Comments are the reason why blogging is fun! Moderation of comments, what makes blogging a burden. Especially if you are faced with sporadic or even systematic spam monkey attacks.

I love comments and try to answer to majority of comments across my blogs. This along can be come very time consuming. I host my three most active blogs on three different web hosting providers, on good days I spend up to an hour answering comments. But it has been becoming somewhat difficult task. Until of course you would use Disqus. With this new system an ordinary hour of answering to comments on my blog effectively turns into mere 10 minutes.

I was a little hesitant at first to even try Disqus. In fact the first few times I saw Disqus installed on other blogs, I refused to leave comments. However, after Scott Jangro, a software engineer, had taken Disqus for whirl, I new I had to give it a try as well.

Now I am absolutely in love with this new way of managing comments on my blogs. There are two things that absolutely love about Disqus: 1) You can manage the comments for all your blogs in one place; 2) It allows you to answer to the comments via e-mail- huge time saver!

If you have not try Disqus yet, give it w whirl. Good products like this tend to become huge. I predict Disqus to be bigger that MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog.

If you join Disqus, make sure to look me up:

• http://disqus.com/people/VladZablotskyy/
• http://gobeyondmls.disqus.com/
• http://sageblogger.disqus.com/

Make sure to come back and share your Disqus details with me so we can connect.

FROM INMAN NEWS:
One real estate blogger, who had initially written a paid post about the company, later clashed with the company and its law firm when he wrote several follow-up posts, including one that questioned whether ePerks was a “scam or a gem.”

That blogger, Volodymyr “Vlad” Zablotskyy of Go-Beyond-MLS.com, this month announced at his blog that he received a letter from an ePerks lawyer related to the online discussion about the company.

The letter requests that Zablotskyy cease alleged “ongoing efforts to unfairly disparage and slander ePerks.com through the dissemination of false and/or manufactured information. Any resistance to our demands will be met with swift and decisive action.”

The letter refers to the “scam or a gem” blog post and other blog posts, and states that the company has determined damages “as a direct result of your activities … in multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Behrouzi said that the company’s legal team is “considering filing a suit” against Zablotskyy “and an organization this individual is affiliated with.”

Since publishing the infamous Cease and Desist notice, I was asked by fellow bloggers few questions that I cannot ignore. But before I start, I need to say this- the publicity may scare the “beast” away, but this sort of publicity is the last thing I am looking for. I just want to do the right thing. Nothing more, nothing less.

This is also a great opportunity to say thank you to other and way more influential bloggers for noticing my story. Greg Swann, Marlow Harris, Jay Thompson, Pat Kitano, SEO Emperor, Wayne Harriman – thank you everyone for your support and advise.

So lets get to it…

Why did I take the posts down?

I wish it was simple. The cease and desist letter sent the chills down my spine. When the original post was getting so many comments I was hoping that some of the other influential bloggers would notice my article. But as Greg Swenn points out this blog is insignificant. There are barely 100 unique daily visitors to my blog. So when I received the lawyer’s letter I knew that I was facing the Goliath all alone. To put it simply, I was scared.

Why am I posting this now?

Since attempting to comply to the demands of the lawyers from WILLOUGHBY, STUART & BENING it not feel right. I basically was admitting that all their false accusations are true. I also felt like I had betrayed all who offered their feedback. Publishing the cease and desist letter was a way for standing up not only for myself but for all who commented on my post.

And finally an extra bonus if you wish: I still believe that idea for the website was good. Way short of brilliant, but good enough to run with it. The execution of the idea was absolutely terrible.

EPerks.com claim to be a part of what we know as Web 2.0 marketing. As such, Web 2.0 is a form of marketing where engagement with those who like you as well as those who criticize you is of great importance. But so is reevaluating your product and improving it.

Many companies of this “Web 2.0 pound” started off by offering free membership to their potential clients and customers knowing that their product is so darn good that 99% of the free members will pay money to continue to use their products. EPerks has chosen a different path, launching their website they charged real estate agents $100+ dollars per month, without a proven record for their product’s effectiveness. I am not saying it was wrong way to launch a website. But if you do so, not listening to the criticism is like shooting yourself in the foot.

I would suggest to go back to the drawing board. Consider all criticism and come back a winner. Of course you can continue the way you go about your business. Continue to send cease and desist notices and even sue small guys like my self. Will any one remember your name a year from now?

The content of this article is a long overdue explanation to my readers about sudden disappearance of posts addressing one particular company, namely ePerks. If you are not familiar with the issue, you probably will be much better off to skip this post, because it is going to be a very long post. If you however interested in Chilling Effects, you might as well stick around. I believe I have a classic example how can a behemoth company silence a blogger.

If you are a regular reader, you may remember several posts on my blog addressing dealings of ePerks. These post have generated over 200+ comments. Majority of those comments were quiet negative to say the least. On February 13, I have received a Cease and Desist (see below) notice from ePerks attorney. The letter contains nothing but untruthful accusations. To write 200+ comments on my own posts would require my presence in 200+ locations across the United States in a span of very short time frame. The accusation that I am financially involved with ePerks competitor(s) is complete lie, because ePerks was the only company that I was financially involved with. In fact they paid me to write a review about their website. The only thing that did not go according to their plan, was the fact that many of my readers are real estate agents. This also taught me a difficult lesson about “paid or sponsored reviews” model of blogging. Needless to say I discourage you to ever write a paid review.

