Beware The Library
I was browsing around my local public library the other day. You may remember libraries. They were large buildings with lots of books and you could go in and borrow a book for free.
I had heard rumors these still exist, so I went to visit.
Okay, that’s a bit tongue in cheek.
Anyway, I was browsing through some business books and found a book on Internet Marketing. naturally, I picked it up and started browsing through it.
Then I looked at the copyright date. It was 1997.
Are you kidding me? A book on Internet marketing from 1997?
Let’s see. There was no Google, no eBay, no Facebook, no YouTube, barely any auto responders. You get the picture.
After I finished chuckling to myself about how useless this book was, I brought it up to the circulation desk. I politely pointed out to the woman that this was an Internet marketing book from 1997 and was completely obsolete.
I further pointed out that it would actually hurt somebody who came in and read it. It would completely waste their time and send them in the wrong directions.
I was hoping she would immediately see the logic and pull the book from the shelves.
Instead she told me that books stay on the shelves based on how many times they are taken out. But she might be able to bring this up to the reference committee and they could meet and make a decision about it.
In other words, the more people that make a mistake and take this book out, the longer it will stay on the shelves. I did not get the feeling she took me seriously.
What a joke!
I did realize that there is an important lesson in this. Many people today minimize the value of online education. They think that a book in print has more credibility. There may be some truth to the credibility part, but my experience is that any book about Internet marketing in general is obsolete by the time it hits a bookshelf.
There’s just too much time that goes on between when the author writes something and when it is finally approved, edited, published, and distributed.
So the next time you are browsing through your local library or the local bookstore, enjoy the fiction and the recipes and the history and the biographies. But stay the heck away from anything to do with online marketing.
Online courses, membership sites and e-books, especially those with active forums, are much better places to get current information. Do look out for the dates, you can still find old e-books available. But in general, you are better with information that is published online from a reputable source.
Internet marketing information is not like wine, it does not get better with age.
Please take a moment to comment below.
August 5th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
As both a librarian and internet marketer I find this shocking. First the library is still a great place to get information. Second, the library really should weed their collection and get rid of old internet marketing books. We just did this at my library and we got rid of books as new as 2007 just because the information is outdated.
August 6th, 2010 at 12:07 am
Funny, as I read through this email I thought you were leading to the (opposite) conclusion that old marketing books still have core nuggets of valuable information. I’ve heard of copywriters and hardcore advertisers speak of “Scientific Advertising”, Claude Hopkins, and such — books and folks from decades ago who broke ground on basic concepts in marketing still used to this day.
August 6th, 2010 at 2:03 am
Thanks Jeff,
When u say Library? Are u talking about that place with the musky smelling paper bound things on the shelfs? {I thought those were used for building insulation} I’m there for the WiFi, get it?
August 6th, 2010 at 6:45 am
AnnaLaura – I still like the library. Just not for internet marketing info. And part of my post was definitely a vent against the librarian who seemed so dismissive of my comments. Like a lot of local libraries, the library in my town is constantly facing budget pressure. They have had to cut back their hours and give up plans for expansion. You’d think they’d be trying to get voters on their side. This library needs someone like you to come in and do a housecleaning. I mean really, there were “How to repair a computer” type books from years ago. How useful is that? You can’t even get the parts they are talking about…
Jake – but definitely for some of the marketing and copywriting classics as you mention. I spent a lot of time there reading exactly those books when I was getting started in my career at an ad agency.
The difference is theory vs tactics. Books like Claude Hopkins and David Oglivy and Robert Cialdini are full of classic theory and ideas on what works to motivate and engage people.
Jo – WiFi – that’s funny
Jeff
August 6th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Well, how many of us (there are some) still like to curl up on a rainy day engrossed in a good book? I’m talking about a good love story or mystery though, not so much a reference book.
Certainly on certain subject matter, this type of information needs to be put in the “history of” section, so as not to lead the reader astray.
August 6th, 2010 at 6:59 am
Interesting topic and also well written.
