May I Please Have Your Email Address?
Why I shouldn’t have to “sell hard” to earn your trust.
Yesterday, Medium staff featured and promoted my article, Are we growing an economy or a cancer?. It earned me hundreds of new followers. It might have even earned me a few bucks. Unfortunately, Medium doesn’t allow authors to embed email capture forms in featured articles behind the paywall.
So…
If you’re someone who wants to learn how to market a business that serves people and the planet while earning a profit, may I please have your email address?
Thanks! That was easy! Stay tuned for the next inbox nugget about ethical story-based marketing for the 21st century. Talk soon!
Wait. Some of you haven’t filled that form out yet. *sigh*
Okay. If you’re still reading this and you don’t have plans to either build or market a conscious company, no need to read further. Feel free to check out the next article recommended below. And thanks for clicking by.
Still around?
Hi! Did you know that statistically, if you’ve scrolled past the top section of this post, it means that you’re engaged with my content? And the longer you’re engaged the more likely you’ll be to convert? BUT…
If you’re still reading this and you ARE a business owner or marketer who wants to make social good while making money…you’re probably waiting for me to sell you hard on giving me your email address.
Well, I’m not gonna. Wanna know why? Because I’m a Millennial*.
And this is what a direct response copywriter in my copywriting group had to say about people of my ilk:
“Millennial copywriters have invented a false dichotomy to differentiate themselves in a way that masks their lack of skill and excuses them from getting results for their clients.
The false dichotomy is this:
If you sell hard, it must mean your product is bad.
In corollary, if your product is good, you don’t need to sell hard.”
So. Let’s unpack this for a sec, okay?
And when we’re done…may I please have your email address?
(*P.S. “Millennial,” aka “Generation Y” is defined as someone who was born between 1981 and 2004, but I belong to the strange 1977 cusp between Gen X and Gen Y. I relate more to 1980’s babies and share my formative cultural memories with them so for the sake of semantics, let’s just call me a Millennial.)
First of all, let’s ignore the fact that this particular direct response copywriter has made a clichéd generalization about the perceived laziness and incompetence of 71 million people born between 1981 and 2004. Let’s set aside the fact that 50 percent of Millennials in the States have to work more than one job to make ends meet. Let’s just overlook the fact that 60 percent of Millennials consider themselves entrepreneurs.
Is he right? Are Millennial marketers OVER high pressure direct sales bullshit?
Well…yeah.
Because we’re the generation that sees that just because something has worked in the past doesn’t mean it’s going to continue to work.
As I discussed in yesterday’s article, twentieth century business models may have grown the economy, but at the expense of the planet. And if anyone is aware of the negative impact the twentieth century has had on future generations, it’s Millennials.
We’re the ones who inherited this mess. And part of the reason it’s a mess is the “sell hard” mentality.
The “sell hard” mentality focuses on results over impact.
That isn’t to say results aren’t integral to building a profitable business. Of course they are. And there are Millennials a-plenty who can and do deliver astronomical results for their clients (anyone hear of Harmon Brothers?) AND deliver lasting customer relationships. Without “selling hard.”
The “sell hard” mentality puts sales in a separate silo from product and customer success, so it ends up putting profit first and the integrity of the product as a nice-to-have.
In the 21st century you can’t get away with selling shitty products or customer service for long because people have more ways to spread the word about your shitty products.
The “sell hard” mentality disregards strategy and innovation. It just rehashes the same tired formulas until more and more people become desensitized to the messaging.
Instead of finding a newer, more meaningful way to connect, the “sell hard” mentality just gets more intrusive.
(*popup* Hey! Have you given me your email address yet?)
More persistent.
(May I please have your email address?)
More loud.
(GIVE ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!)
More annoying.
(PLEEEEEASE MAY I HAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS???)
More manipulative.
(THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T WANT YOU TO GIVE ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS! FIND OUT WHY BY GIVING ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!)
More. More More.
Chances are if you’ve read this far, we can all agree that “More” does not always equal “Good.”
We are the generation of DVR and ad-blockers. We are the generation whose eyes roll every time we see clickbait headlines that our elder siblings and parents cannot resist.
We’re the generation who learned the hard way that you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet.
And we’re the generation under the most pressure to save the planet and ourselves from the sins of our parents’ and grandparents’ generation.
So hell yeah, we don’t like to sell hard.
We like to sell smart.
BTW, at this point you’re probably itching to point out “But isn’t this entire post a sales pitch?”
Um. Yeah. I didn’t say Millennial copywriters don’t like selling — we freaking love selling to people. Who doesn’t love that sense of victory when something you say convinces someone else to take action?
We just know that selling hard doesn’t have to mean manipulating and exploiting.
In fact, if we’re to accomplish these major planetary challenges set for us — to create more sustainable economic growth, to eliminate income and social inequality, and to ensure the wellbeing of our fellow humans — manipulation will completely undermine our efforts.
“Earning trust” — genuine, well-deserved trust because you are coming from a place of informed, earnest generosity — is the new “selling hard.”
And in an age of cynicism and fear and paranoia, earning trust is a much harder sell than selling hard.
Which is why you should give me your email address.
Because I’m not gonna teach you marketing tricks that will “10x your business growth.”
I’m going to give you tools and knowledge you can apply to creating a committed, passionate community of customers and advocates.
I’ll help you understand how to harness the power of story to engage and inspire people to action.
I’ll demonstrate how to build off of 20th century marketing fundamentals and adopt the best innovations of 21st century marketing.
And — together — we’ll discover how to make our business practices planet- and people-friendly.
Because you’re not just growing a business, you’re also building a movement for change.
I don’t have all of this stuff figured out yet. No one has. We’re exploring new territory here.
But I’m learning. And I’m a big nerd. As in, Hermione Granger-style nerd. And I’m eager to share everything I learn along the way with you.
You should give me your email address because I don’t want to sell hard. And I know you don’t, either.
Let’s figure out how we can build a viable, profitable business without selling hard — together.
You should give me your email address because I value transparency, generosity and integrity. And I know you do, too.
Let’s discover the keys to baking our values into our business practices — together.
You should give me your email address because I often don’t feel comfortable about the relationship between profit and greed. And you’re probably dealing with the same thing.
Let’s explore how to find a balance between profitability and social and environmental responsibility — together.
You should give me your email address because — in the interest of transparency, generosity and integrity, I will at some point have an ecourse or a book to sell to you.
And you’re okay with that — because you know I won’t sell you hard.
