All marketers are liars.

Well not really. Even an average marketer will never lie. Why? Because it is bad for business, that is why. So what do they do? They bend the truth. Put another way, they present the truth in digestible forms. I also believe that is the best way forward; to present the truth and nothing but, in a way that helps you sell your client’s (or your own) stuff.

The below-average marketer

The below average marketer will bend the truth in a way that borders towards a lie. That is easily catch-able.

Somewhere in the middle are these folks:

List of top blog hosts, really? (click to enlarge)

Now, they have a list of top blog hosts, with the number one offering everything unlimited for USD 3.88 per month. That not just cheap, that’s cheap cheap, three times over. So the best blog host will set you back a measly 3.88 per month. Nice, right? Well, in the text of the above screenshot-ed table, they say, and I quote:

Note from the Editor: The Blog Hosting plans displayed are rated by the best value for the price. Overall value is determined by price, uptime reliability, quality of customer service, and user feedback found on forums.

I have bold-ed the ‘overall value’ bit, because that is where the straight out lie (of the list being the Top Blog Hosts) becomes a bended truth (only if you are considering the price).

The point where truth doesn’t bend but breaks into a lie

Now, anyone who has a pusle will tell you that the one offering the lowest price in many cases, is not the best option. I have been in web hosting and design for almost a decade (I actually feel old in this), and I can say without flexing a muscle, that in web hosting specially, cheap means bad. If you are a techie or a web developer, you can get raw storage for as low as USD 0.5 per month, thanks to cloud computing/hosting services from the likes of Amazon and Mosso. But that is not what web hosting is, it is not raw space. It involves highly crucial variables like:

• Bandwidth
• Uptime
• The all-too-important after-sales customer service
• the features on offer as compared to your requirements

And that is just for starters. A good host will not necessarily cost you that much (anywhere between USD 6 to USD 35 per month flat), but any list of good hosts has to take into account at leas tthe above four variables. If someone says, ‘here is the list of the cheapest blog hosts’, then that is fine. But it does not have the same punch as ‘list of the best blog hosts’, now does it?

How many of us bend the truth that actually gets broken into a lie? Not only in business but in daily life? Something to watch out for, for sure.