After his lie, I said, “Bye, bye.” Here’s the Story…

Good morning, boys and girls. It’s time for another episode of “Lying Liars and the Spammy Lies They Tell (Cautionary Tales from the Marketing Trenches)”

Today’s tale begins two weeks ago when a lying liar named Charles slithered into my spam folder with an email sent that said:

“I came across your website and read about your lead capture forms. I work at {name removed to protect the guilty}, the first AI tool that can handle phone calls, zoom calls, appointment scheduling, and more, without any code required.”

Charles sent that email to my “marketvolt.com” email. MarketVolt is the email marketing software company I founded in 2001 and sold in 2019.

Not sure how Charles “came across” my website and read my lead capture forms…

…since I took the website down more than five years ago!

I figured I’d have a little fun with ol’ Charles and test his marketing mettle.

“Hey Charles — Thanks for your email. Sounds like a cool service. I might want to meet. Quick question: You read about my ‘lead capture forms?’ Not sure what you mean by that. Can you tell me which page on my site you were on?”

At this point, Charles had a lot of choices. Actually checking out my website is an obvious one. That would have taken all of 30 seconds.

If I was a real prospect, he could have actually seen my “lead capture forms” and been better prepared for his follow-up. If he discovered I had no website, he would have known not to waste more time on his b.s. pitch.

Instead, he doubled-down without digging deeper.

“Hi Tom, Thanks for getting back to me. We’ve actually visited your website and got interested in the service that you’re offering…” he wrote.

I didn’t reply.

He wrote again a few days later: “I wanted to circle back and schedule a brief call… (etc.)”

That’s when I replied and slammed the door in Charles’s face:

“Hi Charles — Actually, MarketVolt was sold in 2019 and our website hasn’t been live since then. So ‘we’ve actually visited your website and got interested in the service that you’re offering’ is BS… A call this week or next? No thanks.”

Lying liars like Charles bombard me with their garbage every day.

Digital cold-callers who fill their pitches with lousy copy and unnecessary lies.

Charles could have pitched his service without saying, “I came across your website.”

His AI-generated(?) copy might have gotten my attention if it left out the lie and addressed a specific problem or aspiration I have.

Example: “If you’re tired of seeing your website’s lead capture forms collect dust and prefer to fill your calendar with prospects who want to hire you, let’s talk.”

So much better than, “I came across your lead capture forms…We have a service to handle calls, Zooms, etc.”

But the thing that really got me: His response to my first reply.

I (a real live human prospect) reached out and said, “Cool service… I might want to meet.”

Charles could have high-tailed it to the website, reviewed the lead capture forms I claimed to have seen, and replied to the real live human prospect with honest, customized insights.

I know. My website didn’t exist. (I figured a little white-lie to test the big liar would be OK.)

If he high-tailed it to my domain only to discover no site existed, he would have called off the charade.

Instead, he chose the lazy route and dished out more garbage (”We’ve actually visited your website and got interested in the service that you’re offering.”)

Bad lie. Bad copy.

Pro Tip #1: If you want to get a prospect’s attention, you have to do more — WAY more — than say I visited your website and got interested in the service you’re offering.

Pro Tip #2: Ditch the tricks. You can create compelling, client-attracting content without dishing out obvious lies.

Pro Tip #3: Don’t be so darn lazy!

AI-powered marketing automation is a beautiful thing. I offer an all-in-one marketing automation platform to help my clients save thousands of hours and reduce stress.

I’m about to roll out a suite of AI-agents designed to help business leaders simplify market research, content drafting, editing, and more.

Such tools are great. But ultimately, you have to show up consistently as an honest, ethical, and empathetic human being.

If you rely on AI and automation for everything, you’ll automate yourself to oblivion.

When a real prospect reaches out with a question, don’t press the easy button and dish out another lazy lie.

Dig a little. Learn about them. Discover their strengths and weaknesses and where you can help.

Speaking of time-saving AI and automation…

…if you want to automate and use AI the right way…

…to save countless hours…

…and free yourself to focus on the things that matter most for you, your business, and your personal life…

…reply to this email with “automation please…”

…and I’ll reply with a personal, direct-to-you, non-vague, customized email to tell you more about the all-in-one marketing automation platform and time-saving AI-tools.