I'm making this post in an effort to address some questions I hear from Internet Marketing folks nearly everyday.....in most cases they have offered to "help us" market buzztouch: Dear Internet Marketer, I generally don't support the methods that many Internet Marketers use to solicit sales. Sensationalized offers, information products, and other "secrets" that land in my inbox are a complete turn off for me, many of my peers, and a significant portion of the buzztouch audience. Many of our site visitors are comforted by the fact that we are not selling any "secrets" and are not associated with any Interent Marketers. We get approached nearly everyday by folks that claim to be able to reach very VERY large audiences and want to help us "market" buzztouch. These people usually call themselves Internet Marketers and almost never have any track record of doing anything but sneaky and disingenuous. So far, we've said no to all of them. Why? Because I don't believe the marketing angle that many Internet Marketers take is best for buzztouch, it's community, or it's future. This doesn't mean that I don't have any respect for any individuals that title themselves Internet Marketers, it simply means that the IT industry as a whole gives zero credibility to that entire sector of the internet - and neither do I. To the greater IT industry, and to me, the words "Internet Marketer" are commonly associated with scam offers, get rich quick promises, complicated schemes, and millions of spam emails. Because of these and other reasons, I have zero interest in being associated with the Internet Marketing sector, business, or market. I also have zero interest in aligning myself or buzztouch or anyone in the buzztouch community with Internet Marketers. However, this doesn't mean that Interent Marketers could not benefit by understanding how buzztouch could help them accomplish some of their goals as they relate to mobile. But, we are not in the business of "helping people make money making apps" simply because they think apps are an "opportunity" (in most cases this type of app enthusiast is simply trying to exploit the next-big-thing anyway). We are in the business of helping people make awesome mobile software because they actually want to make awesome mobile software. We believe there is a difference. Not everyone does. So, I'm happy to help people undertand how buzztouch could help them, I do it all the time. But, I'm not interested in literally promoting this idea to a list of Internet Marketers who are looking for the next big-hit online. Let us know when you make something awesome, we would love to see it.

Nice post. Anyway, forget those guys. My Nigerian uncles cousin has passed away and declared you as the sole heir to his diamond mine fortune. Please reply with your DOB, bank details and a token payment of $100 to show your good faith and we directly deposit the sum of $247,000,000 into your account. Due to international diamond/inheritance laws please keep this to yourself. Peace be with you.

Totally Agree!!! LA

Yes totally agree too. @MacApple: can you give me the address this uncles cousin? I think this one is for real..... Best Regards, Danny

@PSMDanny - I think he mentioned you in the will as well. You're now a rich man. Just send.....

And I was holding out for a 12-12-12 sale... Thanks for what you do David. (and in some cases don't do)

Awesome post, makes sense. Word of mouth is the best advertising there can be I think. David https://buzztouchmods.com

So many ways I wanted to respond to this. Thank you for putting it out there remember " Internet Marketing" is just a word. Actions are speaking louder than words. Thank you for your actions. Your integrity. Your wisdom. More than anything your passion and compassion for the industry. Continue on your journey. Stick to your word. Things will line up how they are suppose to.

@david. "bravo"

Great leader @david! Tony

I don't want to alienate myself on this forum because I love this community, it is one of the best I belong to and I truly value it, but I just can't stand by and allow this post and the back slapping "here here" posts that are affirming it to go unchallenged! Thank you @ Sheri for pointing out that "internet marketing" is only a word. A lot of you guys make it mean stuff that quite frankly, is a simplistic generalization based on the worst aspects of the field that are just too easy to discredit. It's like saying all programers are Nerds. It's simply NOT TRUE!I myself am a professional Internet Strategist, so internet marketing is my bread and butter, and I personally have been responsible for generating hundreds of thousands of dollars for small businesses by applying marketing strategies WITH INTEGRITY! Not everyone who is an internet marketer is a charlatan. And there are many people I know who are helping small businesses every day by adopting well conceived internet marketing strategies that bring them customers and help them make sales. There are many good internet marketers out there helping small business who could use Buzztouch to contribute to those businesses & at the same time CONTRIBUTE TO THE BUZZTOUCH COMMUNITY by developing USEFUL PLUGINS that provide functionality that could help EVERYONE who uses Buzztouch. " Get rich quick promises, complicated schemes, and millions of spam emails" are not what Internet marketing is really about & certainly NOT what it should be about for Buzztouch. David, you should have a friendly conversation with me about what I see is possible for Buzztouch in this area and how it can help people to help people in Business, and help everyone here by contributing to this platforms functionality. I'm on your side @David, intelligent people listen and find out the facts before they condemn things.

