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February 26, 2004
Info Sleaze
There's a new peril sweeping the Internet.
No it's not spam. It's not viruses. It's not a worm.
It doesn't cost corporations millions - in fact the only people who seem to be paying for it are those who don't recognize it for what it is.
It's infosleaze.
What is infosleaze?
Infosleaze is a new form of "information" marketing - typically sold in downloadable PDF or other e-book format...
But let's back up a minute.
Most good books - in fact, most good information products of any kind - including books, audio programs, magazines, video - and yes - even ezines - are the free-flowing outcome of a personal (or corporate) passion for a subject. They are created by someone who has steeped themselves in a subject, thought long and hard about it's impact and deeper meaning, and created some expression of that work.
Now all this thinking doesn't make the thing good, but it's a good start. I'd say it's the best start possible.
Then there's infosleaze.
Infosleaze is created using a different process. First research is done to find out what questions are on people's minds. (So far, so good.)
Second a writer is hired who will seek answers - of some kind - to these questions, and whip them into a book.
Now, you might say to yourself - why is that bad? I want answers to my questions.
The question is one of quality.
In infosleaze, the only purpose to "creating" an answer to the question is to sell a product. To be able to say you have answers to a burning question so people will buy your product.
The problem is no attention is paid to whether the answer is a good one or not. And therein lies the sleaze factor. Because with infosleaze it's all about the sale. None of it is about providing a solid product with top-quality, usable information.
I recently heard one marketer say proudly that his products were "crappy." And they are! They are crappy - and yet they sell like hotcakes. Why? Because the masterful marketing material claims - justifiably - that these sleazebooks answer all of the potential reader's burning questions.
And they do, after a fashion.
It's just a sleazy fashion.
Look - there's nothing wrong with researching a market to understand what the issues are, and crafting a well-researched, well-written book that addresses those questions. What separates a quality product from a sleazy one is the attention paid to whether the answers to the questions will make a difference for the reader.
There's a big difference between answering a question in form and answering it in substance. It's called value.
Posted by plemberg at February 26, 2004 09:54 AM