Snake Oil Salesmen and Lousy Products..

I received a question via email yesterday that I've decided to share today.
The nuts-and-bolts of their question was:
"Would you write a super sales letter for a product that you KNEW was lousy?"
My answer, is, no, I wouldn't.
If you read my post yesterday, then you know that my family is barely treading water financially. I sometimes dream that I'm drowning in the ocean but somehow always manage to get another gulp of air. I suspect that that particular dream and the family's household bank account are related.
However, even that kind of desperation does not equal compromising your integrity. I just will not do it.
At present, the new business I introduced to you in Thursday's post is off to a decent start. I'm in the middle of a major project involving a real estate letter;
promo pieces for the radio stations; several affiliate program letters; a local
promotion from a national business; a postcard campaign for a Georgia company; plus, writing assignments for the course I'm taking.
So, IF I'm going to write a promotion or sales piece for any particular product, it must be a good product and live up to what the manufacturer or producer claims. I want to personally check the product out myself before I start writing about it.
Therefore, I've already said "pass" on at least two potential jobs. On one, the product seemed good, but the ordering process on their website was tedius and
confusing; on the second, the product was..maybe okay, but certainly not worth the hype they claimed and wanted to convey. On the second one, I also noted at least 17 errors in their current sales letter. Misspelled words, incomplete sentences and other inconsistencies did little to make me feel they had credibility.
We all make mistakes; I make typos lots of times, including here on the blog.
But for the real-deal jobs, I get at least one other--sometimes more--people to proofread the piece.
As I state on the website, I'm been known for honesty and integrity in the broadcast industry for many years. Now THERE'S a cutthroat industry, for sure. But I say, it's more important to maintain integrity no matter what line of work you may be in.
So, Regis, THAT's my final answer!