I am Freaking Ticked Off!!!!
November 4th, 2009 by Bob Bly
I have been giving presentations for decades, and most of my seminar attendees say I’m pretty good at it.
In all that time I’ve had only a couple that were so-so, and only one that was an absolute bomb: a webinar I gave only a few weeks ago.
In this instance, I made the apparent error of showing some offline marketing in a webinar about online marketing.
I was making the point that most of what worked in offline direct response (DR) works spectacularly well online.
But today’s new breed of young marketers don’t believe that.
Several audience members were offended that I showed them direct mail letters in an online marketing presentation, and said it indicated I was old fashioned and out of date.
So if you give seminars or webinars, my advice is as follows: If you are talking about online marketing, show nothing from the offline world, as relevant and powerful as it may be.
Telling the audience that it’s relevant doesn’t work. They are wearing blinders that won’t come off.
The webinar sponsor said I was lazy because I had obviously repurposed slides from another talk.
DUH!
Those slides are treasures — perfect examples of important principles. Why on Earth would I not use them?
Now I know why: my audience cannot make the mental leap to transfer great ideas from one medium or industry to another medium or industry.
And speaker beware: yours probably can’t either.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 10:18 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Bob: Can you post the slides on your blog? Believe me, some of us here will treasure them too!
November 4th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Not to worry, Bob. I’ve attended a few of your presentations over the years. And I always came away with something I could use.
On this one though, seems you got trapped. It’s a familiar scenario — a bunch of believers hoping to be saved through the corporate equivalent of a down-home revival meeting.
When computers got really big, sales executives began preaching “it’s not enough to sell one item at a time, you have to do a SYSTEM sell.”
In the 90s, I worked for a company whose marketing VP admonished “The 20th Century is over; we have to begin selling for the 21st Century.”
In the movie “The Wiz,” a bunch of crows chanted “gold is old, blue is new.”
Bob, the best of professionals, every now and then finds himself caught cold between gold and blue. Your ebooks re. selling on the Internet are superb. Pour yourself a stiff scotch tonight, and don’t sweat the small stuff.
November 4th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Well, one of the reasons I freelance is because there are too many jerks out there who could be (and have been) my boss. Be thankful for your successes and opportunities. You don’t have to work for people who don’t appreciate your efforts and accomplishments.
I resigned a web writing job this morning after getting it 2/3rds complete. The client insulted me for asking him three or four questions about his business and his work history, so I could write an About Us page. And he did not like my draft of the Home page because it was too “hypy”. I sent the draft with a note saying I thought it was too hypy and asking for feedback. He insulted me over that too.
So it goes. The advantages you have far outweigh occasional comments from idiots.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
[…] I am Freaking Ticked Off!!!! - bly.com blog - bly.com direct marketing blog bly.com/blog/general/i-am-freaking-ticked-off – view page – cached I have been giving presentations for decades, and most of my seminar attendees say I’m pretty good at it. […]
November 4th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Most people have hardly any imagination.
I would be surprised but when we sold our house the agent told us to get rid of a lot of our art work and make the place more plain. Now there are multiple TV shows on the topic.
I wonder if they would respond better if you add a short history lesson of how ads have evolved over time from the early newspapers to the radio, TV and DR and how even the internet builds off of all that.
Or maybe a few wildly bad ones you make fun of. People like to laugh.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:17 am
As a business consultant it is exciting to know how few people are aware that there are better ideas they never even consider outside their business, industry, current thinking.
I think you uncovered this where these people were locked into a line of thinking that never allowed for other perspectives.
As a business owner or manager who DOES stay open to new ideas (or old ideas that still work - and in some cases work even better now that others are not doing them), you can kick competitor butts easily.
Thanks for sharing.
Mike
November 5th, 2009 at 12:59 am
Online, offline, or outside the lines — good writing is good writing, and good marketing is good marketing.
If it works, use it. Slides and all.
November 5th, 2009 at 5:35 am
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November 5th, 2009 at 10:31 am
The young invented everything. Sex, the internet, McDonalds, looking at porn. Why would they think they could learn something from the 20th century.
You can’t teach people whose minds are closed. The issue is theirs, not yours.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Bob… you make a very fair point, but you beleaguered it with a childish rant. Rather than take a positive approach and ask “what can I do to take down these blinders?”, you moaned and groaned and blabbed on about how wonderful you and your slides are. I would expect you, as a professional communicator, to be able to get off your high-horse and figure out how to communicate with these people.
