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Is there no escape?Posted Date: 2007-10-31 15:10, Pageview: 672 |
There was a time that social networks were just that.
They were places to go to discuss with like-minded or totally contrary people the subjects of the day. People, in other words, would socialise!
I don't know how long you have been in such networks as this, but I wonder if you, like me, miss the fact that very little socialising goes on. Everything seems to be aimed at using the latest gormless guru ideas on using these networks to 'promote' your business. In reality, what this means is slam-dunking adverts into the mail boxes of all those in your network.
JUST HOW SAD IS THAT?
Imagine going to a party at a friends house and all of the 200 people there did nothing but expound upon their latest, greatest, can't fail to make a million by lunch time tomorrow plan. (Oh, and you couldn't lend me the taxi fare home could you? I didn't bring my wallet and I have had a couple of drinks.)
The internet has become, in the rarified reaches inhabited by those who love to call themselves 'Internet Marketers', something akin to a canibals hors douvres tray. The unwary will be gobbled up by the latest team schemes and carried along on a wave of artificially generated euphoria.
There are very few social sites that I have retained my membership in. It seems that everywhere I go I see the same faces, read the same rubbish, fall across the same vain self agrandisement of people not fit to breathe the same air as my dogs.
As long as Internet Marketers continue to promote scams, programmes, matrices and any other fly-blown scheme doomed to collapse within months because they have this naïve idea that this is the way to go.... As long as they scratch around in the dirt like demented chickens looking for the last wood louse.... As long as they actually believe that it is, somehow, OK to rip off the people they claim to know as friends.... As long as they continue to believe in a cyber world where the rules of commerce are suspended.... they will continue to, in the main part, be programme hoppers and losers. BIG TIME LOSERS!
99% of internet users are not marketers.
Over 40% of people on line at any one time are looking for something to buy.
Aren't THEY the people we should be looking at and, within our social network, discussing ways to attract?
Or am I really stupid thinking that there is no future in a vomitous, triple decked, stroked to death, overflowing, strangulated matrix?
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| The thought of attending a party with 200+ WALKING and TALKING advertisements SCARES the HELL out of me. Hopefully I NEVER find myself in a setting like that. But the SAD TRUTH is that social sites have turned into JUST THAT for the most part. I try to keep all my stuff as discussion 'type' topics. On one site I have a 'STRICTLY ADVERTISING' blog. My main page is for friendly communication...PERIOD. I DELETE all comments with ADS in them just to keep my page clean and I refer the 'SPAMMER' to my AD blog. This seems to be working at that site. Have a good day. Karl
My MAIN page www.webspawner.com/users/rocky99/index.html
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| And I must be RAT on a Conveyor Belt to continue to run around in circles in them. I heard this is the Year of the Rat. Hopefully the Rat will die from exhaustion and they will finally take him off the conveyor belt. |
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| Well, Jeunelle has sure said a mouthful or two and I agree with most of what she has said. (I can't agree with all of it because I don't have personal experience of all of it.)
As for viral marketing - I am desperately unimpressed. A virus is a micro-organism that travels around from mouth to mouth infecting anybody that it manages to invade if they don't carry the necessary anti-bodies in their blood. The virus could not care less about who it's victim is. Viral marketing is the same. I suppose that, like 'blasters', it works on the basis that if you get your message to a million people, one just might be interested in what you are offering. This sort of indiscriminate dissemination of sales messages is called SPAM in any other medium and, as far as I am concerned, that is how I treat it. The original idea was brilliant but then the roogoos got hold of it, saw a quick buck and cashed in. Now everybody and his uncle Jim is blasting out virus laden marketing messages so I am waiting for an anti-viral marketing tool to be created. I'll probably buy it. I get the impression I am watching another naked emperor walk by.
