I was at the public library yesterday and I came across a technology/business magazine (can’t recall the name) that was about 3 years old.  I figured it might be interesting to see what the ‘experts’ were talking about back then, so I picked it up and looked it over.  Surprisingly, the articles were basically the same as they are today.  Web 2.0 and where they think the internet is headed with Social interaction type sites is all I could find.  So nothing original or earth shattering in my opinion.

However, what I did find, in the most unlikely of all places, was an advertisement.  Hah, I can’t remember who was advertising, perhaps a financial institution, but here is the primary text in the ad:

Shovels do not hope,

Shovels do not wish,

Shovels only dig.

If that isn’t inspiring, then I don’t know what is.  It applies directly to anything that requires an ounce of effort from anyone.

I think that we as human beings on this planet called earth apply too much emotion in the things we do.  Yes, the emotion side of things does differentiate us from robots and emotion can sometimes be a good thing, but I think we put a lot of un-needed emotions into our work.  I’m talking about the types of emotions that hold you back or slow you down because you are trying to stay safe and keep your head above some illusion of water.

The quote above hits the nail on the head.  Concentrate on digging.  Stop wishing and hoping that you will achieve your dreams and just do whatever you feel you should do.

I was looking over a few of the blogs I read once a week and I noticed something.  First of all, I’m about half-way done with a book called, “The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II,” by Dave Balter.  (or you can download it free-and legally) Word of Mouth is a book about… word of mouth marketing.  I’m likely to write more about the book later, but now I just want to talk about one section.

At one point the author describes a group of people, who he receives emails from all the time, who hate him.  They hate word of mouth marketing and probably any other form of marketing out there.  Now I don’t personally know the author, and I really don’t know what type of a person he is.  What I do know is that he is a great writer and knowledgeable marketer from what I have read thus far.  This is why I find it hard for someone to hate him and his work.  However, after reading the following reasons, I realize what leads people to hating marketers.

Here are the forms of marketing perversions listed in the book:
The leaner, who poses as a product advocate, but really couldn’t care less.  Often seen at bars, loudly ordering brand-name beverages.

The phony tourist, who asks real people to take his picture with a cell phone camera, making sure to mention the brand name.

Street teams, who create trumped-up scenes that disrupt the flow of real city life.

Guerilla marketers, who think of marketing as a kind of warfare, with sorties carried out against unsuspecting citizens.

Could you be considered one of these?
Whenever I do anything concerning anything, I always look at it through my ergonomic yet somewhat unfashionable moral goggles.  There is no real in between, at least non which I can think of, in terms of morality.  It is either right or wrong.

Bloggers and Useless Information

This is the reason I started writing this post- bloggers who market shamelessly.  You know the type and I’m not going to name names.  Every post for an entire week might be a product they are pushing.  Or every other post lately is some product that they somehow found time to try since they wrote their last post.  The posts themselves look like those long sales letters you see on the net for informational products- 5 screens in length, a ton of screen shots, and of course 15 call to action links.  The only difference between the sales letter marketers and these bloggers don’t tell you that they are selling you something. Where does it end?  This is the reason I dump a lot of blogs and stop reading them.

I used to attempt to make sense of this blog marketing by believing that the readers must definitely know that the author is promoting something for financial gain.  I figured that most people know this and would make their decision with that knowledge.  Yet, I soon came to the assumption that something else is in fact true.  This is especially true in the MMO niche of blogs.  The reader has come to the blog to find value and usually trusts the information that the author is giving them.  When the author promotes something, a lot of people see it as an honest review for a product of value.  A visitor might just trust the author enough to go out and buy whatever it is they are promoting because of that review.

Now there is nothing wrong with promoting products of value on your blog, but at least be honest to your readers and yourself.  Don’t post some product every other day.  After all, have you gone out and really tried every single product you are promoting?

In conclusion, I now know why their is a hatred of sorts in forums such as WF for MMO blogs.

I just clicked on a spam comment and it redirected to some adult website.  At first I got a little annoyed, but then I came to quick realization.  The people who create spam will suffer a great problem at some time.  That is the fact that it is not sustainable.  At some unknown time, the method they are using to make money will fail and they will have to start from scratch again.  Not only that, but look at the guy who recently got caught spamming Myspace.com.  $230 million dollars I believe is what Myspace wanted from the guy.

Why I Hate Spam…

These people are not providing any form of value.  Instead they only exist for one reason- the bottom line.  The spammer is only after one thing and that is money… and at any cost.

I don’t think you can base a business off of spam.  Yes, you can make money, but it won’t last for long.   So do you think it is worth it? - I don’t.

Would you like a business you can tell your family and friends about?-  A business you have built from the ground up, that continues to grow and also gives you the chance to meet new people.

