Buyer Beware: One Hit Wonders

WARNING: RANT AHEAD

I got another “great” offer today telling me how someone I’ve never heard of did this great and wonderful thing. Being the sucker that I am for a great deal, I went to the sales page.

“So and So Made $1497 in 72 hours and now is willing to share his secret”

Whoppee! It may sound good, but let’s look a little deeper.

1. IS THIS WORTHY OF A HEADLINE?

Frankly, I’ve made that much – over and over. But it never occured to me to make a headline of it. It’s called “doing business” and making a living.

So does that make me a bad marketer for not bragging on every little thing I do? Because if this is your “big deal” then you won’t last long in business. $1500 in 3 days is good, but unless it’s sustainable, you won’t even hit six figures this year.

2. IS THIS A ONE-TIME ACHIEVEMENT OR SOMETHING HE CAN DO DAY AFTER DAY?

I would challenge you that  ANYONE can make $1500 in 3 days. It’s a matter  of focusing efforts and putting all of your results into a short period of time. For ex- ample, you could do a 7-day build-up to  a big launch, then only offer it for 3 days. Assuming you involved some strong affili- ates, you could easily sell that amount in 72 hours.

But that model won’t work week after week. In fact, you can burn out your affiliates if you hit them up for one big deal after another, not to mention irritating their subscribers. There can only be just so many truly great deals per week.

3. CAN ANYONE ELSE REPEAT THIS SUCCESS WITH THIS “SYSTEM”?

A system is something that turns out pre- dictable and consistent results. Until a set of steps can do that time after time, regard- less of who is using it, it isn’t really a sys- tem. It’s an experiment.

So when someone offers to share their se- cret, that’s great. They will tell you what they did. If you are willing to settle for hearing their story, then you should con- sider it. But if you want to be able to use their experience and do what they did, then you need to be looking for reputable teach- ers who provide a system.

Here’s my advice: Ask yourself these ques- tions as you read a headline like this:

• Is this a one-time achievement or something that happens every 3 days? I would suggest it’s a one- time shot or it wouldn’t be in a headline.
• Could he do it again? If it’s not repeatable, you don’t care how he did it. It won’t work again.
• Can other people do the same thing? It’s one thing if one person can do it once, then do it again. But will it work equally well for other people?
• Can he teach it? Some people can do something themselves, but don’t have the ability to teach others how to do the same thing. Essentially they haven’t set up a system.
• Are you willing to do whatever it is he did to make it happen? You would be surprised at some of the lengths people will go to create a headline-worthly event. Be sure you are willing to stretch your prac- tices that far before you sign up to follow them.

With practice and these questions, you’ll avoid buying into the hype of the One Hit Wonders