I was reading this article from the Seattle times today that talked about some local Vancouver residents that are being sued by Microsoft over an allege pay per click fraud scheme. You can read more about it here:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2009342708_microsoftclick160.html

Essentially, many people pay to have their websites get listed in various search engines that costs the advertisers money every time someone clicks on their link. It is said that these three people were purposely clicking on its competitor links to use up their funds and hence making only their listings as the last one standing.

I was reading a particular line that stated “The cost per click ranges from 5 cents to hundreds of dollars, depending on the desirability of the search term, according to court documents”. Now I have seen keyword terms go for say double digits in cost per clicks, but triple digits? That just sounded like a lot.

Incase you are wondering though, to my knowledge those extremely high priced keywords are usually lawyer related where they target things like asbestos and mesothelioma lawsuits. As you know, those guys can get a lot of money from winning lawsuits.

I have helped many people in creating their sites to rank organically meaning search engines will evaluate and rank your site based on merits such as the content you provide. I have run across situations like this as well where someone spends hundreds of dollars on items like pay per clicks just to find that it is mostly a competitor that is draining their funds.

If you are starting some kind of online business, this article just reminded how you shouldn’t put all of your eggs in one basket either if you intended to market your website online to attract business. Example, a good strategy is to use various search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to try and build the long term traffic source that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. At the same time, you can use pay per clicks as a way to help jumpstart your efforts to acquire exposure.

Of course, if you are paying say $1 per click which generates a $5 sale on average then it makes sense to keep going. However, it’s better to build the long term vehicle too I’d say as oppose to constantly trading a dollar for a viewer. It’s things like word of mouth advertising that you want in the end I’d say.

Recently a site that I maintained got some simple mainstream media exposure. I was wondering where the odd spike in traffic came from initially until I researched it further. As expected too, the site generated more revenue than normal. That made me think too how capitalizing on these spurts is usually what determines if someone will consistently grow or not. Especially when it comes to a situation where you are trying to generate an income.

I guess another way of putting it is some people classify it as making sure that you keep momentum going. I would say the most common way I see on how people capitalize on it is that they try to draw a lot of attention to this such as either mentioning they were featured in a specific source or the results they have generated as a result.

People generally like following good news and success I’d say which is why when you get those opportunities it’s not a bad idea to try and capitalize it to the best of your ability. One thing though, don’t just sit there thinking the wave will continue if you simply do nothing to create more.

The first twist of this episode was that the teams were now going to be mixed up. The new teams were as follows with Brian McKnight being absent due to a concert:

KOTU:
Herschel Walker
Clint Black
Natalie Gulbis
Joan Rivers
Khloe Kardashian

Athena:
Jesse G. James
Melissa Rivers
Annie Duke
Tionne Watkins
Brande Roderick

Clint Black and Melissa Rivers were the project managers. The task this time around was that the two teams had to create 60 second online viral video to help promote the company “all” and its laundry detergent products. The winner would be determined by the executives of “all” based on the video’s originality, buzz worthiness and branding of the company. To also help in judging the videos they used an entertainment blogger named Perez Hilton.

At first both teams had the idea to create something funny with the theme revolving around casting “midgets” for their 60 second film. Athena originally chose this due to a statistic that they found where one of the highest searched viral videos on the Internet had the keyword “midget” in it.

KOTU’s idea was to go with a dirty adult joke type of humor where this very short actor would be implying to the audience that he was going to have sex with his wife with lines such as “Do you want to do the dirty laundry with me tonight?”. Then in actuality the clip is suppose to imply that what the short guy ended up doing was masturbating and hence they need the all detergent to clean up the mess.

Yes, it was as bad as it sounds I must say. Aside from the very terrible acting, the idea just seems so wrong and offensive for what should be a product that is targeting moms with kids. Therefore, what ended up happening was Clint Black decided to play the role of the actor and then hired a model to play the wife. Again, it was the same concept except with the model she would flash her body to imply they were going to have sex.

For Athena their idea was to have Jesse James talk about the “all” laundry detergent products while he was in a complete mess such as having dirty clothes. Since the product had a small but mighty type of theme there was then three very short actors dressed up in detergent themed costumes who would start scrubbing and hosing down Jesse James to clean him up. They titled their video as “Jesse James Dirty With Midget” and the result was pretty horrible still I thought. Here are the videos:

The executives watched the videos and weren’t very pleased with either as they felt both of them did not meet company standards. However, Perez Hilton enjoyed Athena’s viral video as he found it funny. The end result was that since the executives disliked both of the videos there was no winner. Donald Trump then mentioned that both teams had to choose three people to go to the boardroom as two people were going to be fired.

