There is such thing as a stupid question on the Warrior Forum

Are you sayin I is stoopid?

I agree with your point. if you aren't going to add anything helpful to the thread, there is no need to post.

I find that this is more applicable to people who ask a question about getting traffic and their signature says "Get 100,000 laser targeted visitors to your website!!".

Most of the time that I see this response, the poster is asking something directly contrary to what they should alread know, based on their signature.

Ron, this happens in tech forums too.

I land on tech forums looking for an answer to my questions. When the OP asks exactly the question I am asking, more often than not, we are both confronted with "We answered that question last week," "That is so basic, I don't know why you would ask it," or "Google it!"

That is the reason I am here you dumbass, I did Google it!!!

For an outsider, it certainly is frustrating.

Excellent post, Ron.

There are ignorant questions, and there are indeed stupid questions. The posts with the truly stupid questions tend to get nuked pretty quickly.

People who ask ignorant questions deserve some respect until they prove otherwise.

A couple of suggestions:

> Instead of sniping with "that was answered in a bunch of threads already", why not link to a few of the better ones? Some topics would take hours of wading through junk to get to the good stuff.

> Instead of sniping with "I found it on Google in 2 seconds", why not copy/paste the search string you used or the url of the results page? That way, the poster (and others) could see how you found the answer quickly.

There are no dumb questions, but there doesn't seem to be any shortage of dumb answers... :rolleyes:

Ron, that answer is SOOOOO obvious!

RoD

A good point and one worth remembering. Some people take far too much pleasure in pushing others down, instead of lifting them up.

With that in mind, where did I leave my keys?

I agree with your post except for one - "Based on your signature you should know the answer".

I am seriously irked when someone posts "How do I make money with affiliate marketing?" when their signature link points to their website titled "Learn how you can make a billion trillion dollars with affiliate marketing!". People like this are misguided in thinking they can (essentially falsely) market something they know nothing about - and this should be pointed out to them in my opinion.

Also, while I agree that if a thread was posted last year about the topic it's ridiculous to expect someone to find it, but if there is a thread which is on the main page of the main IM forum here addressing the same question, I think the person should have gone there first.

But I do agree that very few posts deserve responses like "That's so obvious" and "That's IM 101" can be very discouraging to newbies, and should be replaced with helpful responses or at least links to good information on the topic.

I think a great way to handle newbie questions would be to answer the question but also let them know what they should do next time before posting a "stupid question" by directing into the right direction (as in use search, or a certain section on the forum or wikipedia, etc). Politeness and diplomacy should be followed equally both online and offline!

Amen!

It's scary enough trying to negotiate all the information here when you're new and overwhelmed without being treated as if you're an idiot.

I notice many of the ones who are acting so smug to newbies are newbies themselves just trying to come off as "in the know".

I often PM answers to confused newbies to keep from getting involved in unecessary "thread drama".

BTW, Ron, how ya makin out in our wintery Long Island weather? Mother Nature's really pouring it on us, huh? Lol

The classiest thing I've seen in response to someone asking the same question that has been answered over and over is to let them know, it's already been discussed and give them a link to the forum thread. Of course some might say they don't have time to dig that thread out for them (yet they find the time to rip into someone).

The irony is all those folks posting the negative comments on the thread are the ones keeping it on the front page.

I'm going to have to agree with this one in some cases. I'm getting more than tired of seeing, "I need to pay my electric bill today what can I do to make money today???!!" while their sig says, "How to make $500 per day easily".

Someone has to call BS on that and I support them.

Keep in mind...Yes, it seems dumb to post you're broke when your sig advertises "Make $50million online overnight", but they most likely read somewhere to go into a forum using that sig and get rich quick.

They don't realize it looks dumb. They think that's what they're supposed to do based on whatever they've read that tells them to "fake it until you make it" and when it doesn't work they're confused.

Any question can look stupid for one and not for the other. Even the best SEO expert can have issues with his web site html.

I never consider a question stupid here or any other forum. Sure, I see questions that the newcomer could of found the answer if he had just Googled it, but I simply tell him or her to Google it.

You see, the question isn't stupid for that person who figures he'll get a faster reply by posting than searching online. Lazy, perhaps but isn't it in our human nature to be lazy sometimes?

