Alright everybody, repeat after me and replace the big underscore with your name: “Hi, I’m _________, and I’m broke.” It’s nothing to be ashamed of, and I hear that cardboard boxes are an economical and well-insulated living space that reduces needlessly-used landfill space. Alright, you’re probably not that broke, if you’re motivated enough to go online and seek out the 411 on how to build a successful web site. But if I were a betting person, I’d be willing to put this month’s take-home that you’re not as rich as you want to be.

And that’s why you want something besides Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising.   There’s nothing wrong with PPC, but if you’re like a lot of early-career Internet marketers, your budget just might not allow something that complex. Not to mention that it’s entirely possible you haven’t been able to find your niche yet – and never forget, you NEED a niche. Even massive global corporations don’t pretend they can do everything. And you’re not a massive global corporation, are you?  Maybe you should try a more affordable SEO strategy.

So you want to optimize your site so that search engines can find it, and so potential customers can find your wonderful information (and opt into your e-mailing list), but you don’t want to hire one of those scammy slickster types, who’ll just install a program that’ll “trick” search engines into indexing you well. Good, maybe you’re a legitimate businessperson – there just aren’t enough of those online these days. Or maybe you’re just too broke to take the “easy way out.”

There’s a very inexpensive process you must go through, in order to “naturally” optimize a site:

1. Figure out whom you’re speaking to.

If you’re targeting the parents of small children, discussions of indie bands and the local rave scene might fall on deaf ears. However, discussions of special museum exhibits, and lessons on how to deal with unacceptable behavior in a firm but non-harmful fashion, could garner you a great deal of respect (and a list of people who’ll open your e-mails most every time!).

2. Figure out what you intend to say.

If all you do is a constant marketing pitch, you’ll probably get one or two chances… and if you send these weekly, within a month you’ll have a list consisting of Spam folders and family members too polite to opt out. A far better approach is to actually PROVIDE VALUE, through great information. And if you do that 9 times out of 10 (with a little plug at the bottom, “if you’d like to learn more…”), your marketing message will be received as “more of a good thing,” instead of “another sales pitch.”

3. Make sure your site is congruent with your message and audience.

As many wise people have said, knowing is not enough – you must apply this knowledge, or it sits uselessly in your mind. Does your site connect with the emotions of your target audience? Are you saying something they’ll actually listen to? Are you sure? Pay attention to your SEO efforts, and tweak them when necessary — you’ll reach your goals.

Ed Magedson and Rip-off report have continually dodged the bullet and laughed at the legal system and any sense of consequences that they might have to pay for their actions Says Web Wise Media a Victim of Anonymous Complaints from their competitors. Ripoff Report has been able to hide behind Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and they have settled out of court when it appeared they were about to finally lose. Mr. Magedson has even chosen at times to not show up in court at all, like he did against Alyon Technologies, surrendering a default judgment in the millions which will never be enforced. This man and his company which has slandered and extorted so many legitimate businesses seem to be untouchable. That is, they were up until now.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) of 1970 was put in place to help federal law enforcement agencies prosecute gangland and mafia bosses for the actions of those who were underneath them in the chain of command. The rationale in passing it was to help the FBI get to bosses who rarely came near the scene of the actual crime.

Ed Magedson’s history as an individual petty thief and check bouncer is well documented along with his arrest and prison record. In his new profession as a supposed “white knight” against corporate America he has done incredible damage to hard working individuals who up until now have had no recourse against him. The CDA prevents you from suing a company on the internet for content posted by its users. It does not however protect someone like Magedson who allegedly but not proven yet initiates and often authors the content himself. In a number of cases that are pending right now, the protection of the CDA has been ruled out by the court and RICO charges have been filed.

Edward Magedson owns RipOffReport.com, Badbusinessbureau.com, and Xcentric Ventures. All of them, plus Ed personally, have cases pending against them with RICO charges attached to them. GW Equity vs. Xcentric in Texas and Otis vs. Magedson in Nebraska seem to be the strongest against them right now. Another case, Igia vs. Xcentric in New York was placed in default by the Court when Mr. Magedson didn’t show up in December of 2007. That case included a RICO charge and a defamation claim.

The clock seems to be ticking and time will hopefully soon run out on Ed Magdeson and Rip-off Report. The plaintiffs in these cases and government prosecutors are now looking at these instances of slander and libel as more than simply civil matters. There are allegations of extortion, blackmail, and outright deception in almost every instance reported. The RICO statutes put some teeth into any new judgments that will be made against Magedson, Rip-off Report or any other company he attempts to put together. According to official documentation he has never had to pay a dime in reparations to anyone, although there are instances of out of court settlements where the details are not made public.  He’s managed to escape so far but his time is just about up.

