I’m kind of in the online marketing mailing list loop and these last couple weeks I’ve been getting a whirlwind of messages from affiliates of MarieFoleo’s B-School and Fabienne Fredrickson’s Client Attraction/Monetize Your Message tour. To be honest…it’s getting a bit much.
Now, it’s hard for me to say this as both of these amazing women have built fabulous businesses on the subject of marketing and I admire both of them profusely for their heart and hustle. Maybe we’ve come to a turning point….or maybe I’m just on too many lists…but the bombardment of sales pitches is turning me off.
What about a deeper audience instead of a wider audience? Smaller interactive trainings for a higher value rather than diluting their awesomeness over a crowd so big each “student” feels like one tiny minnow in the massive network with no chance of a personal connection with the teacher.
Seth Godin talks about it here. “The dropout rate of massive online courses is higher than 97%.” “Learning together serves a crucial function… it makes learning happen.”
Both FF & MF have incredible growing businesses and they are helping thousands of women & men reach their dreams, start their businesses and they do it in a very heartfelt and compassionate way but I feel as a “tech-addicted culture” we crave personal connection and attention more than ever now.
We’re willing to pay more for that time where we can not only get good direction but also be heard. Small groups (~12-15 people) is the prime group size for dynamic discussion and personal growth. Small enough to be vulnerable yet large enough to learn from everyone in the group.
These are just ramblings or musings I’ve been feeling from the undercurrent of comments on both of these networks. Now, as a person who has taken both MF’s RHH B-School and FF Client Attraction Business School, I will say that even if their marketing seems like it’s not as magnetic, their course material is incredibly deep with value. I’d love to give them credit for all their contribution.
I think this is my plea for marketing that pulls on my heart strings more. There’s a shift happening again in the online marketing realm as we are filtering more and more marketing messages every day…and the shift is heading back to human-to-human connection. We’re desiring more than ever that level of personal care and interaction.
How does this translate into marketing messages so they don’t get too salesy and they start affecting our emotions again?
I think Seth G. and Gary V. might have an answer on that…
I’d love to hear what you think though. If you’re like me and have just been bombarded with too many affiliate sales pitches and are starting to feel your shoulder muscles tighten, answer me this:
