I had a (looong) lunch with a business colleague on Friday,
and she was telling me about several seminars she’s been
to in the last 6 months by some of the top internet marketers.
Now, neither she nor I is squeamish about a back-of-the-
room sale (heck, I teach it!) but there is a point where enough
is enough. At these seminars, she experienced three (and
sometimes more) selling sprees. But here’s the rub, in my
opinion: there was little to no content. These Big Names
are ostensibly experts, making millions of dollars a year,
yet they display little of that expertise by providing a
valuable teaching experience. Furthermore, one of these
Big Names positions him/herself in marketing materials as a
particularly ethical, genuine, even spiritual person. Hmm.
My colleague never did write the blistering letter she was
forming in her mind as she sat through one of the seminars,
but she told me of a rather famous blogger who attended a
similar seminar from *another* Big Name and did pen an
indignant post, blasting him/her for charging $1,000 +
for virtually no valuable content and lots of selling.
If you’ve been on my list for a while, you may remember
my email newsletter last summer, when I attended a 3-day
seminar in Las Vegas with a Big-Name Internet Marketer
and came back with all the same complaints and actually
“outed” him in the email, as a buyer-beware notice.
And yet, a few weeks ago, on June 16th, I wrote a blog post
about a woman who attended my public speaking seminar
and, after the one and only back-of-the-room sale of the
week-end, asked me if there would be any more “sales stuff.”
I had an opinion about that then, which you can read about,
that clearly illustrates my belief that selling can be perfectly
acceptable.
But I am very curious to hear what all of you think about
selling at a paid event.
What I think is imperative to consider, in replying to this
question, is one’s own issues around money, as well as
one’s own fear of and belief in “lack.” I have, as I wrote in
that 6/19 post, come to understand the connection between
hating to be sold to and the belief in not having enough
money in general…and the belief in not having the power
to make it OR lose it…and how all of that mixes in to con-
taminate one’s ability to then sell themselves in business.
So, it’s a complex issue, where the wires of unconscious
fear need to be pulled apart from the wires of objective
insight.
Your own stuff aside, I’d love to hear your experience
of 1) a time when someone’s selling at a paid seminar felt
acceptable. You had little to no discomfort with it. What
did they do to make it easy and okay? and 2) another time
when you felt angry about the selling. What were they
doing or not doing? 3) And, in looking at the two, what do
you conclude?
On my next blog telecall–this Thursday–we will be
talking about this. It’s free and easy to get on. Just register
for it by clicking the link at the very top of this page entitled,
Telecalls. (If you’ve already done so, no need to do it again.)
But don’t wait until the call to give your opinion!
Thank you for contributing. I fully believe that these answers
will give great insight into the future of selling services. Have
a great week!