Any Creative Ways To Promote Your WSO in The Main Forum?

[Bev Clement]

There are so many who are promoting their wso in the main forum that it is boring.

If you are going to break the rules or get close to the border line why not try and be creative.

Let's see how many creative ways you can promote your wso in the main forum.

I suggest creative not the boring standard ones which pretend to be helpful or try and say there is a problem but being really creative.

[Keith Boisvert]

Can it be a future WSO?


keith

[Allen Graves]

Not sure what you mean, Bev. Do you have an example?

I, for one, must not cross the line, as you know.

AL

[jhongren]

Personally, I am still very green in promoting WSO at the subtle level at the main forum. There is still alot of marketing to be learnt from you guys.

In my opinion, I will do my best to answer any question pertaining to my expertise and experience. And giving away info just enough to help the person solve his problem or issue then.

I will take it as relationship and trust-building for the long term.

A good example, in my opinion, is Steven Wagenheim. He is sharing so much of high value and quality. So I feel his products are going to be of the same standard too. =)

Any WSO released by him is going to be snatched up fast.

(Another point I realised lately is how I choose which WSO to read or to find out more. I see the names of the creator.)

John

[Louis Raven]

Possibly adapting your sig on a per post basis.

Let's imagine you've got a Article marketing WSO, for each NEW (Don't bump over 48 hours) thread you change your sig to be relevant to the current question/ query/ discussion. IE.. Thread Title "How to think of new Articles each day".

Your sig would be changed to "Latest WSO shows how to get that creative Article Writing Spark" And so forth.

Of course, your WSO does have to do what you state in your sig but I'm sure most can adapt to the current thread or relatively close

Louis

[Allen Graves]

This may be off-topic, but...

By the way, someone sent me a PM just a minute ago and
unhappily asked if he were to buy a reasonably priced WSO,
yet immediately asked for a refund, would it be bad.

My answer to him was easy. I took a deep breath and said that if
you do it immediately, it would look bad.

Without hesitation, I hit the send button and waited for a response.
Soon thereafter, the response was in my inbox. Know what it said?
Oh Boy! You are sooooo smart.

Respectfully,
Allen Graves
WSO Link Here

[Alan Petersen]

I've noticed that as well. Is it now allowed to do this? Is is still against the rules to promote your products/WSO in the main forum? I've seen blatant posts doing both of these recently so I'm a bit confused.

Example if someone want to advice on underwater basket weaving and I have an ebook on the subject can I say "check out my product here" with a link to it? Or check out my sig? Doesn't sound right to me. It would be a non-stop pitch fest out there.

[Bev Clement]

Allen you can't be serious. There are loads as an example.

Things like I started my wso 24 hours ago and had no sales, or had loads of sales, or this is why you have a free one because you can make xxxx, or use the same title in both the wso and the thread. Post new threads which are about the same subject which is nothing more than a glorified ad.

Keith yes it can be about a coming one, but doesn't that break the rules to say, I'm going to be doing a wso for this to show how I got my first affiliate sale, or how I got 2 people added to my list, or other types of things.

If people can't see what is obvious then they really need to understand how to think outside the box.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Alan Petersen

I've noticed that as well. Is it now allowed to do this? Is is still against the rules to promote your products/WSO in the main forum? I've seen blatant posts doing both of these recently so I'm a bit confused.

Example if someone want to advice on underwater basket weaving and I have an ebook on the subject can I say "check out my product here" with a link to it? Or check out my sig? Doesn't sound right to me. It would be a non-stop pitch fest out there.

Allen already addressed this in another thread about a week or so ago.

No, you can't say check out my sig or anything like that. It is against the
rules, period. I wish I could find that post. Darn!

[Keith Boisvert]

Am I wrong to assume that the OP was being facetious?

I would take the recent posts, like the wordsearch puzzle and post in in a thread.

I would ask one one question in the post and the correct answer would be in the word search. AND that answer would be a coupon code for even more off of my already AMAZINGLY LOW WSO price.

Easy.

keith

PS: I firmly believe in not promoting a WSO in the main forum. Just clarifying that my example was for the sole purpose of this thread only and not to be taken out of context. If my WSO can't make it on it's own with just my forum sig and my copy, then I need to rethink my WSO

[Allen Graves]

Originally Posted by Allen Graves

This may be off-topic, but...

