I got flamed, but Sexy Rexy is on my side!
A couple of days ago, I blogged about 5 steps to making cash from your iPhone in South Africa, and not too long after publishing it, I got flamed by two people for giving away ever so ultra, incredibly extra, top secret SEO information and that I was no longer going to be involved in a so called “inner circle”. At first I felt upset that two well known bloggers would attack me like this over educating people about SEO tactics, which really do fall under SEO 101 and not rocket science. People like Darren Rowse, Jeremy Shoemoney, Joel Comm and John Chow have made a living off educating, howcome when I do it, do I get flamed? Flamed to such a point that I was asked about it OFFLINE!
Suffice to say, after a couple hours, 59 very positive comments and Rex’s video, I feel a lot better about the whole incident, seeing that only 2 of the 20+ people who were involved felt that educating the masses about SEO tactics was a bad thing. I’m sorry if I exploited your niche chaps, but if you’re as good as you deam yourselves to be, your SERP rankings won’t be affected, if anything, bidders will bid higher and you’ll get backlinked too, so don’t worry, your precious Adsense Cheques will still arrive ;)
The post brought about huge conversation as well, topics such as how much sharing is too much sharing, and should we educate South Africans as to how important SEO really is. Christine from AlterSage wrote a post on TechLeader today outlining 10 reasons developers should embrace search marketers, which has also created a decent conversation on the topic. All in all, it’s clear that search marketing and search engine optimization is incredibly important, especially in South Africa at the moment. Yes, I know that a monopoly leads to money, my fellow SEO gurus, but look how telkom turned out!
To conclude, I’d like to say that from here forth I will always think twice before educating people on my blog, it’s a sad thought that sharing my knowledge gets me slated. I’ve spent 5 or 6 years studying search engine optimization, I’ve worked inhouse, I’ve contracted, I’ve been there to read the first post published on Blue Hat SEO by Eli – sharing my knowledge as one of the best search marketers in South Africa (I’m talking about proper search engine marketing and not about who can ’spam’ the best – people get confused, no names mentioned) should be something that I am allowed to do. Don’t you agree?
Thanks Rex, you made my night! (I think you made Sushi Simons night too – fring fring! Oh, and Eric is confused about Springleap!!!)
Christopher is the founder of iMod - Most of his time is spent building websites and pushing the limits with Search Engine Optimization. You can follow him on Twitter @ChristopherM
Chris M has written: 4117 posts.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 1:01 am
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!!!
“ever so ultra, incredibly extra, top secret SEO information”
It was so secret that if you searched Google for “iPhone” you’d NEVER see it at the top of the page???
(Though somebody better pay for the domain soon :P )
I WISH I was hip enough to be kicked out of the inner circle of 5 people…
Jul 9th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Hehe, well that’s totally awesum – I love the voice and the expressions. I wonder how long something like that takes to put together…
Jul 9th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Man, some people can get touchy about this. And when people get that defensive, I start questioning the whole thing. I have to admit I find this whole episode extremely immature (not on your part, Chris). It’s not as if there isn’t a whole wide world out there that’s doing exactly the same stuff.
Bleh. So many things I’d like to say – none of them designed for comment fields, lol. In short, Chris, thanks for sharing the iPhone info. I will probably never end up acting on it, but in my book, that counts a hell of a lot more than a few higher SERP rankings.
~ Wogan
Jul 9th, 2008 at 9:10 am
o.O
Guys, brilliant!
ABSOLUTELY Brilliant!
FRING FRING bwhahahahahahaaha!
Chris, you’ve been working out there ;)
The irony that a post about how to drive traffic to a phone has massed this much hype to SEO.. class.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Penis envy.
Rise above it.
No pun intended.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 9:38 am
I wonder who the first is going to be to offer to have Rex’s cubs?
That’s a seriously sexy lion, and having just watched Brokeback Mountain for the first time this week, I can see now how ordinarily straight lions could develop desires to go all brokeback on one another.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 11:12 am
All that I get from this is that they fear a bit of competition. Since competition is part of the game, constantly battling to improve not only your own strategy but to outshine the competition, I’d have to say they really need to suck it up and grow a backbone. In any case, a little competition has never hurt anybody.
