The Entrecard Whiners Circle & Fair Weather Entrecarders

Holy Crapamoley, Entreman! Have you seen what they've done to Entrecard? They've actually taken a huge leap forward in making it a VIABLE economy. Entrecard has recently just made the leap from Marxism to Capitalism. And I can't wait to see how it goes...!

However, there's been a lot of bitchin' and whinin' lately... and from the usual suspects.

But It Wasn't ALWAYS Like That...

You see, in the beginning, as it is with most things, Entrecarders were all on the big ol' honeymoon. It was like every night was sitting around a big campfire or a ski lodge with Saphrym trying valiantly to get his bodyfat numbers down and his testosterone numbers up and the siren-like EvilWoobie quietly and cleverly becoming every lonely man's Asian dreamgirl. BigPap was blinding everyone with his Big shiny bald head and I was busy trying to find the community's pain threshold.

We Were Ignorant. And It Was Bliss.

We'd start recognizing some of the ads belonging to the real hardcore go-getters like that red cake box with the white bowtie on it that looked just so damn you good you wanted to suck it right off your screen. Then there was that simple unassuming black and white Entrecard of a turnip, so bland and unnoticed in real life, that it, ironically, invaded our minds. We all got to know the Easter Islandesque stone statue of a man that, without a doubt, caused every first-time viewer to ask aloud, "Dude, wtf?" - I was almost sure it was never gonna make it. But it has, and how!

The price of a barrel of oil was still under a hundred dollars. Graham and Phirate made themselves unusually available. Everyone was pretty content to lay in the tall grass like a lion on the prowl just to POUNCE on the EntreNoobs at 2EC to advertise. And our biggest problem was something like the now laughable....

"AD REJECTED - COLOR SCHEME DOESN'T MATCH."

We Entre-laughed. We Entre-cried. And we Entre-visited each others blogs... at first, like a little rascally coyote, we were just trying to grab a credit chicken from the credit coop and run away to do it all over again somewhere else. But then something weird started to happen. We started to fall in love. Ok, we started to fall in love as much as bloggers can.

There was, has been, and continues to be so much quality, new interaction due to Entrecard that, if one were to really take a bird's eye view of the whole thing, it would truly be staggering.

Take, for example, the supreme irony of the following article at Optempo,

"Why I Removed Entrecard"

... who includes the following reactions to Entrecard's EC valuation changes:

1. Surf the Mind: Thinking Through the Entrecard Changes
2. MoneyBites: EntreBashing: The New Pricing System
3. Michaels’ So-Called Life: EntreCard: The New Supply & Demand System
4. EntreCard Blog: Myths about the new pricing
5. The University Kid: WTF Is With Entrecard?
6. Quick Online Tips: Entrecard Changes Pricing Algorithm: Card Dropping Game Stops
7. Tha Slayer: The new Entrecard Credit system

The supreme irony lay in the rhetorical question, "Just how did OpTempo get learn of these 7 other bloggers?" and why would these 8 bloggers spend their valuable time, energy and blogspace writing about Entrecard if they didn't have a significant audience of ENTRECARDERS to care about it?

"Out With the Old, In With the New"

or...

"The Strong Will Live and the Weak Will Die"

I would say, in general, the same people who complained about the credit valuation system way back when are the same people who are complaining about the credit valuation now. In fact, some of these complainers were supposedly going to retire, but like Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler or "Manos de Piedra", Roberto Duran, they just couldn't resist the allure of "the comeback", of giving the thing that attracted them in the first place just one... more.... chance.

So, how would you like it if you were a young 20-something year old entrepreneur and every time you made a significant change in hopes of bettering things for everyone, a small faction of fair weather users would splinter off and start screaming bloody murder? Or what if, also at that young age, you had demonstrated your intellect and know-how by bringing such a venture this far only to have people threatening to instantly jump ship whenever something was too brilliant for them to comprehend? Or what if every time you tried to outmaneuver the inevitable gaming of the system, various peoples starting predicting the date of your demise?

It wouldn't be much fun, would it? Unless, of course, you had an unshakeable confidence in yourself and in what you were doing. Then, eventually, as you stayed the course, you would attract to you all those who DID possess the intellect and understanding to comprehend the vision and the direction in which you were taking things. But just imagine what all that would be like - and you might begin to understand why you are just a blogger making less than a couple hundred dollars per month and not an entrepreneur losing, or borrowing, a couple thousand per month, so as to allow for the extraordinary to come true.

Graham, Slam, Thank You, Ma'am!

While so many fly-by-night entrepreneurs and work-from-home wanna-be's pop up on the radar only to disappear a short time later, Graham has stayed the course. That doesn't mean Entrecard will definitely succeed or become a household name but it DOES mean that Graham has already outperformed the majority of those who ever dared enter his field. For example, out of the thousands of people who've joined Entrecard, or tried their hand at online marketing, how many of them have been invited to display their innovations at web innovator's gatherings? Or anywhere for that matter...?

