“It’s like crack cocaine,” he said.
We’re living through a new reality as marketers and affiliates. Ultra-low barriers to entry have dramatically increased competition to be heard and make money.
I was chatting to a friend who runs a successful blog in the “make money online” niche.
Names of the guilty were never discussed. We both respect and value client privacy.
He had been referred to a cohort of clients who had all been relying on gimmicks, fake urgency, and ‘scream louder than the next guy’ tactics in order to make affiliate sales.
For years they had been pushing sales promos non stop down the throat of their followers.
The very first thing every single one told my friend was that they wanted off that hamster wheel and free from the reliance on fake scarcity and sales promos to keep their affiliate income afloat.
However, the moment anything got difficult, every single one of them defaulted back to that model. “It’s like crack cocaine,” he told me.
That’s kinda sad.
But such is the pull of our natural bias towards the easy and quick and shortcuts and “fill in the blank” solutions.
I’m no one special. But I’ve been smart enough to earn my first dollar online in 2013 and to earn a full-time independent living online in 2019.
I’ve done a few things right (and a lot wrong), so I’ve seen a whole lot of the good, the bad, and the ugly. The evolution of nearly a decade online.
And what I’ve learned is that as humans we almost always prefer the easy route.
We are pulled towards the shortcuts. No wonder the popularity of the overnight success stories.
Yet easy is (almost) always the wrong route.
Easy leads you to opt for a fast processed-meal instead of cooking yourself a steak.
Easy leads you to opt for a binge-watching session on Netflix instead of working on your online business.
Easy leads you to opt for the latest tactics that will be useless in a matter of months instead of relying on timeless strategies and values.
“We gravitate towards the in-vogue, the secrets, the loopholes, and the sexy tactics over fundamental strategies.”
ANDRE CHAPERON
The pull towards the promise of easy and fast over the hard and slow.
But the thing with these tactics is that eventually, the persuasion stops working.
Blunt force persuasion has a very short “half-life.”
Who would have thought that pushing your offers down the throat of your followers was not the way to go? (My wife says that I don’t do passive-aggressive very well)
The solution is to adapt, to change (or slowly but surely die out). CHANGE being the constant; the inevitable law of life after all.
For the past decade “shouting louder” and the use of “fake scarcity and urgency” have become the staple “business model” for affiliate gurus and other Opportunity Seekers. The status quo behavior of those seeking 10K a month online income.
It’s really been the ONLY way to quickly scale from zero to hero on Twitter and IG. From no income at all, to earning 5 figures months selling affiliate offers.
And every guru worth their salt in our little corner encourage us to push our offers in the face of our followers every single day. It’s called hustling.
It has become a badge of honor.
A rite of passage.
A requirement to get into the hallowed “Hustlers Club.”
But I can proudly say I’m not a member of The “Hustlers” Club. Early on I chose to stay out.
Not to drink the Kool-Aid. Not to choose Easy.
Instead I chose Harder.
I went the other (longer harder) way. I choose to zig when the Shout Louder & Use Tactics Marketers zagged.
I’m not saying this because we’re better than anyone else. Hell, no. Not at all. If anything, we’re the dummies who turned our noses up at easy money and huge following.
(I didn’t know it then, but I would avoid the “iceberg” that is now sinking so many businesses.)
For me it was just a personal choice, just like others who choose to worship the Gary Vee of this world and think they need to hustle 27 hours a day to succeed.
Neither being right or wrong.
Simply a matter of choosing between this or that.
Simple doesn’t mean that it is a decision without consequences.
And now, the inevitable is happening.
Much like the dark story arc in Game of Thrones…
Just like the bursting of the financial meltdown in 2008 and the soon to happen financial crash following the Corona Virus Lockdowns
The “Shout Louder & Fake Scarcity and Urgency” bubble has a puncture, and it’s hemorrhaging air. Change is happening. And it’s coming whether you agree with me or not.
