So what's your irk?

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by Elysium, Nov 16, 2010.

  1. Elysium

    Elysium New Member

    After posting in another thread, I got to thinking about how we all have our own curiosities, expectations, and even irks... when it comes to first being introduced to a business opportunity.

    What drew you into your current business? Or what keeps your attention if you're currently looking into one? And by that, I don't mean the "product," "comp plan," etc. (those are important to everyone), but I mean in ways of what you see during those first few moments after you clicked on a link. What draws you in to look at more, and... what makes you run the other direction?

    Does 'teasing' with a little info (then asking for your email) work on you? Do you find you prefer videos, screen shots, written material or all of it? Do you like long pages of 'testimonials' and info or short and to the point info? Flashy and exciting pages or simple with NO CAPS info? Up front info or capture pages with auto-responders?....

    I was thinking that it might not only be fun to read each others experiences, but that it could also be helpful to those who are trying to attract more people into their current biz.

    I hope some of you will share with us what works to pull you in, as well as what some of your irks are when it comes to advertising.
    But please be honest and don't put what you're told 'should' be used to pull someone in... but instead, what actually works to get (and keep) your attention!
  2. Elysium

    Elysium New Member

    After running into my share of misleading advertisements, I ended up getting myself into a routine when it comes to looking at business opportunities~

    After clicking on a link:
    If I see a page covered with pictures of yachts, bags of money, big houses, or girls wearing nothing but diamonds, etc... I'm gone.
    If the page is super long, (meaning it would take me half my life to read through it)... I'm gone.
    If the page screams at me in CAPS with words like MAKE BIG BUCKS or YOU CAN BE RICH (as if I'm hearing impaired with my eyes)... I'm gone.

    There are a LOT of links out there to look at when searching for an opportunity, and I don't want to have to spend 2 hours just trying to figure out what each and every one is about. (If I become interested, I will put in much more time later for the finer details). But at first glance, it really helps if the page gives me a brief intro summary of: the product, how it works (how I make money), and what it's gonna cost me. If the page doesn't wanna give me some basics, or asks me for my email without telling me the meat of the biz, I lose interest and leave.

    If the page offers 'some' info that intrigues me, but won't give me more of the important details without my email addy, then I generally do 1 of 2 things:
    If it says I can get instant access by typing in my email.. I put in a bogus email and enter the site (yea I'm a putz, sorry, just being honest).
    If it says it will send me a link after I give an email address, I will leave, go on google and type in the biz name, then get info from someone else who advertises it more openly. (I've always been able to get info this way in less than 5-10 minutes).

    Sure, I have an extra email addy for crap email, but why bother to go through all that (and risk getting put on the email list of doom) when someone else is willing to be more open about their biz from the get go? If I decide to join the biz, I will always go with the person who was up front with me about the biz info.

    Moral of the story... capture pages irk me. (Bet you didn't see that one coming).

    So if you have a clean, simple, to-the-point ad page that gives me the basics of the biz (minus the flashy words and pictures that can put a person in seizures), you're off to a good start at keeping this gal's attention!
  3. JackieM293

    JackieM293 Member

    Secrecy completely irritates me. When the sales pitch is a long drawn out build up to a big reveal that never happens. in other words sales pitches that never actually tell you what 'it' is, what they are selling.

    Respect your readers intelligence tell them openly and honestly what the business is and what you offering rather than trying to dazzle them with grand promises and an air of mystery.

    J
  4. weebitty

    weebitty Member

    I don't know if any of you remember the old Amway meetings you were invited to? Just show up and find out what it is all about. In those days you had to physically go somewhere to find out something. Times have changed alot since then. I don't particularly like real longgggggggg presentations that could have covered the same information in 15 or 20 mins and they take 2 hrs to say it. [​IMG] Everyone has an auto responder it would seem. Even if it is for something free. So you really can't get away from it. But you can always ask them to remove you or there is an optout option at the end.
  5. Vishal P. Rao

    Vishal P. Rao Administrator Staff Member

    Elysium: What draws you in to look at more, and... what makes you run the other direction?
    I believe it's the testimonials (that appear real with links to websites) that drives me in. More testimonials, less sales pitch.

    What makes me run away are the latest video sales letters that some times run into over half an hour! I'm really not a great fan of videos. What I need is written text which I can skim through in minutes and decide if I need or not instead of listening and watching through half an hour of the authors story of how he was broke and then suddenly he got a magic wand and then how he started living in a castle with all the luxuries. I think it's more of a turn off than turn in.
  6. A8ch

    A8ch Gold Member

    Here's what irritates me the most -- video sales promotions that have no control buttons.

    You can't pause, rewind, fast forward or stop the clip, and you usually have no idea if it's going to run as long as a feature film. Now, while I do understand the need for a captive audience, I personally resent that tactic.

    What if I need to pause the video to answer the phone or the doorbell? I can't do either of those things without missing parts of the presentation, which means I've got to start it all over from the beginning. Urgggh!

    Whenever I encounter that type of sales promotion, I immediately move to click the Back button or close the browser tab, and then 1 of 2 two things usually happens:

    1. The video goes away. Good riddance!
    2. I'm greeting with one of those pop-ups with an OK button (to continue) and Cancel button (to stay on page). You know the kind I'm talking about.

    Usually the Cancel button will expose a tradition web page that I can read at my leisure. That's better!

    If you're going to prevent me from interacting with your video sales promotion, at least give me the choice up front of an alternative way to access the details of your presentation.