August 6th, 2010 at 7:06 am
I agree 100%. Even the book stores are selling useless publications with copyright dates that are several years old.
On the other hand things change so fast that it’s difficult for a person running a small business to keep up. The internet “gurus” seem to fall into two categories. The first group seems to be teaming up and promoting each other’s products, while there are some “rebels” who say that this is a conspiracy and that you should come to them for the all the answers. The point is you could invest a lot of money in the latest big thing and immediately find out that there is something much better out there.
August 6th, 2010 at 7:18 am
Ed – there seems to be a higher than ever percentage of “promote” vs “good content” coming from email lately.
One suggestion is to unsubscribe from the lists where all you get is promos. I’ve noticed a lot more of these lately and have gotten rid of a lot of “wanna be” gurus who really haven’t got any experience to share.
I don’t believe there is a conspiracy. I do think that when a leading guru puts out a course, and has a good track record with his previous products, than a lot of people want to hop on board and promote that good product.
To be an anti-guru and rant against those products without seeing them is at least as bad as promoting without knowing anything about the product.
It’s easy to bash. But a lot of those products are really good. So would I be doing people on my list a favor by not promoting a good product?
Also – good point about book stores. I remember picking up a book about SEO that was completely out of date- mentioning search engines that no longer existed. It’s very tough to get info like that in print.
August 7th, 2010 at 4:03 am
Here is the full draft of my new book called “Timeless Internet Marketing.”
It will take up too small a space on the shelves in its entirety, so the content is repeated four hundred times, so as to produce a satisfyingly weighty tome. The other benefit being that even the most witless and uninformed reader will eventually understand what to do next.
It includes keywords such as “mulligan,” or “filsaime,” etc, for a suitable fee..
All libraries should carry this;
Introduction
Go online – your local library is a good place to start.
Chapter One
What To Do Next
Search for “Internet Marketing.”(1)
(1) Ref “keyword”
P.S. If you really do succeed in doing this in libraries across the globe, I get 10% for dreaming it up!
August 7th, 2010 at 7:50 am
Hi Jeff thanks for your take on the issue. After many years in academia I concluded a while back that all books are valuable whether old or new, uptodate or not. For example my Phd in biochemistry was based on a publication I read from 1911. The scientist concluded that a particular purification technique would be impossible to develop now (1911) or in the future(It took me 3.5 years but I proved him wrong and was awarded my PhD for it). Every paragraph of every book how ever comprehensive it is, is but a summary of information at the time of writing. It is important to read between the lines and use the book as a way to get into the author´s shoes and try and be more imaginative than the author. I think it is important to read all the new stuff that you suggest in your writing but also read all the old out of date stuff as well. In fact I often have sleepless nights when I read new developments and don´t know what went before. I have to spend hours in libraries, making librarians earn their salary looking for all the outof date stuff. A very famous former chess world champion, Mikhail Tal(known for his imaginative attacking style) was often criticised by his contemporaries for reading outofdate chess beginners books as a matter of routine. He retorted that it relaxed him and put him back into gear when his mind had gone astray. Hope this helps and provides another perspective to the topic of all old books(internet marketing ones incliuded). Regards, Ken.
August 7th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Jeff,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about obsolete book on internet marketing. Agreed with your approach. Such books should be removed from library shelf as it may mislead people.
Regards
Rafiq
August 7th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
True enough….however, IF a person has the time to read such a book they just might be able to take an old technique that has fallen out of favor, give it a new twist and come up with a completely new approach???? Creative thinking 101.
August 7th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Jeff…
Thanks for the tip. As a Use Book Seller, I always try to stir away from any of those types of books… There is another point that need to be mad to on people buying or getting PLR ebooks on Marketing. They do not refresh the matrial in them and most of them are out dated also…
So my advise is Beware fo those online too…
August 7th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Jeff -
I am with you totally on this one. Ken (who commented above) is right on target about the value of old, outdated references to some extent, but certainly not in areas such as internet marketing where, as you clearly point out, information changes almost faster than one can keep up. In this case, you are absolutely correct that old information — especially for the less savvy out there — could actually be detrimental.
