoid more often having to deal with some of the more loathsome types on the Internet.
I found this post rather offensive. I am an Internet marketer myself and have studied your sites extensively to educate myself before hiring a VA. Just because somebody has a “long, run-on page of text with giant headlines” doesn’t mean they are “misleading, dishonested, or unprincipled.” Smart marketers use techniques that work and yes, those long pages sell. You are an advocate of respect for Virtual Assistants. Please respect our industry as well and don’t lump us all into one category.