While now, there is much gnashing of teeth, I have to wonder just what percentage of ASD members actaully joined up for getting their websites promoted vs. $$$$$ ? Oh, I forgot, I'm not allowed to say that, I'm supposed to pretend the rebates are fictious and don't exist. I would have joined simply for my website's exposure to many who would not have otherwise done a particular search for my services/product. When surfing was going well back in June, I really looked forward to surfing and seeing innovative site design from others. What if instead of seeing this only as "potential income", members knew in advance that there would be no income, only reciprocal "linkage". Thereby, perhaps actually paying say $10-20/MO for the ASD model of required surfing- but no payback, other than getting one's site exposure to others. I would still happily be a member if there were NO rebates. How many of you would feel the same, knowing there is not going to be ANY return, other than guaranteed exposure? Call me any name you like, I am not here to diss others only to say that I was happy with the exposure I was getting. That would be worth the energy. The only sites I could live without were the first five of so sites of the day, all owned by ASD. Let's get real- once you made your money back, who do you think pays for ridiculously absurd rebates? The last guy in, period. ASD could even go so far as to return rebates of 100% (your original investment returned over the course of say 6 months) and still make good money. If anyone in this forum actually enjoyed surfing and getting goodly traffic to their own site, please speak up! That is how this was formed and could run for a long time, benefit EVERYONE involved, not just those who got in early. Yes, I looked in the mirror and had a good laugh too! Tom T
Think about it people. There are investigators getting paid thousands of dollars right now to sit behind a computer all day and monitor these forums! READ THE BELOW CHAIN OF EMAILS! Hello Everyone, *** PLEASE READ THE LAST PARAGRAPH OF THIS EMAIL and reply ASAP! *** I was asked to attend a private conference call this afternoon with Rayda and approximately 30+ ASD members. A non-ASD attorney was also on the call. The concensus of that call was we need to highly encourage everyone to STOP posting things on blogs, or emailing, faxing or calling and Attorney Generals office IMMEDIATELY. By doing so, we are only bound to aggrevate the situation and some of these hot-tempered words may be used against us. I agree with everyone on the call. Collectively we need to remain calm, gather our facts (document the success you've had by advertising on ASD - sales, orders, etc. of goods, products and services). Then when ASD's legal team asks for them, we are ready to go in an instant! Please read the message I just received from Rayda and pass it along to your team members. We need to remain strong! Robert _______________________________ Message from Rayda ... Hi Team, We belong to a government by the people and it is time for the people to rise up here. The governmant has not frozen Andy's funds they have frozen our funds. My guess it that many of you had funds sitting in your cash balance and many of you have check waiting to be cashed. Thus it is your funds that have been frozen. We just had a call with some of the concerned members. It is amazing who we have in the membership and their talents and willingness to step forward. The conclusion of the call was to do nothing until Andy's legal team has had a chance to make an evaluation and give an opinion. Hey members I know we are anxious but it has only been three days. When we say do nothing that is what we mean. Don't send letters, don't sign petitions, don't go to the blogs, don't make phone calls. If you have seen the documents, most of the info they have came from members who were oh so willing to talk and they used it against you. Stop putting things in a public forum where anyone and everyone can come there, copy the info and pass it on. You are hurting yourselves. In the mean time be ready, with your advertising statistics and your name branding efforts, the good results you have achieved as you participated with ASD as an advertiser. When the legal team is ready we need to be ready with our information. The call was recorded and if I receive the link I will send it on. Please get this out to everyone. We are a strong group and if we can come together as a group in a calm organized way we can make a difference. P.S. If we had an attorney who would represent the members, one who has had past success against the government, would you want to assist and/or participate in legal action by the ASD membership? Please let us know. Much Success, Rayda
asdabq: While now, there is much gnashing of teeth, I have to wonder just what percentage of ASD members actaully joined up for getting their websites promoted vs. $$$$$ ? Oh, I forgot, I'm not allowed to say that, I'm supposed to pretend the rebates are fictious and don't exist. I would have joined simply for my website's exposure to many who would not have otherwise done a particular search for my services/product. When surfing was going well back in June, I really looked forward to surfing and seeing innovative site design from others. Hi, I was reading this and thought to respond. Although the website exposure should be a real perk, the truth is that most members dont even look at the sites other than the obligatory glimpse. The members know that they are doing there 15 sec obligation and the underlying purpose of their surfing is not to shop. So as a businessperson, in this model, I would not put my advertising money into ASD for the purpose of advertising...as the majority of members are not your target public/product target of whatever you are selling (goods/services) and you know going in thst they became a member to make money with minimal work involved (nothing bad about that though!). Unfortunately althout I know there are legitimately people out there that gleamed some actual benefit to having their website in the rotator, I believe they are few and far between as compared with the total number of members.
My opinion above post: I have met many members and I havent met one yet that actually looks at the websites for shopping purposes...they watch the timer and go to the next.....so yes it is my opinion.
