Win $300! Kimkins Essay Contest 2009
Wowee! A Kimkins Essay Contest!
I just got the newsletter, and looks like I have a chance to win anywhere from $50-$300 usd from an entry into the Kimkins Essay Contest 2009.
Here’s your chance — tell us!
TOPIC: Why I Like Kimkins
PRIZES: $50-300
ENTRY FEE: None
DEADLINE: May 11, 2009
WORD COUNT: Minimum: 250 Maximum: 1,000
WINNERS ANNOUNCED: June 1, 2009
GUIDELINESEntries will be judged on originality, sincerity and how well your message is conveyed.
Essays may be typed or handwritten.
Before/after photos may be included to demonstrate your message.
Entries will be blind judged. Personal identifying information will be removed before forwarding to the Selection Committee.
Entries must include first name, last name, Kimkins user name, email address and home address. Please write or type the information on your essay.
Winners will be announced on June 1, 2009. Certified checks will be mailed to the winners by June 15, 2009.
Winning essays may be published at Kimkins.com and personal information removed.
Kimkins staff members, vendors and consultants are ineligible to enter or judge entries. The decision of the Selection Committee is final.
Submit entries by email to webmaster@kimkins.com or mail at Kimkins, 575 Calhoun St., Corona, CA 92879.
Entries and photos must be received by email or postmarked by May 10, 2009 12:00 a.m. Entries received after the deadline will not be considered.PRIZES
1st Place: $300 cash & free Kimkins gift membership
2nd Place: $150 cash & free Kimkins gift membership
3rd Place: $50 cash & free Kimkins gift membership
5 Honorable Mention: Kimkins gift basket & Kimkins gift membership
Ok, so there’s the details. Let’s see if I can get a head start on this.
Let’s begin with the first question. Why do I like Kimkins? Hmm. Why do I… Hmmm Like Kimkins….hmmm.
Oh, I know!
If it weren’t for Kimkins, I would have never learned so much about the internet, online marketing, scams, and diets. Kimkins opened my eyes to how easy it is to steal borrow photo’s from Russian Bride websites and use them as your own success stories or what ever you please. This opened my eyes to a plethora of other ways photos can be used on the internet to con convince people your product is good.
Thanks to Kimkins, I have learned that yahoo answers can be used to drive traffic to your website promotions. I have learned the art of sock puppetry. Yes, just like pen names, a person can create many personas on the web and use them to be as many people as they desire. The more different people you can portray, the more it looks like you have a great product to promote, especially when everyone is saying great things about your product.
Thanks to Kimkins, I have learned how vitally important article marketing is and how your articles can spread like weeds all over the internet giving you a bazillion backlinks to your website. I have also learned that activists can get these articles removed with some good old fashioned elbow grease.
Kimkins has been instrumental in helping me find new friends that will be with me for life!
If it weren’t for Kimkins, I would still be in the dark on how easy it is to sue someone and get sued. I have learned to accept life on the run as just a normal part of everyday life. I have learned that if you are trying to sue someone in another state over an internet issue that you may get shot down for “lack of jurisdiction.”
I have learned the importance of a class action lawsuit. How it is something created to protect everyone. I have learned that the court system is very slow in Corona California, but that a lawyer like John Tiedt is a one in a million God send. He has been persistent for well over a year now and has assured us he will not stop until the right thing has been done.
Thanks to Kimkins, I have learned there are free forums on the internet and people who can support you in your weightloss journey. I now know that fast weightloss can cause some serious damage and that gastric bypass patients really need the serious care of a doctor and they need many supplements to maintain their health. It’s not just about making the stomach smaller so you can eat less.
I have learned that some kind of exercise is really important for long term sucessful weightloss. Also, that anything below 800 calories a day is considered starvation.
I like how Kimkins has helped me learn the lesson of how some things need to be kept very quiet until thoroughly investigated.
Most of all, I like Kimkins for the never ending blog topics I am presented with. I can find another angle to hash out just about any day of the week.
I have also learned that it is frowned upon now by the FTC for affiliates to be incentivised with product or money to write positive reviews on a product. How that can get the blogger and the product owner into a whole heap of trouble if done wrong.
Finally, I have learned that even if you never say anything wrong on a forum that you can still be banned from your lifetime membership. That some don’t understand the meaning of spreading the truth and that freedom of speech is a right here in the USA.