For KOTU it was Clint Black, Natalie Gulbis and Khloe Kardashian. For Athena it was Melissa Rivers, Brande Roderick and Tionne Watkins who openly volunteered to be on the chopping block. Now this was a surprise as for Athena Donald Trump asked her if she knew about Bradford from the previous apprentice seasons.

For those who follow the show you may remember a contestant who was a project manager and was immune from being fired. Yet, he arrogantly said he was willing to give up his immunity to go to the boardroom as he was confident about his performance. Result, he was fired because of that. Donald Trump was then telling everyone how you should never volunteer to be executed and because of that he fired Tionne Watkins.

Then we go on to KOTU. It was kind of interesting as this firing didn’t really have much to do about the task at all but rather personality and life decisions. It was noted that last episode Khloe Kardashian was missing for an unknown reason. She then mentioned how it was because she has been charged for a DUI offence and as a result had to take classes and get a leave of absence to attend the show which a judge was not too happy about.

Donald Trump was then expressing his feelings how he hates people who drive under the influence of alcohol and talked about how he knows people who lost loved ones to drunk drivers. To add salt to the wound, he expressed that have he had known that Khloe Kardashian had these kinds of charges with her alcohol problem he would have never let her on the show.

Trump then asked her what charity she was raising money for and then threw the comment that they shouldn’t have to suffer because of a mistake that she made. After all that, Trump mentioned he would give her charity $20,000 and that she was fired. Was very harsh and in some ways necessary I suppose.

This season sure has had a lot of addiction problems when it comes to celebrities. Almost turning into a dramatic soap opera about people destroying their lives.

I was watching this segment on TV today that revolved around people who are trying to start a business or seeking for a job during these times. For this, there was a lot of focus on how people should start taking advantage of social media platforms that are out there to make connections with people that could give you your next job or referral.

For those who this may be foreign to, social media is basically sites/platforms that are out there on the Internet where people can connect with others on a more personal level. Some of the most common ones by name nowadays are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

From my experience, social media can be a great way to connect with others who you may normally not have had the opportunity to otherwise. This is great for young entrepreneurs too I’d say as many times there is a barrier in trying to connect with people who are more established in the professional sense. So how exactly can you use these sites to get a job or more business and which one is the best? First, here is my personal opinion of these sites and my experience:

Facebook – When I first tried this service it sounded like a simple way to keep in touch with your friends and family members. In many ways it was addicting too as through the service you can easily re-acquaint with people from your past such as old schoolmates.

As the service became more popular, it seemed like everyone that I talked to would ask if I had a Facebook account to stay in touch. Instead of saying “Do you have a business card?” a lot of people would ask “Do you have a Facebook account?” Even for people who I have only done some work with shortly, using this service to stay in touch has created more opportunities in the future.

Twitter – I was a bit skeptical of this when I first heard of it a few years back. It is basically a “micro-blogging” platform where people are limited to writing posts with a 140 character limit. Example, people post quick thoughts about how they feel, what they are doing or interesting things that they have encountered. For myself, I already blog so I didn’t really see the point in it.

However, I gave it a try and soon discovered that if you treat it more as a way to learn and connect with others it can actually be a pretty resourceful tool. At the same time, this is the less intimidating method I’d say to connect with people too. Many times people can just ask out in the open such as “I am looking for someone to hire who can handle my company’s marketing work”. Sure enough, everyone in his/her network can see that request as well as others. Usually works effectively too.

LinkedIn – For this service I always viewed it as an online business card. The concept is suppose to be that by connecting with others that you already know, you can see their personal network of friends and acquaintances as well. With that, it is suppose to make it easier to contact a person that you may need help from professionally if they know that you already know a person whom they have worked with. Like an old fashion introducing your friend to another except in an online environment.

I’m personally not a big fan of this one and have actually closed my account. It just didn’t seem fun to use in anyway and it felt like it is one of those situations where everyone is in a room with suits on and you don’t really get to know people better in anyway. I remember a client that I worked with that had a friend that wanted to meet me as he was looking for a possible business collaboration and hence she used this as a way to bridge the gap. The process seemed redundant that it would have been easier to just use the phone I thought.

So which one is the best to use for jobs and business purposes? Kind of hard to say as it depends on your style. For myself, I treat them all in a fun way which ironically creates opportunities. I personally find Facebook as more of a keeping in touch site with people that you have met in real life and Twitter as the platform to make new connections while discovering new things instantly. Again, I no longer use LinkedIn.

