Ethical Internet Marketing: A lie, an exaggeration, and a fib away from success?
47
Today I am going to tell you a lie or two. Maybe tell you a fib. And definitely exaggerate to get you to buy something.
Well, maybe not.
However, this is the exact problem I see within the Internet marketing world these days. As new marketers come into the fresh new world of marketing, they tend to approach it in the wrong way. They understand the marketing aspect…but not the ethics. Ethical Internet Marketing does not mean making less money, in fact it will result in making more and I am going to explain exactly why within this post.
At the core of all sales (online or offline) and the product you choose to sell, money is typically the ‘persuading’ factor. If you make a sale, you make money. If you sell something that is higher commission, you make more money. If you sell something that is more expensive and is of the highest commission, you make the most money.
The problem is that consumers tend to remember negative experiences and embrace positive ones. Choosing a product to sell for the wrong reason can lead to a negative sales experience, impact your brand, and ruin the ever sought customer relationship.
Have you been to a car lot recently…and been surround by the “sharks” trying to feast on your wallet? It is not only overwhelming, it is a pushy and uncomfortable experience.
Go another step further. Ask the sales person what kind of car they drive. You might be on a Mercedes lot, but the salesperson could be driving a Honda. I have seen it happen first hand.
How can someone try to sell you a car when they choose a completely different brand? It doesn’t make sense and the entire sales angle of the sales person is flawed. Practice what you preach right?
Try going into an electronics or an appliance store and see what the salesmen tries to sell you. Chances are it is an item that they make the most commission on versus the best value product. Go to a non-commissioned store like Best Buy…you will find that they tell you how to get the best bang for your buck by offering sound advice that is not being impacted by what makes them the most on the sale.
AND THE EXACT SAME THING is happening within the Internet marketing world. I see it all the time.
Marketers and salespeople tend to choose the highest commission product versus the highest quality. It’s OK in some instances of you have product A that is equivalent to product B…and one pays more than the other.
For example, some web hosting companies offer $100 per sign-up to affiliates whereas others offer $50 per sign-up and they offer the exact same services…down to the support. Choosing the one that pays more may make sense in this situation assuming that the $100 product converts at least at 51% of the rate of the $50 product (i.e., is more profitable).
However, if you are promoting one product as the better one, knowingly understanding that the only reason you are doing this is because you make more money (at the expense of your customer), then you are doing a disservice to the general public.
I know what you are saying right now…
“Kyle, if this business is about making money, why would someone sacrifice a higher commission just to be a little more honest?”
Because quality creates reputation. Reputation creates repeat buyers. Repeat buyers create longer term success. By being honest you will promote the product that is of the best quality for the best value.
Yes, you are in the business of earning money, but this business requires relationship building and ethical marketing to create long term success.
The problem is that most people associate doing whatever it takes to make a sale with “marketing 101″. Terms like snake oil salesmen and guerrilla marketing come to mind.
It is quite funny what we see at Wealthy Affiliate. People sign-up with us and come in thinking they know how to market, because they know what they know. They know that they need to sell something in order to make money.
Unfortunately they know the marketing techniques they have been subjected to…problem being, the only real marketing they have been exposed to, they probably bought without even thinking of it as a “sales” experience.
So what makes someone want to buy something?
People tend to make purchases to resolve a problem, out of necessity, or in some cases, out of “want”. But what truly makes the person decide between buying a product on SITE A or buying a product on SITE B.
“The ability to make an informed decision”.
People like to jump to their own drum beat…and make their own conclusions. They like to think they are making the smart choice. Being smart with their money.
The Internet is the biggest and best research medium in the world. As a marketer your job is to cut down the amount of research some has to make to buy something online.
To further your understanding of exactly what I am talking about, let’s just use an example here between two marketers try to “market” within the “abdominal exercise” niche: an Unethical Internet Marketer and an Ethical Internet Marketer.
