Listen, I kinda went on sabbatical, and I've been coding and doing some other related stuff ever since so that's why I haven't posted on this blog for so long.

Anyhow, a colleague was supposed to post here months ago and let you know about it, but he forgot, and I was too distracted to notice. LOL.

My single-minded focus thing sometimes keeps me from noticing a lot of things. He was supposed to tell you that I wouldn't be promoting anything for a while due to preparation for a product launch, and that I wouldn't be sending out my newsletter, that I would be kinda out of touch in general …

I guess I kinda made it optional, but he was even supposed to continue posting periodically …

(What do you think? Should I can him?)

Oh well. My apologies. But as I told him at the time, I would be back if something came up that I thought was truly worthwhile or that truly needed to be said. Or something like that. I don't remember my exact words.

Okay. So here it is, something truly worthwhile — but wait, let me just say that I have no idea if this will be truly worthwhile or not. But I said I wouldn't be back this soon unless it was. So, you know, I'm sending mixed signals here. LOL!

Well, okay, here's the thing. I haven't had the time or the inclination to check this out in detail yet, so my opinion on this is based on past experience with Mike rather than an actual evaluation of the offer.

So keep that in mind.

But as I'm sure you know, past experience is often a good measure. One can't always rely on it, but I believe this is going to be the real deal, and I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about it. Er, or give it my personal recommendation (since you've probably heard about it already anyway).

I do know that the last major training course Mike came out with was very worthwhile. So hopefully this will be as great as it sounds. (If not, it's being sold through Clickbank so you can always ask for your money back if it doesn't look right, okay?)

Anyhow, I've got lots to do yet on that launch and otherwise, so let me get on with it. I know you're going to want to check this out once you know what I'm talking about.

Oh wait. Everyone you should be following is promoting it already, so you probably already know what I'm talking about: Mike Johnson's Profit.FM.

So I'm not going to waste any more of your time here. If you haven't checked it out (because you were waiting just to see if your most trusted adviser — why, me, of course! — was going to promote it), then it's time to go to:

http://www.mythospheres.com/recommends/fm

My bonus? Well … how about free admittance to the launch of my own product? It will be a couple of months yet, though. Maybe more. And I can't tell you what it is yet. LOL.

Some bonus, huh? (Yes, it will be, actually.)

Oh well. I gotta get back to it.

I don't care (much) if you buy through my link or not. It will be your loss if you don't, of course, but I can't worry about that right now. I just thought I should let you know about it.

Profit.FM may not turn out to be anything special. Then again, if past experience can be trusted, it just may turn out to be one of the very few MUST HAVES this year.

I hope you will check it out:

http://www.mythospheres.com/recommends/fm

Either way, it will probably be a while before you hear from me again, so continued good luck with your endeavors and take care.

To your success!,

Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

Weekly, maybe? We'll see.

The length and quality of the writing, as well as of the information, may vary considerably. It will depend on what else (and how much) is going on with me, but I'll simply postpone and omit if I feel it's necessary.

So … this may eventually become a full-blown marketing newsletter. But for the immediate future, I expect it to be fairly short and to-the-point articles about various aspects of online marketing (and perhaps offline, too, occasionally).

My subscribers will find resources that pertain to the discussion (when available and when I feel comfortable recommending them) at the end of these soliloquies. (Soliloquies? Fancy word, yeah?) I will be putting these resources at the end so as to not interrupt the flow.

Some of this information (and the aforementioned resources) may prove to be "old hat" to some of my subscribers. Since I don't have a very complete picture about how much or how little experience various folks have, I have to go with the basics at least some of the time, right?

But if you are, or become, a subscriber and are patient with me. I know, sooner or later, I'll get around to providing some information that even the most seasoned marketer will find extremely valuable. Just don't expect it every time out.

Okay?

This will be for my subscribers ONLY and will not be published here, at AWeber, or elsewhere.

So if you haven't signed up yet, please do so and watch for my next email, most likely in about 12 hours or so, in which I will begin by discussing …

Don't you just love cliff-hangers? LOL.

To your continuing success!,
Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

With Google's recent Panda updates, I am feeling somewhat vindicated.

The Panda updates have hit many IM sites very hard.

