Disingenuous Words
Hello WA friends,
Disingenuous is a big word! Perhaps I should have used insincere.
Or fake; fake might have been better. Farce. Phony. Fallacy. You get the idea.
So often I see what appear to be disingenuous words shared here and on websites all over the internet. I say they appear to be insincere because you can never really know the heart behind the words if you do not know the person. But here is the thing and the point of my post. People buy from people they trust and if our visitors on the internet cannot come to trust us it is unlikely that they will ever buy from us.
So what do I see that appears disingenuous. When I see one person share kind words with another, and encouraging words, it is very pleasing to me personally. But when those kind words end with an invitation and a link it very often appears fake and the words are lost. The thing that runs through my mind are words like click-bait and spam and the intent of the words, as sincere as they may be, become powerless to encourage.
That is why in our websites we do not build content pages with a promotion or offer on every single page. We build content that will help and encourage others. We build a website that will benefit others in this first and most basic way. Then we can connect the page to a sales page or product review page.
I know that we are all here to make money. Well I suspect that's why we're all here. But one of the main reasons I have stayed here and intend to stay is that every lesson is laced with this 'prime directive'; It must be about helping people. I have met some very kind and sharing people here. I know we have something exceptional. And I know that most everyone reading this will concur with these words.
I hope this helps you in some way
as you communicate and connect.
JeannineC commented below, "I believe that if each post is approached as "how can I help someone with a problem they are having?" then it will be good and true and honest. If it works out for a link to a product or service to naturally be included as a text link, so be it. Stuffing in a link is wrong; natural inclusion is powerful."
Stuffing in a link is wrong; natural inclusion is powerful.
I love this balanced approach.
I think that's powerful!
And I included it here in an edit in case
you happen to miss her comment below.
Here is a relevant link and
a discussion regarding this:
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.co...
See what I did there? Relevance.
Kind regards always,
Carl
Recent Comments
43
I agree with what you said within your article, Carl. In fact, replying back to a "follow" coming from a new member not even 10 minutes ago, I could not help but notice that the person before me sent this individual the type of comment that you discussed.
If it were me, I would have reported this individual's comment as spam and then, without hesitation chosen NOT to follow that person back. All the person was promoting were opportunities that would have made her money if the person who she was directing her promotions to had chosen to investigate them. Which I hope did not happen.
This type of nonsense does not belong here at WA! As you said, Carl it is nothing but acting disingenuous. In other wards, FAKE, and in a way a complete lie!
Your article should be required reading for every member here at WA, sir!
That is a very humbling thought and I appreciate your kind words. This post was actually prompted by a comment in a thread where the person did exactly as discussed here. I do not judge the motive but it seems/feels/appears disingenuous. Take care friend. Kind regards. - Carl
Very well said. And yes we are here to help and make money.Not to get greedy. I have looked at sites were Amazon could learn to market and sell something...these sites are helping WHO? I really don't know! Its basically all about money these days. What was Black Friday all about..helping people...I don't think so. I personally want to help and make some money in the end. I am looking for a WIN WIN WIN situation.Everybody is happy! Is that not good? Thanks! Tom
Jeannine below said "stuffing a link is wrong; natural inclusion is powerful." I like that. So to take her lead on this and to answer your question here is a post I wrote recently speaking about win-win-win. I think that is definitely a good thing. Giving away one free year of wa! I agree with the win-win-win approach.
I could not agree more with your erudite sentiments. Unfortunately, it seems that some novices allow their enthusiasm for sales to conquer the need to comply with good advice. We just have to hope that most will learn enough to live up to the ideas taught here.
You make some excellent points here. I believe that if each post is approached as "how can I help someone with a problem they are having?" , then it will be good and true and honest. If it works out for a link to a product or service to naturally be included as a text link, so be it. Stuffing in a link is wrong; natural inclusion is powerful.
That's powerful feedback and I edited my post to include your comment. Thank you for the balanced view!
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I will admit I don't post every page or post with a keyword in mind. Sometimes I just want to post something because I can and because someone may like it. I don't post it to sell anything, just for people to enjoy.
Megan I like that you have a heart to post just to be a help to people. Most are just the opposite, well I am anyway, I have to work at being altruistic because it just does not come naturally.
I, on the whole have found everyone in the community to be ingenuous, kind and helpful. The few that I find to be less so, are ignored. Everyone has an off day and has a rant. But again that is genuine and an apology usually follows.
If someone is being disingenuous by offering links, I think most of us are wise enough to just ignore it.
Being self centred here at WA does not work for long,if at all.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
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Good read. It all revolves around trust right, Jay
I absolutely our success online revolves around trust. Indeed!