The Old Coot
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| Part of web 2.0 is 'interaction' . Another part that has been overlooked or downplayed is the 'Viral Marketing' aspect of interaction. Now, I know many of you may think that Viral Marketing is just another GooRoo term that they came up with to push sales and change titles, but it has been around for as long as salesmanship has been here. VM is nothing more than the tried and tested 'Word Of Mouth'. It has worked for eons and will continue to work, as long as you trust the work of a friend or colleague. You may think this is a blatant ad, but since there is nothing to be sold and no email or name to be gathered or collected, I don't know if it would fall into that category or not. What I DO KNOW is the info in this report is top notch (not too much fluff) and wasn't even written by me. Fabio is one marketer that I do think highly of and he did some of the edits to the piece, but you can be your own judge. Go download the report, browse through it and post your thoughts about it. I just added one of a series of free reports that you are welcome to download, read and pass on to your friends. This one explains the six criteria of Viral Marketing and how to make sure that YOUR approach brings you the best return. You can download it free of charge (not even an email required!) at http://2getsales.com/gifts/one2million/ |
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| Well guess what Arthur You are 1000% right and I am just starting to discover and understand this. I have wasted a good amount of time joining over 50 Social Networks to sell my products and services. Has it made me any money? HELL NO. I may of had one or two products sold here and there but I made more friends than I cared to have made and none of them blasted friends bought anything of mine. All they do is fill up my email box with a lot of heavy breathing. Darth Vader Style. Or I get a "Can you do something for me request in my email box". It's a never ending circle of me, me, me, do something for me. If and when I finally ask them to do something for me or help me with a question they mysteriously disappear, only to reappear when it benefits them. Who the hell needs these kinds of fake friends. They were never even considered friends of mine in the first place. Some people join these Social Networks to make friends and that is your choice but I ain't going to lie to you, I joined to sell you something damn it. And if you don't want to buy anything that is your choice too. A complete waste of my time. People turn up their noses if I have something to sell yet they don't complain when the Social Network is also selling their Ads in the Network. Here at Apsense I noticed Apsense is selling some of the same products and services I am selling. So that takes sales away from me too. The Ads are also seen above in my Blog meanwhile my Blog Ads are at the bottom of my own BLOG. This is Ridiculous and still taking sales away from me. Most people choose from the top of the page not the bottom so many of my friggin banners aren't being clicked on lately. I should be charging Aspense for using and filling up their Ads in my spaces but they want to have their cake and eat it too. The amount of time and energy I take explaining something to a Newbie you would think that I was already rich. After all this time and effort I took to join all these Networks, here is my take on it.... It is a overdone piece of PORK. You can't eat it and if you do you'll end up getting constipated. ALL these Social Networks make only the Owners rich because idiots like me spend time running around in circles in them. I have made a few good friends too so it can't be entirely bad but I would say a good 95% of it is pure BULL. And I must be RAT on a Conveyor Belt to continue to run around in circles in them. I think that if you are true to yourself and realize that you will not make a friggin cent on these Social Networks you are on the right path to the start of something good. THE TRUTH. |
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| And that brings me to another point People like me who sell on Ebay aren't making anything either. Ebay's listing fees are OUTRAGEOUS You list one item and the fees are a zillions dollars. Most sellers end up selling their products almost at cost to sell off the item. I am not in business to sell at cost. What would the point of that be? When the heck do I get to make a buck? So I hardly never sell on Ebay and when I do sell something there it's usually something that is discontinued and I want it reduced to sell it quick. PAYPAL is just as bad. When I finally sold my Necronomicon books by a private Ebay Buyer that was featured in one of my latest blogs. The Buyer finally sent me money Via Paypal's Send Money Request. That ended up costing me $21.75, that Paypal took in Fees. WOW. THAT TOO IS OUTRAGEOUS. This item was Relisted 3 times before it finally sold. So you can imagine how much money Ebay received in listing fees before I got my cut. YOU CAN'T WIN. |
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| Hi, Jeunelle,
So, people don't know what Web 2 is all about. I suppose very few people do because it's only the same old web with a bit more inter-action. Think of it like the letters on the back of a motor car. Letters like TDI. Impressive - or what! But what do they actually mean? Turbo Diesel Injection. The only part that is new is the Turbo. How many Diesels are Injection? All of them! But those that are not Turbo powered don't have DI on the back. Web 2 is very much for social sites and selling the latest rip-offs to wannabe marketers. Look around the major marketing sites and some of them, even though they produce millions in revenue, wouldn't even qualify as Web1 - more like bog standard.
