I see a lot of people who are just starting out in the Internet marketing field that are faced with a choice. On one side lies the “Do What Works” school of thought. Most people end up here, and why not? After all, the stuff works, and our goal is to make money, right?
Not so fast! Our goal SHOULD be to make money AND provide a valuable service to people. Remember, we are making money from people; we’re not just plucking it from some magical “work from home” tree that’s growing out there somewhere on the Internet. It’s easy to forget the “People” when you sit in your home office all day as you work from home, yet if it weren’t for “People” clicking on links and buying stuff from you, you would not have a business.
And since taking care of people comes long before we can begin to make money, there is another school of thought that we have to consider: Do What’s Right, or Take Care of People. Or as it was stated about 2,000 years ago:
…However you want people to treat you, so treat them… — Matthew 7:12a, NASB
Some things are clearly wrong. It would be wrong to take your money and not deliver a purchased product, for example — that’s pretty obvious. Other areas are not quite so clear, though. Should you use a lead generation service for your marketing email (I don’t think it’s right because people don’t like to receive unsolicited email, regardless of what the Terms of Service say on the web site where they gave up their email. Besides, how many of those opt-in forms even have a link to the web site’s Terms of Service anyway?). And what about pop-up windows (for the record, God and the Bible are silent on the subject… 
)? People don’t like them, but marketers claim that they increase sales, so should we use them (for the record, Tom is also silent on the subject but reserves the right to judiciously use them in the future…)?
Of course, these aren’t the only issues. What about taking advantage of search engine loopholes to make a quick buck? Quickly creating and selling products to take advantage of a news event or natural disaster? Forced continuity? Just for the record, while I won’t comment on the first two, I most emphatically do NOT recommend Forced Continuity EVER, under ANY circumstances!. And if you do, I hope that each and every one of your subscribers complains to the FTC about your actions. And I hope that link makes it easier to do so!
Thankfully there are a few things we can do to help strike a healthy balance between What Works and What’s Right:
- There’s a large intersection between Doing What Works and Doing What’s Right. In other words, many marketing tactics fall into both areas. These are the techniques that you should be foucsing on.
- If you’re not sure, find yourself a good group of ethical marketers where you can ask. I don’t think you’ll find this on a “free” forum; instead, you should join a paid membership site, like Dennis Becker’s Earn 1K A Day Membership Site (aff.). Even there, you’ll run into people at both ends of the spectrum, but “both ends” will politely and intelligently discuss the issue, and if you’re like me, you’ll see things from a different perspective when it’s all said and done.
- Oftentimes you know what’s right and what’s wrong without asking anybody but are looking for somebody to tell you that “what’s wrong is OK”. Instead of taking responsibility for your actions, you’re looking for an excuse to take the “easy wrong” instead of the “hard right”. Don’t fall into this temptation! Do what’s right, regardless of the cost, because you will eventually pay the price for doing what is wrong (and will reap the rewards for doing what is right).
Let me encourage you to do What Works, but only if it also falls into the What’s Right category. I think it’s the only way to truly build a lasting business.
