Spam, Scam, Thank You, Ma'aM - FreeIQ Vendor On The Loose?

FOREWARD

Just want to get this out of the way.  There's a big misconception floating around - that I somehow like, or thrive off of, controversy...

I wish.

The truth is... I can't stand it.

So, before I clue you in on the latest, let me reiterate what this blog is about...

Here (when I'm up to it), we can discuss pretty much anything about the world of marketing whether it is good, sound, marketing techniques, stealth applications or boneheads who make life difficult for everyone else.

And here's what it is isn't...

This blog (and myself) do not go out looking for, or creating, controversy.  It either comes to me, or I stumble across it, and I usually don't shy away or back down from it... unless there'd be a really good reason for it.  It's only the perpetrators who accuse me of bullying but whoever steps back and looks at the scene objectively will see that the "bullying" is nothing short of a simple, long-term discussion where they begin by defending their actions and then end by claiming they're being harrassed.  That's the formula...

1. Defend actions, at length;
2. Have defense questioned;
3. Call Sam names and accuse him of being mean;

What can I say, folks?  I'm like a Timex that just keeps ticking.  If someone responds to me, I respond to their response and, generally, I'll keep going until the matter is resolved or until I think the public has witnessed enough to make their own intelligent decision.  Onward...

Today's Controversy:
SPAM, SCAM, THANK YOU, MA'AM

Now, here's one of the latest controversies.  I discovered it - as it happened to me - and took the time to analyze it - so you probably won't find news of it anywhere else.

"Subject: NEW SWIFT CARD PAYMENT OF YOUR  CONTRACT/INHERITANCE FUNDS."

I got a couple of SPAM emails in which the doofus spammer accidentally included a bunch of the emails from the spam list.  Knowing that one of the spam-prevention tricks people use when signing up for a mailing list is to create a mail account specifically for that mailing list (like if you were to sign up for mine, you might create "samslist AT yourisp.com" as your email address), I scanned them for any signs of similarities.

To my chagrin, I spotted recurrences of a site name belonging to a well-known internet marketer, Brad Fallon.  And the site was...

A "YouTube"-Plus for Internet Marketers
(here's my author page, for example)

Now, let me be clear.  Knowing Brad's reputation, I can easily stipulate that he would never resort to breaching anyone's privacy.  He seems well capable of making money and helping marketers quite honestly and legitimately.  I also can't even say that it really did HAPPEN at, or through, FreeIQ, but the presence of "freeiq", five times, in the email addresses of people on the spammer's list is pretty good evidence of a connection.

And the names on the list aren't no-namers either... some of the names on the spammer's list include some well-known internet marketers with whom Brad is acquainted such as Mike Filsaime, Armand Morin, Cody Moya and Joel Comm.  There's even an email address FROM FreeIQ on the list so someone AT FreeIQ is on the spammer's list, too.

So What Happened?

More than likely, it is the work of some unscrupulous vendor at FreeIQ.  The vendor probably made some sweet-as-pie offer or is a good-guy-turned-bad since the list included big-name marketers who generally don't need the kinds of things offered by average marketers.

I honestly just can't believe anyone would be this evil and stupid and I hope Brad takes this seriously and gets to the bottom of it even if his privacy policy warns of it.

Last I heard, VIA TWITTER FOLKS, is that Brad had been looking for venture capital.  I'm not sure why he'd need it since everything I read about StomperNet, etc, talks about how 100s pay $1000s monthly to be members but there it is on Twitter: he's seeking venture capital.  And I think there would be some concern, and rightfully so, if somehow, users of FreeIQ are having their private information compromised.... even through a vendor.

And I have some thoughts on how, very simply, he can investigate this problem.

The Solution

This is really simple, actually.  And it should be taken seriously.

From what I can see, whenever someone buys or signs up for something from a FreeIQ vendor, the vendor collects the lead information including the email.  FreeIQ SHOULD keep a list of those leads somewhere in its database even if the vendor imports then deletes them.  This will allow FreeIQ to EASILY follow-up on spam concerns and to cross-reference any such spam lists that come to light such as was accidentally included in the spammer's mail.

I know, for example, that I don't recall signing up for much, if anything at all, at FreeIQ so if FreeIQ had a way to determine how many FreeIQ vendors have received my lead, the whole field would be narrowed down immediately and significantly.  And I'm willing to provide him with the portion of the spam list found in the spam mail.

