Articlewritingforum.com [paid forum/service]

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GameMasterNick

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asykora - You know I love you... but here was my take on it after I spent some time there (and I had to reverse my opinion on the whole deal thanks to the creator's obvious Get Rich Quick scheme ideas).

---

In response to the Admin's message about putting the "premium content" behind a subscription only lock...

I posted: "I haven't yet found anything in the ad section to be worthwhile for me. I hope there is more premium content than just these listings. Otherwise, I would not want to pay a subscription fee to avoid 2 minutes of searching Craigslist and the more popular free freelance listings."

My post was deleted by the site's owner and I received this message:

Do not even think about...
Posting up anything negative here about our paid membership model.

Consider this your first warning, pull that crap again and you're out.


Mark

So, they're instituting a paid subscription model for information that they pull for free from other freelance sites... and they will not brook -any- discussion that is not "I love this, take my money."

I guess you get what you pay for... while it's free.

You know me, I couldn't let it go.

I replied with:

Duly noted... my opinions are not valued.

Will pass along your advice to the other people who came here at my suggestion.

And those who suggested I do so as well. Hope your pay-wall, subscription model works better than most.

Have a nice day!

Now the temptation to start a free, US version on one of the servers I have administrator rights for is tempting...

But I really do think Ken's got this covered... and his site offers literally 10x the listings.
Some of which can't be found with a simple craigslist or google visit.
 
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asykora

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I've been on the down low since posting and haven't been on that forum or here much but I think a forum dedicated entirely to free lance writing is an awesome idea and that site was getting a lot of knowledgeable people together in one place.
It is my understanding that parts of the forum are going to continue to be free and that other parts will be pay to play.
I am not against paying to play on a forum if I know the valued of what is being offered and it is something I can't find for myself or something that would take too much time for me to find.
I am just going to sit back and see what happens.
 

asykora

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Nick,
I should also say if you were banned because you mentioned pay for play isn't a good option at this time then....that's not cool!
 

GameMasterNick

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asykora - Ayup. What I posted was exactly what was said.

The slim pickings (all UK, some research paper-writing!!!) in the "premium content" listings aren't worth the subscription cost to me. There isn't anything else there, atm, that could in any way justify it. Best to stick with the Water Cooler or other sites.

What I posted above was mainly a cross-post from my thread on the Demand Studios forums. More info from other posters there as well.
 

veinglory

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I a person thinks the content cannot be successfully monetised at this time, why would it be 'not cool' to say so?
 

asykora

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It's not cool that someone was banned for saying so.
 

herdon

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http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/

That's where I go to check out daily gigs. Been going there since Deb ran the place.

I think the guy running the message board will quickly find out that the few paid subscribers he gets won't pay for the time investment of scrubbing the spam and booting guests who point out the obvious.
 

Button

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I'm cool with someone having a forum of their own for article writers or content writers or whatever.

Probably not the best forum if it's owned by someone who couldn't manage to get along with other people on a forum and would either be banned or ask others to "delete my account".

Just sayin'. ;)

If he wants to be that nutzoid, he could at least post an application process and his rules. (Don't question author-i-tah!)



I like the other resources shared here. Thanks for posting those.
 

Button

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Oh who rated this thread terrible? Or did it mean a vote of terrible for the forum in question? It was hard to tell. ;)
 

MalloryKnox

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Add me to the list of those who had a bad experience on this forum.

Originally, I had earned the coveted paid lifetime membership.

I received an email requesting feedback as the forum had slowed some, which I gave. I reported that in my short time on the forum, the admin had openly mocked one of my posts and then removed another. I explained that this, combined with what I'd read on other writing forums, I wasn't very comfortable posting. I further explained that I'd likely lurk for a bit and jump in when I felt comfortable and felt that I had something to add.

I was stripped away of my premium membership. Apparently, lurking is not enough. He said he'll give my spot away to someone more deserving because they don't value people who don't contribute.

