Comments on: Failures in Self Promotion

By: Ike

Ike — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:03:48 +0000

So noted.

Please stay in touch, and if you have any questions about how to approach helping your community I would be happy to point you to several folks who are the real deal. You have identified a niche that may well have a need for the sort of engagement these tools would provide, and I am all for those sharing what they know in underserved areas.

You might want to connect with the membership of Social Media Club London. (I know the global founders, and it’s a good organization full of people who are willing to share what they know…)

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:27:45 +0000

Thank you for posting my comments and replying Ike. I was starting to feel like this was a little one sided against me.
I’ve just read your two articles (on coaching and teaching) and agree with what you’re saying, particularly regarding what one should look for regarding a suitable mentor:
# They have proven their skills in different kinds of businesses and business models.
I am constantly working to do this as I learn more and more. I am by no means ‘the finished article’ but I never claimed I was, simply that I can help those starting out.
My own knowledge comes from having built my following for my original Twitter account (@Matthew_Duggan), where I engage theatre lovers. Conversion-wise, I don’t sell anything from the associated website so I can’t say. However, Twitter is currently my largest traffic source for that site.
That particular audience cares about what I’m doing as many have seen the shows I’ve appeared in here in the UK or are friends/colleagues of mine from that scene. They also appreciate the info I post about theatre events and tickets (judging by the RTs and DMs).
I agree I need to show that more clearly. I’m still learning and the curve has been very steep of late.
Regarding the value of the free course, I give my members a substantial amount of good, free information in the members area (4 videos on Twitter tools, an e-book, links to lots of great free software that helps me and my colleagues in our businesses and a YouTube channel with more video tutorials), hence the valuation of $97.
I’m off to thoroughly re-read the posts I commented on and take your advice.
Incidentally, I would very much appreciate it if you would remove your campaign to get me to number one on Google as this hurtful victimisation is unfair given what you now know about my intentions. It seems unnecessarily vindictive to continue it when all I did was made a mistake while trying to apply what I’d learned (rightly or wrongly).
I would also appreciate the removal of the Fake Twitter Guru links as I never claimed to be a guru. I provide good information for people looking to start on Twitter. That’s it.
You’ve made your point, I’ve learnt a lot, now (I sincerely hope) we can go our separate ways without any of the previous malice.
Thanks again for the reply, your advice and your acceptance of my apology.

By: Ike

Ike — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:44:56 +0000

Matthew, I accept your apology. Now here is a little more background you can carry with you.

One of the big problems with what we refer to as “social media” is that we’re talking about something that lots of people can do for themselves, but that doesn’t translate into doing well for others. I’ve written about this recently, regarding the difference between a practitioner and a coach, and the qualities that separate a coach and a teacher.

You were at the wrong place at the wrong time, and by your own admission you were following brand new advice. But please think about what you wrote with regard to what you were offering. Your site is designed to establish your expertise in an area where you clearly don’t have it. If, indeed, you had been charging people for your services then how can you say they got their money’s worth? (and how do you conclude that you’ve given a client at $97.00 value? At least you have removed this part from your site.)

Now, let me give you some free advice. You still offer coaching on how to get 1,500 followers in 75 days. Yet the two accounts I saw for you had nowhere near that number. Have you grown someone else’s? What do you have to prove it?

And more importantly, how engaged is that following? What sort of conversion do you have with them? Is it the right sort of audience that is influential, or that cares about your particular issue or product?

There are thousands of people doing what you are doing, Matthew. And I’ll grant that you might have more sincerity than most. But the field has become crowded and clouded with people selling snake oil, and there’s no real clearinghouse to separate them from people who have legitimate resumes and success.

Please go back and re-read the posts you commented on, and the two I linked to within this comment. You’ll see that I was not crowing about my own achievement, but rather highlighting how easy it is to game results.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:41:36 +0000

I also forgot to mention that this was my first foray into having an internet business. I thought I was making progress but feel like I’m now being incredibly harshly punished by you for making a single mistake.
I acted on advice I trusted and I’m sorry for making that mistake.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:08:48 +0000

Wow, first of all I’m stunned by the vehement response to a couple of comments.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to say a couple of things (if I’m permitted).
First off, I’d like to apologise to Ike and indeed anyone else who I may have offended by posting comments on Ike’s site. At no point was this my intention.
The second thing is, yes indeed, I did post on Ike’s site to (in part) gain more kudos with the search engines. I did this on the advice of someone I took as a mentor in this area who advised me to find blogs related to my keywords and post comments on them. This advice was clearly wrong and again, please allow me to apologise if I’ve offended anyone. Incidentally, I did read the posts I commented on prior to commenting on them. For example, I was genuinely impressed by Ike’s induction into the Twitter Elite, hence me saying so.
I was genuinely unaware that this constituted ‘spam’ as my comments were legitimate comments on the posts, albeit motivated by a desire to improve my search results.
Thirdly, at no point did I (or so I) proclaim to be a guru. All the things I say on my site are true. I do give away all the things I say on the front page, I do show you legitimate ways of using Twitter for business that have worked for me and my colleagues etc.
Finally, Ike, you could easily have sent me an e-mail about this and I would have apologised as I have here. You may be sure I have absolutely learnt from this upsetting experience. I shall not be posting any more comments on any blogs for whatever reason.
Again, please accept my apologies for upsetting you and your readers.

By: Ike

Ike — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:20:10 +0000

Here’s the thing… If this serves as an explanation that helps other bloggers sniff out those who would game the system, then it is worth it.

Most of the spammy comments get silently deleted, but there were just too many ironies here to ignore.

By: Entropy aka physician

Entropy aka physician — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:43:36 +0000

to each his own.. such a waste of ur time ike; having said that a big lol for you having gone through his material ike

By: Ike Pigott

Ike Pigott — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:21:03 +0000

Help show a Spammy weasel the REAL power of SEO! Read this, and act on it: http://bit.ly/1uqtz0

By: dc2fla

dc2fla — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:45:53 +0000

Take out fakes w/humor: @IkePigott http://bit.ly/1rp0K5 @AnnaObrien http://bit.ly/2tnw7v & @RobertCollins , @GeoffLiving for amplifying #FF

By: dc2fla

dc2fla — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:30:06 +0000

Take out fakes w/humor: @IkePigott http://bit.ly/1rp0K5 @AnnaObrien http://bit.ly/2tnw7v (@RobertCollins , @GeoffLivingston amplifying) #FF