Warren Buffett knows a thing or two about business…

There’s a golden rule of marketing that’s simply being ignored by most of the up-and-coming IM crowd at present, and it’s not doing the industry any good. In fact, if we don’t keep an eye on this disturbing trend, it could kill the goose!

The golden rule is: “Never disrespect the industry!” That’s right, you can challenge a competitor and you can compare prices, products and services; that’s a long established, honorable and well-proven marketing tactic. Supermarkets compare prices, pizza brands compare speed of service, soft drinks compare taste (who can forget the famous “Pepsi Taste Challenge”?). But no self-respecting marketer ever openly disrespects their own industry. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you!

It’s the Johnny-come-lately Internet Marketers that are missing the point and disrespecting the industry. To prove my point, below is a headline from an actual sales letter…

“In A Hype Filled Industry Full Of Bloated Promises, Weak Offers, Rehashed Crap, And A Whole Lotta Garbage…”

Be honest, if you were new to the Internet and new to the Internet Marketing industry, wouldn’t you be more than just a little bit skeptical of the whole sector if that was one of the first things you’d read about it! And that’s written by an Internet Marketing professional – someone who’s on OUR side!

Can you image American Airways saying, “We don’t kill as many passengers as other airlines!”? Or McDonald’s claiming, “Eating fast food over an extended period will probably kill you but it’s OK because we also sell salads now!”? Of course not, because once you start disrespecting the whole industry everyone in that industry loses; people turn against you and go elsewhere.

Be warned! As soon as there is a consensus of opinion against any industry sector it’s almost impossible to change that opinion – your name becomes dirt (ask any investment banker right now). These days, due to social media, this is doubly problematic; if the Internet audience turns against us social media could ruin us in just a few days. Think about it.

These days, the pen (or the keyboard) is far mightier than the two-edged sword that could cut off the mouse-clicking hands that feeds us!

You never hear the old school IM big guns disrespecting the industry that has rewarded them so well. Long time IM professionals like Frank Kern, Rich Scheffren or Marlon Sanders don’t put our sector down; they compare their products like-for-like with whatever else is out there. This is because their training was in pre-internet marketing. Traditional, direct marketing would never use negative tactics.

I’m not blaming newly established gurus, such as Alex Jeffreys (writer of “Guru’s Nightmare” about the fall of the IM establishment), Alex has too much respect for the gurus who have helped him grow rich through the proven tactics and fair strategies this industry has prospered from using.

Like all the successful, established, global industries that Internet Marketing aspires to be one day, Alex uses message is a positive one. The car industry isn’t negative; it never mentions its record of increasing car prices, gas prices, accident rates, in-car or pedestrian fatalities. Collectively, the industry’s message is positive. It talks of improved miles-per-gallon consumption, increased safety, and sexy aerodynamic designs.

No respected industry openly disrespects itself or delivers a negative message. Perhaps there are just too many amateurs in our industry. Here’s another example of amateurish “trash talk” marketing…

“Does watching the same select group of people rake in fist-fulls of cash just make you sick to your stomach? Are you ready to toss your PC into oncoming traffic because of all the weak offers that get shoved down your throat every day?”

Who is making these hype-filled, bloated promises, weak offers and re-hashed crap? According to the Internet marketer that wrote this copy, Internet marketers are!

So doesn’t that imply that most Internet Marketers are disingenuous? And most Internet Marketing is, generally, dishonest?

This kind of “us against them” marketing is effective but dangerous. It’s a flawed and reckless tactic that can only benefit a small percentage of marketers over a very short time span. Once the damage is done it will take a very long time to repair, if it can EVER be repaired!

As we all know, reputation is everything these days – and one’s reputation is a very fragile and easily ruined.

Please, please, please, don’t ‘dis’ the industry, there’s just too much to lose. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.