In Conclusion

For all you naysayers out there, please, for the love of G-d, shut your traps and give "the kid" a chance. If all you can do is bitch about "bounce rates" or the bumpy beginnings of an effort to forge a REAL, VIABLE Entrecard economy, then you'll never make it online until you get that focus problem sorted out. Because YOU are focusing on what you DON'T have, while I, and others, are focusing on is what we DO have.... and are trying to show a little gratitude for it.

And if your bounce rates are high maybe it's because your site isn't sticky enough.

But that would require taking a new level of responsibility. And why do that when it's so much easier to blame a 20-something Entrepreneur and his flagship, Entrecard for not making you an overnight success?

Taking strong early actions like posting in the forums can really make a difference over the long haul.  Once again, I refer people here:  Click Here to Get the Most Out of Entrecard

Technorati Tags: entrecard traffic exchange blog blogging blog tools blog traffic increase traffic blog help graham langdon sam freedom

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Why It Is Important to Be Thorough

First watch this video.... then read the comments (don't cheat, really watch the video first).

And, if by then you still don't understand why it is absolutely important to be thorough in all that you do, quickly close your operations and join a safer profession - like cotton candy technician.

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Welcome Home from Rehab, Uncle Billy - An Internet Marketing Easter

Well, the Easter season is upon us again. Whether you're an internet marketer, a marketing blogger, or just someone who likes to sleep with them, you couldn't help but notice that your site was even deader than the usual deadness of this good ol' day of rest. And unless you've been chillin' in a cave with Bin Laden, or in a country where the mail comes once a month by donkey, you also couldn't help but notice that chocolate bunnies, marshmallow peeps and candy eggs got way more attention than any of the banal, standard crap that you've been regularly serving up on your website. In fact, the only sites that either maintained or increased their Alexa rankings were sponsored by Al-Qaida supporters with their "my prophet can beat up your messiah" taunts, Godiva Chocolates Easter Selection, or about Barack Obama...

Whoops, Politics...

Well, Fortunately, Monday Will Come.

Even though we cherish our respective saviors and worship our chocolate idols, we still wait with hunger for that Monday morning rock to roll away and our website to be resurrected - Easter candy aisles at Walgreens and Walmarts all across the country will either be wiped clean or in a state of serious disrepair, Uncle Billy will come home from rehab, the Pope will declare war on radical Islam, Bin Laden will throw in the towel in exchange for a beach house in Malibu, Obama and Hillary will make up and make out, and somehow... some way... everything's gonna turn out just fine...

Whoops, Sex...

Here's a few more videos to amuse you. In exchange, tell me, whether you celebrate it or not, what do you do Easter weekend, with whom, and where and why? And what happened to your website traffic? And your chocolate bunnies?

Whoops, Religion...

(the other 4 parts can be found at this video's YouTube page.)

Technorati Tags: easter religion christianity al sharpton christopher hitchens barack obama obama hillary clinton hilary clinton madtv atheism god is not great sam freedom walgreens walmart chocolate bunnies chocolate godiva

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Trying to Make Money Online? Better Get Movin!

By now, everyone in the U.S. knows of Ron Paul.  Some think he's a bit kooky while a considerable amount see him as a fresh, honest breeze in an otherwise outdated, insincere, dishonest and clueless political system where despite each major party's inability to get along, they cannot live without each other.  As a result, it seems like nothing really gets done, no one really trusts anyone and there's a general sense of "just what the hell is going on?"

Lacking clarity, we run towards the side which more closely represents out lifestyle and adopt their talking points as a weapon, of sorts, in a war against "each other" when the real enemy is whatever zealous pursuits have both put us, and kept us, in the dark.

That Being Said...

If You Haven't Made Your Big Payday Yet...
You'd Better Get Movin'...!!!

How do you feel about all this "make money online" stuff now?

Technorati Tags: ron paul politics federal reserve inflation 2008 election make money online internet marketing online marketing economics blogging

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Scientology and The Secret - Perils On the Way to Your First $100 Month

While many people are busy just trying to make their first measly $100/month online, there are all these crazy mind-control shenanigans going on all over the place but from a much higher scale. That's right, you've got dreams of making beaucoup bucks online, whooping it up with your friends, vindicating yourself from all the naysayers who insist you are wasting your time, and you're gonna make it big time.... if only these cults, and secret government agencies would stop fighting each other for control of your mind and let you make money online in peace!

It heats up pretty good around the 2:10 mark

I forget how many times people said "great things will come to pass", and didn't. I forget how many times the world was supposed to end, and it didn't. I forget how many times someone said they were gonna kick someone's ass, and they didn't. And I forget how many times someone promised to do something helpful, and they didn't.

So Many Disappointments; So Little Time.

Well, apparently, Scientology was scheduled to come to an end on February 10th, 2008; but, if you're prone to splitting hairs or were, say, a cult leader trying to re-define a prophecy that never came to pass, you might say that Scientology was supposed to "BEGIN" to come to an end on February 10th, 2008. And, from there, you could cite a whole bunch of unverifiable occurrences that, to feeble minds, could suggest the beginning of ANYTHING, really.

