You’ve seen it often and so have I, “Like my page or subscribe to my blog for a chance to win…..”. I’ve been guilty of it too.

Sounds like an amusement park game.. “Spiiiin tooooo WIIIIIN!!”.

Back in the day, when I was still navigating my way through trying to understand blogging ethics and the FTC, I would try giveaways and promotions and I flopped!  As the Internet grows, we learn our lessons, sometimes the hard way. Now we have the ongoing stories of bloggers who perform illegal lotteries. I’m not so sure I could accurately ‘accuse’ them of performing illegal lotteries, because I don’t think all of them are aware of the laws. Not that ignorance is an excuse, and I’m not so sure a judge would be all that tolerant either.

But regardless of whether or not someone is running a questionable lottery, lets just look at this from an organic perspective.

Part of Facebook’s terms of service include not coercing people to like your page. They don’t want people liking pages if they don’t TRULY like the content therein. Maybe their new EdgeRank is designed, in part, to weed out all the false likes. If people only like a page because they are promised a chance at winning something, then they have dishonestly liked the page. When a page owner is working to generate nonauthentic likes, then their page count is misleading to everyone else.

People get used to seeing the numbers, the likes, and the feedburner count.

It’s like the Wizard of Oz giving his opinions with a loud booming voice and a theatrical cloud of smoke.

What ever happened to just commenting on a blog? Bloggers are getting all worked up to get likes on Facebook, when they could be spending their time encouraging interaction on their blogs. Don’t let Facebook diminish your blog by distracting you to spend so much time building up a page on their site, where they get the money, when you could be spending your time writing outstanding content.

Now imagine this, … let’s say I want to look like I’m well liked to my community. So I advertise by putting flyers on doors asking people to come put flowers on my porch for a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to a fancy restaurant. Now I have all these flowers in front of my house and passers by will think I’m well liked, when in fact I’m not. It’s a facade. Once I give the prize away, who’s going to stick around? (After composing this post, I found this one by Kristen from ShePosts.com about misleading blog promotions that you really must read.)

It’s basically manipulating them.

Is this a true and organic expression of their feelings for me? Of course not.

The basics of building a solid and true audience is through honest content that is well written.

When I like a page on Facebook it’s either because I already like the person, or I want to get to know them better by interacting. In order to do that I need to like their page.

“If you’d like to get to know me better and get updates on Facebook, feel free to like my page.”

There have been times when I have unliked a page once I lost interest. If I lost interest it may be because there wasn’t much to keep me there. It could be a lack of interacting from the page owner, a troll, lack of interesting content, or any number of other reasons.

I can’t get a dead branch and glue grass clippings and limpy leaves to it and call it a tree. That’s not organic growth.

We need to begin with a seed, moist rich soil, and a tender green thumb to nurture it by exposing it to light and watering it. This is organic growth.

Write your story. Expose your authenticity so people can get to know who you really are.

We’ve recently seen lots of negative media about GMOs and many people are in an uproar over companies putting growth hormones in our food. Athletes suffer legal consequences for taking steroids in order to perform better. Politicians are less likely to be trusted for lobbying for special interests.

Why should bloggers be any different?

Pay no attention to that blogger behind the green curtain

I firmly believe a blog’s success should be based on their creativity, hard work, and most of all… being personable. When there’s a relationship birthed from something they have in common then the relationship is far more likely to grow and has a greater chance of getting ‘word of mouth’ promotions from those who love them and enjoy their content.

We want to see the brain, the courage, and the heart!

“Some people think they should be writing FOR their readers, but shouldn’t it be that the readers are there because they like what you write?” ~Lady Jess

I’ll be honest and tell you that I don’t have all the answers. However, I’m learning along the way. When I took a break in blogging during the time of our 500 mile move, I had a chance to really think about my blogs.

Do I want people to like my blog only because I give things away? Would I want IRL friends like that?

What would happen if I stopped giving things away?

I would probably find out how many people really didn’t like me for who I am. That would suck. Not just for me, but for them too. It would mean we, both writer and reader, faked a relationship. We would be forced to face ourselves.

I would rather be myself then those who truly like me will stick around. Those who don’t truly like me can freely go. I wouldn’t want false friends or subscribers.

Would you offer the woman down the street a chance to win a Walmart gift card if she would just tell her friends she likes you? Can you hear the beauty shop talk?

source: someecards

I think many bloggers have become victims of bad marketing schemes. Really unwise advice by so called marketing experts. The advertising arena is not all that organic. Many magazines use photoshop on their models, some athletes take steroids, tabloids print false rumors, and these people make money. But it’s not honest money.

Are we going to continue to go in this direction or put a halt to dishonest blog marketing?

We cry out for authenticity, but then we want to ‘buy’ a person’s email address by offering a chance to win something if they perform an act such as subscribing. We want our ‘follower’ count to look large so we ask for followers in exchange for a chance to win something. We want our Facebook pages to have that magic number next to the thumbs up icon so we ask people to like the page in order to win something. Why do we really do these things?

To offer our numbers to advertisers in hopes of getting paid based on the amount of numbers we can show?

But what are the chances all those followers and readers are even seeing those advertisements?

Is this honest or even fair to those vendors?

