Obama Obviously Doesn’t Know the First Rule of Advertising

The first rule of advertising is this:

Make sure you have a good product to advertise.

Because if what you’re selling isn’t any good, you’re going to have a tough go of it.

And even if you do manage to sell a few units, it’s all going to come back to bite you when your customers find out they were sold garbage.

So I had to laugh when I saw this headline on USA Today: “Obama to visit family to sell tax plan”

And, yes, Obama really is visiting a family in northern Virginia to try to convince them of the benefits of paying $2,000 extra a year in taxes.

I do not envy him.

He probably has the worst sales job in the world right now.

In fact, there’s even a hash tag trending on Twitter about this: #My2k

It’s a play on the old Y2K mania from last century.

Why the use of 2k? Because, as Fox reports, “$2,000 a year is the amount middle-class taxes are estimated to go up if Congress and the White House fail to reach a deal by the end of the year.”

I posted this quote on my Facebook profile, but nobody “Liked” it — not even the people who voted for Obama!

That made me chuckle. I never will understand the hypocrisy of the average American voter.

Anyway, back to my main point… To be successful in advertising (or sales), you’ve got to have something good to sell.

If you don’t, why bother?

Through the years, I’ve accepted a few projects where I thought the product was better than it really was.

By the time I realized the product was no good, I was already neck-deep in the project and facing a deadline.

I’d like to think I’m more discerning now.

A good product, a qualified list, and a savvy client… that’s what I look for these days.

-Ryan M. Healy