Kec, I feel the same. It's shame, because there are good sites on the rotator! I just feel sorry for those who put "burden" money into this, my sponsor being one them. He sent me a spreadsheet showing 1% daily interest, not allowing for weekends or adpack expiration. I would never have forwarded this to a prospect. All of the above is my opinion as well. tt
My opinion above post: I have met many members and I havent met one yet that actually looks at the websites for shopping purposes...they watch the timer and go to the next.....so yes it is my opinion. There are many of us though who are not as savvy as others as to how to advertise on the internet. At least I knew that my site would pop up for eyes to see and yes there are those who do buy products. Several of the people that I knew found and sold items. One bought a program to help her build website. Another had sales of her product. I also found a company that would help out with inventory that I had. Only you know what you did when reviewing sites. If what you know helps ASD then say so, if not stop with the opinions. It's time for facts ONLY and the only facts that will help all of us is to give ASD support of actual sales and services. Those who used the system for what it was intended for are the ones who should stand up and speak out loudly and let the officials know the services and products that were sold, or traffic to their website increased or like me, gave me a way to advertise assured that I would get at least that many eyeballs taking a look a my website. WE NEED SUPPORT WITH FACTS FROM THE FIELD.
The Charity I was promoting was getting an additional 100 hits a day from the Rotator. Needless to say they were thrilled with the additional exposure of their Charitable Mission through this ASD Business Model.
ASD Cash Generator and La Fuente de Dinero are the only Traffic Exchange sites that I belong to that actually give me more than clicks to my angel website. I have received several trade enquiries which we are following through and many good long visits to our site where people have gone through every page of our website from ASD and La Fuente - in fact La Fuente is really great for that. And of course the clicks which have helped our ranking in the seasrch engines. And I look at the sites - it is not like a normal traffic exchange- When I have had to reach a target of 100 sites a day to get my own sites seen, on the traditional TEs I am up against the clock and dont look properly. But with ASD it is only between 12 and 24 so it takes the pressure off and I find myself looking at a lot of them.
kec: the truth is that most members dont even look at the sites other than the obligatory glimpse. The members know that they are doing there 15 sec obligation and the underlying purpose of their surfing is not to shop. I would like to know the source of your information, please! How is it that you know what MOST MEMBERS don't even look at the site? Have you got a hidden camera into people's home offices? This is the sort of exagerated statement that is counter-productive. (Particularly given that the govenerment is supposedly reading all these posts!) I can tell you that I personally looked at a number of sites with interest. I made some inquiries into a number of sites and I know for a FACT (yes FACT because I personally witnessed) my downline looked at many of the sites with much interest! If you compare advertising in newspapers and magazines to advertising through ASD there is no comparison! In marketing, it's important to have label familiarization! People come to know your product and they aren't even sure how or where they saw it! That's all part of advertising! So I challenge your decision as a businessman in stating that it's ineffective. You apparently do not have a full grasp of the fundamentals of marketing and thus are far from an expert on the subject. By all means you are entitled to your opinion and of course to not choose ASD as a viable advertising medium - in which case I'm not quite sure why you are in this forum. (This is not said with maliciousness... I hope it didn't come out that way! Written word can so easily be miscontrued!) I was not an active member long enough to have a result that I could testify to! However, it stands to reason to me that the result, if only subliminal, had by far a greater impact than many other advertising mediums. How many times have you had a conversation or muted the TV during an advertisement? Does that render the medium completely useless? This post is designed to get people to stop making statements as FACT or TRUTH. If it's your opinion, state it as such. Everything about ASD IS/WAS GREAT!!! IMHO!!! Yea they got caught with their pants down in the rapid growth technilogically! I'm not sure any one of us wouldn't have been caught in the same position. I personally can't wait to see it come back because I think it is a well thought out and sustainable medium for advertising and making some extra money!
Vaussie: I would like to know the source of your information, please! How is it that you know what MOST MEMBERS don't even look at the site? Have you got a hidden camera into people's home offices? This is the sort of exagerated statement that is counter-productive. (Particularly given that the govenerment is supposedly reading all these posts!) I can tell you that I personally looked at a number of sites with interest. I made some inquiries into a number of sites and I know for a FACT (yes FACT because I personally witnessed) my downline looked at many of the sites with much interest! I believe I stated in my email that "I have met many members" vaussie...and of those I have MET, they ARE NOT LOOKING AT THE ADS--THEY COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE ADS---THEY ARE OBLIGATORILY SURFING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good for you that you read the ads with intereste, and as I AGAIN SAID IN MY POST "Unfortunately althout I know there are legitimately people out there that gleamed some actual benefit to having their website in the rotator, I believe they are few and far between as compared with the total number of members. " PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU WRITE.