In Conclusion
"Why didn't you just go tell him privately, Sam?"

I would have liked to, really, but let's face it - things never really work out that way.  It would be nice if they did.  But what I've come to expect in similar situations is a pleasant little form letter saying something like, "Thank you, we'll look into it." after which one never hears back from them again.

As I said, clearly, I am not definitively stating that this happened via FreeIQ but that, having been in this field for some time now, I know how people set up their email addresses for spam prevention when joining lists and "freeiq" appears at least 5 times in the list - and some major marketers with whom Brad is acquainted are on that list.

Whatever the case may be, I'll definitely keep my readers updated.

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The First Ever Controversy Blog Meme - Stealthy Tips on Steroids

Hey, Look!  It's the Scoble Starfish!  What's IT Doing Here?

Those who know me understand that I could not just come up with an ordinary blog meme.  But I first wanted check if there were any cool, new super factoids I should know about starting a meme so I Googled for "How to Start a Meme" and found Dane Morgan astonished that Google had very little in the way to report on that query.  Maybe it's because there ain't nuthin to it? ;-)

So in starting my first blog meme, my list of criteria looked something like this:

1. It must fit in with the "controversy" theme.
2. It has to take bloggers down "the road less traveled (no ordinary controversies).
3. It has to have MASSIVE teaching potential; and
4. It has to be FUN.

We mustn't forget FUN....!  So listen, watch and learn...!

Sam Freedom's Controversy Meme

The rules are very simple:

1. Blog about THREE to FIVE (3-5) secret or cool ways you know how to obtain something valuable outside the established order.  These will be some of the unexpected, ways of getting needs met whether for your blogs, or for life, in general (you'll see my examples in a moment).
2. Begin by including 1 link to this post with a mention of it as the origin of the Controversy Meme; and 1 link pointing to, and naming, the person who tagged you.
3. End by linking to, and notifying, 5 other bloggers you admire or think would enjoy sharing their homegrown wisdom;
4. Use the Technorati Tag for Controversy Meme.  Since these are going to be real secrets, tips and tricks, each person's contribution will be more than mere likes and dislikes but will actually have some significant value.  Using the Technorati Tag for "Controversy Meme" will make them all accessible from one place (feel free to use other tags, too, such as "blog memes" or "memes").

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/controversy+meme">Controversy Meme</a>
Code for the Technorati Tag if You Need It

Please Note:  It doesn't have to be a TRUE secret.  The point is to possibly help others and create an overall feeling of goodwill.

Let the Controversy Meme Begin!

1. Free MP3 - Oh yea, sure.  Just download a copy of Limewire or eMule or get all tangled up in iTunes like everybody else, right?  Wrong.  It's much simpler than that.  It's called Project Playlist:

   
   So you enter in some magic keywords, and...

   
   What's that at the very bottom?  Oh, a link to the MP3...

   In short, any song you find through Project Playlist also comes with the link to its location.  All anyone would have to do, theoretically, is create a hyperlink to it and then right click and choose "Save As" or "Save Target As..." and Voila! - A free MP3.  Now remember, music is copyrighted and downloading free music is wrong and can get you in trouble.

   YouTube Video Demonstration
    

2. Index Page Treasure Hunt - The previous tip leads to music.  This little secret allows you greater control of your search and, therefore, a much tighter focus over a far wider range of results.  It's a tiny bit involved but easy once you know it so it's best left to a video which is worth a 1000 pictures which is worth a 1000 words.  So here's your "million words" on how to find free mp3, mp4, pdf and whatever else your greedy little fingers desire:

    

3. Hard-to-Find Ready-Made Autoplay Music for Any Site - Now, I'm not saying anyone should actually DO this or that even I do it but if you embed a video from any video site, set it to autoplay, and then resize the height and width down to 1 pixel, you've got yourself some instant background music without any video distracting from your written message.  Now if that's against a video site's TOS then I suggest you don't do it.

 
4. The Forum-within-a-Forum - Actually, this is very powerful and requires a bit of explaining so I'll put it one of my next blogs.  It takes all of a big 10 minutes to set up.  Here's a picture of some results after a day or two from just a quick 10 minute free technique:

Controversy Meme Suggestions:  You don't have to have elaborate pictures and headings, you can just list 3-5 ways of getting something accomplished uniquely, or secretly, or at a cool advantage over the established ways.  It can even be something like, "Buying a new mouse and returning your old worn-out mouse for an exchange so that you have a new mouse and a new mouse backup."  Just make it slick and, hopefully, an embarrassment to your friends and family.  And remember to tag it with the "controversy meme" tag in the textbox up above.