The Old Coot
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| One of the biggest problem I see with Network Marketing or Social Networking, is trying to get people to learn what Web2.0 is all about. Another problem is our teachers are very few so no wonder we have so many people who are doing it the wrong way and not getting ahead. You can teach yourself from trial and error like I did but this takes time, hard work and lots of errors to learn. There are some teachers or people who see you struggling and they are in the position to help and they don't even bother to throw you a damn lifeguard when they are standing right next to one. The Gurus are only really interested in selling you their product. They are also responsible for a big part of the problem. Social Networks like Yuwie are also harboring many Spammers, which help to give Network Marketing and Social Networking a bad name. Once you have an idea of what you are doing, and this requires some time and error to learn, you can be responsible for yourself and vow not to be like them. If we all took the time to do this, we are on the right path and hopefully this will help to clean up some of the muck. |
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| I have to admit that OC has hit the nail on the head. I think this is just another fact of life in the way children have been brought up. Many of the 'ME' generation cannot think about anyone else's perspective simply because they were not TAUGHT HOW!. They were brought up with the mentality of 'What's in it for me?" and most marketers are still focused on that aspect and it is glaring in every one of their sales pages. GooRoos will tout how, in order to sell, you have to focus on the BENEFITS and not the features. But if you waste the time to listen to the audios or watch the videos of the 'so called' behind the scenes interviews, they are doing more backslapping than anything else. Welcome to the group Arthur (OC for short), like I commented in one of your other popsts, I like your style sir! Pedantic, maybe, but more important, you say what you feel and think, that is a rare quality I believe you will find among most of the members of this group! |
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| Cracking article,
Some excellent points made, I used to work in the financial services industry and one of the key points we laboured on was Building relationships. If the time is taken to build a relationship in the begining, then the long term benifits will always outlast any short term gains. Yes you may never sell anything to that individual however you are building your reputation as a trustworthy and reliable person and if that individual should require something in the future that you happen to provide then who are they most likely to turn to. The majority of the articles I put on Apsense do not have any advertising links in them unless it is something that I believe will benefit my readers and to date most have been links to freebies. Unless of course it is being posted to a group that is looking to share business opportunities. Regards Dave
Free Niche Video Training
www.smartinternetprofits.com |
 HP: 205 |
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| RIGHT ON DAVID!!! There are those of us who are COMPLETELY DEDICATED to QUALITY in LIFE as well as HERE ON APSense!!! Those who are, you know who you are!!..Those who aren't..what heck is your problem..WAKE UP and GET IN THE GAME!!!!!!!!!