Of course, a lot more than Panda has been going on lately:

• AdWords has canceled the PPC accounts of thousands;
• PayPal has closed many IM-ers' accounts;
• Other payment processors are about to disallow IM vendors;
• Clickbank has recently de-listed hundreds of IM products;
• YouTube has dumped thousands of make-money-online videos;
• Amazon has pretty much ended PLR ebooks being sold on Kindle;
• Sales of IM-related products are down, refunds are up.

Am I okay with all these changes? Not exactly. But I do understand that this is what happens when some "opportunists" misbehave.

It is this way in all walks of society it seems. Because some abuse the system, everyone has to pay the price. It's not fair. It's not just. But it is the way things are.

The only thing we "good guys" can do about it is to work that much harder and hold ourselves to higher and higher standards.

As the old saying goes, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."

So . . . are you ready to offer more value to real people? Are you ready to care even more about the quality of what you teach, what you sell, and about the quality of your web sites, pages and posts?

No? Then rest in peace with the dinosaurs. They couldn't adapt either.

Yes? Then welcome to the post-Panda, post-wild-wild-West internet marketing world. Time for everyone to grow up.

My sincere apology for not updating this blog sooner, but I don't like outsourcing it and sometimes my life stuff just gets in the way.

Anyway, if you follow this blog, thanks for your patience, and I hope you will find that what I am about to recommend to you is well worth the wait.

If you are just starting your online business venture or if you feel your business effort has been going off track lately, I'd like to recommend something 'holistic' in terms of building your business the right way.

(I just wish something this good had been available when I was starting out.)

So here it is:

• Michael Christon's Personal Fulfillment Machine

This is not a script or plug-in or marketing robot or tool or marketing course.

Yes, those can be valuable in the right context.

But no.

This is something very, very special.

But first, a little background.

I have listened to and viewed various success and motivational programs over the years. As a result, every now and again I've been prompted to do a little brainstorming about where I'm trying to go and why.

It's always been a kind of re-envisioning, and it has often been just after these brief interludes that I've been my most creative, productive and fulfilled.

Knowing from my own experience how helpful I've found such opportunities, I was understandably …

Well, I don't know how to say this without it sounding hyped, but I was very "excited," or "wowed" or "impressed," or something that sounds a little bit over the top like that, to discover Michael Christon's Personal Fulfillment Machine training.

If you've sampled the combined works of various motivational and business thinkers as I have, old and new, e.g., Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, etc., then you may think you've already heard much of what Michael has to say.

I pretty much felt that way myself at first. So why am I now so excited about this?

Because Michael has a compelling talent for presenting the information, old insights and new — a way that offers new perspectives, eliminates the extraneous, and systemizes and explains the essentials of how to build a more fulfilling life and business.

I feel as if he has burned away the fat, leaving only the condensed, concentrated, lean, mean, and useful behind — yet he has also kept the information palatable and easily accessible.

And there is nothing cookie cutter about Michael's approach either.

He teaches a methodology — a manner of thinking and of structuring your thinking about yourself, your life, your values, your goals — that allows you to create your own custom template that can help you build your ideal, and very personal, future.

I've been through the course, and I know it's worth going through again and again.

I believe you, too, will agree it is going to be helpful to contemplate, again and again, what Michael has to say.

Frankly, most of us need that kind of repetition to really "get it" (whether we will admit it or not). By following — more closely each day — what Michael has to say, I am certain any of us would be better able to align our business goals with our values and have a much more fulfilling life and a more successful business.

Because I believe the bottom line is that that is what we all want, I'm recommending PFM to you. And because:

• I believe it's for those just starting out.

• I also believe it's for those who need to get their business and life back on track.

• Actually, I can't think of anyone in business, or anyone hoping to start a business, who this training couldn't benefit.

Briefly, here are just a few of the questions and considerations you will be exposed to when you decide to take a journey toward your Personal Fulfillment Machine with Michael Christon:

•  Where are you now?

• Where are you going?

• How are you going to get there and are you 100% sure you want to?

• Moment of truth: how's your mental, physical and spiritual health? Are you achieving soul-destroying success?

• What's your 'bucket list?'

• How to have something exceptional in your life and in your business.

• How can understanding yourself and your values make your business effort easier and more profitable?

• How your business can become your personal fulfillment machine and why it's absolutely imperative that it should be.

