I don’t use this site to write much about internet marketing, which stands to reason since it is a political humor site, but I was reading the Site Build It Scam Review and it just got to me, much in the same way it gets to me when I see anyone being threatened into submission.
The author of the review, Lis, had the balls to come out and say it like she sees it, and the assassination squad from Site Build It were sent out to attack and threaten. More than one shill for the company declares here review to be Libelous and warns of impending lawsuit.
I have to agree with the comment from Lorecee who said:
Lorecee Mar 20th, 2009 at 12:10 am
Wow, all these SBI zombie trolls are one big bucket o’ugly.
Think for a minute, you guys–does this kind of negative, nasty, condescending, threatening response to criticism of your business model reflect well on it? Or does it make people go, “I was going to pay my $300 bucks to SBI [of which $75 goes into the affiliate bucket, which I'm sure most of you have set out], but these people are awfully testy and thin-skinned. Kinda brainwashed, too. Reminds me a little of the Scientology folks, right on down to the threat of bogus lawsuits. If you were new to internet business, would you buy a product from people with these traits, even if they’re right?
I’m starting to understand why there was almost NO criticism of SBI online when I was doing research on it before joining. The shock troops bullied them into submission. First threats of lawsuits. Then a call to the hosting service. Then the C&D nastygram from the lawyer. That usually does it.
I will tell you, regardless of her take on the issue, I need look no further than the comments left by the SBI Trolls to see that the company runs itself like an Organized Crime family, and I would certainly take that into account when considering my own opinion of the review. Long story short, the reaction of SBI seems to confirm what she said. Site Build It is a scam.
There. Want to come after me for “Libel”? Fuck off trolls.
It really bothers me when you can’t find an opposing opinion about something. I’ve encountered this before, and it really bothers me when I am looking to evaluate something and there is no criticism of it. Whether it’s a product or a President, you cannot make an informed decision if you don’t have both sides of the issue.
You can filter out the criticisms. Some people are just stupid ninnies, and that is taken into consideration. For example, if I were looking for web hosting, and a review stated that the person didn’t know how to use a Cpanel, that would not matter. I already know how to do that. If they said the customer service didn’t respond for 3 days, then that would be a valid consideration.
Either way, I want negative critiques to be available as well as the positive. I felt compelled to write this because of a lack of negative criticism against SBI. If they were confident in their business model, they wouldn’t need “Truth Squads” attacking people with a differing opinion. They would know that people make judgments based on both pro and con views, and will actually be more likely to be turned off by a lack of opposing viewpoints.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…
We’ll have the next installment of our political humor novel in a few hours.
Related Site Build It! Reviews
What Constitutes a Scam? This is perfect for this site. The regulars here will love this little excerpt:
First of all, the biggest scam or scheme of 2009 is not going to involve Bernie Madoff who stole over 50 billion dollars from his clients. By far the biggest scam of the year, and in the history of the United States, is a little something called the stimulus bill of 2009. Never before have the taxpayers of America been scammed out of trillions of dollars. But hey, we voted for the guy for President right, so who is really suprised? You get what you vote for.
Allyn Hayne has a great Site Build It! Review Video. He really hits the nail on the head. SBI is a just good old fashioned Bulllllllllshit! What he has to say about “business in a box” is also very poignant. It’s also a very entertaining video in general.
Personal Development for Dummies™ looks at the cult of Site Build It! and makes the point that it is senseless to “believe in” a website platform.
2004–2010
22 responses so far ↓
1
Les James
// Mar 20, 2009 at 9:50 am
A very valid set of points. Although you wrote a non-political post, the implications are obvious and parallel the far left’s desire to silence opposition through character assassination and variations on the Fairness Doctrine. It sounds like SBI has taken a chapter out of that same play book.
2
Fiar
// Mar 20, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Les, I actually had thought about the parallels myself when I wrote this. I had withheld making it an overt observation originally, just to see if anyone else would notice.
Right off, I can think of the campaign against Rush Limbaugh, and even the attacks on Lefty Jim Cramer for not worshiping at the altar of Obamanomics.
The unsettled feeling that I get when dissenting views are responded to with coordinated attacks is the sort of feeling that I got when I saw the planned and coordinated attack on Lis for voicing her opinion.
Bloggers use provocative speech. We state things using wording of factiness (not to be confused with truthiness). Why? because no one will want to read something if you’re constantly qualifying it with “in my opinion” and “I think” and other constant disclaimers. Furthermore, blogging is something that we do in a style that is representative of the way we communicate to real people.
Think about the people that you know. Most will use assured, confident language to state their perspective. Those who don’t usually wind up being seen as uncertain, or cautious about their beliefs. This is not a way to attract attention. When your goal is to write linkbait, one thing you simply don’t do is tone it down until it is no longer notable.
Site build it responds to a blogger’s perspective with threats and intimidation. They should note that precedent has been set, and whether they like it or not, she has every right to express her opinion online. They have a right to respond.
All along, I couldn’t help but think about how during the campaign, there was that site that was set up to respond to what people were saying about Barack Obama. The thing about it was, most of the accusations were things that even as a fierce right winger, I had never heard of. To further the irony, the whole presentation seemed to lend credibility to the accusations. In fact, the whole website was so pathetic that if it had just had a little more edge to it, it could have been some great satire.
