About three weeks ago I received my first offer to do a sponsored post on my blog. And it quickly became apparent to me this was nothing but an ingeniously crafted scam.
A pretty generic Chinese on-line retailer was offering me the chance to write a post on their wares in exchange for a coupon redeemable at the very store I was supposed to be promoting.
All I had to do was go to their website, fill out a form, do a post and voila! One coupon coming my way. Yay!
The way this looks to me is that they get free exposure and my money, since the $10 coupon they're offering for my writing services can buy me just about one pair of nylons.
Not to mention, how generic the e-mail they sent me was. No salute, no name just hello and a copy pasted message.
What makes it worse is that a week later I received another one of these generic e-mails. This time from a fashion blogger who'd picked the e-mails off some one's comment section and was trying to round us all up and get us to follow her blog.
Again no salute or anything, just come follow my blog, there might be a lip gloss in it for you.
At times like these I am sorely tempted to pack it all up, close down my blog and go do nothing.
What was the most annoying, aggravating or just plain rude experience you've had since you started blogging?
A pretty generic Chinese on-line retailer was offering me the chance to write a post on their wares in exchange for a coupon redeemable at the very store I was supposed to be promoting.
All I had to do was go to their website, fill out a form, do a post and voila! One coupon coming my way. Yay!
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The way this looks to me is that they get free exposure and my money, since the $10 coupon they're offering for my writing services can buy me just about one pair of nylons.
Not to mention, how generic the e-mail they sent me was. No salute, no name just hello and a copy pasted message.
What makes it worse is that a week later I received another one of these generic e-mails. This time from a fashion blogger who'd picked the e-mails off some one's comment section and was trying to round us all up and get us to follow her blog.
Again no salute or anything, just come follow my blog, there might be a lip gloss in it for you.
At times like these I am sorely tempted to pack it all up, close down my blog and go do nothing.
What was the most annoying, aggravating or just plain rude experience you've had since you started blogging?
Grrrrrr. I´m annoyed to hear something like this and I understand your feelings.
ReplyDeleteSince I have no email address on my blog, I have not received idiotic messages, only a couple of odd comments.
However, I really was surprised, when I first realized, that all my writings float in the blogosphere. I was shocked and wished to dig a small hole in the ground and hide in it. Now, how naive had I been..!
Well, I got over my shock. I have not revealed anything I´m ashamed of.
The fact, that there are so many superficial blogs, and so many superficial comments, disturbs me every now and then.
I guess I've been lucky; people have been very polite and friendly on my blog.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, I had a sewing blog which, for some reason, attracted a lot of spammers. That was annoying. I've also had a blog post stolen-- someone copied it and posted it as their own on their blog. That was maddening, but there's not much one can do about things like that.
The rudest thing that ever happened to me was one time when I posted a comment on another blog. It was a blog I don't normally read, and apparently I unknowingly touched a nerve about the blogger's past. The blogger misunderstood my comment and responded in a very hostile and insulting manner, complete with vulgar language. I was shocked. But luckily I'm at a point in my life where I'm able to avoid getting tangled up in personal dramas-- so I just let it go and never went back to that blog. :)
Mette: not to have your e-mail linked is a wise choice. I'm thinking of having a special e-mail just for my blog. I've also made sure my password is really hard. There were bloggers who've had their accounts hacked into, not nice!
ReplyDeleteMs. M: I once left a dissenting comment (you know politely disagreeing and explaining why) that ensued a flurry of snarks and insults. Just horrible! For the life of me I can't understand why people feel the need to use nasty words. I guess I'm naive in that aspect.
Refusing to get mixed up in the drama is the best policy :-) but I still find it hard to emotionally distance from the insult. Working on it.
One of my annoying blogger experiences was getting an email from Sears asking me to do all this free promotion for them. Normally, I would just delete that kind of thing without comment but similar issues were on my mind so I made fun of it in a blog post. But really, who cares. The annoying part was when some anonymous commenter criticized me for not falling to my knees and sucking Sears' dick. Those are my words, not the words of the commenter! You can see the whole thing here: http://wendybrandes.com/blog/2010/08/blogs-brands-bullshizz/
ReplyDeleteBut honestly, what kind of idiotic response was that. If Sears came at me with some money, I'd be happy to work for them, but for free? No thanks.
OT: Thanks for your thoughtful comment on my press freedom post.
WendyB: Just for once I'd like to see a commenter who signs their name under this kind of opinion (but in that scenario, hell would probably be frozen solid)
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind doing free promotion for a cause I believe in especially helping artisans, people starting out, etc. But Sears? The epitome of corporate success, yep I'd feel exactly the same way: show me the money!
Thanks for hopping over :-)
Ha! What fun seeing the back and forth between you and WendyB. I can't top that, and won't :).
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, non-paying sponsors be dammed!
Susan: WendyB is a force larger than nature! I respect her candid and sometimes !#@* approach to life. Like her swear rings, you either get it or don't :-)
ReplyDeleteBehind all that is (I would imagine a kind) and genuinely warm person with integrity. But then, you've met her and have a much better idea.
I've not met Wendy in person, but do hope to one day.
ReplyDeleteSusan: I must have remembered this wrong. I was thinking abot this for 10 minutes at least. I know, slightly OCD ;-P then I remembered you met La Belette. Plese tell me I'm right the second time?!
ReplyDelete