I have absolutely no doubt that this article is going to cause a ruckus with some people. In fact, I can already see the hate mail coming. Well, that's okay. I can take the heat. A lot of what you're going to read here, about the "whole" truth is going to shock you. Don't say you haven't been warned.
Okay, so what exactly am I talking about when I say the "whole" truth? Well, the best way to explain it is with an example to start and then we'll get into the specifics of why things are done like this. Once you see the process, you'll understand the reasons behind it. At least after I explain them you will.
Let's take, as an example, that great commercial that Jerry Stiller is in. You know the one I'm talking about, with the checking account. He talks about how we're earning bupkis on our money and that by using this particular checking account, we can get five times the national average. That all sounds well and good until you realize that the national average is a joke and five times bupkis is STILL bupkis. But it's great advertising because they don't actually tell you what the interest rate is. They just say five times the national average.
It's what we call less than full disclosure. And you can look at just about any product or service being sold today and you'll find the same thing... less than full disclosure.
All of these "how to make money online" products that talk about all the money that you can make, and even show screen prints and videos of all the money THEY'VE made. It's all true. You CAN make a lot of money online. I'm living proof of it. But what they DON'T tell you is how much work you have to put in to MAKE that kind of money. That's always left off of the sales page.
Again, this is less than full disclosure. And a lot of people don't like this. They think it's unethical. They think it's slimy. They think these marketers should all be taken out to the back of a barn and shot. But what they DON'T understand is that...
It's NECESSARY.
Huh? What's that you say Wags? Marketers have to lie?
No, that's NOT what I'm saying. I'm saying that marketers have to hold back certain pieces of information about their product or service.
Before you get ready to lynch me, you might want to read the rest of this. There are two reasons why.
Reason number one is obvious. Full disclosure means less sales. Like it or not, if you tell people every little thing about your product, all the pros and cons in minute detail, prospects won't buy. There are several reasons for this that I will get into as part of reason two, but for now, suffice it to say, if you plan on full disclosure, you're going to lose money... lots of it.
Okay, so let's get into reason number two.
Reason number two is not so obvious but it is something that you will learn the more you get to know people. Prospects don't WANT to know the whole truth.
Think about it. When you were a little kid and got sick and your mother said to you, "Take your medicine, it will make you feel better" did you WANT her to tell you that it tasted like crap? I know I sure didn't. Yeah, I found out when I took it, but at least I took it. If she said to me, "This tastes so bad you're going to throw up" would I REALLY take the medicine? I somehow doubt it.
And you can apply this to just about any product or service out there. People don't want to know about all the problems they can have after buying their shiny new Lexus, even though it's been touted as the best thing on the planet on four wheels. We know there is a chance it can break down at some point, and probably will, and give us all sorts of headaches. But right now, we just want to drive that luxurious automobile.
Humans bury their heads in the sand over a lot things because the truth hurts. We don't want the WHOLE truth. Just tell us the parts that are going to make us feel better.
If my first info product that I bought told me that I would have to work 14 hours a day to become successful, would I have ever bought it in the first place? I seriously doubt it. Sure, I was disappointed when I found out that there was work involved in making money online, but making that money was important enough to me to actually DO the work.
Go on. Look at all the appliances and contraptions you have around your home. Write down all the problems you've had with them, or potential problems you COULD have with them and tell me how many of those you were told about when you bought them.
Truth in advertising only goes so far. Anybody who thinks differently is delusional. Nobody says, "This product does XYZ really great BUT you can have ABC happen to it or go wrong with it."
The ONLY products where they now HAVE to do this are medications because of the potentially deadly side effects. But no real estate agent is going to tell you that the new home you're thinking of buying just happens to have a running railroad in back of it unless you notice the tracks and ask. And even then, they might say, "Eh, it doesn't run very often."
Yeah, right. Been there, done that.
But then we probably wouldn't have bought this home that we love so much. And today, the railroad doesn't run anymore or hardly ever.
Point is, if you plan on telling your prospects everything, human nature being what it is, prepare to lose a lot of sales.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
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