Over the past few months I've seen an overwhelming increase in comments on this blog that look something like this:
Name: [guruname] Club
URL: [guruname].com(tv)Comment: Hi! Great post! I was looking around for some thing like that on the net for _____. I’m also a part of [guruname] program. So I’m still kinda new in internet marketing
The comment is usually completely irrelevant to the post on which they are commenting.
Each of these comments always includes the trainer's name and the fact that the commenter is new to internet marketing.
“Kinda new” is right.
It's obvious that they've been hoodwinked into buying a blogging or online business course that increases their trainer's profile (and profits) more than their own.
Most of these blogs are a journal of the newbie's personal blogging / internet marketing journey – and as they're so new to the game, there is no valuable content that might convince a visitor to either bookmark the site or sign up for the newsletter.
Too, there's invariably a blogroll that lists links to [guruname]'s students' sites – under a heading that reads [guruname] Club or [guruname] Students.
This is obviously taught as a link and traffic-building technique – which of course ‘works' because each of the students would visit each of the other students' sites.
But how very convenient to get your students to put your name on each of their sites. Of all the sites listed, [guruname] is what visitors are most likely to remember.
I don't know how other bloggers are handling these comments, but I now delete them immediately. The comments are completely inane, don't add one iota of value to my readers and are ultimately a ploy to get people (who pay the trainer for instruction) to post free advertising for their course.
So, I'll say this about that.
If you find yourself signed up for a program that teaches a blog commenting strategy that requires you to post the same comment over and over and that always includes your trainer's name — get a refund!
Comments, questions or suggestions? Please leave a comment below!
Cheers,
