I keep seeing these ads and sites saying "Stop being a victim". Well I've decided to create my own banner saying "Stop telling me I'm a victim". Here it is:
I'll be using it to advertise this blog, because as it stands I am not a victim. I actually have had a ton of success online. I share things I've learned here for two reasons: To help you and to build your trust. I know that if I've helped you out, you're more likely to sign up to StartXchange or anything else I might have launched.
That is one thing most people forget while advertising online. They give up because they didn't get any signups. Well it is probably because nobody knows you! Use your photo and brand yourself. People will recognize you, and if you promote good products they'll start to see that you promote the good stuff. Then when they see you promoting something they don't have, they are more likely to trust your judgement!
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I like that. I noticed that those sites have been affecting my mood in the exchanges. I am all for balance.
There are very many out there who feel as though they are victims of an industry. I have heard from them. They spend many years and dollars trying to accomplish what they are promised, and simply end up older and poorer.
Not everyone does, of course. It is not surprising that someone who considers himself to be successful in his industry does not feel as though he has been victimized by it.
Traffic Exchanges market to people who want to advertise there. Downline builders market to people who want a bigger downline. Ebook publishers market to people who want to read or learn something.
We all appeal to our market.
If there are people out there who want help, why not offer it? Don’t many in our inustry do that in many different ways? In fact, I see very few online business ads that do not offer some form of help. Unfortunately, most of the help people pay for falls far short of what they need to make it.
And if there are people out there who don’t feel they are victims, and who don’t want help, why should it “affect their mood”, or be received as “telling me I’m a victim”?
It doesn’t affect my mood to see a commercial for an arthitis aid when I don’t have arthritis. And I never start thinking, “Stop telling me I have arthritis!”
But . . . if I were a successful advertiser, I may very well use a variation on someone else’s popular ad idea to promote a helpful blog. Originality is hard to conjure up sometimes.
Thanks for teaching and sharing about branding. Many who feel like victims of the industry have never had anyone teach them all they need to know. Because, by and large, our industry is about investing in advertising to sell a product. It is not, by and large, about investing in people to help them with their needs.
You’ve either been victimized, or you haven’t. Many of us have.
And every business appeals to its market.
How I react in my mind to ads is all on me. My mood is all on me. But there are people other than me in the world, which, sadly, does not revolve around me.
You see, I am all for balance.
So I gave up trying to tell others what to do and what not to do about 25 years ago.
And trying to help people has made me more “successful” than all the money in the world could.
I am so glad that you are taking some action. Those ads imply that we have no control over our life. I find the constant repetition of the suggestion is annoying. It’s like hypnosis, post hypnotic suggestions. Here it enought and your mind begins to wonder…..
Also annoying is the ad YELLING out the Lotto ……ad. Makes me want to close the site always. Volumn is much too loud.
I agree with Dave. There are people who are victims out there, and so they are trying to get their attention. Just like I’m using them having so many banners and sites showing to get your attention to my blog ;-)
Tim,
I have some questions for you.
Who is your second largest team?
What product are they promoting?
How many in that team have paid you money to advertise their product?
How many are promoting Startxchange by using your rotator and other means?
I mean no ill will towards you, but perhaps these questions should be considered while you are presenting that banner to the internet marketing world.
With Kind Regards,
Anne Treloar
Tim,
I have just cancelled my free account with StartXchange. Though I have amassed a huge amount of credits, you may keep them. I feel betrayed by your blog, questioning my motive in being an affiliate of OnlineBusinessAssociates.
I speak for no one other than myself.I have been misled, lied to, cheated, scammed and every other dishonest practice by flyby night so called Guru’s, promising instant wealth and overnight success.
Finally someone has the courage to produce an expose’ on these charlatans and I chose to make good use of my “Stop Being A Victim” ebook, which promises to open the eyes of innocent people before they become victims. I have stopped being a victim. I chose to avail myself of Traffic Exchanges that do not bite the hand that feeds them.
Thanks for your time.
p.s.
Though I am or was a free member, I had every intention of upgrading.
I find that a marketer can and will do whatever they can to get hits to their site/s
It’s not a world as we see it at OBA and never will be.
We for the most part are a group of people who feel it is better to give than to recieve.
Not everyone marketing feel’s that way.
I’m retired and use my site to aid people any way I can.
Mostly with good Information.Good Music, and good programs
I’m not tired of seeing SBAV advertised And I know you aren’t either. It fills them pages with content.
What goes around comes around and it will.
love you for trying, but negavtive campaigns bring negative results.Our’s is positive and will return positive results
exectec
I for one can understand how you would feel the way you do about not wanting to be called a victim. However I would bet that 90% of your customers that are advertising their websites on your exchange have all been victimized by the same industry in which you found your tons of success..the Internet! I would also bet that most of these same customers has advertised One program after another trying to find their success and if most of them could stop being victims and could really start making some money then maybe they could afford to be upgraded members and then you would be able to retire just from the money they would be able to pay you in monthly fees. Unfortunately not all of us has been so lucky in finding the success you have, we have been cheated, deceived and lied to..and its time that people know the truth. You speak of branding and We ARE branding ourselves..we aren’t afraid to show our faces because we are proud of our product and our business and if we can help just 1 person and that person learns to stop being a victim and finally finds the success they were looking for..then we are acheiving what we set out to do..to help people..and thats who we are! I don’t understand why anyone would be annoyed or offended by that!
On second thought..yes I could understand who would be annoyed or offended..the ones who are doing the victimizing!
