It's OK to swear now and then.
I just finished my second blog post on my affiliate website, and I kinda ran wild with it. I have no interest in trying to please everybody, and I'd rather really connect with 5% of the market and sell to those people than to bore 100% of them with washed out stereotypical crap they've seen everywhere else.
Maybe I'm completely wrong, and maybe I'm right. Just wanted to celebrate the fact that I'm moving forward with a blog post here at WA :)
See my latest post here:
http://byebyebossman.com/internet-marketing-bullshit
What's your opinion on the subject?
Recent Comments
16
Expand your vocabulary and discover a whole new world. No it is not okay...Inexcusable in fact...but then I grew up in a time when people were more considerate of others.
Swearing in movies and songs has been around for quite a while. The internet is just another form of "entertainment"...
You're right Chris but have you ever heard the saying "just because everyone does it does not make it right." I change channels when content is vulgar.
I both respect and welcome your opinion. And I'm not gonna try and change your mind about anything. We both know that would be a waste of time.
But I will say this: When marketing online, we chose a niche. The niche has a target market and you want to market towards a segment of that group. I can't change where I come from and who I grew up with. What I do know is that I connect with a certain kind of people quite easily. Building trust increases sales. And at the end if the day we want to make sales. I don't insult individuals and I try not to hurt peoples feelings. I keep as honest as I possibly can and I try to make my dollar. If I can't make everyone like me in the process then i'm OK with that.
One more point then I'm through with it. You say your'e not trying to please everyone which is fine, neither do I but I don't try to displease any one either. Would it be so difficult to use less offensive terminology that conveys the same meaning.
A valid point, and food for thought. At the end of the day it boils down to me communicating in a way that comes natural to me in order to connect with my target market. It might not cost me intellectually to change my text, though the awkward reading it may result in could well cost me financially. The truth is, i don't know yet.
I'm not making excuses by claiming to be a product of my environment, but I do thrive in a particular habitat. Sadly, it's not an all encompassing one.
I'm still learning, and I've tried a lot of things. What I learned today is that this post has got me the most exposure I've ever had on WA. And that too is food for thought.
Personally I'm totally fine with swearing and I think it gives the content a much more personal touch BUT I hear search engines may see this type of content as 'adult content" and that can hurt your rankings.
Good to mention that this is just a "theory" I hear a lot.... I can't really confirm it myself.
That's interesting news! Will remove the big ones until i know more... Thanks for the heads up buddy!
Sure. Maybe one post won't do any harm. Maybe if it's in every paragraph of every post....
Check around, ask some more experienced members here. :)
All the best to you..
I get where you're coming from, I do. I didn't think the swearing was bad until I got the "big one", that has the ability to offend some people. I don't want to get into that conversation now, because I will admit to using all sorts of the dreaded curse words in everyday conversation.
My suggestions? Tone it down a little, you have great info in the post, but you seem quite angry. Angry isn't good, try going for frustrated instead of pissed off. (Just my opinion)
Also, I noticed a couple editing issues, i.e. not capitalizing the first word in a sentence. Also, you have "off course" instead "of course" - just do some quick editing.
All in all, I think you are honest in your post and that will appeal to a lot of people.
Hey, thanks for the input! Yeah, maybe it's a bit over the top. I'll stick to correcting the spelling mistakes for now. Might tone it down later though. Thanks for pointing out the spelling mistakes and for your honest opinion.
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Hi Christian.
I can get pretty emotive, but when/if I do, I'd rather use **** than use the words themselves. I do think that **** conveys the meaning, or context of your feelings - without having to write the words themselves.
My concern is that someone who may be easily offended, or a child (I'm a dad - so this type of thing is at the forefront of my mind) could inadvertently come across your site and either start asking awkward questions of their parents, or think it's cool to use such language.
On the other hand - I completely appreciate I come from a different community/culture to you - and what I find acceptable or not, may be on the flip-side to what your upbringing taught you.
My best advice is go with your heart. You know who you want to market to - and if you believe they will have no issue with language - then go for it.,
The worst thing you can do is compromise where you don't want to - and then blame that compromise later down the line, on any failure. If you go with your heart, and you fail - you go onto the next project - if you succeed, then you know you got it right.
So sorry - but I'm sitting on the fence - this is your website - if you think your visitors will be fine - then there is no issue at all.
All the best Christian,
Mark
All valid points! Thank you for an insightful reply. We can never progress unless we are challenged, so I really apreciate your honest feedback.