Site Build It! Needs to take a page out of marketing and public relations for dummies or something, because they are going about responding to criticism in a way that does far more to damage their public image than any critical evaluation could ever do.
3
Fiar
// Mar 20, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Grizzly’s Site Build it – Don’t Buy it post has a round up of all of us siding with Lis on the issue. I’m sure that list would grow by leaps and bounds if SBI wants to push the issue.
I’m also sure the Media Bloggers Association would agree with her rights as well.
4 The Soap Opera of SBI Scam Review // Mar 21, 2009 at 5:20 am
[...] Site Build It Scam Trolls – by Fiar Make Money Online for Free – Not with Site Build It – by Denise [...]
5 Update on “Site Build It Scam” Post // Mar 21, 2009 at 5:43 am
[...] Grizz has a friend or 2, or 2000 – why because he gives away good information for FREE. Grizz posted a post, about whether is Site Build It a scam. Its only a crappy blogger blog – a free blog – no less – I don’t think anyone will see it
. Vic having got into the spirit of things as to whether Site Build It Review or even SBI Review or whatever was an over-priced piece of shit – his language not mine! Friar has an interesting political take on free speech and blog trolls Site Buid It Scam Trolls [...]
6
Fiar
// Mar 21, 2009 at 10:48 am
Definitely check out the post on the topic by AdSense Tracker.
Read Site Build It Scam Reviews.
7
Chris C
// Mar 22, 2009 at 1:59 am
I like how Lis calls the minions the “Rapid Response Group”. Great phrase. I’ll have to remember that one.
On the main issue why the hell would anyone buy this garbage?
How stupid do you have to be to buy into the tagline on their splash page:
Since 1997, SiteSell.com has delivered “E-business success. Simple. Real.”
But not really simple to make real money. They left that part out of course.
8
Make Money Online
// Mar 22, 2009 at 3:15 pm
What a carry on ! I wonder what the SBI mob are thinking now ?
9
Fiar
// Mar 22, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Hi VicW,
Funny how we keep crossing paths in our variety of different web personas. Lol.
My guess would be something along the lines of “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.”
After all, they must be losing income with losing their rankings for their sales pages.
10
Fiar
// Mar 22, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Hey, Chris. Just found your comment in Purgatory and let it out. One reason why someone would buy such a bullshit program is that it is endorsed by Steve Pavlina, and a few others that many people worship at the altar of.
If you can’t figure out how to get on the web, your internet based business is already doomed. People are stupid, and delusional, and hucksters like Steve Pavlina telling people to quit their day job and make mega-bucks blogging isn’t helping.
One thing though. We (or at least I did) had a goal of balancing the search results so that a more diverse array of results would be able to be found, and we succeeded in that goal. All may not be right with the world, but we did make a small part of it better.
11 Make Extra Income Without SBI Or Other Scams |Make Extra Income // Mar 22, 2009 at 8:01 pm
[...] Site Build It Scam Trolls- by Fiar (Excellent commentary that covers the real point of this exercise) [...]
12
Chris C
// Mar 22, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Yeah, it was more of a rhetorical question.
Guys like Steve are the internet version of a used car salesman.
13 Is Site Build It A Scam? | SBI Review | Zani Adult Online|Thoughts on Making Money on The Net // Mar 22, 2009 at 11:18 pm
[...] – by Wayne Site Build It Scam Controversy – by Archie Site Build It Scam Review – by Ad Tracker Site Build It Scam Trolls – by Fiar Make Money Online for Free – Not With Site Build It – by Denise Is Site Build It a Scam? [...]
14
Make Money Free Online
// Mar 23, 2009 at 5:36 am
It went from surreal to inspirational – there are some posts from Vic and Grizz at around the 30,000 word mark which are awesome – I pulled them out and made a hub of them. Thanks for your suport
Lissie
PS you gave me the word troll and therefore the appropriate picture LOL
15
Fiar
// Mar 23, 2009 at 9:19 am
Hi Lissie. I don’t know why, but you were in Akismet Purgatory as well (I’m beginning to wonder if it has something to do with the MMO nature of this post). As for the support, I am glad to offer it. It’s interesting to see how much can be learned from all of this, from who your real allies are, to how SEO works, and how someone can actually change things through changing search results.
I did not like the imbalance in the SERPS and realized it was something I could actually DO something about. That was all I needed to take the ball and run with it.
16
Make Money Free Online
// Mar 23, 2009 at 9:33 am
With a HUBPAGE – how the fuck can they do that ?
17
Fiar
// Mar 23, 2009 at 1:59 pm
I’m saying that I think somehow my own post is confusing Akismet or something. It threw one of my own authors, ChrisC, into the spam queue.
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20 When 'Site Build It' Zombies Attack // Apr 10, 2009 at 2:47 am
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21 The Soap Opera of SBI Scam Review | Cash Team // Jul 4, 2009 at 9:26 am
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22 Site Build it – Don’t Buy It « Make Money Online for Beginners // Mar 9, 2010 at 2:35 am
[...] Site Build It Scam Trolls – by Fiar (Excellent commentary that covers the real point of this exercise) [...]
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