I think I’m going to start a list of GooRoos who have joined the A-list’s ‘jump when I say jump’ fan club.
Guys who promote a product – using the affiliate-manager-supplied email copy word for word – without a thought to their integrity, or even to reality for that matter. This list is seriously going to be difficult for me to make though, because I’ve unsubscribed nearly every list I was ever on, so I don’t really get that much email anymore (thank goodness! the stuff I do get goes to a separate account that I check just for kicks every now and again). So help me out here. If you come across the kind of thing I’m looking for, send it my way. Thanks in advance.
On the chopping block today is one Howie Schwartz. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Not guilty of all the above, but one charge in particular – ignoring reality in favor of hype.
I received an email today entitled “email marketing is DEAD“
There are a few things at play here – in case you hadn’t guessed it, he’s promoting mobile marketing, the new buzzword craze that is hitting the cyberstreets all around us.
First things first. I don’t have any issue with mobile marketing. Personally, I’ve never done it, and can’t comment on its efficacy. (It doesn’t yet seem appropriate enough for my market). However, from what I’ve read, yes, it is going to be a wave of the future. Notice that little one letter word I snuck in there? Yeah. A wave.
Is Marketing Dead?
More to the point, and the reason for this post is this current attitude that “email marketing is dead,” “Google Adwords is dead,” “XYZ marketing method is dead.”
Frankly, you can’t say a marketing medium is dead until it is bringing negative return on investment. Last I checked, and it wasn’t that long ago, one major industry journal was being quoted as saying marketing brought an average 5100% ROI across industries. Oh yeah, and they’d done a large survey and study on the issue. Sorry, I don’t have a reference link, but I was suitably impressed enough to use the stat as the title of my own report on email marketing for small businesses.
Hmm… 5100% about as far from negative as I can imagine.
Pre-dating this lot were the guys claiming that direct mail was dead. Apparently those guys never notice the small mountain of mailings that no doubt arrive in their mailboxes each week. Marketers aren’t dumb. They don’t just send those things for kicks you know!
Even more to the point: GooRoo hypocrisy. Promoting one thing to the IM newbie crowd one week, then (and you can just about set your clock on these) approximately 2 weeks later, promoting yet another magical fix. In the case of the Facebook vs Adwords flurry a few weeks back, this was exactly what happened. One day, Gmail targeting is the bomb. The next? Adwords sucks, and they’re scared poopless that Facebook is going to crush them. You can read my rant on that here.
Wait – wasn’t the $197 course I purchased last week supposed to land me in a shiny red convertible? Oh… I see, I need this one now as well. Ok Mr. GooRoo.
The Problem With Our Industry
You see, I’m coming from the perspective of having been an IM newbie. Having been essentially addicted, (can YOU think of a better term to describe it?) to new information products, many of which now pitifully sit in the corner, dust-covered… having spent more than $30,000 in a single year on information. Was all that wasted? No – I’ve learned a lot from it. Was it necessary? Nope.
But you know what? None of that got me on the right track. In fact, it served to keep me effectively off it. In fact, all that information wasn’t enough to keep me on track when factors out of my control effectively shut down my very comfortable revenue stream.
Long term progress started happening when I put my head down, chose a plan, and stuck with it. I already knew more than I needed – all that was lacking was to do it. In a clear, determined manner.
You see, the problem with GooRoos is that people trust them. For whatever reason that may be… compelling copy, testimonials of one in a million results, incredible Clickbank screenshots – you name it. But GooRoos get a certain authority. And they use it… and many abuse it. This is, in my opinion, one of the primary reasons we have such a healthy ‘Floundering IM Newbie Squad” around. Why the Warrior Forum has 100,000 people who still don’t understand the value of a list.
So what to do about this most common of phenomenons? Unsubscribe from nearly everything you can (except my newsletter of course =). Pick your niche, your strategy, and run far and fast with it. Selectively choose whom you will trust for information. Wait at least 24-48 hrs before making any IM purchase, and even more importantly – explain to somebody how it is going to help you achieve your stated business goals this year.
Have you had any run ins with the GooRoos? Tell me about it in the comments.
A little while ago I found myself chatting with someone who was describing to me their marketing plans & strategies.
