Bullshit Marketing Vs. Honest Marketing & The “Zero Launch”

2012 October 10
by Alan Aragon

Something’s wrong with this picture.

The pics on the left are straight off of the side banners on Facebook, leading to a website that promises to transform your physique into those of the Spartans in the movie 300 — in 4 weeks.  All you have to do is buy their supplements. It’s hilarious how the heads of Will Ferrell and Keanu Reeves were superimposed on random, enhanced bodybuilders to bait people into the site.  At the right is fitness marketer Mike Chang, photo-morphed into a mass-monster.  Ads like these lead to either Mike’s “Sixpack Shortcuts” website, or to the website of an affiliate who gets commissions from the sale of Mike’s product.  The problem is that the obviously adulterated pics are real ads, generating real money from real suckers, I mean, people.  Ads like these are so ubiquitous online, that they’re easy to dismiss as a normal part of the landscape.  Funny little ads, who would actually buy into them?  Apparently, enough customers are coaxed into keeping these ads running on a seemingly perpetual basis.  Now, let’s take a look at something that sharply contrasts with this BS.

Ah, yes… Look above, how can you not love advertising that makes fun of advertising?

I’d like to share a unique experience I recently had.  JC Deen, the creator of LGN365, had an idea of approximately when he was going to finish it, but never tapped me on the shoulder to let me know his first-ever commercial product was released.  Why did this strike me as something to write home about?  For those unaware, carefully orchestrated product launches are a huge thing in the fitness business, where affiliate networks are common.  I’d go as far as to say that they’re the standard model in the fitness information industry.  I’m sure some of you have experienced the “circle jerk” phenomenon of getting a stream of emails from a dozen different internet fitness ‘celebs’ simultaneously touting the same product.

Well, JC purposely avoided this kind of product launch. Why? Probably because it can be really cheesy. I’m not exactly sure, since I’m no marketing expert.  My marketing plan has always been to consistently produce great work.  Anything beyond that seems too complicated.  Doing my darndest to put out great work is all I have the energy to do.  Special Jedi-marketing tactics will have to wait until another lifetime.

With all that said, I knew how much time and effort JC has put into LGN365.  I knew how much care he took to study, self-experiment, attend fitness conferences & workshops, bury his nose in the full range of info from the lay & scientific press, and amass a ton of client experience.  This is why JC’s virtually non-existent launch was so striking to me.

JC and I met around the same time I started my research review in January, 2008.  It turns out that JC had already been a student of my work since learning about it through Lyle McDonald’s forums circa 2007.  This was nearly 6 years ago, during which time JC has built a heck of a fitness career.  JC has referred to me as a mentor to him, and it makes me proud to see that I can occasionally influence the balance of The Force in the right direction.

I recall a conversation we had years ago at the Fitness Summit where I encouraged him to risk everything, and dive head-first into this industry he loves.  He’s been doing that in a big way, and I can say with full sincerity that he’s created a truly excellent product (it’s actually a multi-media course that covers muscle gain & fat loss goals).  And no, I don’t get a single cent of commission by recommending it.  A detailed description of his new product can be found here.

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