The Subtext of Silver Bullets
Tara McMullin
Writing & speaking about the future of work | Producing remarkable podcasts for changemakers
In 2014, internet marketing guru Jeff Walker released Launch, a book that promised to reveal the secrets of his Product Launch Formula? (PLF). It seemed like every successful online business was using PLF at the time: Marie Forleo, Eben Pagan, John Janstch, and many more. Michael Hyatt’s endorsement began with, “This is not just a book. It’s a license to print money.”
Even if you’re not familiar with PLF, you’re probably familiar with how it plays out. A marketer starts to promote a game-changing free training series. After entering an email address, the new prospect lands on a page with spots for four videos. The first video, what Walker refers to as Prelaunch Content, is active—the other three will be revealed over a 10-day sequence. The initial three videos tell a “story,” offering valuable training along the way. The fourth video often consists of testimonials, big promises, and a pitch. All along the way, the prospect receives daily emails with more information, sneak peeks at the next video, or success stories.
By the time the pitch actually comes along, the prospect is sold.
Now, if you started paying attention to internet marketing after, say, 2016, you not be familiar with PLF. I’d say 2012 or 2013 was peak PLF—and by the time the book came out, the tactic had started to produce diminishing results. Walker still teaches it and offers an updated version of Launch. But I don't see many textbook PLF launches anymore.
PLF lives on, though, in many derivative forms.
The subtitle of Launch is An Internet Millionaire’s Secret Formula to Sell Almost Anything Online, Build a Business You Love, and Live the Life of Your Dreams. (And I thought my book’s subtitle was long!) This subtitle contains quite a bit of subtext.
The first chapter of the book is titled, “From Stay-at-Home Dad to Six-Figures in Seven Days.”
The rags to riches story is, of course, a hallmark of self-help credibility posturing. Walker’s story didn’t start with rags, but it did start with a rash decision to quit his corporate job because he was “a square peg in a round hole” and simply couldn’t stomach it. "Not fitting into corporate life" is also, paradoxically, credibility in today's entrepreneurship-driven world.
Walker details his first successful launch, contextualizing it saying that his family’s future and chance at a better life was on the line. He adds, “Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would change the world.” This is more subtext. Entrepreneurship is sold as a chance to make a real impact and live your values while making more money than you ever dreamed. Did PLF change the world? Of course not. It certainly influenced an industry and a particular group of marketers. But it didn't make the world a more just, equitable, or loving place.
Another way to read that subtext is that changing the world is defined through an individualist perspective. Walker doesn't seem interested in making the world a more just, equitable, or loving place. Instead, he's created a system "anyone" can use to get what's theirs. Changing the world means creating individual opportunity—not collective improvement.
Walker looks like a typical dad from the Colorado suburbs. He’s a bit wiry, his skin and hair clearly touched by the sun during outdoor adventures. His clothes are nondescript. But Walker has the same charisma of every successful internet marketing, self-help, or wellness guru. He speaks dynamically—changing pitch, tempo, and volume often. He is constantly moving as he speaks, sometimes just his hands but other times his whole body.
When Walker speaks, you want to believe him. You want to believe that he has the answer to your problem. You want to believe that his secret formula can work for you too. You want to believe that you are the next internet millionaire.
You want to believe that, by seizing your personal opportunity to make more money, you're making the world a better place.
I never bought the PLF course, though I did read the book when it first came out. But I’ve heard Walker speak in person, gone through his launches, and witnessed plenty of other people utilize his training. I’ve even adapted the strategy behind PLF to fit my own style and needs as a marketer.
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There was a time when I believed that I was just a proverbial inch away from nailing my own PLF-style launch and really running away with success. And while I’ve created many successful six-figure campaigns, I wouldn’t call any of them a runaway success.
Back in 2014, though, PLF seemed like the ultimate silver bullet.
If a marketer could pull it off just so, a flood of sales was inevitable. Launch said so explicitly: “If I can go from Mr. Mom with zero entrepreneurial experience to tens of millions of dollars in sales, you can certainly do it as well.” PLF did work for many people but many of those people shared key traits with Walker: an early start in specific niche (for Walker, it was 1996 and the stock market), a charismatic personality, and relationships with key partners.
It’s easy to look back on this now and remark on how ridiculous this all sounds. Who would believe that they too could go from [insert unfortunate situation] to making millions of dollars from a single marketing tactic? It seems so passé. So bro-y. So “get rich quick.” (Walker mentions early that PLF is not about getting rich quick, despite constantly talking about speed and wealth in regards to PLF…)
But these silver bullet solutions are everywhere. Still.
Back in April, Amy Porterfield—herself not a stranger to the silver bullet—hosted Stu McLaren to talk about the silver bullet he’s been selling since 2016, membership sites. Earlier this year, I detailed the Web 3.0 silver bullet being sold by Brit Morin and Mila Kunis. Plenty of silver bullet courses on how to sell anything with social media, how to master Facebook ads to make millions, and how to grow a YouTube channel to a million subscribers. Business isn’t the sole purview of silver bullets, of course. Fitness, wellness, real estate, dating… they all have their own silver bullet solutions too.
Setting aside whether any of these silver bullets are truly effective, they’re enticing.
We love to believe that the answer is just another purchase away. We dream of figuring out the one thing that will change our lives.
And above all, we buy the subtext of silver bullets. We want to believe that:
The subtext of silver bullets is seductive.
And so, despite all of the personal and social evidence we have to the contrary, we continue to believe that the next silver bullet will be the one that proves each of those beliefs true.
Earlier, I mentioned that Jeff Walker started writing online back in 1996. It wasn't until 2003 when he stumbled on the Product Launch Formula? for himself. What happened in those seven years? Consistent content creation, persistent networking, and plenty of research on his subject of choice. Even after he had his first successful launch, he continued those activities.
We can read the subtext of Walker's PLF, Web 3.0, or the evangelism of passive income and get caught up in the FOMO. Or, we can actually read the behavior of the people who are living their "best lives." It turns out that living your best life involves a lot more unglamorous and consistent work than many of us would like to believe (or than the living-their-best-lives marketers would sell you). The more time we spend chasing silver bullets, the less time we have for the simple stuff that actually works.
I’m always quick to point out that What Works is a question more than it is an answer or directive. However, when people ask me, “What’s working on Instagram right now?” or “What’s working in podcasts right now?”, I’m happy to say that what works is caring about your work enough to do it with quality, curiosity, and consistency for longer than seems reasonable in our silver-bullet world.
Regenerative Farmer, Permaculture Designer, Writer
2 年Sticking with something longer than seems reasonable is pretty much the "silver bullet"... but of course there's no such thing. ;) I looooove this piece and how in-depth you're going on these topics. Thanks for sharing your experience and also how it all ties back into true improvements for people and planet, and not just our personal gains.
Audio/Visual Technologist, Designer of Presentation/Documentary Content to Capture Memories and the Audience
2 年Tara, Long time fan since the day of CL ! So true that as the world changes, trends and economic landscapes erode and emerge, caring about your work is key to fulfillment and happiness. Thank You !