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Bad Idea; Interested in Purchasing Textlink Advertising

By Wilbur Corncob at 11/23/07 08:55

The spam email arrives offering to place paid text link ads on one of our websites: I am interested in purchasing textlink advertising on your website: blog.belizetotal.com I am interested in placing paragraphs on specific pages. An example of this can been seen at bottom of this page, after the content area: http://www.globenotes.com/About.aspx another example: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/05/10/70 -expert-ideas-for-better-css-coding/ (below the blog post and above the comments) The paragraph will be custom written to match the content of the site and you will have the right to edit anything. The textlinks will go to non spammy and related websites. However, since these links are on specific pages. I would be paying only one time fees and the paragraphs will stay permanent i-e as long as the page stays however, I would be purchasing many of these and it would be a good amount. Let me know if interested and we can discuss further details. I can make a good offer to make it worth your time. Let me know! Thanks [404 Check: was link to mailto:marychorney@gmail. com, anchor: Mary Chorney] www.analogwire.com [My emphasis] At the first glance this looks almost ok, as they want to put ads on specific pages and the links will be "non spammy". Interesting coming some spam (ie: unsolicated email that is not relating to any business transaction and doesn't seem to comply with the can spam act. The examples shown are on some "inside pages", but are completely unrelated to the topic of Belize. Additionally, the website listed at the bottom, Analogwire is also completely unrelated to belize. I decided to present a counter offer, a much better off one that is free! ie: I would offer her a free text link, an offer I think would be difficult to refuse. You can go to Belize Total Guest Blogger and make a relevant, interesting post on the blog (with your links) for free. Just follow the instructions there. If you make a relevant and interesting post, we might consider payment to feature it as a "favorite" post. The key point of course being, "make a relevant, interesting post". I even left open the door that they could possibly pay us too. No dice. Here is Mary's reply: Here's my proposal for your website: I am offering $50 for the homepage: blog.belizetotal.com I don't want my text para to be placed on any posts, I want to place it on the homepage, inside the contents. Let me know if you agree so that I can send you the related paragraph for placement. PS: If this works well I would be doing it on regular basis. Thanks! Mary Chorney She wants text link ads on the "homepage" (different from the examples in her first email which were not the home page). She also wants to do it on a "regular" basis. Well, there is just ONE "homepage" not sure how regularly you can sell permanent links there! $50 is also a pretty good insult for a permanent home page link and the purchases hasn't even given a hint at to the links she wants on the page! I explain my offer again, remember she wants to pay $50. My offer is FREE. I told you my offer and the cost was $0.00. To put something on my home page as you like would take considerably more than $50 of my effort, not to mention impact the overall site. Mary still isn't satisified with getting her links for free and ups the ante to $80: Based upon the number of backlinks to your website, I am offering a fair amount. Pease look at my offer differently because it is something that can be taken up right away. My interest is in the backlinks and I have selected specific pages. Moreover, you will have all the rights to modify the text in the paragraph as per your liking except the anchor tag links in it. Also I will consider other pages of your website in future. I am willing to increase the price to $80 for the homepage. Believe me I have done this before and it works great. I am really looking forward to this deal and I am sure we can strike one! Look forward to your positive reply. Best Wishes, Mary Now I try to explain to her how stupid her offer really is: You are basing the offer based on Backlinks TODAY. In one year, or two years it could be completely different and I'd be stuck with having your links there for a mere pittance. I am sure it works great for you or for sites that are going backwards rather than forwards. "would be paying only one time fees and the paragraphs will stay permanent i-e as long as the page stays however" Is what makes it a WINNER for YOU and a LOSER for ME. For example, if I had a PPC link on the site that paid me $.21/click, one click a day would get me 80 bucks. or $400 over 5 years... and I wouldn't have anything tied down on the homepage (or anyother page) FOREVER. She still doesn't for for free and wants to pay $100 now: I have done this before and I have deals with much better PR and backlinks than yours, done at a price quite less than I offered to you. Maximum that I can afford to increase it is to $100. Also, you don't get stuck with the paragraph as you will have all the rights to modify the text in the paragraph as per your liking except the anchor tag links in it. So the ball is in your court now. Hope you will play it well. Thanks. Best, Mary It is not a question of price, pr, backlinks or anything else. It is simply an insane idea to sell a "permanent link" on your home page. You are stuck with it forever. Over the course of a year, 2 years, 10 years, that one time payment becomes as significant as an ant pissing in the ocean. Additionally, they aren't clear what happens if you sell the domain or page are you obligating the buyer to the same sillyness? The actual likes are not provided. Why would I accept $100 to commit myself forever to the unknown? They aren't even clear who they are! I wouldn't do it even if I knew the links in questions. My free offer is much better because they are free and for all practical purposes forever. Now, if they made this offer on some inside page (like the examples in the original spam email) I might accept it as I could always orphan the pages (stop linking to them) when I felt the buyer had gotten their money's worth from the links. I get boardloads of this spam. While writing with Mary I got one from Daniel. He said: I am interested in purchasing textlink advertising at some specific pages of education.knowledge1000.com. Let me know if interested so that we can discuss it further. I can make a good offer to make it worth your time. Let me know! Thanks [404 Check: was link to mailto:danielserv@gmail. com, anchor: Daniel] Now, I assume again by waiting "specific pages" he is wanting the "home page". I asked him if it would be ok the day after he purchased the link for me to change my website from education.knowledge1000.com to education1.knowledge1000.com (of course his link would then vanish). I haven't heard back on that yet. Keep your website yours... don't sell permanant links on your home page or any other page you can't easily orphan. News Digest Blog Tags: • texlink ads • permanent links • bad idea • spam • - Permalink Previous (Newer) Post Next (Older) Post Comments Comment #1 By Wilbur Corncob at 11/26/07 05:06 Wel... Daniel finally responded: Arn't you a pleasant man to talk to? And the answer of course is that for people spamming obnoxious "offers" I should hope not! Comment #2 Roy Tanck at 06/10/08 08:41 I've been getting a bunch of these emails. Gmail classifies them as spam now, and I guess that's where I'll leave them. I did respond to the first one, but after a similar discussion as the one you had I gave up. They were quite difficult to get rid of also, and bugged me a few more times before they got the idea. Comment #3 james at 07/03/08 07:38 great read wilbur :) Thinking about making a comment on this blog post? Great! But please remember that this space is for just that, comments about this blog post. It is not a place to post random thoughts about other stuff. We found that most of the "comments" posted here are not comments at all and should have really been posted in our forum. So: If you have something to say that's not exactly a comment on this blog post, please post it on the Webmaster and SEO Blog Forum If you are just planning to spam... go away as all the comments are premoderated Have something to actually say about this blog post, please submit your comment here: Leave a comment: We welcome your comments on this post in the Webmaster and SEO Blog. That means a comment on this post, not something about some other topic. Name: (required) Email: (required, not published) Comment: Note: Your comment will be immediately submitted and you will have no opportunity to review to edit it. It is recommend that you register on Webmaster and SEO Blog and login so you can include full html (ie: links). We don't have a chapta because we think we're smarter than the spambots.