If you haven’t, check out Blog Premiere’s killer contest where you can win a blog theme that’s better than this one, fully coded with custom drawn mascot. I will also be doing guest posts over the next month or so to promote this so if you have 1,000 RSS subscribers or more and are interested… send me an email. 
As a few of you know, I wrote up a post a couple days back promising that I would teach ten people how to make $100/day. As of today, I’ve received more than seventy emails (still a week to apply, so submit if you haven’t). I will reply to all emails in one go at the end of the week – I have read them all though so do not worry.
First off, let me state this – read the damned rules. Most people have followed through fine, but a large majority have not done so, and this has led to an experience I thought would be enjoyable slowly starting to become annoying. I will still take on ten people, no matter what – however, some of you are shooting yourselves in the foot.
I specifically said do not contact me via instant messenger about this… now, I’m a guy that doesn’t like turning people down – which is why I asked for emails. I’ll be totally honest with you – it is easier to say no via email, and although I do not want to I will have to say no to quite a few people.
Despite this, I’ve had people begging to be included… feel free to tell me why via email, but I’m sorry – I do not want to hear about your dog dying, you losing your job, you breaking up with your girlfriend over instant messenger – I know it’s important, but there is only so much emotional trauma a guy can listen to. I’m Jason Pereira, not Dr. Phil. 
Anyways, what else have I had to deal with?
- People sending me multiple emails… sometimes 3-4 an hour asking about whether they were included and if they were not why not… barely half a day after I wrote the post.
- People contacting me on MSN asking to send them more details, or explain what I’d be talking about – please. I hope I made it as clear as possible in the post, and if I didn’t leave a comment there and I’ll get to it.
- People sending emails that were 2-3 words long. Seriously – if you cannot send a proper email that adheres to the instructions, you are not going to be someone I want to work with.
Sorry for the harshness, but please remember that this is my own time and I do not have to do this. I will work my ass off until you have made your first hundred, but I am not going to do all the work – and if you cannot follow simple instructions in a post, you will not be able to follow instructions through instant messenger.
This is nothing ground breaking… what I like to do is take existing methods and tweak them, add a twist to use them to my advantage. This will be fairly easy to do for both me and the people selected, so please do not make it difficult.
I have culled about 25% of the people that have applied, however I will still email them to let them know. Do not contact me through instant messenger asking if you are one of those or else you will be next.
Just for the record though – most of the people that have applied are fine; so do not worry about it. You will know if you have done the above or not.
Other stuff
There have been quite a few problems all over the blogosphere with the Planet fire (9k of their servers were shut down I believe) so that is the reason why certain websites will not work. Luckily for me, my main websites were unaffected and Blog Premiere’s contest has managed to kick off since them. I’ve seen a 20% increase in total members and a few hundred posts which is good; the promoting hasn’t even started yet.
If you have more than 1,000 RSS subscribers or know various blogs that do, let me know. I always treat guest posts slightly better than I treat the posts on TUK – they are more rare and thus generally contain more usefulness (as opposed to the rambling here).
If you joined my Aweber list at the beginning, you should get your third email today about various things related to affiliate marketing. Nothing spectacular, but a couple pointers that should help people out.
Anyways, time to promote the contest, so I’ve gotta run. Good luck to all!
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Ha ha, yeah, I’m supprised you have the time to respond to all these emails..
Moneybites’s last blog post..Monthly Stats Report, May 2008
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June 2nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Keep it up. I definitely don’t envy you. But it will do this blog a whole lot of good. Who knows a mentoring program could spin out of this, with all the testimonials that will come spinning out of the program. I think your goal Jason should be to do it in record time. Anyone will eventually make $100 on the internet – it may just take years.
I think that will be the tipping point. Brilliant idea. Way to go !!!
Del Sauzo’s last blog post..Synergize and grow your online business – The blog example
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June 2nd, 2008 at 3:28 pm
It’s amazing that you’ve gotten so many of those types of responses (i.e., IM messages, 2-3 word responses, and outright begging). Sorry that you have to deal with that. Good job on sticking to (and emphasizing) the rules.