Or would you just like to scrap by and make some quick money, see that quickly fade away, and then start all over again?  Would you be able to justify what you do to your Ma, Pa, or Grandma?

In the end, I feel that everything we choose to do defines our character and philosophy on life.  Like Jim Rohn says, Liars are called “liars” because they LIE.

First of all, I apologize that I haven’t posted in a few days, but I had to “go off the grid” this week and get some work done and do some reading.

Do you ever feel like your hard work isn’t showing any results, you are losing a little hope, and in the back of your mind you are contemplating changing direction?  Suddenly out of nowhere, something you did shows hope.  That little prayer you made to see some result was answered and something positive happened.  That scattered puzzle in your mind comes together a little, and you have proof that what you are doing is going to produce results.

This past week for me has produced a coctail of these feelings and I just wanted to share with you some hopeful advice.  If you find yourself losing hope and wanting to give up and start again- DON’T.  Stick it out a little longer and if you are passionate enough, you will undoubtedly see something happen.   Don’t let all your hard work go to waste.  Yes, sometimes you have to overcome pride and learn from your mistakes.  But other times you have to get your knees dirty, your knuckles blooding, and stick it out.

Today I watched a movie called, “Expelled,” starring Ben Stein.  The movie got me to thinking about a lot about religion, but more specifically, how easily people on a whole are led.  Yesterday I was surfing around Youtube.com and tapped into the ring of religion.  Needless to say, it was an interesting experience.  At first I found Richard Dawkins.  I don’t consider myself well versed in big, “scientific,” minds anymore, so I didn’t know who this man was when I started.  I watched him for a few minutes, jumped to another video, and then another.  He posed some great and very convincing arguments which didn’t seem to have any counter-arguments (or so I thought).  However, if you have used Youtube, you know that there is always a list of related or response videos to what you have just viewed.  So I ventured on to a video that looked promising- a counter-argument to Richard Dawkins and Atheists alike.  The video was simple, yet very powerful.  It was a slide show type with some intriguing facts.  This video was sort a bridge to another set of videos I began watching shortly after.  This set was also creationist themed and was filled with convincing information.

For about an hour and a half I went back and forth watching videos from either side of the argument.  I like to think that I have an open mind when it comes to religion and other people views, so this is why I was surfing back and forth between the two sides.  In the end, my views on religion did not change, yet my general feeling of people and religion did.  It was not until I watched the Ben Stein video today that I really began to put the pieces together.

What I Noticed

Manipulation can be a very dangerous thing, especially when you don’t know where you are being led.  How many times can you remember being told something that sounded so great and convincing that you didn’t really have any questions or counter-arguments?  I feel that these videos on Youtube and any other manipulation for that matter all follow the same pattern in which the author entices you and then meets his or her own agenda.  By writing this information, and possibly giving some people insight, I hope to in fact help those people who are not already recognizing and aware of these tactics.

One tactic that I noticed right off the bat, was something I first saw a man named Derren Brown do.  Here is the way that this tactic works and why it is so effective.  I will use the most common example which is politicians.  It will begin with a politician talking about something slightly interesting but not too interesting.  He or she will then begin to ramble on and on for what seems to be forever.  Most people are not aware of what the politician is talking about, but are more so drawn in by the initial topic.  The tactic is then ended by the politician doing something a little sneaky.  At the end of this long talk, the politician will throw in a phrase that is at the heart of his actual agenda.  The ending phrase doesn’t even have to be related, but has to be somewhat relevant to what he was talking about.  I would say that this is by far the most difficult tactic to become aware of, simply because it puts you (the listener) in a trance sort of state.  Once the trance is broken with that last phrase, you walk away thinking that speaker really does have all the answers.

Skewing uncommon facts.  This is a probably the most common thing I see in heated religious debates.  Using facts that hardly anyone has ever heard and twisting them to become in line with your own agenda is a great way to proving your point.  For example, taking something from biblical texts and changing it a little is hardly ever noticed by most people.  I personally never attended church on a regular basis and thus never learned specifics about the bible (I know I can just read it and don’t have to go to church to do so).  I know from my friends and family that my position is not unique.  There are many people who are not well versed on the bible.  So can you see now how easy it is to tell me the bible says one thing, and you can be fairly confident that I won’t go to the actual texts to research it?

Conclusion 

In conclusion, a lot of what I see is the product of what are called NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and other conversational strategies being used.  If you are not familiar with the study of NLP, I do not have time to write about it now, but I will definitely talk about it in the future.  I’m not claiming to be an expert, but again I am only trying to help those people that do not notice these tactics right away.  Do you have any questions or perhaps notice something that I don’t? – Feel free to comment below.