Am I a Pansy

Who else has wondered whatever happened to Internet Marketing integrity?

I started to call this article “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Internet Marketers” and then decided against it because it also implies negative connotations against internet marketers.

Read on to see my views on negative comments….

If you follow Ryan Healy.com (who’s on my list of favorites) you’ll see that he called attention to a storm in the internet marketing world when he published an article called Internet Marketing on Life Support.

In the article he refers to some of the “bad”  or dishonest internet marketers and their practices that have surfaced and been brought to light recently  (It almost always happen sooner or later, especially if you’re a public figure).

On Dec 31, 2009 another of my friends, Fred Black, wrote a post called  Internet Business Ethics 101.

In this article Fred describes his misfortunes with Eric Graham or “The Conversion Doctor”.

According to both Ryan and Fred (and others) Eric has labeled himself as “the Ugly” among internet marketers because of some bad internet business practices.

Negative or Positive?

I’ve tried to stay neutral on the subject of the bad and the ugly internet marketers because one of the policies that I’ve made for this blog is to never use it for negative purposes. I won’t even do it in the comment section.

I usually try and turn anything negative into something positive. Here’s a case in point from the article The Art of Persuasion – Copywriting or Preaching? where I responded to a person who commented on some of the practices of Joel Osteen, the pastor of the largest church in the United States:

Jeff,
You’ve stated a mouthful. I thought I was being brave to write a post that is a little bit controversial.

I try not to say anything negative about anybody on this blog so I can’t comment on the big named preachers and public speakers other than to say that they are very gifted speakers and our gifts can be used either positively or negatively.

I do want to congratulate you on your persuasions techniques. You definitely know what point you want to get across.

Do you see what I mean about turning a negative into a positive?. In fact, I take this to the extreme. If it’s raining outside and someone complains about it I’ll say, “Yes but the plants love it” or “This is a good opportunity to catch up on some sleep or work indoors”.

You get the picture. I try and stay away from negative words.

But What IF Someone Does You Wrong?

But what should you do if someone does you wrong? Should you keep quite because you want only positive words to come out of your mouth?

What do you think?

What would you say if I told you that someone has actually wronged me and I kept quite about it when I had the opportunity to side up with people who are actually my friends?

I Got Taken

Fred Black expressed his opinion when he stated his side of his experience with Eric Graham.

Was he right to tell about his experiences?  After all, It’s his blog, He can use it however he wants.

I have a confession to make. I got taken and I didn’t speak up.(I’m sorry for not speaking up sooner Fred)

Fred wasn’t the only one  who Eric Graham didn’t deliver on.

You see, I joined Eric Graham’s $49 a month membership club. The first month was fine but the second month there was no new content added and when I wrote Eric he didn’t respond. After quite a few emails he finally responded saying he was fixing the problem. After another month or so I canceled the membership by manually removing my credit card information. I  got taken for $150 which is not much compared to what Fred and others have lost.

Eric Graham puts out excellent material. In fact, you can find some excellent free material on his website telling you how to make website conversions…

There I go again, turning negative circumstances into positive statements. OK, read his materials but just don’t buy anything from him or you might get taken.

Here’s my question:

Am I a pansy?

Should I have spoken out sooner?

Or.. Should I keep up the policy of not saying anything negative on this blog?

You’re the reader, you tell me. What do you think?

I do have to leave you with one more question:

If a women is raped or a child is abused should they keep silent because they want to avoid the shame and publicity even though they are not to blame? (perhaps that has nothing to do with this article)

I’ve focused on the bad and ugly of internet marketers. OK, let’s turn this into something positive. In my next article I’ll give you My List of GOOD Internet Marketers. But be warned, having a list, even if it’s a list of good guys, can be DANGEROUS.

p.s. Regarding Eric Graham. It is important for any mature person to recognize that we hate the sin, not the sinner.  I do not dislike Eric, I just don’t like his unethical business practices.  Although I’ve  brought attention to Eric, I agree with Michel Fortin who wrote an excellent article On Not Playing The Blame Game. There is a balance in all things. In this case I felt it necessary to mention a name.

p.s.s. It’s ok to tell me I’m a pansy (I get called a gringo all the time) just be sure and tell me why you think I’m one, or was one because I did “fess up”.

Like This Article?

Subscribe to This Sites RSS Feed To Recieve Automatic Updates on NEW Content!

Tagged as: Internet Marketing