J-Walk & Associates, Inc.

Adventures In Book Marketing

Yesterday Chandoo (Pointy Haired Dilbert) made a blog post: 101 Excel Secrets - Recommended E-Book.

It was a link to an ebook by someone named Francis J Hayes. Chandoo was upfront, and stated that he's an affiliate seller for the book.

I'm always interested in Excel secrets, so I took a look at the site.I was appalled. It looks exactly like any of thousands of scam sites on the Web, run by sleazy "experts" trying to make a quick buck from idiots. I normally don't like to such sites, but if you want to take a look, here it is: 101 Secrets of a Microsoft Excel Addict ebook.

Who knows? It might be the best Excel tips books in the world. But anyone with half a brain will click the Back button as soon as they see the site. It just reeks of sleaze.

Francis J Hayes might make a sale or two based on this post, but I posted it because I'm curious. Does that type of marketing actually appeal to Excel users?

By the way, who is Francis J Hayes? He claims to be an expert, but I couldn't find anything on the Web that didn't require payment or a subscription.