Hi,

I wasn’t even going to write this blog post but then it occurred to me…

… I haven’t had a good ole rant for a long time – like… almost a week! Plus, I’ve been holding off making a public statement and taking a stance on this issue for too long. And that just ain’t me. Nobody is ever gonna die wondering what I think about something I consider to be important. Those who know me well know that you can take that to the bank.

So, what am I cooking up today? Well, I just want to rave on about everyone’s favorite misery whinge at the moment and throw my 2 cents into the ring.

It seems as though Internet Marketers are forming up into TWO big opposing groups – those who wish to deceive and con versus those who don’t. I will call the former group the “Decepticons”, mainly because that is what they are mostly about – deceiving and conning.

Just in case you aren’t familiar with the concepts of the movie “Transformers”, here is the Wikipedia definition of a Decepticon:

“The Decepticons are usually depicted as the antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers toyline and related comics and cartoons, and the enemies of the Autobots.”

In other words they are the “bad guys.” So, moving along with this theme and relating it to Internet Marketing …

Decepticons will use false subject lines such as:

– “Notification of Payment Received”

That’s a real nasty because it tricks people – especially beginners – into thinking they have made a sale. So they eagerly open the email to see what the payment was for and then they get presented with some crap like: “Now that I have gained your attention…” Well, it sure gains mine – I start hunting for the UNSUBSCRIBE link straight away.

That deceptive subject line is bloody awful! I’ve even seen several experienced marketers use it. They should get a damn good kick up the a** for it.

Here’s another very “popular” misleading subject line:

– “RE: (and anything they type after that)”

This is designed to trick you into thinking that somebody is actually replying to you because that is the prefix given to ALL replies to emails that you send. Again, a trick – and a pretty moronic one at that. Why? Because the instant that you realize that the email isn’t personal you lose TOTAL interest and wonder who this putz is. Then you get annoyed that they would play such a trick on you and… UNSUBSCRIBE!

Here’s another commonly used Decepticon subject line:

– “Your Order Confirmation”

This is yet another trick to get you to open the email to see what the heck you are supposed to have ordered. When you realize that you have been conned yet again… yep… UNSUBSCRIBE!

Are you starting to see a pattern here? These Decepticons are SO bereft of talent that they have to resort to trickery and con-artistry to try to get you to open up their crap and then HOPE that because you did that you will either click on something that will take you to a sales page or an opt-in page to surrender your details for – wait for it – even MORE of their JUNK!

Now, here’s a particularly untalented Decepticon subject line that is doing the rounds FAR too often and is all the “rage” at the moment:

– “Your Order #RU256790843”

I can’t even believe how dopey this is and yet SO MANY would-be marketers are using it. Even worse there are so many fledgling marketers blindly copying this ridiculous ruse. It seems really strange to me that ALL of these deceptive subject lines all carry the prefix RU. Why not XT? Or ZBU? Nope. Monkey see, monkey do. (Give the chimp a peanut) They are ALL #RU. They might as well be #RU-anIDIOT. So, when somebody fools you in this way what do you do? Hint: Look above – it begins with U and ends with E!

There are several other “popular” Decepticon subject lines equally as misleading as these but I won’t bore you with any more. You have probably seen them anyway.

Do you like them?

I sure don’t. And it would seem that NOBODY else does either. But the dill-brains using them just continue to use them to build massive lists that are becoming MORE and MORE unresponsive by the day. Very soon anyone engaging in email marketing will have to have a list of 100,000 just to get 100 opens. And that 100 will be the greenest of green raw beginners on the planet. And when THEY wise-up they won’t be opening these emails either.

Rampant adswapping has caused this malaise. I’m not against adswapping. I think it has its place but so many people now are so feverish to build an enormous list that they will stoop to almost any level to fool people into handing over their name and/or email address. So, rather than be creative and tell the bloody truth, they resort to misleading people.

What the Decepticons clearly have NOT factored into their equation – quite apart from the rising percentage of people unsubscribing from virtually ANY email contact – is the MASS de-sensitisation of ALL those receiving these deceptive and highly misleading emails. Even after a relatively short period of time most people wise up and stop being fooled by them.