• Your life's blueprint: using imagination and visualization, coupled with your values, to "walk around" your life's blueprint, and why doing so can empower your life and your business.

• Why is becoming richer in every other way ultimately more valuable than becoming financially rich, and why the former makes the latter that much more possible and satisfying?

• Purpose and structure: why becoming uncommonly successful has so much to do with ways of thinking that may seem initially to have virtually nothing to do with your desire for success.

• How to break the impossible down into the possible.

• How to supercharge your business's mission statement, and why you must.

Far too many start businesses without a clue. They know not where they are going nor how to get there. Michael reminds us that starting a business is about far more than just making money or being your own boss. This kind of training — this kind of thinking — is far too often neglected, yet it is by far the most important. I cannot recall having ever recommended anything more potentially valuable than Michael's Personal Fulfillment Machine.

This is the stuff that our dreams are made of.

Trust me, this will inspire you today and, applied, it will have an enormously positive impact on your life and business for decades to come:

Michael Christon's Personal Fulfillment Machine

Thank you for your time and for considering my recommendation.

To your success!,
Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

Who wants that? Why would anybody take risks when the costs can be so great, when there is so much to lose?

Part of the answer of course, is that an unwillingness to take risks, when they are appropriate, can in and of itself be the biggest risk of all.

Life is dynamic, always changing, and risk opens opportunities to grow with change rather than be victimized by it. Taking a risk means you are making things happen in your life rather than just letting life happen to you.

Self discovery, new ideas, new skills, new and exciting experiences, new interests, renewed confidence and previously unrealized talents can all be rewards of risk.

And a life without risk can easily become a life that is lived primarily in fear — and sometimes without interest, without enthusiasm, without exhilaration, without, well, a sense of being truly alive.

But why talk about this?

Because my observation and experience suggest that the fear of taking risks — or too much eagerness to take them without sufficient thought — are the two characteristics, the two extremes if you will, that have diminished far too many lives.

And whether I can succeed in this or not, I want to do what I can to keep any of that from happening to the people I know and care about, i.e., my family, my friends, my business associates and my customers — you.

But of course, I don't mean the mundane risks we take every day, the ones we don't think about because we can't see their potentially life-changing effects (even when they are there) because we have become so inured to them.

What I am really talking about are the big ones, the ones that we know are big and that we face only a handful of times in our lives, the ones that we may even know can make us, or even break us.

Of course I don't want to suggest that there aren't at least a few guidelines one can use to evaluate these risks.

Certainly, if a potential outcome is very positive and the potential downside is very limited, that's probably a risk worth taking. And contrarily, if the potential downside is great, but the upside is relatively modest, many would rightfully question the wisdom of taking that kind of risk.

With some thought, of course we can all take calculated risks, considering our finances, our circumstances, our strengths and weaknesses, our health, our relationships and our sense of fulfillment.

All that said though, there really are no magic wands or crystal balls that can tell us what risks are right for us, or are worth taking, or when.

Still, it is worthwhile to remember that not stepping up to the challenges in our lives can sap our spirits, drain our energies and make our own personal worlds smaller, darker, flatter and far less fulfilling.

So … if you've had any trouble taking risks up until now, or have had any trouble with having faith in yourself, or in investing in yourself, I hope you will think seriously about the potential rewards of risk, and not just the perils.

As we all know life doesn't come with any guarantees, except, maybe, for one. When death comes, it is not likely to be the chances we took that we will regret, but the ones we realize we should have taken.

Are you going to be okay if what you remember most about your life are the missed opportunities, the times when you plodded along in safety and listened to your fear?

Or are you going to feel a lot more okay about your life knowing that when it really mattered, you went for it? Sure, maybe, sometimes losing — but sometimes winning wonderfully even against the odds?

So what are you willing to risk? If not now, when?

Remember, your time on this Earth is limited. Are you going to look back one day and wonder what your life might have been? Or are you going to put yourself out there, put your dreams on the line and go for it … while the achievement of at least some of those dreams is still a possibility, while you still have the chance?

But if you've yet to take advantage of what article marketing can provide for your business, you're missing out. It proved itself years ago, and it still does wonders for your business today. It is not only an effective method for traffic generation, it has other benefits as well.

Given the dynamic nature of the internet and online marketing, it's not surprising that there are so many ongoing innovations, some worthwhile and some not.

