Life After PR - Yes or No

Funny how peoples perspective and values get distorted and how they lose sight of where the lines are drawn. This industry is a bad joke and its high time that changed. I sincerely hope that this shadowy think tank gets in some legal types to take a long hard look at all the kite flying that has become accepted as legitimate marketing tactics.

 

I hope you are not talking about the directory industry... Sure there are some losers who give the directory market a bad name but an association won't fix that. Every industry has outside players trying to get in. Also the offenders are 90% of the time 2 buck chumps with poor sites so anyone with half a brain would know not to judge an entire industry by a few rotten apples on the fringe.

Also who is going to fund this association and workshops? Well everything takes money so are the successful owners going to chip in there money so someone less qualified can speak on their behalf and give clinics on common sense? I don't think it will ever happen to be honest; this idea has been thrown around before and not picked up for a reason.

 

No I am talking about the guys who came up with this crazy notion that you should buy PR from me so you can sell it to the next sucker who comes along. In some countries they have laws against pyramid marketing and people who deliberately misrepresent the value of a product or service for personal enrichment at the expense of others.

If there is a need it would make a lot sense.

An association can be set up as a self funding structure that is open to all.

I think you have answered the question yourself. But I wouldnt say less qualified. It should be obvious to everyone that this whole industry has been thrown out of kilter, that there are reasons why its gone wrong and that there is an urgent need to address these issues and to get things back onto the right track.

 

And you think namecalling these losers the QBC does? What about copyright theft, attribute linking removal, domain name disputes, if we had people to represent us in case like this surely that would be good? .

Sadly people do tar us with the same brush, and the 2 buck chumps as you call it are growing in numbers.

Good question Dubz and one I would like to know, maybe we should ask. If its going to be run by the better qualified members of the industry then I have no worries they know what they're doing.

 

We have an association that is already up and running. But it wont suit all.

We are catering to the bottom end of the market and serve emerging directory masters who are trying to get a foot in the door. We dont have committees or meetings or constitutions no one can understand. Instead we will rather add your directory to a list we offer to potential buyers and whats more we will give those buyers a guarantee that we will replace any links that they place with you should your directory get devalued for any reason. We do have a few rules but they are kept to a minimum and as long as you are prepared to keep building your resource there will be no arguments.

What could be simpler? And yes, we are unashamedly part of the QBC Crew. But watch us. Our sites will still be around after all the PR artists and stuffed suits exit stage left.

 

Where is minstrel? I actually enjoyed his comments.

Don't you have better things to do with your time or is this your hobby?

 

If it upsets you skip the thread. On the otherhand if you have something constructive to say, say it. It must be tough if that sort of inane post is the best you can do.

 

Would you care to enlighten us on this 'WE' you keep referring to? WE refers to more than one and thus whatever you name yourself is still some kind of governing body. How much experience have WE got? How long have you in particular been invlolved in directories, perhaps I could throw some questions your way then that would help newbies.

 

A couple of years and long enough to know when I am being strung a line. We is a workshop that I set up that operates in both Thailand and South Africa. We have trained two full time school leavers so far and I have between half a dozen and a dozen internet curious volunteers helping out. They range from the sixty year old curator of a nature reserve, to a restaurateur and a graphic artist who works spare time for a group that offers support to stroke victims. Not quite your A team but we get by and like I said are doing very nicely despite all the bad advice we have been getting.

Bad timing maybe but I think we should start moving on. I havent seen one of those What Are The Strongest Directories posts for awhile now and I wonder why. If anyone is interested in helping me put a list together please PM me.

Jill, the directory master at EcoGuides has just submitted a couple more sites to the directory. She has also just hit sixty, has a phobia about the internet, has no pension and gets paid no more than what some wag on this forum referred to as a meal coupon. But she has a wealth of knowledge and if she sees the workshop making a bit of money from all this she is going to ask me to set up a site of her own. She will also train other trainee trainers and this is the sort of directory master this industry needs right now.

So unless you have particularly short arms and very very deep pockets do yourself a favour. Flash us some green and submit your site to a directory which really does offer you unbeatable long term value.