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Internet Marketing: Why Everyone Who Sells Online Needs a Resume

Posted on June 9, 2012 Written by 7 Comments

 

Something Jordan Cooper said last week during a  live #BWEChat at BlogWorld has been on my mind. Our discussion was about Internet marketers and how people can determine who is on the up and up, and who may be using some fancy talk to convince folks they have experience, when in reality they don’t. Most people who are selling online don’t want to be seen as scammers. However, it’s difficult to determine who to trust, especially when some pretty big names are recommending we buy products without proving to anyone they’re effective.

Jordan, to me, gave the most important point in our discussion. Anyone who is hired for any job has to provide a resume listing experience, experience that is easy to prove.  The same should hold true for anyone selling anything online.

Why I don’t buy info products

Now, I’m technically challenged. As a technically challenged person I can tell you that I would love to read an ebook or take a course that promised to fill my head with the most wonderful knowledge, guaranteed to take me from zero to hero in seconds flat. I’ve been tempted, oh how I’ve been tempted. However, there are a  few things that keep me from buying:

  • Price: Why am I going to spend $1500 for 90 pages, especially if it’s something I can learn during a Google search?
  • Jargon: Lingo turns me off. There are no secrets to success, it’s hard work and anyone who tells me otherwise won’t get my money. I’m realistic enough to know I’m not going to make millions from any one info product.
  • Reviews: I rarely see reviews or testimonials by people outside of the marketers inner circle. Why is that?
  • I’m too busy: The main reason I never bought an info product is because I don’t have time to read ebooks, take courses or get on phone calls. If I am going to buy these things, the promises better not be vague and they have to teach me something absolutely amazing that I can’t learn anywhere else for a cheaper price.
  • I won’t pay for a name: I don’t care how high your Klout score is or how many people blindly retweet you in an hour, your name isn’t enough for me to pay $1500 for your course. There has to be something behind that name.

The way I see it, there are two big problems with online marketing.

1. Tribe Marketing

So I don’t have a an issue with tribe marketing in theory. I think friends should support friends. We all like to help out buddies who own shops or sell crafts. We recommend our friends to others and shop at their stores when we can.The problem with tribe marketing is that there’s recommending going on, but we’re kind of fuzzy when it comes to the shopping part. If I’m going to review someone’s product or service and recommend it to others, I’m going to have to have used it for a while to know it’s effective. I’m not going to recommend said product, service, or person, if it didn’t do anything for me, and I’m certainly not going to recommend for the sake of recommending.

Members of the tribe aren’t putting out thousands of dollars. They’re receiving the product free, if they’re receiving it at all. So they’re not out any money and therefore have nothing to lose. People who receive products for free aren’t always inclined to review in a negative manner.  Plus, it gets kind of incestuous. You know that if a certain person is releasing a product, the same friends will be around to help spread the word. And vice versa. After a while it’s pretty apparent there’s a tribe thing happening.

The wording used by those who are giving testimonials is interesting too because they’re not saying, “Here’s what happened when I used this product,” they’re saying “use this product and you’ll learn XXX.” Most of the time there’s nothing there indicating that the reviewer took the course or read the ebook at all. I want to know that the person who reviewed the product benefited from the product. If he can’t show me that, how can I trust the review? And here’s something else, most of the people who were in the above mentioned chat said they were afraid to call some of these tribers out on their this sort of thing because they worried about what would happen if they outed or questioned a big name.

2. Lack of proof of experience

Here’s the thing. Too many people are saying they can do something without providing proof.  If you’re a marketing expert with Fortune 500 clients, I want to know who those clients are. I want to be able to contact those clients and say, “Marketer X says he worked for your company. Did he? Is he as good as he says he is?” If I can’t look into his past and see that he knows what he’s talking about, I’m not buying his info product. Moreover, just because someone worked for a company doesn’t mean she did a good job at it. Perhaps the person launching the info product did, indeed, work for a major name but maybe what that person didn’t tell us is that he was fired less than a month after being hired because he just didn’t know what he was doing.

When someone is telling me he’s an authority or expert and that what he is teaching me will propel me to the same success, I want to know that person is exactly who he claims to be. I’d like to see references from people who aren’t part of the tribe and it shouldn’t be too difficult to check those references. See, I’m not rich. I’m tired of being made to feel silly because I think $99 is too much to pay for an ebook and $1500 is too much money to spend on an online writing course. I have a mortgage and I have a family. Nothing would piss me off more than knowing I’ve been swindled out of money that could have gone to my kid’s college fund. If an Internet marketing type feels their product is so valuable it warrants serious bucks, they better darn well show me why.

