I live in a world filled with Internet Marketers, but I distinctly remember a blind date a couple of years ago with a very know-it-all attorney for a has-been computer company somewhere in Silicon Valley. She had just gotten divorced, so her know-it-all edginess was at an all-time high.
When she learned I made some of my living marketing on the Internet, she said:
"Oh! So you're a Spammer!"
Her victorious grin, like that of a dung beetle who had just scored really big, could have lit up the entire Bay Area. I couldn't decide what astounded me more: the arrogance or the ignorance.
And yeah, I usually can take a joke.
But this wasn't funny. It really ticked me off.
(It would sort of be like, when she told me she was a lawyer, if I had riposted, "Oh! You're a government-sanctioned thug!")
Anyway, no second date. I didn't even ask.
But... that was then.
This is now.
What a difference a couple of years make.
Here's what I mean:
Today, the San Francisco Chronicle officially acknowledged that there are other people doing what I'm doing. Not just Spammers, either. Lots of other people. Bloggers. eBay sellers.
When the mainstream media (OK, there are some radio talk show hosts who wouldn't call the Chronicle that, but hey, it still is)... when a mainstream media outlet confirms and blesses a trend on the front page of its Monday business section, that means a change has occurred.
Why? Because in terms of the Public Mind, perception is totally reality.
And this little change of crossing over into the big realm of public acceptance means a lot, actually.
My friend Armand Morin, probably the largest personal force in entrepreneurial Internet Marketing, has been saying lately that this whole business is becoming more "corporate..."
... and I would agree, but restate what he said by calling the business more "mainstream."
Needless to say, all this presents oodles of opportunities for copywriters. Opportunities that didn't exist a year ago.
I have been predicting this rapid change for quite some time now.
Here are the articles I saw this morning, if you'd like to take a look:
"Many bloggers are experimenting with selling merchandise" by Carrie Kirby
"Online entrepreneurship becomes a new way of life" by John Koopman
To be continued...
David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter
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