Tim, I quote from your earlier post:
“# Tim Linden Says:
December 1st, 2006 at 4:29 pm
I agree with Dave. There are people who are victims out there, and so they are trying to get their attention. Just like I’m using them having so many banners and sites showing to get your attention to my blog ;-) ”
Tim, I’m so glad you posted that..um…er..sort of admission.
But I’m not sure it is enough.
I was taken aback when I saw the banner and even more so when
I realised it was yours! Any other marketer and I might have
just shrugged it off, but the owner of the traffic exchange using his client’s banners in such an anti/negative way to draw people to his own blog?
As a paid member, I pay money for your service, and if you use what I advertise to brand yourself against my business, there’s something not quite right about that. I will have to rethink my membership.
Judy S Banks (Jude)
Hey Guys
I think this might have triggered some emotions I didn’t realize were there. I in no way was trying to say anything bad about OBA or anyone. I just knew the banner would get interest so I tried it out. I apologize if this offended you in any way!
Hello Tim,
I see your take on this has been perceived as a put-down, or a negative opinion of the site in question. Maybe, because I am not affiliated with it, I did not see it that way.
Rather, I saw it as simply an effective advertising tool for your bolg. You are NOT a victim in this inter-net world and that is a canny way of letting folks know this fact.
For the others who seemed to think this was negative to your affiliation, Tim never implied that people have not been, or still are victims; nor that your site is not needed. Simply that he is not a victim and he is willing to share that knowledge. Exactly as you are doing.
Deb
Tim,
There are many people involved with the business that promotes “Stop Being A Victim” that have spent money and/or time to build up credits to promote that e-book.
For you to “piggy-back” off of their efforts by making a banner that re-directs to your blog is a cheap shot, at best. By doing so, I feel you are, in effect, victimizing these people… your own customers… by stealing their efforts. It may not have been intentional on your part to “steal”, but nonetheless, you are. Would you please reconsider your decision to use the banner?
Kyle Maxfield
Proud to say I’ve “Stopped Being A Victim”
Tim,
This is from me to you. No need to post unless you want to.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
The home page for your website (startxchange.com) says this:
————————————————————
What is a Traffic Exchange?
A traffic exchange is a website that rewards you for viewing member websites, by showing yours. If you view more websites, your website gets visited more.
————————————————————
The pronouns “you” and “yours” obviously refer to the person who is advertising and viewing ads.
But now you admit to “using” your customers’ ad campaigns “to get your attention to my blog”.
There are over 100 people advertising “Stop Being A Victim” on your start exchange… some free and some paid.
The paid members pay you in dollars.
The free ones “pay” you through their time, energy, and effort. They provide many of the “views” that your paid members want and are willing to pay (you) for.
Is there anywhere on your website that explains that you (the owner of this particular start exchange) can and sometimes will attempt to divert “attention” from his members’ ads “to get your attention to my blog”.
Let’s look at this again…
————————————————————
What is a Traffic Exchange?
A traffic exchange is a website that rewards you for viewing member websites, by showing yours. If you view more websites, your website gets visited more.
————————————————————
But in reality, shouldn’t it say something like this?
————————————————————
What is a Traffic Exchange?
A traffic exchange is a website that rewards you for viewing member websites, by showing yours. If you view more websites, your website gets visited more, and if you have an ad campaign that is succeeding, I’ll use it to get more visits to my blog.
————————————————————
Based on your actions in this instance, wouldn’t that be more honest?
Now let’s look at this…
————————————————————
victim (vik-tim): a person who is deceived or cheated by the dishonesty of others
————————————————————
You are taking people’s time, energy, effort, and money… with the understanding that they are paying you to get more visits to their website… but you’re “USING” (your word, not mine) their advertising efforts “to get attention to my blog” (your words, not mine).
What you’re doing would be clever (although somewhat unethical) if you were merely another member.
But as the OWNER… you are diverting a portion of your customers’ visits to your blog and therefore diminishing your customers’ benefit for your personal gain.
Whether you realize it or not, your new banner has created a situation where you’re cheating your customers by not being entirely honest.
And we both know that not being entirely honest is the same thing as being dishonest.
By advertising your new banner, you have made over 100 of your customers victims… and it makes no difference if they pay you with dollars or they pay you with their time, energy, and effort.
I strongly urge you to reconsider your approach to promoting your blog.
Believe me… your integrity is at stake here and that’s worth FAR more than some visits to your blog.
Regards,
Dave Gray
Admin, OnlineBusinessAlliance.com
Author, Stop Being A Victim
That banner isn’t in any way cheating or deceiving. I am not a victim and I do share what I’ve learned. That is what it says, and it is true.
I understand someone not being happy about it because it plays off of their campaign. Before I even saw the comments to this post I got a personal PM from someone about it and I apologized to them personally and told them I wouldn’t be advertising the banner anymore. In all it got less than 1,000 impressions.
divert – send on a course or in a direction different from the planned or intended one
I am in no way diverting a portion of my customers visits. This is a different banner with their own impressions. Diverting would be me making someone who clicked on your banner go to my site. That’s not what I’m doing. I’m pretty sure the people who clicked the ad (a whopping 10 clicks) knew it wasn’t OBA. They didn’t see it and think they were going to OBA and finding themselves at my blog.
It’s pretty frustrating coming back after apologizing publicly and seeing more posts against me personally.
Tim;
I appreciate your feelings, you apology to OBA, and your apparent admission of a mistake.
We all make them.
And there is no evidence to suggest that this was anything more than that.
I intend to keep using your TE and to consider you to be one of the good guys.
Thanks Dave!
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