There's always something new having an impact on how marketing and advertising are done on the net, but article marketing remains extremely effective. It can still give exceptional results if you're willing to put in the work.

Of course you will still need to work and do things the right way.

Here are just 3 of the many benefits to be found in article marketing:

• Your articles can be immediately accessed by people from hundreds of different countries.

People from all over the world can find your articles and visit your website. You are not limited by miles, national borders or time zones. Article marketing can be used for promoting any type of product or service to people everywhere.

• Another major advantage to article marketing are the relevant backlinks you can accumulate if your article gets published by a directory and as your articles subsequently get republished on different sites on the web. You will get traffic directly from all the instances of the republished article as well as from the rising rank of the article and its relevant links in the search engines.

Further, the sites that republish any given article will nearly all be relevant to your topic.

That is an important point — relevant and targeted backlinks can help improve your search engine ranking quite a bit.

So not only do you gain all these advantages from such articles (when they are of high enough quality to circulate widely), none of it will require any additional work or expense on your part.

• Last but certainly not least, one of the most obvious benefits of article marketing is that your targeted audience will begin to see you as a guide, or even an expert, that they can rely on.

The effectiveness of article marketing has withstood the test of time, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. The results can be very powerful, if done right — results that have staying power.

Of course the new approaches can have merit, too. But if you haven't given article marketing the attention it deserves, let this post be the impetus (the kick in the pants) that helps get you going.

It is my firm belief that, if you are willing to learn how to do it right and are willing to put in the work, you won't be disappointed in the results.

Don't judge me now; I love music of almost every kind.

And I'm thinking about how so much of the internet marketing niche is about giving you information in theory … then adding in some imagery and lots of enthusiasm mixed with a few endorsements and some scarcity claim that you just know (usually) isn't true …

But it's all about hope, isn't it. While there's hope, there's life, or maybe the other way around. I don't remember now how it goes.

Anyway, someone used to say something like that, and it's true. With every new product, with every new training course, with every new sales letter, the newbie hopes: maybe this is the one that will put me over the top, help me build that beautiful life I've always dreamed of …

But that's not how it works. That's called good copy writing. It's called marketing. But anyone who's been around a little while knows that's not how it goes.

A recent disagreement I had with an associate illustrated (for me at least) how tenuous a little wisdom in this business can really be.

How many products and courses out there are actually excellent, but if and only if you already have a large list? Or if and only if you already have fifty or a hundred or a thousand profitable web sites up and running smoothly? Or if and only if you already have a wide network of contacts you can joint venture with? Or if and only if you already have a lot of cash to sling around (excuse me, I mean "invest") on advertising or outsourcing?

How many? A lot. A whole lot of those products and courses are excellent, or if not excellent, per se, at least potentially profitable, if they happen to apply to you and your business and are exactly what you need at the moment.

Just for example (in case my point isn't entirely obvious to everyone) if you already have a thousand successful cash sites and some product or strategy increases your traffic or conversions by only 2%, it can still mean a considerable amount of increased revenue.

But how many of these same products and courses are essentially useless, too? I hope we all know the answer to that.

Because if you don't have those, er, prerequisites already mentioned … well, exactly how much does 2% more of nothing amount to?

(My math skills aren't what they used to be, but I don't think it's very much.)

Let me just pause and say a much-needed vacation might prove a far better investment for many.

And this is one of the reasons those new to the business become so jaded. They become convinced everything's a sham, i.e., it's all a con.

And unfortunately, in a lot of cases, they're not exactly wrong.

Because too many online marketers use the one-size-fits-all approach to their promotions. It's not exactly the shotgun approach. It's more like the Gatling-gun approach (if you'll allow me that very antiquated reference).

It's like they think to themselves, if I just fire everything out there something will hit a target buyer, and who really cares whether that particular customer needs it or not … ?

But it's no wonder they do it that way. It's tempting. It's easier, and internet marketing is often tough enough work as it is.

(Yes, for all you newbies, sometimes it's easy, and you make some major money and you make it fast, but more times than not, there's a whole bunch of work behind those moments …)

In any case, the Gatling-gun approach isn't serving those new to the industry very well, is it? Because it takes considerable time and experience just to begin to understand what is and is not appropriate to one's current needs, goals, effort, understanding and so forth.

Of course, I've promised something a little different, haven't I?

