Sorry but I really don’t. It’s just that you made it sound so amazing and important. And the leadmagnet you created for it is so bloody brilliant, I have next to no choice. I want to know. I háve to know what is in this e-book. I didn’t know I wanted it but now I’m certain that I need it because if not I just won’t be complete. Your e-book is the best thing since sliced bread which was invented in 1928.
Every e-book I ever read or wrote
I hope you won’t take this the wrong way but your free e-book wasn’t all that. It was either too long or too short. It had too little or too much information in it. It was too hard to read or too easy. It wasn’t at all what you said it would be on that amazing salespage. Or it was but I had to stop reading because there was so much information that I wanted to revisit later but then I forgot. Or maybe there just wasn’t enough information in there to be of real use. And now I feel like to know more I need to buy from you. Which is what I did not want. Because I thought this e-book was for FREE. As in: I don’t have to pay.
Turns out: I did pay
Oh and pay I did. Because now you get to write me, every day. Telling me how great all your products are. How amazing you are. How great it would be if I bought this and that from you. Oh lucky me! Your offer ends in two days and I get to enjoy this still. But beware, once the offer disappears the price will go up and I will never ever get this deal again. I paid with my soul. And I hate it.
I know what you’re gonna say
- If you don’t want the e-Book, don’t fill out your information. I know, you’re right. I shouldn’t. It’s just that… They make it look so damn good.
- You hypocrite, you write e-Books yourself for clients to use as lead magnets. You are right and they are stupid e-Books as well.
- Use a false catch-all e-mail address so you don’t get any newsletter spam. Yes, good point, I do have one of those which I use. Still, I make an effort to keep that mailbox up to date by deleting all newsletters.
- Just unsubscribe. True, I do this a lot.
- IF YOU DON’T WANT IT THEN DON’T DOWNLOAD IT. Excellent point, see 1.
You are right. You are so right. You are absolutely and 100% very much incredibly right.
I do it to myself. And I hate it.
Marketing is a game
The world of marketing is evolving. It has become bigger than we imagined when we first started taking little steps in the digital marketing world. I’ve been playing with paid promotions and banners since uni (2006 — advertising with ugly banners and on Dutch social site Hyves) when I started a non-profit fundraiser to help my local animal shelter. How far we’ve come from those days. And I have to say, I play the game myself. I like the game, I think the game is fun and exciting and it makes me get out of bed in the morning and it makes me want to learn and grow and read your damn e-Book on digital marketing.
So why don’t I want to read your stupid e-Book? Because as with any new shiny thing, rip-offs are never far behind. Doing a course on writing an e-Book and using it to funnel people into a sales page that you made using a template that the guru you just paid $2199,- (limited offer wasn’t it?) designed, is not marketing. It is not part of the game. It is a shortcut, you got a get-out-of-jail-free card but you weren’t even playing.
The essence of marketing
Marketing is A/B testing until your fingers fall off. Marketing is rewriting your headline 15 times because your conversion is slightly off. Digital marketing is listening to your audience and monitoring their sentiments around your product of service. It is so much more than a salespage made with a template that all coaches (sorry guys but you coaches seem to overdo it with these pages) use to promote a digital course that tells me nothing I couldn’t have found on YouTube university for free. Marketing is testing and failing 100 times and then, by the time you find something that works, a new development comes along and you start all over again. Man I love it.
I’m sorry if I offended you
I’m sorry for calling your e-book stupid.
I understand that a lot of time went into your e-book.
I also understand that you might not see marketing as I do.
I also also understand that it’s better to copy something good than to create something bad.
I also also also understand that there are many people out there who’ve been very successful using e-Book lead magnets for their marketing.
And yes, I understand that there is much more to (digital) marketing than just e-books and copying each others salespages.
But please, do me a favor the next time you create an e-book, will you? Make it less appealing? So I won’t fall for it yet again? Because you guys are just way to damn good at marketing these things to me.
