Brand Communications and Optics Strategist Loren Weisman

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Ghost Drummer Transcription From Podcast
Ghost Drummer Transcription for Music Business ghost drumming. Being a ghost in the machine Podcast

Ghost Drummer Transcription for Music Business ghost drumming

Released on June, 29th, 2020

🎙️ Tune In: Listen to this Wait What Really Ok Podcast Episode Music Business ghost drumming. Being a ghost in the machine. on Apple Podcasts Spotify iHeart Radio Pandora Amazon Music Spreaker YouTube and other platforms.

Ghost Drummer Transcription Chapters

Ghost Drummer Transcription Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction to Ghost Drumming Podcast 00:45 – What Is Ghost Drumming in Music? 01:03 – Defining Ghost Musicians in Music Business 02:30 – Behind-the-Scenes Role of Session Players 03:55 – Impact of Ghost Drumming on Music Industry 05:05 – Personal Stories of Ghost Drumming Experience 06:30 – Navigating Anonymity as a Ghost Musician 07:45 – Humility in Ghost Drumming Career 09:10 – Balancing Recognition and Ghost Roles 10:20 – Challenges and Ethics of Ghosting in Music 11:40 – Contracts and Rights for Session Musicians 12:08 – Linking Music to Brand Messaging Strategies 13:25 – Storytelling Through Music and Branding 14:17 – Authenticity in Branding and Music Roles 15:50 – Overcoming Stereotypes in Music Business 16:40 – Lessons Learned from Ghost Drumming 18:00 – Building Trust as a Hidden Talent 19:10 – Applying Music Insights to Business Growth 21:27 – Final Reflections on Authenticity and Trust

Ghost Drummer Transcription Text

Ghost Drummer Transcription for Music Business ghost drumming podcast

Song: Wait What Really Really OK with your host, Loren Weisman. This is a fully licensed theme song for the show about stuff that makes you say, Wait What Really Ok. Loren: This is Wait, what really? Ok. Episode 112 this one’s titled Music Business Ghost Drumming. Being a ghost in the machine. A day ago I was brought into a pretty toxic thread about the facts and the fiction when it came to ghost musicians. And there was an interesting attack on some of these ghost musicians and what they had done and what they intended to do and what they were about.
And just it was this pretty vicious one sided view of things. And so I got into the conversation and before I did the brand messaging, I was a music producer and before that I was a drummer and I did a fair amount of ghost drumming. For those of you that don’t know what it is. And this is not just about music, this is some of the behind the scenes stuff. And it really does relate to messaging and it really relates to the way information, the way certain stuff is put out there, what we think is out there and how it’s done against what’s actually happening.

It was funny. I spoke to a friend of mine I haven’t Talked to in 20 years the other day and as he’s been following and listening to the podcast a bit, he said, I see a lot of parallels between what you do now and what you were doing in the music industry.

So to come back to the definition of ghost drumming and for that matter, ghost session playing, you have the session players, you have the cats that know how to perform in the studio and they’re brought in oftentimes to support bands and support artists. And when you have a single artist, it’s easy, okay, you bring, bring in your session players and their names show right up.

Ghost Drummer Transcription for Music Business ghost drumming Continued:

There are even bands and more. So today you don’t really hear about the ghosting thing as much where it’s okay, we’re going to bring in this guy and he’s going to handle this track. That’s what I did. My first ghosting session was in 1993. There was a drummer that was supposed to come in. He was part of a group. It wasn’t working out. He wasn’t able to get there. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the quality. I was nearby. He wasn’t able to get there. And I was explained that Ringo Starr didn’t always play on the beat Beatles and it wasn’t always Dennis on the Beach Boys.

And he began to share about this angle of the music industry, which I found really cool where it was the idea of you bring in these people and where session players get paid X amount, you get paid a little bit more for a tracker, for an album if you’re in a sense giving up your name. And the guy goes, he goes, I got a sense that you have the humility to be able to handle this. He goes, I don’t think you’re ever going to be a rock star with your look. And there was the old joke of saying I was tall, hairy and scary.

Drummer Loren Weisman Slideshow Page

And this particular guy, his name was Earl, he said, I don’t see you being a rock star or being in a boy band, or being in a pop band, or being in a metal band that has, you know, massive levels of success. But I see you drumming for them or at least being on the albums. That was appealing to me. I’d been a part of a band coming up and it was not the most wonderful experience. I enjoyed it. But as I began to hear about these studio elements, and it wasn’t that I wanted to hide in the studio for that matter, but there was something cool and there was this just detective kind of vibe to it that I really dug. I like the whole thing with Magnum PI I say the same thing about branding.

Kind of finding your way around somebody’s story. Back then it was finding my way around somebody’s song. So in this, I played on this particular track, they really wanted to make it appear as X, Y and Z players were on that thing. So I signed the right away. I then not listed on the album. And it was cool in doing that. It opened up a lot of doors to play on a lot of other stuff that way. Now I was not one of the high echelon, top rated LA or New York cats, but when you know how to shut your mouth, when you can stay quiet, when you can show up on time and when you can keep it together, you get a lot of work.

So where my resume of the albums that I did aren’t showcased on my website, and the bulk of them, three quarters of them, you can’t find the producers, the labels, the management they knew when I was around or when certain stuff was needed. I was reliable in that sense. I could keep my mouth shut, I could get the job done. The history of it was also, and we’ll get back to that, that thread where people went attacking the history of it was not to come in when it was a band situation and you were fixing something.

So the guy’s either drugged out or the guy’s got too Much alcohol, or maybe he just doesn’t have the ability. That was one of my favorite things to do when the guy didn’t have the ability and not knocking it, but it was saying, okay, what belongs here for the song? But then at the same time, what belongs here for something that this guy eventually can reach in a short amount of time? I’m not gonna go. I’m, I. I’m starting to get to that point. Beyond the confidentiality agreements and the expirations and. And yada yada with NDAs and blah, blah, blah.

Ghost Drummer Transcription for Music Business ghost drumming Continued:

I’m not gonna sit here listing down and I’m not gonna list a number of the guys that I know that were actually the drummers and the bass players and the guitar players on tracks. But the point is they got the gig not just because they were good, but because they had that detective skill of not saying, okay, what. Not just what do I think should be on this, but what should go here that this person can eventually get to be able to do was a particular band that came out in the 90s. They were really set on this drummer, and they wanted him to be a part of the band. He couldn’t play it, Couldn’t play it out on the. On the album. They brought in high echelon, way above my.

My pay grade session drummer who signed to be a ghost drummer. And it clearly not him. And still the guy he was. He was teaching the. He was teaching the real drummer, the session guy, the ghost drummer, was teaching the real drummer how he was doing these parts. He became, in a way, an instructor. And a couple months later, the humility of this particular drummer who, yeah, his feelings were hurt. He couldn’t play on the album. It wasn’t him. It was written that it was him. He had to go out there and say how it was him, but it wasn’t him.