How's it going so far? Not as well as I'd hoped. I've asked some on my list two or three times now to write to me and tell me a little bit about their goals, their experience (and all that aforementioned so forth stuff) — but, though many have opened and read these emails, very few have actually taken me up on the offer.

It's too bad. Because I can't very well help most of them so long as I don't have any idea what most of them need.

And maybe that's why I've been more about warnings lately, instead of recommendations …

Warnings are useful of course, but suppose I know something that would benefit you, i.e., my list member, and I'm just keeping it to myself because of this feeling that I just don't know what you need … ?

So, if you join my list, please consider this an invitation. An important one. A sincere one. Write to me. Tell me how it's going. Tell me what you need. Even if you don't know, tell me what you at least think you may need.

Well, with much of the above in mind, I will be recommending some things soon, i.e., in my next email to my list, coming very soon. It will be what I believe are truly worthwhile recommendations for those on my list who:

• are just getting started;

• are still very confused or haven't found or understood the big picture yet;

• have seen the big picture, but are having trouble with all the details;

• have up to now been too afraid to invest anything in their dreams and truly begin to get their feet wet.

And I do encourage those who feel comfortably experienced at this, please keep in mind: I am not recommending these products to you.

I'll get to that too sometime soon, but not in my very next email.

Until then, consider signing up to my list. And watch out for all the shiny new objects all over the road. You generally want to steer around those #%&@! things …

I don't know about you, but sometimes it starts to sound a little absurd. Doesn't it? Kinda like this:

#

Here's a way to make HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars online, and it only takes a few days to implement!

-

But wait, here's a way to make MILLIONS online, and it takes only a few hours to set up and then works automatically year round while you're on vacation!!

-

But wait, here's a way to make BILLIONS online and REVERSE TIME AND GROW YOUNGER while I do all the work for you…!!!

#

Okay, I'm exaggerating. I admit it. I haven't heard any hype lately that goes quite that far. But close. Yep, kinda close.

(I know, I know. You wait eagerly with the greatest of expectations for each and every precious word I post (right? I mean your very destiny hangs in the balance), and it's been way too long between posts — but I've been BUSY! And better eventually than never, right?)

But anyway, putting my delusion of grandeur aside (just for the moment), it's Monday, the start of a new work week! So let's ignore all the hype for a sec and get serious. Here's how to make money, online or off:

• Get in touch with your passion. Find a related need and fill it. Unless you are mentally ill, no matter what your passion is, it is very likely that someone out there has made a successful business out of it — or something closely related. Why not you? Why be halfhearted? Why not be passionate instead? Especially since much of your success (or failure) may depend on it.

• Develop a clear and compelling vision of your business goals. Know what you are setting out to accomplish. If you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, you are already ahead of 95% of the competition. If you don't, you're already falling behind. If you are pursuing goals you haven't even defined, you are wasting your time and energy.

• Do. Take action. Do the work. At your first inkling that you may be over-educating and over-preparing, stop. Then do what you already know. Just do it. Now. Don't be afraid to fail. Fail fast and fail often. Learn by those failures and enjoy them. Enjoy them? Yes! Celebrate! Jump up and down, do a little dance and pat yourself on the back. Heck, go ahead and gloat. With every failure, you're learning and growing! Learn to understand and appreciate that.

• Understand the power of your own mind. Don't hope for success. Expect it. Positive expectation is far more powerful than hope. Unlike hope, expectation does not include a consideration of the possibility of failure. Be positive, stay positive, pursue positive. Avoid negative people and negative influences and negative self-talk. Focus on developing strong belief in yourself and your vision. Remember the vision? Focus on that, not on what you are having to go through to get there. Know that the vision is worth it.

• But keep initial day-to-day expectations realistic. Stop striving for perfection. If you're just starting out, start out walking, begin small, be patient.

• But be prepared and willing to learn and grow and run.

• Don't be afraid of the competition. Today's competition may be tomorrow's customer or partner.

• Network with successful people, and remember, companies don't do business with one another, people do.

• Know your subject. Don't scatter your attention too broadly.

• Refocus daily on your top two or three goals, and stick with that focus until you are sure you have maximized potential.

• But be flexible. If something isn't working, be willing to change course, even be willing to re-envision and refocus if necessary. Be willing to cut your losses. If a strategy is failing, drop it. Move on.

