Jeanne's Endo Blog: No Scam, No Spam Policy!!

Today I have just had ONE unpleasant experience too many. Today was my threshold for scam and spam!



So I decided to write an open letter to anyone out there who would ever consider hurting the readers of this blog with unethical marketing practices, false claims, etc.

Perhaps such a letter will facilitate the unclogging of my poor inbox and perhaps make it a bit easier on me when it comes time for me to click the "publish" button -or- to click the "reject" button on comments to posts on this blog. (Thank goodness for the comments moderation option, though).

Hopefully this post will clear things up.

So here's my open letter regarding the "no scam, no spam" policy of this blog:

Dear companies/people who like to make money off of sick people by pretending you are doing them favors (and other unethical companies/people),

+ I'm sick of spam.

+ I'm tired of being cautious (sometimes to the point of paranoia) due to some of the unscrupulous companies/people that have contacted me regarding this blog or posted comments that have needed to be rejected.

+ I'm tired of dreading opening my own email.

+ Most of all, I am sick to death of encountering one company after another that is preying on people who are sick.

+ Enough. Not here.

+ Not on this blog and not in my inbox.

+ No more.

Please DO NOT post comments to my blog for the purpose of padding your wallet.

Comment fields of this blog are open to anyone who wishes to post NON-commercial remarks.

Attempting to use this blog's comment fields to plug your company are NOT welcome on this blog. (P.S. I already get too much email. So please be sure you REALLY have something beneficial to offer before sending me email because I don't need spam. If you are a reputable company and you truly believe you have a product or service that would benefit readers here, you may contact me via email. If I think your product or service might interest my readers, if it is appropriate/relevant to the topics of this blog, and if you are interested in purchasing some ad space in my blog's sidebar, email is the way to reach me).

Please DO NOT prey on my blog's readers. They have enough challenges!

I will make every effort NOT to give free advertising to companies that only care about their own profit margins. However, I am human and it's possible that someone unscrupulous could slip something by me via the comment moderation feature and that it could get posted in the comment fields of this blog. I hope not. If I do determine I have made such a screening error, rest assured that I will use the power of word of mouth to get everyone up-to-speed about my mistake.

Please do not fill up my email inbox with notes of flattery that are intended to draw me in. I don't want flattery. I want relief, support, and comfort for patients... not promises, misleading ads, false cures, or attempts to get me to post free advertising for you or your company on this blog.

A few months back, one of you "for-profit" companies sent me a direct email. You were asking about guest blogging right here on this site. Your email was very polite (almost deferential). I responded to your direct email request for information with a detailed direct email response back. I referred you to the standing ad-handling policy at that time (see "related link" below). I offered to discuss the possibility of exploring possibly advertising your company on this blog - in an appropriate location/manner - and made it clear that I have editorial control over the content of this blog's posts. I never heard back from you or your company... until this weekend.

I have a duty to my readers to be clear about what is advertising and what isn't. Advertising your company by posting a link back to your site within a comment field on this blog is not acceptable. Not only would that be free advertising for your for-profit company but, much more importantly, it would not be fair to my blog's readers to blur the lines between what's an ad and what's not.

To clarify... ads on my site are currently all located in the sidebar. If at some point I decide to do product reviews, book reviews, or reviews regarding services my readers might find helpful, I will be sure to label my blog post clearly. At this time, however, ads are only in the sidebar.

So if you have posted a comment to my blog recently and are wondering why I haven't posted it yet, it's because I'm not going to. As I informed another representative of your company a few months ago, I don't allow companies to write their own blog posts here and I don't allow companies to post their commercial links in the comment fields responding to my blog posts. I took a fair amount of time explaining this in my email a few months back. Perhaps representatives of your company are not communicating my message with each other.

My ad policy was posted prior to the email your company sent me a few months ago. While the type of ads my blog carries have since been modified (I no longer use AdSense ads), the basic policy is the same...

I personally write the blog posts (unless I feature a guest blogger of my choosing). Blog post comments cannot contain advertising. Ads are in the sidebar. If that ever changes (i.e. if I begin featuring product reviews within blog posts), I will make it clear at that time. Comment fields will stay non-commercial. The types of ads is always subject to change.

While one specific company prompted me to write this post, MANY incidents have led up to it. This ISN'T just about one company. This scamming and spamming has become a pattern that I intend to do everything in my power to stop.

So I'm not naming any specific companies here. What I am doing is letting people out there know what is welcome here and what's not. The comment fields of my blog are not for sale. Uplifting, informative, helpful comments are enthusiastically welcome and encouraged here. The key is that the comment fields are not for commercial links, ads, etc.

Through trial and error, I have decided to currently display the ads you see in the right sidebar of this blog. If you are unclear of what is an "ad" versus what is just something I'm passionate about, please feel free to contact me for clarification.

At the current time, an example of an ad would be anything that says the word "Amazon" or "Neutral Existence".

Thank you for your understanding and respect of this blog's policies.

Sincerely,

Jeanne (aka the exasperated blogger who needed to set the record straight)

---

Let's move onto greener pastures!! :)



Related link:

Sunday, June 29, 2008 Endometriosis Blog: Ground Rules for Comments, Google, and AdSense PLUS My Anticipated Response Time for Comments

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.

Endometriosis Blog Seeks Guest Bloggers On Health-Related Topics

Is anyone out there interested in guest blogging about a medical topic on this blog?

Currently I'm seeking individuals who would like to guest blog here. The topic would need to be health related but not necessarily about endometriosis. For example, you may write a blog for a different chronic illness related to endometriosis. Perhaps the chronic illness you write about is even correlated to endometriosis in studies. It would be great to have a guest blogger tell us his/her experiences on a health related topic such as this. Your post does not necessarily have to be about endometriosis or an endometriosis-related illness.

If you are interested in submitting a request to be a guest blogger here, just email me at endendo@frontiernet.net. Please specify what topic you'd like to write about.

I believe this is a wonderful way to get information from other sources on this blog. This will strengthen Jeanne's Endo Blog and introduce diversity to the writing style presented here as well as allow readers here to see things from another vantage point than just mine. Perhaps you have a personal experience you'd like to share about how your illness has impacted you? Maybe you have a success story to share. (Please stray away from any advertisements for specific products or prescription brand names and cover such things in broad terms).

This is an exciting opportunity to share your ideas with readers here.

You may be wondering, "what will I get out of this"?

Within your guest blogger post, you will be able to promote your own site. This stands to increase traffic to your own website or blog. I encourage you to provide some basic information about yourself, your illness, and how it impacts you. This will give you the opportunity to write about your own site and help more people than the readers of your site. It will allow you to reach out to a new audience.

Again, the topic idea you submit needs to be a health related one. Please don't bother writing up your post just yet. If you could please send me your idea(s) on what you'd like to guest blog about, I will get back to you to identify how your post could be integrated to fit on this blog. (I would like to make sure that the topic is a "match" that readers here will identify with).

How to submit your idea(s):

Email me at endendo@frontiernet.net and indicate that you'd like to guest blog on Jeanne's Endo Blog. Please put "Guest Blogging" in the subject line to draw my attention to your email. I'll email you back to follow up on your submission. If your topic idea sounds like a fit for this blog, I'll post your story shortly after you submit it (based on what posts I have scheduled to publish at that time).

What I Won't Accept as Guest Posts:

Please do not submit posts that promote specific products (i.e. nutritional supplements, prescriptions by their brand name, other products that fall under the category of solicitation). The purpose of the post is to create awareness, educate readers, help patients, and promote your website or blog in the process.

For more details on my policy regarding advertisement on this blog, please see my previous post:

Sunday, June 29, 2008 Endometriosis Blog: Ground Rules for Comments, Google, and AdSense PLUS My Anticipated Response Time for Comments

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.

Tips For Endometriosis Blog Readers Wishing to Post Comments!

Hello everyone! I have had a couple of blog readers who wished to post comments but are not yet accustomed to blog "comment-posting". So I decided to post some tips to assist anyone interested in posting comments here on the endo blog. I welcome your comments!!!

Here are step-by-step tips for posting comments to my blog. I have listed the instructions (see below) to hopefully make it easier for you to post comments on my blog (which would totally make my day)!!!

If you aren’t familiar with posting on a BlogSpot blog (like mine), it’s easy… See below:

1) Go to the bottom (underneath) of any of my posts/articles you wish to comment on.

2) Click where is says ___ comments. (The ___ field represents the x number of comments already posted there, if any).

3) A window will appear!

4) In the window given, simply type your comment to me/to the endo blog readers/to the Internet/to the world…

PLEASE NOTE:

YOU DO NOT NEED NECESSARILY ANY SPECIAL LOGIN TO POST COMMENTS. SEE MORE INFO BELOW.

5) Type in your first name if you choose (just a first name, please leave out the last name for privacy reasons!)

6) If you prefer, use a screen name. For example, you could call yourself “Jane” or “John” or any name you like that isn’t in use already.

7) Alternatively, you could bypass the name fields and click on “anonymous”, if you wish.

8) Then, just click “preview” to review your comments before publishing them.

9) When satisfied with your comments, click on “publish”!!!

10) Your comment will then enter moderation. That means it will go to my personal email account.

11) When I see it and have time to respond, I will either “publish” or “reject” it. (I can actually respond FASTER to comments posted on my blog than to direct emails, in general)!