Anonymous vs. Scientology

Hey, Maybe Barack Obama Will Correct All That?
Can I Get a "Yes We Can!"?

YES WE CAN!

Yes, maybe Barack Obama will slay Scientology. Maybe Barack will dismantle "Anonymous" and maybe, just maybe, Barack Obama will expose all the secret government agencies who are behind "Loose Change's 9/11 Conspiracy" and we can all get back to making our first $100 per month, right? Or maybe not.

WAIT! How About "THE SECRET"?!?!

Surely "The Secret" will attract to us untold wealth... right? If we only just belieeeeeeeeve!!!

/

Maybe Internet Marketing's Hypnotic Marketing Guru, "Doctor" Joe Vitale, who has bragged about manipulating people with "hypnotic ad copy" techniques and is featured in "The Secret" movie, can help you?

Darn, This Woman Is Pretty Sure He Really Can't
This Guy Is Awfully Sure He Can't Either....

"The reason for featuring Vitale, Gray, Demartini and other successful self-help gurus in The Secret is, obviously, to convince watchers that these people became successful because they learned how to use the law of attraction in their favor. Never mind the years of trial and error, hard work and dumb luck, that got them to where they are now. Steve Salerno, author of the book SHAM: How The Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless, wrote in his review of The Secret on Amazon: “One seldom encounters a better/worse example of the logical fallacy known as a posteriori reasoning. To take a successful person, look backwards at the attitudes they held on the way to becoming successful, then use those as proof-positive of WHY they’re successful, is as fundamentally silly as using the fact that Bill Gates and Ted Turner were college dropouts as justification for why you or your kids should drop out of college, too. (‘See? You’ll become a millionaire, just like they did!’).”" ~The Wrath of the Secretrons!

Let Mark Day Set You Straight...

And If None of That Cheers You Up,
Take Solace In the Fact That Aliens
Are Finally Fed Up With Scientology...!

Alright, people, it's safe now. You're all safe. You can get back to making your first $100 month now... no Aliens, no Secrets, and no Anonymous are going to stop you. We have Barack Obama's reassurances that, "Yes We Can!" and the REAL "Law of Attraction" from the early 1900s to guide us.

So What Are You Waiting For?
Get Earning!

Technorati Tags: the secret scientology church of scientology cos tom cruise anonymous barack obama loose change mark day joe vitale jack canfield l. ron hubbard dianetics cosmic connie new age cults

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Thanks to Alexa, I'll C U Next Tuesday!

Some things, you just can't stop... no matter how hard you try.

Take, for instance, Alexa.  Anyone who is here by intent knows Alexa.  It's a website that many take as the final arbiter of which sites on the web are most visited.  Are you gonna stop Alexa?  Probably not, and why would you want to anyways?  For web marketers and related service industries, it's a valuable resource.

And Then There's P0rn.  Good Ol' P0rn.

You can throw it, you can kick it, you can scream "Get thee back, Satan!", wrap it in a plastic bag, put in a lockbox, toss it in a chest, fill it with cement and drop it off a ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and, sooner or later, it's back again, somehow showing up on your doorstep.

And, let's be honest, many of you invite it back in.

After all, you're good people, you don't like to judge, you like to give everyone and everything a second chance, right?.  So maybe, just maybe, if we all show a little more discipline, a little more self-control, a little more understaaaaaanding, we can reconcile with our dear beloved p0rn and live happily ever after, right? (click Ashcroft's picture)

Well, It Looks As If You're Going to Have To...

After all the typical, obvious Top 500 Alexa-ranking websites such as Yahoo, Youtube, Microsoft Live and all the social networking sites on which tons of kiddies hang out, we find, just barely eclipsed by Google Chile, Megarotic, in position number 23.  It makes me wonder, out of 195, or so, countries in the world, just what the heck are all those Chileans searching for?  I'll bet if Chileans knew about Megarotic, Google Chile's high-ranking would become a thing of the past.

Seriously, do you think Chileans are searching for "how to" instructions on growing hydroponic maize?  Or how to breed virus-resistant farm-raised sea bass?  Don't think so.  They are, most likely, searching for Megarotic AND, in position number 32, YouP0rn (they also beat out Apple, Craigslist and Amazon).

Just Think About That For A Second...

Since it's abundantly clear that the bulk of searches are composed of people looking for free p*0rn (have to do that to avoid the p*rn bots), if searchers checked Alexa we would see a MASSIVE restructuring of the online, and world, economies.

First, people would stop paying for it since they could get massive amounts of it for free.  And, second, all the major search sites would take a massive hit and, ultimately, be eclipsed, on Alexa, by sites like Megarotic and YouP0rn, the new "movers and shakers."  Adult sites would go down the tube, with major search sites clinging to the tube.  Social networking sites, however, would continue to reign supreme because that's where all the degenerates would go to see if they could find anyone with which to actually do all those lovely new tricks they learn on Megarotic.