Why I want to see a resume

It’s important to anyone who is buying an info product to know the person who is selling it is exactly who he says he is. I don’t want a bunch of random, vague experiences listed that seem to change from year to year. If you were once quoted on CNN.com eight years ago for something not remotely related to what you’re selling, I don’t want to see “As seen on CNN.com” listed on your info product sales page. If you say household name brands consult with you on a regular basis, I want to know who those brands are and how long you worked with them. It would also be helpful to learn why you and said name are no longer working together.  Saying you worked with someone may mean it was a one off gig 20 years ago and had nothing to do with anything you’re selling.  It could also mean you were fired and they would in no way ever recommend you for any gig, ever.

I wouldn’t mind knowing, in great detail, why you’re qualified to sell me this product. Having your best buddy recommend it to me means nothing, especially if he so nicely received the product for free. If you’re going to give me testimonials, I don’t want to hear from the same people every single time unless they can prove they used the product and it worked. It would be great if we could see testimonials from the lady who spent her last $500 on your ebook or the student who spent $1500 he really didn’t have in hopes your product was just the thing he needed to launch his career.

There’s a reason people who are looking for work create resumes, just as there’s a reason interviews are required before hiring someone for a job. The people who we’re paying big money to for a product? They’re also working for us and if they want our business bad enough they should make it their mission to create a bond of trust. If they’re exactly who they say they are it shouldn’t be a problem to to list details that are easy to prove or find people to do the reviews who aren’t friends or affiliates.

Who do you buy from online?

Do you buy from a person online who you really don’t know much about? How do you determine someone is trustworthy. Because someone blogs on a regular basis, does this make him an expert?  Tell us about who you buy from online and why you trust that person. Also, would you ever publicly call out a big name  for selling a shoddy product, or are you too afraid of the tribe?

Discuss…

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Filed Under: Marketing, Reputation, Trust
  • http://twitter.com/JTDabbagian James Dabbagian

    This is why I never claim I’m an expert in social media. I know what I’m doing and I’m knowledgeable, but I’m not Chris Brogan or Seth Godin. It sucks sometimes because nobody will take you on unless you have experience. So I did work for friends for free, and in return, I used them as references. 

    But honestly, I’m a little tired of these “experts” myself. They’re making life suck for the REAL Internet marketers out there, because people think we’re all BS. 

    I made a promise to myself to never sell a class or skill that provided a tangible technique, and not just a bunch of fluff. Perhaps others should do the same.

  • http://www.notaproblog.com Jordan Cooper

    Your first paragraph highlights the exact problem. You say you’re experienced, but you’re not Chris Brogan or Seth Godin. Well, how the hell do you know if *they* have the experience? Besides published books or people parroting how great they are, what exactly are their qualifications? What marketing /social campaigns did they do specifically for a Fortune 500 business? Who are their current clients? What do *they* say about them? How come no one I speak to who sings high praise for some of these people have answers to any of these questions?

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  • Anonymous

    I´m someone who has seen both sides of the situation. I think that so much of internet marketing is broken or BS. I wrote about a lot of the stuff here: http://jadecraven.com/2012/05/17/why-most-bloggers-suck-at-networking/ That comes from direct experience.

    Reviews:
    It annoys me how it is the marketers inner circle but the reality is that conversions are higher within a tribe so it´s better to feature testimonials from familiar faces – especially those that have succeeded by following the rules of that tribe.

    The real fun stuff comes when you see the same people giving testimonials for products on how they improve their business. If it had actually helped there business, they wouldn´t be buying a gazillion other products.

    Paying for a name: I recently finished return on influence. Social proof online means nothing as it all can be gamed. It can get you clients but you won´t generate any referrals if your services/products suck. You need tangible skills that can be measured with metrics. Anyone can rock at content marketing. I know, because I tried to become part of the ´scene´ without any skills. It´s a house of cards that will crumble if you are lower down the ladder and don´t have any business skills to back it up.

    I´ve written about how the collapse of a former clients business/brand meant that my career was ruined. That is true, to a degree. But I can realize now that I had no skills other then knowing about, and connecting people, inside this one niche.

    Now – in the case of How To Launch the **** Out Of Your Ebook, I know that people got results in niches outside of internet marketing. I know because I seeded copies to other communities (crafters, parenting bloggers, authors) and they enjoyed some success. I think that this is a situation that isn´t often repeated though because most of the info products are by people who have no freakin´ idea about the type of businesses they are writing about.

    That´s why I love Charlie Gilkey so much. You only have to read one post to know that he knows his stuff. His entire archives are his resume.

    So – onto your questions.

