So this blog posting is a bit of a rant, but includes something to take from it in the end. You know the song by Arethra Franklin – R E S P E C T – find out what it means to me.

Situation:
June 5th: I entered a JV Giveaway. I upgraded to be able to add more gifts, some OTOs, and some text ads. I have had luck when this individual marketers name has been involved in the past, so this seemed like a great idea.
++side note – these same gifts were approved in ALL other giveaways that I have ever entered with them…including other giveaways by this guy++
June 7/8th: I receive 2 emails that 2 of my gifts are “on hold”.
Email 1:
We just reviewed your account and placed
your gift listing on HOLD stats because:
Why are you requiring an opt-in from your download page if they have already opted in from the squeeze page and the is no zip only a pdf for your free download link
Please update your listing as soon as
possible and we will review your account again.
Email 2:
We just reviewed your account and placed
your gift listing on HOLD stats because:
The download link for your free gift is a pdf it needs to be a .zip
Please update your listing as soon as
possible and we will review your account again.

Now, let me give you some info here as well:
1. In the control panel of the giveaway, it told me that one was in a zip and needed to be a pdf, and the other as stated above.
2. I immediately dropped a line to the help desk for clarification.
3. I begin contact with other Internet Marketers who are experiencing similar issues….and no one is getting a response. One of them is a bigger name in the JV Giveaway circles…and even runs his own.
4. My donwload pages have links and a few “bonus” offers to check out. There is NO opt in on those pages (I checked each and every one)

June 19th-
I send another message to the helpdesk regarding my initial request. I do this due to the timing of the giveaway start time, and I have not received ANY correspondance. I will admit, I was a bit peeved at no answer to my questions for clarification. The other two gifts that were submitted were a MMR product and webinar replay opportunity (one is a zip, and one was an online media viewing). I shot a very blunt email. I told them that it was ridiculous that I hadn’t gotten a reply and asked if they were going to fix the issue. Here is what I got in return:
No, this issue is to be fixed by YOU and not us.
We do not create the funnel nor the squeeze pages, but we do permit ones that are done correctly to be submitted.
Let us know when you have fixed the above problems.
I got this email just 7 minutes before the giveaway went live.
I then added a new support ticket. I asked about where in the terms of service the “rules” were posted. I asked to know why things were proceeding as they were…..
Here is what I got back:
All of your gift’s have either been approved or put on hold we have launched now so have fun promoting thank you and have a nice day. Also if you’ve fixed your gift’s accordingly then resubmit them please.

So I figure I am dealing with someone who is outsourced or perhaps the students of the BIG marketer who also appear on this giveaway. I send a message directly to the BIG named marketer, I also state that when checking through some of the links to gifts….some lead to pdf downloads. I got a response:

I understand how you might not appreciate being shown the correct way to market products online, as one could clearly be offended.

I have not seen any on the gifts being pdf

Now, I understand his reasoning from “paragraph” four on. “Paragraphs” one through three on the other hand – ENFURIATED ME!

How could this guy begin to “show” me how to market online – when his own response to customer support is in such an arrogant and disrespectful fashion. I am a paying customer to this guy and his 2 other partners. Did I pay to get disrespected…well that is how I am feeling right about now. If this is how he treats customers at this level, and he is a mentor/teacher to others, what is he teaching to his students?

I am not saying that I believe I know everything about Internet Marketing. I know that what I practice, I learned from well respected mentors, who have done well in IM. I am pretty sure that I learned one “right way” from them. I don’t pretend to think that their way is the only way. I guess there are a ton of people who are using a form of marketing and gifts for submission yo JV giveaways that will never be a “valid form of marketing”.

What do I do? NOTHING. I didn’t want to jeopardize the other gifts, OTO, or text message. I continue to speak with other marketers who had similar problems with their gifts. Some of them continue to receive rude emails from this marketer when they are trying to remove themselves from the situation.

Fast forward to today:
The giveaway is over. I made enough money from the OTOs to cover my upgrade. I ended up not getting any other income from this giveaway.

What I am I taking from this:
1. Looking at the zip versus pdf debate. Here is a great blog post by Keith Purkiss about your choices.
2. I am unsubscribing from all of this guy’s lists as soon as I finish this blog posting.
3. I will never enter another JV giveaway that has his name attached as a sponsor.
4. I will never get anything through another affiliate link that gives this guy a dime. I don’t pay to be disrespected.
5. I will attempt to treat each situation with respect for the people on the other side. Due to this, I have chosen not to smear the BIG marketers name all over this blog posting.
6. I had thought about running my own giveaway. Well, that is on hold.
7. When/If I do run a giveaway, I will outsource parts of it…including the helpdesk and gift approval. Perhaps people who are more experienced then I at being an admin of a JV event can do a better job – and those that I hire hopefully would be quite respectful on my behalf.

Word of mouth, and things on Web 2.0 are VERY powerful. People very infrequently post the positives that they have. Think about it. Go to Amazon – read some product reviews. Quite often they are negative since those are the people who want to get the word out. The people who have no problems seldom go back and say good things about it – since they have no reason to think twice about the product/service.
Be careful in what you do. You never know when your actions and words will have a long range effect. Treat all your customers with respect. It will benefit you in the long run. Give them more value than they expect. Treat them right and they will return to you respect and hopefully continue to do business with you!

(if you want to hear a great version of RESPECT done by one of my bands….check out this link…… Unexpected Pleasure (the song should play automatically).