Yes, I like Kimkins for the learning experience it has provided me on all these things.
Ok, so there is the first draft of my essay. I would like to submit some photos but my camera is on the fritz at them moment. Hmm, DUH! Yes! I have some photos:
Yes, that is me before Kimkins – and here is my after:
Thanks Kimkins!
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Thank You For Your Vote, The Newbies Poll
Share this Post[?] Fruity Beta Testing Plugin
Thanks for stopping by today! I need your help.
On the right side of my blog, you will see “Do ya feel lucky punk? Do Ya?” You’ll notice a fun little slot machine there.
It is FREE to play, and you can win some fabulous prizes! Yes, it’s FREE!
What can you win? Some great marketing ebooks put together by Allen Jesson. Seven Sexy SEO secrets is just one of the prizes you can win.
Not every spin is an automatic winner – so you might have to spin a few times. Win a prize, enter your info and voila! You will get immediate access to your prize.
—————————————————-Play Fruity——————————————————————->>>
Who said there is no free lunch? Oh yeah, Aweber. Yes, I use Aweber for my autoresponder service, but when I try to use the word FREE I get spam points. Ugh. What a drag. Well Aweber, I know there are free things, and this is one of them.
Anyway, I love to gamble, I love to win, and I think I love this plugin!
Give it a spin and see what you win.
Who is Allen Jesson? He is the owner of A Gift of Poetry. You know, he’s crazy busy trying to finish up the details with the fruity plugin – but Valentines Day is just around the corner. What is his gift of poetry? You can get a poem custom written to your specifications for your loved one. If you are struggling for some kind of gift for your Valentine, this is just about one of the most unique services I have come across. Having trouble with your sweetie? Fix it with a poem!
He offers 100% money back guarantee. Samples are available on the site as well.
UPDATE: Order a poem from Allen, and be sure to put “JILLSAYS” on your request (no quotes) and you will get $20 cash back! Thanks Allen!
Now go play Fruity and Win!
Share this Post[?] Don Fleece, Traffic Mysteries, Confessions and Reality
Filed under: affiliate marketing, don fleece, video, viral marketing
A couple of days ago I blogged about Don Fleece and Traffic Mysteries 2 – a new product and unheard of product creator in the IM world. Today is confession time. This was all part of a hoax.
It was an elaborate plan masterminded by Frank Kern to get the attention of John Reese who is the creator of Traffic Secrets. Seems Frank owed John some “payback” for a stunt back in 2006.
Don Fleece is an imaginary guru, the Traffic Mysteries product does not exist, but…
In the story I told about the marketer who did not realize the reality of Kimkins and the points made in checking out a new product and its creator – those are sincerely real and valid.
I have to confess, I was in on the traffic mysteries thing. I knew there was no product in the end or money to be taken from anyone and I have to admit – I was not going to originally add the product to this blog as I have no intentions of fooling the real readers but it tied in nicely with the real story of things that were happening. No one was going to get scammed out of their money.
I am elated that at least a couple of people did get something out of it all. One commenter on the post who I believe didn’t realize the hoax learned some additional techniques in investigating a product, and a fitness blogger was kind enough to blog on the danger to his readers of promoting 3rd party products as well as mentioning Kimkins which really is greatly appreciated.
John Reese has left a comment which I will address privately, as he seems to be a little upset but I will add a public apology here –> John I am sorry for any stress this has caused you and in reality we all love and admire you! –> and would like to assure Mr. Reese there are some really great things that have come out of this exercise.
This particular project was not only an opportunity for me to spread the word on my cause, but turned into one of the biggest networking frenzies I’ve ever seen. I was able to greatly expand my circle of contacts through this excursion and additionally I was able to release a lot of stress that had still been pent up over struggles of the past year.
Within days, a group of us had created an active looking pre-launch forum (I may have knitted quite a few socks), created a “buzz” and managed to get some people believing this was a real product. Some of the methods used to start the stir are available to every marketer out there. Hub, Squidoo, blogging, social bookmarking – all things available freely on the web.
Something that should have been a dead giveaway was the picture used of Mr. Fleece with his anti drule invention. This was in reality a feminine product hanging out of his mouth and I am ROFLMBO as I type this.
Some additional personalities were created such as Fleece’s cousin Vern who was giving video testimonials and was not amused that Wurdmess had questioned the integrity of Traffic Mysteries and Fleece.
