I’m heading to Kentucky to see my Soldier for his family weekend.  I’ll be back on the 7th and will get caught up then.

If you are waiting for approvals and admittance into directory or your pictures approved, they will be done when I get back.

Thanks for your patience!!

I might have been a bit hasty, and already annoyed with them so I assumed it was from them and that they’d just gone from annoying me on the phone to being complete theives.

Well, it was pointed out to me (Thanks Robert!) that the urls weren’t quite right.  Oh. Damn.  I normally catch that right off the bat.

So.  I apologize if that wasn’t from MerchantCircle.  I will be investigating it a little further, but I’m thinking now that it was a phishing thing…and I totally bought it.  I’m so embarrassed.  There were red flags all over the place too.  *sigh*  At least I didn’t actually click the stupid links.

(warning:  I’m not happy here.  I’m venting.  I feel like they are trying to con me and force me to pay them money in order to stay on their network.  I’m also posting this because I have recommended well over 100 people use their service and most of those people read this blog.  I believe everyone I’ve sent to MerchantCircle has a right to see what they sent me - and my response)

I received this email from them today:

*********************

SUBJECT:  Increase your Google ranking: Become a Top Merchant 

Dear Wendy,

It has come to our attention that the business listing you recently created on the MerchantCircle network might not be a valid business. Please note, that we are very concerned with the accuracy of our directory and the integrity of our network. Therefore, our system has generated this email to determine the validity of your business and the accuracy of the information you submitted.

Our Terms of Service Agreement  specifically states that“[i]n consideration of use of the Service, you agree to:

(a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by the Service’s registration form (such information being the “Registration Data”) and
(b) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete.”
(See http://www.merchantcircle.com/corporate/tos.html)

Thus, it is a violation to provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or MerchantCircle has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete. If we have reason to believe that the information you submitted is inaccurate or untrue— we have the right to suspend or terminate your account.

Accordingly, you account will be automatically terminated with in 10 business days, unless you respond support@merchantcircle to rebate this email.

Best Regards,

The MerchantCircle Team
MerchantCircle

**************

So I emailed them the following:

***************

I’m very confused.  Are you soliciting me or threatening me?  Or perhaps you are threatening me if I don’t upgrade to a Top Merchant status?

I’ve been asked about MerchantCircle by more than a few of the local businesses who belong to the networking group that I own here in the Tampa Bay area.  I tell them I’ve never had any problems, and never had anything bad to say.  I recommend they register and get their business in there.  But I have to say this email just went too far for me to ignore.  I will have to share this with my clients and my networking groups or I’d be doing them a disservice after recommending that they use Merchant Circle.

Here’s how I’m seeing this:

You send an email with the subject:  Increase your Google ranking:  Become a Top Merchant.

THEN You seem to be saying that you are concerned I’m not a valid business but you don’t request that I provide any proof to support that I am.

You also list a portion of your TOS, as if that says anything other than what would be considered a common sense issue.

Then you tell me you have the right to suspend my account…

I’m not even sure what this means, “Accordingly, you account will be automatically terminated with in 10 business days, unless you respond support@merchantcircle to rebate this email.”.  How do I rebate an email?

So which is it?  Are you going to tell me that in order to qualify as a valid business I need to upgrade to a paid account?

Pardon me if I seem a touch defensive, but you are threatening to cancel my account and there is no valid reason why, except (to me) it seems you want to force me to use your upgraded, paid service.

You KNOW I’m a real business because you have repeatedly called me on my business phone to verify my business is valid.

And while we are discussing your way of doing business…why do you submit, on your own, without my input or blessings, requests for connections to companies I’d never endorse or recommend and even some who are direct competition? What if there was a lawsuit barring someone from contacting another person or business and you just choose to send a request as if it was made by that business?  What if you just “connected” me with some thief or molester, known locally by all, and it looks like I’m endorsing them by inviting them into my network?

Maybe by doing this, you are just getting people to visit the site to accept these connections and all you are really doing is trying to boost activity to get the Google bot on the site more so you can “increase people’s google ranking”?  Or are you trying to get more people to click your Adsense ads?

