A few months ago I subscribed to a bunch of coaches & course creators’ email lists.
So many of them say/do SUPER unethical stuff.
Some examples:
Putting “Re:” in their subject lines (implying we’ve had a conversation before).
Making super hype-y, obviously exaggerated claims.
Saying “The sale ends on Friday, no exceptions, you have to buy by then”… and then sending an email on Saturday saying “I’m extending the sale for the next 24 hours!”
You get the picture.
What they don’t realize is, every time they do something unethical, it costs them giant gobs of money.
Why? Because selling courses/coaching is about building long term relationships with people. Very few of us will spend $2,000+ to learn from someone we barely know.
If you did something shady and one of your friends found out, you’d lose a friend.
Same thing with your audience . Whenever you do something shady, you lose their respect.
And when you lose their respect, they don’t buy from you.
That’s why there are some studies that say that moral people actually make more money than immoral people.
Why? Because everybody trusts them, so they’re more willing to do business with them.
It’s not just science that says so. Some of the greatest and wisest American philosophers have said the same thing.
Warren Buffett constantly talks about how you only have one reputation — so you’d better not ruin it.
Or in fewer words, Justin Timberlake says “what goes around comes around”.
You are building a personal brand. Your reputation is EVERYTHING.
Don’t ruin it with cheap gimmicks.
P.S. I’m thinking of trying an experiment this week — I want to have a “fireside chat” on Google Hangouts on Friday evening where y’all can come and ask me marketing questions.
Is that something you’d enjoy? Let me know if so, and if I get enough interest I’ll do it!