How about we bless those who already follow, who are already members of our pages, and already on our subscriber list? They don’t have to ‘enter’, you just pull a name and someone wins.  Then because of our kindness and generosity, people will speak well of us.

Just be yourself, feel at home.

There’s no place like home.

 

Subscribe to The HomeSpun Life by Email

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Share and Enjoy

If you haven’t followed some basics on how to wisely partner with people online, you might have found yourself stuck in awkward positions of having to depart from unwise partners or be paralyzed with fear of rocking the boat in a project you’re deeply involved with. It’s always a risk to partner with people online, but you have to start somewhere. Just be sure you’re making the wisest decision you can. Even at that, there’s bound to be times when personalities collide, competition gets the best of us, or we find ourselves stuck in legal and political quicksand.

Ending a partnership that’s going sour is never easy to do. I have done it wrong and I have done it the best I can, yet still people end up hurt. Feelings are naturally going to be a part of the process, but it’s wise to not let emotions get out of hand.

How you end that partnership can either set you free or dissolve what could be a future reconciliation. Some of these suggestions can be graciously applied to any kind of departure, not just ones that are going sour. So if someone sends you a resignation email that sounds a bit like these, please don’t assume you did anything wrong or take it personally.

Here are some gracious and diplomatic ways to protect yourself and preserve whatever amount of relationship you have left with the people.

Spiritual Wisdom: If you’re a spiritual person, pray. Prayer can give you some insight and clarity you hadn’t thought of before.

Perspective: Be willing to see your situation from another perspective. There’s always two (or more) sides to every story. Do your best to see things from the other person’s perspective.

Counsel: Talk to someone with experience with online relationships (without using names). This doesn’t mean a blogger who’s only been blogging for a year. It could be a woman in your church who has been in ministry for 5 or more years, but that doesn’t mean she understands Internet society. Glean what you can from IRL people, but be sure to learn what you can from pillars in the blogging community too.

Simplify: How you depart may vary depending on the depth of your involvement. The less amount of time you’re involved with someone, the easier it is to slip away nicely. It’s simpler to let them know your life is full right now and you need to prioritize before you continue.

Finalize commitments: If you’re scheduled to post an article or help host an event, follow through. You want to be sure you end your partnership wisely. Your integrity depends on it.

Give notice: The amount of time you decide to give them is up to you. However, if the team leader needs to find someone to take on your responsibilities, then it’s common courtesy to give notice. Offer to train someone else if needed.

Honesty: Never leave your partner wondering if they did something wrong if it’s more about you than them. It’s courteous to simply let them know that you’re feeling a prompting to go in a different direction.

Be Firm: If you’re in deep then some kind of explanation is bound to be necessary. If your departure is due to some continual resistance to abiding by the law, then you need to be firm.

Be Thankful: Thank them for the opportunity they gave you to be a part of their work.

Show Gratitude: Let them know about some of the things you’re grateful for while partnering with them.

End it Well: Bless them and offer prayer for their future success.

Have class: Never send mass emails out that verbally slaughter the person. Show some grace and some class. How you depart can either add to your integrity or tear it down.

What you can expect after you cut ties with a blogging partnership:

It’s possible you’re going to get some opposition. Actually, it’s highly possible. People oftentimes express their hurt over your decision, just assure them you’re not meaning to hurt them. No matter how nicely you put it, there’s bound to be people who take your decision as a personal insult. You’re not responsible for their feelings, only your heart’s intention.

People might start asking questions. It can be a good idea to write a post about your desire to re-prioritize and that you’re scaling back in your online endeavors. People don’t need to know details.

Always be respectful of the partnership you’re departing from, because they may end up reflecting on your decision and put themselves on a better path as a result.

Keep friendly, although less, online chatter with them via Twitter. It shows you have no hard feelings and there’s less for people to question.

Are you responsible for reporting illegal activity?

The only time I would say you are responsible for reporting illegal activity is if you’re in a position to be sued if you fail to speak up.

ONLY A LAWYER CAN TELL YOU, BASED ON YOUR SITUATION.

I highly recommend you become a member of Pre-Paid Legal Services. I’ve been a member since 2009 and it has been a wise investment. Any time you have a legal question, you can call them and get a response from a lawyer within a day or so. If you’d like more information on their services and benefits, shoot me an email.

Are you morally responsible for warning others?

I think that also depends on the situation. If the person is willfully committing fraud and people you’re connected to are being scammed, you may want to find a way to legally inform them. Again, talking to a lawyer is your best bet. You don’t want to get sued for slander, so you have to be very careful in what you say.

There are other ways of making things clear to the online community without coming right out and saying it. Some bloggers are good investigative writers and debaters. They know how to ask the right questions (publicly) and get someone to respond in their true colors. BUT, this is not something to be taken lightly. It can cause ALL KINDS OF PROBLEMS. I hesitated on saying this at all, but sometimes bloggers do need to call each other out. I would never advise just anyone to do this. It has a lot of consequences and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can make a situation all the more difficult to heal from.

The best possible measure of avoiding having to go through this is to be wise about who you partner with.

 Have anything else to add?

Subscribe to The HomeSpun Life by Email

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Share and Enjoy