What A Crock!!! (I think...)

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Ausumm

Gold Plated Productions
Oct 21, 2008
12,207
15,520
60
Bethlehem PA
Got this email from The Knot
knot.JPG
Only problem is, I don't remember ever signing up with The Knot.
In fact, I went there and searched, and couldn't find myself.
It could be because they have me listed as "Philadelphia"...which I am nowhere near. (I am in Bethlehem, PA)
or...it could be that the whole thing is a crock,
and this is a really crooked way to get people to sign up.
Did anyone else get one of these emails?
Can anyone else find me on The Knot?
 
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That's weird, Albatross.
I would never list my services and use "rehearsals".
And I do not offer "recorded music", "sound equipment" or "rentals".
I don't remember who "Joey M" is....but the review is supposedly from 8 years ago.
All of the contact info is correct, but they could find that anywhere.
Do you think they would go to the trouble of creating a fake account for me,
just so they could send me a fake email from a fake client...
trying to get me to sign up?
 
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Its probably their default settings for an account. I'd at least log in at partners.theknot.com and complete a free listing. If there is contact info there, you can send a message to the prospect. If not, skip it. But having the listing will help your SEO and doesn't cost anything.
 
That's weird, Albatross.
I would never list my services and use "rehearsals".
And I do not offer "recorded music", "sound equipment" or "rentals".
I don't remember who "Joey M" is....but the review is supposedly from 8 years ago.
All of the contact info is correct, but they could find that anywhere.
Do you think they would go to the trouble of creating a fake account for me,
just so they could send me a fake email from a fake client...
trying to get me to sign up?

You do offer 'recorded music' - you play music that was previously recorded. That's what that means. 'Sound equipment' is speakers, amps, microphones, etc. I did a few searches on some businesses that I know that do not use the Knot - to me, it looks like they gathered information and put 'your listing' out there.

It doesn't cost them anything to do that - and if you sign up and want a better listing, they make money - so they have nothing to lose either way.
 
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the internet is becoming skynet, big brother and god only knows what else.

It won't be long and you'll get a google report on where your car drove last week. Whether you ask for it or not (and I believe you can get this if you want it).

I hired an internet marketing company to manage my online presence - it will find reviews and give me a link to respond, it will find all those sites with me on them in some way and correct the info, claim the listings in my name for me, and few other things like post pictures.

They use other services, including http://www.yext.com/

They did an online meeting and showed me some of what's out there..holy shit is all i can say. The knot is just a tiny tiny part of it. I was pulled up in some form on over 300 different sites..yelp, google, of course, but so many others i'd never heard of.

I'm curious to see how it works out - they say the search engines gather all this info and if it's conflicting or incomplete it can hurt your SEO rankings.

they also run a thing on my website that tracks not just the pages people visit, but their actual mouse movements and clicks and it plays back like a movie...really cool.

And the Knot has a thing in beta that works like thumbtack - you get emails like in the OP. Maybe they don't hae anyone signed up in your area so you get them?
 
Ross. I might change the free listing, but to be honest...that would only open the door for more sales tactics.
I've never had lucky with any of the free sites, and I certainly don't want to spend money on them.
Tig, I know what you mean, but I would never had worded any of it the way it is written.
Which is actually what sent up the first red flag.
Ice. I am a "non-aggressive" part timer. I'll take gigs when offered....but I don't pound the pavement looking for them.
I do pretty well, but I enjoy my free time, too.
Val. I am simply not convinced that it is a valid lead. If it is, I'm sure they sent it to everyone in my area as enticement.
And since they have me listed as "Philadelphia"...it's probably not close to me anyway.
 
I hired an internet marketing company to manage my online presence - it will find reviews and give me a link to respond, it will find all those sites with me on them in some way and correct the info, claim the listings in my name for me, and few other things like post pictures.

They use other services, including http://www.yext.com/

They did an online meeting and showed me some of what's out there..holy shit is all i can say. The knot is just a tiny tiny part of it. I was pulled up in some form on over 300 different sites..yelp, google, of course, but so many others i'd never heard of.