In Conclusion

It's like I said folks, you can beat it, you can kick it, you can fry it in trans-fatty acids and feed it to the poor and it's still going to come up smellin like rose petals (<--- sheer brilliance on wordplay):  p0rn is here to stay.  The tension of the opposites, the battle between the forces of good and evil, the invisible influences that shape our economies and our lives is not only the simple fact of life in this world but it's the only way that an otherwise lifeless piece of clay called a human being can develop.

In short, p0rn is your friend.  It will never abandon or betray you no matter how disloyal or inconsiderate you are towards it.  What the heck more can you ask for in this day and age you ungrateful bastards?!

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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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4 Contests - 1 Winner - 1 Club - 2 Entrecard Memes and a Goat

If there's one thing I've learned about you, it's that you like winning things! And you like more traffic to your blogs! And you like really cool stuff, really really cheap. And you like to hear about others, just like you, who won something really big! And since I'm spiriting off to Atlantic City this weekend for the World Poker Tour Main Event, I'm going to cram a whole bunch of such goodness into one tiny, tiny little space.

Are You Ready?

4 Contests - 1 Contest Winner - 1 Club - 2 Really Cool Entrecard Memes and... a Goat.

4 Contests - Easy Entry

Android Guys - Guaranteed that less than 2% of the people traveling through here will have any clue what Google's Android is but that doesn't matter. What DOES matter is that the Android Guys are giving away 1,750 Entrecard credits on February 1st to 3 lucky Entrecarders for doing nothing more than commenting at their blog and/or something like this. Way to go, Android Guys!

Silence is Everything - Wowee, not an Entrecard contest, BUT, one of the prizes being offered is you get to author your own WordPress plugin OR PHP script. That pretty much means anything you want to get WordPress to do for you, the contest owner will make it for you! And it's actually 3 contests in 1 so there are more cool prizes - just for doing, well, this (mentioning the contest)!

AdToll's 13,000 E.C. Giveaway - I'm not even in it. I'm just mentioning this as a nice thing for both you and AdToll. The entry requirements are a little more than usual but as of right now, it appears to me that there are only 16 entrants. So if you can do a mere 10 minutes of work, you can have yourself a real probably chance at winning 1 of 3 prizes from 1k to 10k credits.

SUPERBOWL XLII - Instead of making you jump through the usual hoops, this is more like a big money raffle with multiple winners and no prize currently less than 750k. It's based on the quarterly scores of the SuperBowl so, whether or not you even care about football, you can just purchase your ticket in the Entrecard shop and kick back and wait for the news. Read more about it in the shop description.

1 Contest Winner - 2,150 EC!

Yes, it's for real! People really do win contests and they really do WIN big. Recently, I started the "WINNER TAKE ALL" Raffle Series.

Here you can see "Winner Takes All 2"

I started the "Winner Takes All" and "The Totally Silly Raffle!" Entrecard raffle series as a kind of "pressure relief valve" due to a huge proliferation of the standard, boring raffles that Dark Is Easy talks about here. Each incorporates 2 timeless, rewarding principles with which non-marketing bloggers struggle, but which we internet marketers accept as undisputable fact: make it easy, make it cheap with the opportunity for it to "go big."

So in the first "Winner Takes All", at 50 EC, 43 people entered the Sam Freedom "Thunderdome" and only 1 person left... 2,150 EC richer! And here she is...

Lady De La Luna!

What's heartfelt about this is that "Lady of the Moon" was saving up to buy Adii's awesome premium Wordpress theme, NewsPress and this win just shaved her time down considerably. Visit Lady De La Luna's blog. I guarantee you will never want to leave...!

1 Club - Wordpress Theme Club

I wrote about this just yesterday but, for the sake of my readers, it absolutely should be mentioned again. The WordPress Theme Club by "Small Potato" is one of the absolute BEST values in hot, wordpress theme design I've seen in a long time... in fact, EVER. For a mere $5 per YEAR, you are getting a MINIMUM of 1 new extremely well-done Wordpress template per month. That is a minimum, because some months there will be more.

If you are wondering that so many people will have these, just think about 2 things:

1. having 12 Wordpress templates each year doesn't mean you can, or will, use 12 templates. So not every member will be using every template.

2. just like you might not immediately run off and join, there's a darn good bet that 97% of the people coming through here (or hearing about this anywhere else) won't join either. I'm not kidding! It's a true (and sometimes sad) fact that netizens are often very distracted and either too lazy, cheap or broke to spend even 3 minutes and $5 to be involved with something that isn't a burning, hot necessity.

So, since these aren't free Wordpress templates, you can very well bet that relatively few people will ever be using any one particular theme that you might like. Even 500 people using the same Wordpress theme is a small drop in the bucket of total blogs in play today. So definitely check out the WordPress Theme Club if you like an "above the fold" value. ;-)

And finally...

