Good morning, at least it is morning when I wrote this. I woke up and checked my Facebook feed per usual. Low and behold, there was another one.
I have seen a ton of ads on Facebook and Instagram lately telling authors they can make you a bestselling author. The ads go on to say, the author use to struggle to sell copies of his/her book until they discovered this proven system. This system will increase your sales also. Some may even guarantee it (with some small print). All you need to do is sign up for their free webinar and you too will sell a ton of books.
I get sick to my stomach whenever I see these ads because frankly, and this is just one man’s opinion, they are false. Let me put it to you this way. These ads don’t appeal to the true bestselling authors. You never see them signing up for them or even becoming an influencer for the product. Why? Because the actual money is not in their books, it is in this process they are telling you about.
Today I came across another such ad on my Facebook feed and it had the same or similar adverting. It gives you your pain point, “Are you struggling to sell your book?” This one statement grabs you. Then the ad points out that the expected audience is Indie authors; hey, that is you! Without telling you about the financial impact because remember, it is free, they offer you a seat at their webinar if you give them your email.
You are a new or struggling author, so you say, “Hey, it’s free, let me give them one hour of my time.” You attend the webinar, excited that you are about to unlock the secret to selling more books. They teach you all the ‘basic’ things to sell books; most of which you already know and are already doing. Sound familiar?
At the end of the webinar they ask you the million-dollar question, “Are you ready to become a bestselling author?” Of course you are. That is when they hit you with the price. I have seen prices ranging from as little as $199 to as much as $1,999. They may even tack on a sale because after all you gave them your email address for free, right?
Here it is. They got your email so they can inundate you with offers for days on end. Hoping to get you to buy their wonderful product. If you didn’t buy the product or you left the webinar early, they will offer you more and more to get you to buy their ‘proven’ process.
Here is the deal, did they lie? No, it is a chance they are millionaires, but my guess is they didn’t get there by selling books. They got there by struggling authors like us, wanting to become best sellers. If they are selling a process that cost $999, all they need is 1,000 authors to buy it. These webinars can hold up to 100 people. Ten webinars and there you have it; 1,000 people.
Granted not all the authors will make the purchase but many will. Soon the person or company has reached 1,000 sales, thus giving them one million dollars. But what about you? You are not allowing that to happen again, or you are off to try another one. I hope it is the first one and not the ladder.
Be Blessed