By the way, someone sent me a PM just a minute ago and
unhappily asked if he were to buy a reasonably priced WSO,
yet immediately asked for a refund, would it be bad.

My answer to him was easy. I took a deep breath and said that if
you do it immediately, it would look bad.

Without hesitation, I hit the send button and waited for a response.
Soon thereafter, the response was in my inbox. Know what it said?
Oh Boy! You are sooooo smart.

Respectfully,
Allen Graves
WSO Link Here

So Bev, would this be a more creative way? Or would this get me n/a'd?

AL

[Frank Bruno]

hmmm.... You must be referring to that new post with a click bank screenshot?

The only way that you can really promote your WSO in the main forum is if you had it in your signature link.

Contributing to the forum with a signature link I don't think constitutes for blatant promotion of their WSO, because it could be any link for that matter that goes anywhere not just a WSO.

I really don't see too much blatant advertising for WSO's. I see more of the "I'm going to launch a WSO to show you how I'm doing it " type of posts


Frank Bruno

[jhongren]

I will be making a WSO soon detailing my success once I reach $200 per day which will be next month.

I found this statement in this thread in the main forum.

=> How This Part Time IMer After Strugling Is Making $$$ W/proof

Is this self-promoting of his upcoming WSO?

Cheers,
John

[Bev Clement]

Allen as Allen is the only one who N/A's people you would have to ask him, but why do you have to post the same post twice, apart from wanting to get your signature seen

Steven, the problem is that on the old forum, there was an unwritten rule that allowed people to post and point to their signature if it was a relevant wso. It happened time and time again because it was allowed. Because it was an unwritten rule, it was left to the mods to decide.

It is also not creative to start dozens of threads about the same topic which is on the same theme as the wso. If a person wants to be helpful, then why not post when they have no wso running.

With all the questions that these so called experts are asking, why would anyone in their right minds believe them, and buy from them. Crazy.

[Kevin Riley]

How about hinting that there are two cute young girls in our WSO video? And then leaving a teaser shot? So you have to go see the video to see them better? Would that work?



Disclaimer: Forced to do this blatant self-promotion as part of a study instigated by this thread. My apologies to those of little humour who are offended.

[BIG Mike]

With the new forum, changes in moderation and so forth, it's going to take a while for things to shake out. The ones I've seen blatantly doing it I've reported, which is about all you can do.

Assuming of course the old forum protocols still apply, no one is allowed to start a thread about their WSO. Replying to a thread and pointing to your WSO, if it's applicable to the thread topic wasn 't a problem in the past.

I suspect someone out there is teaching newer members that it's OK to do this as like Bev, I've seen a rash of these. One of which was actually done quite well, but still raised my hackles a bit, because I would think that member was smart enough to be a bit more coy in doing it.

[Bev Clement]

Frank no I wasn't referring to that one, as I hadn't seen it.

Signatures are fine as far as I know.

[Keith Boisvert]

but still raised my hackles a bit

Man, I can't wait to get more well known so I can afford hackles. Cuz I tell ya, if I had them, mine would be up too!!

Keith

[Frank Bruno]

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

Frank no I wasn't referring to that one, as I hadn't seen it.

Signatures are fine as far as I know.

LOL oh your relly gonna love that one then......

Frank Bruno

[Kevin Riley]

Originally Posted by Keith Boisvert

Man, I can't wait to get more well known so I can afford hackles. Cuz I tell ya, if I had them, mine would be up too!!

Keith

When we ran across the two in our video, James had more than his hackles raised. Bring the boy from the country to the big city, better put a leash on him.

[Frank Bruno]

Wow your right Bev, I just looked at some posts that were made earlier that I missed and see what your referring to.

Its getting a little brazen.....

Frank Bruno

[Bev Clement]

Frank you see what I mean about it being obvious then

I can look at certain names in the MF who have started threads overnight, and think they have a wso. Why, because they only start a thread when they have a wso, and the thread will always be related to their wso.

[Allen Graves]

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

Allen as Allen is the only one who N/A's people you would have to ask him, but why do you have to post the same post twice, apart from wanting to get your signature seen

Bev,

The first letters of each line. "Buy My WSO"

But the signature thingy is a nice by-product. Creative? LOL

AL

[lgibbon]

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

There are so many who are promoting their wso in the main forum that it is boring.

