If I sent you a letter saying you needed to pay $65 per year to get your house listed with the Post Office, would you pay it? NO, you’d toss it in the trash and possibly file a complaint with the FTC.

If you have a website, chances are you’ve received a solicitation from Web Listings Inc. that is designed to trick you into thinking it’s an invoice.

So why do people pay them to submit their websites to search engines that already know they exist?

Click to Enlarge

Look closely. If you read the fine print, it says, “This is not a bill. This is a solicitation.” A simple Google search for “Web Listings Inc.” turns up dozens of scam and fraud alerts. It’s common knowledge that search engines have no problem discovering new websites and crawling most types of content. Finally, the top 3 search engines account for 95% of the search volume in the U.S.. There’s no need to submit to 20!

Lessons in Persuasion

So why do people still pay Web Listings Inc. to submit their websites to “20 established search engines”? I think it boils down to three reasons:

1. People don’t read the fine print. It’s common practice to hide the true terms of a deal in small print.
2. People don’t properly research a company before doing business with them. It looks official so it must be legitimate, right?
3. People are motivated by fear of losing their visibility in search engines. Fear of loss is a more powerful motivator than potential gain.

Why I Hate This

It deepens the distrust people have for SEO and our industry in general. It wastes small businesses’ hard-earned money. It adds absolutely no value to a website or business. It preys on people’s fears.

I also hate this because it’s apparent that enough people are still falling for it to remain profitable, and probably wildly so.

Please, research a company before you send them money. Read the fine print. Ask around.

If you still need help, Google it. I’m sure you’ll find a helpful answer from somebody that didn’t pay $65 a year to have their site listed there.

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I didn’t want to have to write this post but I’ve talked with so many people that feel the same way I do that I’ve realized this might actually be some useful feedback for Shorty contestants everywhere.

First, a couple of disclaimers: I don’t know Dave (@madmain on Twitter) personally [Update: He reminded me that we did speak on the phone a year ago about using the RichmondWiki project in his new media seminars, but I did not count a 15-minute phone call a personal relationship] but I hear he’s actually a nice guy in real life. I have no personal beef with him and my opinions certainly aren’t shared by everybody else. I just call it like I see it.

But since he’s asking so many times and in so many ways, I can’t sit by and not offer my reasons for NOT voting for him to win a Shorty Award. I guess it’s my way of offering some insight into why people might not be inclined to vote. Who knows, maybe this will help somebody win next year without alienating a lot of followers in the process.

I have not, and will not, vote for @madmain for a Shorty award because:

1. Direct Message Spam

What you tweet about is your own business, but when you ask your employees to DM [Update: Dave said he didn't ask his employees to DM people, they did it because they wanted to...but it came from the agency account so in my mind it came from the company/brand = same thing] me asking for a vote you are spamming, plain and simple. I don’t view the message below any differently than I would an unsolicited email that I did not opt in to receive. What does that accomplish? It lowers my opinion of the brand/company/person that sent it.

2. Overly Repetitive Requests for Votes

One or two requests for votes are fine. But hundreds upon hundreds [Update: Dave counted and said he had only 92 "asks" in 3 weeks. Sorry for the hyperbole] and dozens [Update: Dave counted and said it was only an average of 4.5 each day] each day come across as begging and do not an interesting conversation make.

Any social media marketer knows that repeatedly begging and cajoling your followers for “conversions” is a losing long-term strategy. Social networks and community-driven sites are supposed to be built on mutual value and reciprocal relationships. Brands that simply shout are going to be ignored because they ask but don’t give.

My favorite Twitter analogy is that of a cocktail party. Short conversations with interesting people that can potentially lead to follow-ups and larger conversations. The last time I was at a bar and somebody begged me for something it was a dude selling roses. He was kind enough to drop the issue after a polite “no”.

3. Shifting Signal to Noise Ratio

I still follow @madmain because he occasionally offers an interesting perspective or clues me in to a person that I would want to follow (although not with #followfriday pimping). That’s how it’s supposed to work. But when the ratio of vote requests to useful content increases dramatically it becomes harder to follow the conversation and derive value from the relationship (for me, at least). [Update: Dave counted and said he tweeted over 500 "non-asks" things during the same time period]

4. There’s Nothing In It For Me

Again, back to the value equation. What do I gain from voting? If it meant I could opt out of the unsolicited DM’s and redundant requests for votes then I would consider it. But so far you’ve only taken, you haven’t given me anything in return.