Today I am back to another project that is real work, but I would like to thank all the posters who came by, thank you to Frank Kern for the opportunity to participate in something that I have learned and gained much from, and a really big thank you as well to John Reese for stopping by.
Share this Post[?] Need Legal Help?
Owning and managing websites can be a lot of work. Just getting a site up and some content can be a battle in itself. LOL, trust me, I know.
So, you got your site up, and everything is looking hunky dory. But wait! Suddenly someone is suing you! What?
Oh, it can happen folks. Trust me on that one too. LOL
You need to protect what you have worked so hard to make.
Luckily, someone has been working hard to put together everything you need to consider adding to your site, for your personal protection and the protection of others.
Do you know the 7 simple ways to protect yourself?
Check out the Legal Forms Generator.
Lawyers are expensive. Lawsuits are expensive. This one simple small investment can save you from bankruptcy, depression, stress, and ultimate internet marketing doom.
Take the Kimkins case for example. We are suing her, she is suing us, and all of this could have been avoided if Heidi had taken the time to get some real legal advice before even starting her website. Don’t think anyone is going to sue a housewife? Think again.
Get real advice put together by real lawyers and save yourself the headaches!
Visit Legal Forms Generator today and get in on the launch price.
These guys are definitely going to be saving my big butt.
Share this Post[?] Adsense Dangers
Adsense can be one of the easiest ways for affiliates to make money on the web. It can also be quite dangerous!
When an affiliate signs up for adsense, they basically allow google to place ads on their site according to the subject matter.
I was most recently amused by this site: http://www.awesomeology.com/category/fatties/
Here is a current picture with the adsense ad in place:
singinglass banner ad
This site is not a diet site, but the ad itself is appropriate according to google.
Here is another Kimkins banner running down the right of the same site.
Wrong Price?
I could swear I saw a different price on this ad – or was it a different ad in the same spot?
I Did! I Did see a different ad yesterday!
Be sure if you are going to use adsense that you are uniform in all your ads. Looks like someone is trying to fix some things. Wonder how they found out the price was wrong in the first place;)
If these files can be fixed, why are the other affiliate banners still running? I’m kinda glad they are actually, as I was able to spend my whole morning taking ALL KINDS OF PICTURES and I made a nice video.
Share this Post[?] Congratulations Echizen!
Filed under: affiliate marketing, my online income system
Who is Echizen? Just one member of My Online Income System from Kimberley Hoffman. Why are congratulations in order? Well, I got a really good chuckle reading their comment in the private forum.
Echizen made a first sale on the web and their product has something to do with man boobs. My GUESS is that they are selling a product to help get people back in shape – men who may have a bit more in the boob area. I think I’ve seen products that target that problem. Wow. What a niche.
Many people get hung up and think the only way to make money online is to sell make money online products. This can be tough when you’ve never actually made any money online.
There are many more success stories in the private forum, and things are looking up.
The price has increased again, but there is so much going on inside now I guess it was to be expected.
If you don’t yet know what My Online Income System is all about, check out this sign-up:
Now is the time to get started. Learn how to make a bit of extra holiday cash or maybe even learn how you can quit your day job.
Use the search feature on this blog to see my other posts and reviews of MOIS.
Share this Post[?] Pictures, Pen Names, Products, and Ethics
I posted a question today on a forum I frequent. The post was about the ethics of using a fake picture to represent yourself. I recently found out that a product I’m promoting uses a stock photo which is perceived as the product creator.
If you have been following this blog, you will know in the case of the Kimkins diet scam that one of the problems was the creator Heidi Diaz using fake pictures to represent herself, as well as other pictures to represent successful testimonials to sell the diet. In that particular case she did not use stock photos but actually used photos taken (allegedly stolen) from Russian brides websites.
So here I am faced with the fake picture scenario again. The product in question does not say anything like “you will look like me if you buy this product.” The product itself is sound. It is not harmful in any way, it works. The only thing in question is the picture provided on the site of the product creator. I have been made aware of a picture of the same person being used on another site.
I was sent an email by a furious subscriber. They unsubscribed from my list all because that picture is a fake. They claimed that it questions my credibility.
I do my darndest to find products that are not a scam, and I personally purchase and look at the products before suggesting them to anyone else. And as much investigation as I can do, it would have been nearly impossible for me to find out that the picture used in this case was a fake without someone else seeing it somewhere.