So hurry people... my spot is up for grabs. All you have to do is contribute value to the forum whilst never telling the truth, even when it's asked for.
 

herdon

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Add me to the list of those who had a bad experience on this forum.

Originally, I had earned the coveted paid lifetime membership.

I received an email requesting feedback as the forum had slowed some, which I gave. I reported that in my short time on the forum, the admin had openly mocked one of my posts and then removed another. I explained that this, combined with what I'd read on other writing forums, I wasn't very comfortable posting. I further explained that I'd likely lurk for a bit and jump in when I felt comfortable and felt that I had something to add.

I was stripped away of my premium membership. Apparently, lurking is not enough. He said he'll give my spot away to someone more deserving because they don't value people who don't contribute.

So hurry people... my spot is up for grabs. All you have to do is contribute value to the forum whilst never telling the truth, even when it's asked for.

Crap, i better hurry over there. This line could be longer than the one for the iPad 2!
 

GameMasterNick

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Taking bets on when this site folds...
The admin seems to really dislike dealing with people (especially those with opinions)...
A sure sign that he should be running a forum for writers, who are usually quite sedate and rarely opinionated.
 

Button

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More from our friendly, neighborhood forum-crazy:

Also even more insane----or maybe he did this to all banned people------I do not know.
My friend sent me the copy and paste of the rant, but I was able to click her link and view it too.
redface1.gif


OK- BL suggested I keep it up so that people do not have to go to his forum to view it. However, we both agree he can post his own BS here. Also mods feel free to delete this post at any time.
************************************************** *******************************

Below is a copy and paste rant from Mark-
***************************************
"Let's get down to some straight, no BS talking. Nip this one in the bud.

There's quite a few people moaning and bitching on other writing forums... spreading outright lies and BS about me since starting the Article Writing Forum with Arfa Saira.

A few of these points I wish to address...

One competitor posted up that I sent him an abusive and threatening email.

I call BS. You received no such email from me. You exaggerate the truth.

Purely in empathy for you as a forum owner, I sent you an email asking you to kindly remove one new posters comments on your forum where she was promoting this forum, on your forum.

Now, we don't mind people here posting up links. Why should we? We're all professional marketers after all is said and done. And marketing involves a little bit of promotion every now and then. But I can well understand you not wanting the same on your forum. Your forum. Your rules.

Our forum. Our rules.

I contacted you with no malicious intent in the slightest. I don't know you. I've never met you. Our lives have never crossed lines before as far as I know. I wish you no ill and like everyone here would wish only the very best for you and if I could help you, I would. If it was in my capacity to do so.

I asked you very simply to remove the offending thread, if it upset you in any way. That very brief, short and to the point email finished with the line...

"Simply remove the offending post. Problem solved."

How you managed to glean from that, that this was was a threatening, rude and abrasive email, is anyone's guess. But you saw fit to post your comments up on your forum telling everyone else that I had sent you a very abusive and threatening email. You Sir are a liar. There's no other way to state the truth of the matter.

You were not threatened and you certainly didn't receive an abusive, threatening email from me. That was the last thing on my mind for you to pick up this false impression. Perhaps I did sign off the email with that last sentence a little abruptly. Fact is, the phone went and since it's a bit of a sprint to answer the phone at the other end of the house, I just quickly ended the email with that last sentence and clicked Send.

*****

Now... several other posters have also been posting up very negative remarks and links to my other websites in an effort to bring my good business name into disrepute.

One person raised the point in a very derogatory manner about my being banned from the Warrior Forum last summer.

Let me put you straight on the reason why I was banned from the Warrior Forum last summer...

A moderator advised *** (***- WF user name) THE marketing legend, responsible for well over $400 million worth of sales in his career to date, an absolute gentleman of the finest pedigree possible, a gentleman in his mid seventies who only lost his wife a few months previously... this moderator advised Jim to make a post on the Warrior Forum.

Another moderator came along and first deleted ***'s comment and then subsequently banned his account for 7 days. ****, copywriter and WF moderator then posted up a new thread about JF ** being banned from the forum. Most of the A** kissers on there agreed with the decision to ban him. A few including myself, we disagreed with this moderators decision to ban this marketing legend from the WF.