2 Really Cool Entrecard Memes by 2 Hot Entrecarder Blogs

I don't toss something aside just because I don't like it. Only a fool would (heheh). There are plenty of things one might not like that are plenty good for his well-being but some of those dislikes can, ironically, make many of the things you DO like even better in the long-run. But I actually like memes. The problem most people really have with memes is that most of them are either based on total nonsense or they're poorly constructed. But memes, by themselves, are nothing to dislike.

That being said, here's 2 memes I find of great value today.

The Economy of Entrecard - Worth It or Worthless?

When it comes to my appreciation of Entrecard, I can say that JTPratt's "workin' it." And I admire that. Whether or not he actually likes Entrecard or finds it worthwhile, he's taking a serious look at it from as many angles as he can (including spamming my inbox - which I don't mind as long as it's good!) and he's paying homage to the fact that some of the best value isn't in Entrecard's ranking system but rather in working the community. To fulfill my part in the meme, without reprinting things I've already said, I'll just point you to my specific thoughts and feelings on Entrecard's worthiness in, "Entrecarders! Chaindrop My Site, Please!" and here are all my Entrecard articles, in general.

If you continue the meme, and blog about your experience with Entrecard since you signed up (on your blog) AND link to this and the original article - you can leave a link to it in my comment section on this google PR4 site. Go comment on his, too, just because it's a well-written article on a good, relevant topic.

Chaindrop 8 Above the Fold Meme

Thanks to Sweet Mummy for the tag in "Eight Great Sites" where her first line about me is just... priceless.

Dane and Alan, over at Chaindrop.com, have come up with an excellent meme for all of us evil chaindroppers. The truth is, chaindropping is not as evil as those with little experience make it out be. Chaindropping is just a way for Entrecarders to be more efficient at what they do. In case you haven't noticed, we chaindroppers are somehow managing to meet one another and read each others' blogs... hello?!

So get in on the Chaindrop 8 Above the Fold Meme by moving your Entrecard widget ABOVE THE FOLD so no one has to run around your site searching for it and you'll start to get more traffic both from chaindroppers and from memes like these.

Since 8 is a lot for a meme, it's likely that after this post has made a few rounds, we'll be picking people who've been picked before without realizing it but, nonetheless, they might still be worthy of another mention. So here goes - here are my 8 picks for Entrecarders with widgets above the fold:

Make Money Online with EJ Cooksey - Everything about this woman is classy and professional. Just look at her site and you'll see what I mean. She writes very well, has excellent advice and info on making money online and she stays connected to the Entrecard community. Right now, she's going through the pains of moving off blogger to a Wordpress blog but as long as that Entrecard widget stays above the fold, then EJ Cooksey is in like Flynn!

Rice for Poor - At first, I thought this site might be a scam or a bit of a bleeding heart venture but shortly after arriving, I went and played the game and it expanded my already massive vocabulary. Whether or not they actually give rice to the poor or the fact that they don't update the blog much doesn't matter to me. We're talking about CHAINDROPPING, folks. As long as that Entrecard widget remains above that fold, not only will hunger be elimited by the year 2010 but millions of inner city youth are going to become increasingly litemarite... er, literate. Now go click the widget and play!

WidgetsLab - At first look, if the 'L' isn't capitalized, the name looks like Widget "Slab", however, this site is anything but dead. True to its name, Widgets Lab has all kinds of awesome, crazy up-to-date information regarding all kinds of widgets for all kinds of widget-needs. Big widgets, tall widgets, fat widgets, skinny widgets, you'll find them here. And you'll also find their Entrecard widget hitting you right between the eyes from the first moment you get there. Kaching!

Tetsujin's Blog - I can't tell you if "Tetsujin" is as common as "Smith" or "Jones" in Japan, but what I can tell you is that Tetsujin's blog is not so common. How could it be? It's from North Dakota! lol Nothing about Tetsujin is blah-humbug ordinary - it even runs in his family. Right now, his dad is trying to build a wall made of rocks from all 50 U.S. states. And as long as Tetsujin keeps that Entrecard widget above the fold, I've a feeling he's gonna eventually get his father those rocks!

Kevin H. Davis - Kevin H. Davis... Kevin H. Davis... has quite a ring to it, doesn't it? No need for aliases, no need for crafty clever names - just a name with the middle initial to help differentiate from all the other Kevin H. Davis' out there with internet marketing blogs. Well, once you read even one of his posts, you'll see why he doesn't need to play fancy tricks with his names. Plus, anyone who puts their Entrecard widget above the fold, in my opinion, is an instant Kevin H. Davis-style genius. Period.

The Office Cubicle - This is "Bored Office Employee" taken to the next level. True to its title, it's like a mixed bag of office cubicle goodness and gossip. Whether it's ranting about Microsoft Vista, praising a long-awaited Outlook Express feature or just railing on about the up-coming SuperBowl, chances are, if you've ever spent time in an office cubicle, you'll relate. And with his Entrecard widget at the top, he can definitely expect either to be fired or promoted... there is no in-between with an above-the-fold widget.