    Elysium: Does 'teasing' with a little info (then asking for your email) work on you? Do you find you prefer videos, screen shots, written material or all of it? Do you like long pages of 'testimonials' and info or short and to the point info? Flashy and exciting pages or simple with NO CAPS info? Up front info or capture pages with auto-responders?....
    Every one of those marketing approaches has its place in the marketing mix and works with some segment of the market. As consumers we'll always have our personal preferences, but as marketers our likes and dislikes become less relevant. So, we shouldn't restrict our promotional tactics to just those we like. We'd be missing too many opportunities.

    We aren't going to please everyone, nor should we even try; however, we can operate our businesses with honesty, integrity and ethics and let the chips fall where they may.

    Vishal P. Rao: ...instead of listening and watching through half an hour of the authors story of how he was broke and then suddenly he got a magic wand and then how he started living in a castle with all the luxuries.
    That made me laugh out loud! [​IMG] I feel the same way.

    Hermas
  7. weebitty

    weebitty Member

    A8ch: We aren't going to please everyone, nor should we even try; however, we can operate our businesses with honesty, integrity and ethics and let the chips fall where they may.


    Vishal P. Rao:
    ...instead of listening and watching through half an hour of the authors story of how he was broke and then suddenly he got a magic wand and then how he started living in a castle with all the luxuries.
    That made me laugh out loud! I feel the same way.
    Hermas as ususal you summed it up perfectly in that one sentence.


    And Vishal I have to laugh at that too. Nobody has found that magic wand or the lamp that you rub! [​IMG]
  8. Elysium

    Elysium New Member

    It's fun (and interesting) reading these responses, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!

    You made a great point about 'the big reveal that never happens' Jackie. Building some excitement is fun, but too many people have abused that method and made it very unappealing. Long, drawn out stories seem to work much better in a suspense novel... not ads.

    Hi weebitty. You hit the (irk) nail on the head about auto responders being everywhere. Although some people don't mind them, I've spoken to quite a few people who, like myself, are annoyed by them. So I find it interesting that there is such a big push for people to use them in their business. My understanding is that they are used to send you info and remind you of the opportunity...

    When people click on an opportunity info link, they are looking for (wait for it).... info! They are not looking for an email request gift wrapped in hype. And as far as a reminder goes~ Define ironic: After endless searching, you finally come across a great opportunity, one that you get all excited about because it "fits" exactly what you've been looking for! But.... then you forget about it.

    I have used an extra email addy in the past to "get more info" only to -still- not get all the facts sent to me. But the fun doesn't stop there... Soon I find I've been put on the world's "we've got a sucker here" email list, and I start getting 50+ emails a day advertising things like... how I can enlarge a certain body part.

    As entertaining as those type of adds can be, I really don't like sorting through a bunch of those while trying to figure out which emails are the ones I actually requested. So that's why I follow a routine, and do avoid the auto responders.
  9. Elysium

    Elysium New Member

    Hey Vishal, thanks for peeking in!
    Testimonials are great, especially when you can find the honest ones. Even the exaggerated ones can still give you an idea on how a biz is actually going... people tend to slip out a little extra info here and there between words.
    The magic wand and castle stories are something else, lol.

    Hi A8ch!
    I really enjoy your posts and, as always, you bring up some great views.

    A8ch: Every one of those marketing approaches has its place in the marketing mix and works with some segment of the market. As consumers we'll always have our personal preferences, but as marketers our likes and dislikes become less relevant. So, we shouldn't restrict our promotional tactics to just those we like. We'd be missing too many opportunities.

    Well now that you put it that way, lol... Excellent point.
    (Some things can actually do more harm than good though, and one needs to be cautious of that).


    I'm currently looking over opportunities (and hopefully one day I will find one). When the time comes to advertise, I will be keeping a lot of these posts in mind!
  10. weebitty

    weebitty Member

    I will add a little bit here as well. The videos are for information to pique ones interest and are available when and if you are not. The interenet is world wide, and you do have to sleep and eat and be with family, so it is considered a surragate.[​IMG] You only, I would think want a short video to give enough information to the individual to see if they are even interested in it to go any further. If no, then no harm no fowl so to speak.

    People are busy nowadays and can't always look into something fully right at that time so a gentle reminder not to forget to do that maybe justified. Some people have responded that they appreciate it. Again, there when you can't be. People in India are 12 hrs or more ahead of us how do we interact with them on a regualar basis. You have to leave messages for them to respond to in some cases.

    Also there are strict laws that have come into effect about fabricated claims etc. If you have an approved video that doesn't allow you to make those claims all the better, the other advantage is you know exactly what information the person has seen and heard and don't have to remember what you told them or left out. Some of us have memeory problems when you speak to alot of people. So sometimes these can be of benefit to you. JMHO
    I know it is impersonal to some extent but an aid none the less.
  11. Vishal P. Rao

    Vishal P. Rao Administrator Staff Member

    A8ch: video sales promotions that have no control buttons
    Oh yes! I forgot to mention that. I experienced that couple of times too. They are an absolute annoyance.
  12. Justine

    Justine New Member

    Great points [​IMG]

    That is interesting that some of the "so called gurus" teach others to use long video sales promotions with no control buttons and long sales letters.

    I'm also against it and especially dislike really long sales letter with mix of different mismatched colors, and not even mentioning the price or hiding it and writing that this price is only for today and it stays there whenever I come back[​IMG]
  13. KarenSmith67

    KarenSmith67 New Member

    The biggest irk for me was when I would click on a link and it would take me to a website that did not give me a clue as to who the company was, or what the product was!!!! Then, I give my email address, only to find out I have already talked to someone from that company. If I had only known I could have saved my fingers some cramps and both my time and the other persons.

    That irritates me to no end!

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