Some are simply lazier than others, but their not stupid. That's my point.

There is no such thing as a stupid question only stupid answers.

Yesterday someone posted a thread telling everyone about PayPal's new India
rules. I could have easily replied that the topic had been discussed many times here
but instead I did a quick search and posted the links in my reply to the OP.

Instead of making an enemy I was Thanked and in the OP's eyes I was helpful.
Example: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ent-india.html

The thread then pretty much moved down the page to where ever it is now.

My point is it takes just as long to make a negative post as it does to make a positive post.

What some people see as a stupid question I see as an opportunity.

People with questions are potential future customers.
People with questions are the breeding grounds for future products.
People with questions are people just like you and I.

Treat people like you want to be treated and the world will be a better place.

Have a Great Day!
Michael

It's only a stupid question when the answer can't be found on Google first or using the search button in WF

I *live* by a 4-word mantra:

"Be kind. Help others."



All success
Dr.Mani

Hey Ron,

I'm going to put myself in the firing line here.

I'm guilty of some your criticised comments sometimes and I'll put my hands up to it.

Particularly the "this has been answered many times before" one.

Right now according to your comments this makes me a royal dick and a nasty person - and you might say (like someone already did) - why don't I link to some of those threads to be more helpful.....

Fair comment.

But look at it from MY perspective for a second....

I've been a member here for more years than most members have been in IM and I've made thousands of posts. I'm not famous for the short length of my posts and when I do post helpful responses I try to pack them with good info.

So imagine how I feel when I've answered the same question many times with a LOT of time spent posting thoughtful and lengthy responses - when someone drops by, doesn't bother looking for themselves and wants the same answer I've given plenty of times before handed to them on a plate with not even 30 seconds spent searching here.

And I'm supposed to keep a record of all the posts I've made so that I have the links to give them ? or go searching for my own posts myself just so they don't have to bother?

At what point does the responsibility for their learning come back to them?

This forum is a goldmine of amazing information.

So I'm sorry if me thinking someone should take a quick look around before asking a question makes me a bad person. I guess that makes all my good posts worthless?

I REALLY DO understand what you're saying but it also is not a lot to ask of people is it?

Andy, I wouldn't say you should be required to, no. Of course not. I will say that I've done just that for some of the more important posts I've made on moderation policy. I keep them in a folder in my bookmarks. When I want to refer to one, I just right click on that link and copy the URL out of the properties section.

Mind you, that's not practical for a large corpus of posts on varying subjects. But it is possible and fairly quick for the really important or commonly re-asked ones.


Paul

The only stupid questions I routinely see are "help me make monies on the internetz, I am lazy and don't want to do any work. but pleasse help me" or the all to proverbial "I got $xx dollas help me decide on how I should invests it to become a millionaires by next week." (ps. I haven't actually done any brainstorming on my own, because again I am lazy and once again don't have a brain).

Other than that, I wouldn't say there are any stupid questions. Everyone is at a different level and has different experience. So the only real stupid questions are those that aren't asked.

To me this is the whole point of your post, Ron.

I personally was very intimidated at first, about posting questions and responses here.

I didn't want to sound ignorant. I was worried about feeling the wrath of some Warriors.

But the truth of the matter is you get what you give.

My advice to all is: try to be helpful when you can.

Ignore posts that you feel are stupid questions.

pizza on earth, and pizza all over the Warrior Forum,
albert grande

I Couldn't agree more! Great post

Forums have a pecking order, always have always will. Its a social dynamic with any group.

Ok, so is it safe to ask a question or not??? Wow!

Ron thanks for this thread, it's funny but when I first joined the WF I was really afraid of participating for lack of knowledge and not wanting to seem ignorant even though I was, in respects to Internet Marketing.

What ended up happening was that I just spent a lot of time reading posts and learning. As I did I saw that many people on this forum where actually quite helpful and kind to new members as I was. That's what got me to ask my first questions and once I received positive helpful responses the fear started to go away.

Now, I agree that there are some things that are just common sense but who's to say that everyone sees things the way I do. The beauty of this great nation is that we are able to express ourselves without fear of reprisals. I think the same should hold true in the WF.

I was taught that there are no stupid questions. I was also taught to respect others so I can earn respect.