Like you, I am on 100’s of lists. I rarely unsubscribe – unless somebody sends me endless worthless junk that’s been around since the first moon landing OR they pound me mercilessly with far too many emails.

I was talking to a colleague the other day who found himself on a list where the owner began to barrage him with 4 emails per day and then ramped it up to 8. Yes! 8 emails per day – EVERY day! That is abusing the system if I have ever heard of it. What if everyone started doing that? No wonder autoresponders are becoming more expensive to use and are breaking down more often.

Some Decepticons also think they are pretty clever by hitting the space bar 20 or 30 times before they add the mandatory unsubscribe link too. Well, not only is that unethical and against the TOS of most autoresponders but also – how STUPID! Even a rank beginner can drag the scroll bar down to where it is hiding at the bottom of 10, 20 or even 50 folds of white space. Deceptive and… dumb!

When this is all said and done, there are still people out there in marketing cyberland who will send you GOOD information – not all of it demanding your name or email address on EVERY occasion. Some will point you to blog posts, some will just send free information and some… just a few, like me, will even send you the occasional NO opt-in pdf. But even when the honest and ethical people do these things the ignore rate and the unsubscribe rate is still very high because of what the Decepticons are doing.

It has almost reached epidemic proportions. In fact, I take that back. It has. It’s now a PANDEMIC. It hurts everyone, fills up everyone’s email account with tons and tons of useless junk and desensitizes everyone. And don’t expect it to stop any time soon. The ONLY time it will stop is when open rates are so LOW that the Decepticons finally realize that all they have been doing is sh*tting in their own nests OR stronger rules of the CAN-Spam Act are invoked.

What are your thoughts? What are the email subject lines and tactics that you detest the most? Have your say. In fact, RANT all you want. You can disagree with me if you want too. If you want to blast me, go ahead. Just be prepared for the return salvo. Seriously, say what you want. If you have a reasoned argument that disproves what I have said above then I will NOT censor you. I promise.

While I’m at it – here’s another PROMISE – I will NEVER send you a misleading or deceptive email subject line. I’d rather be creative than follow blindly the lead of the Decepticons. Plus I have too much pride in what I do to be so banal.

For me… I’ll be an “Autobot” any day of the week.

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Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
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Hi,

Well, today something happened and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. It’s all to do with attitude.

I’ll bet you know people who have wonderful attitudes. I’ll also bet you know people whose attitudes stink too.

Today I came across somebody whose attitude was abysmal. It stunk to high-heaven from the moment I laid eyes on him. Let me tell you what happened…

OK. I’d been working in my office since early morning and I really needed a break, so I decided to go out and buy some lunch. I drove to a local fast food outlet that sells all that really healthy stuff – you know… chicken, chips, soft drinks. Only joking. But that’s where I ended up. I just needed FOOD! Anyway, in I walked and ordered my food.

The young lady behind the counter was pleasant but quite young and obviously inexperienced. So I made allowances for that while she took some time to ring up the order, take my money and give me back the change. No problem. No big deal. Then in HE walks… this guy.

I turned and casually glanced at him because there was a bell on the door and I wasn’t doing anything except just standing there, waiting.

He has this angry scowl on his face and looked like he was REALLY enjoying his day – probably his whole life. Not! Anyway…

… he walks up to the counter and growls: “Chicken and chips!” No smile. No greeting. His body language is saying it all.

I’m thinking two words: “Rude pr*ck!” Sorry for that but it’s exactly what I thought.

The young lady rings it up. Then he decides to go to the refrigerator and grab a drink and something else. So, the girl cancels the cash register entry then rings it all up again to get the new total. Pleasantly enough she says, “That’s fourteen dollars and sixty cents thanks.”

Rude pr*ck – I’ll call him that (because that is EXACTLY what he was) – opens his wallet and retrieves a crunched up ten dollar note and just throws it on the counter in front of her. I watched him do it, sighed and mentally just shook my head in disgust. The young lady had her hand open to receive the money. She looks at him enquiringly and he just looks back at her.

She repeats the amount owed. He opens the side flap on his wallet, pulls out five dollars in coins and drops them onto the counter so they run everywhere.

