Posts Tagged ‘unethical marketers’

I just finished reading a post entitled “A Friend Asked Me To Warn You…” by Ken McArthur, a prominent marketer who is well-known for being an upstanding, nice guy throughout the internet marketing world.  You can read the post by clicking here.

I was sorely disappointed by this post for a number of reasons.

First, I dislike it intensely when a marketer uses misleading subject lines and headlines in order to deceive people into clicking a link. When they say that even bad publicity is good publicity, “they” are wrong. If this post had been selling something, I would have refused to purchase it based solely on the deception.

Second, I was truly disappointed by the content. The opening sentences had me believing that Ken was finally going to warn his followers and revoke his endorsement of a particularly unsavoury character. I’ve emailed him privately about the matter, and most experienced and connected marketers are aware of the person’s lack of integrity, but only through “back channels”.

Sadly, these top marketers continue to ignore the problem, insisting that it’s not for them to say anything… that the new marketers will learn on their own.

But at what expense?

Ken posted a second blog post: “Controversy Or Communication?” where he elaborated on the original post further. You can read it by clicking here. I posted a lengthy comment there as well.

What’s your opinion?

Are you selling your integrity to maintain your popularity with the “Big Boys”? Promoting questionable products and marketers regardless of their ethics or the value of their products? Letting your followers “find out for themselves” about unethical marketers instead of speaking up and providing true direction for them?

I’m interested in hearing your point of view.