my choice is
http://breakthru.com/go/g985144.subinvite
4 months

I think the subject will be interesting

I also agree … definitely time to give it a go. I say go for it!

I am not really a wahm (I suppose horses don’t count) but I have been working online now for about a year.

Not usually a shy person – I have a macho Portugese stallion to content with on a daily basis – I have, for the very reasons detailed above never really had the courage to post on a message board, although I read more than one regularly.

The blogpost and replies above have cheered me up no end. To be banned without cause is awful, but I have learnt from the comments above that one can survive by shrugging it off, not losing one’s sense of humour and by not taking it too personally.

I often thought I know just how to answer to a certain question on a message board, but while I was pondering it, someone else answered in similar vein. Time to give it a go, I think.

Thank you very much for a great blog.
Margarethe

I have to tell you though … I really wasn’t sure if I should let your comment go through our not. I thought you were probably spamming. I mean why would I want new commenters on my blog?

(ooh, bad, I know but I couldn’t resist!)

Thanks again for stopping by and “identifying yourself” as one of the “cronies”.

As a message board owner myself, I have to apologize to you ladies on behalf of all of us that WANT new members!

Seriously folks, like I said above, I respect the idea of “stopping anything before it gets started” I really do. I pride myself on how well my boards are maintained. However …

I would never ban someone before they post no matter “who they were involved with”.

I would never report someone to their ISPs before finding out the whole story.

I would never … well, let’s just say I would never and let it at that.

I think we all now know how not to run a forum.

To anyone else reading this blog who was involved in this … first of all, leave a comment and let your voice be known.

And secondly, feel free to stop by my work at home mom message board and say hello! I promise I won’t ban you!

I posted an intro and got banned for spamming! Wow, never knew saying “Hi from Tara in FL. I’m the owner of Affordable Mineral Makeup, hope to get to know y’all better” was considered spam! LOL

Some of the other reps for Affordable Mineral Makeup never even posted ONE single post and got banned for spamming…. wow spamming w/o posting..that’s a new concept! LOL

Good blog!
Tara

Shelly

I’m not sure what boards you are talking about. I’m not a regular visitor. Actually I found this post through the Blog Rush Widget on my own blog.

You know, while I was reading your tale, I did think of some reasons why the owner of that board reacted so harshly. You never know the real history behind someone and the experiences that they have had in the past.

Not defending her…just keeping an open mind.

I do like the way you titled your post.

It does make you think.

Even if that particular owner has had some bad experiences in the past, she still needs to stay professional. Name calling is not what I call “professional”.

Anyway, it’s her board. She can run it the way she likes. However, I have to agree with you…if you don’t have contributors, it will never grow.

If you treat contributors unfairly (even though it’s your board)…you are running your business poorly.

I think the biggest lessen here is that as a business owner, it’s easy to get steamed but you should think your reaction out before you take rash actions that could actually harm your business.

That’s why I LOVE email and support desks for my own business. Sometimes I may get a ridiculous request or maybe someone offends me a little…

I can just walk away, calm down, come back and write a professional email back focusing on a solution to THEIR problem. NEVER ATTACK.

Audrey is another message board member I can easily vouch for. She’s another important asset to my boards.

As a matter of fact, Audrey just emailed me this morning about spam on my boards and offered to be a moderator to help keep it under control.

Both Audrey & Shelly hate spam just as much as the rest of us! Why would they post it?

Anyway, I just love how you and the rest were all accused of spam because someone else spammed? (If she did?)

I guess you call that guilty by association? ROFL!

(Oh and I just have to say – sorry this happened to you!)

Ok..let’s see, I admin on two boards. I moderate on about 9, I have well over 10,000 posts out there in cyber space and she bans me. LOL. All I can say is this owner is not looking for members, not looking for content and not looking for traffic. I know from my own searches my posts show up on page one of google OFTEN and bring in traffic.

I did email the owner. She never even bothered to answer me. Not how I would ever run a business.

Ok…vent over

Audrey