The latest trend amongst Internet Marketing Gurus seems to
be to interview each other on free tele-seminars and webinars.
Joint ventures are all the rage.
In any industry, trade or profession, the higher you climb, the smaller the circle of players becomes. This is how trusts,
cartels and other secret combinations evolve to take advantage
of the combined market power and synergy of the inner circle
of key players.
Naturally, their purpose is rarely for the benefit of anyone
but the members of the inner circle, regardless of the noble
sentiments expressed in their promotional materials.
The Internet is no different.
Let me be perfectly frank here. In my former role as moderator of I-Sales Digest,
for nearly a decade the #1 daily discussion list for online
marketing professionals, I got to know most of the leading
Internet marketers, personally. They're generally talented,
skilled, gifted individuals who are ethical, honest and responsible.
I'm not accusing people like this of being unscrupulous or
unethical. They're not. People like Dr Ken Evoy, Paul
Myers, Marlon Sanders, Dr Audri Landford,
Rob Frankel, Thom Reece, Dr Mani Subramanian,
Harvey Segal and many others, have impeccable ethics
and reputations to match.
My main concern is with the second and third echelons, where
you tend to find the so-called "super affiliates"
who build massive mailing lists and promote to those lists
daily, with copy that's patronising (the standard "wisdom"
is that you should pitch your sales copy to a seven-year-old),
insults your intelligence and manipulates emotions and emotional
responses shamelessly. They "pump-up" their copy
with hype and stories that target people who desperately want
to succeed in business online, but who lack the knowledge,
insights and skills, gifts, talents and abilities needed to
become like the Gurus.
Be wary when Gurus team up. The one thing you can count on in these encounters is that
they'll be expecting to make a lot of money. And that money
they make will include YOUR money if you're not alert.
