Dave Ramsey is a great example of an anti-marketer.
Unlike the credit card industry — which TARGETS users and gets them hooked on debt for life — Dave is busy helping people get permanently out of debt. He advises ditching your credit cards altogether.
He doesn’t have a credit card or a credit score…and is a millionaire after many hard lessons of doing money the wrong way.
He gives so much free content that it’s impossible for people NOT to become educated by studying it. (Anti-Marketing principle: stop trying to “get” customers…start giving!)
Dave is ALWAYS going for sales, not approval. (Another anti-marketing principle.)
He plugs his “Financial Peace University” or other product into every single radio clip that he publishes on his YouTube channel.
It doesn’t come across salesy because it’s something that will actually benefit the customer’s life.
Dave’s books have sold millions of copies. He has over 807K YouTube subscribers.
I’m not aware if he has an email list, but that would be a tremendous way to magnify what he’s already doing.
He’s unapologetically himself. He’s known to yell whenever he hears stupidity. He doesn’t swear. But he yells a lot!
He’s politically incorrect. Often quoting from the Bible and admitting that he’s a Christian, he says his money principles are just God’s principles. He says the Bible sees debt as stupid.
(Can you imagine how many marketers would be terrified to say something like that, due to their fear of being judged?)
Probably the biggest thing that makes Dave Ramsey an anti-marketer is that he refuses to follow what’s “normal” in our society…and he provides a better alternative.
The status quo in America is that people to go to college, get crushed by student loan debt, take on massive car payments they can’t afford, take on mortgage payments they can’t afford, finance everything… then remain broke and in debt for the rest of their lives (while posting about how awesome their life is on Facebook!).
All of this is happening by design.
“The credit card industry has spent more time and money studying your behavior than you have,” he says.
Dave is disrupting the status quo in America by calling it out…and showing people that the status quo is stupid.
What’s the status quo in YOUR industry that you’re calling out?
In the financial world, the status quo is that most people are SLAVES to debt, and couldn’t comfortably handle a $400 emergency if they were faced with one.
Dave’s de-bunking the “build your credit” myth that persists in America. A FICO score is nothing more than a gimmick designed to keep people trapped in debt and playing within that system!!! (How many people do you know who boast about their high credit score?! See? The con is everywhere!)
Dave’s helping individuals break free from that vicious cycle.
Although his approach to money management may be unpopular, it’s also no BS.
For as many haters as he has, he’s got 10x more true fans.
Why? Because he hits all three anti-marketing benchmarks of great content:
Inspire, motivate, and educate!
When every piece of your content does these 3 things — you can change lives for the better AND make massive sales simultaneously in your home business or organization.
Dave’s a great example of an anti-marketer to study.
He obviously cares about his message and is devoted to helping others through spreading that message far and wide.
I would say…he’s definitely not a sellout.
“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else,” his book says.
This means if you will sacrifice like a mad man (or woman) for a short period of time, ignore your broke friends and family’s “advice”… and work like hell, a person can eventually free themselves from being a slave to debt.
I dunno about you, but I’m inspired!
Michelle Lopez
Founder, The Anti-Marketing Manifesto
P.S. Check out Dave Ramsey’s YouTube clip “How to Be Good With Money” (below) and study the way he delivers his material.
Notice how a product is always subtly plugged, even while he’s telling an entertaining story and providing educational insights about money. (Never be afraid to plug your products too much!!!!)
P.P.S. Dave also leverages interesting news items related to his teachings (something I help my clients do in their content). Check out his rant on the rapper Jay-Z dropping $91K on a bar tab (below). It’s FANTASTIC! (and not what you’d expect!).
Michelle Lopez Boggs is a copywriter, copywriting mentor, and author of "The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout." She's helped her clients sell millions of dollars' worth of products and services online by using the MEI(S) principle — motivate, educate, and inspire, and sell. 