I Tag the Following Bloggers

1. Dane Morgan - There's marketer/bloggers and there's blogger/marketers and Dane's about as close to being balanced between the two as anyone you'll ever meet.  Plus, the guy ALWAYS has some clever little traffic-generating techniques up his sleeve such as showing up first in Google for "How to Start a Meme."  Not to mention, if Dane didn't hate me after our very first meeting several years ago on HowtoCorp forum, there's a pretty good chance he'll never hate me.  So I tag Dane first.

2. Andy Beard - To me, Andy is an uber-blogger.  The fact that he'd probably deny it would be just another example that would help make my case.  Andy is highly respected by 452,368,721,429.553 bloggers and being comfortably able to fit, and endure, my shenanigans into his overall view of the world has earned him my respect, as well.  And besides, I think he secretly longs to be a wild man like me so this will be a good exercise as a warm-up.

3. Tellin It Like It Is (Lin) - Didn't even know her before now.  In fact, as I'm writing this, she hasn't even yet seen my introductory comment on her blog.  I picked her out of respect for the power of social media.  I did not even know her until I saw her comment in the sidebar at Dane Morgan's profile on BlogCatalog.  After going to her blog, I found it not only to be VERY good and informative but also sporting it's own Interactive Experiment, a Technorati Favorites Exchange which she attributed to DoshDosh... which I also read about on Andy Beard's blog.  The connections are maddening! ;-) 

   Here, take 2 seconds to please Technorati Fave us both (Fave Lin - Fave Sam).  Thank you. 

   Make sure to leave us both your Technorati Fave links in our respective comment sections and we'll support you with a Technorati Fave right back!

4. Brad Fallon (click "Learn More" to see a video of Brad in action) - Until Brad sent out a little down-to-earth note sheepishly admitting how much he liked Twitter, I saw him as just another of the big-name internet marketers who just happened to make the right connections at the right time and got a jump on the subsequent waves of wanna-be marketers coming down the pipeline.  After all, I had spent most of my life on the inside of my family's business that just sold 1 of its divisions for $10m so his earnings weren't what impressed me.  But along with his intro to Twitter was his good-natured SEO battle with Mike Filsaime for the term, "The Coolest Guy on the planet."  Now THAT was fun.  And THAT was something into which I could gladly sink my teeth.  I figured, amongst other things, that THAT was a chance to introduce myself to him without having to grovel and chase him around at a $3,000  per person internet marketing sales pitch.

And lo and behold...


Yeah, But Only Google Matters When It Comes to Contests, Right?


Ok, Ya Happy Now?

Anyways, I'm gonna Twitter Brad Fallon and see if he's able to come out and play today.

5. Robert Scoble - There's too many reasons why I chose this guy.  For many in the blogging community, it'll be difficult to believe that not only had I not heard about him until several days ago but that I'm calling him out on the first ever Controversy Meme and actually expecting that he'll respond.  Why not?  If you only knew what I really do on the other side of this piece of glass, you'd know that I honestly believe anything's possible  Seriously, if you don't dare, you don't succeed but, anyways, here are my reasons why I chose Robert Scoble.

a. Robert Scoble probably has more Google Alerts set up than there are sticky notes throughout the Pentagon combined.  So I'm sure he'll find his way here.
b. Paying respects to the power of social media, yet again, I embarked upon "The Great Adventure" by clicking Justin Kownacki's icon on my MyBlogLog widget and ended up at his Cafe Witness.  True to his blog's title, he was commenting that he'd witnessed a conversation on, of all places, Twitter, between Eric Rice and Robert Scoble.


It's that darned Scoble Starfish, again...!

Robert found his way to Justin's blog and chimed in which lead me to Robert's blog.  There was one, in particular, where I read...

"I tell ya, the more I understand 'the new blogging world' the more I want to create a fake identity and just make stuff up about people. But, instead, I’m going to crawl back into my little walled garden."

Did you hear that?  He said, "....a fake identity and just make stuff up about people."  Anyone?  Did anyone hear him say "Sam Freedom"?  Yes, that's it.  While so much of the blogging community feels they need a little more Scoble in their lives, Scoble unwittingly expressed his need for a little more Sam Freedom in his life. 