Unethical Internet Marketing
Johnny is an unethical marketer. He just wants to make a ton of cash online. He doesn’t care how…all he sees is dollar signs.
An unethical marketer tries to convince people to buy stuff through exaggerations or outrageous claims versus offering value to people, and letting their relationship do they selling.
I am definitely not saying lying doesn’t work. It does. You get lied to all the time. Just look at one of the last infomercials on TV telling you that you will look like a supermodel or have the stomach of Floyd Mayweather if you use the latest ab gimmick!
An unethical Internet Marketer can take a couple of approaches. Leverage these existing claims that are already in place, or create their own false personal claims.
What Johnny doesn’t know or care to realize is that there are PEOPLE on the other end of the transactions. Meaning, as an Internet marketer you can have either a negative or positive impact on people’s lives.
Johnny likes working out and is in great shape and would make for a great spokesperson (or internet marketer) within the weight loss/abdominal industry. He knows the latest ab gimmick is not going to work and that getting in shape requires diet and exercise, however he is an unethical affiliate marketer…and a very aggressive one at that.
He watches the late night ab commercial for the latest “ab spaceship”. He then goes online looking for an affiliate program, and sure enough he finds one.
So far so good…nothing negative yet. However, when he goes to market the product, Johnny creates a page that outlines how the “ab spaceship” helped him lose 30lbs. He then takes a picture of himself with his shirt off, and tells people if they use this machine, they will look like him.
He then drops his affiliate link. People buy. People buy lots. Johnny makes lots of money.
However, Johnny has lied to make this money. He has done this intentionally in the name of commissions. Johnny has just created an UNETHICAL INTERNET MARKETING CAMPAIGN.
Although the initial success seems like an exciting time, Johnny gets nailed by Google for poor Quality Score. His pages lack content and his material and claims do not abide by the FTC. Johnny can no longer scale with Google. He looks to alternatives, but becomes impatient. His success is short lived and he has not created a single customer relationship he can take with him.
The Internet marketing dream ends within months.
Ethical Internet Marketing
Jesse is an ethical Internet marketer.
Most of us know the real truth. Ab exercises don’t give you abs. Exercise and healthy eating does.
Many marketers are making money by lying, but over the years I have seen them come and go as fast as you can say “money”. Ethical marketers immerse themselves in the industry they are promoting. The become knowledgeable of the niche. They understand the customers’ questions and concerns…and they want to help them resolve their problem.
If you have seen the Google type at home style sites, you have seen a scam. If you have seen the acai berry trial websites, you have seen a scam. The sites will come and go as the FTC catches onto them. Their success is typically very short-lived…and although these people bank good money when the times are good (so did the Enron executives), when they go out, they do so without a list of customers or any industry credibility.
Making unrealistic claims to make a buck is unethical. Plain and simple.
In saying this, the smartest marketers (ethical ones) are making a killing online by telling the truth…and their businesses are long term. And this is exactly what Jesse does.
Jesse has scoured the Internet for information on losing weight and ab exercises. He himself has made a hobby of working out and can rap about it with anyone who shares the same interest.
He also is aware there are a ton of scams out there and has become an Internet ambassador for helping others who are seeking to learn how to lose weight around their mid section. He has created a site that reviews the top products and if you are interested, he offers a free course on how to lose your first 5 pounds using his eating and exercise strategies (in exchange for a name and email address).
Not only is he creating himself a brand/name within the industry, he is also helping people steer away from the scams and take a look at products he knows will work (through his research and accumulated knowledge).
People start listening to Jesse’s advice. People start buying products he recommends. People are happy with their purchases and start to buy anything Jesse recommends. Jesse has created an Internet marketing business where he has REPEAT CUSTOMERS…and has them on a mailing list!
Jesse has a long term business in place. He has built a brand, he is credible and has a reputation. His “customers” trust him…and if every advertising platform were to drop off the map, he would still have his list of email addresses he could contact and earn money from (because he has the relationship already).
