Ten Things Many Marketing Consultants Need To Quit Doing.

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I’m a writer and speaker. At least I do both and with more skill than the average person. But I’m not John Grisham or John Maxwell either. Many people, some of you reading this, are in the same boat.

You’re trying, like me, to get people to buy your first or fourth book, working the networks for speaking gigs and offering to show up on someone’s podcast. In other words, you’re trying to figure out how to get past the thousands, even millions of others doing the same stuff and earn some money doing it.

So when an expert comes along online with a can’t-fail program to help your book reach Best Seller status, get you speaking opportunities on stages all over the country for big money or bring in high roller clients, you want to check them out. You listen to their free webinar, download their front-end gift of best ideas and even sign up for ongoing emails, updates and more freebies.

And I can say that I’m confident there are many resourceful, talented, energetic leaders out there who are willing to help the rest of us move forward, expand our reach and become successful. I have several who I go back to because they don’t over promise or under perform. They’re realistic about their goals and seem interested in considering mine.

But there seem to be a large cache of entrepreneurs who all went to the same seminars or conference on how to do what they do. And while they may be sincere and successful, I find myself running away and frankly irritated by their seeming lack of integrity.

So here are ten things I wish they wouldn’t do and which make me question whether they can ever really help me:

1. Quit yelling. I know you’re excited and don’t want to be boring and dull in your presentation but you don’t need to shout for me to hear you or respond. Many of you act as though you drank two Red Bulls a minute before your presentation. Enthusiasm is great, but zaniness is obnoxious.
2. Stop questioning our commitment if we don’t jump in and do your program with all our time and money. You like to ask whether we’re ready to invest in ourselves and are we committed to success or not. Why not let us answer that and live our own lives giving as much to our endeavor as WE want to, not what you demand. And if someone has to be involved full-time to make it, then just say that up front and some of us will leave you alone.
3. Speaking of money, Quit over-inflating the value of each segment of your offer so that the amount you charge us sounds unbelievably low. Since when are your Ten Great Ideas to Get Your Book In Bookstores worth $397. (And why do the values all end with a 97?) Value is what WE think of something, not you. Tell us the damn price and if you’re giving us a discount, great.
4. Be honest during your webinar. My main hangup here besides value inflation is when you repeat a webinar (a funnel, right?), we’re still supposed to get excited about the hundreds of people from all over the world who are tuning in. Then you tell us to add our name or response to the chat and of course we never hear or see our entries unless we are part of your initial segment. It’s not live, right? Stop. That’s not being honest and we really don’t care who else is listening no matter where they’re from or how famous you are.
5. Keep your promises about communication and connection. Many of you make it sound like you’ll call us or have one of your best experts take a personal interest in us. The problem? It doesn’t generally happen until we pay our money and even then the results can be sketchy. Yes I get that you and your team only have so much time, but if you can’t do something, then say so and don’t make phony promises.
6. Admit that you are the exception, not the rule. Of course, there will be people who love you and your program so much that they”ll do anything for you and with you. Good for them. I’m sure you have superstars who you hope will lead to hundreds of people who want to emulate them. However, be willing to tell the whole story. Have some people give testimonials about how they didn’t hit home runs and make fortunes. Let us know that people of all backgrounds, commitments, time and other resources are still respected and of interest to you and your team.
7. A related issue is . . . Quit dropping names and only inviting the super-successful people to speak to your listeners and followers. So many of you act as though any of us will soon be friends and associates of the biggest names in writing or speaking. You are, so why shouldn’t we, right? We don’t care who you know as much as how successful YOU and others like us have been.
8. Stop letting anybody into your program just because they have the money. If your group is that exclusive then how about having a form of vetting that goes beyond finances.
9. Shorten your presentations. You may think that most of us have an hour or more to listen to you tell us all the details of your program and say several things over and over. (I like the groups that are at last putting the text out there as an option to listening to you or someone drone on and on.) In fact, I find that some of the most boring presenters are ones who are supposed to be helping us be better communicators.
10. Admit that you do a lot of baiting and switching even though you open many of your presentations with free things. Most of the best ideas, most important topics and greatest insights hinge on a payment of some kind. And some of the presenters don’t even tell you the cost until you click on another link at the END of the video. Really? I’ll say it again. If you’re running a business there needs to be income. But tell us that upfront and how much. Don’t even hint or tease that there’s something free or reasonable available when it really isn’t.

Are there people out there who can help the average, inexperienced writer, speaker or other entrepreneurs? Of course. Are a good number of them honest, helpful and engaging? Yes. But be ready for those who have graduated from the school of hype who in the end may not have much to offer that you can’t do on your own.