If you are going to break the rules or get close to the border line why not try and be creative.

Let's see how many creative ways you can promote your wso in the main forum.

I suggest creative not the boring standard ones which pretend to be helpful or try and say there is a problem but being really creative.

I agree Bev.
It's about time more people started hitting the report button
and making them vanish.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

Allen as Allen is the only one who N/A's people you would have to ask him, but why do you have to post the same post twice, apart from wanting to get your signature seen

Steven, the problem is that on the old forum, there was an unwritten rule that allowed people to post and point to their signature if it was a relevant wso. It happened time and time again because it was allowed. Because it was an unwritten rule, it was left to the mods to decide.

It is also not creative to start dozens of threads about the same topic which is on the same theme as the wso. If a person wants to be helpful, then why not post when they have no wso running.

With all the questions that these so called experts are asking, why would anyone in their right minds believe them, and buy from them. Crazy.

Bev, that goes to the issue of credibility to begin with. I won't mention
any names but I can't tell you how many sigs I see here that are a total
joke.

Guy makes a post, "I hope to have your success someday" and in his sig
it has a link "Make $10,000 monthly" or something like that.

It's ludicrous. Don't these people think when they post? If not, don't they
realize how dumb they look when their sigs have bold claims and then they
ask how to get traffic to their site?

Do these people think I would ever buy ANYTHING from them?

This is the kind of stuff that simply boggles my mind and may be one of
my biggest pet peeves when it comes to forum participation.

[Jeremy Kelsall]

Questions like this are exactly why I stopped posting in the main forum.

I don't want anyone to mistake my normal posting habits for simply trying
to drive more traffic to my WSO.

Honestly though, I think this is being blown out of proportion. The same people that are abusing the system are the same ones that abuse every single loop hole they can find, which is by far a small majority.

[Ricter]

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

There are so many who are promoting their wso in the main forum that it is boring.

If you are going to break the rules or get close to the border line why not try and be creative.

Let's see how many creative ways you can promote your wso in the main forum.

I suggest creative not the boring standard ones which pretend to be helpful or try and say there is a problem but being really creative.

What's that old saying, "don't sell a salesman"!? ; )

[Kim Standerline]

Originally Posted by TOPGUN08

Subliminal messages. Id post a video and insert subliminal messages like on that episode of Columbo.

hey topgun,

Remember I said earlier in another post couldn't see much wrong in your avatar,

Well to be blunt, I think your takin the piss with your sig.

I'm not easily offended, but that does offend me and it definately isn't appropriate for this forum

Kim

[Jeremy Kelsall]

Who says swearing and porn are not appropriate for a business forum? sheeshhh

Someone is uptight

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Kim Standerline

hey topgun,

Remember I said earlier in another post couldn't see much wrong in your avatar,

Well to be blunt, I think your takin the piss with your sig.

I'm not easily offended, but that does offend me and it definately isn't appropriate for this forum

Kim

Kim, unless that's HIS domain, it breaks the rules of the forum anyway.

All links MUST be to a domain that YOU own.

I'm almost afraid to ask.

[Ricter]

Originally Posted by Kim Standerline

hey topgun,

Remember I said earlier in another post couldn't see much wrong in your avatar,

Well to be blunt, I think your takin the piss with your sig.

I'm not easily offended, but that does offend me and it definately isn't appropriate for this forum

Kim

Agreed. For the page it points to.

[Kim Standerline]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Kim, unless that's HIS domain, it breaks the rules of the forum anyway.

All links MUST be to a domain that YOU own.

I'm almost afraid to ask.

Not bothered whether its his domain or not. its disgusting

Jeremy I'm not uptight, nor am I a prude. My 13 year old niece was stood near me when I clicked his link. I didn't appreciate her reading it. I don't go on porn sites, and I don't expect to be lead to that type of thing on a marketing forum

Ricter, that's what I meant

Kim

[Jeremy Kelsall]

Originally Posted by Kim Standerline

Not bothered whether its his domain or not. its disgusting

Jeremy I'm not uptight, nor am I a prude. My 13 year old niece was stood near me when I clicked his link. I didn't appreciate her reading it. I don't go on porn sites, and I don't expect to be lead to that type of thing on a marketing forum

Ricter, that's what I meant

Kim

I put the smiley face in there to let you know I was being sarcastic lol

[TheVCF]

Bev and Fellow Warriors,

Although I can perceive that this may appear to be "borderline" ...

