I know people who've paid agents £10k's to get an advert disguised as an article written in some UK Sunday broadsheet newspapers, generated a massive number of leads but ultimately never recouped the outlay.
> Paid ads can be a useful tool for learning quickly if you are building a consumer app
I know plenty of people who had signed up to online targeted advertising, generated minimal leads but no business.
In my experience, advertising has never worked, always costing more money, never recouping the expenditure, but it is a very nuanced way to buy the media's silence if you can afford it.
> Events are 10x more work
All the events & exhibitions I've been to, never bought or signed up to anything.
> SEO articles are not exempt from this rule
I've found SEO to be both a waste a time and money and highly manipulative. Just look at the number of youtube video's uploaded by individuals who are lucky to get a handful of views. SEO is no different, in fact Search Engine spider's generated more traffic for the websites I know of.