Jesse is an ethical, yet very successful marketer and will be around for a long time to come.
I just want you to weigh in on this idea today…
If you were a “potential” consumer, what would you rather see on a website?
Choice A: Making one-sided, outrageous claims…bragging about a product, then telling you that you have to buy a product or you won’t cure your problem.
Choice B: Someone offering you value, telling you the pros and cons of a product, how it will benefit you, and then making a subtle recommendation or simply offering you the link.
I think choice B is the obvious.
A ethical and successful marketer will have the main intention of offering value. Although making a sale is the ultimate goal, making it the secondary goal will naturally lead people more in this direction.
It really doesn’t matter what industry you are marketing within. There are products and services that help and there are ways you can help people overcome their concerns, fears and naturally guide them to something that will help them out.
If you are promoting a “Internet Marketing” product, your focus should not be on the pay-out or the commission size, it should be on the quality of the product or service you are promoting.
Believe me, Carson and I being in the Internet Marketing industry know exactly how much junk there is out there. It frustrates us that someone could even promote these $5,000 mentoring packages or a hard copy book & a couple of CD’s for $2,000. This in my honest opinion is dishonest marketing. Doing anything to make a buck.
Marketing is not about “hunting”. Marketing IS about helping.
Have an ethical purpose behind your marketing efforts and you will not only earn more money, you will feel better about yourself at the end of the day.
Take pride in your ethics,
Kyle
A Wealthy & Ethical Marketer
PS. Please feel free to comment on this post. I am a feedback junkie!
Posted by Kyle on Monday, March 15, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Filed under News · Tagged with ethical internet marketing, ethical marketer, ethical marketing, internet marketing ethics, internet marketing ftc, unethical internet marketing, unethical marketer
Comments
47 Responses to “Ethical Internet Marketing: A lie, an exaggeration, and a fib away from success?”-
imprincess says:June 23, 2011 at 6:17 am
I was relieved to know about this. I am just trying to start with this internet marketing journey and one of the things that bothered me is that I do not know how to lie just to get people to buy because that is what I see in many sales pages. I know they are lying but they are still making money which made me think if I would really make money if I would not lie. Your article really helped me out. I do not really want people to buy things that are really too good to be true. I am really happy to be ethical.
Cheers to all the ethical internet marketers!
-
Karim B. says:November 13, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Hi Hyle,
Very nice post, bravo!
I was thinking of creating a new website about 100% ethical marketing programs and wanted to see what’s already on Google, I found your post : )As I started reading, I could not stop, you have a cool pedagogy in explaining and giving examples, and quite sincerely, this is one of the best articles I read online.
Keep up the nice work, have a cool day.
Friendly,
Karim -
Kyle says:April 23, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Hey Drake,
What we recommend is actually not to be an affiliate of a bunch of products across a bunch of industries. The reason for this is that if you DIVERSIFY before you reach a certain level success, you will be setting yourself up for failure. It is similar to learning anything…if you want to become a master in the medical field with kidney research, you will be much more successful and reputable if you invest all of your time doing that than if you were to try to be great at kidney, brain, lung, and vascular research. We really put a lot of emphasis on being good at one thing before trying to be good at 10 at Wealthy Affiliate.
And yeah, our hosting can support as many pages as you want within your website. In saying this, you don’t need 1,000 (or even 100) pages to be highly successful online. You don’t even need more than one website (YES, THAT IS CORRECT!).
Cheers,
Kyle
-
Drake says:April 22, 2010 at 11:47 pm
I have been checking wealthy affiliate for about a week now after stumbling upon it when I am searching for a way to get started making money online. It is extremely difficult to start especially when I don’t have any idea at all. I red an article saying that you have to create an authority website where you can drive traffic to it and then monetize but of course there’s a lot to that than just saying it.
But then also, another article which is about affiliate marketing, PPC, CPC, Adsense and so on…. I know the meaning of them now after finding the answers online.