Would it be permissible to Post and ask for Advice, in the Main Forum, as to why our (first in a long time) seems to be "underperforming"?
And/or for Recommendations for Improvement as to how we may improve it / it's performance herein?

Please let us know how and/or where we may get such advice / recommendations for improvement without being perceived as just "self promoting our WSO", ok?

Thank you all for your help and participation and Have a Great Day!

- Michael

[John Rowe]

The answer to this problem is easy.

Rather than create a separate post like this one to talk about people advertising their WSO in the main forum... POST DIRECTLY TO THE THREAD.

Have the courage to speak up in the thread. Tell them you've reported their post for breaking the rules... and openly encourage other members to report it as well so it will vanish. If it is breaking the rules, then it will disappear.

.

[Mike McBride]

Originally Posted by TheVCF

Bev and Fellow Warriors,

Although I can perceive that this may appear to be "borderline" ...

Would it be permissible to Post and ask for Advice, in the Main Forum, as to why our (first in a long time) seems to be "underperforming"?
And/or for Recommendations for Improvement as to how we may improve it / it's performance herein?

Please let us know how and/or where we may get such advice / recommendations for improvement without being perceived as just "self promoting our WSO", ok?

Thank you all for your help and participation and Have a Great Day!

- Michael

Just my opinion here, but I'd say no, that would NOT be permissible.

Wait until your WSO has run it's course and has closed, and then ask why it tanked. Or PM members you trust and ask them to look at it now and give you some advice.

[Keith Boisvert]

JMO, but if you plan on running a WSO, wouldn't you submit it to a trusted network of people you trust that will give you honest feedback...before you launch it?

First off, you would get some testimonials, secondly, you would get the feedback necessary to ensure you put out a quality product.

Then, as stated above, once your WSO ran it's course, disable the link to buy, and ask for advice,opinions, or anyhting that you feel would benefit you the next time.

JMO,

keith

[Arindam Chakraborty]

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

There are so many who are promoting their wso in the main forum that it is boring.

If you are going to break the rules or get close to the border line why not try and be creative.

Let's see how many creative ways you can promote your wso in the main forum.

I suggest creative not the boring standard ones which pretend to be helpful or try and say there is a problem but being really creative.

Why don't you spill the beans Bev?

Arindam

[Arindam Chakraborty]

Originally Posted by roulettered56

Possibly adapting your sig on a per post basis.

Let's imagine you've got a Article marketing WSO, for each NEW (Don't bump over 48 hours) thread you change your sig to be relevant to the current question/ query/ discussion. IE.. Thread Title "How to think of new Articles each day".

Your sig would be changed to "Latest WSO shows how to get that creative Article Writing Spark" And so forth.

How can you have multiple sigs across the forum? Once you change the sig file the changes would reflect on all the posts you have made. Correct me if I am wrong!

Arindam

[Keith Boisvert]

What's odd, that regardless how transparent some posters can be in self-promotion, if they would just be smart they would get just as much traffic.

For example, if you were a traffic guru and had a WSO running and had it in your sig, and someone posted a question about traffic...a really concise and helpful post(non promotional) will actually cause people to look in your sig.

If I am looking at the above example thread, and I see that someone has been helpful and sounds knowledgable, my eyes drift right to their sig file.

If someone comes across spammy and is self promoting, I avoid them like the plauge, and that includes their products...regardless of who they are.

But that's just me. Maybe my ethics prevents me from making much more than I could. But I can live with that.

keith

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Jeff Hope

Let's make up a new word for it - how about "promosting" ? As in, "Hey, I don't have time right now, I have to do a bit of promosting at the Warriors."

It's not just WSOs - there are a few who are constantly using the forum to self-promote their various sites, downloads, etc. in addition to their WSOs.

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I believe the original idea, here as elsewhere, was that you post something of value to the forum as the "give", and your sig file was your "take".(NB: This does not mean "me too" posts...)

Now a number of people around here are basically extending their sig files into their posts, making for what is really a long advertising post. These people either start a disproportionate number of new threads to do that, or barring new threads, they manage to sneak in a reference to their own (or friends') sites, giveaways, etc. within almost every post they make.

