Huckster by definition:
n. One who uses aggressive, showy, and sometimes devious methods to promote or sell a product.
v. To promote or attempt to sell (a commercial product, for example) in an overaggressive or showy manner.
Now that we have that definition out of the way, let’s get to the meat of this post!
A few days ago, I was on a webinar talking about “social media tactics” on how to use platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. The webinar was put on by someone I have come to respect and admire, but I was so flustered by the end of the webinar, I just needed to write something about it.
I was enjoying the content, and even picked up a golden nugget or two, but about 45 minutes in the information it went from good social media practices, to “we’ll teach you how to game the system, get hundreds, if not thousands of followers every day, and well show you how to do it while you sleep!” In other words… automation!
Ugg, anything automated in social media (except for maybe a couple of exceptions) is complete and utter BS! Add on top of that, people were asked to spend (at the end of this particular webinar) a lot of money paying these “trainers/gurus” on how to learn to game the system, automate their social existence, and in my opinion fail in this world we call social media!
At the end of this presentation, I got the typical Huckster promo… “but wait, there’s more. If you buy now, we’ll not only train you to be a guru, but we will also throw in our 3 ebooks, and give you 1 hour of personal coaching… all for the low low price of $x.xx” you get my drift right?
I do not have a problem with these type of webinars, nor do I have a problem with training people on how to use social media, but if you are going to offer a course of any kind don’t do it with hype, smoke and mirrors. Don’t just sell your prospects on how they can have 50,000 followers in 3 months, and it will all be done while they sleep, teach your students how to do social media the right way!
Social media is indeed that… social. You can’t win by gaming your number of followers. People already on twitter can smell these techniques like a fart in the car, and they either #1 do not follow you back #2 are on an auto follow system and do not pay attention to you anyway, or #3 report you as spam.
It is funny to see how so many social media “guru’s” are applying the old traditional media tactics on twitter etc. They figure the more eye balls, or impressions you get, the more sales will eventually follow. And maybe that is true to an extent, but is that the route you want to take? Do you want to be “that guy” or “that company”? Social media is not a newspaper, TV or radio commercial, or even a billboard for that matter. Just because people may follow back your mega automated account does not mean they are listening or paying attention to you, your brand or your message.
Years ago, in our family business where I handled all our advertising, I would have reps come in from every media telling me how many subscribers they have, how many drive by impressions a billboard will get, how many listeners the radio station has, how many readers their particular publication has, what their demographics of all of the above is… well woop dee freaking doo man! In social media if people are not looking, listening or paying attention your message goes unheard… PERIOD!
So, to the hucksters selling this BS bill of goods, you are just taking money from the uneducated, teaching them bad black hat tactics, and just ruining the reputation for what is, arguably one of the best ways to market yourself and your business… social media! So STOP IT already!
To the audience or consumers of these hucksters… don’t buy into the hype, the automation or how easy it is. Building your brand in social media is hard work, and takes time. You get back from it what you put into it. Put in the time, and you will get the great results you desire.
So, you want to do social media the right way? Here you go! And I won’t charge you $999! (assuming you have a killer product, service or content.)
- Care
- Listen
- Care
- Engage
- Repeat
Find the tools and networks that will work best for you while applying the 5 steps above! And if I can be of assistance in helping your decide where to get started, you know where to find me!
Now… go get to work!
Feel free to leave a comment below… would love your feedback!
Until next time…
Doc
This is so true. So many metrics are created to create a false sense of value, simply in an effort to justify paying someone for nothing. Most ROI calculations are based on false assumptions, since traditional advertising cannot be accurately measured. You don’t know accurately how many people read or watched your ad, and certainly don’t know how many of them gained the intention to buy because of it. But social media should be direct interaction, just like you’re saying. Follower numbers, fans, etc. mean nothing.
There is only one metric on twitter, and that is your @replies. If no one is talking to you, you’re failing. If fans aren’t singing praises on your facebook page, it doesn’t matter how many people claim to be a fan. These tools are incredible ways to be authentic and communicate. Businesses must understand that it doesn’t matter how many millions of people are on twitter, reading the NY Times, or watching NBC, what matters is how many people are loyal customers who not only choose your business first, but who tell their friends about you.
No auto-follow program and black-hat tactics will ever make someone a real fan of your business. Thanks for the post Doc!
.-= Nick´s last blog ..A CLOSED sign is the same as being out of stock =-.
You are right on the money my friend!
It just amazes me how so many of these hucksters suck money from the people who are eager to learn, and then assume since they paid the $999 course fee that it must be true and the right way to do things. Maybe it should not amaze or surprise me… after all, in almost any business, there seems to be a huckster of some sort selling their snake oil product. The sad thing… people buy it!
The absolute saddest part is when these unsuspecting folks buy what the huckster sells and then implements what they teach! The damage they do to their brand along the way could be something they can not fix.
Thanks for the comment!
Doc
i myself have attended these “huckster” webinars as you call them and sadly it’s all too true. You’re ot blowing steam. It’s true! Even worst is you join these webinars, they give you very little good content then pitch you a line about “get “xx” and “xx” for “xx” dollars and we’ll do “so and so” for you”. It’s all to common. In the end this is what marketers refer to as list building.
@Milia – Very true indeed. Lists do not matter if the content you push is crap or me, me, me.
Thanks for the comment!
Doc
Great post. Companies are doing this right now… and when they’re failing, they’re saying “Social Media doesn’t work”.
@Will – Yup… very true, and very sad!
Hopefully we (the good guys) can help these companies see that the bill of goods they were sold was a bad investment, and show them that through hard work and hustle social media, when done properly, can be the best investment they ever make!
Thanks for the comment Will! Much appreciate it!
Doc
Wow… I could not agree more! I have been preaching this for over a year. I have been hitting Twitter HARD for about a year and a half, and have made about 2,000 connections with others. About 200 to 300 are people I stay in constant contact with. I’ve posted over 9,000 tweets during this time. But when I see new followers who have posted 500 tweets, but have 10,000 or 15,000 followers, I put them on IGNORE! There is no way you can build a quality following that fast, and there is no benefit to building a list artificially. I’ll take 100 people that I have personally met over 5,000 generated from an auto-follow program ANY DAY… and I guarantee you that the first group would be more valuable to a business in terms of potential clients than the artificially built group. EXCELLENT POST! You have a new fan!
.-= Carlton Flowers´s last blog ..The CZ Marketing Report – Hot Insider Edition =-.
@Carlton – Thanks for the great comment! You are right on the money.
Nice work over on your blog by the way. I like the video you are doing. Moving to some video myself here very soon!
Thanks again,
Doc
The only people who benifit from these “huckster webinars” are the guru’s and the one interviewing the guru’s. Unfortunately the little guy/girl wanting to make guru-like money gets the short end of the stick because it was a list building event for the guy interviewing the guru and just another marketing pitch for selling the guru’s crap.
I hate seeing/hearing things like this, though the frequency with which they appear is increasing. People are always looking for a way around the basic business golden rule: people buy from people they like.
You’re right… If no one is listening, it doesn’t matter what you say. And I love your 5 steps, too!
.-= Mandy Vavrinak´s last blog ..About Economic Development Marketing (Place Marketing) =-.
Thanks for the comment Mandy… much appreciated.
Doc