My question though is that, when you have a lot of campaign or affiliated to a lot of different vendors promoting their products that you feel comfortable with, how easily can you be able to track them all? And when you set them up, will they stay there for a certain period of time or will those campaigns stays there until you delete them.
Your website also shows that it now host unlimited domains and sites? I don’t know what this means.
Does it mean I can have as many websites as I want? or maybe just minisites? and also how can you count webpages on a given website? Your website says it can host over 80,000 pages.Information is appreciated as I am not just a newbie but the NEWEST NEWEST OF NEWBIE trying to have a good start and hopefully be associated to ethical people like you.
thank you,
Drake
-
Mike says:April 2, 2010 at 3:18 pm
O.K. Kyle. I believe you and thank you for your ethics and compassion and caring and concern. I’m impressed and grateful. We need more people like you in the world. I know I would be more trusting if more people like you existed.
Mike
-
Kyle says:March 30, 2010 at 10:39 pm
@ Mike
Posting on our blog is OUR medium to have a voice to the outside world. Our sales page is what it is…it does not do any justice with our opinions nor is it a platform for us to state our opinions, therefore we now have our blog to do so. So in response to your question, no, this blog is not an attempt to get people to sign-up. It is to prove our credibility, give us a voice, and allow us to interact with people outside of our members. Our sales page is in place to SELL memberships.
Cheers,
Kyle
-
Mike says:March 30, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Seems like pretty simplistic advice and should go without saying. Me thinks Kyle has an ulterior motive to writing and posting such simplistic advice. Could it be he’s trying to promote and make sales of Wealthy Affiliate memberships with such stuff? If so, just how ethical is that?
-
mr ken says:March 30, 2010 at 3:44 pm
I Wish that was 100% True!! There are a lot of others around still scamming people!!!!
-
Faith says:March 26, 2010 at 10:39 pm
I have read this whole article concerning this Wealthy Affiliate Marketing Co. very thoroughly. I started out reading Eddy’s article review of the company and I have to say I am very impressed with the honest characteristics of Eddy as well as these two gentlemen Kyle and Carson. I feel very positive by the way they all stand behind the company 100%. It’s not perfect and no company is but I have not read such an honest report involving ones “place of employment’. As the old saying goes ” A man’s only as good as his word”. As is a company’s name. They show integrity and I like that. Like many other people, I too spent money on internet home business scams and obviously didn’t get very far with them. I have not signed up to this company yet however, I am greatly considering doing so. I will let you know when I do sign up and how everything turns out. Stay tuned……….
-
Greg says:March 24, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Hey K & C!
Great Blog, Great Topic! We are on the same page. I don’t know how people sleep at night when their professional life isn’t ethical. I was working with a man last year, and those of us working with/for him realized he was an ethical mess. The stress of that alone became almost unbearable for us. We’re cooperating with the authorities to help put him out of business.
I’ve been researching the web since mid-Jan, and have spent too much already trying to learn this wonder of wonders. These guys offering freebies that aren’t really free because you have to purchase the upgrade to get what they actually offered in the first place…yeah, that burns me up.
I have a couple of sites in place, along with blogs and need some serious direction in moving forward. I have a huge project/mission and if I can just figure out how this web thing really works, then I can do what I really want, and that is to help people, which is what my mission is all about.
I like what I see here, and I plan on joining. I probably need a quick 1 on 1 just to get the ship redirected. I look forward to working with you guys!
Greg
-
Carson says:March 21, 2010 at 11:04 pm
@najeeb: At Wealthy Affiliate we offer a very easy-to-follow getting started “Action Plan” which walks you through the steps of getting started. The course explains how Internet marketing works, then shows you exactly how to use different techniques and strategies. You can then use our specified training which is organized by category to further your skills. We structured the Action Plan course so that you can start earning sales online within the first few lessons (within the first few days).
Hope this helps,
Carson
-
Najeeb says:March 20, 2010 at 7:47 am
If I join this program how would I know which “Training” will be best for me to choose and use as I am completely raw to Internet marketing.