PS: Chris, well written!
Jul 9th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Anything worth saying has been said, except for the following:
Should things get really outta hand…you can call me in to burn shit! My support for your intention to educate & promote evolution…evokes my inner arsonist! Kudos to you for not backing off & succumbing to the norm of silence about injustice.
Those guys should be told that “Possession is so 80s!”
Jul 9th, 2008 at 11:57 am
What some see as a flame was actually bait and you gobbled it up hook, line and sinker.
Now onto the next issue.
I’ll try an communicate my reasons at some point in time.
I hope i do not get future comments to this post in my email Chris as I do not see anything asking me if I would like to subscribe to email alerts anywhere…
Jul 9th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Hi Rafiq. Do you not see the link at the bottom of the mail pointing to the following:
http://imod.co.za/wp-subscription-manager.php
Either way, I’m sure Chris can manually remove you from the list. Not sure what plugin you’re using Chris, but the “Subscribe to comments” plugin is quite cool, with a better “unsubscribe” link at the bottom, and a checkbox that people have to manually click to subscribe…
Jul 9th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Haha @James, exactly :P~ Ye, I’m no longer in the inner circle it would appear, the strange thing is.. I don’t know what happens in the inner circle, so perhaps I’m still in it? lol
@Don – I think it’s incredible, this is actually the 3rd video that Rex has released and I’ve no doubt that there won’t be TONS more.
@Wogan – The response was strange, I must admit, I certainly didn’t expect such a flaming and I’ve lost respect for certain people over this. It’s hard to find the time to initiate a new website, I’m sure you’re as swamped as I am! :)
@Chris – Doing what I can do, you know ;) It’s incredibly good, I can’t wait to see more of Rex’s videos! Ye, I mention SEO and BOOOOM :P
@justBcoz – HAHAHA, that’s a good way of putting it in fact :D
@Richard – Lol! BWhahahah, classic comment!
@MissE – Competition is exactly it in my opinion, things might just get that much harder to make a quick buck. Thanks MissE, I appreciate the warm comment.
@Nadah – I felt I needed to politely take this out to my readers and see what they really think, it’s great to see that I’m not alone on this!
@Rafiq – Falling back onto it being bait is a lame way of walking away mate, come on now, what was said to me about being removed from the inner circle is a long jump away from a minor baiting situation, surely? Naturally there are no serious hard feelings, I just wanted to see what my readers and the bloggisphere thought about all of this. Eish bud, at the bottom of the emails should be the option to unsubcribe?? If not, simply navigate to here: http://www.imod.co.za/wp-subscription-manager.php – You have been removed btw bro :)
Jul 9th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I’d like to see Rex the Lion eating Rafiq.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
How about just linking to a different iPhone website like the following:
http://www.houseintohome.co.za/technology/3g-iphone/
;-)
Jul 9th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
@Richard – LMAO!
@James – Rofl, let’s see mate, let’s see.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
@catto my wooden spoon would cause Rex indigestion
@james – that’s not the point, i never subscribed in the first place.
The subtle Web AddiCT(s); mention by Rex demonstrates how real SMO/SEO should be done ;)
Jul 9th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
@rafiq – That’s very true, a Web AddiCT with a wodden spoon is like a ninja with nun-chucks, deadly!
Jul 9th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
@Rafiq: Spam is but a small price to pay for the privilege of commenting on iMod.
This site is smart enough to know that intelligent people wish to be updated whenever there is a new development on here.
You are an intelligent person, aren’t you?
