Newbies Posting AMA or Offering Free Services

[SEOzack]

Hi.

I have an issue with new members offering free services.

I think we have a lot of new members on the forum, and a lot are naive to scammers and online thieves.

I feel, as a long-standing member than some, it is my duty to the forum, and community to help and protect new members from any potential scam artists, or thieves.

I put forward that anybody offering free services should have been a member here for longer than three months and have over 100 posts.

Considering free services can also lead to upsells, I am not sure non-Jr VIPs should be able to offer free services anyway?

Does this mean people won't get scammed? No.

Of course, people can still get scammed. But it acts as a deterrent for people who may come, pray on the naive and leave.

Suggestions and ideas?

 

[Naijalife]

I think it should be 100 posts minimum and at least 3 months active on the forum before you could offer any "freebies". Exactly I have talked to few newbies who bought a course elsewhere or fallen for some type of scam and I think it would be a great idea that you had to be on here actively for at least 3 months to build some trust.

 

[SEOzack]

I think it should be 100 posts minimum and at least 3 months active on the forum before you could offer any "freebies". Exactly I have talked to few newbies who bought a course elsewhere or fallen for some type of scam and I think it would be a great idea that you had to be on here actively for at least 3 months to build some trust.

It generally makes sense.

Of course, there are going to be people who will say 'JrVIPs scam people too.'

Yes, but I should imagine it happens less with JRVIPS than regular members. We just here about it more because of the shitlist thread.

This is a community; we should protect new members as well as encourage them.

But, I cannot encourage a new member to send private or any details to a person who has been here less than two weeks with minimum posts.

 

[Naijalife]

Totally agree with you yes there are JR Vips that have scammed and thankfully we have the shitlist but yes i am in agreement there was a thread I think last week a newbie lost $5000 to another newbie for services and we should encourage anyone who is not JR VIP to report if anyone is messaging them services or anything like that. I certainly would not be handing over my private information to anyone who is here 2 weeks for sure I hope people are more vigilant. This is why I love BHW I really feel we are a community to help each other. And totally agree within marketing most free stuff leads to upsells.

 

[MountainGuy]

I agree on some sort of metric when giving free stuff.

You see a lot of newbies jumping on anything free with no thought of why you wouldn't want to hand over your domain info to a complete stranger on bhw.

Maybe just the time limit or just the post limit.. Not sure what would be more effective. I lean more towards the time limit since some members take years to get to the 100 post

 

[SEOzack]

I agree on some sort of metric when giving free stuff.

You see a lot of newbies jumping on anything free with no thought of why you wouldn't want to hand over your domain info to a complete stranger on bhw.

Maybe just the time limit or just the post limit.. Not sure what would be more effective. I lean more towards the time limit since some members take years to get to the 100 post

Yeah, I would be at ease with either or.

 

[PHPInjected]

Makes sense. It can easily happen like this:

Newbie: hey, here is the free service!
Member: thank you, looks great!
Newbie: if you liked those services. I can offer you this at a huge discount.


Payment is received and the newbie disappears with nothing lost but a new account.

 

[SEOzack]

I would also like to add. There is no benefit to a non JRVIP to report being scammed.

If they buy a service of another non JRVIP then report it they will also be banned.

Seems like a loophole tbh.

 

[Veil123]

A huge percentage of those people offer the (free backlinks, etc..) freebies just so they can 'steal' niche ideas and/or scrape the backlink profiles. We can't know for sure whether they will give the actual 'reward' to the people unless some of the mods make a background check and/or someone make a complain about it.

+1 for the idea.

 

[LuckyGirl9334]

I agree on some sort of metric when giving free stuff.
Maybe just the time limit or just the post limit.. Not sure what would be more effective. I lean more towards the time limit since some members take years to get to the 100 post

My thought is that JrVIP or higher should also help police as @SEOzack did. It may be that a newbie doesn't really understand how the forum works yet. (I know I didn't) And certainly there will be many coming in guns blazing offering free stuff to build their list and make offers off the forum similar to Warrior Forum, etc.

I think that it should be made clear to all involved that is a no-no. JrVIP have waited their time, made their post quota WITHOUT post count inflation and paid their dues - if anyone should be selling it should be JrVIP as this forum was designed, whether thru a freebie or not. Mind you - I haven't really seen a JrVIP offer a freebie to only get someone off forum for an upsell but, I'm sure it has happened a time or two in the past.

Mostly, if someone comes into this forum all gung-ho to get PM's for a freebie or free service, I am wary.

NOTE ALL NEWBIES: Read the Newbie Guide before posting ANYTHING, it helps you in the long run!

If you have something to contribute in the way of free help, advice or AMA - put it in a thread and build trust with that.

My 2 Cents.

 

[MaestroDelWeb]

I don't think there should be any barrier to entry for a free service. It's free, the provider is taking a loss. Most do it to build their reputations, their resume/portfolio, testing a product or even a future upsell.

Of course it is buyer beware and precede with more caution. The free service is the trust builder, many businesses offer them for cold clients.

 

[Stitches and Burns]

Agree with this. I've seen a lot of newbies recently offering free services/products. In the end, it's just an opportunity for them to sell something else outside this forum.

I also noticed that many of them don't really deliver the free service and instead will try to sell something to you. Happened to me once, I added him on Skype so that I can get a free logo. He promised that I will get the logo soon but before that, he asked me if I'm interested in having my website redesigned. It's more than a month and I have yet to receive my free logo.

 

[SocialManager]

I added him on Skype so that I can get a free logo.