• Be willing to invest — your time, your energy, your money — whatever you have. And be willing to outsource. Unless you enjoy and get a great deal of satisfaction out of the work, outsource what is not making you money or drop it, and spend the majority of your time and energy on what is.

• Document your successes. Any approach that works has the potential of becoming a system. Systems are easily repeatable. Replication of a successful, working system will often be the best possible return on your investment. But don't be afraid to tweak and test the system. Just because it works doesn't mean it can't be improved over time.

• Celebrate your successes, too (not just your failures) — but be willing to re-invest. Sure, go ahead and reward yourself for a job well done. You deserve it. But don't be too eager for lavish celebrations that will simply eat up your earnings. Re-invest a reasonable portion to ensure your long-term success.

• Work steady but stay balanced. Balance your work and your schedule. Don't lose sight of who and what all the hard work and money are for. Be willing to take time off for your health, and your family and friends, and (sometimes) just to play.

That's it. Everything else is a tool. There are useful ones and useless ones and all-shiny-and-new ones, but they are all nothing more than tools.

And we're all just tools when we let ourselves believe anything else.

Let's all try to help each other remember that.

So I guess what I’m saying is that everything’s been getting in the way, lately, of me saying what I wanted to say, or as soon as I intended to say it. So let me apologize in advance for any omissions or mistakes and just get on with it and say it (I promise when I have time, I’ll come back and correct or add to things later if needed).

First off, I firmly believe that the days of easy money by hook and crook on the internet are drawing to a close and that many of this type of marketer are about to run into a huge brick wall, and I’m about to tell you just a couple of reasons why (there are many).

But before I do that, as previously promised, let me quickly list just some of what we all can do in terms of building our reputations as marketers with integrity, and at the close, I’ll give you my take on why all of this is so very important to understand, and especially now:

A few steps toward building the reputation:

• Be transparent with our customers about the fact that it is impossible for us to know what their needs may be and make it crystal clear in our communications who our intended target for any given communication is;

• Encourage two-way communication, via email or Skype or otherwise, or by using polls and surveys if nothing else;

• Disclose all potential conflicts of interest, i.e., if we, or members of our family, or our friends or others we do frequent business with, stand to profit in any way by the sale of a product, a recommendation, any advice we offer, etc., we have an obligation to let our customers know that, and not just in our terms of service, but in our ongoing communications. (The whole conflict of interest concern virtually disappeared in recent years, but I’m betting it’s going to make a big come back sometime soon — and quite possibly beyond anything the FCC or any other government agency may require; in other words, many consumers are getting increasingly sick of being suckered and misled and many are becoming increasingly sophisticated as well.)

• When possible, educate our customers and suggest resources and opportunities for them to educate themselves. When it’s not possible, encourage them to assess their own knowledge, skills, experience, or situation — personal or professional — so that they may better determine whether or not what we have to offer is appropriate to their needs; and,

• Be sure we are creating and promoting only the best products we know to be available. Or if that is not the case, be absolutely clear as to why we are promoting this particular product or service if it is not the best we know to be available, i.e., best value for the money, product is better supported, better documented, has greater potential for the future, is more compatible, is better for newbies, is more aesthetically pleasing or attractive, etc.

On the last point, I want to say a little more.

Of course I work for my own company and make these decisions myself. Those who work for “the other guy” and are promoting that company’s products may find this more difficult, but it is of utmost importance to promote only the best products we know to be available.

If we truly believe in the benefits of a product, then there is nothing dishonest about telling our customers this and our sincerity and enthusiasm and integrity will show through — all great selling points. We will be more successful, and we will sleep well at night. But if we don’t believe very much in a product we’re promoting and try to fake it, not only are we not serving our customers, we are not being true to ourselves.

If you are selling a product or service you don’t believe in, my advice is to get out as  soon as you can. The world is full of better opportunities.

Why it matters, and why more now than ever:

Finally, as promised, why do I believe it is so important to understand this and that there has never been a better time to understand it than now?

The reasons are the most important points of these last few posts:

One way or another, social media represents (among other things) an attempt on the part of increasingly sophisticated consumers to move back to the more personal “word of mouth” approach to discovering valuable information, entertainment, products, services, etc. Marketers are essentially mucking this up, and not just the black hatters, and I guarantee consumers will simply keep fighting back, harder and harder in the coming years.