I take a deep breath…

This reminded me of a certain boofhead who incurred my wrath at the bar of the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas in January – only he was in the reverse position. He was the so-called “service provider” – the bar-tender. I won’t go into it here but those who were with me at the time saw what happened to his BAD attitude that day.

Back to the story at hand…

… The young lady picks up the coins and puts this guy’s money in the cash register. She’s obviously rattled and closes the cash register. Remember the amount? I was thinking: “Oh, oh. Now she’s so upset she’s forgotten his change.”

I’m also thinking… “if this guy arcs up he’s gonna have more than a 80lb waif of a young girl to deal with.” Coz I am FURIOUS with what I am witnessing. In my book, there are NO EXCUSES for this rudeness.

Rude pr*ck, in a nasty tone says: “I suppose I’ll get some change!” He glances at me with a snaky look on his face so I squared up to face him and just stared at him. If he was looking for support then he was looking at the WRONG guy!

Well, what he said just wasn’t QUITE rude enough to have me intervene. And I can assure you, my reader, that I don’t take too kindly to this sort of thing – bullying, rudeness, false “superiority” over other people. So I just stood there and drilled this guy with the icicles coming out of my eyeballs. He looked at me several times then went and sat down and shut his mouth. Thankfully.

I felt really sorry for this poor kid. Why should she be subjected to this treatment? I see it a fair bit in my travels and I wonder what the proponents of this rudeness get out of having a lousy, stinking attitude. Is it some sort of perverse thrill? Or don’t they even KNOW they are doing it? Do they live such hideously miserable lives that they just want to spread their infections?

I thought about it while I waited to get my meal. Then I remembered something. I remembered him opening his wallet. The scrunched up ten buck note he pulled out was all that he had in it. It made me wonder if his attitude was a result of his lack of money or if his lack of money was a result of his attitude. The latter I would suggest.

I have always been of the belief that, when dealing with people – especially people working in lowly-paid, menial jobs – that a drop of honey is more valuable than a gallon of vinegar. Anyway, I made sure that I thanked the young lady and gave her a big smile before I turned and gave the guy one last BLAST of a look that left him with absolutely no uncertain impression that I was NOT impressed with his disgusting performance.

I may come back and tell you about the beggar woman that I observed in Los Angeles a few years ago. That’s an interesting story too.

So, what do YOU think? Have you had similar experiences? Share them with us.

************************************************************************************
Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************

I hope that STUPID headline gave you a good laugh. But I have a reason for it (apart from giving you a bit of a chuckle).

Well, we’ve ALL seen them – sales pages making OUTRAGEOUS claims for income and wealth. Do you believe them? We’ve seen – Rich Jerk, Rich Janitor, Rich This, Rich That, blah, blah, blah… And now we have the latest variation of this theme – the Rich 16 Year Old.

It would seem that headlines and claims are now becoming more and more bold, outrageous and even aggressive, so it goes to follow that people are probably NOT believing them. Hence, in the dog-chasing-its-tail syndrome, the claims are becoming more and more ridiculous and sensationalistic.

My headline here is PATENTLY ridiculous. I deliberately made it so just to show you how stupid things are getting. What prompted me to do this? Read on…

I recently received a spam email from somebody (supposedly) about a 16 year old girl who is SUPPOSEDLY making millions with “her” system. There was also the provocative claim that she had recently made $405,179.29 in just 45 days. And then she claims: “That’s $119,738.50 in my pocket in the last 7 days, and I never even had to leave home for it!” Heady stuff huh? Against my better judgment (*sigh*), I decided to check it out. I was curious – and therein lies a little LESSON in itself, but I will press on.

Well, there she was – a picture of her. A couple of them. In one picture she was proudly displaying Cickbank checks. In the text, she was claiming to be a bit of a brat (probably true at that age – LOL). She said she “didn’t care.” (Whatever! – the favorite word of teens around this age. If you know any teens or have teens of your own you will KNOW what I mean… WHATEVER!)

While scrolling down the sales page I was looking at I noticed a picture of an expensive late model Bentley sedan with some stickers on the windscreen suggesting it was hers and some words below the picture saying: “The Rich 16’s $220,000 Bentley, before I’m even officially licensed to drive, haha.” Interestingly, the number plate had been blurred out. I could only think that this was to prevent those who would have the wherewithal to check the plate – and determine who the true owner was – from doing so. So, there was a little HINT.

