Who Is “J” Anyway?

by Gill E. Wagner

Last week, as I was going through my mail, I came upon a white #10 envelope containing my name and address but no return address, so I opened the envelope and took out the contents.

Inside was one piece of glossy paper that had the look of a page that had been torn out of a magazine. It was folded in thirds, and, when I unfolded the page, I found a yellow sticky note attached with what looked like a handwritten note:

Gill,

Try this. It’s really good!

J

The Details

In this particular case, the page had the look and feel of a magazine article titled “Don’t Just Survive – Thrive!” At the top of the page it did say, “Advertisement,” but the type size and font were so small it wasn’t something I noticed until I looked very carefully.

The page-one heading said, “Success Strategies” in a red, horizontal bar across the top, and the footer contained the words “Executive Focus,” seemingly indicating the title of the magazine from which this page was torn.

The first paragraph of the article was:

“You would be amazed by how relaxed some incredibly successful executives are, says Bill Dugan. But you’d be crazy to think they’re not organized.”

The piece continues on, saying how Dugan is “the original ‘Organized Executive’ and publisher of a newsletter by the same name,” and how he “doles out advice to senior-level professionals at some of the world’s top companies …”

Then the author of the piece did some name-dropping, using Disney CEO Michael Eisner and Columbia TriStar Motion Pictures Vice Chairman Lucy Fisher as stellar examples of organized executives – leaving the reader to draw the conclusion that these people became successful by following the advice in the article, and in the newsletter Bill Dugan is trying to sell.

At the end of the article, was the author’s attribution line, listed quite simply as:

by George Hutchinson.

The Hair On The Back Of My Neck

Fortunately, this was not the first time I’d seen the yellow-sticky-note strategy using “J” as the signature, so the hair on the back of my neck stood up almost immediately.

But even had Dugan not used the “J” note, it was easy to spot that the article was not legit, because Dugan was the only “expert source” that was quoted in the entire piece. (True journalists almost always quote multiple sources, not just one.) And the only call-out box on the page was also selling Dugan’s newsletter.

The Truth

Of course, one quick search on Google exposed the truth – I found an on-line version of the same article, only the opening paragraphs were modified to say that Stephanie Winston is “the original ‘Organized Executive.’” The article then continues with the same quotes and text formerly attributed to Dugan.

In addition, a quick Google search on “George Hutchinson” in conjunction with either “success strategies” or “executive focus” reveals that “George” is likely a fictitious name and not a true journalist – zero hits on both combinations.

And the final proof of sleazeball tactics use came only yesterday. I was talking with Phillip Hamilton, president of Hamilton Business Group in Austin, Texas, and we were discussing putting a handwritten sticky note (a real one from Phil, not from “J”) on an article and sending it to prospects. In that conversation, I mentioned having received this sleazeball mailing, and Phil informed me that he got the same mailing from “J” the same week I received mine!

The Mistake

How stupid do you think I am, Mr. Dugan? No friend, colleague, business associate, not even a casual acquaintance has ever referred any product, service, article or anything else of value to me without actually attaching his or her name to the referral. After all, what value does a referral have if the recipient can’t tell from whom that referral came?

And why in the name of Honest Selling would I ever buy your newsletter if the first thing you do when contacting me is misrepresent yourself as one of my friends?

The Lessons

First, while honesty has always been the best policy, the advent of the Internet has greatly increased the odds of having your deception exposed, so if you’re even remotely considering hedging the truth, I strongly suggest you rethink that strategy.

Second, if you’re going to use social proof, such as testimonials or referrals, to enhance your marketing, make sure the testimonials and referrals are real, and attach the person’s name, title and company name to them, so your prospects can find these people and ask them questions if they like.

Happy Selling!

Gill