If someone asks a question and you know the answer, even if it seems like common sense that they should know what does it hurt to just answer the question and help someone out?

If you think it’s a stupid questions then just ignore it and move on.

Life is too short!

Good post Ron - it costs nothing to be cool

I was guilty of posting a harsh response to yet another "I hate sales video" thread that was started (well actually I took screen shot of the Google search results showing the 4,100+ threads on the Warrior Forum that had the thread title or mentioning "I hate sales videos") I later deleted it...

I don't really care about "dumb" questions or people acting like asses when responding, or generally treating others like ****.

The dangerous ones are the people answering questions with a position that what they're stating is factual and the OP should listen to them.

Only to later find out the "advice" they were given was a complete waste of time....

Nice post Ron! If I feel the OP is sincere with their question (which is in 95% of the cases) I would never look down on them or say anything negative even if it seemed pretty basic. What's basic to one person may not be basic to others.

The only thing that does bother me sometimes is when someone asks a question and gets tons of suggestions, but the OP never comes back even once to say something like "Thanks to all" or acknowledge the help they got in some way. --Mike

The problem is that to many people ask the question and they are not even at the beginning of their problem they are many step ahead of themselfs.

I was thinking of a more appropriate part of the anatomy...

And if you can't provide a useful answer without being an _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , maybe you should move on to another thread. :rolleyes:

we have all asked some stupid questions before, its called learning

Correction: There is no such thing as a stupid question, just lazy people.

There is nothing wrong with helping someone with a legitimate question but there are far too many lazy people who are unwilling to do any research of their own. Why search when posting a question on the warrior forum is so much easier.

And don't forget about the obvious spammers just posting for backlinks. They are easy enough to spot.

Since when did the Warrior Forum become a support forum for every single product that is somehow related to internet marketing? What is even worse is some people can't even be bothered to post their questions in the appropriate forums.

Have an SEO questions, ask it in the SEO forum. Have a wordpress question, ask it in the web design forum, or better yet, how about the official wordpress forums. There are questions asked daily that have more appropriate placed to be asked.

And there are the people who ask questions that have been asked repeatedly. They can use the search feature to find the answer just as easily as I can. Why should I search and find the answer for them, I'm not their outsourced tech support.

I think some people wake up in the morning, ask themselves Why does poop stink, and then run to the warrior forum to ask.

There there are questions that are just dumb. How do I make money etc... This is a forum dedicated to that subject, don't expect an easy canned answer. Put in a little time and effort. Show some initiative. This forum has a gazillion posts (most of them are stupid questions) but there is gold to be found if you look for it.

Bottom line, most the the questions that get snarky remarks are questions that can be answered with a quick trip to google or a forum search or have no business being asked here.

I'll pick a winner from todays questions...

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ore-legal.html

Guess where this question should be asked? It's not the warrior forum since I don't think any Amazon reps hang out here for support.

On the flip side, somebody who is asking a common question but appears to have put in a little time and research on their own first before asking for additional advice.

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...g-options.html

This is a good thing. Shows they guy isn't lazy or a troll. Has a legitimate question and needs additional advice.

And finally, there are the spammers who ask dumb questions just for signature exposure.

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...mail-list.html

Honestly, if you are going to promote how to make money online and are asking newbie questions... I just love these guys. It's also a topic that has been covered to death. Newbie, my ass. It's a backlink spammer.

I've written too many words. Time to stop.

To repeat: There is no such thing as a stupid question, just lazy people.

I'm thinking twice before I hit the big red button.

Ron, thanks for making this post.

I know about 1% of what I need to know, maybe less.

But just a year ago, I only knew about 1% of what I now know.

And looking back, I see that some of the questions I asked were pretty juvenile, but at the time finding answers to them made huge changes in my pocket and my self-confidence.

I have noticed, Ron, that people who respond negatively and attempt to demean and subjugate others who are asking for help are really incapable of believing in themselves, and have an incredibly negative self-image and very low self-esteem.

They respond in this manner out of ignorance, with the hopes that the person seeking help will give up, and never surpass their own level of IM success.

Often, this person was raised in the manner in which they responded. They were brow-beaten, put down, and never given credit or inspiration.