Would a vote secure a future reciprocal act? Again, there’s some value there but it hasn’t been conveyed so I have to assume I have nothing to gain from voting.

5. Social Media Should Not Be a Popularity Contest

As I’ve said before (a year ago today, actually), social media is just communications enabled by newer technologies. It’s still just People + Relationships + Communication. Twitter is just a technology that allows the number of people and communications to scale, sometimes too easily and too fast.

If we can assume that most people use social media to develop relationships and communicate, we must also assume that those people want to develop quality relationships. What happens as the quantity of those relationships increases? The quality must decrease.

In Conclusion

Again, this is not a personal attack, but more of an explanation that Shorty contestants all over may find useful. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, on twitter, or over a beer.

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I’m glad I’m not the only one that has some questions about the growing relationship between Google and the government. This week’s FORTUNE magazine’s cover story is titled “Obama & Google (a love story)“.

Again, I’m not saying it’s necessarily a bad thing to have one of the world’s smartest technology companies helping the government (federal, state, and local) get up to speed on all things digital, but it certainly does raise some questions. If nothing else, the developing relationship requires a little extra oversight.

You know, just in case the machines become sentient and start to turn on us

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Google Public Sector

I am all for smaller, leaner, more efficient government. But don’t classify me as a right-winger just yet. I just don’t like wasteful spending and excess “bloat”, especially when tax dollars are stretched tighter than ever before.

So you could assume that I would be in favor of Google’s recent announcement of “Google for the Public Sector“, a “one-stop shop of tools and tips that local, state and federal government officials can use to help promote transparency and increase citizen participation.”

According to CNN, this “government app store” could save a portion of the $75 billion (with a “B”) that the government spends on data storage each year and help “bring government up to speed in terms of computing.”

But there are some serious questions that I haven’t been able to find answers for yet. Hopefully somebody can steer me in the right direction on some of these and I will post updates as I find them.

Questions About the Google/Fed Partnership

1. Why Google? Just Google? Were other service providers considered? If so, what were the selection criteria? When/how will the partnership(s) be reviewed?
2. Who will “own” the data in the “Dedicated Google cloud for government“? Will this include any of the government’s personal information about private citizens? Is there a precedent for this type of public/private partnership?
3. What happens if/when the government is forced to investigate Google in future antitrust or monopoly cases? Will these partnerships and integrations be considered conflicts of interest?
4. Were these decisions and partnerships influenced by any of the ex-Googlers joining or advising the Obama administration in tech-related roles?
   1. Sonal Shah, former head of global development at Google.org, the search-engine company’s philanthropic arm, is head of the new White House Office of Social Innovation. (philanthropy.com)
   2. Andrew McLaughlin, Google’s former head of global public policy, left the company to join the Obama administration as Deputy Chief Technology Officer. (NYT.com)
   3. Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, has been a close adviser to President Obama’s transition team and is now a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
   4. Katie Stanton, a former Google project manager, joined the White House as its director of citizen participation.
5. Does it make sense to have so much government data consolidated under one company, especially one that already has a lot of information about each of its users?

What’s the Point?

I'm not paranoid, I'm not paranoid...

Sure, you can argue that government data is stored on Sun servers and Cisco routers too, but those companies aren’t in the advertising business. But don’t get out your tinfoil hats just yet.

And yes, I still like Google’s commitment to its customers (advertisers and searchers) and appreciate their contributions to the internet and technology. Heck, I even make a living advising companies how to rank better on Google.

But I still can’t put a finger on the cause of the queasy feeling I get when reading about the partnership between Google and the government without seeing all of the facts out in the open. Maybe I’m just being paranoid. but then again, maybe not…

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Thanks to the Detroit Lions’ unprecedented 0-16 record last season, yesterday’s game against my Atlanta Falcons was blacked out on local TV and I was forced to “watch” the ESPN.com box score to keep up with the game.

During breaks in the action I started to pay attention to the sponsored text ads surrounding the box score.  Curiosity got the best of me and I clicked on the highlighted ad to see what these “make money at home” ads are all about.

Look up. Gullible's written on the ceiling.

The link led to a website that was set up to look like a news site: (note, I replaced the fake publication’s title with “lorem ipsum”)

Truthiness in Action (click to enlarge)

Sounds great, right? Anybody with a computer and some free time can become wildly successful! The attentive reader will notice that all of the links point to something called the Google Money System with claims that any homebody can get paid by Google to place links online. Sounds legitimate (and easy), right?

Spoiler alert: it’s a pyramid scheme. Keep reading to see how they work (or rather, don’t work).