A lot of us who've been here a while see exactly what they're doing (and don't really care for it, judging by this thread). But a lot of newer members don't see it right away because it's so subtle.

Case in point - gratuitously starting new threads, in particular those where someone isn't asking a question but is "sharing" info that's directly related to their site, product, etc.

The person who starts a thread can be likened to the "manager" of the thread. That person can easily reply, control the flow of the conversation in the direction they want it to go, etc. in a very smooth & subtle way.

Those who post replies to the thread, are the "individual contributors". Obviously still important for the thread to go anywhere, but not nearly as free to control the direction, tempo, etc. without looking obvious - unless of course they get one of their friends to help out in the "conversation". In other words, the technique is "It is much better for visibility & promotion to start a new thread of your own than to contribute to someone else's."

The value in doing this, besides building up post count, is that the person starting the thread then has lots of permanent "access points" into the forum through various searches, all of which are built around the product they are offering or plan to offer. This not only provides a lot more visibility when the product is released, but also establishes a perceived expertise on that topic for the original poster.

Whether that's smart marketing or totally self-centered marketing is up to each reader to decide for themselves. Let's face it, there are a lot more (pick your adjective) smart / clever / cunning / shrewd / devious marketers these days. Again, it's up to each reader to determine which of those apply, and what the true motivations of the original poster are.

I'm not saying all new threads are like that - not even close. In fact, there are some who start new threads that are almost always a valuable & worthwhile, or at the very least, thought-provoking, contribution to the forum. Those are worthy of being read, discussed, & saved for future reference.

But there are a few around here who do so constantly, as either veiled self-promotion or a build up to a WSO.

All of that has to be taken in context too. If Willie or Paul wants to post about an interview, etc., then by all means they should. They've paid their dues around here, with plenty of "give & no take" over the years. I, and proably most everyone here, feel that they've earned that privilege.

Not so IMO for these people coming in with 200-300 posts & doing the same thing (most of their posts being of the "me too" or "look at my product" variety). Those people need to study, for another example, how Josh Anderson does it. He's an expert on web audio & video, & he answers a lot of questions directly in his posts (not by saying "check out my product for the answer"). That's his "give" - and his related products are in his sig - the "take".

Look at posters like Andy Henry, who rarely "takes" at all. Or Steven Wagenheim, who, though he occasionally takes some heat, continues to share both his wise decisions and his not-so-wise decisions (his words) that he's made following his off-the-beaten-path style of marketing.

Anyway, enough of the rant from me - hopefully the newer members here will look at threads & posts a bit more critically, asking themselves about the poster's major motivations.

Jeff

Jeff, thank you for the kind words as well as your other thoughts, all of
which I agree with on the surface.

Here's the problem.

It's called motive.

When somebody makes a post to this forum, there is always a motive
behind that post. Yes, even I have my motives. Make no mistake about it.

What are they?

Simple. I hope to provide information to the other members of this forum
so as to earn their trust in the hopes that down the road, they might
become customers or at least subscribers of mine.

After all, this is a marketing forum, right? If we're here for purely altruistic
purposes, aren't there better ways to spend our time?

I mean let's be honest. I am pretty sure that everybody here either has a
business to run or it hoping someday TO have a business to run. Otherwise
why bother being here? I don't hang out at chess forums because I just
don't have any interest in the game anymore. I don't play. I don't plan to
play and I don't have any plans to be a world chess champion someday. So
there is nothing there for me. The people who are here are here for two
reasons.

1. To gain knowledge.
2. To share knowledge.

If there are no people here to share knowledge then nobody can gain
knowledge. So somebody has to start these "Here's how to..." posts.
Otherwise, this forum dies.

Agree with me so far?

Okay, the motives of the folks who are here to gain knowledge are clear as
day. They want to improve themselves so that they can make more money.

It's that simple.

However, the motives of those who help the other members are not so cut
and dried.

I've admitted mine. I hope that someday, some of these people will trust
me enough to become customers.

But some people are looking for a fast buck. They're posting with the
intent of making an immediate sale.

Problem is, how can we tell the difference between the two?

It's almost impossible unless you are just incredibly intuitive. And even
then, this whole forum had it all wrong about me when I first got here.
I was labeled a scammer from day one simply because I replied to about
80 posts in one day. Okay, not smart, but not done with any criminal
intent in mind. I was just trying to help some folks who needed it.

