Have You Been Hurt by Personality Marketing?

Any number of times we’ve found ourselves caught up in the “Prince Charming” fantasy of success when listening to one of the many charismatic Personality Marketers who promote from the stage or through teleseminars.
 
And, unconsciously we wanted to believe, and did, that we would receive all that was promised during their “offer.” So we pulled out our credit card and bought “the magic” only to discover months later—when our intelligence and wisdom clicked back in—that we’d bought into a largely limited or over-inflated program that didn’t come close to matching what we wanted or needed.
 
On a few occasions we were able to get our money back. On too many occasions we were . . .

 . . . out of pocket for something that never came close to what was promised. 
 
One of the great promises of the hard sell Internet marketing trainers is that you can build your business so that you never have to be involved personally. Whether it’s mini-websites, autoresponder driven membership sites, video courses with little or no connection with the creator, the point is to be as remote from the buyer as possible.
 
These programs are sold largely on the basis of the Personality of the provider. Big Personality. Big Promises. Big Price Tag.
 
It’s all about the money. 
 
We’ve learned that most people never return the products or programs that they buy, even if dissatisfaction runs high. Too busy. Too shy. Too worried about creating a fuss. So Personality Marketers gain little insight about the limitations of their offers compared with their promise.
 
That makes for an ever inflated sense of excellence, rather than a grounded caring for the people they serve. And that drives them to promote their offers with even more gusto, more charisma, more bravado and even more intense promise.
 
But what’s all too often lacking is integrity.
 
We’re not going to list all the occasions where we’ve run into miserable customer care, poorly delivered product, refusal to honor the satisfaction guarantee without calling us “out of integrity.”
 
That’s one of the reasons whye we”re developing our Soft Sell Marketers Association (will soon be open to the public) will have a Best Practices/Ethics section that will be discussed and reviewed from time to time. For the sake of our members, their buyers, and the culture at large, we’re going to stay alert to the difference between Charismatic Personality and Value, Integrity, and Truth.
 
Only then will Soft Sell Marketing stand on a solid foundation, represented by professionals who are spiritually committed to move the culture—through their work and through the vehicle of commerce—into the next phase of human excellence.

Because It’s all in the Authentic Connection,

Judith & Jim