While we all know that libraries fall in that category (along with schools and cultural institutions) of the-first-to-lose-funding, there is no excuse for the librarian you approached to have been so naive as to totally dismiss your valid concerns. If only we were ALL a little more diligent about such things.
August 8th, 2010 at 10:06 am
Jeff,
Your post reminded me of a time about 7 or 8 years ago when I was first learning about search engine optimization. I did what I’d always done when I wanted to tackle a new subject, headed to the nearest bookstore. Much to my surprise, the store had only 1 book on the topic, and even with my then limited understanding of SEO, I could see it was outdated.
I’ve found that for any topic that is internet related, including SEO, the best sources for information are blogs and e-books sold online.
August 8th, 2010 at 11:31 am
Hi Jeff
You know that a lot of people depend on you to keep them informed and directed. You do a great job and are admired by many.
It hurts my heart to see a book removed into obselescence. Words are preciouse. The ideas created by a word are precious. The actions brought on by the ideas that were created with a word are precious.
But, you are absolutely right about taking the outdated information out of circulation. It’s almost a criminal act to allow someone to be led by incorrect data, so getter gone!
Perhaps a collector of books would find it interesting. A person who’s been active in Internet marketing for a while would have to smile about the way ‘it use to be.’ Adding the book to a collection would allow it to be labeled as obsolete while, at the same time, maintain those wonderful words and ideas that served a great purpose at one time.
Thanks for what you have done and are doing in the Internet marketing arena.
August 9th, 2010 at 8:52 am
Hi Jeff,
Hope I’m not too far out of line here!
My GoogleAdwords Ads are just sitting there for more a week- showing approved and eligible – but No impressions! I have had a couple of successful campaigns before – Can You or one of your subscribers give me a hint as what I may have done wrong? I promote CB products and would appreciate Any Advice!
Regards, jfrhea@charter.net
August 16th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
The library is certainly a great resource to have in every town. They should take a lesson from the newspaper they have – that some things have a shelf life. Internet marketing is definitely one of those things. I’ll share the word at the Dover, NH – and Portsmouth NH Library.
August 17th, 2010 at 1:48 am
Hi, Jeff,
Thanks for Your ‘library’ email.
Internet Marketers are Brilliant.
Internet marketing, though, via
algorithms, analytics and any
other means available analyzes
human behavior and encourages
mass thinking that perpetuates
human behavior and values that
perpetrate arrested mere thinking.
Perhaps some Creative IM’s such
as You, can begin to inject Awareness
that will encourage humanity to
advance into more Productive Creativity
than is indicated by the mindlessness
now produced by the masses of our
current Global marketplace.
Thanks,
Norm A.
barleygreen@sympatico.ca
August 17th, 2010 at 4:39 am
Hi Jeff,
Your post is amusing and shocking at the same time. I can see why you felt moved to ‘try’ to get the book removed.
I think libraries and generally brick and mortar companies suffer from what I call red-tape-syndrome. The ‘we’ll have to have a meeting about it’ (generally with a bunch of people who are in no way qualified to judge the topic they’re about to discuss…)
If libraries weren’t gov subsidised, most of them would have gone bust a long time ago (in fact, they’re doing a pretty good job of achieving just that).
And the sad thing is… that we all like librearies. There’s something very cool about The Library. It’s like stumbling upon a link to a page full of free e-books.
Jose
August 17th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Jeff, I agree with you on that. When it come to internet marketing the changes that come out daily and for a library to have a book on internet marketing that old should be pulled from the shelf.
Unless it talks about the fundamental of running an Internet Marketing business. That will always be the same.
September 14th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
The same holds true for my local library as well as the one on the college campus!
At least the web design classes there do touch on internet marketing, but still the material is like 10 years old. So they teach how to make a basic webpage -which do NOT look better than the ones i make using knowledge i taught myself- but not how to draw traffic to that webpage