And if you only knew what I did on the other side of this piece of glass, you'd know that I honestly believe anything's possible.
d. Robert is a product of the social media craze.  He's a grassroots kinda guy.  And a Stealthy Tip sharing Controversy Meme is about as grassroots as it gets.

Alright, have I linked to enough people yet?  Anyone who has some stealthy tips to share about ANYTHING at all, feel free to share your stealthy/controversial tips in this meme and include the link to your blog (and yourTechnorati Fave if ya got one) in the comments section.

robert scoble scobleizer andy beard brad fallon dane morgan justin kownacki scoble starfish social media tellinitlikeitis eric rice social media sam freedom controversy meme memes blog meme blog memes freeiq twitter blogging fun blogs internet marketing technorati technorati faves technorati favorites project playlist free mp3 hacks black hat controversy the coolest guy on the planet mybloglog blogcatalog

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You Twit! Don't You Know Web 2.0?

As I was checking out my sweet 3rd place in "the coolest guy on the planet" SEO competition standings (Google) over a year after it started, Brad Fallon made me aware of something. And like him, I think, if you're not doing it already, it's no big deal. It's just another Web 2.0 type thing that has some pretty cool potential.

So tell me, then... do you Twitter? If so, leave me a message!

Technorati Tags: brad fallon twitter samfreedom sam freedom internet marketing web 2.0 the coolest guy on the planet make money make money online

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Early Notification of Unrivalled Stealth Program plus FREE YouTube-Style Site for Internet Marketers!

Greetings Marketing Friends,

In about 2 weeks, I am releasing something that you will have likely never seen before. I say "likely" because we let a few slip out early on but otherwise NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, has ever created anything as remotely powerful and easy to use.  I've seen a LOT of things that look and sound "clever" and offer the naive and unsuspecting reader some kind of hyped up reality but, when you see this, I maintain that you will have no choice but to agree that we have one heck of a programmer on board.  An ordinary programmer can't just make something like what we'll soon be releasing.  He or she must ALSO be extremely passionate about finding the most intense, unorthodox methods of putting REAL power in the hands of REAL people like you.

I know you get used to hearing so much bull in the marketing hype scene but when you see what is coming your way, it will absolutely warp your mind and probably spoil you forever! I'll just say that if YOU are one of those who gets one of only 2000 copies, you will be one VERY lucky S.O.B.... No hype, no exaggeration and absolutely no overestimation of your ability to put this to use. It won't merely level the playing the field. It will actually vault you above it and beyond. 

So get on this blog's feed to ensure you are one of the first to hear about it.  Even if you are already on my mail list, being on this blog's feed will ensure your notification doesn't get sucked up by your ISPs spam filter during early notification and/or launch.  You'll continue to receive an email from this feed only when this blog is updated with a new post and, as usual, you may unsubscribe at any time without hassle.  Use this form below.

Enter Your Email to Ensure Notification:

Once you've ensured you'll be notified early on, check out the following.  It's going to be the absolute, most hottest, "YouTube"-style site explicitly for internet marketers!  It is absolutely and totally 100% free to join and you'll instantly begin to benefit from all kinds of audio, video and written content made available to you by experienced, accomplished marketers.  This will allow you not only to SAMPLE a given marketer's expertise before ever purchasing from them but ALSO you, too, will be allowed to freely upload any content that you would like to make available to the internet marketing public either now, or in the future.

Get in NOW because it's still in BETA mode and I'm not sure if the free signup or membership terms will change once they abandon beta mode and enter into full launch mode.  I'm drop dead serious, folks; I can't stand bs.  This resource is VERY well done, VERY YouTube-like, and VERY beneficial to everyone in the work-at-home crowd. 

Sign up for FREE right here.

Good luck and much success!
Sam
Technorati Tags: internet marketing black hat seo stealth software youtube brad fallon mike filsaime stomper.net sam freedom samfreedom vsearchvoodoo blog marketing work from home work at home affiliate marketing affiliate program seo search engine marketing toprank seo software

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The #1 Coolest Guy on the Planet on Google AND Yahoo

From the desk of Sam Freedom, "The Coolest Guy on the Planet":

Forgive me while I gloat. It's something I do very rarely and never to the detriment of another. But in this case, it is because bragging rights were the goal in this good-natured contest between internet marketers (many of them self-proclaimed SEO experts.) And out of what seems like nowhere, this guy, this internet marketing demagogue sweeps past what must be about 4-5 dozen guys and takes 1st place in Yahoo and Google.

