Comments

Ahhh, the power of collaborative marketing . . . Andrea Lee and others are doing a conference on this very thing in New York in May. http://www.superconference-2006.com/

Posted by Nellie Moore at April 19, 2006 8:15 AM

Thanks - a free trip to San Diego - I'll take it!

Posted by Sean at April 19, 2006 8:32 AM

I expect you to jog that far Sean :-)

Posted by Trevor at April 19, 2006 8:38 AM

Curious, I clicked-across and read - becoming very tempted... until I hit all those 'bonus gifts' - at which point I hitched-up my skirt and headed-away.

For me, it's too much like the manner in which many Network Marketing-oriented offers are pitched.

Posted by gulliver at April 19, 2006 9:33 AM

Been a while since I put on my curmudgeon shirt, but I'm with gulliver on this one. I never (NEVER) trust anyone who will "give" me the secret to happiness. I really, really, never trust anyone who promises to "give" me the secrets to success, happiness, and a fulfulling life--especially anyone with perfect hair, perfect teeth, and 'Piled-Higher-and-Deeper' after their name (an unusually high percentage of PHDs in my family, so I know that someone can have a right to be called Doctor and still be an idiot and/or a charlatan). You will notice that the deal was promoted with Tom Peters front-and-centered, not the other also-rans who make up the majority of the "free" stuff. Read each item closely. You will find that many of them are already available for free and some are email subscriptions (JUST what we need--more email).

I'd love to go to San Diego, though. ;-)

Posted by Mike at April 19, 2006 9:45 AM

I'm with Gulliver and Mike. My late beloved Dad always told me there is no such thing as a free meal - Dad was usually right. San Diego would be wonderful :-)

Posted by Trevor at April 19, 2006 10:56 AM

Quote from the PDF: "4. Ask if there's some way you can be of service ....". Better have a good way of declining requests at the ready ... Expect to be asked for loans, job references, time off, contributions to charities, sponsoring of kids' activities, "come along to my ...", .....

Posted by Mike L at April 19, 2006 6:58 PM

The morning after...

I revisited to consider whether I'd perhaps been unfairly harsh in my critque.

...er, no - don't think so. It really is a very low rent approach. I think 'sh*tty' is the technical term.

'The wise folk (smart marketers) know the value of a well- presented good offer and let it go at that...' I'm bringing to mind one of the things onto which I was turned by Peters - jpeterman (and notably the counterfeit mailbag). What a huge sublime->ridiculous contrast.

Frankly, I'm surprised Cathy posted that pitch... surely we're above that kind of thing here? ;-)

Posted by gulliver at April 20, 2006 1:13 AM

gulliver, the decision to post about steve farber was a collective decision of the crew here at tp.com. don't go pointing fingers at cathy. and the fact is, steve farber is one of our cool friends and he asked us to help plug his latest book and we agreed. you may not like his methods and that's fine. just don't get on your high horse and single out people here at tp.com because you don't approve of the way steve farber is promoting his book.

Posted by Erik Hansen at April 20, 2006 7:32 AM

So, my voice of dissent gets flamed for expressing authenticity. :-)

Erik, shall we have a horse parade? ...yours is clearly also a mighty steed.

To clear your misunderstanding, it's not a jab at Cathy - if it were it'd have been sent by email rather than public comment.

And I stand firm on my line... that SF pitch is below what I believe to be an acceptable standard... which is why my critique is constructively posted at his site too.

15-all.

Posted by gulliver at April 20, 2006 8:02 AM

We'll give support to our Cool Friends' efforts to promote their products/activities. That's always appropriate here.

Posted by cathy at April 20, 2006 9:08 AM

'When a client is making a constructive point and trying to be heard... it's always good to gather together and shout (shut?) them down'.

And, whilst SF can be as cool as you like (and remember I have not commented on him/his stuff - other than the pitch)... it doesn't alter the perception shared by myself and others - that's a less-than-able way to get business and not the kind of thing I'd expect to be given creedence at this venue.

Posted by gulliver at April 20, 2006 9:54 AM

Gulliver, I stand with you. I didn't read your email as a jab. Not sure why the defensive stance by the Tom Peters.com crew.

Erik, what Mike and Gulliver appear to be questioning is that the collective at TomPeters.com (not thermo.com) made a decision to plug a specific marketing approach. (That for me, felt kinda cheesy)

I have no problem with TomPeters.com recommending books and plugging cool friends...That is appropriate.

Does the crew fully endorse all twenty four of the bonus items on Steve's site? Do you really feel they all are of value to Tom Peters readers?

I can't picture Tom selling his books this way. (Which suggests that we, ie readers, don't respond to that heavy of a bonus item offer ... hmm, but with Steve we would?? Doesn't the book have value on its own?)

An alternative approach to help a book climb the sales charts: You (ie the crew) could have instead linked to Amazon or BN. Of course, opening day sales do not show if this book has long term value or not.

A more directed offer (valid for a week) of Faber's book with Tom Peter's bonus item and maybe two more handselected gifts would have been in better taste and a bit more fun.

I want to read this book, but I will wait for the marketing noise to disappear.

Well, I better get off my horse.

Jason

Posted by Jason Peterson at April 20, 2006 11:25 AM

Damn, I wish everybody had links so we could converse off-forum...

Mike and Jason - if I knew where you were I'd be tempted to offer to come to clean out your refrigerator in appreciation of the support.

[And Trevor can clean his own fridge - I'm not going to Birmingham.]

;-)

Posted by gulliver at April 21, 2006 5:18 AM

gulliver, i owe you an apology. i've re-read your comment and my response and i was wrong. i'm sorry. i saw your comment as an attack on cathy, and i now see that was not your intent.

Posted by Erik Hansen at April 21, 2006 7:09 AM

>i owe you an apology.

Thanks E. No worries. I'm happier when people speak their mind rather than hold back. And, in speaking out we'll at some point say stuff which on reflection we regret. Surely we're all open-minded to accept (demand?) this as all part of the deal? Authenticity.

And besides, my comebacks were pissy - I could have made the point gracefully. I hope C didn't take offence.

As 'troublemaker', my intent was: 'there's good stuff at this place - let's keep it that way'.

;-)

Posted by gulliver at April 21, 2006 9:50 AM

It is a big e-marketing thing. Put you email in every box.
It makes the author look cheap.
I cant believe it on tompeters.com

Its it part of an experiment/study ?

I lost respect to the site (tompeters.com)

Posted by jumpnjivin at April 21, 2006 12:07 PM