OK I’m going to act as an intermediary here and call an official cease fire on all the hostilities at the moment. We all know what has been going on for the past few months now;

‘The Pros don’t give back’ hit with ‘the newbies are just blog bashing to get traffic’

I have been guilty of objecting to the working ethics of certain people, I have also been guilty of maybe being too vocal about the pricing of certain products and the way they are marketed. If I have been guilty of it, so have a lot of others and if those people are honest it actually doesn’t help anyone.

I’m not going to mention which products or people I am talking about, that’s not important we all know the products and people in question. What is important is the fact we solve this issue right here and now.

There has been a class divide created between us and them and it’s wrong. It’s wrong because it simply doesn’t exist. Now I am going to have a strict word with both camps here, an ear bending if you like, so everyone leave your egos at the door and listen in;

  • Professionals

This applies to the people who are making money from their online ventures and maybe taking hits for it. You have all come under fire at some point from what I can see and granted I have been in the mixer (although not for a while). As the market leaders you are easy targets, you know you are, whether people are doing it for cheap traffic or whether they strongly disagree with you so much, people have to tell their readers it simply has to stop.

Now is this right? No of course it’s not, some of the posts I have read about some of your products have been blatant hatred of traffic stunts and that is wrong. Some of the negative press has been well constructed and offered some good insights, but ultimately it’s still not good karma.

So if you are so great why am I bending your ear? Well there has been on occasion some of you are taking this personally and reacting in a way that does nothing but fuel the fire, you clearly are all business minds and as such making a fantastic amount of money which is great, but from my perspective at least it looks like you rally round each other, which as I said fuels the fire. I have noticed some of you tweeting about me in the past, I have back tracked your conversations and it took all my strength not to hit you back. When you reply to comments or mentions, don’t be so short about it as I said it fuels the fire when people are already on the back foot.

Now names or sites aren’t important in this, so what is? You guys are the market leaders, you are the reason why so many ‘make money online’ dreams are alive today, sure you have a right to defend yourself, but you also have a responsibility to act accordingly.

Now before you response immeadiately to this, remember what I said, leave your ego at the door and read what I am about to say to the other camp and read what I have to say at the bottom, OK?

  • Objectors

Of course you have the right to write about what you believe in, I have and do it every day. Hell I have even talked about the money makers if a way that wasn’t great, but guys where does it get us?  Seriously think about this, as a result of us saying this sucks or that is too expensive and just repackaged marketing, what will come of it? People will agree and disagree and that’s it. The conversation and replies on a post like that last days at best. In a months time, will the argument still be burning? No, will these guys still be making money? Yes.

If we’re honest about all this, these guys are the reason we are doing this. We may not like or take their advice, but because they have made ‘making money online’ a reality it actually gives us hope that we can do it too.

Does it matter that the busier sites don’t reply to every comment? No, does it matter to you that you do reply to everything? If the answer is yes and I bet it is, then keep doing it. If one of these guys only replies to 20 out of 700 comments, does that affect our goals or ambitions? Of course it doesn’t, if anything it makes you look better, so don’t worry about it.

I know what some of you are saying about it being a ‘secret club’ in which they all rally around each other and believe me I know what it’s like to have them talk about me, but aren’t we doing the same thing? We’re creating our own little club which is rallying round everyone.

OK now everybody come together and listen;

Everyone who has a website will always talk about things they want to and I’m not saying don’t mention other products or people, but do it in a way that is productive. For example instead of saying ‘$47 a month for a forum is ridiculous’ Why not constructively analyse it, ask the seller to get involved etc. If someone does mention your product on their site, don’t get personal, be a professional and do your job, be the market leader and offer help or advice in a constructive way.

Ultimately none of this is going to affect anything we do, I do things completely differently to someone else, does it mean my way is better than thiers? No.

As a leaving thought I would like everyone, professionals and objectors to get involved in this post and draw a line under it.

My inspiration for this post? My best friend of many many years who back in the day got me out of a lot of hairy situations in the military, a guy of honour and supreme courage, a guy who was a decorated hero who had saved countless lives including mine sadly died from cancer yesterday, leaving a family of three behind. All this petty he said she said rubbish needs to stop, let’s get on with the task in hand and help each other.

Henry Allinghams Funeral, Brighton 2009
Creative Commons License photo credit: stuff_and_nonsense

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