Vaussie: So I challenge your decision as a businessman in stating that it's ineffective. You apparently do not have a full grasp of the fundamentals of marketing and thus are far from an expert on the subject. By all means you are entitled to your opinion and of course to not choose ASD as a viable advertising medium - in which case I'm not quite sure why you are in this forum. (This is not said with maliciousness... I hope it didn't come out that way! Written word can so easily be miscontrued!) I was not an active member long enough to have a result that I could testify to! However, it stands to reason to me that the result, if only subliminal, had by far a greater impact than many other advertising mediums. Yep , I must of made poor marketing decisions vaussie---must be why I Only sold my company for 2 million....it was highly unsuccessful. I too have not been active long enough with asd to have a single positive thing to say--I came in during their worst time....inexcusably their worst time. Any businessperson who has ever actually run a successful business knows they dont promise something and then not deliver it. That is all asd has done--nondelivery. at least for me.
okay -- and we all go to Hooters for the wings. if you go to look at girls with "nice attitudes" well That doesn't mean its not a restaurant. ASD is an ADVERTISING COMPANY -- go there for what you want but read the Terms of Service. What did we all buy?
kec & db, Points very well made! Had I brought someone in- in early July, I would feel ashamed of myself. I echo Kec's comment's about few and far between actually looking at even some of the sites. No crystal ball here to know what other's actually do, but it seems it's all about the buck. Just by the tone of this forum, prior to July's problems, I did not ONCE read about someone saying "you should see so and so's restaurant/widget/ site, great site, went there great bargains/food/electronics..." No, all I ever read was "where can I get a calculator...". I'm willing to bet deep pockets reviewed more sites than little guys, simply because they could clue onto marketing tips, find a good restaurant or service near them. Yes, we all bought into this for advertising our sites! I hope it comes back for that very reason, it could work very well! I have to go feed my golden goose, she's hungry! Tom
ASD seemed to hit me with perfect timing: 1. I needed to promote my Florida mortgage business and guess what?? ASD is based in Florida!! Two rallies in Tampa and Miami -- lots of Florida members to advertise to 2. Pay per clicks were costly and not very effective 3. I could get exposure and make a rebate -- free website exposure plus a few bucks So yes -- some people did get into this for advertising. I am one of them -- the rebates made it that much more attractive and I would not refute that. I was attracted to ASD for both the advertising and the rebates -- then - and - now.
Vaussie: kec: the truth is that most members dont even look at the sites other than the obligatory glimpse. The members know that they are doing there 15 sec obligation and the underlying purpose of their surfing is not to shop. So you've talked to well over 50,000 members, then? I can't BELIEVE you can make a statement like that and post it as a TRUTH??? I have a different experience than yours - in fact, the complete opposite.....though I only have three in MY downline, two of the three have told ME how much they miss surfing.....and MY upline is missing it.....I know I sure am......I've bought a few things and contacted a few sites about their specific products - had a few stop by my "place"....I am a small potatoes ASD'er and have only been advertising just over a month.....I've completely enjoyed seeing the different sites and IN fact, I started a thread about how much I missed it when the site started to glitch out..... Hi, my name is Caterina, and I'm addicted to Surfing.... You can't go around making these kind of "factual" statements that are totally impossible to prove.....there's no way IN holy heaven that you have ANY idea about the percentage of people who do or who do not look at others' sites...... This is the SAME kind of thing I saw repeatedly in the 'complaint lodged against ASD'......someone had an exchange or two with someone and generalized it as a truth......that's just lousy, lousy "investigating", and I don't have to be a lawyer to know THAT won't hold up in court.....drawing a conclusion from having a few conversations when a membership is over 100,000 strong.....well, someone tell me that isn't a little bit "slanted"......and I'm speaking of the agent and his charges in that last statement.... ASD was helping a lot of businesses and a flailing economy....... Edited to say, lest anyone mis-read my quoted section, I am speaking to kec, NOT to Vaussie......
Caterina: You can't go around making these kind of "factual" statements that are totally impossible to prove.....there's no way IN holy heaven that you have ANY idea about the percentage of people who do or who do not look at others' sites...... It is amazing to me how people cannot read. I wrote "My opinion above post: I have met many members and I havent met one yet that actually looks at the websites for shopping purposes...they watch the timer and go to the next.....so yes it is my opinion. " Again, READ before you post people.
For the record folks, I would love it if ASD came out of this and actually was legitimate. I hate it that I lost money, I hate it that anyone may have lost money. Forums are places for people to communicate. I belong to many forums and people join them for info and for opinions-a place to share thoughts and ideas. Those of you that are so very upset that anyone say anything 'not positive' about ASD in FACTUAL light of public record needs to go to a forum in kansas where the yellow brick road and the good witch will make this all go away by clicking your heels. You have no credibility when despite what IS known via public record is not even something you will look at or discuss as if you will get the cooties or something! Lighten up asd culties. I wanted it as much as you did.
