This entry was posted on Monday, February 18th, 2008 at 4:07 am and is filed under Writing for the Web. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Enthusiasm is wonderful, if it’s sincere. Faking it – on or off the Web – comes across loud and clear.
In decades past, sales teams started off each week with pep meetings to stir up excitement. The overly-inspired salesman then jumped from door to door, entertaining his prospects as he pushed his goods.
Under the influence of artificial enthusiasm, he was a fast talker and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Prospects eventually resented the high-pressure pitches.
Today, those tactics aren’t tolerated for even a second. And that’s about how long it takes for an online visitor to click the back button.
People are sick of spam, and “We’re the best in the business!!!!!” reeks of rubbish. You’re stating: “We’ve got nothing to say, so we’re going to compensate our shortcoming with hype.”
Genuine enthusiasm is powerful. It’s contagious. But if you fake it, you will be called on it. And fast.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
So much of the web is like the junk mail we get in the mailbox. It’s absolutely useless. But maybe spamming pays off and that’s why there’s tons of it out there.