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On facebook the other day, a friend posted this:
The reactions, including mine, were interesting. Everyone who replied felt that layoffs should be based on performance, not on personal feelings. And they should.
But…(there it is…that but)…
Here in the real world, things do not work that way. Companies base all kinds of decisions on relationships and personal feelings rather than on merit.
A couple months ago, I wrote about a company with an unsecure shopping cart on their site. Their web designer did one of the BIGGEST no no’s known to web designers. He knowingly left an unsecure shopping cart up on the site. When I notified the company, I explained to them (through the referenced post) why their unsecure shopping cart was a dangerous thing and why they needed to fix it. Now, the owner went to my site and KNOWS that I build websites. He knows that I obviously know what I’m doing. Did he fire his incompetent web designer and hire me? NO!! Why is that? Because he had a prior RELATIONSHIP with his web designer. Even though this person or company could have cost him his business if the credit card companies caught wind that he was taking card numbers over a non secure website, he still kept the web designer and had them fix the problem. Now I see that the same company is on facebook. Again, they have some nitwit advising them. Here is what their wall looks like:
If you look, they have all of their posts coming from HootSuite. They NEVER EVEN VISIT THE FACEBOOK ACCOUNT!!! You can’t interact with customers that way. Poor Elke has been waiting since Sunday (it’s now Wednesday) for an answer. Sure, she can visit the site and get her answers, however, this post from her proves that she found them on facebook and wants to interact with them on facebook. However, someone told them to just put up a facebook account and spam the facebook wall with great things about themselves. (I think they need to take my Internet Marketing Using Social Spaces – 4 Week Course)
I notified another person who has a website that there were many dead links on the home page of her site. This person is a guest speaker at a huge month long online conference that I am attending. She is supposed to be an expert. However, her poor website was not a reflection of her professionalism. Obviously, her current web designer wasn’t doing his job. When I brought this to her attention, did she hire me and get rid of the web designer who didn’t do his job? NO…because she has a prior relationship with the web designer who doesn’t do his job. She did have him redesign the site.
I could post many, many stories just like this, but I think you get the picture. If you create great relationships with people, you can screw up quite a bit and they will probably keep you around. But…if you DON’T have those relationships…you aren’t going to be around very long if you do manage to get your foot in the door. It works that way in the corporate world as well as in the real world. Employees and self employed people come upon these same hurdles. It’s all in how you maneuver past them.
If you are trying to do business online, consider taking my Internet Marketing Using Social Spaces – 4 Week Course and learn how to use social spaces to create those relationships and build your business.
You have to be careful when doing business online. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post over at my other blog about a similar situation as the one I’m writing about today.
I recently joined an online course and was immediately presented with two free audios. I did what I always do and googled the people who were speaking in the audios. One of the speakers had a wonderful website that offered free audios. I signed up and received access to the free audios. Simple. Just like the process should be.
The other website also had free audios advertised. That website, however, did not make the process of requesting them simple. I did request them, but they were not provided. I was told that I had to PURCHASE the audios. Now, me being me, I made a little video of my experiences. I’ll post that below for you to see. (ed note: I’ve removed said video and will explain why at the bottom of this post)
What you need to realize, if you are going to do business online, is that your potential customers see what you do. They see it and they can blog about it and make videos about it and tell the world all about your bait & switch scams. Bad word of mouth travels fast, but nowadays on the internet – it travels way faster. Bottom line…never promise anything you are not willing to deliver. If a customer comes to you and says they didn’t get XYZ and they show you proof that you offered it, GIVE IT TO THEM.
I highly recommend anyone who is considering doing business with Penny Sansevieri (or Sanseveri as some spell it) watch the video below and decide for yourself if this is someone you want to do business with or not. It’s sad that there are people like this in the world today, but there are and they are all around us. Many times, they come highly recommended by some other “guru” who doesn’t care that they are a scam artist. Many times they don’t consider things like promising free stuff and then not delivering it a scam. But it is!!
Feel free to comment below about the video. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Also, if you know of other bait & switch scams like this, let me know. I’ll be happy to expose them for you. We have to stick together and tell these scam artists that we are NOT GOING TO STAND FOR IT anymore!!
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UPDATE:
I deleted the video because Penny Sansevieri contacted me personally to apologize for the links in her site that went nowhere. She is in the process of redoing the site as I type. I look forward to seeing her updated site at http://amarketingexpert.com when it is ready.
You may ask – why not just remove the post? I’m not removing the post because the content is still relevant. If we expose these things one at a time, maybe we can change the internet mentality one at a time. You never know. 
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Make it a great day!!
To mask or not to mask…that is the question…
First, what is URL masking?
When you mask a URL, it means that the URL you are masking stays in the address bar of the browser instead of the URL you are linking to. For example, my affiliate URL for my network marketing company is http://www.sendoutcards.com/88338. If I want, I could mask http://WorkWithRoxanne.com so that http://WorkWithRoxanne.com stays in the address bar and http://www.sendoutcards.com/88338 never shows up. Many affiliate marketers who are assigned long affiliate URLs use masking so people can’t strip the affiliate portion off and bypass them. Sounds pretty good, huh?!
DON’T STOP READING YET
Second, should you use masking?
NEVER. The only time you should use masking is if you want a URL to go to an information page and there are no signup forms there and no outlinks.
I got a call the other day. The person told me that they personally sent 5 people to their affiliate link and didn’t get the credit for it. After a bit of discussion, I found out that they bought a URL and redirected that URL to their affiliate link. Nothing wrong with that. That’s a great idea. However, I then found out that they masked the URL. Big no no!! When their 5 people entered the masked URL into their browser, it took them to the correct affiliate page. But…when they clicked the link to join, since the URL was masked, it stripped the affiliate portion away and they did not get credit for sending people to their link.
If you are doing affiliate marketing, feel free to redirect a URL to your affiliate link. DO NOT MASK IT. If you mask it, you are wasting money marketing your affiliate link because you get no credit for anyone going through that link. There is no way for the person or company running the affiliate program to know who came through your masked URL.
And don’t EVER mask a URL going to a blog. Let’s say you’re reading this blog. And, because there’s so much great info here, you want to send someone to an individual post. If you entered through a masked URL, the address bar in your browser will always show the masked URL so you are unable to copy the link to a specific post.
So…remember…if you are linking to a one page website with no links out, you may mask a URL. Other than that, never mask a URL.
When in doubt…DO NOT MASK.
WHAT ARE YOUR INTERNET MARKETING NEEDS?
I Am Back
I asked my newsletter subscribers last week if they would like business coaching and whether they prefer group or one on one coaching. I got some really great feedback about my new coaching business. So far, the overwhelming majority of people who have responded want group coaching. I appreciate all of the kind comments that have come my way.
Also, while reading all of the wonderful emails, I did not realize how many people love and miss my teleseminars that I’ve done over the years. I feel so blessed.
With that said…
I Am Back!!
I have decided to start doing free teleseminars again to do what I love and teach you guys what I’ve learned. Keep an eye on your email and this blog for announcements of teleseminars to come in the very near future.
Again…thank you all for your help and your kind comments!! I appreciate you!!
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