This may seem a bit “creepy.”
But below is something I recently sent my Crypto Marketing Newsletter subscribers.
It’s edited a bit to protect the guilty.
But methinks you’ll find it… sobering.
Here goes…
Lately, I’ve become immune to social proof.
Yes, I like social proof.
And I often use it in my own selling endeavors (it’s particularly useful when setting up joint ventures).
But more and more people are flat using it unethically.
They’re blatantly lying about their relationship (or lack of relationship) with the people they claim to know or be on the so-called “inside” with.
I got “had” like this last year.
Someone wanted my help, claimed one of my friends was helping him already, and it turned out to be blatantly untrue.
Since then I’ve “inoculated” myself against social proof.
Frankly, dropping names no longer impresses me and, in some cases, makes my “BS” antenna go up!
And you know what?
I suggest you adopt the same attitude, too.
There are just too many goo-roo fanboys out there lying or twisting facts around to get what they want.
Some are mere igits with bad judgement.
But others (more than you may realize) are the “sociopaths” Ken McCarthy warns about in his copywriting course (he gives great detail about why sociopaths are particularly attracted to direct marketing and how to identify them).
And just to be clear:
Sociopaths lack the “wiring” to care about other people.
Strange as it sounds… the idea of caring about someone else is as foreign to them as the color red is to someone born blind. And so stealing, lying and (in some cases) even killing is as easy and “routine” as ordering a burger at McDonalds. (They aren’t all killers, necessarily, but they’re more capable of these deeds than someone with a conscience).
Anyway, just something to ponder.
I’m not saying there’s one behind every bush.
But sociopaths and garden variety cons abound in marketing (especially online) — and they LOVE using “social proof.”
Watch your gluteus rumpe’, boss.
Ben Settle
P.S. One reason I wrote “Crackerjack Selling Secrets” was to give people who feel dirty using some of the typical goo-roo tactics a way to sell without pimping their souls to the devil.
For more info…