Most people in my experience really do not prefer doing business anonymously and without recommendation from other individuals they have grown to trust (e.g., via a search engine, some random stranger’s link on a forum, etc.); it is just that, until recently, that was one of the better ways of locating value and information on the internet.

Human nature is what it is, and most of the history of marketing, offline as well as online, suggests that most consumers will continue to strive toward a means by which to establish and maintain the more personal “word of mouth” approach.

The end may not be here yet, but the wild west days of internet marketing are diminishing, and we are seeing a return, or at least a longing on the part of consumers to return, to the paradigm of the old, local shopkeeper everybody knew and trusted.

Marketers who understand this can be one of those trusted sources if we go about our business now in the right manner.

Just as importantly, more importantly even, it is good for us, as human beings, individually and collectively, not to take advantage of one another or act in ways that hurt others or benefit only ourselves, or in other ways that are out of harmony with our higher natures.

Nearly all of us have, at one time or another, fallen into the trap of believing we can fool ourselves or others with rationalizations, and sometimes we can for a while, but there is always a severe price to pay because our emotional make-up, our unconscious, or conscience if you will, isn’t fooled by such rationalizations. The long experience of humanity strongly suggests that such attempts to “get away with” practices we do not believe in, whether or not they adversely affect our business, will almost certainly have adverse effects on our health, our outlook on life, our self-esteem, our relationships with others and our spirits.

Of course, as marketers, and more simply, just as human beings — excepting perhaps a cloistered, ascetic monk or two — we will all continue to make mistakes in judgment, or otherwise,  from time to time.

When that happens, or when we become aware that it is happening, we should apologize and make reparations if appropriate. Then we should correct course and allow ourselves to move on.

Because it is always better in the long run to understand and act increasingly in accordance with our values and our emotions than it is to listen to intellectualizations that are designed to simply help us make more money.

And though I hate to end this post so abruptly, and with so little polish, I’m out of time, so that’s it for now. Rushed as this was, I hope you found something here worthwhile. I’ll try to add more thoughts and resources when my life smooths out a bit. Thanks for visiting, and sign up to my list if you like.

To your success!,

Richard D. Farley / MythoSpheres Development

I want to begin by letting you know that since my initial foray into this subject (Is Honest Marketing An Oxymoron?), I’ve done a lot of listening, a lot of reading and a fair bit of thinking. And I believe I’ve not only reminded myself of some various understandings I’d nearly forgotten, but have become aware of a few new nuances as well.

Now, with your permission, I’d like to share some of it with you.

So let’s dive right in:

What is all this outcry about a lack of honesty in internet marketing anyway? What’s it about? Why do so many marketers say they are being honest while so many consumers say they are not? Are internet marketers simply crooks? Are consumers simply whiners with unrealistic expectations?

Well, there’s no doubt in my mind that the above posits explain some of it, i.e., some marketers are crooks and some consumers are never satisfied. But as I suggested in a recent post, maybe honesty per se isn’t what the complaints are really all about.

Hopefully I established to your satisfaction in my ‘Dream On‘ post that what people actually buy is a feeling, not a product or service. So if you accept that that is true, then what is it about selling a feeling that can be construed as honest or dishonest?

But wait, rather than address that question directly, let me encourage you to draw your own conclusion as I meander toward some understandings that I hope all, or most, of us can agree on.

Let me begin by establishing a few facts:

First fact — we are all marketers. It’s true. Pretty much every person on the planet is a marketer in one sense or another. When you flirt, you are marketing yourself. When you go out on a first date, when you go on a job interview, when you ask someone to marry you, even when you try to convince someone else that your religious beliefs are where it’s really at — in one sense or another, that is all marketing.

In all cases you are promoting something. You’re promoting yourself or your sex appeal or your personality or your skills and can-do attitude, or maybe even what you consider to be the ultimate cosmic truth.

And in all cases, are you convinced you are being 100% honest?

When you flirt, do you make sure the person you’re flirting with knows that sometimes you can be a clueless klutz?

When you go out on a first date, do you make sure the person you’re dating knows your last relationship ended badly because you got a little too selfish? Or because you exhibited very poor judgment by letting yourself get into a wrong-for-you relationship in the first place?