Garnet Nagy The Number ONE Business SOCIAL Network Online! |
 HP: 130 |
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| Being the hard-headed youngster that I am, I WILL NOT accept the demise either of Social Networking, or Apsense!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not now, Not EVER! I may go kicking and screaming into that long goodnight, But I will still be standing for QUALITY! For what really MATTERS! And No One, or No Thing will change that. David C Schupbach. |
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| Chuck there is still hope I think folks are still in the learning stage of what it means to be social. I guess you can say a Lost art from the past Every thing boils down to relationship. That is web 2.0 is and most do not understand the term of what it is. |
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| OOPs forgot one of my Favorites from
Seth Grodin, owner of Suidoo..... "Selling to people who actually want to hear from youis more effective than interrupting those who don't" Right on Seth and Arthur |
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| Another breath of fresh air and
some wisdome here at Apsense. Is it because we are old? I don't think so..just full of common sense. Thank you for your comments. You have surrounded yourself in this Blog with fantastic people |
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| Well now - Ii am going to say I TOLD YOU SO!!! All your comments about the demise of quality in many social networks may be true - but as you are seeing from the response to this blog, there are still people here at ApSense who are ignoring the BS and building up a great social network which is of interest and helpful to us all. The QCWG is just one expample of a group of people within ApSense who are determined to create a genuine social/business network. And along with their own blogs and the Groups and Blogs of other energetic people - we are getting somewhere. The numbers game will always attract quantities of hopefuls who think that by bandying their ads and signature links all over the place, they will make some money. But it doesnt mean that they will be able to dominate the Community . This is slowly becoming a little wider than a mere platform for the incestuous "network marketing mini world. There are so many other areas where the internet can be a useful marketing tool - not least the marketing of bricks and mortar products and services, article writing, online shopping, educational material.... the list is endless. Who knows - maybe there is an escape! |
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| Hi, Fishie (not from my home town of Grimsby, are you?)
It has been very gratifying to read the responses to my post because they give me great cause for rejoicing. Maybe I have found anew what has been so callously destroyed elsewhere. What I have found so distressing about the destruction of other communities has been the total disregard of any warnings given by concerned members. The rot starts with a little innocuous sounding repartee. This soon becomes personal attacks and ends up as the type of brawl I used to see in the pubs in my home town when the fleet was in. There was a big difference, though, between the brawls in the pubs and the personal attacks. Although the brawls would often result in injuries, broken bones and even stabbings, there was never any mallice. It was high spirited camaraderie at its' most violent. The personal attacks in communities are small minded. spiteful and totally un-called for. They are the worms that eat the carcase before it is dead but they do their damage in the same innevitable way as rust. Rust can often leave a structure looking complete and in tact until the day it suddenly, and without warning, collapses and ceases to be.
The Old Coot
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HP: 41 |
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| Hi, Morambler,
Jenny certainly has a way of creating targets for people to meet but please accept that I am not 'the old coot' for no reason. I speak as I find, ask no quarter and take no prisoners. I like the idea of a 'reverse virus' but fear there is simply too much supuration for that to work. The real world has to be seen by the IM sheeple. They have to raise their eyes from a resolution of 1024 and accept unlimited vistas. They won't, of course. They have found themselves a little corner in which they can curl up comfortably, hide from reality and sift through barren rubble for the odd grain of gold. After sifting for a little while they hear of a whole new range of prospecting pans that will solve their problem of lack of success and dash off to buy them - like the adicts they are. Maybe Tantalus was an internet marketer - born before his time?
The Old Coot
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 HP: 40 |
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| HI Arthur! Very nice to meet you. It seems that most of the writers here agree with you regarding the "social network site". Sad as the social network scene is becomming, I am hoping that Apsense is different. Only because the people (members) within it are 'different' --choosing not to SELL one another but to offer one another tools, encouragement, friendships, and yes, a smile or two. What I like most of this little group you have found is that most just plain enjoy writing and each other's company. I am very much still a newbie and striving to find my way around... but, one thing I am learning very quickly here at Apsense is that this group is a lot of fun. Welcome! :) |
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| Ok guys, this is my last contribution to Apsense tonight! I guess I better make it good!
First, Arthur it is a pleasure to make your aquaintance, through your blog, and let me thank you for joining QCWG! You came highly recommended by Jenny, a Lady (obviously) of impeccable taste and quality! I love your writing style Arthur, and your command of sentence and structure is impressive. You definitely know how to set a tone, and back it up by knowing your subject. Now I would like to draw everyone's attention to the fact that the first 8 replies, as well as the author, are all members of QCWG! Not that surprising really, we have a very active group, and a number of our members have true understanding of what is behind the group. What's that? Solving the problem that Arthur addresses so well in this blog! Let's be like a 'reverse virus' if you will, and build this solution by inspiring one member at a time. Arthur, welcome aboard, and looking forward to your first blog in the group! D |
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