SOURCE:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-anatomy-of-a-ripoff-report-lawsuit

http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/children-america-inc-v-magedson

http://www.reportsripoff.com/lawsuits.php

Ed Magedson, CEO of Rip-off Report, seems to walk away unscathed every time despite a number of lawsuits and criminal charges that have been filed against him. How is this possible asking one of their Victims Web Wise Media? Reading his website it is clear even without looking at the history that this is a slander site. How can they get away with it and why aren’t more people suing to take them down?

The answer is simple. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) states that, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” In other words, Magedson is not responsible for anything that the users of his site post on his site. Therefore, he cannot be sued for liable. Unless …

There have been a number of complaints that Ed Magedson is initiating the content that is being published at Rip-off Report. The following two cases are still pending against Mr. Magedson and each of them alleges that he created the content on his site about the plaintiffs or somehow coerced or bribed others into doing it.

• Children of America v. Magedson—Filed February 2007 in Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona under case number CV 2007-003720. The Court ruled that Children of America might have a claim against Rip-off Report because Ed Magdeson created complaints and titles to complaints.
• Whitney Information Network v. Xcentric—Filed January 27, 2004 in Florida’s Middle District Court under case number 2:2004cv00047. This case states that Magedson solicited reports designed to harass businesses.

These are only two of the dozens of cases that have been filed against Rip-off Report, described by many as the “National Enquirer” of the Internet. What set these two cases apart from the others are the strength of the evidence and the inability of the defendants using CDA Section 230 in their defense. If the court rules that Mr. Magedson is responsible for the content he will be liable for slander and have to pay damages determined by the court.

There have been other cases where Mr. Magedson has reached this point and settled the case with the plaintiff. Unfortunately in a settlement the amounts or terms are not disclosed and liability is never officially determined. A good example of this would be:

• Hy Cite v. Badbusinessbureau.com—Filed December 11, 2004 in Arizona District Court under case number 2:2004cv02856. The plaintiff amended their complaint to include defamation, RICO Act claims, and trademark infringement. The trademark claims were dismissed, but the Court determined that the RICO Act claims and the claims that Magedson authored defamatory statements went forward. The case was settled in May of 2007.

So far, the High Cite case is the closest that Ed Magdeson has come to facing justice for what is clearly immoral, unethical, and illegal acts of slander and liable that he commits against legitimate businesses whose only fault is making money that he can extort from them. The RICO statutes that are being seen in cases against Magdeson bring a whole different dimension to the penalty phase of the decisions. RICO allows plaintiffs to sue for three times what their actual damages were and could open the door for criminal charges against Magdeson and Rip-off Report.

SOURCE:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-anatomy-of-a-ripoff-report-lawsuit

http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/children-america-inc-v-magedson

http://www.reportsripoff.com/lawsuits.php

There are a lot of places online where a person can spout off on any topic that motivates their minds and keystrokes. And people will blog about very nearly anything, from different ways to tie shoelaces, to 30-year-old video games (both honorable and lovely topics, in my opinion).

But one thing separates the whiny people from the silent ones – the same thing which separates the berserk crusaders from those who wallow in quiet desperation. It’s just one tiny detail, which ripples out permanently from some people, and remains bottled up within others. The single, solitary difference between one group and another is that one group says nothing, while the other group actually posts in its blogs!

I wish there was an alternative to doing something in this life, but that’s a perfect world in which we do not live. To be heard, you must speak, and to be read, you must write. There’s a reason most weddings feature a moment of tension when the pastor asks anyone who has a reason to stop the proceedings to “speak now, or forever hold your peace.” Those who don’t say anything, will not be heard.

Of course, there are a few technical details beyond just opening up a new blog entry and ventilating some “diarrhea of the keyboard.” Obviously, reasonable punctuation, spelling and grammar will add to your credibility, allowing your potential readers to see you as something more than a “village idiot” type, ranting away like a subway vagrant at any unfortunate passers-by within earshot. But it goes deeper than basic language skills.

You need a plan, if you intend to accomplish anything with your blog posting. And part of that plan involves making regular entries – consider Prime Time TV. Would anyone watch their favorite shows if they only came on every few months… and went off the air for a year or so because the network “didn’t feel like” showing them? Of course not! Consistent blogging might be even more important than intelligent blogging – with enough passion, a barely-coherent message still carries weight.

A lot of people turn their blogs into profit-making machines, by using affiliate marketing principles, garnering advertisers, and through selling their own products and services. So get into blog posting — it could change your life.