When this book came across my Facebook feed, I was naturally rather curious. I'm a sucker for psychology and philosophy which, of course, Facebook knows. I was dismayed at my inability to find it on Audible or Spotify which took me to the ad link www.StanTaylor.com. Immediately, my scam alert bells started to ring when I saw the prices. (note: the alerts are not conclusions but warnings of caution)
The book has many ads that appeal to those who'd wish to manipulate others. And if you want to learn that skill, I have no doubt that Stan Taylor at least knows how to employ such tactics and I imagine some of them are discussed later in the book. The pricing here shows one tactic already in full swing which he may or may not divulge later. We shall see. This tactic is known as anchoring. He sets a high price such as $500 which is entirely arbitrary. As far as I can tell, he never actually set the price that high and this is the first launch of the campaign. Anchoring is a well-known tactic in marketing whereby one is drawn to believe they are getting a deal by comparing to the anchor. Wow, only $97 instead of the $500? What a steal! But when is a regular book ever that expensive? He does provide his own thoughts on the matter which I will discuss later.
Now, I would like to make it very clear at this point, I am not judging the tactics nor using them to conclude anything. In fact, I think the book likely has a lot of decent value in it and many will find it useful. So far, I find the book to be scratching a particular itch and I would indeed recommend it to people for what I have read so far if it weren't so damn expensive. But I've only just begun my adventure down this rabbit hole and I am leery of where it will lead. I do not believe this is a scam, per se but I do believe it is important to weigh the pros and cons accordingly--to know what is going on and what you are paying for.
Apart from the high price which Stan unabashedly excuses, there are other marketing tactics in effect. Firstly, who the heck is Stan Taylor? The name is most assuredly a pseudonym or a pen name as a search yields no results. That is fine and all, but there is a marketing secret embedded within it. He chose a unique enough name but common enough and simple enough that it stands out and is easy to remember: Stan. No baggage, simple, friendly. The second name, Taylor, comes with a slew of positive subconscious perceptions. Taylor Swift is hugely popular and Taylor will evoke those feelings subconsciously to those who associate with the music. It is also a common and easy name to feel comfortable with. All marketing. And that's fine--marketing is critical to a campaign such as this especially because he chose to self-publish and not even use any self-publishing tools. He'd be a fool not to use all the marketing tactics at his disposal. But rest assured, you are indeed being manipulated to buy the book. Hopefully the book plans to reveal that as it promises to awaken us to such strings.
Another marketing tactic is the extra "gift" and the limited time offer. You wouldn't want to miss out, so buy now! There is a significant chance this will never change unless, for a limited time, he makes it seem like it is no longer available just so he can move on to the next sale. It's called manufactured scarcity paired with anchoring to justify inflation. It's like Kohls. Everything is always 80% off. All marketing.
Now, there are some other more shady marketing tools that I believe are being employed but which I cannot prove (which is why they work). The first is claiming that 60,000 people have read this book. Who the hell are they? It's unverifiable and quite unlikely when there is no mention of him or his book anywhere to be found as of this launch. It sounds shady to me and this tactic is called social proof inflation. By assuming there are that many people who put the money down on such a book, there must be value! It can't be that risky. There are many reviews which also seem entirely fictional. They are too well articulated and, quite honestly, sound a lot like his own writing style. The review by "GatsbyGotWrecked" in particular sounds exactly like Taylor reviewing his own book. Unsurprisingly, he has only 2 other reviews written 2 and 3 days prior to his own review and they were negative reviews on two books of a similar genre.
The comments on Facebook ads also appear quite planted, and for having 60,000 people who supposedly read this book, the exclusive Facebook group seems a bit shy with only 250 people as of this writing. But hey, these are just notes and may have excusable reasons for any of them. I just think it's far more likely to be the very marketing he clearly knows how to utilize.
Lastly, Stan isn’t just selling a book--he’s selling an identity. The high price creates what’s known as cognitive dissonant justification: your brain needs to believe the cost was worth it. You can’t see yourself as a fool, so the book must be life-changing. And for it to be life-changing, it has to become part of you. You’re no longer just a reader, you’re a... Stan...zian. You have to be. The alternative is admitting you paid over $100 for a $20 book.
Every ad, image, description, tone, and verbiage is directly calculated to sell you his book and to make you a disciple. But again, of course it is. How else would he sell it? And the fact he's so good at it means he does indeed know just how to do what he promises: make anyone trust him and follow him. Now, is he really going to share it with you? Or is it entirely used against you? That is what I am here to find out as I dive deeper into the content of his book. Given the cost, he certainly is not doing charity work. He is a business man through and through. But hey, that doesn't mean there isn't value.
And so, I have paid the cost so that I can provide an honest look at whether or not the value truly exists or if his followers are mere puppets on his strings chasing the next shiny self-help book--oddly enough, he recognizes this as his main audience in chapter 1. So my initial suspicion is that he fills a niche of self-help for the type of people who have a craving for strong authority figures promising control--a darker Tony Robbins in a way perhaps geared to my exact 40s demographic. But again, we shall see.
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