Well, this is already against the rules. Freebie dealings are supposed to be managed via private message on the forums so mods can keep track of what is happening.

"At NO POINT are you allowed to direct any member to a website, instant messenger address, email address, form or signature. The member should get ONLY the information that fulfills your freebie/giveaway via PM REPLY. Anything else will be considered advertising/selling and you will be in violation of the rules."

So, if someone directs you to Skype or asks for your Skype, just tell them no, if they just ignore you after that, report to mods for action.

 

[Hairein]

People are losing the point. No money involved, it's not about your own experience where you paid and got scammed. It's about, hey, I'm doing something for free to help someone. It's also kinda wierd being restricted because I created a thread with free services.

And another thing. If you are afraid to being scammed, just avoid use internet and smart devices, social, forums, websites. They collect they data, and may sell them. AI is collecting data from you such cleaning robots, google assistant and so on. You sre giving away your data for free, and then complaining about someone is trying to help?
That's hilarious!

 

[SEOzack]

People are losing the point. No money involved, it's not about your own experience where you paid and got scammed. It's about, hey, I'm doing something for free to help someone. It's also kinda wierd being restricted because I created a thread with free services.

And another thing. If you are afraid to being scammed, just avoid use internet and smart devices, social, forums, websites. They collect they data, and may sell them. AI is collecting data from you such cleaning robots, google assistant and so on. You sre giving away your data for free, and then complaining about someone is trying to help?
That's hilarious!

Hey, man.

Thanks for the point. But you are taking this way to personal. This isn't about you as an individual. This is the process as a whole.

This section of the forum is for forum suggestions and feedback.

Doing something for free is a fantastic thing. Given the nature of our work though, many people come here to harm the community and new members.

Safeguarding new members, or naive members is how a community works.

You are new here but when you stick around long enough you will see many new members offering or trying to find out niches or personal information about people.

Again, this isn't about you as an individual. Don't take it personally.

 

[UltimateBeast]

Hey, man.

Thanks for the point. But you are taking this way to personal. This isn't about you as an individual. This is the process as a whole.

This section of the forum is for forum suggestions and feedback.

Doing something for free is a fantastic thing. Given the nature of our work though, many people come here to harm the community and new members.

Safeguarding new members, or naive members is how a community works.

You are new here but when you stick around long enough you will see many new members offering or trying to find out niches or personal information about people.

Again, this isn't about you as an individual. Don't take it personally.

I agree with @SEOzack on this. The type of work we do, we are always vulnerable to scams. If a new member's first thread is about freebies/giveaway, it will, for sure, raise suspicion. If newbies really want to help, first read through the forum and understand BHW from the core. After that they will understand themselves that why this issue is raised.

 

[MisterF]

Makes sense. It can easily happen like this:

Newbie: hey, here is the free service!
Member: thank you, looks great!
Newbie: if you liked those services. I can offer you this at a huge discount.


Payment is received and the newbie disappears with nothing lost but a new account.

A huge percentage of those people offer the (free backlinks, etc..) freebies just so they can 'steal' niche ideas and/or scrape the backlink profiles. We can't know for sure whether they will give the actual 'reward' to the people unless some of the mods make a background check and/or someone make a complain about it.

+1 for the idea.

Agree with this. I've seen a lot of newbies recently offering free services/products. In the end, it's just an opportunity for them to sell something else outside this forum.

I also noticed that many of them don't really deliver the free service and instead will try to sell something to you. Happened to me once, I added him on Skype so that I can get a free logo. He promised that I will get the logo soon but before that, he asked me if I'm interested in having my website redesigned. It's more than a month and I have yet to receive my free logo.

A couple or three points here.

Any member with a yellow username who offers to sell, either through a Freebie/Giveaway, PM or other methods - please report them so we can remove them.

If anyone is unsure about giving away your WP log ins, your keywords etc to anyone offering a Freebie/Giveaway - then don't join in.

As for stealing ideas etc, it's not just limited to newbies. I've seen Jr VIPs do the same over the years. One recently offered free content, took peoples keywords and niches and never delivered any articles.

 

[ilovetobun69]

Hi.

I have an issue with new members offering free services.

I think we have a lot of new members on the forum, and a lot are naive to scammers and online thieves.

I feel, as a long-standing member than some, it is my duty to the forum, and community to help and protect new members from any potential scam artists, or thieves.

I put forward that anybody offering free services should have been a member here for longer than three months and have over 100 posts.

Considering free services can also lead to upsells, I am not sure non-Jr VIPs should be able to offer free services anyway?

Does this mean people won't get scammed? No.

Of course, people can still get scammed. But it acts as a deterrent for people who may come, pray on the naive and leave.

Suggestions and ideas?

what's wrong with newbies doing it ? All your going to do is make them build up rep just enough to get "trust " and do what happens once a while with Jr vip members "ama"'s

 

[FatBee]

A couple or three points here.

Any member with a yellow username who offers to sell, either through a Freebie/Giveaway, PM or other methods - please report them so we can remove them.

If anyone is unsure about giving away your WP log ins, your keywords etc to anyone offering a Freebie/Giveaway - then don't join in.

As for stealing ideas etc, it's not just limited to newbies. I've seen Jr VIPs do the same over the years. One recently offered free content, took peoples keywords and niches and never delivered any articles.

Should we report ppl who picked up our idea but never deliver back?

 

[ilovetobun69]

Should we report ppl who picked up our idea but never deliver back?

Yes . They promised something and never did it. I've had somthing similar happen with me.