It stands to reason that if you are selling secrets, you must be a spy.. right! And spies that sell secrets are at great risk of being gaoled, fined or even killed.
So why is it that every day I get at least an email or a tweet, or I come across a website that is offering to sell me a quantity of secrets. Most secret vendors sell them in bundles of seven, although sometimes you can purchase 17 or 27 and sometimes even 101 (of the best-kept ones that is!). Some days I even come across three or four vendors offering me very special limited time offers on secrets.
Why are so many people living on the edge?
It seems that over the last few years there have been more and more secrets coming up for sale. Some people have even put their secrets in books that have gone on to become ‘best sellers’. But who are all these spooks that are selling these secrets, and where are they getting them all from?
The other week, I received an email telling me where I can get ‘Seven Secrets of Selling’, and then I thought, wow, if this fell into the hands of someone who was selling secrets ‘? they could put together the ‘Seven Secrets of Selling Seven Secrets’! And then where would total chaos!
When I was jogging yesterday I pondered on why is it ok to sell all these secrets? I could think of only two possibilities, either all of the secrets that are for sale aren’t really all that secret or no one gives a toss anymore.
I just did a search on Google for ‘7 Secrets’ and got heaps of possibilities:
- 7 secrets to beauty, health and longevity (I don’t know if the is 7 of each or 21)
- 7 secrets to real freedom
- 7 secrets to attract more customers
- 7 secrets to weight loss
- 7 secrets for treating your pet at home
- 7 inner secrets volume one (wow does that mean there are another 7 in volume two!)
In fact, I discovered that I could use Google to find heaps of freely available ‘secrets’ on almost any topic. And, here is a funny thing: if you go to a library and look for a book on direct marketing published in the 1960s, 70s or 80s you’ll actually find the bulk the ‘secrets’ Internet Marketers are selling today.
The marketing techniques haven’t changed at all; only the medium and the prices are different. Instead of costing $30 or $40 for a book, now you can pay many thousands to have the content spoon fed to you a week or a month at a time via email, a podcast or a membership site.
What do you think about all these secrets that are for sale these days? Frankly it gives me the pips. I think it is just a bunch of false advertising.