Thank you
-
Kyle says:March 19, 2010 at 10:02 am
@ Fausto
Though English is not your mother language, you essentially just wrote an article right here! Write about things that you have emotional ties to or find interesting and you will be just fine!
Cheers,
Kyle
-
Rodolphe Cote says:March 18, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Well said:
But I still didn’t succeed in selling one product online after 8 months of constant work. But at least
I am learning more every day. If I don’t win the lotto first, I may one day sell one product on line.
Right now I feel like trowing my computer through the window and get a job at McDonald. Oh well!
What can we do! This is a difficult world to live in! Are you sure that their is actually people out there
that buy Click Bank products? I’m starting to wonder. -
Fausto P. says:March 18, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Hello Kyle,
I’m a newcomer and I red all comments to your article. They are all positive and my too. When I hear the word “Ethic” I ‘m thinking something like Charity or something to share with people.
If you go to Internet to buy something you have 98-99% chance to be scammed. In this view why don’t push further the Ethical Behavior (not only to good quality and free gifts) but also sharing a very little portion of our income(if any) with children in Africa or in other places who are letterly starving?
The customer will be impressed with WA promoters: These guys not only are very honest and offer you great value added but they understand general issues like e.g.:Adopting (in a virtual way) one child from your own country.This can cost less than a cup of coffee and you can make the difference between life or dead of those miserable children. This child will love you forever!
This is not for Charity but for Human solidarity ,the bigger countries still try hard to understand. In this way we can rise the level of IM and WA will become Super-ethical.
This is only my thinking and practically may be is to difficult to apply on WA, but would be nice!
I know my written English is very basic (my 2nd language) and I’m really freaking out to compose content articles!
Bye, Fausto P.
PS: In this very moment I was informed of a big scam out-if-line from the Yellow Pages and against them from a company in line: Yellow Pages British Columbia.com. Eleven pages of companies scammed by hundred in Vancouver,Victoria,Whistler,etc.The same similar in California and probably many more Regions/States! We ought to be ethics! FP
-
Kyle says:March 18, 2010 at 9:33 am
@ Reg B.
Yes Reg, when you join WA you will learn how to market. This means you we teach you to promote within any industry by giving the marketing fundamentals you need to succeed. This could be your product, or promoting a product as an affiliate.
Cheers,
Kyle
-
Brendah says:March 18, 2010 at 9:09 am
Hie Carson/kyle
Well this is really great stuff. I have a different overview of the entire internet marketing. I thank you guys for coming across such powerful team as you and carson. With your education I sure have an assurance that i will be successful in this business.
Brendah from Zambia
-
Reg B. says:March 18, 2010 at 8:46 am
Hi Kyle…
I truly enjoyed this Blog (really enjoy all of your comments)… I have been receiving e-mail from you a Carson for over a year know(I Know why havent I join WA) and the one thing I like about you guys is that you will only talk about WA… So many Guru’s will jump on the band wagon and promote other people product with out knowing even what its about. Just too win their contest and make a large bonus (Like Wall Street)… I mean their is every one of them except for you guys and Jim Cockrum.
That is what I like about you guys. You just run your business with principles and the heck with those other guy. (Right ON!) John Q. Public is starting to catch on to those scams, you can tell in those sales letters that they big guys are starting to panic… Thank you for getting this word out I hope a lot of other people will read this Blog. I would love to promote this message also…
I think I understand you right that if I join WA I will learn the correct way to sell my products online?
Please let me know. I do want the guiding to learn from websites, video’s, to selling on eBay and much more… I have enjoy you guys and hope that we can form a working partnership…
Your online friend…Reg B.
-
nancy says:March 18, 2010 at 8:36 am
I think u just read my feeling n mind, for a beginner the intention of droping everything and take the challenge of jumping into a new market such as internet is risky n put a lot of stress mentaly n financially is very bad that many are making money using emotional sales technics to take advantage of people desperate looking for a way to stay a float , Many big names out there are making money fast by taking advantage of people i use to be one of those TV infomercial junkie , my garage n credit card is proof of that , still i start taking sales training and by learing the emotional and manipulative ways of the new sales teacher trainning classes i underthod how stupid i was falling prey for this many false promises, what i can not understand is what take so long for the gov to implement ways to catch this guys , tdy eveyone is part of the Dirty earning money Jungle and every one head have a price , the hunters shap the tool every day and innocent people trying to improve their life are getting scam left to right in bright day light, my advise is study , stay away from hight tag training class, use the library is free n if you going to join a program do it with a low cost such as Kyle it low risk n based on all the things i see so far looks good, I’m not yet in , why because i been 8 month in the search of the best way to get in , scare from past bad experiences, but i think i will join wealth affiliate pretty soon, good luck to all and please let’s keep it clean.
Kyle ur blog was like fresh water wish we had more internet marketers like you.
-
Lorna says:March 18, 2010 at 6:03 am
Thanks Kyle for helping me to make a conscious decision. I have wasted quite a bit of money buying all kinds of programs and not once have I made a sale. After reading your post I will try things your way by starting at the top and that is learning the correct way to do things.
Thanks once again.
Lorna
-
Kyle says:March 17, 2010 at 10:52 pm
@ Andrew
Pen names, or aliases are commonplace on the Internet. I have no problems with people using pen names…in fact, some of the most famous authors use pen names. I am sure you have heard of the guy by the name of Mark Twain, well his real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens! Sometimes it may be easier to brand a name that is “made up”, and other times there is reason to brand your own name. This is up to you and can sometimes be industry dependent.
Hope this clarifies some things here.
Cheers,
Kyle
-
Christoph Day says:March 17, 2010 at 10:29 pm
I like this kind of thinking and want to learn marketing on this way.
-
mrshane18 says:March 17, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Funny how I was just signing up to get into posting some blogs for money; and looking at some high commission fat loss or getting those six-pack abs websites, I am such a newbie. Nice to read something about good ethics. Man the lure of easy money is strong but, I want long term commissions too.
-
Andrew says:March 17, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Hello Carson / Kyle.
Really good article. I enjoyed it. I always wondered how we can offer value and be honest if we use fictious name when writing articles and sending people to a blog that we own, but using a fictious name.
I guess offering value and being honest would be to use our correct names ?
I often wonder…….
-
Sonny Dinger says:March 17, 2010 at 7:48 pm
HI Kyle,
Thank you for such a good letter, and ,yes, I’m also still researching you guys,
although , I will go back over the site for info, you see, I have done plenty
Direct Sales, but never advertising, although I know I will a good Coach…
so, I’m on my way, i’m just getting a light stroke, so I’m just a litttle weak yet,
thank you for listening,
Sonny -
Marlon Austin says:March 17, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Can’t wait to start.
-
Craig Raymond says:March 17, 2010 at 5:37 pm
What goes around,comes around.I’m not a member but when I need you I know you will be there.
I just deleted an Israli who found it nessasary to email me 4 times in one hr. to tout a product he
recommended(his?).This practice drags everyone down with him.I’ve followed you for close to a year because what you have to offer is only helpfully content.I recently opened a domain in my dog’s name to save my own for when I find out how to maintain my own ethics online.Thanks,Kyle
-
Kyle says:March 17, 2010 at 4:43 pm
@ Eddy
Well said Eddy! It is of benefit being ethical when people are used to the slime out there. The tough part initially is getting through to these people because assumptions come fast and furious when you are in an industry such as the “make money” or “internet marketing” ones. People tend to group you together with others they have been scammed from in the past. Hope this does give us a bit of resolves as to where we are coming from with our community at Wealthy Affiliate…and the fact that we truly do care about the people coming in.
Cheers,
Kyle