Now a fear that many people have about sites like these is the concern of privacy. Honestly, it just comes with the territory where if you published it then most likely it is not going to be private forever. Therefore, use your own discretion as if you don’t want something like private family photo gatherings to be seen then simply don’t publish it.

Imagine you connecting with say a potential employer or customer and then they see a picture of you chugging this keg of beer while naked in a public area. But overall, social media can be a great way to grow and expand your professional career regardless of what field you are in. Good time to start learning too.

Was I ever in a shock when I got this message. Just recently, I was browsing a forum and a well known marketer was mentioning how he was able to buy Adobe software for a very cheap price online.

Now these software applications normally cost hundreds and this site was advertising that you could buy it from them for an extremely cheap price. As a result, the person in question began to publicly share this site on the forum as he felt it would benefit others as well. I get spam e-mails like these all the time too and know that it is not exactly a pure offer.

Now for myself I am very knowledgeable about this and figured that the person was duped into buying it. Essentially, the person is buying a sort of “Back Up” copy of the software which is how the company gets through the legality of it. Afterwards, the buyer must go through non legitimate means to actually activate it which the company states they are not responsible for if the buyer chooses to do so.

So, I politely sent him a private message informing him about it and even semi joked that I was a techy who knew a lot about these types of charades. By golly, and this was the response he sent me initially:

I said a valid copy. All I care is that the suite Authroized and is working. WTF do I care whether it is so called legal? Maybe you pay retail for technology over and over. Good for you idiot.

Techie geek that you asshole.

I was so shocked not only based on the fact that I was genuinely trying to help him, but the fact that the person was no doubt very successful financially which seemed so out of character based on the image he portrayed. I then responded with the following:

Why are you attacking me so rudely? What I wrote was to genuinely help you as that is an illegal copy, so to speak, and it is posted on a forum where I’m sure many ppl would think this is a valid licensed item they are purchasing. It will be almost as if (snip name of company) is condoning this practice and thought that I would let you know personally first incase you thought that it was a “legal” copy and hence I simply informed you that I am a very knowledgeable person when it comes to technology.

But if you are fully aware that it is illegal, which makes it not “valid”, and still choose to use it then please disregard what I wrote. It’s almost like saying counterfeit clothing might be wearable and all but that product is not legitimate. Similarly, if you linked to something telling me I can buy this brand name clothing for $2 I would probably assume you meant legitimate in every way.

Aren’t you suppose to be one of the first few (snip name of title in the company) too? I still can’t believe the response I just read……..

Sure enough, he responds with an even crazier remark:

Becasue you’re transparent. I really don’t like passive aggressive people. Like you.

Toal bullshit. You’re splitting hairs in an attempt to impugn me in some way. Don’t fuck with me buddy. I’m smart and wise.

Blah blah balh. Get a clue. Almost EVRY successful web author in the (snip name of company) uses black hat and grey hat techniques to achieve measurable success. Stop pretending you’re naive.

Shut up already you passive agressive freak.

Oh go cry to (snip name of company management) or whomever you like you worm.

I was and still am one of the founding (snip name of company). I’ve helped (snip name of company) bank TENS of MILLIONS. And I’m still adding to that. I can guarantee nobody will duplicate or surpass my work. EVER. Unless you can turn back time and compete on a playing field that will never exist again. Pionners are called pioneers for a reason.

The CS3 suite is running awesome. I’m taking course work now to learn how to use it well. I don’t care if you think it is legal or not. Or anybody else including Adobe. Get it?

You’ve wasted way too much of my time already. Leave me alone now please.

Sincerely – (snip name of person)

Holy cow. What can I say? I am speechless. This is like those situations where you are genuinely trying to help someone or are simply asking them a question. Then all of a sudden they just blow up implying on how you are trying to accuse them of something. Not only that, but he then updates his post to add this “disclaimer” stating the following:

How much more confusing can you get in terms of like a split personality? Makes me wonder if this will be a situation too where companies are afraid of doing anything at all since the person as he puts it generates “TENS of MILLIONS” of dollars. Then again, he is just an affiliate marketer I guess you can say for the company and so it is kind of a separate personal issue I suppose between him and Adobe.

What is really disturbing to me personally about all this is how someone can feel that they are so invincible, so to speak, because they are well off financially. While I am personally not like a multi-millionaire by any stretch of the imagination thus far, I’ll be sure to never let money create that type of a personality out of me.