Whenever I see a response like you referred to, I wish for 2 things :

1 - That the person asking for help will not become frustrated and feel ignorant and give up. I hope they keep asking questions and learning and growing until the day they die.

2 - For the rude respondent, I pray for some positive input and image reinforcement, and hope they realize a biting, negative comment simply makes them look pathetic, and can leave its horrible impact for years.

Just my 2 cents worth, and thanks again for the post Ron.

There ARE stupid questions!

In fact, I think the old adage that there are no stupid questions is about as damaging as the modern myth that anybody can make money online.

Okay...there is a catch.

The stupidity is in the asker's head. BUT...ask anyway!

That's the real secret, in my opinion. Sure, you may think it's stupid, but why would you want to STAY stupid? Just ask.

On a side note: I think a LOT more people would use the search function if it was placed differently, or more apparent. Perhaps to the far right on the menu bar where "Log Out" is currently located (you mean people actually log out?!), or changing it's background color so it stands out from the other labels. Just a thought.

All the best,
Michael

Oh yeah - I meant to mention before but forgot - there's one other aspect of this:

Sometimes it's easy to misread someone's post and attribute negativity that was actually not present in the poster.

If you're struggling and you post in desperation of someone to give you a pep talk or 'big up' your idea and that's not what you get - it's easy to go on the defensive and think the poster is pissing on your bonfire when in fact they're actually trying to give you good advice or highlight a problem with your plan.

I've seen a lot of people get emotional and negative in response to perfectly reasonable responses and then play the victim like they're being picked on.

It's important to let people respond to you in the way they feel is right without arguing with everyone that says something you don't agree with or that says something you weren't expecting.

I agree with your D-Bag assessment generally, but I'll reserve judgement on the
swift punch to the throat.

There are more than enough haters around without criticizing someone for asking a question.

I think, if people are coming into a (very) friendly forum like the Warrior Forum and ask such dumb questions that elicits these responses, then they are probably not ready and would benefit more from Googling.

I mean, there are other webmaster forums on the internet - that I don't frequent anymore - where the amount of idiotic stuff being posted far outweighs the good stuff. That's what happens when you try to accomodate the lowest common denominator all the time.

Elitism is not bad all the time. Let the newbies be scared - being a little humble is probably not the worst thing that could happen for their IM career.

Dr. Mani said,
<<Mike, I deal with this using some fancy mental ju-jitsu!>>

I'm way too old for ju-jitsu! I might break something they no longer stock replacement parts for . Yes, I know exactly what you are saying and you're right. This place fosters a heuristic synergism through which we can all grow and learn from each other. The WF is better entertainment than going to a movie. (Don't tell Allen, he'll start selling digital popcorn here for $9 a tub!)

I just like that you used the word "dumb-ass" in a sentence.

You are most definitely NOT the only one. I'd add in a kick to the groin, too.

I agree. We are not here to be put down or have anything thrown in our faces. We are here simply to get answers, learn, and make money. This is out major reasons and nothing else.

Benjamin Ehinger

It it so funny that the more experience one has in a field in which experience counts (ahem) like internet marketing, real estate appraising, or (oh, I don't know) brain surgery, the more impatience it seem is exhibited towards those sometimes asking simple questions. This forum is civilized compared to others on which my wife or I participate.

Try asking a simple question and getting a civil answer on a professional appraiser forum (my wife is a real estate appraiser). You get hammered. There are several guys on that forum that cannot actually ever be out doing appraisals; because they have posted thousands of posts most of which are jet engine afterburner flaming.

Thanks Ron for making the point that one does not have to be an arrogant twit to answer questions by those that are less experienced. That is the system. That is how we all learn. That is how those that are truly great get the recognition and respect they deserve.

Keep up the good work. You have my support.

Paul Woodall
Houston Internet Pro

Sometimes, you can't seem to Google the right words because you just don't know what you are looking for. Thats what forums are for. Finding an answer you can't find.

Sometimes people do neglect to do their due research, but instead of looking like a tool, you could try and prove your credibility.

I can't think of a more unprofessional credibility killer then saying "LOL just google it"

Imagine if tech support was like that for webhosting. "Yeah I can solve your problem, but you should just Google it dummy." That would destroy a business.