Michel Fortin's Lifestream

By "fan" I mean the person who loyally follows you, buys from you, and recommends you to their friends. Because that's what it feels like with some marketers who pretty much throw crap at them without thinking things through, and without any respect, courtesy, or decency for their customers.

Here's what I mean.

In the last few years, I'm seeing a lot of what my friend Jim Edwards calls "flavor-of-the-month marketing." I call them "serial drive-by marketers," but I think Jim's label is a lot more apt. Why? Because they switch loyalties and philosophies and morals, at the drop of a hat, to fit whatever is selling right now and makes them more money.

A marketer — a professional, respectable, customer-focused marketer — shouldn't switch so fast like that. Unless, of course, they need to keep the product-launch parade going to stay afloat. I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like a sound, long-term business strategy to me.

Sounds more like a snake-oil salesman.

This post was precipitated by this one marketer who just recently launched a direct mail coaching program. His promotion tells people to "cancel their Google and Facebook accounts." In other words, forget SEO, forget PPC, and forget banner ads. Sure, that seems fair. And granted, this is copy meant to stir people up and get them to open their emails. I get that.

But here's the kicker.

Just a few weeks ago,  this same marketer promoted a Facebook ad program and a Google program. In his emails, he told people to advertise on Facebook and Google. Now he tells them to close their accounts? So what is it, then?

I love what my wife said when she heard this. She said...

"First, he says, 'I don't know anything about SEO', and a month or two after that publishes an SEO product. Now he puts out a Google and Facebook product, and a month or two later says 'Stop Bing, Yahoo, Facebook and any other type of traffic advertising. Don't even spend time with SEO'. He really needs to figure out what he stands for, or he will alienate all his customers. People are not stupid and he really needs to stop acting like they won't notice."

Sure, I get that he used a headline and an angle in his promotion to grab attention. Sure, I also get that someone can change opinion once in a while, and tell people to dump older advice for new information. But to do this perpetually? I mean, every month and seemingly with every single product launch?

Marketers who sell a four-figure product one month, only to sell a new one that supersedes it the next, is no different than those who give that same product away as a bonus in a subsequent product launch — or as a bonus in a affiliate promotion for one of their coalition allies.

As George Carlin used to say: "It's bullshit, it's all bullshit, and it's bad for ya."