The question of how to get people to trust your product is one that everyone asks whether conscious or subconscious. I recently read an article talking about some of Tiger Wood’s endorsers starting to drop the famous golfer over his recent car crash incident. Now for the record I was not there and I have no idea what actually took place that night. What I do know is that Tiger Wood’s Lawyers suck and he has some major damage control to conduct on his brand.

The one thing that Tiger Woods can’t take back about the incident that happened is the forgone conclusion that people have reached about the actual event regardless of their factual accuracy. When people are left to their own devices they will conceive whatever they want based on the limited facts they know. Remember the story about people shooting up grain silos in the middle of the night after tuning in late to the radio broadcast of War of the Worlds?

An invisible line was crossed by Tiger that spoke loud and clear to everyone, that he is as human as we are and has skeletons in the closet. Those two revelations have shattered the trust and opinions people have formed about Tiger over the last decade or two. All of the branding and advertising that Tiger has taken part of by some of the biggest companies in the world have made his likeness to be that of a perfect and happy family man who is extremely gifted at golf. That foundation has been cracked.

I can almost say with certainty that Tiger or another family member called one of his lawyers and told them what happened that night. The lawyer probably determined that the best course of action would be to not talk to anyone, including the police (legally fine in Florida). This has some major problems from a branding perspective because 10 minutes after the event took place, everyone on Twitter already knew about it. Now the world knows about what happened that night, which is worse than knowing exactly what happened.

I have dealt first hand with Tiger’s lawyers regarding a domain dispute. The same course of action was taken with me, in a very lawyeristic form: don’t talk, just hit people over the head with legalese. I decided because of how Tiger’s lawyers went about the issue I would put up a fight as I was legally right and they had no real leg to stand on. Had they simply opened up dialogue with me and expressed what they wanted, I probably would have simply given them the domain.

What does all of this have to do with getting people to trust your product? Simple. With the advent of instant communication and the Internet, brands can not go about things the same way they used to. Listening to lawyers all the time can damage your brand just as much, if not more (even if they are legally right). I am sure Tiger’s lawyers were doing the right and correct thing from a legal standpoint, but now Tiger is losing endorsements and suffering for lack of transparency. The brand water has been tainted.

People who get a hold of information that is not resolved will want a resolution. If your brand has an issue, the best thing to do from a brand standpoint is to address that issue head on, hopefully via the same medium. All of the lawyers might cringe when this happens, but what is worth more, the brand’s integrity and future profitability or having that lawyer around?

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a post about how bad lawyers are. This is about the court of public opinion for which lawyers don’t hold degrees. When this type of problem arises with your brand, it is important to think about legal and social ramifications of the solution. Once done, some things can’t be undone.

*picture from http://pspinc.net/wordpress/?p=495

If you haven’t already seen the original post on how to Develop A Story In Order To Sell More Products, I recommend you do that before reading/listening any further.

I sound like a little kid in the video, ha. I have to laugh at myself sometimes. Oh well.

Thanks for taking part in my little case study. Leave your dissatisfied comments below.

Of course somewhere in the world you will probably be able to find one of these knives. I just don’t know where. I also don’ t want to be selling a product that is illegal in most of the countries/states my visitors come from. The real brand name of the knife is Min Sheng so good luck if you do find one somewhere.

*Note: This was not a paid review nor are the links affiliate links. I am supporting Marcus and his product because I feel that both are of great value.

About two months ago, Marcus Hochstadt from the blog Internet Business Guide For First Class Progress asked if I would review a new product he was about to launch. Marcus sells and promotes tutorial videos and other helpful products for people who are new to making money online. So, onwards and upwards.

The home study course, International Market & Keyword Research, was designed by Marcus to help people understand how to properly find and select keyword marketing. If you have ever tried your luck at Google Adwords without putting much thought into it, you have probably spent a fair amount of money doing it. It would not be hard in the least to drop $1,000 on Adwords and not even get a measurable return from it. Marcus aimed to solve the issue of wasting money on Adword campaigns and did a good job.

What you will find is a step-by-step process for targeting the exact audience you are seeking with the exact keywords necessary to net the biggest conversions. Marcus laid everything out in a well thought out manner that will allow even the most novice Adword users to understand completely. I have used Adsense and Adwords before and was blown away by how the course guided me through the whole process. I have to admit, while watching the tutorial, I did some reverse research to look up the kind of content I wanted to provide on another blog in order to net the most per click off the Adsense ads running on that site. After finding the keywords that paid the most, it was a matter of researching which keywords in that category received the most clicks. Just using that information will pay for the series all by itself in no time at all.

I would not promote a product unless I felt it would benefit people, but also benefit people for a reasonable price. Marcus has informed me that he will be running a 72-hour special of the same International Market & Keyword Research home study course for $35. After the 72 hours, it will jump to $100. If you remember from my post the other day when I mention waiting before purchasing anything online, I would do the same here. Although I wouldn’t wait more than 72 hours, because the price will go up considerably after that. I can tell you that this course will pay for itself in a short timeframe either by saving you money that could have been wasted on Adword campaigns or by using knowledge and research techniques to promote targeted content on your blog to earn the most possible from your Adsense ads. I saw a significant jump in Adsense revenue on another one of our blogs by triggering those specific keywords.

Give it some thought and analyze if earning greater revenue from Adsense of saving money on Adwords is the thing you are looking for. If it is, I would invest in this tutorial.

The two greatest items that can be marketed are either a one-of-a-kind, patent pending contraption that is the only thing that can do its job (at least better than the rest), or a not so valuable, cheaply made, easy to replace item that comes in bulk.

Everyone has probably heard of the Dyson vacuum cleaner by now. If you haven’t, they are the end-all, be-all of vacuum cleaners. The key to its success and also the justification of its price is the ability to vacuum the whole house without losing one pound per square inch of suction. I really don’t know if a $500 vacuum is worth purchasing, because I have never bought one. But I do know that my family’s Hoover vacuum is over 20 years old and still works like a charm.

This leads us to the Farberware cook set. The Farberware 19-piece cook set can be found on Amazon.com for about $60. Why on earth do people buy cheap cooking ware? I know I have bought cheap sets of pots and pans because they were a “great deal.” The truth is, I only use 3 of the 19 pieces, and I have to watch the food like a hawk in order to not eat charcoal for dinner. When I finally make the cross over in buying a nice pan, pot and sauce pan, I am going to go all out and buy the best or close to best I can find. If you have ever cooked on an $80-100 pan, you will instantly notice the difference. Not only does the food cook more evenly, but the pan lasts forever. This brings us to the tale of two marketing strategies.

1. Provide the highest-quality product possible (HOM furniture).

2. Provide the most you can for the least you can (Costco).

Both of these work really well when it comes to making money. The first option is to sell something that is valuable for a higher cost, meaning it takes less to sell in order to make good profit. The second choice is to sell as much as possible with a smaller profit margin to a lot more people. Both will make good money, but one typically has a lot less inventory and takes up a lot less space.

Personally, I think standing behind a great, one-of-a-kind product is much easier to sell and feel proud of than a bunch of cheap knock-offs. The people who support their product 100% are going to have happier customers and deliver a higher-quality product. I am not saying there isn’t a marketing place for lower-quality products, because there is. The point is to provide the product you are most comfortable selling and ideally know the most about. Nothing turns someone away quicker than a salesman who doesn’t know enough about his or her own product. If I know more than you about what I am buying, you have probably lost my sale.