Everyone is a Liar?

I love to study human nature and psychology. My interests have run from Jay Abraham, Gary Halbert to the seminal book "Clambake Orgy" (that was passed onto me by a football player while I was on a recruiting trip in High School).This is a book about subliminal suggestive advertising. This all before College. (Yeah I was sick). I later got into and learned NLP in various ways. So it should be no surprise as I have over the years shuned traditional "used car" sales tactics as I think the consumer is more hep. (Notice I didn't say smarter as foods that are full of crap would not be sold to Americans by the bushel full and called natural if consumers were smarter).

"And I can’t tell the difference between ABC News, Hillstreet Blues
And a preacher on the Old Time Gospel Hour"
                                                           Bono/U2

I know that we are becoming immune to ads and sales tactics. I recently read that we get hammered by 3,000 selling messages a day. Advertisers are even smacking our children with their marketing as the five year olds are running to their parents begging and pleading for the latest Lego set (I am speaking from experience here ). Just wait till these kids come of age. They will be so immune to ads it will be silly.

As Baby Boomer's we have the money to spend. We have had the reins but frankly as a whole, we generally are pretty poor at figuring this Web thing out. But look at the general skepticism we have about any ads. We are the ones that ushered in the Do Not Call List, and the Can Spam Act ( I still get calls and I still get spam)

Can you imagine what the next group of lads called Gen Y will do?

As I have said before, as the Broadband goes up so goes down your useful information on your website registrations. Why is that? The reason is that as the public gets on the web and into broadband the novelty goes away and they go into a defensive posture.

Between this advertising noise is a natural wall that we people put up. Now add your sales persons hat. Can you can almost see the bricks getting put up before your eyes?

And despite the pleadings of the Seth Godin elite, marketers infiltrate what  is seemingly pristine and inpenetrable online mediums. Guestbook Spam, Forum Spam, Comments Spam. Facebook, Linked In, and of course the king of Social Spam, MySpace is wrought with phenomenal infiltrations as well as very poor social marketing. Between all this overt and covert advertising, is it any wonder we all feel somewhat violated?

I found  a recent poll taken by the http://americanpulse.bigresearch.com  very compelling

"When asked if they ever engaged in petty theft, 23.5% say yes. Men appear to have “stickier fingers” then women (31.9% vs. 15.6%)."

Almost 25%, that is 1 out 4 people you and I come across are ripping someone off!

Everyone lies

This is universal truth. It is the human condition. Don't believe me? Do you have a habit you wished you could break? There you go. Every time you engage this habit you tell yourself a little fib that "it is OK, just this one time." I am not saying it is OK, but it is human nature.

Now just to balance this out to prove that humans have a good side too:

"50.9% would stop and help someone being attacked…27.1% say it depends on if a weapon was involved. 20.2% wouldn’t stop, but would call for help."

And don't the "untruths" seem like they are getting worst? 

We have all this Political and Celebrity frenzy barrage that assaults us daily, seemingly sucking the intellect out of us.

• Our Sports Heroes are Thugs
• Bush lied
• Kerry did not deserve his Purple Hearts
• Some Senator looked for favors in a bathroom
• Priests and Kids
• Us Magazine too tame and slow? Go to Perez Hilton.com
• CNBC V FoxNews

Within each political side is a set of lies to back it up. And just when you thought your side is the more pristine one of your side does something really, really bad.  So the politicos argue about whose bad deed is worst.

Does our lives as Americans suck that much, that we need to be drawn into this junk?

How To Solve The Worlds Ills

Someone once told me the secret to wealth is to solve as many peoples problems as possible. Find a big fat problem and create a solution. Tony Robbins says to find your prospects pain for them and heal it.

And isn't the search for truth pervasive? I am not meaning such grandiose searches such as the solution in Iraq or God.

I mean look at how you get traffic to your website? That person who wrote in a few keyword phrases into a search engine is looking for an answer. He or she is on a journey of faith that starts at an engine that takes them to websites that they hope will give them some sort of answer to a nagging question. Some call it an information hunt. In reality it is a search for your truth. Your brand. Will you fit into their neat little box called stereotype? Or will you thru words, take them to a new reality? So that the obvious answer is that they have to do business with you?

This my friend is your opportunity. People find it refreshing when your business is transparent and without a sales agenda. I am not saying give it all away. I am saying let your defenses down. Show you are a real human being.

I think the vast majority of people are so immune to traditional ads anymore that they all but do not work. However, a real personality is Golden. A Mission Statement that unfolds thru a blog or website is a potent tool.

We have all been in the sales box. And it is a horrible feeling. Something is wrong with a sales situation where you feel we have been had.

How I Bought A House

I walked into an open house with my wife and young children in tow. The agent leaned against the large open kitchen and and as we entered she immediately smiled a real smile. She then asked my kids if they would like to play in the play house in the back. The kids sensed her sincerity, they smiled and said yes. They were out of her hair for the rest of the showing. But it was real. How do I know? She bent down to the kids and treated them like humans.

You can always tell someone for who they are when you put kids in front of them. Kids are the best at that. And your prospects, and your readers are like my kids in this story.

Comments

[Mind Control Techniques]

I agree with your comments about the constant bombardment with spam and telemarketers and people becoming immune to these types of advertisements. However, because the 'net-generation' has an inexperience with in-person advertisers this makes us especially vulnerable to in-person advertising. Technology has isolated people and young people lack an understanding of social behaviors that influence others. Thus the door to door salesman will slowly come back into existence.

[Tim O'Keefe's SEO tips]

I agree. I often tell people to get back to direct mail. Noone else is doing it.

[Becky Strome]

Most people who are about to lose homes have purchased way above their means to begin with, why should the Federal Government bail them out. Most of the younger generation feel they should have (NOW) what it took their parents years to pay for.

[Erik - Park City Real Estate Guide]

Great suggestion about the value of being transparent in your interactions with people. This is especially difficult to convey over the internet, but when you can pull it off, it's magic!

[mike paul]

If this was Obama who's charicter was in question the NY Times would never slander his name.Let us look to who is best suited to lead this wonderful contry,and let the people decide who is right to run this nation. frankly i think all papers and reporters should wait untill after the grneral election to start thire smir jobs. not during. Shame on NY Times.