What's with the WF related names/images?

Even though some of them are using WF logos as their image?

I've been here for quite a while and I was confused by it so I'm sure there will be newbies who think they're official forum representatives.

We had this with the WP system and that's not represented in the forum at all.

It's a big no-no to use "Moderator", "Mod", "Admin" in your profile title. There was a bit of a brouhaha about that a few years ago because people were doing just that... so not sure why they can use "WSO Support", "WSO Review" etc.

Caliban, you're correct about branding yourself as an expert with a third party product/service/site but there is a reason why you'll see WPExpert vs WordPress Expert because Wordpress came down on them like a ton of bricks. Even threatening to sue. I'm sure the same thing goes with Google, PayPal etc.

But in the end the Warrior Forum/WSO is Allen's so it's up to him at the end. If he doesn't care it's a moot point what we think.

Hi Tina,

The ones that I find odd are those who review WSOs on their sites (and in the WSO threads) as affiliates but refuse to do negative reviews and are open about it - I don't get the logic.

A quick historical check of their reviews finds them providing glowing testimonials in the first pages of those WSOs which go horribly wrong later on, once one person is brave enough to call them out in the thread feedback and say, 'this is a blatant copy of XYZ', or 'this is total crap', then the others come out and add, 'Yes, I agree, this is total crap.'

Now, every time I see those reviewers leaving testimonials it actually makes me believe that the WSO is probably crap - their testimonial actually devalues the perceived value of the product, in my eyes. It's not entirely logical, but regardless, that's how it works for me. I'd sooner take a chance on a WSO with NO testimonials.

It's the same as the 'WSO of the day' which turns out to be absolute junk - but of course it's 100% commission every single time. Hence, in my eyes, 'WSO of the day' means that it's 100% commission and has absolutely no bearing on the quality of the WSO.

I would rather see reviews by others who have run WSOs themselves (hence they have some experience) but are not part of a mutually-beneficial-testimonial-giving-syndicate.

Reviews by people who have recently appeared out of nowhere, never sell any products of their own, never contribute consistently in main discussion but have a WSO related domain tells me that their reviews are absolutely meaningless (except that they desire to earn commissions), especially when I see how many times they give glowing testimonials to WSOs which turn out to be crap.

As with most marketers, they concentrate on a small percentage of the marketplace rather than trying to please everyone, which is a recipe for disaster. In this instance, they are happy to avoid those who have 'been around the block' and instead focus entirely on those who haven't.

They do realise that it throws up a red flag to a certain percentage but they care not. The money is in the newb.

........

As for those helping people with choosing WSOs, I guess that there's not too much intrinsically wrong with it.

But I find it kind of ironic that those who seek this help are simply delaying the inevitable - they are looking to buy WSOs which will help them in business.

Probably the most important personal skill required to even exist in business for more than a brief period is the development of critical thinking skills.

Yet when it comes to buying products in order to assist in development/business, instead of developing those skills they 'outsource' this to someone else, thus avoiding the improvement of the one skill that they really need to survive and by doing so are signalling that they're not willing to take the responsibility that comes with making decisions about personal investment of time and resources.

The wacky world of IM...:rolleyes:

Plenty of people tell me outright that someone with as many posts as I have is clearly an authority.

Crap, really? You pay more attention to what I say because I have no life and sit around posting on a forum all day? You sad, sad person. I mean, geez, that's almost as sad as having no life and sitting around posting on a forum all day.

There's this old saying that a lot of people are walking around holding an umbilical cord and looking for someplace to plug it in. And a lot of people have noticed that, and they start advertising "plug in your umbilical cord here."

But here's the thing.

If they need to false-flag with their username to advertise that, they're too incompetent to do much damage.

Anyone really competent at being the place to plug in the umbilical, especially if they're running it the wrong way, understands that false-flagging raises hackles and can get them stopped before they get started. So only two kinds of people do it.

1. Innocent, honest people who literally never thought about how you might do damage this way.

2. Completely incompetent scammers who will be caught in short order regardless.

I don't think group 2 is large enough or dangerous enough to stomp on group 1. Baby and bathwater, you know? I like innocent, honest people. I think we should protect and nurture them.

Of course, standard disclaimer, this is my two cents. I like it, because it's mine, but it's still just two cents. And neither Allen nor anyone else with authority here gives a flying leap about two cents.

I'm pretty sure they're not, but I'm also pretty sure that the non-innocent ones aren't going to last long. Self-repairing problem.

Kind of like post counts: making 50 posts doesn't actually mean anything except that you've managed to post 50 things that weren't stupid enough to get deleted or nasty enough to get you banned. But if this is difficult for you, then you shouldn't be allowed to do certain things. It's not the lack of posts that's the problem; it's the lack of proof that you can post halfway intelligently.

When someone wants to send PMs, and discovers they can't do so until they make 50 posts, their posts look amazingly like their PMs are going to look. If those posts are spammy and retarded, they would just send spammy and retarded PMs, so they shouldn't be allowed to send PMs until they learn how to make posts that aren't spammy and retarded. Fifty of those is reasonable evidence that they "get it" and will not send spammy and retarded PMs.

I look at Warrior-related usernames the same way I do low post counts. The jury's out. Once the post count has three digits, SOMEONE on the forum has got a pretty good idea who this person is and is allowing them to stay, so the username probably isn't meant to be scammy or spammy.

I've also noticed that a lot of people come in here thinking that WSO is just our private little slang term, so where they would go somewhere else and say "I have made an IM infoproduct," they come here and say "I have made a WSO." Which leads me to wonder something.

In some communities, there is a strong bias toward what they call "scene-related" usernames, which include a slang term specific to the community. Something "normal" people wouldn't use as their name, to prove they're really part of the community. A signaling device, in economics parlance.

There is very real prejudice in some forums against people who don't use such a device. So people coming here from certain other communities might be likely to think they SHOULD have some form of war, warrior, or WSO reference in their username or they can't "really" be part of the gang.

I'm fascinated by this stuff. When I first got online, it was always "first name" so I was "Caliban." Later it started being "first initial, last name" so I was "CDarklock" everywhere. Then we had the "full name" craze where I'd be expected to use "Caliban Darklock." Then the "first name, birth year" custom where people would expect "Caliban69." It happens in cycles and trends which are often localised and have upsurges here and there.

Bill, Sensible and responsible behavior? What are you trying to do, dude? Give the mods a collective heart attack?

Thank you.


Paul

I agree wholeheartedly with everything in your post, Roger, except this one statement.

That is what these people think but in reality, it should say that "the SHORT TERM money is in the newb", because the REAL money is in the people who are in it for the long haul and are building real businesses.

Newbies mostly buy low priced "easy button" products over and over again because they're looking for their pot of gold. Some of these end up getting it and sticking for the long haul; most do not.

Long termers, on the other hand, know that you have to INVEST in their businesses. These people, for the most part, are the ones buying the higher end products and tools that they know they can use to make their lives easier, more productive and/or increase their revenues.

I don't know about anyone else, but I know which type I'd rather market to.

Bill, if you put in a ticket with the Help Desk, Thomas will switch your username to your real name. I was here for three years under my company name when I was finally convinced that there was a "Golden" opportunity for branding my own name.

You were the exception, by the way, and why I put "most" in my response and not all. Honestly, you are the only exception that I've found that I can recall at this time.

Guess you have a good point.

Be right back...lol
J/K

Have a Great Day!
Michael

Hey Tina, interested in a Joint Venture? You bring the Traffic?