It’s actually quite funny how the newest headline at Copyblogger says Leave Lame Behind only to present the lamest promotional video I’ve seen in months just under it…
I mean, check it out for yourself: Copyblogger (or go directly to the video on Vimeo).
Basically, it’s just a combination of catchphrases one after another.
But let’s break the lame line by line:
“Meet Sally, she’s a rock star freelance writer.”
Now everyone’s a rock star {fill in the blank}. Quite possibly, if you’re not a rock star at what you do then you’ve failed. Besides, being a rock star is cool, you get to get hammered every night and drive a Bentley into a swimming pool. Is that what Sally does?
“Businesses turn to her for the smartest online content marketing strategies.”
There’s already a great opinion on this whole content marketing expressed by Joost, so I probably don’t have to explain what’s lame about it.
Then we meet Ned…
“Ned can write, but otherwise he has no clue what to do [with content marketing].”
I mean, yeah. Basically, freelance writers can only write, but finding a creative way to promote things along the way is seriously above their skillset. Writers are simply not skilled enough to figure this thing out, right?
“Are you ready for my secret? It’s called my Copyblogger.”
Again, sure. That’s the secret to a successful career as a rock star freelance writer (remember, driving Bentleys into swimming pools and stuff).
Then we start seeing Ned’s thoughts regarding the possible price of this (magic-bullet) thing… $275… $500… $842… $1005. Wow, Ned really knows the usual price points in the “internet marketing education” niche.
“Relax, Ned, it’s totally free.”
Well, using the word “totally” is kind of dangerous and deceptive. Because this means that there are no upsells, no one time offers, no additional tools or products to buy along the way, and so on … which we all know there are (if you make a snapshot of the video at 01:13, you’ll see that there’s an upgrade option available).
“Ned feels smarter already.”
He’s just heard about yet another online training, so why wouldn’t it make him feel smarter already, right? It’s not like he’s gone through a number of training courses in his career…
The verdict
The video is really impressive. There’s just so much lame packed into a minute and 35 seconds of video that it’s almost hard to believe.
That being said, the landing page for this thing – currently the homepage of Copyblogger – is really cool. It has clear content presentation and probably converts well even despite the video.
Being-real-comment-#1 ———————————–
Now, after all I’ve said, I have to admit that I’m not implying that the product isn’t good. It probably is. I’ve been following Copyblogger for years and enjoyed most of the free content they offer (didn’t buy anything though). So I’m only guessing this thing will be of similar quality… Only if it wasn’t for the video. Come on. You can do better than this, guys.
Being-real-comment-#2 ———————————–
Calling out an authority is actually a nice exercise if you have any kind of website. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a private or business project.
In short, we should always question authority, no matter who they are, even just for the sake of it.
So I have a challenge for you. Pick an authority in your niche, find something not-so-cool about what they’re doing, and share it with your audience. Be honest and let them know exactly what’s not cool.
And don’t expect the authority in question to read or comment on your post. Even though I am linking to Copyblogger in here, I seriously doubt that anyone from their team will come here to read my short rant. I’m expressing my opinion solely for you – my audience. Essentially, in a world where everyone is preaching Copyblogger’s new creation, there should be at least one man who’s not.
Leave Lame Behind? NOT | newInternetOrder.com