RE: RE: virus: The golden shower of salesmanship

Richard Brodie (richard@brodietech.com)
Sat, 6 Feb 1999 00:03:04 -0800

Joe Dees wrote:

<<You're personally interested in spreading certain memes, one of which is
the "memetics" meme; at the same time, you are selling a book propounding your view of memetics, and to the degree your propagation is successful, and to the degree that others assist you in that propagation and consequently heighten interest in your book, you monetarily profit.>>

Yes, profit is usually the result when you create a product that people want to buy.

<<This kinda reminds me of the newspaper advertisement promising those who
answer a sure-fire way to make money, for a small fee. When they send the money, they receive the advice to place the same ad in newspapers themselves, and to copy and send the message they just received to anyone who sends them money. The main difference is that the people who follow this advice don't have to kick back their profit to the original ad source, whereas no matter how long the chain is people build for you, if someone buys your book at the end of it, you, not the people helping you, receive the benefit. A golden shower, indeed!>>

It is a dilemma, isn't it? One reason I do ask people directly to recommend my book is to confront them with a very dangerous meme that interferes with people's ability to succeed monetarily. It is the win/lose meme, the idea that if I win then someone else must lose. Is it so hard to imagine that most people who buy my book will get their $22 (or $13.20 if they buy it from Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0963600117 ) of value from it? Even if I make my $4 profit?

Having said that, I do have a MLM scheme for selling my book called the Memetics Profit Virus. If you'd like to participate in the profit, you can join. Send a SASE to Profit Virus c/o Integral Press, 1122 E. Pike St. Ste 786, Seattle WA 98122.

Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/ Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme" http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/votm.htm Free newsletter! Visit Meme Central at
http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm