Sunglasses, Spam, and Entrepreneurs

I am a member of several writing groups on Facebook. It’s only natural: some writers don’t get out much, and probably don’t know any other writers to hang out with, so in those few off minutes they log in and chat a moment.

The groups are generally closed, meaning that you can’t just hop on Facebook and start throwing your two cents into the post threads. You express interest, the moderator approves you (or not), and you’re in (or not).

That’s a good thing, because while we enjoy new members, we only want new members who will be able to contribute to that writing focus’s discussions. We really don’t want someone hopping on and posting their opinions of politics, religion, their spouse, or Justin Bieber. We can get all of that outside these groups. Oh, and pictures of your cat. So generally, this Gated Online Community approach relieves us of all that white noise.

Here’s the quandary: there are entrepreneurs out there who market on social media, which is great. Wave of the Future, and all that. Shoot, I’ve done it. But I don’t invade closed groups to do it.

Others are not so scrupulous.

500 Pound Guerrilla marketing

If you’re a salesperson, you probably know that persistence pays off. So you have to take your chances sometimes and shout just to be heard above the other sales pitches. You need to contact folks in unexpected or unusual places to maximize your sales presence and thus your opportunities. That’s smart.

You also know that it’s okay to set up a lemonade stand outside the fence; it’s just not kosher to try and climb the fence and peddle your wares where it’s clear you aren’t welcome to do so. Salespeople are always looking for ways to get a little closer to the gate, a little higher up the fence, just so they can be noticed. If someone invites you inside the fence, you can practically hear the angels singing over the opportunities.

There are a whole bunch of folks, however, who don’t care for rules. Rules are what keep sales from happening, in their minds. Click-through revenue isn’t going to happen if people don’t have the ad right up in their faces to click on. Now this is the online version of the high-pressure commissioned sales force. They stick their ads over all of the signs saying not to.

This happens a lot in the writing groups I belong to.

Spam spam spam! (Cue the Vikings in the diner! Thank you Monty Python!)

One day the administrator of the group gets a “please add me” message. The administrator glows brightly. “Wow, another interested person! This is wonderful!” Add.

Members of the group check scoot over to out the group’s recent posting, and – lo and behold! – there’s this big glossy ad proclaiming what an excellent deal they have on sunglasses. (There are other spammy products, but sunglasses are the current fave.)

If you click on the person’s personal link, you notice three things:

1.       The profile photo: Wow! Hot young girl(s)!

2.       The account was set up less than a year ago.

3.       The account has few if any posts.

There are other things that stand out to prove this is a bogus account, set up as an honest storefront to allow spammers and trolls to put on a disguise and infiltrate groups so they can throw their ads on there.

But don’t the member rules of the community say they can’t do that? Sure do. But the spammers likely

1.       Don’t read the rules, because they don’t care,

2.       Can’t read the rules, because the poster doesn’t really read or speak the language the rules are written in, or

3.       May not consider their ads to be spam, whether through choice or ignorance.

So the administrator gets wind of the intrusion, bans the poster, and deletes the post.

But there a hundred other bogus profiles, just biding their time to send a membership request. Then the dance will begin again.

There are other successful methods of invasion but I won’t discuss them here, if for no other reason than I don’t want to give people ideas.

Suffice to say, these ads are not welcome but they are nevertheless a byproduct of valid efforts by entrepreneurs to have a visibility in social media. We accept that the intrusive sellers aren’t going away, and like a mole tunneling in the yard we will keep watching and kick out every invader we find.

All props to honest salespeople who have a presence on the net. Let us know what you’re selling, because it might be just the thing we’re looking for.

But please stay outside the fences. They’re there for a reason.