It’s the first day ‘back at work’ today for lots of people, though many of us who inhabit the cyber world have been dipping in and out over the holiday period. I have been quite heartened by the reduction in spam and rubbish that has landed in my Inbox over the last few days, but the floodgates opened today and I have been inundated with a tidal wave of ‘Your business won’t survive without….’ or ‘ Make a fortune even in the bad times…’ and other such headers.
They have all produced one reaction – swift recourse to the ‘Unsubscribe’ button, and I know I am not alone in that. It really is quite depressing that people still peddle the kind of nonsense that is put forward in those emails, even someone for whom I had a great deal of respect seems to have got caught up in the dissemination of that rubbish, the fact that it was ‘free’ (in exchange for my very valuable email address) didn’t make it any better – or any more accceptable to my mind.
Philoscribe, one of the members of my group, The Marketing Mavens, had a sobering experience today – she was on the other side of the fence and was searching for information. I’m sure she won’t mind me quoting here
“You wouldn’t believe the amount of crap I have had to trawl through…..and still I haven’t found anything that has convinced me!!!”
followed later in the conversation by
“I know we keep saying it BUT I simply hadn’t realised the scale of the problem until I searched today… I have been truly amazed and shocked. Some of the information I read today was so wrong it’s hard to believe someone has even had the temerity to post it. Some of the information was just plain misleading…. It really is no wonder there is a level of cynicism about the quality of information on the www”
From a seperate conversation but on broadly the same topic came this comment
“We want to do the right things but how do we differentiate ourselves from this type of thing or, indeed, do we need to?”
The response from goup members was immensely heartening and boiled down to a great big ‘Yes, we do need to distance and differentiate ourselves’.
I make no apologies for reiterating my response:-
“How do we differentiate ourselves from this kind of thing – we do it by being professional, by taking care, by giving value and providing service.
Do we need to differentiate ourselves is a moot point – there are enough people out there who behave in this way and make money, however I suspect that this will not last. People are going to be a great deal more careful about what they spend their money on in the current financial climate. They will want the comfort of the appearance of professionalism, they will want to feel that they are valued, they will react badly to being treated with contempt. The social networking on the web disseminates word quickly and those who do not give value will soon find themselves ‘outed’. The reverse is true, though it tends to be on a smaller scale, bad news travels fast, good news not so fast… I prefer to go the route of offering a professional product which gives value. I may not ‘get rich quick’ (and neither will the less professional in truth) but I won’t be ashamed and embarrassed to look at my face in the mirror each morning.”
We have a Mantra as group that is very simple and we hold it very dear “REAL products for REAL people with REAL money”
It saddens me to think that if these Conmen put as much effort into fulfilling that mantra and doing it right as they do into doing it wrong, they would do a great deal better and all of us who work on the web could hold our heads up without being tainted by these unscrupulous scammers.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Great post — and so true. I’m a firm believer in the philosophy of giving value.
My motivations may be different from some in that I’m more devoted to the giving of value than I am with the monetary piece. Our culture has changed ever so gradually over these past few years so people have reached a point where they almost expect mediocrity. Excellence is no longer the guidepost. Children in school are promoted to the next grade level even when they’re failing. College students place more emphasis on partying than they do on productivity. A good work ethic seems to have gone by the wayside.
I know, I’m sounding like an old fart (and I accept that honor!), but being a member of the Marketing Mavens and living by our motto is something to be proud of. The way business is being done needs to see a turn-about — perhaps we can be a catalyst to get the ball rolling in the right direction.
Peace ….