Misleading Headlines & a Fed Up Cyper-Public

Does it never end? More and more I am noticing a barrage of either announcements or warnings or any number of slaps on the wrists about misleading headlines in email. And yet they continue. I think the best way for some people to learn their (hardheaded) lessons is to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Then, show them exactly what this deceit really does.

The vast majority of people who come to the Internet work tirelessly day in and day out. They have signed up for this program or that opportunity. Perhaps they’ve invented a product of their own Maybe they tried their hand at writing an ebook and are now excited to see how it will sell. What is the first thing they go to work on? Advertising, of course! The last thing anyone wants to see in return is some headline flashing across the computer screen pronouncing, “Your Paypal Payment”, “Your Pending Account”, “Your Account is Growing” or “Status Update: I Need Your Reply”. When the email is opened, it is nothing more than someone else hawking their wares. This is not only extremely disappointing, it leads to people’s fury. And rightfully so.

To me, this is no more than messing with someone’s emotions in the worse way. Just yesterday, I got a response from one of my advertising sources saying someone wanted to contact me about it. Guess what? They wanted to ‘introduce’ me to their own program. Something I had absolutely no interest in pursing. To add insult to injury, there wasn’t one mention about my own ad. Not one! If I ever DID become interested in that particular venue, do you think there’s a prayer I’d contact that person? Is it really too tough to figure out that the person working their fingers to the bone is anxiously awaiting to see what the efforts of their advertising has delivered?

What is someone trying to pull with misleading headlines? Why toy with other people by making their hearts momentarily leap for joy thinking that someone is responding to them? Can you see that now you have created your own credibility problem and there just might be email filters with your name written all over them? There’s creative and then there is out-and-out lies and deception. Sending me an email telling me I have just been sent $10 as a reward and then launching into a description of the dynamics of your program is deception. Alerting me as to an account status and then asking me to register for your program within 48 hours is deception. So what account are we talking about in the first place? Sending me yet another email and telling me I need to verify my pending status is a lie – and as far as I am concerned, you are through.

These are all as bad as autoresponders that keep asking me why I haven’t signed yet and what seems to be the problem. I haven’t signed because I don’t want it. I don’t need badgering. If it’s so swell, I’ll discover it – or I won’t. This, too, is deception because you probably started out tell me how little pressure was involved because what you are involved with is so good, it doesn’t need hype. Folks, I suggest you start paying attention to what you are sending out to your ‘awaiting public’. We are not seeing this barrage of ‘fed-up’ email for nothing. People are getting wise to you and if you continue you might as well do what Kenny Rogers suggests: Know when to fold up.

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