And when you go on a job interview, do you tell the interviewer about all the things you can’t do well and have failed at?

And how about we just wisely omit any queries regarding the marriage and religious examples for now… ?

The point is, unless you’re a very unusual and socially dysfunctional person, I would guess the answer to all of the above questions (or some similar set of questions in the same spirit that would be more appropriate to you) is “No,” and if that’s the case, are you still convinced you are being 100% honest?

Hmm…

Okay, then, second fact — we’re all dishonest marketers…

Whoa!, now wait a second, sometimes our behavior is designed to spare the feelings of others or to avoid conflict or avoid doing harm to others or ourselves, and after all we’re just “putting our best foot forward” and … even for the sticklers, isn’t it a little much to find fault with that? And besides, there’s a big difference between being dishonest and withholding certain information, right?

Well, yes and no. It does depend on the context. How integral is the information? Does the information you are withholding better define what you are marketing than the information you are disclosing? Or another way to put it, in terms of flirting: are you a clueless klutz 2% of the time or 98% of the time?

If it’s 98% of the time, that is integral information, my friend (if you’ve ever been on a date with someone who is a clueless klutz 98% of the time, you know this!), and if you are withholding that kind of information, you are not marketing with very much integrity. Ah, but if it’s only 2%, well I think we might just let that go… that is, as long as you’re cool and slinky and sexy the rest of the time…

;*)

So what I’m getting at — what I said before, is that honest marketing may actually be the wrong terminology; what customers want is marketing with integrity.

So what does that mean, exactly?

Is my meandering starting to make sense?

If you think so, then this is one of the distinctions, or tenets if you will, of marketing with integrity: consumers — all of us really — expect the promotional information divulged about a product or service to better define that product or service, by far, than any information that is not being divulged.

But that’s just one of the distinctions.

As I see it, there are actually four basic distinctions that define marketing with integrity:

• you have made a sincere attempt to inform yourself about the product or service before recommending and promoting it;

• what is revealed in your promotional material is essentially true to the best of your knowledge;

• what is being said in your promotions (already mentioned) better defines the product or service, by far, than what is not being said;

• you are, in good faith and to the best of your understanding, promoting to your customers only those products and services you know to be appropriate to their needs.

Customers really are not expecting some rigid, pedantic standard of honesty; well, most of them aren’t. You are after all trying to sell something, and customers know this and even, on some level, want to be sold. Nevertheless, if you want to build a reputation for being “honest” — or better, being a marketer with integrity — the bar is still fairly high.

What most of your customers really want is to know that a), you actually know what you are selling; b), you are being essentially truthful about what you know; c), you are not withholding vital, game-changing information that they, as potential buyers, need to know to make an appropriate decision; and d), you are not using your selling skills and strategies to sell them trash or something completely inappropriate to their needs.

Most of this is completely within your ability and under your control, so much of it is really up to you. It takes some effort and can be time- and energy-consuming sometimes, but you want to do this work to build your reputation and be of real service to your customers. It is what anyone who is in this or any other business for the long term should be trying to do.

So… let’s assume we all want that reputation, and so we can and do inform ourselves about the products and services we’re selling, and we do speak the essential truth that best defines those products and services, and we don’t sell trash…

(I hope I am correct in assuming no one who has read this far wants to sell trash. I will assume this as my conviction is that most of those guys wouldn’t take the time to read a post of this length, and certainly not on this subject.)

So… inform self, speak essential truth that best defines, and no trash… But wait, that still leaves the inappropriate-to-their-needs portion, and that is a tall order.

How do you know that what you are selling is appropriate to any particular customer’s needs? Well, you really don’t. To some extent, you can try to get to know your customers, but it’s unlikely you can get to know them all — especially as an internet marketer.

So as internet marketers, since it is impossible to know what all our customers’ needs are, we’re all doomed to sell with a deficient degree of integrity even if we’d prefer to do better, right?

Right. Er, no. Not right. Not exactly.

There are some essential things we all can do — even as internet marketers with massive lists — to establish and maintain a high degree of integrity in our marketing practices.

I’ll talk about some of them in my next post.

I also hope to talk about why it is all important that you understand these distinctions and why there has never been a better time to understand them than now.

Thank you for your attention, and I hope you’ll consider signing up to my list before you go.

To your success!,
Richard D. Farley