To know me is to know that I am more often than not a happy guy with a healthy amount of optimism flowing through my veins. But to know me is to also know that I have zero tolerance for idiots, morons, inbound marketers, content marketers or shysters in general.

So you can imagine my reaction when I saw this news headline  – yes, not an ad headline, but a news headline from Target Marketing: FREE CONTENT MARKETING: Turning Reviews Into Ads.

Really?  FREE?  Is anyone actually stupid enough to believe that? Obviously Target Marketing is stupid enough to write it, but does anyone think it is true.

Unfortunately, the answer is an unequivocal yes. In fact, far more people than you might expect. There is still a huge population of marketing professionals who believe publicity is free, but the number of people who think social media and content marketing and inbound marketing are all free is absolutely staggering.

And the providers just keep feeding the beast.

So, I just want to say good luck with all that.  For all the people who insist on promoting “free” services and all the people who insist on specifying “free” services, just remember what my dad always said: You get what you pay for… and you probably deserve it.