    No, I wouldn´t call out a big name. Heck, I was involved in a shoddy situation. It wasn´t shoddy as such but I knew things that were going on and I didn´t call anyone out. The tribe will turn against you. They´ll post a sarcastic comment and people will use twitter search and have a go at you. ¨Didn´t you read the sob story?¨

    If you entire income comes from a community, don´t call them out. Anything they say against you can be found in a search engine and you don´t want potential employers to see that. My sister knows about the salty droid and she lives interstate! I didn´t tell her.

    In regards to an expensive writing course – I know the creator hired someone to help structure the lesson exercises so the students would learn as much as possible. Most people don´t.

    So much of this industry is smoke and mirrors. That´s why I´m only partially in it. I work with real clients with proper businesses. I do similar stuff as before but it´s not incestuous or dodgy. I am learning so much and know that I am setting up my career for the long run.

    I´d love to chat about this more if anyone is interested – it´s something that I´ve been exploring for a while now.

    • http://kommein.com Deb Ng

      Hi Jade,

      What worries me is the statement that you’d never call anyone out for fear of upsetting a community. While I don’t believe that we need to use the Internet as a tool for negativity, and we shouldn’t point fingers unless there’s absolutely 100% proof of a scam, I also think if someone is selling a shoddy product, the public has a right to know. It’s a shame we worry about how others view us over worrying about people being bilked out of their hard earned cash.

      With that said, the people I know who are selling info products aren’t scammers. I think they’re selling legitimate products. They may be overpriced, and I may hate their tactics, but that doesn’t a scammer make. I really wanted their perspective for our discussion and invited many big names in the space to take part but they were all afraid to get on the radar and refused to get involved.  Which is a shame because our talk was very respectful and touched on the things discussed here.

      I’m not quite sure what writing course you are referring to. I was tossing out a hypothetical situation. However, I think it’s a very good idea to consult with other professionals to make sure the info product will work for the people who spend their hard earned money. 

  • Leah McClellan

    Hi Deb,

    You make some great points here. I’ve bought plenty of stuff online to help me learn the ins and outs of running a business online and blogging and so on, and I’ve been happy with just about everything.

    It’s absolutely true that I can Google for just about anything I need to know. But the advantage I’ve seen in the products I’ve purchased is that it saves me time.

    For example, I was a member of the Alist Blogging Club for awhile, and the advantage of it was that loads of information (a huge amount) was all in one place. Sure, I could have found it anywhere online if I search long enough, but it was all in one place. Plus I met lots of people in the forum and learned a lot from them (good stuff and stuff I didn’t want to do).

    I bought Chris Guillebeau’s Empire Building Kit 2 years ago–lots of great tips and lots of learning. I also have his last two books and some of his free stuff (I had the free stuff before I spent any money). There are a couple of others, and I give an A+ to all but one which wasn’t bad at all, just not stellar–but no, I won’t mention it publicly. It was OK but a little overpriced, in my opinion, but overall not really bad (I mean, nowhere near bad enough to make me feel ripped off because I got a lot out of it).

    The reason why I bought from these people is because I followed them for awhile and felt they had a lot of knowledge that I could benefit from. I didn’t just buy without reading for some time (like months, at least) and getting a feel for what the person was about. I don’t trust easily. And I sure don’t have the extra $$ to just throw away. So I check people out for awhile and sort of trust my gut as well as analyze things logically.

    My most recent purchase (and I’m sure the last) is Copyblogger’s Teaching Sells course. Yeah, pricey. But the stuff they offer makes me think “Wow, I wish I had the foresight or preparation for this 2 years ago or whatever because it’s all I need.” It’s really extraordinary, I think. To me, it’s like a couple semesters in business courses and copywriting, which I somehow missed in college (though I majored in English and had lots of writing classes) but sorely need now :)

    Why did I buy the Teaching Sells course? All the material I read beforehand convinced me–plus (probably more important) I know several people who were in the course in the last couple of years and I’ve been watching them grow and do things the way I imagine doing things–so I’ve seen the results of the course. And it’s helping me do what I want to do.

    You’ve written a lot that I totally get but I’ve already gone on quite a bit! The tribe marketing–yeah. I see it. People promoting stuff left and right because they know they’ll get promoted left and right, and they want to support friends (admirable) but lots of it is just not the greatest. I think we should be choosier–I refuse to promote anything (via social media etc. or anything else) if I don’t think it’s really good or (important) if it’s not interesting to my friends or followers. No way. That policy hasn’t scored points for me with some of my fellow bloggers, but I don’t care. I don’t do promotion exchanges, necessarily. You like my stuff? Please share. But if yours sucks, sorry. And that applies in reverse.

    Good stuff to think about!

  • http://www.e-crm.co.uk/ Doug Spence

    Hi Deb,

    You make some great points here. and really would like to follow them..Thanks!!