A lot of times, marketers will use purchased stock photos to make their sales page pretty. Many marketers use pen names to write articles about what they are promoting – especially when they are promoting some very different niches. Does this make the product less effective?
People have different reasons for doing these things. It is a very gray area I’m dealing with. Is the product creator selling a product based on what they look like?
If someone purchases the product based on what the person looks like, then they are purchasing this particular product for entirely the wrong reason.
If someone purchases this product based on my recommendation but I lie in my recommendation then that is a whole other ball of wax.
I have never confirmed that the picture used to represent the person was one and the same. I have done all I can with the exception of showing up on this persons doorstep to see if they are who they say they are.
As an affiliate, I look for safe and useful products that do what they say they do.
As a product creator, I would never use a fake photo of myself. That is where my ethics are.
In this particular circumstance, I am just an affiliate, not the product creator. I like this product, and I think for the price it is a fair value.
This was a really tough thing to work out, but I’m confident with my current choice.
Share this Post[?] PPC, PTC, CPA, WTF?
Ok. There are so many abbreviations that these different terms can get a bit confusing.
I come bearing good news today. One program I started up with at the end of last year did pay me! The winner today is Hits4Pay. I was confident I’d get paid, but you know the proof is in the pudding. I wanted to add a screen shot, but paypal is having issues right now displaying my payment history. They paid me a couple of months ago, so I’ll have to wait to give you the shot at a later date. I can assure you, they did pay me. I got a gal on the phone, and she was able to tell me the company, date and amount.
What kind of program is Hits4Pay? They are considered a PTC or Paid to Click. They send you email alerts that there are ads that need to be seen and read. That is all you do. You log into your account, click on the ad, read it, and you get paid a couple of cents for every ad you look at. Really, it’s not rocket science. If you get others to sign up under you, you get a penny for every ad those people look at. Ok, I know what you’re thinking. A penny here, a penny there. Well, some people actually do very well with this program. These are the people who stick with it, refer their friends, and really do “work it.” If someone has never made a dime online in their life, this is a no brainer. It is so easy a child can do it. I personally like Hits4Pay because I can see new products released, squeeze pages, and keep an eye on what is hot on the web. I see it as getting Paid to do research which I can use to better my own business. So that is PTC.
PTC is not to be confused with PPC which is Pay Per Click. PPC is where you sign up an account with Google, MSN or Yahoo and you pay everytime someone clicks on an ad you’ve put up on the search engines. PPC is done with programs like Google Adwords. There is Adsense as well where you get paid when someone else clicks on an ad on your site.
CPA does not stand for Certified Public Accountant when it comes to affiliate marketing. CPA does stand for Click Per Action. Did you ever find an offer on the web for get a free computer or get a free ringtone? If you’ve ever followed the trail, you were probably pulled into some kind of CPA. The affiliate gets paid for every action the person clicks to get closer and closer to the free thing they are looking for. I was stuck on one of these merry-go-rounds for about 40 minutes one day, just trying to obtain some information. I was ready to shoot someone and just gave up. I’m not much for this model, but to each his own.
So there you have it. Good news for PTC and Hits4Pay. Did I mention you get 10 bucks just for signing up?
Share this Post[?] Slashmysearch, What Happened?
I got an email from Slashmysearch today, and I was reminded about them. In the email they were asking me to promote another affiliate program.
I have not yet been paid by slash my search, and it has been months since I hit the payout threshold. What happened?
I liked the integration of Tafiti. It wasn’t a terrible looking program, and I had even found evidence of someone getting paid - last year. Again I ask, what happened?
I don’t think this company set out with the intention to scam people, but it has to be in some kind of trouble. I came across another blogger who encouraged others to just move along. I think they are right. There comes a time when you have to make a choice. Only you will know when that time is.
I had taken SMS off as my primary browser, awaiting payment before sticking them back on. I want to thank Truckin Gal again for stopping by when she was looking for answers.
I had a post on this blog with all the details of what SMS did, and I have unpublished it for the time being. You never know when something will rise from the dead. That is not looking promising right now, but you never know.
Someone else owes me some money as well right now, and I’m looking into that. If a program is unable to pay, they need to communicate that to the affiliates. The ignore treatment is not good for business.
Share this Post[?] Smoke This
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