John Reese, Mashable, and the Whole Twitter Fiasco

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. This post is something I’ve wanted to express for a long time. So grab some popcorn and your beverage of choice. You’re in for a long one.I was recently called out and attacked by Mark Hopkins over at the blog Mashable with his latest post, Is Twitter Vulnerable To Marketer Attack?Mark apparently got his motivation to make such a post after reading blogger Duncan Riley’s recent post (also directed at me and showing a recent email I sent to my list) Pending Sign Of The Twitter Apocalypse: It’s Being Talked About By Internet Marketers.

Wake Up Call: Web 2.0 Wouldn’t Exist Without Internet Marketers

If there is one thing guaranteed to get people to read and comment on your blog it’s to write something absolutely flaming about someone or something other people respect. That happened over at Mashable today with established Internet Marketers (in particular John Reese) being “called out” for their (mis)use of Twitter.

Interestingly, it was a Twitter post by Mashable that ensured readers saw the blog post quickly and Twitter that enabled the buzz surrounding it to spread quickly.

I’m not going to go into great detail about the Mashable blog post or John Reese’s response (please read them for yourselves), except to say that I’m glad John did respond. Many times the big names in Internet Marketing get slammed online and they choose not to respond because it stirs up a hornets’ nest, raises the profile of the person who called them out, and leaves a distinctly bad taste in readers’ mouths (not to mention that life is too short to constantly battle the dissenters). But in this case it was a strong personal attack written on a well-read blog, and by targeting John Reese they were also slating a whole lot of other people who make their money online (themselves included).

Apart from the unnecessary, unprovoked and un-researched attack on John, my own feelings after reading the Mashable post are:

• what right has anyone (apart from the owners of Twitter) to say whether someone is using Twitter in the right or wrong way? If people feel like someone they are following is hard-selling them they simply STOP following them. It’s as easy as that.
• what makes what Mashable do on Twitter any different from me, John Reese or anyone else who has an online business? They build a relationship with followers by posting some personal stuff, some useful stuff, some links to interesting sites and some links to their own blog/website (where they make money). Interestingly I stopped following Mashable because I felt bombarded by them…but I still follow John Reese.
• what is wrong with being an ebook seller? The Mashable post made it sound unethical and so many people act like selling ebooks is ripping people off. I sell ebooks and know many others who sell them too. When done right, they are well-written, informative and helpful. They enable people to find help on topics that are time sensitive or not profitable enough to warrant a physical book. One of my ebooks has less than a 2% refund rate so the buyers at least believe they got value for money.

I suppose my point is that I feel a little miffed (a weak way of saying p**sed off) that someone believes they have taken the high ground on something when they have no right to take it (especially as they did it poorly on a popular blog). Writing a blog and making money on it from advertising and affiliate products is no different from promoting voiceover or writing services online, or selling ebooks on growing tomatoes, or making money on ebay, or… It makes us all Internet Marketers. It’s time to get over thinking that Internet Marketing is solely about ripping people off.

OK, I think I’m done. I need some chamomile tea now to calm me down (and I hate chamomile tea)!

Like others who have commented on this on their blogs I am simply contributing to Mashable’s traffic by mentioning it here, but if you want to find out where this originated then by all means go check it out, but also have a look at John Reese’s blog reply Wake Up Call and I enjoyed reading Alice Seba’s blog post on this too: Marketing Blogs: Hollywood Tabloid Style (Alice is always the voice of reason).

Lisa

P.S. To follow me on Twitter go to http://twitter.com/LisaHartwell

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Tags: johnreese, mashable, internet marketing, internet marketers, twitter