“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” – and you’ll find plenty in your in-box

Why I don’t believe for a split second that this man was telling the truth – and nor should you

If you haven’t received a few emails like this. I’ll be amazed.

It is headed “Web Listing” – which didn’t exactly set the tired Bird pulse racing – then reads:

Hi,

My name is Alex and I am an Online Strategist.

I’ve been tracking the success of your website while doing some research on your industry—I’m impressed with your company, but there are some real opportunities for growth that you currently are missing.

Are you interested in several proven strategies to use content and social media to drive relevant traffic to your site? In 20 minutes I can show you how to fuel your brand and generate more revenue from search engines and social networks. This is a $500 value free of charge. I’d like to follow up about this with a quick phone call. Can I call you this week to discuss your campaign?

But I would be even more amazed if Alex really had looked at my website and spotted these opportunities. And not even one tenth as amazed as if I actually got anything worthwhile out of talking to them.

The truth is such messages are sent out by the thousand. They are spam, aimed at people who know little or nothing about search engines and such and fall for this flim-flammery.  And they work pretty well.

I would love to know precisely – and quickly – what Alex the strategist found so impressive about my site, because that is just flattery. And I’d ask what exactly he was going to do to “fuel my brand”. And I wonder which campaign he was talking about.

If you spoke to Alex you can fairly safely bet the initials SEO would come up at some point. This is your cue to run a mile. The days when you got a good ranking by clogging your prose with all the right key-words have long gone.

As far as possible Google simply looks for good content. And if you know what you’re talking about, you don’t need anyone to provide that. You just do what Google tells you to.

Yes; they want to make money out of you. But they know that this will only happen if you do better. The days when they were unbearably arrogant are fading fast. The faster Facebook and the others get better, the more helpful Google will get.

If you are one of those who can’t write or think of anything interesting to say I suggest a swift career change. Maybe you could become a “strategist”. After all, everyone else no matter how piddling their job seems to be nowadays.

But if you can write and have something good that you’d like people to buy, AskDrayton.com may be just the ticket for you.

And this is a very good time to improve. You’re probably too busy to lie awake worrying, but there are many economic danger signs. And they are going to stifle your ability to make a living if you don’t get better at what you do.

The US is divided as never before, still printing funny money.  The UK has one of the world’s highest levels of national debt **.  Germany – the powerhouse of Europe – is floundering. The entire EU teeters on the brink of a third recession. Nobody knows what to do about the Islamic maniacs who threaten our oil supplies. China’s economy is slowing down. Australia – which escaped the last 8 years’ slump – is suffering because their minerals sold to China created an artificial boom.

I have survived two rotten recessions. I started my most successful business in the ’70’s recession, when things were so bad we had a 3-day week.  We didn’t do well because my partners and I were brilliant. We did well because we knew more that our competitors and we promoted like crazy.

** When politicians talk about the deficit “reducing” did you realise this is not the debt we all owe. It is the rate at which that debt is growing. Things are getting worse – but not as quickly as they were.

Don’t you think this is a pretty good time to improve your marketing knowledge and abilities? That is how AskDrayton.com helps you.

 

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

1 Comment

  1. Lita

    Dear World Leaders, Please help the children in Mozambique, they need voacinctians against diseases because they don`t have the money to pay to treat their children. If you don`t help the children in Mozambique they have a bigger risk of dying of having a horrible disease.There are about 8 million children around the world in places like Africa and India who die from these diseases because they don`t have the vaccines. In my opinion I don`t think the children should be treated any differently to how we are treated when we are ill. Donate now! Yours Sincerely Kathrine Daley

    Reply

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