I have a couple of clients (and myself) who receive emails with advertising offers for their blog. I call these emails SPAM because they are unsolicited and each email says the same thing, like a form letter– They aren’t even broadly familiar with the blog content.
The latest offer making the rounds is from Media Discovery. I’ve never heard of them and don’t know anything about their reputation or how they do business. One of my clients asked what to do with their offer. I always suggest to delete these types of emails, but if you want to know more, vet an unknown SPAM email with these steps.
Who Are They? Check out their email address and you’ll find their website address. Do they have contact information and can you find a name of any person associated with the company? You may have other standards, but I like to know who I’m dealing with.
Where Are They? These SPAM emails often come from offshore sources. Do they have an address on their Contact Us page? Have you played with Google Maps? You can look up the address and see the building.
Read The Fine Details. If you aren’t going to delete these SPAM offers then you’ve got to read them carefully. The Media Discovery offer states they pay in “USD” and it refers to an “advert.” These are terms that jump out and say “offshore.” US companies don’t have to tell you that they pay in dollars. A US company would never use the word “advert”.
Question What You’ll Get. Have you ever heard of people buying ad space in a newspaper or magazine for a favorable article about themselves or their business? That’s pretty much the offer in these emails: They give you a blog post with an advertising link in it and then pay you for putting up their ad. When I blog I use my own voice and writing style. I know my clients do too! Are you going to get a blog post on topic? Are you going to get a blog post written in a “voice” compatible with yours? I guess I’d be very concerned that when the initial emails are in the King’s English and sound rather “poncy” (that’s British for “pretentious”) then their blog post may have the same issues.
Again, Question What You’ll Get. Why are we so afraid to talk about money? It’s all about the Benjamins! The offer from Media Discovery is for $120 per year. Heck, I’ve got a site with Google Ads on it that just sits and makes $60 per month. For me, this is a low-ball offer and not worth the time or headaches in getting involved with an offshore entity.
Then Ask Yourself: “Is This A Scam?” I’m pretty security conscious and I encourage my clients to be too. So, be suspicious of any email offer. Are they phishing for your login credentials? Is there a money offer that would result in you giving banking details? Are they offering files that are SPAMMY that would hurt your Google ranking? Will you be visiting a web page that will download cookies or a virus onto your computer? For goodness sake be aware. Be cautious!
Lastly, most of these offers are crouched in flattery. They are designed to make you (and me too!) feel that our blog is special and that they are choosing to work with us because our blog is so awesome. I’m not saying your blog isn’t fabulous, but to the SPAMMERS, they don’t really care whether it is or isn’t. Their flattery is just the bait. Again Google. See how many other bloggers have received the offer. Sorry, you’re not the only one. Sorry, they are also sending their offer to bloggers who aren’t so fabulous. In fact, they are sending the offer to EVERYONE.
Sounds like a lot of work and a lot to consider. Of course it is; that’s why I skip all the above steps, and go straight to click “delete” when I get these SPAM offers.
Be safe. Pass this along.
