How NOT to do social media marketing

Ever heard of James D. Brausch? He's not a household name, but if you've been around the internet marketing scene at all, you may have heard of him, either by name, or for his Glyphius copywriting software, which claims to "improve profitability using statistical analysis to mathematically study profitable ads." He's a self-styled internet marketing guru who makes a living telling other people how to make money online.

I've taken a look over James' blog (JamesBrausch.org), and it's fairly innocuous -- standard internet marketing fare. And I don't know much about Glyphius except that it's received a couple of decent reviews by copywriters I know and respect (Copyblogger and The Conversion Doctor). However, Brausch himself has a pretty spotty reputation (read the comments). But like I said, I have no first-hand experience with his products (and doubt I ever will).

What I do have first-hand experience with, though, is a rash (actually two rashes) of people shilling for James Brausch and, more recently, Glyphius. And the most insidious thing about his shilling technique is that it's designed to not be obvious spam.

Here are three of the first blog comments I received shilling for James:

12/5/2007 from "Susan":

Scott,

Thank you. I just love your articles. Speaking of entrepreneurs and automated businesses, have you thought about interviewing James Brausch? He has so many software programs and home study systems for people that want to automate their own businesses, the man seems like a real genius. I would love to hear your views on his work!

1/23/2008 from "Duke":

One of the best way to start a business is online. I know of many friends around the world who have made their living from such a startup. Although nothing is always as easy, still the opportunities are out there for every person to make their financial dreams come true.

I'll just leave you a formula quoted from James D. Brausch whom I frequent read up his blog for some free insights.

Traffic + Copywriting + Product = Successful Internet Business

Took me some hard knocks to realize I was that close :)

2/2/2008 from "Hernann":

I think people should start taking notes and applying some of the advice contained in this interview. I think something missing in many small and big entrepreneurs is the culture of documenting your progress, using statistics and several key process indicators, depending on the type of business you're running.

When it comes to Internet marketing, I think no one does it better than James Brausch, who sells real business procedures and statistical software, not snake oil like most "gurus" out there.

Seems innocent enough, one at a time. They're not generic spam -- they're actually appropriate comments for the blog posts. But that's just three of six within that time period -- way past "just loyal fans". On top of that, every commenter had a Yahoo.com email address, and none of them replied when I emailed them. Hmm...

I thought I'd try to contact James about it and see what he had to say for himself. I went to his site -- no contact form, no email address, no phone number... no way to contact him. I did some more research and all I found was a bunch of dissatisfied customers complaining about the fact that they couldn't figure out how to contact him (see the comments at the "spotty reputation" link above for a sample).

But the comments stopped, so I just let it slide and forgot about it. That is, until this week. Here are three more comments I received lately on my blog:

6/19/2007 from "Sarah":

I have to say that marketing to the fortune 500 list doesn't sound like a bad idea. I work for one and there is definitely a chance to d some big business depending on what your product is. If you do decide to go for it write up your proposal with glyphius - I have been using it on my persuasive pieces and it has helped me convert prospects into customers.

6/23/2008 from "professional blogger":

it really is a good industry, and i've been in it for quite some time now. one of the few things i've learned while dong this is bloggers should be efficient as well as effective. some requires hits for your blog to be paid.

there are countless tools that could make your blogging experience as effective and as smooth as possible. one of my favorite is glyphius 2008. it helps you create headlines and tag phrases that will generate the most hit. :)

6/24/2008 from "Jen":

I agree, I think that you have to think big to be big...start somewhere. There's lots of things out there that can help your company to stand out. I've found copyrighting software to help make sure my internet URL stands out among the crowd. For all you entrepreneurs out there --check Glyphius out.

The first one made me put Glyphius on my "sites to check out" list. The second one made me say, "Hmm... what's this Glyphius thing I keep hearing about?" The third one, and I had a sickening sense of déjà vu. Yup -- sure enough, all the email addresses were at Yahoo.com. Sure enough, Glyphius is the creation of James Brausch.

So James, when you read this, stop sending your shills to my blog (or anybody else's)!

The #1 rule of social media marketing is authenticity. If you want to build your reputation and your internet presence, comment on blogs yourself. Say something smart. Add value. Use your own name and put in whatever URL you want for the link. But don't send other people to post advertisements for you disguised as appropriate comments. Besides just being unethical, it wastes my time and ultimately wastes the time of whoever is posting those comments, because when it's discovered (and it will be discovered), they're going to get deleted. And if you really tick off the wrong blogger, they'll call you out publicly for those practices -- far worse for you in the long run than whatever small benefit you gain from the few shills you get away with.