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Why write about Michael Cheney

A friend recommended that I subscribe to Michael Cheney's marketing emails. Of special interest were the high-energy, amusing videos that Michael posted. I signed up and was entertained. He's got wit, charisma, and smarts. But the more I watched him and read his emails, the more troubled I became. What bothered me was the incessant call to buy the things he promotes. It's a kind of snake oil salesmanship, and it must be successful because he keeps at it, and he wouldn't do so if he earned nothing. Then today, he wrote something that stopped me in my tracks. He was promoting EVS, a video marketing program. He said: "I will use EVS to make millions and so will every other top internet markterer [sic] so come and join the smart peeps." I thought: If I had a way to make millions, why would I bother selling a product to other people? Wouldn't I be satisfied with the millions I was making on my own. And how would I know that the others--to whom I was selling the product--had good products? What if they were selling crap? Would I want to add to the crap of the world? It seems to me that Michael, who sent out innumerable emails about EVS, must be making good money marketing this product. That, I speculated, has to be his motivation. It can't be because he knows and cares about me and other readers like me. He doesn't know us at all. He's certainly not interested in me as an individual. He seems me as a customer or maybe as a mark. In this blog, I want to see if I can figure out what makes Michael tick, and--more important--what he does that persuades hundreds or thousands or maybe millions of people to buy from Michael. I will welcome your thoughts on this topic.