Evil Woobie - I like tagging Evil Woobie. It could just be the manimal in me but I like to think it's due to something higher... something finer... like her ... like.. well, I tried. ;-) The truth is, I'd be surprised if no one else has tagged her yet because Evil Woobie has a lot to offer; not only in love, romance and dating but, in general. Besides, Filipino bloggers are massively on the rise and no meme is complete without one - especially if they wear their widget above the fold. Go get woobied. (update, she got tagged by Turnip)

Blue Stem Winery - What good is an Entrecard meme without an extraordinary after-meme wine? Well, you find just such a thing at the Blue Stem Winery blog - along with an Entrecard widget above the fold. Even if you aren't a connoisseur of wines Blue Stem Winery will take you by the hand and show you how. And if you've never heard of a sommelier, you're in need of a visit - it will help you win more rice for the poor at... rice for the poor.

Honorable mention has to go to Turnip of Power just for writing, "I Hate Memes". He already got tagged, but he really cracked me up. Boy's got talent!

Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to leave my office cubicle, grab Evil Woobie and head over to Tetsujin's house... with all these above-the-fold Entrecard widgets making chaindropping a snap, that leaves us plenty of time to down a few bottles of rice wine and play with our widgets.

Oh Yes, and the Goat...

Now, Please, Click Here to Ping Me...

Technorati Tags: wordpress blogging blog tools blogging tools wordpress theme wordpress themes free wordpress themes blog widgets make money webmaster tools entrecard entrecard meme entrecard contest sam freedom chaindropping

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WordPress Theme Club - The Irresistable Offer!

Who'd have thunk it?  All internet marketers know that one of the keys to success is known as...

The Irresistable Offer

Well, when it comes to Wordpress themes, that's what you're about to encounter.

While I usually like to write lengthy, fun posts with lots of pictures, this is one is just plainly and simply about one HECK of an irresistible offer for anyone who ever needs a Wordpress theme...

WordPress Theme Club

ps.  Even if you just like to download awesome WordPress themes "for that rainy day...", you can, in no way, shape or form, ever regret taking advantage of what you're about to see.  Way to go, Small Potato!

Wordpress, blogging, blog tools, blogging tools, wordpress theme, wordpress themes, free wordpress themes, blog widgets, make money, webmaster tools

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Make MASSIVE Money Online Using Entrecard - The Missing Ingredient!

It's not often I hate someone online much less a business, but when they do something absolutely amazing and forget to call me first, it's a bit of a challenge to not go postal. But I can let that go since what I'm about to show you is "the missing ingredient" that will allow you, and many others, to

Massively Monetize Your Entrecard Experience

Those who've been following my gallivanting over the past five years know very well...

There's Not A Whole Lot That Really Impresses Me

In the 5 years I've been working online, plus the 30 years working in my family's uber-successful business, I've developed not only a "sixth sense" about opportunities but a "seventh" and an "eighth." In short,

Anyone who has visited my blog these past couple of months knows that one of them is

ENTRECARD

Because Entrecard provides "the little guys and gals" MASSIVE benefit in terms of

• more targeted traffic than most new or low-budget bloggers have ever experienced;
• loads of untargeted traffic which can still, quiet easily, be harnessed and made useful;
• social networking via the forums and shop and it's all FREE...; plus
• incredible 3rd party synergies like the one I'm mentioning next...

PROJECT WONDERFUL

The cat is out of the bag on this one, though it's not "the missing ingredient." While Project Wonderful is not limited to Entrecarders, they are catching on by the droves. Because Project Wonderful...

• allows brand new bloggers to get a fast taste of what it's like to monetize their blogs;
• allows intermediate and advanced bloggers to auction prime real estate at decent prices;
• gives Entrecarders greater advertising reach not only on more Entrecarders blogs but countless people across the Project Wonderful landscape

Even those once dreadful "chaindroppers" that many Entrecarders don't know whether to love or hate.. are stopping to look around a little bit longer to see if there's any good Project Wonderful-related advertising opportunities available on blogs they're passing by - especially if they can see the Project Wonderful ad blocks near the Entrecard widget.

So, If That Was It, Things Would Still Be Pretty Grand...

Because what impresses me THE MOST are...

SYNERGIES

"The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects."

So, Here It Is...
THE MISSING INGREDIENT

Listen closely now... because this is where even the least amongst us has the opportunity to start a huge avalanche of income just by rolling one tiny little stone. I have praised Entrecard up and down, IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, because it has done something for ALL ITS MEMBERS such that even the LEAST ESTABLISHED bloggers are in a supremely better position to grow rapidly than the 100s of 1000s of non-Entrecard bloggers starting up every day.

Most of them are just dying for the traffic that even the LEAST of Entrecarders gets to his or her blog every day.

So Where's the Money?

But, how are MOST bloggers, let alone the newest bloggers, going to make any REAL money just toolin' around Entrecard and placing Project Wonderful Ad Blocks on their site that probably won't even sell for 3 cents in the beginning?

