Fear-based marketing and sales tactics

“I went to a ‘$10k in 3 months’ webinar. Here are the 3 fear-based tactics they used.”

I have recently attended an evening Masterclass on launching digital products. The promise? You will learn the tactic to 10k USD in revenue in just 3 months. Appealing!

As I am building the platform for coaches – an infrastructure that should help coaches to coach more, and focus less on marketing and sales – I felt this is the right opportunity for me, as I want to do just that – support coaches in gaining an audience, selling more 1:1 coaching services, and finally in launching their digital products – a way toward more freedom and focus on quality, 1:1 coaching.

Hop on or be left behind

The Masterclass began strong: infoproducts are a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain financial freedom. If you don’t hop on this bandwagon today, it might be too late tomorrow, as more experts are entering the space. (Scared a bit?) The presenter said the trend began in 2022 – but I have attended my first workshops and bought courses on infoproducts 12+ years ago, even in the Czech Republic. In the US, the trend must have begun even earlier.

The $400k shiny object

Our desire and trust that huge amounts of money can be made in the space were further supported by use-cases and the income of the presenter. Needless to say – he is not new in the space and has been building social media and launching infoproducts for almost a decade. But he likes to showcase his past year revenue of 400k USD as proof that you can do this too.

I believe we all can, with enough consistency, effort, time invested and collaboration, achieve the same results. The problem? Most people who like to believe the first thing they see (“how I made 400k USD in one year) will:

• Not have their product, nor the vision

• Believe success can come almost overnight

• Will not be grounded in their identity and values

• Flicker as enticing promises keep coming, so they don’t maintain focus (we get back to root cause of not knowing my “why” and not knowing my purpose)

Running solely for the purpose of having more money then proves vain and not sustainable.

The big promise that was really a sales pitch

I came to learn DIY strategy on how to make my first public launch successful. What I got from a 3-hour webinar was one slide that tackled this strategy – and it was nothing new. Produce 20-30 reels, post for 2 months, create a lead magnet and “anketa”, hold free consultations with 30 clients, gain your first 5-10 paying clients. Get references and repeat 🙂

Well, this could have been an e-mail! But that was not the purpose of this webinar, or Masterclass, when you want it to look better.

Like many Masterclasses and webinars these days, this was a sales strategy to sell an intensive program. And it showed blatantly in the end.

• The program only opens once a year (FOMO)

• There is limited capacity of seats (scarcity)

• There are cool bonuses, but only if you join by midnight (time constraint)

The high-pressure squeeze

By now, it was around 10pm and I was exhausted from the 3-hour long webinar, and felt immense pressure. If I don’t buy today, am I actually missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? The package and the program look cool indeed, but I don’t even know the dates of workshops… Most of the Q&As from the chat were left unanswered, and I had a few.

The seats were disappearing fast – with most folks going with the split to 3 payments option. I wonder whether they had the time to reflect on whether the program is the right fit for them or whether this is truly something they want to pursue as a career (the program targets also digital producers that support experts in building the content and launching…)

I wonder whether they had the savings to invest in this program, or if they are taking quick loans out of fear of missing out. FOMO was big here.

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Stepping back

It was quite late in the evening and I didn’t have anyone to consult on this decision. My AI strategic advisor it is then! I had to hear some hard truths – no presence on Instagram or Facebook will first require me to invest time in building content. No need for a paid program – I can do this by myself.

Questions asked:

• Am I buying because of fear of missing out?

• Am I buying right now just because of the bonuses that disappear at midnight?

• Will the purchase stress my financial stability?

If I answer YES to any of these questions, I should wait and decide from a place of security and calm, the next day.

So I breathe in, and breathe out. Close the window. Take a step back.

I must say, getting to sleep that night was unusually uncomfortable for me. My mind was racing, I didn’t feel very good…

The morning-after realization

The next day, it hit me. If this is the sales strategy they adopted for their launch – most likely it is the sales strategy that they are teaching in the program. And that’s something I don’t want to do to any of my clients. Why would I invest in learning such tactics then?

Getting folks to take action is important. But using this much pressure left me feeling confused, exhausted, and distrustful.

My mission: building on trust, not fear-based tactics

This experience solidified my mission. We, as coaches, are here to empower. We are here to build trust. We are here to help our clients make decisions from a place of clarity and strength, not from a place of panic or inadequacy.

This is why I am building a platform rooted in a different philosophy.

I want every client of mine to be able to make decisions out of a place of calm. An informed decision, knowing who they are and where they are going.

I want us to build our businesses out of love. Out of love for our unique purpose, out of respect for our clients’ journeys, out of a desire for sustainable financial stability, and out of alignment with our deepest values and vision.

A final note

This is a note for all of us: be aware of how we make our purchases. Ask yourself: “Are strong, frantic emotions moving me? Or is a calm, slow power rooted in my identity leading my way?”

Always choose the path of calm. Always choose love, not fear.

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