Any biz opp site that proclaims there's no selling involved always sets off the alarm bells. I first encountered this specious tactic a number of years ago, and even tried to convince myself of it, but really, it made NO SENSE. How, pray tell, is it NOT selling when someone hands you their money in exchange for goods or services that you offer?
That rather depends on who is paying you, why, and how. For instance, Affiliate Marketing is essentially an arrangement where you are getting paid by a vendor to send traffic to a sales page. You are not collecting money from the people you interact with (the "traffic"), and you are not even "closing the sale" (the sales page is doing so). CPA marketing can be even more clearly divided, when you are paid for "leads" (or even "clicks") rather than for sales.
In such cases, you are not even "selling" to the people who are paying you. They are soliciting a service (driving traffic) and you are providing it.
Effectively, you are looking at the difference between "marketing" and "selling". In brick and mortar businesses, the rule of thumb is that marketing gets the (potential) customers in the door, and selling gets them to the cash register and beyond.
And how the heck did this particular deception originate, and worse, become so widespread and prove to be so enduring?
Selling has a bad reputation. It conjures up images of Used Car Salesmen in loud jackets and other pushy (even frantic) individuals trying to part you from your money then and there. Most people, frankly, are not cut out for that kind of selling and even those who are capable of it often burn out. But a lot of non-sales types can function in a "marketing" capacity, using various (usually less uncomfortable) means to send people to the salesmen (human or virtual). If you are not directly asking people for their money, you can tell yourself (somewhat accurately) that you are not selling. That makes the "opportunities" more appealing and less stressful.
FWIW, that particular line dates back to the effective separation of marketing and sales in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
What I especially loathe is when they say, "It's not selling, it's sharing!", or words to that effect.
Again, they are framing the difference between marketing and selling, and trying to convince you that the opportunity in question is just marketing.
Is "article marketing" selling or sharing? How about posting a video on YouTube which (in addition to the entertainment) includes a pointer to a commercial website? Or providing your MySpace friends with a link (which happens to be an affiliate link) to a site that offers something you think they would be interested in? There are people who make six figures or more doing such "sharing" without ever asking those being "shared with" for a dime.
Oh, really? Why don't I just stroll into any bricks-and-mortar establishment, and help myself to anything I want without shelling out any gelt. After all, it's just "sharing", right?
Nope. OTOH, if they have a plate of "free samples" out and you take one,
they are sharing (and marketing).
Yes, I'm sure that would go over REALLY well with the management. I'll grant you, it would make an interesting experiment, but I for one have no desire to acquire a police record.
You have probably already participated in the relevant kind of "sharing". How many times have you seen such a place offer a discount, gift certificate, or the like when you "refer a friend" to their establishment?
That is the same kind of
sharing they are talking about.
Jorey
.
