The sad part in those situations is that the person often thinks of what they're doing as good marketing precisely because they can suck in newbies while spouting all kinds of BS. Some take the approach of saying anything they think will earn them some interest. I've seen others take the coddling approach where they spend more time trying to make newbies feel better for not accomplishing things than they spend actually trying to help them succeed (which is often what they promise).

The upside is that the newbie crowd doesn't stay naive forever. Spew enough garbage in their direction and they eventually pick up on it. Once they do, they tend to talk. And eventually that marketing destroys the business. So let 'em have at it. It won't likely last in the long run.

Eileen, thanks for your insight on this. I'd wondered where the tactic had come from. Yes, in some cases, it works. But I've seen it overdone too, too often. I had a poll here once asking writers if the long sales pages worked. Not one person said they worked, nor did anyone say they liked the method. Wrong audience entirely for that kind of sales pitch.

And what fun! It sounds like you had a great time in NY. I'm heading up to Brooklyn in a few weeks for a charity event, and I'm so disappointed we won't have time to hop a train into Manhattan this time around. There's always next time I suppose. 🙂

This is a direct response technique that works well in a B2C environment for SOME markets and SOME products. In those cases, it's extremely effective … if it's done well, by someone who really knows what they are doing.

It is not meant to be used in a B2B context, or if it is, it must be used very precisely and very carefully. (Actually the same goes for B2C.) The problem is that people see it works in one situation and assume it can be successfully adopted for another. It can't. In a B2B market, seldom is it the right tool for the job. In fact, as you imply, it's a turnoff.

She clearly overstated her background by claiming to have written for a major market that I've been contributing to, regularly, for about 13 years.(Just turned something in yesterday, in fact.)

This particular market posts entire issues on its website, with archives dating back at least two decades. They byline everything, so if she had written anything for them during her brief tenure in the freelancing trenches her name would come up when searching the site. It doesn't. When I realized her name wasn't there, I knew she'd "overstated" at least one of her credits, which cast doubt on all of her other claims.

Interesting how we think no one can see what we're typing, isn't it?

For example, one social media book's title refers to the marketing strategy in terms of boxing. Do you really want an image in potential clients' minds that we are taking body shots at them?

Or criticizing a client publicly – and using their name. I've seen it. Unbelievable.

And I was really blown away when I first started visiting LinkedIn Groups and saw what people put online – for all clients and targeted markets to see.