In case you are starting to fall for the slick sales pitch, note that Google does not endorse or participate in “money-making” programs like this. There is no such thing as “working from home with Google” or “getting paid to post links on Google.” Google even has some official advice on how to steer clear of money scams.

So What’s the Catch?

It always pays to read the fine print. There are FOUR PARAGRAPHS of fine print on this site. I’ll break them down here. In all cases, I created the emphasis in bold to highlight particularly troubling disclaimers. I also replaced all product/service names with “[FlimFlam-o-matic]“.

Paragraph 1: We are only doing this for the money. You are on your own after we get paid. P.T. Barnum was right.

This publication provides the Author’s opinions and neither the Publisher nor the author intends to render legal, accounting, financial, business or other professional advice with this publication. With regards to licensing of a business enterprise, any legal accounting or tax matters. Author and publisher is an Affiliate of the company offering the business opportunity and are remunerated by advertiser. Author and publisher strongly suggest that the reader seek the services of appropriate licensed business, financial and or legal professionals before proceeding with any actions and comply with the local, state and federal licensing and guideline requirements which the reader resides or conducts business.

Paragraph 2: We lied. Google does not endorse our scheme. You are the only one to blame for getting suckered into this.

Google is in no way associated with this website. The Publisher and Author disclaim any personal liability, loss or risk incurred as a consequence of the use and application of the offer, either directly or indirectly, of any advice, information, or methods presented in this publication. Individual comments are unedited and not the opinion of Author or Publisher and not liable for their comments and opinions.

Paragraph 3a: Somebody’s afraid of Google’s legal team coming after them.

* I do NOT work for Google and Google is in no way associated with this website.

Paragraph 3b: BTW, not everybody is getting rich off this system.

Terms and Disclosures.The [FlimFlam-o-matic] mentioned above worked for me and for many other people, but results may vary by person. Also, keep in mind that I got the [FlimFlam-o-matic] trials for free*, but there is a shipping fee of $1.99.

Paragraph 3c: Here’s where we take your $70. Please don’t read this, please don’t read this…. (the pyramid scheme is starting to become a little more clear)

[FlimFlam-o-matic] requires trials to be canceled within seven days of the trial period If you do not cancel, you will be billed sixty nine dollars and ninety cents USD for the [FlimFlam-o-matic]. If you enjoy the products, simply do nothing. You will be billed the discounted price at the end of the free* trial period.

Paragraph 3d: You got yourself into this mess. We’re not responsible for anything that happens from this point forward.

By signing up YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THIS CONSUMER TRANSACTION INVOLVES A NEGATIVE OPTION AND THAT YOU MAY BE LIABLE FOR PAYMENT OF FUTURE GOODS AND SERVICES, UNDER THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, IF YOU FAIL TO NOTIFY THE SUPPLIER NOT TO SUPPLY THE GOODS OR SERVICES DESCRIBED.

Paragraph 3d: We lied again. It’s not free. You pay us $70 per month! The only “secret” to this program is that you have to sell the [FlimFlam-o-matic] program to others to re-coup your $70/month fee. (Bernie Madoff couldn’t have done it better himself).

Thanks and good luck with filling your first application! By clicking the order button, I am ordering the [FlimFlam-o-matic] and trial membership for $1.99 s&h, after the 7 day trial I will be charged $69.90 a month thereafter if I do not cancel. I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy / Terms and Conditions / Purchase Agreement . Charges will appear on credit/debit statements as “[FlimFlam-o-matic]“. For questions/cancellations, call 1-800-XXX-XXXX

Paragraph #4: If you’ve read this far, you’re probably not going to buy into the [FlimFlam-o-matic] program anyway, so we might as well tell you that only the people at the top of the pyramid are making any money.

* INCOME CLAIM WARNING: Testimonials do not result typical result. Photographs or images are depiction of individuals and payment methods. These income examples are representative of some of the most successful participants in the program. Some individuals purchasing the program may make little or NO MONEY AT ALL. These claims are not a guarantee of your income, nor are they typical of average participants. Individual results will vary greatly and in accordance to your input, determination, hard work, and ability to follow directions. No person or company can guarantee profits or freedom from loss. Any and all use of this website certifies you are agreeing to our Earnings and Income Disclaimers.