Four people immediately spring to mind, posters who were quite outspoken in their utter disgust about this decision, one a web developer from New York... ***. *** was extremely outspoken as was *** and myself.

For my trouble sticking up for ***, I was banned from the Warrior Forum myself along with one or two other people defending J** and his right to stay at the WF.

We didn't want to see him embarrassed like this and felt the need to state rightly or wrongly our opinion on the matter. This has been documented elsewhere online. You can do the research for yourselves.

So no, I wasn't banned for scamming anyone at all, as one or two of you wish to imply. Get your facts straight. Upon being banned, all 2,000 of my threads and posts were immediately removed from the Warrior Forum.

It's no big deal. I still stand by my decision now to speak out and disagree with the moderators there about that extremely ridiculous decision to ban this gentleman.

Prior to this, I enjoyed a very good reputation on that forum for always being kind and helpful towards other posters. People still remember this fact today and every now and again, I still receive communications from the members there thanking me for taking so much out of my time and busy schedule to help others. Which is jolly nice to receive and very decent of them and I thank them sincerely for it.

*****

Now, a few posters have been banned from this forum too.

When this forum was started off, we had a terrific problem with spammers signing up, registering for accounts here and subsequently posting up their *** links etc. It took a great deal of time to stay on top of it all.

Anyone who registered on this forum with an obviously fake user name, I automatically banned and deleted their accounts to protect the rest of our fledgling community of genuine posters.

One poster on one forum hasn't stopped since, posting up very negative remarks about us here. She signed up with a completely unintelligible username, I straightaway thought spammer and deleted her account. She hasn't stopped bitching and moaning about it for the past 2 weeks since approximately.

If you had followed the forum rules here, this wouldn't have happened to you. The forum rules clearly state that if you wish to register and use this forum, you must use a real name or 'real' pen name / business name. Seems pretty simply to me. I'm sorry for you that you couldn't follow this exceedingly simple rule.

*****

On the back of so many spammers registering, I installed a modification to the forum.

A way to stop the spammers registering for an account. This has caught one or two people too who are now moaning about it on these other writing forums. This mod is aligned with http://www.StopForumSpam.com

I do not personally check out your IP addresses as one or two of you have falsely stated. If you register here and this modification catches your IP address, user name, email address used etc it will automatically put your account name used into a list for later approval manually by me. If any trigger shows up in red as a warning, I simply will not approve you. Simple.

I haven't got the time to faff about checking out whether or not you are a genuine poster or not. I trust this mod to do it's work on my behalf. That is the reason I installed it. To save me the time and aggravation of manually checking to see if you are a genuine person or not as the case may be.

Mistakes happen. We're all human. Coding isn't always perfect. We have to live with it. Make the best out of the tools and knowledge available to us. So some of you couldn't use this forum. It's a great shame because we would have loved nothing better than to see you posting here within this growing community. But like it or lump it, it is the way it is.

One or two have sent me the most ridiculous emails, revolting insults calling me Hitler this, Hitler that and Hitler something else. Well, to be perfectly frank with you, with an attitude like this, you're not welcome here anyway.

As I said above, it's our forum, our rules. Don't like it? Leave. Doors over there, don't let it slam you on the a*** on the way out. Clear enough for you?

We welcome well intentioned posters on this forum and will do our utmost to help anyone out who asks for assistance. That is our nature, but push, prod or keep prodding at us to provoke us only and you will be removed from this forum. No questions asked.

We respect good manners and 99% of people understand this, as a natural part of their personalities. We want good people to enjoy using this forum and whatever we can do to help you... we will - plain and simple.

The rest of these troublemakers, I'm sorry, you're not welcome here.

Let this be my final say on this / these matter/s."


Mark Andrews
Admin AWF
This was posted at another forum after my friend was banned (and others).

And now Mark is threatening the forum owner of that website... with copyright infringement.