Easy...

Right Here,
Doing Something We All Already Do
ALL OF THE TIME

(Well, hold on just a sec...)

MARK MY WORDS...

• Entrecard keeps loading up the barrel with more and more fish every single HOUR of every single DAY;
• Project Wonderful, whether or not you actually make significant money from it, gives you unfettered access to both very highly-traveled Entrecard AND non-Entrecard blogger's blogs for a very, very reasonable daily fee... and sometimes for NOTHING.

Just like someone got to advertise on your Entrecard widget for 2 credits when it was new, you can EASILY get to advertise on new blogs at Project Wonderful for mere PENNIES! And if you spy a blog that gets 15,000 hits per day, it's absolutely worth spending up to $10 for a day, or more to get your ad on it...

IF...

IF You Have a Place to Send Them That Will Pay You For It Big Time and for a Long Time

SO WHERE'S THE MONEY?!?!?

Right Here
10 Levels Deep...

...And For Doing What You Already Always Do.

Entrecard, blogging, blog tools, blogging tools, increase website traffic, traffic exchange, web 2.0, social media, social networking, social bookmarking, social news, blog widgets, website traffic, make money, webmaster tools, project wonderful

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FeedBurner Feedcount Chicklets Gone Wild!

Imagine the look on my face when I looked at my feedburner feedcount chicklet and it said,

And I was like,

Now THAT'S What I'm Talkin' About!

I've watched my feedburner feedcount chiclet climb from 229 to 308 in just the last 2-3 months since I took blogging way more seriously but I always felt, somewhere in my gut, that something wasn't right with Feedburner's reporting on feed subscribers.  And there were no shortage of others who had complained about the various discrpencies.

So, at 1,074, I was like, "Now THAT just seems more like it..." but a quick jaunt over to the Feedburner Forums saw a handful of people having the same problem - TOO MANY SUBSCRIBERS!

I had to wonder why more bloggers weren't complaining and then, being the "controversy blog" owner, it dawned on me...

They Were Probably All Thinking the Same Thing And Gearing Up to Sell Ad Space at Double Their Usual Price!

Ya gotta love marketers and money-hungry bloggers...!  Anyone else see a huge leap in their feedcounts?

(UPDATE: When you're done reading this article, here is the follow-up)

Technorati Tags: feedburner feedcount rss internet marketing blogging blogging tools feedblitz

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Just Say NO Daddy to GoDaddy!

Bob Parsons, owner of big fish domain registrar, GoDaddy.com, is crying "personal foul" over FOX's refusal to air one of his racy commercials during the nationally televised SuperBowl.

Just a few days ago, Bob wrote a kind of boo-hoo post that was only marginally above the juvenile tone we've heard, as of late, from the likes of "Girls Gone Wild" founder, Joe Francis, who is currently imprisoned.

With the logic of a disturbed 9-yr old, Bob explains that using the term "beaver" while referring to a "stuffed beaver" is really about a "stuffed beaver." Now, how many of you really think it's about a "stuffed beaver?"

Congratulations, You Get a Cookie.

Anyways, instead of rehashing the whole event, here's my reply to Bob amidst all the usual "You go, Bob!" fanatics.

Are you serious, Bob?

Do you really not get this to the extent that you can't even appreciate the other side of the coin? I can appreciate that meatheads love to party 'round football games - I was once one of 'em. But I can also appreciate that sports are also a family event and lots of kids watch the games, too.

Now, I'm not down for LEGISLATING morality but if a TV network wants to make the call on what THEY think is good or bad for its viewing audience, I'm ok with that. And, thankfully, they're smart enough to not cave to this sophomoric nonsense that calling a real, stuffed "beaver" has anything to do with beavers at all.

They know that even an 8th grader is smarter than you when it comes to that - even the 8th grader would know what you meant.

Do You Know Why, Bob?

Because others like you were allowed to do it BEFORE you somewhere else and so the kid picked up on it. And I think it's ok for people with conservative values to fight back a little before "poor me and my freedom of speech" people like you further erode peoples' dignity and their perception of women.

As regards the Victoria Secret's ad they are allowing, lingerie is lingerie... it can be sexy and classy. Making jokes about "beaver" is low-class and crude. Y'wanna make a joke about it to your buddies, go ahead. Y'wanna air it on national TV during prime-time when families with young kids are watching it, go...

"choke your chicken."

It's really about a chicken, right?

SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Should ads that, quite clearly, refer to women's vagina as "beaver" be allowed to air during nationally televised sports events just because they've done so cleverly? Remember, we're not talking about 11pm or 12pm but during prime time family viewing and KIDS do happen to love sports. Is FOX within its rights to reject such ads? And even if you don't like FOX for political reasons, can you be objective and see why they would allow a classy Victoria Secrets ad while disallowing an ad that objectified women's genitalia as animals?

Kudos to you, Bob Parsons - you made it onto Sam Freedoms Internet Marketing Controversy Blog.