It seems to me you are going to chase away more people than you will keep with this tactic.

I do hope you can answer my questions, and explain whether you were threatening or soliciting me, as soon as possibly so I can update my network members.  I look forward to your response.

Thank you,

~ Wendy Milonas

Graphic Design & Illustration, Website Development, Web Hosting
www.wendymilonas.com

*******

If anyone else sees this differently, I’d love to hear your point of view and offer them an apology…feel free to comment and share your point-of-view.

Thanks!

I added logs to the blog, and I added details on the Write Post window, describing what the buttons were for.  You can visit that post here.

~ Wendy

We’ll be posting over here:  http://blogging.networkofwomeninbusiness.com/blog/

Join us if you’d like to learn how to set up your blog and then maintain it in a way that earns you more money!

This looked like an interesting resource for you to check out: Blogging Women

Feel free to comment about that site. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Outline is available here

I find it fascinating that one person read this and commented, “Oh good, so we’ll have some structure now.”

I honestly don’t see where it says that. Maybe I’m just too close to the whole thing to see it any way but how it is meant to be?

I think that some people are not quite understanding the whole purpose and some people are really trying to make the group into something it’s not. Letting go of the recent model for networking (which countless people claim just does not work) and getting back to networking to build relationships would benefit us so much more.

Our meetings do not have an agenda. We usually arrive in a staggered attempt to be on time. We introduce ourselves as we arrive and then we just start chatting. We do not spend time on the “three minute advertisement” from each member because it’s not really very effective. After belonging to over 40 networking groups via meetup.com over the last 5 years…that model is always the one that gives me a headache. It’s not worked for me, or for anyone that I’ve asked. There are a few slightly pushy people who claim it works, but no one I know will do business with them so I have to wonder if they aren’t being entirely honest.

We are working on ways to make sure we each have more information about who we met with at the meetings. We discussed goodie bags today. I think this might be a good way to let people review what you do in their own time. Goodie bags could also include samples of products so you know that everyone understands what you do.

I also wonder if people who join the group understand what is involved with starting a networking group of this nature. I know of a few people who have undergone such a venture and they also have commented on the subject. This is not an idea that just sort of became a site that sort of became a project that sort of got really big. This is a planned out project. It has a series of goals. It has a business plan.. It’s been researched, changed, researched, changed…you get the idea. I, personally, have spent hundreds of hours on just getting this started. Jessica and I have spent tons of money and countless hours at Starbucks for our brainstorming and weekly business meetings. This is a well thought out plan, and we are sure it will work.

So, please give the group a chance before you decide it’s not for you. You don’t have to stick around if you don’t want to, but it’s not going to cost you anything if you do. We are getting a new member every other day at this point. I would say that by the end of July, we will be getting at least 2 new members a day. We are also adding 4 new cities in the near future.

We are expanding at a healthy rate, and we will keep going until we make it.

So, hang on and enjoy the ride! We are bound for some great destinations!!

For anyone who has had issues with the site behaving badly this week, I apologize.  I thought I’d install something to make our profiles more easily accessible and more search engine friendly.  Unfortunately this effected the registration process and who knows how many other things.  I have sorted out the registration issues (I hope!) and will be doing the “please let it all work” dance until I’m sure it’s all working properly.

IF you do come across a page that does not let you in (when you are logged in already) please let me know!

Thanks!!

As incentive for bringing people with you to the meetings, we are offering the following special:

Bring a Guest to a meeting and we will give you one month’s worth of Free Advertising Space 

Details are available by clicking that link.

I was reviewing my MerchantCircle activity today and was attracted to one other merchant who had requested a connection. I checked out the site and started reading her blog entries. There is a great article on making connections and how some people totally miss out on countless opportunities because they won’t go make connections outside their own circle of connections.

Here is the link to Coastal Dreams Business Solutions entry “Networking Off-Line”

Sometimes people won’t talk to someone who isn’t an obvious immediate return on their effort. But I have always felt that just because you can’t offer someone something right away, and maybe they have nothing to offer you right away…that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t build a relationship with them. You never know when you might need them or they might need you. Life is not predictable and you should just never dismiss an opportunity to connect with someone.