In Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight movies, Batman has a big sorry weakness.
At least it seems that way at the start.
You see, Batman has made up his mind he won't kill anyone.
Sure, he will beat, kick, maim, frighten, and possibly cripple the bad guys across Gotham...
But he will never willingly kill anyone, regardless of how evil they are, or how much trouble they are likely to stir up in the future.
I thought of this recently when I read an email by direct marketing legend Brian Kurtz.
Brian was writing about the need to draw a line you aren't willing to cross when it comes to marketing.
In his case, he was talking about his company's willingness to stir up fear and paranoia when selling health information.
Brian said he was willing to set that line pretty far out, because he believed that the information he was selling was so good, it deserved getting people's attention, even if that meant stirring up strong feelings of fear and discontent.
He argued this was mostly a matter of taste and personal integrity.
Kind of like the Batman, who drew the line at nixing people, so he could continue to do everything possible that didn't cross that line.
As I've written before, I've seen a lot of fear- and paranoia-based marketing around ICOs.
And depending on how strongly you believe in your idea, you might choose to push the marketing to be pretty extreme.
Still, like Brian writes, it's a good idea to make up your mind about a line you're not willing to cross.
Because it might not just be an issue of taste and personal integrity...
But also about the types of investors and potential customers you are likely to attract.
But more on that another time.
For now, if you need help writing emails for your ICO that stir up emotions, whether it's fear or greed or even a desire for community, then I offer that as a service. You can find out more by getting in touch here:
http://bejakovic.com/email-consult
John Bejakovic