What's even more odd is if you check the winning site's backlinks, there are only 8. :-)

What does this mean? Hmm? Google doesn't honor "nofollow tags" in blog comments the way Yahoo has been, so it's not due to anything like Blogsubmitter PRO. So who can tell me? Whose on the same plane as Good Ol' Sam Freedom here...comment below if you have some wild and crazy thoughts as to why, with only a scant EIGHT backlinks, Sam Freedom outflanked 4-5 dozen prolific internet marketers (some SEO experts) and took the #1 spot in both Yahoo AND Google!

All along, I had really hoped Brad Callen had a good sense of humor because I'm a marketer who marches to the beat of a different drum and I really thought this one was pretty funny:

But then it got just a little bit funner...juuust a little bit. See, people were so curious about my Google ad that all their clicking on it earned it a spot in the top sponsors section and the end result looked something like this...

So, why do you think Sam Freedom has a #1 ranking in Google for a term competed for by top internet marketers with only 8 backlinks and surely less experience, right? And do you think Brad Callen has a healthy sense of humor?!

Until next time, best wishes.
Sincerely,
Sam
P.S. Free Membership to 4-Site Business Suite...Enjoy!!

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Sam Freedom - The Coolest Guy On The Planet SEO Contest - There Can Be ONLY ONE!

The Final Update: After finishing this article, see the final results of my efforts in this post.

Who IS really the coolest guy on the planet? Cool guys have roamed the planet since the earliest of days, but here, in the 21st century, being the coolest of the cool guys on this planet takes a new twist. Read on...

Here's MY Results in YAHOO Going Up Against the Net's Top SEO Experts:

UPDATE #1 08/18/05: Bye, Bye, Willy Crawford!

UPDATE #2 08/26/05: Bye, Bye, Brad Fallon!

UPDATE #3 08/??/05: Then I SQUASHED Brad Callen to Take the Top! #1!!!

And PRSearch.net Also Me at #1!

So, what happens when Internet Marketing geeks all take a small breather from spamming the net with promotion after promotion? Don't even try to guess. But instead, just imagine the fun and the thrill of having a whole bunch of guys participating in a good-natured SEO competition.

Yeah, that's right. A whole bunch of guys who are out of their prime and no longer the coolest guys on the planet are trying to see who can best optimize a site for "the coolest guy on the planet" and get the #1 position at Google, Yahoo, MSN and so on. So far Brad Whatshisname and Mike Whosamajiggee are in it, as well as a bunch of other people are jumping in like fish trying to get back up stream to their spawning grounds.

It's actually kind of funny, and in a strange way pretty cool, but since everyone knows that I'm really the coolest guy on the planet then the contest is really moot. I mean, I'm all for letting the guys run amok and squeeze out whatever small bit of testosterone remains in their systems, but no matter who gets to the #1 position in Google or Yahoo for keywords containing cool guy and planet, etc, I'll still be one of the coolest guys the planet has ever known.

When woman look for a cool guy, they don't promenade over to the computer and Google for one. Or am I that out of the loop? Maybe they do. Ladies? Do you Google for the coolest guy on the planet? Or do you do what you've always done which is scan the environment for the tallest guy sporting the fattest wallet.

Oops. Did I really just say that?

Why, yes I did. Being the coolest guy on the planet means you can pretty much say whatever you want...within reason, you know, nothing truly injurious, but good natured sometimes callous barbs are perfectly within the realm of the most cool guy the planet has ever known. Anyone with half a mind would surely agree. And anyone with the other half of the mind would surely recognize that if the coolest guy was going to show the rest of the planet that he was the coolest guy, then surely he would have to quickly jump in and dominate the SEO competition for the coolest guy on the planet keyword, and put it to rest so that every man, woman and child could put their curiousity to rest and get back to work.

Now what I'd like very much for you to do is to leave a link back to your site as my way of saying, "I, the coolest guy on this planetary rock, want you to get some Pagerank." All I ask in return is...

...for you to assist for this month by adding a link for the coolest guy on the planet pointing to http://www.sam-freedom.com and together, we shall rule the cool in styyyyyyyyyyle.

Sam Freedom
ps. Remember, the final results of my efforts are right here in this post.

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