Candle Owners Beware
A few weeks ago I received an email about how our candles had been “tested and reviewed”, and had “been given a 5-start rating” by W.I.C Warm Impression. I thought this interesting and my red flag alarms didn’t immediately go off, so I read on.
Our site was listed on their site (just the link, not active), with a note they had tried our jar candles and votives. That was when the first red flag went up. We don’t sell votives. Well, we did sell votive jars already filled, but not what you would call actual votives. (You just can’t do that with 100% soy wax, only with a blend).
I looked further and found if you really wanted to be listed on their site (active link, detailed description of your company, etc), then it would cost you. Monthly. When I looked I could have sworn it was $30/mo, but I see now their “upgrade” is only $10/mo now. Which is still way too much for a brand new site with little to no traffic.
So I was curious to see how legit this company really was, and emailed them for information about their order. I questioned them about what they meant by “votives” and made the mistake of saying we only had jars as our votives. They fired back an email saying yes they meant the votives and they order under a fake name so we can’t “bulk up their order” to make the company look better. Why would we do that if we’d never heard from them? It’s a brand new site remember.
Now I’m really skeptical, and start asking if any other candle maker has heard from them. No one has, of course. Before I can turn anything up though, I get another spam email from them that’s almost exactly the same as the previous. The second red flag goes up, but I’m not ready to bust them yet.
I email them again, asking them to please give me the info of their order so I can verify they did indeed test our candles. Again I’m denied, saying they don’t want to me to tell all the other candle makers. Now why would I do that? I really don’t care, I just want to find out if this is legit or not.
Still I dug through records, looking for a zip that matches or at least the last time we sold a votive jar. It was then I realized I had taken the votives OFF some time ago (I don’t remember when, so it’s been awhile, and I do remember there were several reasons we stopped selling them). The third red flag was waving and it was time to call them out.
I emailed them again, saying we hadn’t sold them so I really needed that order information to check to see what they really did order, and was denied yet again. But before I could blow the whistle here, I got one final spam from them - same one as before, pushing me to upgrade my listing or put their “5 star graphic” on my site to keep my free. NO NO AND NO.
What bothers me the most about this (other than the spam) is they are pretending to test these products and get others to “upgrade” to a monthly fee to keep a listing. What happens when a sub-par candle gets bought by a customer who was promised this was a 5-star candle? They no longer trust that site, and none who are listed there. Plus of course they are scamming candle makers into paying them monthly, which is just wrong.
There are other sites, one in particular, that charges NOTHING for you to have a listing on their site. All you have to do is ask to be listed, and REAL PEOPLE can post their honest ratings and reviews. It’s a much better set up and it doesn’t cost a dime. Go to CandleFind.com if you are looking for candle reviews, and skip the scam Warm Impressions.
Topics: Unprofessional Business Acts | 3 Comments »
Stop losing money to affiliate thieves (free)
Quick Affiliate Management Tip:
Stop losing money to affiliate thieves!
Free Link Cloaker
… and yes, it is free!
Topics: Affiliate Marketing, Business Stuff, Resources for Your Business | No Comments »
Win a copy of Kickstart Your Online Business
Win A free copy of Kickstart Your Online Business
Step by step guide to giving your online business the boost it so desperately needs!
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(Feel free to copy and paste.)
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2. Come back here, leave me a comment with your twitter address and let me know you’ve tweeted.
Example: @anitadefrank
3. Three? There is no step three! Just two simple little steps. BUT - You can enter as may times as you like! The more you enter, the more chances you have to win!
Winner will be chosen by a random drawing by my daughter on Thursday, December 11th @ 7:00 AM EST. Winner will be announced here on the blog and I will contact you with a REPLY at Twitter. So be sure to subscribe to comments here & watch your @Replies on Thursday!
And be sure to subscribe to our blog (upper right hand corner) to watch for more contests coming soon!
Good Luck to Everyone!
Topics: Contests | 3 Comments »
Needing a Shopping Cart Solution
I’ve been thinking about installing a shopping cart on MommysHelperOnline.com for quite some time now. (Time being the operative word here, lol - gotta find that time to do it!)
I’d like to combine all my ebooks and all of my advertising into one shopping cart - making the ordering process a lot more simpler for my customers and more importantly automating it more. For the most part, it is automated but not quite to my complete satisfaction.
I just found a new shopping cart solution which now brings me down to making a decision between two. (Hey it could be four or five, lol!)
The first one I like is WahmCart and the new one is Easy Seller Pro
It’s a really tough decision too! Both carts seemed to have take all the issues most marketers have and combined them all into one “one stop shop” (excuse the pun!).
As I look down over the list of benefits and features to both - they both seem to have an answer to all my problems or everything I’d love to have in a shopping cart (affiliate integration, choice of payment processors, ability to contact customers, etc.) again, making this a very tough decision!
One has an affordable monthly charge and a 14 day trial for $1 (don’t have 14 days at this point). One has a little more expensive but still very affordable one time fee and comes with 6 months of free hosting.
Both are “newbie friendly” which is something I could really use. Both are created by very successful and more importantly trustworthy women. Both have tons of step by step help throughout the process - another huge plus for me. Oh what’s a marketer to do?!?
Of course, as I usual find myself, Easy Seller Pro is in “launch mode” offering a special price for two weeks only. Soooo … like I have the time to do this but I should make my decision ASAP before I find myself paying full price yet again. (I’m my own worst enemy sometimes!)