Yes, there are other motives for people being here. Some are looking to
network and get JVs with others. Some people just like to hang out at
forums because they love to chat. That's their motive. But I think they're
the exception to the rule. I think if you got honest answers from most of
the members here, you'll find that they're looking to get something out of
their time here. And there is nothing wrong with that. At least not in my
opinion. Again, we're not running charities.

Yes, some people are quite transparent and you can tell right away what
they're up to. But with others, it's not so easy.

That's why I think it's great that we have a member moderated forum now.
If you think a post is inappropriate, report it. It's that simple. Yes, the
newer folks will have a harder time doing this. But there are plenty of old
timers here (I do not consider myself one of them) who can sniff out a
con a mile away.

Point is, I don't worry about this all that much. I truly believe that this
problem, if it is a problem, will take care of itself through member moderation.

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough. I'm getting close to 9,000 posts so
I have to try to come up with something intelligent to say.

I'll try to keep it as altruistic as I can.

[Chri5123]

This is an interesting thread!

I think if you want to promote your Sig file or WSO providing very helpful answers is the key.

Maybe even shedding some secrets for instance if you had a WSO like "How To Make $1000 From Adwords" and you answered an Adword releated thread and gave them a golden nugget for free that they could use I am pretty sure they would consider buying your WSO.

The way I look at it, it works like free reports work, you give gems of info to recieve traffic or sales and concentrate on providing really good content and then the rest will follow.

Also I have another questions that is releated to this thread.

Are you allowed to ask what people would like answered in a WSO?

So if you are thinking of running a WSO on Adwords for example are you allowed to ask what questions or help people would like with Adwords first?

Chris

[Bev Clement]

Seems the only people who don't like this thread are the ones who have been blatently selling in the main forum.

Michael the problem is that a wso is run for a few weeks, and how do you know that it is failed in 24 hours? On the old forum, I found that I would continue to get sales regardless of the position it was in. I could have thought, it didn't get many sales on page one so it failed. But, it would stay on page one for less than 24 hours.

Why not wait until you have all the facts in front of you not what you think are the facts in the first day or two, and then ask.

Steven, Jeff has said it all.

Let me say why I posted this.

There are/were a number of posts recently. I haven't looked to see if they were still around, and this is from memory.

This is why you should have a free wso. I have one and in the last 48 hours I have had over 100 sign up and sales of $400.

My wso hasn't made a sale and it has been running for 24 hours, it is in my signature.

I haven't sold as many as I would like (hint, hint) it is in my signature if you would like to look.

Then we have a few warriors who start a thread relating to their wso where they are not giving any information. They are asking a question, a few lines and basically it is a take a look at my wso without saying it.

Example, say I have a wso for ghostwriting (which I don't) and then I start a whole heap of threads like this.

Do you use ghostwriters?
Have you ever had problems with ghostwriters?
Would you pay in advance a ghostwriter?
Is duplicate content a problem when hiring a ghostwriter?

And then just asking a question you really don't want the answer to because you are doing it the way you always did.

I did that example so that people won't know who I was referring to.

Bev

[Johnny Slater]

Short and simple... mentioning your WSO in any shape, form, or fashion has never been allowed on the main forum. Never. (At least never in the 2 years I have been here.)

The unwritten rule was that although there is no selling allowed in the main forum that you could mention a product you own ONLY if it addresses a specific question asked by the OP.

With the new forum so many of the old rules have been pushed aside and forgotten that there is a noticable "lets see what we can get away with" attitude going around. Every day you see people straight out selling on the main forum, mentioning running WSO's, and everything else that never would have lasted 2 minutes when we had mods monitoring things.

There are some members of the forum, including some long standing and well known names, who take every opportunity to mention their product in the main forum. One thing to remember, just because a few old timers were given a little slack because of the amount of time that have put in here and the contributions they have made to the forum doesn't mean its open for everyone to do it.

As I said, some very respected members take every opportunity to mention their product, regardless of if a specific question was asked or not. Some people call this marketing or some call it branding or some call it other things. Personally, I see it as someone who doesn't respect this forum, this community, or Allen. If you have to resort to blatent spam on the main forum then you really need to rethink your business models.