But he had the humility to just get there and get it done, done and build up to be able to do that. Now, tie this to your messaging. Are there certain people that are coming in that are trying to set up your branding, your messaging, your marketing, in a voice that has nothing to do with you, not in your harmony or not in your song? That’s where the comparison and the parallels come from. So in that story of some of what my favorite things to do back then as a ghost drummer and even today doing the messaging was to figure out the story of the song, of the band, of the ability. Now, there were certain cases where it’s… You’re playing for an individual artist and it’s not really a ghost situation. It’s what do you think goes here? What would you play here? What would you play here for the song?

And don’t get me wrong, I hear some amazing drummers out there. I mean, some of these cats on Instagram, they circle around me. When I was at top shape of any drumming, I couldn’t touch half these cats. But at the same time, chops is not always where it’s at. Knowing what’s going to work for the song, what’s going to make for the motion, what’s going to highlight, the melody, the singer, the flow, the verse, the chorus, the transitions, that’s the people or those are the people that got the work. And it’s the same thing with your messaging. Somebody can come in and use all the biggest keywords, all the hype words, all the right now, hot, hot, hefty, here we go.

But does it tie to you? And when it doesn’t tie or relate or attach to your authenticity or your authority, it can die off. So that was the thing that I liked. It was trying to figure out how to fill it in and make it work for that person. Now this thread, coming back to the thread from yesterday, we were being. There was a couple of us, we were being attacked as saying that we were hurting the music business, we were destroying bands and, you know, we were, we were taking advantage of. I never. Myself and most of my friends that I know and session cats that have gone the ghosting route for certain stuff, that was never the intention.

This was a one off gig. These were situations where it’s like, let’s come in, let’s get it done. And it could be an incredibly toxic environment. I remember a particular studio in New England walking into that after getting the call. And it was a producer I knew, it was an engineer I knew the label that was paying for it, I knew that guy. We straightened up everything. And I walked in there and I remember it being one of the most uncomfortable situations where I mean, the band didn’t want to talk to me. They were all offended that their guy was being moved out.

They didn’t realize inside of their contract that in a sense they had a responsibility to get an album out at this budget, at this level. And a lot of times, most of the ghosts that you’ll see or a lot of the session players, they’re the drummers and the bass players. You can get away with a lot when it comes to guitar keys, vocal with the autotune and this and that. But when you got that drummer that’s just not piecing it together or that bass player that’s not holding it together,

Those are the first people that get replaced. And later in my career, as I became a music producer, when I worked and it was a certain budget, there was a cutoff point and it was in my contract. If your cat is not getting, if your guy is not getting it by this point I got to pull in the reinforcements, I got to pull in the guy that I know can. It’s not saying also. And then people, they used to say, okay, well this is about the ban. That’s one of your self recordings.

If you sign a deal and this to any of the musicians that are listening, if you sign a deal, check out what that deal consists of. Make sure is, are you now are they paying for a record, a recording, a song to be cut? And at a certain level that they see that they require because if so they’re not taking advantage of you, you agree to that. If on the other hand it’s saying, hey, you cut it till you get it there, you guys want to front the money, that’s fine. But you’ve got to think about from the business to the creative. And that’s where a lot of the session cats and that’s where a lot of the ghost players got it.

They were as creative as they were business minded. They knew when to go in, they knew, this is how we’re going to play the part out. This is how we’re quietly going to go into places, how we’re quietly going to leave. I remember some 2am sessions, I remember going in very quietly and very quietly out and taking care of certain things.

This is the same thing in business today when it comes to messaging. And it’s not saying that you necessarily have to say this is the marketing firm or this is the branding firm or this is the strategic group that put it all together. A lot of times it might be better if the message comes off that it was you. But making sure that you’re grabbing the right team and the right people to make sure that that is your message is the best way to go.

Also, it gets to a point here and this ties to business as well. I can’t take credit for 75, close to 80% of the recordings that I did. Now it doesn’t mean I didn’t get credit. I had credit in a circle of people and they helped get me work. And yes, certain friends. Can you tell us what you played on? I did the whole thing. I can’t confirm or deny. I won’t confirm. I won’t deny, but I played on certain stuff. I had other people. You’re full of it. Fine, I’m full of it. In the humility of not trying to prove myself to certain people that I had no reason to prove myself to. It stayed cool.

Ghost Drummer Transcription for Music Business ghost drumming Continued:

There’s some ghost cats out there where the ego, it gets to just this total different level and they feel like their honor is being challenged. So then they start to give away information that they shouldn’t give away. And in the same time, it sets them up in positions for liability and lawsuits. You agreed to do X. You agreed to keep your mouth shut. Somebody offended you and questioned your honor, and now you break that agreement, that’s on you.

It can be a great thing to not worry about getting the popularity credit and getting credit inside of the circles that are going to help you the most. My ability to stay quiet allowed the amplification of a whole bunch of work that I wouldn’t have got if I was out there, you know, screaming my resume to the masses. And yes, okay, at times it kind of bummed me out. There were certain times, yeah, I wanted to scream it to the masses.

But I also, I knew my road, I knew my zone, I knew my role. And inside of knowing, okay, I’m taking this from a business standpoint. I’m taking this from a creative standpoint. And it allowed me the opportunity. It allowed me the experiences and the relationships and learning the things that I learned across the music industry. That brought me to the books that I wrote, that brought me to doing the brand messaging that I do today. That brought me to the understanding of all sorts of different intentions and perceptions, subjective views, objective views, and everywhere in between.

Had I just been that guy trying to be out front, trying to brag about every single thing, I don’t know, I would have gotten all these opportunities or gotten to meet all these people. It never was the amount of albums. It was never about putting an album up on a wall. It was never. I mean, I was, you know, it wasn’t like, I’m going to brag about this. It was an experience that allowed me to do what I’m doing now. And I never thought I’d leave music.

This became a very natural transition. It was fun. And now I like, I pass that. I love my life. So in the same thing, wherever you’re at, on the road with a band, as a session player, in any kind of business, look down the road as well. And in this, in the ego part, it means you don’t need to write a book. If you don’t have a book in you, you don’t need to become a speaker. If you’re not really a speaker, you don’t need to become a coach. If you’re not the coaching type.

Some of the most successful people that then decided, okay, I’m going to shift over here and I’m going to coach. And they know nothing about it. Yes, there are certain players, let’s go to sports, and they transition through amazingly, and then they become amazing coaches. But then there are other people that have played for so long and they have all this experience, but in that sense of coaching and leadership, they can’t do it for squat. We’ve come into a time where it’s this ego amplification. And sometimes when you can be a ghost in the machine, when you can dial it back, not necessarily push there to be profiling the credit, you still get the credit, and you get the credit in the right circles, and it opens up that many more opportunities.

But maybe the world doesn’t know you can do better for your business, your vision. And this is inside or outside of music, the people that are screaming from the mountaintops end up being some of the biggest liabilities and the highest danger levels. And this goes for music, this goes to tv, this goes to developing projects, this goes to products. And they turn around and say, this was stolen from me. Maybe it was.