Hi from Ky!


:)Hi everyone! My name is Su*** and I am from a small town in ***I have been working full time from home as a freelance writer for the last 2 1/2 years. I'm happy to be here to meet you and learn helpful tips to make my writing career even more successful.


Oi8vYXJ0aWNsZXdyaXRpbmdmb3J1bS5jb20vVGhlbWVzL2RlZmF1bHQvaW1hZ2VzL2lwLmdpZg%3D%3D
Logged admin Mark Andrews Forum Owner


Mark Andrews

Re: Hi from Ky!


« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2011, 07:12:16 PM »
Reply Quote from: susteele on March 06, 2011, 03:23:52 PM
:)Hi everyone! My name is Su*** and I am from a small town in ***. I have been working full time from home as a freelance writer for the last 2 1/2 years. I'm happy to be here to meet you and learn helpful tips to make my writing career even more successful.


Su*** Freelance Writer
? I recognize that name. Just twigged.

http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=busymomsdrinkcoffee&aq=f&aqi= &aql=&oq=&pbx=1&fp=5f8640c9233c188f

Only one link on that page and it goes to this person...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5555020/how_to_become_a_successful_independent.html?cat=31

Who also happens to post at...

http://www.workplacelikehome.com/forum/showthread.php?t=283084&page=2

Reply #38 on the above link. Using the user name Awesome Person whose Username has Coffee In it. Which post has now been deleted from WorkPlaceLikeHome*com after I told the owner of the above forum that if she didn't remove your post within 24 hours... a DMCA Notice would follow to have the post created by Su*** / ss*** / Not Su but Coffee forcibly removed.

This poster was banned from here before for causing trouble yet what does she do? She signs back in with yet another user account.

Consider your account banned for a second time.

Both A*** and myself as professional copywriters do not appreciate you stealing content from this forum.

You Su*** are nothing but a content thief. As demonstrated in the screenshot down below.

Since you were first banned from this forum, you've been on a rampage ever since doing your best to blast our good reputation. Spreading lies online, coming out with falsehoods, insulting us behind our backs, calling me names and doing your absolute best to ruin our professional business reputations.

We're not going to put up with it.

You lady are a disgrace to the professional writing industry. A writing hack obviously not capable of handling yourself professionally.

You need to think about the consequences of your actions another time and stop playing your very stupid and childish games.

Both A*** and myself, we're doing our absolute best here to look after our community members. Providing them with extraordinary value for money.

As professional copywriters and online marketers we've both written a large amount of sales copy for various marketers both big and small. We both know all about over delivering to give members, excellent value for money.

Please desist from casting further aspersions upon us. Your very stupid and utterly childish and rather idiotic behavior is most certainly not becoming behavior, for a supposedly mature woman of your age.

Grow up.


Smoke There's Fire... Smouldering Hot Sales Copy...
Mark Andrews
Re: Hi from Ky!

My / our original content appeared on this thread...

http://articlewritingforum.com/index.php/topic,427.0.html

Unless it's escaped your notice 'Content Thief' Su Freelance Writer / s*** / Not the same person, this is displayed on every page on this forum...

©ArticleWritingForum.com 2011 All Rights Reserved Mark Andrews / A***
I wasn't going to post the first one, because I was hoping things would quiet down. We had actually stopped talking about him weeks ago. But he's threatening another message board owner. I don't have to comment, his insanity shows in his posts.

And Mark...

Bite me.


Fixed to remove darling S's full name.

And I will personally fund her slander suit when she feels like outing Mark because he totally had the wrong person. Coffee and Su are not the same people.
 
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Button

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And just to state, Coffee isn't Susan.

I happen to "know" Susan. Actually might nix her name out of there. Give me a second. She's a victim of Mark's craziness.
 

MacAllister

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Yep - if you'd remove identifying information from uninvolved third parties, that would be awesome. Thanks!
 

Kristin_

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Deleting. Mark has deleted the offending posts about the writer in question. If more untruths surface, I will be back to post on this thread.
 
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