It was not easy decision to take the articles down. It felt like I was betraying all those who commented on my posts. But I simply wanted the issue to go away, because I was also tired of moderating my posts from false testimonies of ePerks fans, who would leave four or more “positive” reviews during just one single visit to my website.

So why am I publishing this post? It appears that many visitors and regular readers are still looking for those posts and I think they deserve an explanation:

Hi! My name is ***** and I am a real estate agent from *******. I have had an absolute horrible time with eperks…disputing unauthorized charges (canceled in Jan but still getting charged) among numerous other complaints! Filed with the BBB also. A link to your blog pops up when I search eperks scam, but I can never actually get to the blog? I was hoping you could help me out…would really like to read it.
Thanks!

I also hope that some of the leading real estate blogs and websites will notice this issue and will stand up for the freedom of speech on the Internet. I also have reasons to be concerned about my and my family’s safety.

So without further ado, here is the letter I received from Ronald J. Cook:

WILLOUGHBY, STUART & BENIN
A Professional Law Corporation
50 West San Fernando, Suite 400
San Jose. CA 85113
Phone 408 289 1972

February 13, 2008

Volodymyr (Vlad) Zablotskyy
Street
City, State Zip

Re: My Client: Eperks.com
Our File: 1805.10806C

Dear Mr. Zablotskyy:

I represent Barbus Ventures Corporation, the parent company for ePERKS.com. You are hereby instructed to terminate your ongoing efforts to unfairly disparage and slander ePERKS.com through the dissemination of false and/or manufactured information. Any resistence to our demands will be met with swift and decisive action.

As you well know, we are referring to your blogs that reference the name ePERKS, including such title as “ePerks- A Scam Or A Gem”; “How Much Does it Take to Take Advantage of a Realtor?”; “ePERKS- Putting The ePerks Saga to Rest”; and “ePerks- Three Critical Mistakes a New Startup Should Avoid”, amongst others. Your blogs create the false impression you are inviting comments from legitimate ePERKS customers, when the truth is your only goal is to cast ePERKS in a negative light for personal gain. In that regard, your blogs deceptively fail to inform the reader that you are motivated by an undisclosed proprietary interest in an ePERKS competitor.

Having researched the content of your blogs, we have come to conclusive proof that a substantial number of your postings are bogus, in that they frequently describe experiences that never happened and people who do not exist. Moreover, you are fully aware of these fals stories, yet posted them anyway. Your complicity of their creation is very serious matter.

Our research also shows that negative remarks are not only invited, but are posted without a challenge. Conversely, favorable remarks are met with hostility and belittlement, including demands that the posting party either prove they are participating agents, or do not work for ePERKS.

We have determined that our damages as a direct result of your activities are in multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars. Such substantial money and brand name damages can no longer be tolerated.

You are hereby instructed to promptly do the following: (1) shutter and prevent access to all blogs with any ePERKS reference or content; (2)remove any record of their existence; (3) terminate any links pointing to any blogs that reference ePERKS; and (4) cease and desist from any and all current and future digital, print, Internet or verbal reference to ePERKS.com or Barbus Venture Corporation. This includes closing down your January 28, 2008 bog that continues to direct readers to your previous remarks and postings. We demand that you complete these actions immediately, and in no event later than five days of this letter. Your failure to comply will result in prompt legal action, including, but not limited to, a claim of money damages and appropriate restraining orders.

We will be closely monitoring your activities. Barbus Ventures Corporation continues to reserve any and all rights under the law, including the right to pursue any and legal remedies against you, your employer, your clients, and/or your web host. Should you have any questions or comments about the contents of this letter, please contact the undersigned.

Respectfully,
WILLOUGHBY, STUART & BENING
Ronald J. Cook

I also would like to say thank you to at least two bloggers for offering their support and help. Although if it only meant to take links to my blog down: Paying bloggers to say nice things and Eperks commercial.

One of the great things about blogging, that in a way “come with the territory”, in an opportunity to encourage comments and create very vibrant communities of like minded people. However a blog owner you probably know that it takes time and hard work to foster discussions on your blog. In fact every one of us has a few posts on our blogs with zero comments.

photo credit: kk+

1. Ask. Asking your visitors to react in a form of a comment to what you have written is the easiest thing you can do. In fact, you can even modify your template in such a way that every single post will end with an encouragement like this: “I have spoken, now is your turn!”
2. Respond to comments. Some bloggers respond to every single comment, while others respond to many comments at once. However you decide to respond to people commenting on your blog is completely up to you. But doing so you have an opportunity not only to acknowledge the comments made by others, but also to answer additional questions and ever criticism.
3. Allow your readers to follow the conversation(s). On this blog I use a plugin that allows the author of the comment to subscribe to subsequent comments on the post he or she just commented. The plugin is called Subscribe to Comments. Every time the new comment is entered the subscriber receives and e-mail containing the comment. It keeps him or her updated without actual need to visit your blog.
4. Comment on other blogs. Yes the golden rule works in here as well.
5. Link to other blogs. If your post was inspired by another blog, make sure to link to that blog. Not only it’s just the matter of being kind, but often times you will find that the author of the original post will come and comment on your writing.
6. Use threaded comments plugin. I find this plugin to be really useful because it allows to respond to a particular comment.

Unfortunately #3 and #6 meant only for WordPress users. But the other four steps may help to increase the comments on your blog nonetheless.

If you have not put much effort into encouraging conversations on your blog, now is a good time. You will not regret it.