Maybe you helped it get stolen because there wasn’t the humility to keep it quiet, to keep it under wraps, to protect it, to secure it. So it’s not about necessarily being a ghost drummer, and it’s not necessarily about being a ghost session player. And really, it’s kind of died off, from what I understand, and I’m a few steps back from the music industry these days, and from the cats that I knew that used to do a lot of the ghosting, they’re also doing a lot less, too.

They’re making the jokes going, hey, I’m actually credited on this, and that’s cool. But at the same time, the ghosting that you can do, the ghost in the machine, that you can be behind a business, that you develop behind a business you’re a part of, regardless of your role, from the messaging to the marketing to the structure, sometimes sitting out there and just wearing your accolades on your shirt, it can get old. The real estate people that continually post about the houses they just sold, maybe there’s some people out there that don’t want to become marketing fodder for a real estate agent, and they want it to be a little quieter, maybe for some of the business people. Let me tell you all the stories around it.

Maybe there are people you could work around that want to be a little quieter about their stories. They’re not trying to hide certain things, perhaps, but they just don’t want it out on the front edge. One of the things, or say, for that matter, above the fold. One of the biggest things I took away from being a ghost drummer and learning about that and the session and the behind the scenes as well, was realizing that once I was presented with something, it wasn’t being negative and not believing it, but vetting in a little bit deeper. I had one guy, it was around 2001, and he asked me on a track that I. That I did play on, and he said, you know, was this you? I was listening to this. The song came out on the radio. I’m pretty sure it was you. And I said, I can’t confirm or deny it. And he goes on, I bet it’s you.

I bet you a drink, blah, blah. He just kept going, I. I didn’t go there. And then he goes, I know it’s you because you played the same lick on my album as you did on this track. And he did have me dead to rights. He. I mean, I’m kind of beyond the. The timeline of that album, and. And that was a. I’m not gonna go into the song, but that particular drummer was going off on another tour they wanted. The way the contracts were set up, it had to all be him. I snuck in, knocked out one track, got off. But point being, point being the story and starting to wrap this thing up. The idea of being able to come in behind the scenes and look at things from a different view than what’s just there can allow you to make smarter decisions. You see certain things. This is how this was. I’ve seen books written.

Ghost Drummer Transcription for Music Business ghost drumming Continued:

I’ve seen books written about sessions that I was in and I was a part of, and I read and I read about this one session, and it was this night and these things that happened. None of those things ever happened. And even bringing it up, when the author approached me, well, this was here and this was here, and this happened, and then this happened. Like, none of that’s true. Yes, it did. And I talked to this person. I’m like, I was there and I was sober. I wasn’t a heavy drinker.

But it’s like even in that moment, that didn’t happen. And yet, whatever the cognitive dissonance of it was, they were so convinced that happened. The point of this sort of rambled on rant of a podcast is it’s okay one to be a little quieter, to not share every single accolade. And by being a little quieter, not sharing every single accolade, pulling back on that, you may draw the trust and you may draw the authority for more people to want to work with you or want to work with what you’re creating because they know you’re a little bit safer.

The second part is the vetting to be able to look into that thing. Okay, somebody wrote a book on that. Somebody claimed this, but maybe it wasn’t true. I remember with the Ringo Starr thing, I had a really hard time envisioning that it wasn’t always him. And then there was a particular friend of mine, he laid three tracks across, across a CD and went from track to track to track and goes, here’s Ringo, he’s hanging on for dear life. Here’s the next track, same album, here’s Ringo. Just complete precision with this Latin feel. And here’s Ringo here, you know, just like kind of solid, kind of maybe, maybe it was him on a really good day.

And in that, and it’s not, not stating it, not fighting it, but, you know, I mean, and then the old joke about the hearsay where they asked John Lennon is, is Ringo the best, best drummer around? Or whatever? And he responded, ringo’s not the best drummer in the Beatles. And again, respect to Ringo, but also the understanding, it’s okay for other people to come in, it’s okay to get that help. And it’s going to be even more okay if you can look into those stories, not trying to bring the truth out or spotlight or state, this wasn’t true, or this wasn’t wrong, or this was wrong.

But when you begin to look at things with more of a detective eye, with a vetting eye, with a due diligence, you can learn more about the real stories. And in turn, from those stories, you’ll be able to make better decisions for your stories, for your journey, for your path in taking that humility, whether it’s not taking credit and a smaller circle of people knowing to looking at certain things.

And before you copy and emulate, you look into that a little bit deeper and double check if it’s the hype that they claimed and the story that they want, because sometimes they have created the story that they want to tell and not the true story. And in many cases, if you follow the story and the narrative and the optics of what they want and what they want to have appear, it can send you down a really bad hole into a lot of trouble. So the point here, wrapping this one up, music business, ghost drumming, being a ghost in the machine, it’s in a way being a ghost in any machine.

Ghost Drummer Transcription for Music Business ghost drumming Continued:

From a vision to a product to a service, from entertainment and the arts and music to any kind of business or any kind of product. At certain times, bite your tongue, hold it back, don’t share every element. And watch that a lot more trust and a lot more authenticity and authority and belief in you because they might feel that much more safe and protected in you can come along. Second off, as you hear stories, you read the books, you see the articles, you watch the videos, you even watch movies, they’re not necessarily true. Biographies, maybe some of the interviews.

That’s what they’ve wanted to have shared. And there’s a little bit more to that story. So before you go after some system, after some belief, after some presented truth that might not necessarily be the truth, look in a little deeper, vet it a little harder, personalize it a lot more. And then that direction, that path and that approach may deliver the results you’re looking for and even more this is Loren Weisman.

This was Wait What Really Ok. Episode 112 Not My Best show. I am a once was has been drummer. I was a ghost drummer and a session drummer. Now I’m a brand messaging strategist for the Fish Stewarding Group. Find out more about me if you’re interested at LorenWeisman.com have a good one.

Ghost Drummer Transcription for Music Business ghost drumming. Being a ghost in the machine.

* Loren Weisman is a Brand Communications and Optics Strategist who specializes in illuminating authoritative intelligence and amplifying authentic experts. * Weisman is also the host of the Brand Communications and optics podcast; Wait What Really OK. * LW Website * © 2011 to 2026 Loren Weisman. All Rights Reserved ® ℗ * Ghost Drummer Transcription for Music Business ghost drumming. Being a ghost in the machine.

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January 1, 2025
Vetting Transcription
Vetting Transcription from Where has all the vetting gone? WWROK with Loren Weisman Podcast

Vetting Transcription from Loren Weisman Podcast
Released on November, 11th, 2024
🎙️ Tune In: Listen to this Wait What Really Ok Podcast Episode Where has all the vetting gone? WWROK with Loren Weisman on Spotify Apple Podcasts iHeart Radio Pandora Amazon Music Spreaker YouTube and other platforms.

Vetting Transcription Chapters

Vetting Transcription Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction to Accountability and Vetting 1:02 – Importance of Trust in Business Relationships 1:42 – Why Vetting Experts and Sources Matters 2:21 – Researching Credibility: Methods and Tools 3:12 – Online Reviews: Authenticity and Manipulation 3:54 – Evaluating Credentials and Background Checks 4:29 – Ethics and Integrity in Business Decisions 5:06 – Building a Reliable Network of Partners 6:13 – Spotting Red Flags in Partnerships 7:02 – Practical Tips for Ongoing Due Diligence 7:48 – Conclusion, Final Thoughts, and Call to Action

Vetting Transcription Text

Vetting Transcription

Song: Wait What Really Ok. With your host, Loren Weisman. This is a fully licensed theme song for the show about stuff that makes you say, Wait What Really Ok.

Loren: Where is the vetting gone? Where’s the accountability and responsibility of the individual to look into seeing if a source is real or not? It seems we’ve come into a time of a serious lack of accountability and almost becoming sheep in many cases. So I’ve listened to people say, oh, I got, I got screwed over here, I got taken advantage of here. Did you or did you allow it to happen?

Did you not take the time to look at who you were potentially working with, what you were potentially doing, what you were potentially putting money into? It seems this dumbed down generation to accept a headline is oftentimes the first person to jump back and say, look at how I got abused, look at how I got taken, look at how I got screwed. And yet really, when you look at the accountability, to me at least these people allowed themselves to get screwed. They didn’t dig in deeper. They saw what they needed to see.

And this goes beyond politics and it goes beyond the business scams, it goes beyond the online stuff. I mean, you dated back however many years to the Nigerian princes reaching out to poor old ladies saying, you know, leaving this amount of money, or the scams that have come through the emails or the scams that are online every day, here’s how fast you can make money, here’s where you can be sent this, here’s how, oh, you’re going to get all this and this and oh, and we’re legit.

And here are the sources you can look at. A number of years back when I was more involved in doing some messaging strategy for some CBD companies, we were amazed that when we dug deeper that these third party testers and these reviewers and these third party labs, a great majority of them were owned by the product company.

Vetting Transcription Continued:

They were just named something different. However, they didn’t cover their tracks as well. I guess they weren’t looking for someone to dig that deep that you could back trail them to see their filings and see that the filing with a given state or city or whatnot tied them both together. We’ve come into a time and we’ve been here for a while, but I believe it’s more important than ever to look into the people, look into the businesses, look into the products.

We have a problem with the Amazon reviews and half of those reviews. It’s not even an intentionally bad thing. Somebody gets a product and they open up that product and they See right on that product box, little letter saying how would you like $5, $10, this kind of discount for anything else. Just put in a review for us, put in a five star review and we’ll get this right back to you.

I think there should be a review app out there. And inside of this app it states when the review, how long after the individual had the product that they performed the review.

So you bought this item and after 90 days, I believe that review can be a lot more authentic and true than somebody reviewing it in 90 minutes looking to get an Amazon gift card so they can keep buying more. In this time that we’re in, if you’re not going to look that much deeper, I feel you’re going to see that many more problems.

It’s the same thing with the individuals. There are courses on courses, they’re all over LinkedIn, all over Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, anywhere. Here’s how to kind of summarize, appear as a professional, X, Y or Z.

It’s strange that it doesn’t put any kind of focus in. Here’s the education element to become that professional. It’s more of here’s how to come off as. Here’s how to appear these little leadership things that just to me, I want to report every single one of them and maybe there are a few out there that are genuine.

But so many of these leaders say this here’s how you get around and know here’s how you get around this so you can bring out some of the worst products, the worst services. But these people are using, you know, anything from the NLP to psychological tactics to yell tell and sell their way through the door.

Vetting Transcription Continued

No, you’ve got this. And there’s a lack of accountability there. I have a problem with the lack of liability in what can be said online. I’d love to see the tides turn and they’re turning a little bit. Not as, not as much as I’d like to see but where if somebody was stating these outrageous claims to make that sale that if it isn’t true, they’re held liable for that. And that’s another thought to think about.

Whether you’re looking at someone or looking at a product, what are they stating and could you come back to them and say okay, great, can you put this in writing in the receipt in the invoice that this is exactly how it will be and if there are any problems whatsoever, I get my money back or this much of a refund.

Not many of them if I, not that I know of Any of them would do that because they’re pulling off what they can pull off. They’re using the greatest jargon, they’re using an anonymous element. In many cases. You see these people where it’s business after business.

There are a number of these business strategist groups, these motivational wellness, these life coaches, where they specifically state create these sites in format so that if something goes wrong, vagueness and something goes wrong, you can shut it down and begin anew. Be a little bit, I don’t know, I don’t want to say worried, but be a little bit more aware.

Somebody all of a sudden is throwing out all this stuff but their full name isn’t there and that it doesn’t tie their name, their self, their images don’t tie to the business because to me that that’s a big red flag and going, okay, so you’re popping up, whatever you can pop up and once this or if this comes under fire, you can jump away and do something else.

I like this site, it’s called Wayback Machine. And I find it really fun to run through every so often and I invite you to look it up again. It’s called Wayback Machine. And you can see in Wayback Machine it will grab screenshots through the years of a given domain.

So if somebody’s been, you know, flipping from project to project, job to job, MLM to mlm, scam to scam, where they thought they erased all that stuff, there’s a little footprint, there’s a little thing of seeing what that is and going way back and seeing how far do they go back with what they talk about, with what they do, with any kind of validity?

Vetting Transcription Continued Or do you see the growth of authority or not? Is it an 18 year old using the AI for voiceover things and these elements trying to sell as if there’s something different, Keep an eye out, keep an ear out, consider looking a little bit deeper. It’s amazing what people will come to accept and other things that they will just fight to the end on.

You see somebody in a Starbucks lose their mind because somebody messed up their extra shot of a pumpkin spice latte. Yet when CNN or FOX News puts out some kind of headline, they’ll be the first person to scream it to the world as if they knew it, as if they’re an expert not knowing where that comes from.

There’s an individual I spoke to the other day said, well, this particular network has Doctors, they have PhDs that know stuff. Does it mean that they know what they’re talking about in that given area, does it mean that they have all the information to go off of? We’ve come to a very frightening time and today is election day. Many things, oh, it’s that he’s a liar, she’s a liar, they’re both liars.

There’s lots of lies going out on there because inside of campaigns there isn’t that liability there either. You can say what you want to say. There’s certain, I mean, there’s certain boundaries, but they’re very thin and very easy to cross. You want to talk about, you know, that honesty and that integrity. If it’s not required, if it’s not going to be pushed through to be required, then what requires anyone to do it?

How My Daughter Changed My Approach Podcast Transcription

Have a deeper look before you commit to an individual, before you commit to the greatest system. Here’s the top five things you need to do before you commit to buying the book from someone where they might have had it just pitched as an AI written sales thing to get you to believe whatever in 90 pages of double spaced words with other people’s quotes, other people’s authorities and other people’s idea trying to sell what they have. If you’re buying that, that’s on you.

Look deeper, dig deeper. Get back to the sense of vetting. Look for the accountability, the authority, look for the transparency. And if you don’t see it, maybe it’s time to look somewhere else. If you’re hearing everything you want to hear, maybe that’s a bad thing. In the end, a lot of people that I’ve talked to, people that have been my clients, FSG clients, they don’t like the initial phases, they don’t oftentimes like to hear because they’re not going to get buttered up.

This is a problem, this needs to get fixed. Well, this person told me that. Go with that person. I will not work with anyone. FSG will not work with anyone that doesn’t have their grounding, that doesn’t have a foundation in moral ethics, honor and transparency and at the same time quality. And if that’s not there and they’re looking for messaging or financing or marketing to move around that, then it just won’t work. It’s one of the things that FSG has out there and that I do independently.

If I can’t see the authority in you, I can’t work with you because I’m not going to create a false authority with you or for you. And if you don’t necessarily have that authority yet, then maybe it’s not the time to write a book. Maybe it’s not the time to put out some kind of podcast.

Maybe it’s not the time to create something that is untrue, to try to make it appear true to audiences around. Would you say these exact same things or take this exact same path with the closest family member, with a son, a daughter, a mother, a father, a best friend, someone in dire straits, looking for a way to.

Vetting Transcription Continued

Maybe your product is something to get them to that next level. Would you do that to them? If you wouldn’t, then why would you do that to the rest of the public? Take heart. If you have it, take faith and stand on a foundation of truth and authenticity.

And not just as a buzzword, in that you might not achieve the traffic, the views, the likes and the comments, but instead you might achieve the best connections to the correct conversions, to people you can genuinely help and people that are worth helping. I hope you’ll vet a little bit more.

I hope you’ll practice a little bit more due diligence. I hope that the things that you see and hear, that you won’t assume them to be objective, substantiated truths until you have the time yourself to substantiate them and see if they truly are. I hope you have a great day, a great evening. This country is not going to explode tonight, regardless of who wins. And this was Loren Weisman.

This is Wait What Really Ok, this is one take with no AI enhancement and no script. And the little stops and the pauses and the coughs, those are all organic, they’re authentic, and they’re me. And I’m not going to hide that. And I invite you not to do the same. Keep it true in your content. Keep it true in your words, in your works, and in your vetting. Have a good one.

* Loren Weisman is a Brand Communications and Optics Strategist who specializes in illuminating authoritative intelligence and amplifying authentic experts. * Weisman is also the host of the Brand Communications and optics podcast; Wait What Really OK. * LW Website * © 2011 to 2026 Loren Weisman. All Rights Reserved ® ℗ * Vetting Transcription from Where has all the vetting gone? WWROK with Loren Weisman

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January 1, 2025
Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription
Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription for What is a messaging and optics strategist from the Wait What Really OK Podcast.

Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription

Released on January, 2nd, 2023

🎙️ Tune In: Listen to this Wait What Really Ok Podcast Episode What is a messaging and optics strategist? on Spotify Apple Podcasts iHeart Radio Pandora Amazon Music Spreaker YouTube and other platforms.

Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription Chapters

Messaging and Optics Strategist Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction to A Messaging and Optics Strategist 02:01 – Why Authentic Messaging Matters 04:31 – Common Marketing and Messaging Pitfalls 07:55 – Building a Strong Messaging Foundation 09:15 – Authority, Humility, and Brand Voice 13:01 – Strategic Messaging for Sustainable Growth 14:45 – Aligning Messaging with Brand Objectives 16:10 – Evaluating Communication Patterns 17:00 – Market Engagement and Optics Consulting 18:23 – Final Thoughts on Messaging Strategy

Messaging and optics strategist transcription text

Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription Chapters

Song: Wait What Really OK with your host Loren Weisman. This is a fully licensed theme song for the show about stuff that makes you say Wait What Really OK.

Loren: What is a messaging and optics strategist? Many people may have many different definitions, so I’m not saying this is the end all, be all one, but this is how I define it for what I am as a messaging and optics strategist and for what I do for the fish Stewarding group. Many people come under the mindset that they’re supposed to write a bio. Some say you need to have that tagline.

Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription Continued: Others will state it’s how you send out this marketing message. Some will talk about the whispering approach, some will talk about the arrogant approach, the overconfident approach, the assertive approach, dominant approach, submissive approach. Inside of your words, there’s a lot going on there.

So inside of your messaging it’s your choice. But also as you choose, realize messaging is a wide array. There’s so many options of what you can be and it ranges from the spammiest, most inauthentic, trash talking, hyperbole artists to the people that sit in a level of humility and authority that present what they feel best represents them to showcase an organic and authentic authority.

What I’ve seen inside of messaging that crosses over to marketing and my belief is message before marketing, the messaging foundation allows you to plant the seeds to build a solid, stable and secure foundation which all of your messaging grows off of, which all of your marketing grows off of, which all of your content grows off of. And then inside of that harmony, there’s a consistency. Yes, you may talk about an array of different things, however, staying true to you and for that matter, if you’re choosing this route, staying true to the truth.

Not a truth, not my truth, not your truth. The truth can serve you well. Many have avoided messaging for a very long time. They tuck it under the definition of marketing. And inside of many marketing campaigns you end up seeing oftentimes just an array of we’re going to try this and then we’re going to say this. Okay, that didn’t work. Now we’re going to change this.

People shifting the bio, shifting the content. They’re constantly flipping it around. Now there is an element of testing the waters and making adjustments and edits, but there’s also an element and it’s one to look out for people that are constantly trying to rewrite the script to achieve the popularity or for that matter, the profit. And regardless of where their skill set, ability or authority lies, they’re just writing that script to make the buck.

There are others that can speak with authority, can speak with authenticity, but the problem is they get linearized. They know what they’re saying. Maybe they have the background, the experience, the education. Yet inside of that, their marketing choice is to share exactly what they know, the way they know it. These are not good messaging and optics strategist types to listen to. Now, the problem arises is, are there dozens of other people sharing that same message that don’t know that, or is it too many people making that claim so that there’s a negative connotation with it? So this one individual maybe is truly, organically, authoritatively sharing something and something that can help people.

However, because he chose that messaging and didn’t pay attention to all the other messages, all the other marketing going around, all the other aspects of popularity, it ends up hurting him. So inside of messaging, or what I find to be correct, authentic and humble messaging is not just to sit here and write the bio that you like. Create a little think tank of, you know, wouldn’t it be funny to do this? Let’s copy this, let’s steal that, let’s do this. And we’re off. Many of these marketing companies are happy to do that. They’re happy to make your ideas pretty and sound great and look great.

However, inside of those ideas, are they solid? Is the optic out there looking good for you? Or does it look like too many other things? Are the considerations of compliance in place? Many are out there stating the life coach, the business coach that’s just screaming out, you have to say you know what you’re doing. I don’t want you to say you know what you’re doing. And many people are tired of it, as well as the algorithms online. If you know what you’re doing, share that knowledge. Share it from a place of wisdom, Share it from a place of examples.

Don’t make the promise to get them into a funnel. Enough people are doing that. Take people into a place so that they can understand, so that they can find out more about you, so that your online presence, from your website to socials to PR press releases and whatnot, is not one long stream of a marketing ad, but more so that people can see the seeds that you planted. They can read the quotes, they can watch short videos.

Maybe you have a podcast, maybe you have a book. And in that, please don’t write a book if you don’t have a book in you. Not everyone does have a book in them. I don’t even list that I’m an author anymore. I’m proud of my three books. I don’t want to Take away from that. However, right now this whole you can be an author overnight, it’s kind of taken its turn and now everybody’s a best selling authority. It’s amazing that we have so many different categories and so many bestsellers and the whole thing is gain authority by writing a book.

Authentic messaging strategies for transitioning businesses

Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription Continued:

Shouldn’t you have authority to share inside of a book so that you’re sharing it and maybe you’re gaining people and people are coming together and they’re learning from it as opposed to just the low hanging fruit Marketing hype When messaging is correctly found and sound and set in place, it considers the elements of the subjective to the objective. And this is just as inviting to the ears of an individual as it is to the algorithms and the penalizations that are happening online.

Take medical, take legal, take business. When you’re stating you have the answer, you’ve now made a claim. When you shift it and organize your messaging strategy to include we believe this could be an answer for some because now you’ve shared an opinion Messaging and optics in one way to simplify it and bring it down to its most raw foundation is the wording is the base. Messaging is the description of your company, your product, your services, the elements coming out. Something that could stand in a court of law because in some ways that’s what the algorithms are doing, that’s what people are doing.

Can you back it up? And even with the greatest idea, even with the greatest authority to take the humility and say, I’m going to watch what other people are going to say or have said. I’m going to look at how they’re presenting. I’m going to consider not going flashy and wow and amazing and sit there and show people, lead people through your experience, your education, your knowledge, your examples, the FAQs. And that’s a big thing right now.

Having those FAQs is great and it’s great for SEO big time. And on that, by looking at the SEO and not necessarily just putting up something on Instagram or TikTok and if you’re on it, please get off it. Security big issue. Talked about that in another podcast, Messaging and optics strategist transcription text even more so. Great interviews that tie into the areas you just don’t want to be touching with that but not going to TikTok many are looking at and many of the influencers to the marketing organizations, they’re saying throw something out to get it. As many views and as many likes and as many follows. And yet many have spent tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a false

Popularity that does not necessarily convert to positive profit. So why not have that video that goes out that maybe, you know, it doesn’t hit the mark with 10,000 views overnight, but maybe with 10 views it’s now optimized. And when people begin to look up those terms, they show up first. When people are searching, part of the messaging and the optic to share in a time when it seems there are more fools and liars then truth telling authorities and authentic people is to plant those seeds is to share not just the end all, be all and where you want to send them, but small plant small seeds of authority, of authenticity, of ability. This is why I do this as a messaging and optics strategist a lot.

And oftentimes in the this is why I do this. And being able to track where you came from that can help with your authority over the people that are jumping from business project to a, you know, multi level marketing thing to the latest and greatest, to solar, to whatever else, water purification, solar energy. Yes, some of this stuff is really good.

How My Daughter Changed My Approach Podcast Transcription

Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription Continued:

However, at the same time look at that individual that you are connected with, maybe on Facebook or LinkedIn or Twitter. Isn’t it amazing? And I believe everybody knows one or two or more of them how hyped up they are for something and then a year or two years later they’re immediately onto something else. It’s insane the way that people will chase after hype up something and then find out there’s no substance to it, there’s no authority to it. So then they go and hype up the next thing and people are looking at that, they’re looking backwards. How much are you involved in?

That’s why I like, I mean I like certain doctors that have the track record from their education to what they’ve done, many of them have worked their way through and they showcase a line of fire that is direct and clear. That from doing this, from learning this, from experiences, from working here now I’m creating X. It’s the same thing with many business people. It’s not the I worked in one place. You look at the, you know, these 22 year old types that are just sharing this is what you need to do for everybody. This is, this is the answer for everyone?

One off, that’s a claim. Second off, it’s a lie. And that’s a thing to stay away from inside of your messaging, inside of your optics because you don’t know what that particular person’s budget is, who they know, what they’ve done, where their level of popularity exists.

Many of these stories and I came from Music and television, we created false stories, a false hype, a sense to allow a seeming promise that wasn’t really a promise at all. And people fell for it hook, line and sinker. I prefer what I do now. It’s organic, it’s honest, it’s a little bit more humble. And I can sleep better at night now than I ever did back in the late days of music and when I was in tv. Point being, inside of your messaging, your messaging is the foundation.

Maybe you had someone write a beautiful bio and it’s Shakespearean or it’s modern English or it’s this or it’s that. But is it filled with a whole bunch of claim phrases? Is it filled with oversaturated phrases? Is it filled with negative connotations? And any of these marketing groups, they can come back and say, oh, we got great tests on this. This is just great across the board.

Who did you test? It’s the same thing with any kind of claim these days. You can go and find a billion different people saying a billion different things, giving you the results that you want. That’s where the optics come in. It’s the optics of not just looking at the reviews or the views or the testimonials of this is what somebody’s seeing and this is how they’re seeing.

Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription Continued:

Might look a little bit different when you go at it, honestly, when you mix up the age ranges, when you look at different classes, when you begin to really search out what the sound, the tone and the temperature of your messaging is over. Just sending it off to someone where oftentimes they’re going to just find someone that says, hey, they love it.

You may have to shift, you may have to pivot, you may have to adjust, you may be so sure. And I spoke with one guy, it was a couple years back. He was doing something that had never been done before. It was an absolute objective truth. He was presenting ideas in a series of different ways that have just never seen the light of day. Again, an absolute objective truth. What he had brought together was years and years of study to prove this. All sorts of different vetting styles, all sorts of different studies, all sorts of different sort of failure attacks.

Again, absolutely true. His product failed and went nowhere because of his ego. His ego allowed him to say, I can make all these statements because they’re true and this will show people. But unfortunately, his product was along the lines and his messaging and the optics of it were along the lines of many other people that weren’t true. And he was banging his head going, but Mine is real. And that was the day, you know, that was the day when I said, look, just, I can’t help you. FSG can’t help you. We understand you are correct. We understand it is true what you’re saying.

But for your unwillingness to bend, to consider the optics of what are out there, the temperature of how people are receiving and the humility to say, okay, I’m going to lightly adjust a sentence and realize it’s not just semantics, semantics, I can’t even speak that it can make all the difference in a world, in the world. And that in turn, people will find that to be more true. People can find it not to have a claim. People cannot go in with that taste in their mouth from somewhere else.

Now, it’s not perfect across the board, but when you consider the tone, the tempo, the temperature, the subjectivity to the objectivity, when you look at the comparative and the competitive of others out there, when you look at the past, when you look at the future of different people that are putting out things, what are some words just not really something you want to touch on right now? What are some other words that are coming back?

Where are you sitting? Honestly, organically, with authority and educating. And in that, when you add in, then the compliance, when you consider liability, when you begin to roadmap, what will go to your marketing people and drive them to say, we’ll do this video here, we’ll do these quotes here, we’ll do this blog here, we’ll do this kind of podcast there. Then it all compounds to grow.

Fake Authors Using AI. Podcast Links and Transcription

Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription Continued:

Built on a rock and not on the sand. Many of these marketing agencies, they want to just throw darts at the wall and create the latest, hippest thing. And this will be really relatable, and this will be this or this will be that. It hits, Sometimes it hits, sometimes it sinks. Some things that hit really hard, they sink later. They are filled with PR and hype types but have no messaging and optics strategists on board. So why not begin? And this isn’t a sales pitch for me, it’s for whatever you’re doing and whoever you’re doing it with. Why not begin by building the foundation?

A sound, a solid, a secure and a stable foundation of your messaging, with the awareness of the optics that are out there, with the ability to set a blueprint. So for whatever you say, what you share, what you create, how you advertise, how you interact online and off is coming from a place that best defines you, that best allows you to shine and at the same time keeps you away from the claim statements and allows people to make the decisions for themselves that they’re seeing, hearing hey, even smelling something that seems just a little bit different, that seems like something they may want to look into a little bit more. Take the time with your messaging look to see that whoever you’re working with has that sense. Its not just working with a messaging and optics strategist, its you becoming a messaging and optics strategist too.

They’re not just putting together the, you know, flavor of the month, the flavor of the week, the flavor of the day, that they’re setting up something that can grow for you, that can compound for you so that every aspect and every element, from a bio to a tagline, to the name of your company, to the content created, to the way that you advertise, to the way that you go to the news, to the way that you can increase in interviews, that it’s true, sound, authentic and authoritative. Again, messaging to me comes before marketing.

There are marketing companies with out messaging and optics strategists that are out there that take the time to work with you to create the messaging. However, many of them, they’re going to make more of their money by putting up ads behind the content that they create and they’re going to show you flashy things and they’re going to get you likes and they’re going to get you comments, but in the end, they might not get you that many customers.

So lastly, and I’ll close it out here. Pause, stop. Consider those ideas we talked about, the subjective to the objective. Negative connotations, positive comparisons, those that are competing people, what they can compare it to. And an array of different people, array of different businesses digging a little bit deeper than just what you look at and what you go Google search on your own computer. In a way, be your own messaging and optics strategist.

Take it that step a little further. And in securing the optic, in securing the messaging, it just might in the end do the most good for your business, for your brand, for reaching out to media, for reaching out to new customers, new investors, new connections.

Take the time, look at the messaging, look at the optics, and if you are working with a messaging and optics strategist, make sure they are true to form and the real deal… get it sound, get that foundation there, get that blueprint in place and go.

Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription

* Loren Weisman is a Brand Communications and Optics Strategist who specializes in illuminating authoritative intelligence and amplifying authentic experts. * Weisman is also the host of the Brand Communications and optics podcast; Wait What Really OK. * LW Website * © 2011 to 2026 Loren Weisman. All Rights Reserved ® ℗ * Messaging and Optics Strategist Transcription

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January 1, 2025
Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription
Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription from the Fake amazon reviews and ways to navigate through them podcast

Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription

Released on May, 20th, 2025

🎙️ Tune In: Listen to this Wait What Really Ok Podcast Episode Fake amazon reviews and ways to navigate through them. on Spotify Apple Podcasts iHeart Radio Pandora Amazon Music Spreaker YouTube and other platforms.

Fake Amazing Reviews Transcription Chapters

Fake Amazing Reviews Transcription Chapters: 00:00 Wait What Really OK Introduction 00:25 Fake Amazon Reviews: Today’s Topic Overview 00:47 How People Get Their Amazon Reviews 01:16 Personal Perspective: Agree, Disagree, and Online Insults 01:43 Genuine Product Success vs. Negative Campaigns 02:11 Steps to Spot Fake Reviews on Amazon 02:41 Identifying Repetitive and Bot-Like Review Language 03:26 Quid Pro Quo Reviews and Red Flags 03:55 The Problem with Missing Backlinks in Reviews 04:59 Humility and Ego in Review Perception 05:42 Real-Life Example: Drill Order Scam 06:07 Due Diligence: Double-Checking Amazon Reviews 06:48 Influencers and the Validity of Recommendations 07:26 Lack of Review Accountability on Amazon 07:50 Back linking Reviews to Verified Platforms 08:36 Analyzing Review Timing and Posting Patterns 09:07 LinkedIn Algorithm and Review Party Detection 09:18 Review Timing: Sudden Bursts and Red Flags 09:35 Desired Amazon Features: Review Timing Transparency 10:38 Delayed Reviews: Authority and Product Trust 11:13 Authority for Products with Genuine Reviews 12:00 Versatility in Back linking to Authentic Reviews 12:16 Navigating a Marketplace Full of Fake Reviews 12:35 Closing Thoughts: Protecting Brand and Consumer Trust Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription Text

Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription

Music: Wait, What? Really? Ok. With your host, Loren Weisman. This is a fully licensed theme song for the show about stuff that makes you say Wait What Really Ok.

Loren: This is Loren Weisman. This is the Wait What Really Ok. Podcast. Today’s topic is around the fake Amazon reviews. And this is less about the Somebody claims to have a best seller, which way too many do and they genuinely don’t.

They have a best. In many cases, they have a best free robot download to appear as if it’s a bestseller. And in that, taking it a step further to how people get their reviews, are they buying them or at the same time, are they pushing for people to push other people down? We seem to be in a time of you have any kind of dissonance, you have any kind of debate, it goes to insult. I noticed there was a guy the other day online and we had a little back and forth.

It was nice. And here’s my thought, here’s why. I’m not crazy about it, but do as you wish. And between him and I, it was wonderful. Somebody else pops in and because I disagreed, immediately insulted me and then immediately insulted what I do.

Now, this guy, I’ve never heard of him, I don’t know that he’s never worked with me. And I don’t know where he comes off as the expert now trying to just bash me because I disagreed with him. Now on that same note, we have that happening online. Certain products are moving up and they’re genuinely doing good.

People are buying negative campaign runs to get people to make sometimes they’re fake profiles, sometimes they’re limited profiles on Amazon to bash them down. And the same thing goes for many of these robots that will sit there and just positively review.

Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription Continued:

This is just the most wonderful thing. Well, how do you know? So here’s a couple steps to consider taking when you’re looking at something. If you’re seeing something where it looks like there’s some really good reviews, click the reviewer. See if that reviewer has a number of reviews.

Many of the fake bot type reviews, especially the negative ones, and even some of the positive ones too, they’ll have a very limited amount and oftentimes they’ll have the same voicing. They’ll be saying pretty much the same thing, how either they really love something and they’ll use the exact same words, or how they really hate something and how it’s just absolutely terrible.

So by taking that extra moment to say, okay, I’m thinking about this product, I’d like to, you know, hear about it from friends, I’d like to hear about it from other people, but I’m gonna look at Amazon reviews, see what the validity of those reviews are.

I oftentimes also have an issue when I see something where it says, you know, over a hundred thousand Amazon reviews to me, I get that’s not. To everybody. It has me wondering like, okay, did you buy up those reviews or did you put in some kind of I’ll give you five dollar Amazon card or you’ll get a discount.

Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription Continued:

At this almost this quid pro quo review thing, I’m not really crazy about those. And oftentimes in seeing them show up in the exact same way or the exact same words, it may be a red flag for the validity, the authority and the authenticity of what that actual product is. So in a sense, just consider digging a little bit deeper.

The same thing when you go onto a website. You know, John S said that this is the greatest thing John S could be made up. There’s no backlink to that. And so to some of the businesses, if you’re putting links or reviews, and I get that you might not necessarily want to break the privacy of, you know, of a review and pointing it toward a given person like an email or something like that, but garnering emails that are coming genuinely through Google Business, coming through Yelp, coming through Amazon, coming through trustpilot elsewhere to be able to not only share that, but share the link to show you didn’t make this up.

We get lost a lot of times, many of us, when it comes, when it’s in between the intention and the perception of reviews. While you might have the most beautiful, engaged, caring audience that wants to genuinely promote you, I understand that.

However, a high level of majority are people out there either hyping or bashing or trying to create a false presence to make up for what they don’t have. So in a level of humility, in a level of backing off the ego, as opposed to saying, look at how all these people say how great I am. Well, I can tell you how some really awful, terrible products have some of the best reviews you’ve ever seen.

Fake Authors Using AI. Podcast Links and Transcription

I mean, it really is amazing the crap that can be put out and that it’s, you know, much of it isn’t caught until later on or there’s some really high echelon product and then it’s immediately followed up with your, you know, sort of Temu like shortcut. I loved last and I didn’t love it for him, but last week there was a guy who didn’t read the the details correctly.

He Got sent a drill. He thought he ordered a drill. He got sent a picture of a drill. And that was why it was of that price. And he was, you know, pretty pissed off and all. Still fascinating that, you know, the stuff that can go out there, the sub quality that can be out there and in it, there’s a sub quality when it comes to, you know, reviews. And in this particular review thing, it was like, oh, this, this guy’s real. Because, you know, he has all these different reviews.

Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription Continued:

Okay. But it was still a scam. So add that extra sense of the due diligence. Double check it especially looking to see. So if you’re seeing a whole bunch of more recent reviews, and I mean, I’m always a fan sometimes of the four star I want to read, you know, maybe, maybe it’s not something perfect or I’m also, I tend to be a fan of someone that’s spending a little bit more time in a review.

I like the people that speak a little bit more subjectively in a review that as opposed to someone saying this is the best. Okay, well, so you think so? Or were they paid to say that? Or is this also, you know, if you check some of these people are these influencers that don’t care about you at all. I believe they don’t. I believe they’re carrying on making as much in their impressions and in their referrals and through their stores so that you, you’ll buy.

Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription Continued:

I wonder if we came to a place, and I don’t know if this is even remotely realistic, where Amazon associates would have to be held liable for their statements, what would that look like? I mean, beyond businesses, beyond products being held liable.

And it’s, it’s sad because of how stuff can just twist and turn, but at the same time that lack of validity, that lack of accountability allows, or a level of insanity when it comes to the optics and the messaging of many of these products.

So dig. A summary of this is. Dig a little bit deeper. Have a look at where the reviews are. If you’re putting up reviews or looking for reviews, consider back linking them to Amazon, to Yelp, to Trustpilot, to Google Business. Show that these people are genuinely people. Show and, or, you know, even ask someone, you know, you posted this review in Facebook and can I point that to your, to that Facebook review.

There’s something a little bit more, you know, that has a greater strength to that and a series of them coming from a series of different places than either just this excessive hype of this is all just the greatest or, you know, this is all just the worst. The other thing, the last thing to mention, to look at when it comes to reviews.

Have a look at the tempo, at the timing. Are they bunched in together all at the same time? I’m a big anti advocate when it comes to these LinkedIn posting parties. I think that’s completely immoral. I think it’s unethical. I think it’s just wrong. So you’re gonna get a whole bunch of people that are gonna get on at the same time and you’re all gonna go and review the other people’s stuff and you’re gonna put all these great reviews during this one particular hour.

Well, LinkedIn is even starting to notice that with their algorithm. So it’s busting some people. It’s putting them in the position of going, okay, wait a minute. All of a sudden it’s all quiet on the front for two weeks. And then in just, just under two hours, there’s 40 reviews.

How My Daughter Changed My Approach Podcast Transcription

Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription Continued:

That looks off. That is off. And I’m glad that LinkedIn is identifying that as being off. You know, one of the things I wish we could see from Amazon, you know, not just the verified buyers, but the amount of time that went from when the product was received to when the product was reviewed.

These people that are opening their boxes and before they get to the inside has a little thing, give us a five star and we’ll send you this, or we’ll sen. Send you this coupon, or we’ll send you this discount or we’ll send you this extra thing. And these people here stating the most wonderful thing and not realizing it. I would love it.

You know, I, I bought a beard oil a couple weeks ago, three weeks ago, and it has this couple different oils and rosemary and a joba and avocado oil in it. And it’s just, it’s, it’s very softening. Now when I first put it in that first morning, you know, I, I really, where was I to review?

Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription Continued:

It was a beard oil. I didn’t know the experience, I didn’t know how long it was going to last. I didn’t know if it was going to, you know, maintain. But three weeks later, 21 days later, is when I chose to do the review, to say, I feel like my beard is softer, I feel like it’s cleaner.

I feel like it’s even in parts a little bit darker. And that, you know, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have that or this advanced thing on a, a different section of Amazon where it’s this advanced level of this person, you know, they received their product on this date and you know, plus 21 days, plus 30 days, plus, you know, two months, that to me could bring a level of validity.

I wonder if Amazon would even consider that. I mean, you know, it might bring up authority for those that are, that have authoritative products. Either way, in the end, look at the optics as a whole. Don’t be fooled by the fools that are just trying to present popularity and five stars and hype right out of the gate.

Brand messaging blueprint strategies for creative careers.

Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription Continued:

They’re not being held liable, they’re not being held accountable. So they really can say anything they want. And then if you go and buy, well, all these people said, you know, this was great, well, that ends up being on you. Because if you didn’t check to see if all those people that said it was great were real people or were not part of some kind of marketing PR or just AI campaign, then it’s your fault that you didn’t go and have a look at that. So have a look, dig deeper.

And if you’re putting up reviews, look for a level of versatility in backlinking to genuine places. Because even though you know in your heart this person is true and you sent that product right to that person and you’ve got your intention to be right there northward. Consider the perception of so many out there that are dealing with so many fakes.

And the more you can take down those walls, the negative connotations, the assumptions, the more you be, you may be able to move their perceptions to understand your intentions. My name is Loren Weisman. This is. Wait What Really Ok, have a good one.

Loren Weisman trying out behind the camera before an interview.

Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription

* Loren Weisman is a Brand Communications and Optics Strategist who specializes in illuminating authoritative intelligence and amplifying authentic experts. * Weisman is also the host of the Brand Communications and optics podcast; Wait What Really OK. * LW Website * © 2011 to 2026 Loren Weisman. All Rights Reserved ® ℗ * Fake Amazon Reviews Transcription from the Fake amazon reviews and ways to navigate through them podcast

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January 1, 2025