Then there were all the usual screenshots of Clickbank checks and account information. Curiously, there was also a copy of a letter from Clickbank with certain sections conveniently blanked out. What struck me as odd is that all the names in all the letters and the Clickbank checks were ALL blurred out. Why? The young lady had already identified herself and told us her name. She’d already signed off using her name at the bottom of the sales letter too. Her identity had already been established – unless, of course, she was using a pseudonym (in which case it would have been more credible if she had stated so).

The letter displayed was from the Clickbank Premier Elite Program. I don’t doubt its authenticity. What I do doubt, however, is WHO it was addressed to. The picture of the envelope it came in also had the name blurred out. So, in my mind, at least, the value of those pieces of “PROOF” was immediately diminished by the suspicion they aroused.

Was the envelope and letter actually addressed to the alleged 16 year old or were they addressed to somebody else? Their inclusion just weakened the entire page. Besides, everybody knows those Clickbank screen shots can be photo-shopped. Does ANYBODY believe them?

Also, in the text of the letter it stated in the opening sentence: “This letter is to confirm that (name obscured) has been receiving payments (words removed) for our retail website, Clickbank.com, since November of 2006.” Um… the 16 year old says on the page that she isn’t good at math. Fair enough. But I am. That means she started 4 years ago which would have made her 12 years old. Another HINT that all may not be kosher with this promotional material.

My detective nose started to twitch. So, I spent a few minutes digging around and lo-and-behold… I found an almost identical page from a more “credible” source that used the SAME graphics – minus the insertion of the 16 year old girl’s persona and her deliberately portrayed “I don’t care what you think of me” attitude. It reeked of the “Rich Jerk” sales page from some years ago. A clone attempt. The other site displayed the same product, same color scheme, very similar information. In essence, it was the SAME.

Well, maybe she (or the person behind her persona) really is an affiliate of the original source. I don’t know. But the way that the sales page was written it suggested that this young girl had miraculously stumbled across a system of her own that had heaped wealth on her very quickly. Of course, this is playing up to the age-old greed and “me too” component in all of us. Brain thinks: “If a 16 year old kid can do this then the system she is using MUST BE INCREDIBLE.” Next brain thought: “I WANT this!” Sales psychology 101 in action.

Now, I’m not averse to using “creative” headlines myself. Heck! Look what I did with this. But they have to have some honesty and the entire presentation needs to be CONSISTENT. In this instance it isn’t. The whole page is just too contradictory.

Nevertheless, there are dozens of people promoting it. I checked it. There they are – all out there with their Clickbank hoplinks. I wonder if they are using the “system” themselves or are just blindly whoring it to make commissions off the unwary. The latter I would suspect.

So, what next? What about this for an OUTRAGEOUS HEADLINE?…

“The BILLIONAIRE FETUS Reveals How It Became Wealthy Online While STILL in Its Mother’s Womb – NO Computer Skills Necessary.” (“wah-wah: How could I get a computer in here anyway? Goo-goo-ga-ga”)

SUMMARY: Don’t believe everything that you see or hear. Do your DUE DILIGENCE. Remember, if there’s a few bucks in it MANY people will promote it and SOME will promote ANYTHING and more than a few will just blatantly rip-off anyone and everyone.

Interesting footnote: In between me starting and finishing this blog post, the video at the top of the so-called 16 year old’s site has now been removed from YouTube because of – wait for it… “terms of use violation.” Interesting huh?

You can add your comments to this discussion in the area below if you so desire.

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Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************

Hi folks,

I just thought I would say a couple of things in the hope that what I offer here can be assimilated into your thinking. And if you get my IDEA then I’m hoping that it will free up some of your “mind-space” for creativity rather than blanketing it with a useless negative emotion.

NEGATIVE EMOTIONS:

Negative emotions stifle creativity. When your mind is open or “free to roam” it can create marvelous things. We are ALL capable of this. But… some of us are locking down that creativity. And one of the worst things for that is frustration.

Frustration is your enemy. It will cloud your thinking.

I see a lot of frustration in many people from time to time. It’s very easy to see when people speak about it openly but, if you can “read between the lines,” it’s there in so many comments. It’s in the language. It’s in what is said and even sometimes in what is not said or even counter said or contra said.

