WSO of the Day discussion, response

I wrote this long post to add to the discussion regarding WSO of the Day, but the post was closed by the time I submitted it. I just thought it was important to add my thoughts to it, since it was discussing my service/site. Plus, it contains some important information at the end...

This is a response to this thread:
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ffer-week.html

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Hey folks, Mike Lantz with WarriorPlus here (NOT Warrior "Pro", BTW. WarriorPro is a site that Allen owns and is no way related to WarriorPlus.) I received a few PMs that alerted me to this thread, and thought I would drop by to see what was up...

First off, let me just say that WarriorPlus, "WSO Pro" and "WSO of the Day" are all terms affiliated with WarriorPlus.com, and not the Warrior Forum. It has never been implied that Allen or the forum owns or endorses products associated with these services. I have added some features at the suggestion of Allen, and he has encouraged others to use some of the services, but there is no direct or monetary partnership between us.

WarriorPlus has been around for many years now, and particularly the "WSO Tracker" service made it a popular destination for Warriors looking to do WSO research. In more recent history, I have added "WSO Alerts", "WSO Pro" and "WSO of the Day".

There have also been other services on WarriorPlus that have been discontinued (or never fully implemented) for various reasons, either due to lack of use or because feedback received caused me to believe that they weren't right for the forum.

While I have no direct affiliation with the Warrior Forum - nor have I ever received compensation from Allen or the forum - I do want what is best for the community here. There are some who suggest (either directly or through their tone), that what WarriorPlus offers is somehow solely for my own benefit without regards as to what is best for everyone. Anyone who knows me realizes that could not be farther from the truth...

I believe that the story of "WarriorPlus" could be a good business lesson for anyone here in the forum. For many years, everything on that site was completely free to use and didn't even require an account or opt-in. I was building a service that many used and loved to use. In a sense, it mirrors the forum itself, in that it is a great resource that many can use freely.

As with the WSO forum posting fee, ways to monetize WarriorPlus eventually did come. Without monetization, the site would have become stagnant and no new features and services would be added. The income allowed me to dedicate more resources toward the site, and thus made it better for all.

I find it quite funny that some here might suggest the paying $18 to use "WSO Pro" is somehow a bad investment. Last I checked they weren't giving away all of their products for free, either, nor would they be smart to do so. And, the reality is, most folks using "WSO Pro" would tell you how good of an investment it really is.

With regards to "WSO of the Day", the only thing you need to do to find out if it is a good "deal" for WSO sellers, is to ask those who have participated. I don't think you could find a single seller who doesn't believe it brought them more sales/income than they would have received otherwise.

And for buyers, it is clearly a great deal, as they get an already great offer at an even better price. Win/win/win. That is what I strive for always.

Have there been a few offers that I wish would not have been chosen? Sure, but for the most part it has been a good experience all around. "WSO of the Day" offers are chosen based on their previous success, quality testimonials and reviews, and extremely low refund percentage. I allow adequate time for the offer and the seller to be vetted by the forum before choosing to do the JV. You will easily notice that there has not been a "WSO of the Day" every day since it started, because I simply didn't find an offer that seemed to fit the bill to run every day.

With all of that said, there are certain things brought up in this thread that are good points...

First, the use of the term "WSO" may somehow cause confusion for people to believe that the "WSO of the Day" offer is somehow endorsed by Allen or the forum. There is some merit to this, although it seems clear enough that if Allen wished to endorse a product he would post it himself, as he has done in the past with "Recommended" offers. Obviously, just because someone runs a "WSO" and pays Allen $20 for the privilege does not mean Allen endorses it, and the WSO rules are very clear on this point. "WSO of the Day" is no different.

The other concern brought up is related to the WSO rules that state a WSO must be a "product of your own". This is a more valid concern than the previous one, I believe, as I can see how this could be an issue. The reality is that the "WSO of the Day" is a JV, and one of the people in the JV is the product creator. While it is posted under the "warriorplus" account, I do not claim any ownership to the product, no "resale rights" were purchased, etc...

BUT, I can see how using this line of reasoning could lead to others looking for a loophole in the rules, causing a major headache for Allen and the forum. This is not something that I want, and unfortunately just shows again how scammers and complainers can ruin a good thing for everyone.

In light of this, I am discontinuing "WSO of the Day" as we know it for a time, until such issues can be properly addressed. I do believe that I already have a solution, so if you are on the WSO Alert list for WSO of the Day, you will be notified when I have more info.

Thanks to all who make the Warrior Forum a great place, and especially to Allen for creating it and keeping it going all of these years. To those who scam, complain, and just generally ruin things for others, shame on you.

Now lets all have a great 2010!

Mike

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NOTE: This post probably won't make any sense without the context of the thread it is in response to. You can find that thread here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ffer-week.html