[Allen Graves]

But this poses a problem for some.

For instance, I am an expert in a specific field. That is what I know, that is what I do and that is what I can help people with.

Unfortunately, that's the topic of the threads I start and that's the topic of the threads I participate in.

In line with Steven's reasoning (helping people), I also do this because I can't really help with much else, short of polls and other little threads that I can randomly chime in on. Like this one.

The problem is that this could be misconstrued as me trying to monopolize the forum in this particular niche and blatantly advertise my products and services.

That's not why I am participating in the Main Forum...and this is the reason Jeremy quit. Some folks think I am trying to sell sell sell when in fact I am trying to help people and offer my opinions and suggestions, just like Steven said above.

Never have I mentioned my WSOs or my sig file, NEVER...but that didn't matter to some people.

How do you get around that? I could post on other things as well, but I don't want to because I don't know much about them and I don't want to give information on what I am not an expert in.

What's a guy to do?

Respectfully,
Allen Graves

[Bev Clement]

Allen there is a difference between helping and starting threads which are not being helpful at all. That is when people see self promotion.

Strange that you and Jeremy have stopped giving to the forum, but are prepared to take from the forum.

And how you mention your directory in as many posts as you can, and Jeremy says that a certain directory which is run by you is the best around. You make a good tag team, and it is boring when Jeremy makes a comment like I like [name of directory] and you immediately post a one liner to confirm it. Maybe you don't say your wso or signature, but you keep telling us you have a paid article directory, and how since you have done this you have got rid of certain problems that other directories have etc, etc.

[Bev Clement]

Sorry Allen, I misread your comment. Thanks Jeff for clarifying. It doesn't help when I am playing catchup from the overnight posts.

Allen, if you read my previous ones, you would have seen the type of posts I was referring to.

[Steven Wagenheim]

One thing I try to be very conscious of whenever I start any kind of post is
that it doesn't directly relate to anything in my sig if I can help it. I think you
will notice that even though I am mostly known for article writing and marketing
there are NO links in my sig on that subject.

Most of my posts are actually more "mindset" than anything else, which is
why at the old forum with the mods so many of my posts ended up in Mind
Warriors. But I am very self conscious about not saying anything that could
be construed as self promotion. And even as hard as I try, I have inadvertently
slipped at times and have been called on it. And that's fine. If I'm doing
something I'm not supposed to be doing, report the thread and have it
deleted. It's that simple. I'm no different from anybody else and don't
expect to be treated differently.

The blatant "hey, check out my sig" posts drive me nuts. But it's not my
forum. If Allen decides that he wants to allow that sort of thing someday,
fine. My biggest concern about this forum is that it turns from a place
where people are honestly trying to help others to a blatant pitch fest.
When that happens, there won't be anything left to come to, IMHO.

But again, it ain't my call. All I can do is try to do the best that I can and
try to set an example.

And in case anybody is wondering, my 9000th post is going to be the 9
most important things I feel I've learned since I started marketing over 5
years ago. I hope it's worth reading when the time comes.

[Johnny Slater]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

The blatant "hey, check out my sig" posts drive me nuts. But it's not my
forum. If Allen decides that he wants to allow that sort of thing someday,
fine. My biggest concern about this forum is that it turns from a place
where people are honestly trying to help others to a blatant pitch fest.
When that happens, there won't be anything left to come to, IMHO.

Steven,

Now that "everyone" is a mod it is everyone's concern, not just Allens. We all have a responsibility to this forum to report any post that doesn't follow the rules and guidelines we all know are there.

Allen has decided on self moderation so any time a post is made that clearly breaks the rules then anyone who sees it and doesn't report it is doing a huge disservice to all of us.

As there are no more mods we all have to shoulder up to the wheel and do our best to keep the forum running smoothly. If every one who has complained about the blatent advertising would step up and do the simple act of clicking the report button then these posts would be deleted very quickly.

[Lance K]

Hey Bev, check out my sig file for an answer to your question. j/k


Here are a few ideas...

1. Use a graphic for your avatar that says "Check Out My Hot New WSO In My Sig File"
2. Attach an image file that shows a process map addressing the issue in the thread. At the bottom, list a domain that redirects to your WSO
3. Reply to a post in binary. Have the message include reference to your WSO.
4. Pig Latin

Hope that helps.