After this entry, I would be very hesitant to ever contract you for a project - one misstep and I could end up as fodder for your blog.
November 5th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Erin: It was an hour webinar. I could not figure out how to change their minds during the hour. If there is a way to remove their blinders, it will take someone better than me (maybe you?) to figure it out.
BTW, I would never blog about a client, even anonymously. These folks are not a client. They are a media organization for whom I was doing a favor — I thought.
November 5th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
One of the keys to overcoming this objection is brilliantly put into action by Dan Kennedy.
When he gets on stage he tells people the “My business is different” story.
People will tell him the examples he’s talking about are in the real estate or restaurant marketing field but they’re business is different so it doesn’t apply to them.
He goes on to say that if that’s the way they’re gonna think, they should’ve just sent their lowest paid employee to the seminar because even they could come up with the 50 reasons why what he’s talking about WON’T work.
Any loser can do that. And most do. That’s why they’re losers.
Then he goes on to say that the money and breakthroughs are found in thinking “How can I adapt this to my business?”
In NLP this is called Pre-Framing.
Before you make a request for anything from anyone you want to pre-frame them to see things in a resourceful way, a mutually beneficial way.
This makes is so much easier to get compliance.
November 6th, 2009 at 3:50 am
What is that old Biblical quote? “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before …
Ah well - you’ll probably find a way to work that anecdote into a future presentation! Pearls are pearls - they don’t need to be buffed in order to shine… I always read what you have to say, Bob.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Bob, I think Stephen said it best: “You can’t teach people whose minds are closed. The issue is theirs, not yours.”
I speak publicly and I teach, and if nothing else, I’ve learned that lesson over the years. There’s a reason you’re such a sought-after copywriter and consultant, Bob. I would imagine anyone asking a favor from you would know that and accept what you say at face value. It took some brass ones to ask a favor and then berate you, regardless. Just shows bad manners, in my book. Take a deep, cleansing breath and move on. Not worth your trouble.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
As much as this upsets you, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy. These self-limiting buffoons are no competition for marketers who are eager to learn useful information regardless of the medium.
I’m glad it’s a waste of time to convert the heathens. More for me.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:46 am
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November 9th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
That’s simply ridiculous.
It’s a sad state of affairs when these people cannot make the jump between offline and online. The concepts are similar and perfectly applicable.
I echo Mary’s comments above.
November 10th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Gee wiz! I’ve been relying on your direct marketing copywriting books and audios for tips, techniques and ideas to make my online copy better for ten years. The material has always seemed very relevant and helpful. Especially since direct marketing copy has traditionally been subjected to the same testing process that is available online.
The only differences I ever found were that online writing has to be tighter and shorter and that you have to think through your hyperlinking structure as you plan and write the copy. Good, persuasive writing transcends media.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
There are alot of people in marketing today that have no idea about how to market offline. If they started less than 10 years ago, they probably think that there is no such thing as offline marketing.
Internet marketing is great, but the fundamentals of all marketing come from the direct mail and direct response ads that great minds tested and used for 100 years before the internet was invented.
I kind of like the fact that so many marketers focus strictly with online methods. It makes sending out a direct mail letter so much easier today than it was 15-20 years ago. People don’t get much postal mail anymore, so its easier to cut through today.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:34 am
[…] argue website copywriting isn’t akin to direct mail copywriting, They make a point. Bob has a better point. I have another […]
November 21st, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Hello Bob,
I am shocked that your audience didn’t respond well to your offline strategies. I have to say you are the main reason I started to take Freelance Copywriting seriously. I have been marketing my business online for the past few years, learning as I grow. However, I sent out a simple postcard mailing(100) despite the fact that about 10 or so came back. So, 90 cards got delivered. As a result of that mailing, I got 5 Conversions. The mailing was just to get my prospects to take advantage of a Free 45 Minute Internet marketing consultation. And 2 of them are hot leads.
And I am a “young” marketer (28). I know I still have a lot to learn. But I know that it is really difficult to close a $5,000 sale over the Internet. These “young” marketers need to understand that they should use their website as a Lead Generation tool and use offline tactics to close the sale. But, who am I to say?