No Free Lunches

“Get Rich Quick” schemes have been around since early humans started trading stone discs as currency. These programs are nothing new but traditional pyramid schemes deployed on the internet are especially dangerous because:

1. There is no government regulation or legal oversight.
2. Other participants are anonymous and it may be impossible to track them down to cancel or claim damages.
3. The schemes can be altered and propogated at extremely low cost and low risk.

Use your head. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. After all, no matter how large the pyramid becomes before collapse, approximately 88% of all people will lose (wikipedia).

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1. They Can’t Answer My Questions

I tried reaching out for help twice now and have been let down both times. Once on Twitter on July 20th and once to NetSol’s Tech Support phone line (Service Request # 1-410445817). Nobody responded on Twitter and the info I got from the tech support was wrong!

Here is my situation:

1. I attempted to use my site’s .htaccess file to redirect some “old” pages to new pages (about 15 in total) when launching my site redesign.
2. The old pages have a .php extension. The new pages are all in WordPress.
3. The standard .htaccess 301 redirect syntax wasn’t working or isn’t supported on Network Solutions hosting:

Redirect 301 /search-marketing-services.php http://www.yoursearchadvisor.com/services/

4. I had to fall back to using PHP redirects within the “old” .php files themselves, which is suboptimal for SEO. .htaccess redirects for .html files work fine.

2. Tech Support Gives Out Wrong Information

I called NetSol tech support with the details mentioned above and was told the following via email:

“The only ones which do not work are the ones where the page you are rewriting does not exist.  When you use the “Redirect 301″ command, Apache checks to make sure the page is there first before it does the rewrite, so if the page is not there, such as resources.php, you will get a 404 error instead. If you use RewriteRule instead, the original page does not have to exist.”

This is not true! I tried the redirects with .html extensions instead and it worked, even without the “old” .html file in the server directory. They are confusing mod rewrites with redirects. I was given this information several times.

Eventually my requests for explanation were elevated to a very nice lady in the “Executive Office”. She seemed genuinely willing to help, but after several phone calls and emails they still were not able to understand that .html files redirected properly while .php files do not and that that mod rewrites are not the same thing as a redirect.

3. They Make Up Silly Names for Things

I had already made up my mind to switch to DreamHost (site transitions in the works) but then I get this message when I logged back in to NetSol to make some DNS changes:

New Network Solutions Product Names (click to expand)

Seriously? What’s wrong with calling a domain name a “domain name”? And I no longer have a web site, I now have an “nsBusinessSpace”?

It’s bad enough that Network Solutions is selling half-assed fixed price SEO packages to unsuspecting small business owners (another post for another time), but they continue to prove that they don’t get it. Sorry NetSol. Your tech support and Twitter people are nice folks and seem eager to help. The fact that nobody can answer my questions AND you insist on trying to trademark silly names for commodities has brought us to this. Goodbye.

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How are these #followfriday tweets useful to anybody?

Would you follow these people?

I’m not trying to pick on anybody in particular, which is why I used examples from multiple users and left out their names. It’s just a good example of how NOT to add value to a communications network.

The Failure of #followfriday

In the past year I’ve watched the #followfriday phenomenon evolve from personal introductions to mass shout outs in an attempt to help other Twitter users grow their networks and become more like the self-proclaimed “power users” or “social media gurus”.

Here are my problems with the aforementioned #followfriday executions:

1. It doesn’t tell me WHY I should follow any of these people. Are they helpful, funny, informative, or otherwise unique?
2. It FAILS to communicate what they can offer me or what I can offer them. Do they need my services? Do I need theirs? Do we have anything in common other than being one of your followers?
3. It doesn’t build VALUE for your followers or the people you “pimp”. Based on my experience with being called out in several mass #followfriday messages, the only new followers it attracts are the aspiring “power users” that follow everybody. Then the cycle repeats itself next Friday.
4. It sacrifices QUALITY for quantity. It tells the world that you value a large follower list more than the relationships with the people on that list.

I understand the #followfriday concept clearly: introduce your network of followers to other twitterers that they should follow. Hence the name “followfriday”. It’s the Twitter equivalent of introducing people at a cocktail party and saying, “Bob, meet Sally. Sally also trains racing snails. I’m sure you’ll have a lot to talk about.”

Now You’re Doing It Right

Just like a personal introduction in real life, a #followfriday mention can be a great way to match up people you know with others that can help them or add value in some way. The key is, you have to tell me WHY.

This wouldn’t be a productive post without a proper example of doing it right. Here’s my #followfriday recommendation: You should follow @LimaBeads because Kevin and the Lima Beads team are a great example of a company that treats its customers as people, rather than social media sheep.

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