Misanthropic Marketing.

I received an unsolicited email the other day.

Apologies for the out of the blue email. However, we thought that you may be interested in a free guest post for your blog which is based on SEO, Internet and viral marketing. The article will be completely free, unique and written specifically for your blog. The article will contain a link back to our website as per my email signature.

The article will be written by ********* who is a well-known SEO expert and internet marketer. He was rated #2 most influential marketer in the UK and 37th in the world in 2008. He also helps many large well-known household brands improve their visibility on the internet.

We would love to add to your already well-written and informative blog. As previously mentioned it will be completely free and we will produce the article within a few days if you agree to accept our offer.

Of course, I have never heard of this great influencer. And I somehow doubt his credentials given his desire to introduce a totally different tone of voice onto this blog. Hasn't he read about "authenticity" or does he just spin that to his doubtless myriad clients?

For better or worse, everything here comes from me (and that incidentally is why I have been posting less frequently lately - I'm keen to avoid repeating myself for the sake of writing a post). There are no third parties and if I have nothing new to say, then I won't be writing anything. I practice what I preach. My "well known" correspondent doesn't. He's not interested in my readers, he's interested in what they can do for him. Don't let your company fall into the same trap.