As the owner of an advertising and public relations firm, I study marketing every day — not just polished campaigns, but the everyday tactics people use to get attention, start conversations, and close sales.
Recently, one of my new brands started gaining traction online. The more visible the brand became, the more my inbox filled with friendly messages from “fellow business owners.”
At first, some looked like potential customers.
They would ask:
“Do you ship to the United States?”
“Is shipping free?”
“How long does shipping take?”
Those sound like normal customer questions. But after seeing the same pattern dozens of times, I noticed where the conversation always went next.
“How long have you been in business?”
“How are sales going?”
“Have you started advertising?”
“We crossed $15k in three months and are trying to scale to $30k monthly.”
Then came the real purpose:
“I help ecommerce businesses grow.”
That is when it becomes clear the shipping question was not really about shipping. It was the opening line of a sales funnel.
The goal is simple: get the business owner to accept the message request, start talking, and reveal a possible pain point. Once the conversation is open, the pitch begins.
What bothers me is not marketing. I own a marketing company. Marketing is part of business.
What bothers me is disguised prospecting.
Some accounts present themselves as jewelry stores, clothing brands, or fellow ecommerce owners. You follow them thinking you are connecting with another small business. Then they slide into your inbox and pivot into selling SEO, ads, Shopify optimization, or “growth strategies.”
That is not authentic networking.
Authentic networking is transparent. If you offer marketing services, say that. If you want to collaborate, be clear. If you are a customer, ask customer questions and stay in the customer lane.
The irony is that many of these messages were being sent to someone who owns an advertising and public relations firm. Even after I said that, some continued with the script anyway.
That is the lesson.
If your outreach does not change after someone tells you who they are, you are not having a conversation. You are running a script.
Good marketing requires listening. It requires context. It requires knowing when to stop pitching.
My new policy is simple.
Real customers get real answers.
Real collaborations get real consideration.
Obvious sales scripts get ignored.
Because time spent qualifying someone else’s sales funnel is time taken away from building my own business.
One unexpected outcome from all of this was a new Shirt Happens Co. design:
“Not Interested In Your Sales Pitch. I Own The Company.”
Sometimes the best product ideas do not come from brainstorming.
Sometimes they come from your inbox.
