Back in September, Fox News published an article that caught my eye.
The title was:
“Mark Wahlberg doesn’t think he’ll ‘be acting that much longer’”
I took the hook… as they sat back to reel me in.
I was an easy catch.
Heck, he’s one of my favorite people to see on the big screen.
And news like that isn’t what I want to hear.
So they got my “click”.
Reading through…
I came across the quote from the title in the second paragraph.
Why don’t you read it… and tell me you don’t notice something a little different from the title.
Whalberg said:
“I don’t think that I’ll be acting that much longer at the pace I am now” [1]
Notice the “at the pace I am now” bit?
So… he might be taking things a bit slower.
But this is certainly NOT what the title implied…
That he’d be calling it quits.
Yerp…
It’s clickbait at its finest.
Was I expecting TOO much for a big news site to do better than this?
Apparently: yes.
But this sort of thing sells.
Pretty soon everyone’s yabbering about this on social media.
“Ooh… did you hear? Mark Wahlberg’s retiring?”
Gossip is big business.
Fortunately… much to my relief… the former “Marky Mark” isn’t hanging up his acting skates.
There’s something in this for freelancers. [2]
There’s a temptation…
Particularly if you’re new to the game…
To cast out clickbait for clients.
Sure… be confident.
But run from any urge to bend the truth into a U.
Or not tell the whole story.
I mean…
If you say you’ve worked with top ecommerce companies…
Don’t be meaning your cousin Steffie. Who you wrote an email for that one time. And sent it to their 113-person list using Gmail (horrors!).
If you try reeling ’em in with bait like this…
When the truth comes to light…
It’s like you’ve landed a hapless fish with the hook stuck in their gut.
And — as people keen on fishing will tell you — it can be jolly tricky to remove.
Being less than forthcoming with the truth is never a good business strategy.
Of course… you know that.
But sometimes the big players don’t.
So, if you ever land Fox News as a client…
Can you give them an earful from me about why clickbait sucks?
Cheers!
P.S. Not clickbait:
Check it out here:
https://milham.me/berserkermail
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[1] https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/mark-wahlberg-doesnt-think-be-acting-much-longer
[2] Send me something… and see if I can’t pivot from it to a freelancing tip — I’m up for the challenge 😀
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Chris Milham