A group of online marketers to which I belong are into Ethical Marketing.
Ethical Marketing is basically about being honest and truthful about what you are doing. We despise the buzz and hype that you often get from the so-called "gurus" of Internet Marketing.
We've all been there chasing the dream - we buy the latest ebook or video package in the hope that it is the magic bullet that finally gets us earning money on the Internet. Of course, that magic bullet doesn't exist. The gurus give you a lot of information, but there's always something missing, or you need something that they don't provide, so you can't put their plan into action.
Most of us in the group can see through the hype. We know the tricks that marketers play with words to get people to buy. We also know the clever scripting techniques that can tell the potential buyer how many of that "limited edition" product remain.
And this is where the subject of my post comes from. If you're going to set up a limited edition offer - tell the truth. If the first 100 copies of your product are available at half the regular price, then don't sell 500 copies, or all the copies, at the lower price.
I came across one example of that today. The copy read that "We're only going to allow 50 people to gain access to this information. Once those 50 copies are sold, this page will disappear forever".
Just above the "Buy now" button, the copy read "Copies remaining", and under that, a large, flashing 4.
Just to see how true this was, I bought a copy of that ebook. (There's an 8-week money-back guarantee, so if it's rubbish, I'll get my money back)
I just returned to that sales page, and guess what? You got it! It still said that there were 4 copies remaining.
I suspect that will remain true tomorrow, next week, and even next month when he's sold his thousandth copy.
Be honest with your customers. You'll get found out eventually, and you completely lose their trust and respect for you.