Flimjo’s last blog post..Blog Premiere Contest Extravaganza
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June 2nd, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Your rant reminds me of when I put a job posting up on craigslist. I got the dumbest responses, such as; how much u pay? I can start thursdays!
I really just need to post up a blog post about how NOT to get a freelance job. Don’t be discouraged that a minority of your readers are retarded.
You do a good job of leveraging contests making something with nothing. Keep it up. Respect.
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June 2nd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Alex, good point. Here is the way I look at the situation: DON’T SUFFER THE FOOLS. If you have to cut them out, then so be it. Your blog (or the responses you receive to anything, particularly a job posting or customers for a product) will be much better in the long haul.
Flimjo’s last blog post..Blog Premiere Contest Extravaganza
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June 2nd, 2008 at 3:53 pm
“the promoting hasn’t even started yet.” That’s the attitude!
Rajaie AlKorani’s last blog post..Do Comments Have To Add Value?
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June 2nd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
70+ emails. I cannot believe it. You have very good number of dedicated visitors.
Agent 001’s last blog post..My Blog Contest Entries
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June 2nd, 2008 at 7:55 pm
You had me worried there at the beginning of this post but turns out I haven’t done anything wrong (or nothing that you have spoken about in this post)
Have fun reading through them all and replying though, rather you than me
David Dunn’s last blog post..I’m Back!
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June 2nd, 2008 at 8:02 pm
David, that’s a funny comment. I was worried he’d start quoting various e-mails, and I was terrified mine would come up. I kept thinking back to what I wrote to see if I had done something stupid or not followed the rules. Fortunately, I wasn’t one of them.
Flimjo’s last blog post..Blog Premiere Contest Extravaganza
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June 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Wow….lol, I knew you would get a lot of correspondence but man! Have fun with it! People are eager! I know asking multiple times isn’t going to increase the odds, only decrease.
I think people need to hear stuff like this, and is another reason why I love your blog.
see ya
JK Swopes’s last blog post..Attention all bloggers, CRAZY Contest happening at Blog Premiere
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June 2nd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Damn that’s a lot of spam. Technically not really spam, but close. About how many of those 75 were actually worth something? BTW, in the email I mentioned how it would be hard to get paid, or pay, but that has been worked out.
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Launch Of Green Flamingo Designs!
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June 2nd, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Ha! I’m not suprised. This general subject could be a niche blog in itself – readthedamnrules.com – real world examples of people choosing to not pay attention at all….
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June 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 am
LOL! I bet all those annoying people Jason’s talking about didn’t comment on here, huh? I’m not going to lie, I contacted Jason by instant messenger, but it was mainly to tell him that I’m not going to follow his rules… he’s not the boss of me!
… I then sent him an e-mail with my reason…
LOL!
Jay
Jay’s last blog post..Last Day to Claim Prizes for DatMoney’s “Get Traffic” Contest
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June 3rd, 2008 at 7:49 am
* deleted *
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June 3rd, 2008 at 8:23 am
Nothing new, nothing that won’t happen again.
Aleks’s last blog post..Joke of the day – Great son
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June 3rd, 2008 at 10:04 am
Hey I Fail At Spamming is back!^
I figured you would get a big response once the word spread. Same with any freebie or contest I guess (ok maybe this is not a freebie or contest but many people probably take it that way). Its commendable that you don’t get frustrated and tell everyone to f off. Its pretty amazing that so many want you as their mentor despite your age, I guess you just go to show that age should never be a barrier.
BTW, My dying dog lost his job so his girlfriend left him. Any advice?
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June 3rd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
@egk – your dog had a job and a girlfriend?
Nathaniel’s last blog post..Blog Premiere Contest Extravaganza!!!
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June 14th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Well, I took my own advice (sortof) from above and launched readthedamnrules.com – a blog contest blog.
Thanks for the inspiration.
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