|
PureBytes Links
Trading Reference Links
|
This flim-flam was really good. Goes like this:
1. Take one of your old cronies, a method/system vendor who regularly
appears at your informercial conferences to promote your mag and himself.
2. Print a small negative review of this person's latest self-promotion (in
this case, a book), in an obscure place in the back pages of the rag.
3. The next month, print in a prominent place near the front of the
magazine 2 glowing testimonials that take up more space than the original
review, reputedly from "ordinary people" who have made it good using the
method and expressing complete and naive puzzlement that anyone could so
completely misunderstood their beloved benefactor (the vendor.)
See the trick? Works better on people's unconscious need for being
included, validated, belonging than any ad or positive review could ever
accomplish. These testimonials are just the type of thing BW writes(!) for
his ads (same puffed-up praise of himself, same psycho-manipulative
inferences, etc. etc.), but they are placed here in a context that hides
the fact that they are ads. After all, they are "letters to the editor."
This is a masterpiece of subliminal influencing that, upon reflection, I
suspect was the deal from the very beginning.
Watch out and be aware,
David Cicia
At 02:16 PM 3/2/99 -0500, Ian Cunningham wrote:
>
>
>What you say is true. In a former life I was Art Director on several
>magazines. We worked closely with the sales department and I
>sat in on meetings where these deals were strategized.
>The truth of the matter is magazines live or die on advertising revenue.
>They give away subscriptions and the articles are merely filling for
>the ads. Advertising sales are highly competitive and cutthroat. A
>small magazine like Futures will make any deal to get Ad. dollars.
>The nearer the deadline to got to press, the better the deal. Advertiser's
>hold out until the last minute to get commission hungry Sales's Reps
>to give them testimonial articles etc., to piggyback their Ads.
>All part of doing business. Caveat Emptor.
>
>Ian.
><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>
>David Cicia wrote:
>
>>Last month Futures mag surprised alot of people by printing an honest
>negative review of the the latest crap self-promotion book from Bill
>Williams. ..... etc. etc.
|