@David_Mollet: Agree 100%, not everyone is the same in any industry. I've had a few professions in my life. In one of my past lives I was part of an industry that had a credibility problem. I wasn't quite a Used Car salesman (but did sell some cars in my day) but darned close! LOL. I spent so much time and energy trying to convince folks that just because I worked on their car didn't mean I was a crooked mechanic. It was very very tiring and super difficult to understand why so many folks disrespected me simply because I was a mechanic. A world full of defensive people I guess? I think in many cases our industry (the auto industry) created this mistrust and to some degree didn't give our customers any other option other than to be defensive. In this post I was sure to point out that not all Internet Marketers are bad people. I was simply stating what I consider to be fact. The IT industry as a whole has very little patience and regard for Internet Marketers and generally doesn't trust them. Like the auto industry, the Internet Marketers themselves may have caused this misunderstanding themselves? I'm 100% certain that there are countless thousands of people that are offering genuine value to their clients. Helping them find sales online, helping them make sense of it all, helping them understand the internet, etc, etc. These are not the people I was addressing. The people I was addressing are the people that create content like this: http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/10/2984893/scamworld-get-rich-quick-schemes-mutate-into-an-online-monster I'm certainly NOT aware of anyone in our community, including you, that makes such promises or participates in such campaigns. But, I do know that I get solicitations almost daily from exactly the same type of predators. These are the people this post is intended for. Plain and simple. I'll only assume that this "intelligent people listen and find out the facts before they condemn things" remark means you think I didn't do any research, didn't find out any facts and simply jumped to some conclusions. I didn't. I wrote a detailed post, addressed to Interent Marketers that solicit me with sensationalized offers so I could save time answering the same question next time I hear it (by way of sending them to this post). Nothing more.

hmmm

Good discussion, sure to ruffle a few feathers :-) There's no doubt that it takes a tremendous amount of skill to do what these organizations / individuals do. Capitalism at it's finest. I have zero problem with them earning money operating these types of businesses. Like you said, porn-is-porn and I'm no saint! Ha. I'm simply stating that I'm not interested in aligning myself or buzztouch or members of our community with them. That's all. Nothing more. Reputation = who people think you are. Character = who you actually are. All I'm stating, in plain site, for everyone to see, is that if buzztouch, or I, get involved with an Internet Marketer in an official capacity, "who people think we are" will change. This is true regardless of whether or not our "Internet Marketer Partner" is a good guy, a snake-oil salesman, or otherwise. To a very large part of the internet, the simple fact that we are "aligned" with an Internet Marketer raises a red flag. Raising a red flag intentionally, and therefore changing "who people think we are" makes zero sense so I'm publicly telling the Internet Marketing community that I'm not interested in becoming their partner. Anyone can use buzztouch in whatever capacity they see fit, including Internet Marketers, I just don't want to be "partners" with them. Thats all.

2 Final points from me on this. No. 1 "Let us know when you have made something awesome, we would love to see it" I'm alpha testing an app I've made that is a Loyalty application plugin for Buzztouch. It allows administrators to create rewards for their app users to claim when they shop with you (So it's mainly designed to be a plugin that supports apps made for small businesses). In a nutshell, when the customer shops with you they can scan a QR code and the plugin counts the scans, and when you reach the desired number of scans you can press a button to redeem a reward. Now, as I'm not even fit to shine the shoes of a coder (a man's gotta know his limitations)I have spec'ed it out and paid with my own money for someone else to build it for me. Also, as I am an Internet Strategist, I'm doing the job properly (ie building it for both Android and iPhones) because one of my bugbears is the need to develop plugins that cover both types of music (County & Western :-) - lol - I mean both kinds of Apps (iOS and Android), because it makes no sense to me to create a plugin that covers only half the market. No.2 RE "intelligent people listen and find out the facts before they condemn things..." Didn't mean you hadn't done your research Dave, and not saying you don't have valid points. Just meant you haven't skyped me yet! As I'd written to you about this previously, and we were going to chat, I misinterpreted your initial post to be the long awaited response to me, which it's clear from your second post, wasn't the case - :, Maybe I will remain just like your byline on skype "sitting, waiting, wondering..." :-) Never-the-less I'm still keen to bend your ear for 5 minutes one day David, because I know what I see, which I haven't had the chance to talk to you about yet, would be of immense value to you and The Buzztouch community as a whole, as well as anyone else associated with it in the future, and I can assure you that there is nothing slimy involved. All the best comrades.

@David_Mollet: Awesome. And, you're right, we do need to connect on Skype. I've seen your name a few times (the few times I have Skype on) but I think it's always the other side of the work time out. Your plugin sounds uber-cool and very useful. Can't wait to see it and play with it! I propose we re-print your business cards and remove the Internet Marketer tagline. I'de say you're more of an Internet Consultant. LOL. Cheers. d.

Internet Marketing - for sure WAY overdone and useless and super annoying. ENGAGEMENT Marketing however... This I'm a big fan of because it's really OPT IN. EM is built on top of one key concept I keep hearing at every EM seminar/webinar/presentation- 80% of your NEW customers/sales come from current customer referrals. That's a stunning number that non-marketing types like me are trying to learn to utilize.