Otherwise, just let it know to put you in the “bozo” bin. :)
Jul 9th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
@Rafiq: You’re right. I realised I’d misread your comments after I posted. A default “subscribe to email” is probably against the CANSPAM act (however you spell that thing). That’s another reason I fully recommend the “Subscribe to Comments” plugin…
Jul 9th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
James.. I’m using the subscribe to comments plugin, just adapted for my own usage. It’s quite simple, if it annoys you, you have 2 choices: 1. Unsubscribe. 2. Don’t comment ;)
Jul 9th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I think it’s quite refreshing and healthy for bloggers to have regular tiffs with one another.
All the pally pally back-slapping that usually goes on get’s pretty dull after a while.
Jul 9th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I totally agree! Rafiq and I have chatted about all of this, we’ve laughed, we’ve discussed it, baiting and flaming is the basis to any blog which is going to get noticed!
I agree, these “inner circles” are non-existent!
Jul 9th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Sheesh, time to kiss and make up guys – this drama is getting old now, lol.
On the subscribe to comments thing, that unsubscribe option is almost impossible to use as you have to try and sift through pages of posts to click off and can’t do a general click off for all posts. I agree that a plugin allowing readers to choose to subscribe or not would be a good move. If I want to watch a post, then I will get follow ups, but I am still deleting comment notifications from Paris Hilton’s nipple post which is just downright annoying.
Jul 10th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Kiss and make up, no ways, this stuff brings traffic ;)
Unsubscribe, I need to think about this, anyone who knows what’s happening can easily unsubscribe, but a lot of my readers forget to follow posts and the reminder is a good one. Nipple post.. hahahhaha, that just made my night!
Anyway, you did a good job at killing this thread dear :/
Jul 10th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Some of you are missing the point here -
Educating newbies on how to spot niches and what tools/strategies to use to exploit those niches is great and should have been the bases of iMod’s post
Its a whole different story when you actually spill the beans on a new niche because “you’re to busy to go for it” (but you actually are going for it in the background) which is wrong.
You mention Jeremy Shoemaker (shoemoney) Chris – I have been reading his blog for years and he has never exposed a profitable niche not before exploiting it for a few months and then to only later showing his readers how he did it ..etc
ps – The auto subscribe comment plugin is fucking irritating.
Jul 10th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Some of us are missing the point? It would appear that EVERYONE missed the point, because everyone seems to be in agreement with me, even Rex the lion!
I educated the masses and gave them a test project to work on, simple as that. I’m going for it in the background? Really?
All I said was that Jeremy made his living off educating people, it was as simple as that :)
Auto subscribe.. LOL, that’s a different discussion all together, let’s not let that cloud this conversation.
Jul 10th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I still think the “inner-circle gurus” are getting way too touchy about this. It’s one niche, dammit. It’s not as if your reputations are at stake if you lose a few dollars over the next month. He who dies with the most toys is still dead ;)
Jul 10th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
I’ve been meaning to comment on a number of your posts Chris but like the seo “gurus” I’m slightly put off by the auto subscribe feature. I see you’ve added a non descriptive check box, hopefully it works if I uncheck it.
Anyways, I’m with you on the tips you gave & as @Wogan mentioned it’s one niche – it’s not like you gave every single secret away about the whole damn industry.
Jul 10th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Hi Wezz, yes, I’ve taken the advice and requests to heart and added the checkbox at the bottom, which does look rather silly at the moment, but I will have some text next to it explaining the process, etc.
Ye Wezz, look, I do feel a bit bad for exposing the niche, even though I don’t think it was a complete niche. All in all, I still stand strongly on educating, but I’m just going to, perhaps, consider more angles before publishing something, which could potentially affect someone in the local sphere :)
Thanks for the comment!
Jul 11th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Chris, I think you should continue to blow all the “secret” niche ways to make money online.
Personally I don’t think anyone has legitimate rights to criticise you for doing this, because Freedom of Speech is an overriding right.
I think people are moaning about thread spam because your non-standard implementation automatically subscribes people to thread updates, rather than allowing them to choose what updates they receive.
Jul 11th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I agree Richard, but whether it’s legitimate or not, it still happens. I have a great SEO article coming up shortly so keep posted :)
Yes, I’ve updated the subscribe to comments to allow people to subscribe now..