Marketing - is there any merit to a no-BS approach?

[lapoker17]

eh - most people/companies are horrible at marketing so most of what we see sucks. i could write pages and pages, but the most important thing to know is that it's a science not an art. just because something may look cheesy to you doesn't mean it's bad marketing. good marketers have an intimate understanding of their target.

also you at least need to believe in what you are doing to some degree, so this:

"I decided to try my hand at employing Indians to sell crap online on my behalf."

probably doesnt bode too well.

[Iconoclastic]

One man's BS is another man's eyecatcher.

[beanie]

This is funny, this was the first thread that caught my eye and I just got off the phone with another marketing guy essentially about the same topic.

With my site I have had to compromise my ideas a bit but not so much. Most of the money I make comes from my model, not necessarily the site that I am known for. But the people selling for me can easily point to this is Beanie, he is real cool with blah blah blah. I like to think I am in the Neiman Marcus business but the reality is if you look at a brand like Macy's they also have Target. Target is helped by that association (at least I believe this is the case I know Marshall Field's bought Dayton's/Target and Macy's bought Marshall Field's).

At some point an idea can be fantastic but you have to pay the bills. My only job in life is to never really have a job and only do the things I enjoy to do. So far so good.

Long and short you will have to sell out a bit but if you have to sell car insurance for a living it isn't like the end of the world. I sold cars for a while and absolutely loved it because I felt I was an advocate for the customer. I routinely sold 30 cars a month. I did get fired however for clueing the customers in too much at one point which I sort of hold as a badge of honor.

No matter what you do you are selling out a little bit just keep it as close to your life paradigm and I think you aren't being insincere, and ultimately customers will see that.