Technorati Tags: bob parsons godaddy superbowl new engladn patriots san diego chargers green bay packers new york giants nfl football fox danica patrick candice michelle joe francis girls gone wild internet marketing

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Controversy At the Semmys - A Scene Out of Deliverance

Welcome to the SAMMYS
Sam Freedom's Version of The SEMMYs

Cruising through Sphinn, I found a controversial marketing sphinn for an Andy Beard post, titled, "The Semmys - Highly Controversial Just As It Should Be" and, naturally, seeing the word "controversial", my brow involuntarily raised. Surely, a REAL controversy blogger, like myself, would be included in there somewhere. Right?

After all, I AM number 10 in Google for "controversial marketing" - and without even trying. Right?

However, I don't actually write about controversial marketing directly - I leave that to the academics. As the saying goes,

"Those Who Can't DO, Teach."

Plainly and simply, at the risk of sounding like a marriage contract - I DO. The internet is rife with examples of my controversial marketing - some easily found, others not. The fact that I don't publicize log stats and various earnings testifies more to my intent to both not reveal "trade secrets" and also to not get people artificially hyped up about their personal potential.

The "controversial" marketing that most people think of as controversial marketing is very tame and all nicey-nice, indeed. - like on the level of running into the middle of a big meeting, calling everyone a "pee-pee head" and then running back to their blog to field complaints.

But It Just Ain't So...
It's A Little Bit More Involved Than That

"boy sure got a purty site, ain't he?"

But it really makes me want to pat such wanna-be miscreants on their skulls and say, "How cute! Ok, now run along!" Because, as Chris Brogan likes to repeat more times than Rain Man, controversial marketing (like social media) is ALSO...

"...about the conversation"
"...about the conversation"
"...about the conversation"
"...about the conversation"

So I'm Opening Up a Conversation With You

This Was A Conversation, Right?

That being said, not a-one of my illustrious posts were anywhere to be found on the Semmys site. Now, I've Sphunn, Stumbled, Dropped and Tweeted my way into the New Year just like everyone else but what I found, instead, was nothing short of...

A SEM-ified Scene Out of the Movie "Deliverance"

In other words, the SEM crowd kept it, for the most part, "in the family" - they all "did it" with each other.

So what's a REAL controversial marketer to do except...

...Be Controversial!

That's right, rather than just peeking into the big incestuous gala and continuing on my way, I've decided to inject MY deserving articles into the SEMMYs my OWN way... by creating...

...The SAMMYs!

Essentially, the SAMMYs are almost the exact same as "the SEMMYs" except each category includes one of MY articles that should have belonged in there in the first place. As I'd told Matt McGee, if a certain percentage of fresh, new faces from OUTSIDE the community were included, it might have the effect of enriching the community as opposed to, once again, publicizing all the same old names we see day-in and day-out in the Sphinn Zone...

So Now, Without Further Ado... I present to you...

SEO

Get Your Vaseline Out, Google Is At It Again! (re: Paid Links)

PPC

Oh, It's Gonna Be A Click Fraud Christmas...!

Google

Wikipedia - Google's Anna Nicole Smith

Blogs & Blogging
10 Reasons Why You Might Be a Pussy Blogger
Comment Whoring Outside the Box

Link Building

PayPerJokes Crime and Google Does Evil - My First Review

Social Media

A Quick Jaunt Into Data Mining on Twitter

Rants

Warning! Big Twitter Is Watching YOU!

LOL Funny!

5 Undeniable Reasons Why Chitika Linx Probably
Won't Be Working Out on My Internet Marketing Blog

Online Marketing / General

The Battle for Your Brain...!

Reputation Management

Persona Non Grata Sam Freedom

Viral Marketing

So, Bigmouth, You Think You Know Viral Marketing?

Good luck to Everyone and Congrats to the Judges:

Aaron Wall Andrew Shotland Andy Beal Andy Beard Barry Schwartz Bill Slawski Brad GeddesChris Winfield Christine Churchill David Mihm Deb Mastaler Eric Enge Jeff Quipp Jennifer Laycock John Andrews Lee Odden Lisa Barone Logoworks Loren Baker Matt McGee Michael Gray Rand Fishkin Simon Heseltine Stoney deGeyter Sugarrae Tamar Weinberg Todd MalicoatVanessa Fox

Technorati Tags: sem seo sphinn matt mcgee social media google ppc search tech local search reputation management viral marketing blogging online marketing internet marketing link building semmys Aaron Wall Andrew Shotland Andy Beal Andy Beard Barry Schwartz Bill Slawski Brad Geddes Chris Winfield Christine Churchill David Mihm Deb Mastaler Eric Enge Jeff Quipp Jennifer Laycock John Andrews Lee Odden Lisa Barone Logoworks Loren Baker Matt McGee Michael Gray Rand Fishkin Simon Heseltine Stoney deGeyter Sugarrae Tamar Weinberg Todd Malicoat Vanessa Fox

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