I'm curious to see how it works out - they say the search engines gather all this info and if it's conflicting or incomplete it can hurt your SEO rankings.

they also run a thing on my website that tracks not just the pages people visit, but their actual mouse movements and clicks and it plays back like a movie...really cool.

And the Knot has a thing in beta that works like thumbtack - you get emails like in the OP. Maybe they don't hae anyone signed up in your area so you get them?

So basically you hired someone to do a Google search for you? Tell me what you are paying them and I'll give you a better deal and better results for SEO
 
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they're doing a lot more than that. I'm sure I could have done it, like building a speaker cabinet..but I don't want to do it, there are better people equipped to do it.
How much time would it take to find 300+ listings and check and update each one?
What is google looking for TODAY, and that changes week to week. What are other engines looking for? What are crawlers looking for?
Again, I don't have time or interest to keep up on that stuff.
 
Me thinks all these "services" realize how much this industry has declined and are circling us like the sharks they are...waiting to pounce on the ones they perceive as the weakest ones...

Toss enough cr*p at the wall and some of it is bound to stick...
 
they're doing a lot more than that. I'm sure I could have done it, like building a speaker cabinet..but I don't want to do it, there are better people equipped to do it.
How much time would it take to find 300+ listings and check and update each one?
What is google looking for TODAY, and that changes week to week. What are other engines looking for? What are crawlers looking for?
Again, I don't have time or interest to keep up on that stuff.

Chris I have no dog in the fight but hear me out...SEO companies make it out like it's some kind of voodoo it's not it's real simple. The thing about consultants is they fix from the top down not the bottom up because the day they solve the problem the aren't really needed anymore.

Right now when I do a search for DJ in Beaver PA you come up the first listing on page 4...Your photography site actually ranks better in a DJ search than your DJ site

Unless you have backlinks on those 300+ sites they make NO difference to your SEO not even a bit. If there is a bad review or incorrect info they can't get it down any more than you can. There is one site I spent 3 years trying to get them to change an address with no results...The SEO company will have no different results

Yes the engines constantly change and unless you get real lucky you will never be on top on all of them. Focus on Google they have a 70% share and you will rank well on the others also because they all look at the basics first...And I'll give you a hint the SEO outfit wont tell you about fix your basics because that's the majority of the problem with most sites
 
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It's pretty common to set up a 'free' listing for a company, so when you generate a lead (real or fake to be determined) they validate how valuable their services can be to you. I know of few people who received MORE leads after taking the leap to paid listings.

Actually, I have to eat crow, both TK and WW are producing leads since I've gone paid. Not overwhelming, but it's showing a steady number. I think magic may be correct that it's your reviews and presentation which drives the leads.
 
Actually, I have to eat crow, both TK and WW are producing leads since I've gone paid. Not overwhelming, but it's showing a steady number. I think magic may be correct that it's your reviews and presentation which drives the leads.

Did you actually go back with Wedding Wire? If so, did they give you a real good deal to go back to a paid listing?
 
A few years ago, someone gave me a review on one of the Knot's subsidiary sites which generated a listing page for my service. Looks like that's what happened here Mike.
 
Actually, I have to eat crow, both TK and WW are producing leads since I've gone paid. Not overwhelming, but it's showing a steady number. I think magic may be correct that it's your reviews and presentation which drives the leads.

Don't forget to subtract your own contribution to that performance. If you are directing customers to use online tools, information, or reviews hosted on those sites then there is a part of the experience that can be described as a feedback loop. You send traffic to the site which in turn improves your perception of how the site is performing. However, there is no control group; no comparative indicators of the performance you'd see by directing those customers to some alternative set of tools.

In simpler terms - good customer results should lead new customers directly to you. If on the other hand, good customer results are leading new customers to wedding wire to find you - then you've created a loop that actually benefits wedding wire ahead of yourself. I'm always curious about how a customer actually finds me. Did the source refer me directly or do they say they found me on Wedding Wire in response to a referral?
 
Did you actually go back with Wedding Wire? If so, did they give you a real good deal to go back to a paid listing?

Yes, I opened another paid ad, this time under photography. I offered to pay up front and they didn't offer any discount. If my service offerings were still $750, I'd have a hard time justifying the ad expense. At our bundled pricing, it finally makes sense. BTW, it's $79/mth for WW.