I like the fact though that this also gives me another option to share with our clients for YourAffiliateManagers.com. As you can tell, I haven’t used Easy Seller Pro yet but, there is a 60 day money back guarantee plus, the recommendation came from a good friend of mine, Rebecca Hagel. She’d never steer us wrong and she uses only the best.
So it’s back to the drawing board …
Benefits & Power of WahmCart
What Can I do With ESP? (Click on the videos link at the bottom of the page.)
Help! What are your thoughts?
Topics: Blog & Website Reviews, Business Stuff, Online Shopping, Outsourcing, Resources for Your Business | No Comments »
Outsourcing Search Engine Optimization
Easy Tasks to Outsource - Search Engine Optimization
If you run an online business, you already know how important search engine traffic is to your success. In order to rank high for your keywords and phrases, hiring a search engine optimization expert or link-building service will help to put you on the map. Search engine optimization, when done correctly, will increase the traffic to your website and is an easy way to get your business name out there for the entire world to see.
Topics: Outsourcing | No Comments »
Outsourcing Web Design
Easy Tasks to Outsource - Web Design
Website Design
If you are running an online business, you need to put as much time and effort into your website as you would a brick and mortar store. Getting an attractive, easy to use website is not easy and you will find that there are many professional website designers who are looking to wow you with their expertise.
This is something that is well-worth the money spent. You’ll be able to rest assured that your website design is attractive and easy to navigate, which is always a plus for turning visitors into buyers.
Topics: Outsourcing | No Comments »
Just Once Is Fine?
We all get junk mail by the tons, most of which we never see. But the ones that bother me the most are the ones who think spamming “just once” is fine.
Yesterday my information was pulled off a website and I received this:
—–
Hello, there, Kara,
I was reading about you and your business ad in
Mom Chats.
I know there are some people in our community of 170,000 that would love to
get in touch with you about your unique opportunity at no cost to you.
Our site give you more for free than tons of other sites do for a fee! Just ask for invite and you will see!
We are an invitation only company.
Would you like help in promoting your business FREE!
May I offer you an invitation?
All my best from,
Mary Jo
[Email and website removed, I refuse to give her business!]
—-
For one, the “opportunity” she describes screams scam. I didn’t look to far into it, but apparently this is some type of networking idea. Well, if it’s invitation only, I can’t see how that would work so well.
Regardless of what the actual opportunity was, I replied to her explaining what she was doing was spam. Here is my exact reply:
—-
Mary Jo,
Please be aware that what you are doing is considered spam and poor business practices. I am telling you this because I would not want to see someone’s reputation tarnished before you have a chance to make a go on the internet. I could have just as easily turned this over to authorities, but I decided you should be aware of your actions first.
I hope that in the future you will make wise choices in regards to your business
—-
Not too harsh, right? I didn’t think so anyway. If I was new and had done something wrong, I would want it pointed out. I guess that’s just me though, because here was my reply:
—-
Well Gee I really do not think that sending out an invitation to other business owners once is such a bad thing to do. It sounds like to me that you are not making money in your business!! Bitter much? I get junk emails in all my email accounts and I just delete them. really why do people like your self have to be so negative and on a power trip.IF, your going to find any success you really need to be networking on more than one site.
Good Day.
—-
Hmm, shame on me for being thoughtful I guess. I learned something though - apparently it’s alright to spam people as long as you do it just once. (Note sarcasm)
Seriously though, if this is the way people on her “networking site” talk to others, I want no part of it. Also, if they think spamming is alright to do, then I’m out completely. Why would I want my business associated with something like that?
Topics: Unprofessional Business Acts | 7 Comments »
Easy Tasks to Outsource
We’re going to switch gears here a bit and discuss some of the …
Easy Tasks to Outsource
Because online business calls for a wide variety of skills and talents, no one person can or should tackle them all on their own. There are several tasks that can easily and, more importantly, beneficially be outsourced elsewhere.
Writing
For many people, writing is not a strong point in their business. Therefore, putting well written, action provoking content on their website is a difficult task. However, this is NOT an area to be skimped upon when it comes to online business. The content on a website has a direct effect on search engine rankings.
Copy that is neglected will show when it comes to a business’ bottom line. If you find it difficult to get the results you are looking for with your writing, consider outsourcing it to a qualified writer. You will find that there are a ton of freelancers who can help you get the content you want, to help generate sales from your visitors.
Topics: Outsourcing | No Comments »
Accountability
Outsourcing Benefits - Accountability
When you outsource, you will have a contract with the person or company you are working with. By having someone else who is depending on work from you, you are more apt to stay ahead of the game by planning better and making sure that you’re tasks are getting completed as well.
When you first begin learning about and implementing outsourcing techniques within your business, you’ll find those boring or repetitive tasks can easily be handed off to someone who enjoys doing them. This will allow you, as the business’ owner, to free up more time to concentrate on more important aspects of your business such as product creation, advertising, networking and other marketing practices.
And this brings us to the next segment of our course … Tasks that are most easily outsourced.
See ya next time!
Topics: Outsourcing | No Comments »
Expand and Get More Involved
Outsourcing Benefits - Expand and Get More Involved
Against popular belief, when you outsource, you will soon realize that you are in a great place when it comes to getting more involved with your business. You will be able to expand and provide everything your customers need.
Just because you’re handing some work out to others, doesn’t have to mean that you’re no longer involved - quite the opposite. Outsourcing frees you up to try new things with your business, learn more and experience new aspects of your industry - frees you to do the tasks you WANT to do.
Topics: Outsourcing | No Comments »