Even worse than frustration is the negative emotion we know as anger. Anger will completely destroy your creativity.

WHAT CAUSES THIS?

Frustration occurs mainly because you are comparing YOUR personal “struggle” with the apparent ease that others are having. But what you see is only YOUR struggle. You don’t see and therefore don’t KNOW what goes on behind-the-scenes with other people. Consider this: You may be comparing your greatest weakness with another person’s greatest strength. How silly is that?

Anger occurs when you believe that you are being treated unfairly.

AN EXAMPLE:

For instance, I can’t speak German. To compare myself with ANY German-speaking person will leave me feeling inadequate. But do I want to speak German? No. I am also completely USELESS at golf. If I suddenly developed a burning desire for playing that game (which I won’t – just not interested in it) would it be fair for me to compare myself with Tiger Woods? Uh-uh. And yet, that is what I feel so many people are doing.

We all get frustrated at times. I get frustrated sometimes too. But I slap myself out of it real quick before it gets me down.

AN ANALOGY FOR YOU TO CONSIDER:

Let me share with you this analogy that I have used so many times in my dealings with other people on this matter. In fact, it’s part of my “Journey, Life, Destiny” Personal Development HOME STUDY Course. (See banner below)

Think of YOUR journey (in your chosen venture) as a being given a pack of cards. There are 52 cards (and a couple of jokers) in the deck. You are looking for the Aces. An ace signifies success (in whatever you are trying to achieve).

Every deck is shuffled differently because we are ALL different – different strengths and different weaknesses.

GOING THROUGH YOUR DECK:

So, you start turning over the cards in your deck, one-by-one. Your first five cards are 2, 7, 3, 9 and 4. No aces. Now, at this point, some people will throw up their hands and immediately say “Give me another deck.” These are the impatient ones. (Are you like that?)

Little did you know that the very next card you turned over could have been an ace. The chance of turning up one of those 4 aces is getting better with every card turned. But you became impatient and frustrated. So, you start again. You start turning the cards in a new deck… 5, 5, 6, 10 and 3. Aaagh! Time to tear the hair out! “GIVE ME ANOTHER DECK!”

Then you look across at another player and the very FIRST card that person turns over is… an ACE! Aaaaaaaaagh!

DAMN! What is wrong with YOUR deck?

Well, the answer is nothing. You just haven’t tried long enough or hard enough.

Then somebody else in the same field of activity turns up an ace on their 15th card. DOUBLE DAMN! Frustration and negative emotion sets in and you get down on yourself.

You demand another deck! And your very first card is… a joker. Jokers are those people in life who seem to exist only to upset, rip us off, ridicule and/or annoy us. We all have to deal with them. They are part of life. It’s how you respond to them that determines how badly they will affect you.

You grab the rest of the deck and throw it all over the floor in anger. Then you brood about how UNFAIR everything is…

Have you ever felt that way? I have. But let’s think about it.

WHAT HAPPENED?

What did the other players do that you didn’t? The obvious answer is that they persisted. Have you given yourself long enough to succeed? Are you comparing your strengths and weaknesses unfairly with the strengths and weaknesses of others? In other words, could you be comparing one of your weaknesses with one of the greatest strengths of another person? If you are doing that then you are ALWAYS going to be disappointed.

WHAT ARE YOUR CHOICES?

Basically, you have three choices:

1 – Keep chopping and changing decks before you give your deck a decent opportunity to produce,
2 – Just stop trying and get out of the game completely. Maybe try another game. Or…
3 – Keep turning over the cards thereby improving your chances card-by-card.

So, what are YOU going to do?

Well, if you are persistent enough you will keep turning those cards over. The odds are that you SHOULD turn over an ace in every 13 cards but if you don’t then you should know that the more cards you turn over without finding that elusive ace the better your chances will become.

Be persistent enough to give yourself the opportunity of winning.

HAS THIS HELPED YOU?

I hope this short analogy has helped you. I use it often. It’s an original idea that I had many years ago and I’ve never seen anybody else view things in this manner. Has it helped you? I hope so.

PS: Feel free to make a comment below.

************************************************************************************
Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:

“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************