Associate Programs Newsletter #309
This stinks.
I was planning to write about a MySpace book next week, but I’ve just learned that – because of MySpace’s heavy-handed action – it will probably be too late then. The book I was going to tell you about is called “MySpace Marketing Tips” – and MySpace wants to ban it.
As you probably know, MySpace now has more than 100 million registered members and is an incredibly popular site. Lots of marketers have been trying to figure out how to get publicity and promote stuff on MySpace.
Debbie Cohen has figured out how to do it. She’s spent a lot of time on this and has found many ways you CAN market on MySpace – legitimately – in sections where you won’t be accused of spam.
The problem is that now MySpace has demanded that Debbie stop promoting her book.
A few minutes ago, I got an email from Debbie alerting me that she’s going to have to remove the page on which she promotes her book.
“I can’t believe this but today I received a call from MySpace! Basically they said there is a trademark violation and I cannot sell the product.
“I’m not going to fight a multi-million-dollar company since I have no company name or protection etc. … They do not want anyone to profit from the use of their name.”
Good grief! All Debbie did was use “MySpace” in the book’s title. She didn’t even use it in her domain name. This seems terribly unfair to me.
Is that REALLY a trademark violation? Surely all she needed to do was add a disclaimer saying that her site was not owned by MySpace and she was not connected with it in any way. In the land of the free, that should have been enough to satisfy anyone.
I wondered if it could be a hoax. It’s not. She checked the phone number and called back.
As you can imagine, Debbie is pretty upset by this setback.
She already has other challenges in her life. Her sister died from lung cancer and so Debbie helps out by caring for her nephews nine days a month, out of state, providing such things as rides from school, homework and cooking.
That’s the sort of person MySpace is picking on. She really didn’t need this.
“They gave me a week to remove the page because the person who helps me with my website is out of town till next Thursday,” Debbie told me.
So if you want to grab good MySpace marketing tips for a very modest price, you’ll need to be quick before the website disappears.
I like the idea of helping the underdog here.
If you want to help Debbie AND get the book MySpace wants to ban, find out more here…
[UPDATE: This book is no longer available.]========================================
Coming soon… more tapping into traffic
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In the next newsletter, I’ll have another tip in the “Tapping into other people’s traffic” series. The tip is suitable for affiliate merchants and affiliates.
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Thought for today: Injustice
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“You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation.” – Marian Wright Edelman.
All the best
Allan Gardyne