12) The only reason I’d “reject” it is if it had profanity (which I know it wouldn’t from you all!!!) OR if it was advertising something (something I can’t do).

13) Please see my post from June 29, 2008 (in my “June 2008 archives”) called “Endometriosis Blog: Ground Rules for Comments, Google, and AdSense PLUS My Anticipated Response Time for Comments” for clarification on what counts as advertising and what the “rules” are for my comment fields on the endo blog.

I hope this info helps those of you who are new to blog posting. It’s easier than the list above looks. I just made it detailed on purpose to try to help make it easier.

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at http://www.endendoat.blogspot.com.

Endo Blog: Infertility Resource Provided by Alicia... Tertia Albertyn's Blog About "Infertiles"

Today's post is easy because the info jumped right out at me. Alicia, an endo and infertility patient who posts comments often on this blog and is a wonderful friend, told me about a blog I'd never seen before... about one woman's struggle with infertility.

The following blog (see her blog link below) is written by a woman named Tertia Albertyn, who lives in Cape Town, South Africa and calls herself "an infertile". This is one very persistent and determined woman! After reading her most recent post and her bio, I realized she has had 10 IVF procedures done!

Before I get to the link to her blog, I should forewarn you there is some swearing in her most recent post: "How to be Good Friends with an Infertile".

So I wanted to give you a "heads up" since I made a point of asking for no profanity on my comment boards (see my June 29, 2008 post "Endometriosis Blog: Ground Rules for Comments, Google, and AdSense PLUS My Anticipated Response Time for Comments").

While I don't use profanity in my posts, I won't shy away from sharing Tertia Albertyn's blog with you... since I believe many of our readers will take comfort in Tertia's words regarding her struggle with infertility.

Here is the link to the "So Close" blog, written by Tertia Loebenberg Albertyn.

http://tertia.typepad.com/so_close/2004/05/how_to_be_good_.html

Whether you are experiencing infertility caused by endometriosis or other factors OR just trying to support an infertile friend or loved one, I think you'll find this blog interesting!

Infertility can be a devastating, isolating, and heartbreaking journey.

Sense of humor can be crucial when dealing with such a dark emotional subject as infertility. This blog (check out the bio) provides a wickedly good sense of humor, insight, and wit to a very real and painful condition that affects so many!

Tertia Albertyn's link was published with permission from Tertia Loebenberg Albertyn.

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.

Endometriosis Blog: Ground Rules for Comments, Google, and AdSense PLUS My Anticipated Response Time for Comments

Hi everyone! At this early stage of the blog, I’d like to try to get clear expectations from you who read the blog as far as what content most interests you.

In turn, I would appreciate if you’d take a moment to read a few simple rules to keep our comment posts as uplifting and supportive as possible. The rules below are a mixture... Some are rules which AdSense itself may expect me to have my blog adhere to. Some of these rules may be even more specific/common on blogs which commonly discuss medical terms (i.e. medications, nutritional supplements, etc.). Finally, I may have put my own touch on the rules as far as what I personally am comfortable with for my endometriosis blog.

First let me explain moderated blogs for anyone unfamiliar with the term. Moderated blogs can basically be set up so that articles/posts by the blog’s author (in this case, me) can choose whether to "publish" or "reject" a comment made by an Internet user who chooses to comment on the post(s).

So, I’ll give an example.: I don’t wish for there to be profanity on my blog. The easiest way by far for me to ensure that there isn’t any profanity on my blog is to moderate the comments before posting them.

This is for several reasons. (1) I don’t care to have my blog associated with profanity. (2) If my blog were totally un-moderated, people could post obscenities that I might not be able to easily remove from my blog’s comment screens after the fact (assuming I even saw the obscene comments after they were posted). (3) I have agreed as an AdSense advertiser (yes, I’m talking about those Google ads on my blog) not to allow inappropriate blogging/commenting on my blog. (4) By reading comments as soon as I am able (via email) to view them, I am better able to keep in touch with the readers’ needs.

As the moderator, I can choose an option to “publish” or “reject” any comment. I have not rejected any comments but I am fully aware that someday I may choose to exercise my right as moderator of this blog to “reject” a particular comment. If I establish some basic ground rules now, I am hoping it will be clearer for me and the blog’s readers what is/isn’t considered appropriate for this particular blog.

When I established this endometriosis blog on 6/1/2008, I selected the available BlogSpot option to ‘enable moderation’ of the comment boards, as is very common on many types of blogs. Medical topics can be particularly sensitive due to liability, advertising rules, the FDA, etc. Moderated comments were the only logical option for this endo blog.
So, as we’re rounding out the first month of this endometriosis blog... it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to state some ground rules for posting comments to the articles posted.

As a BlogSpot writer, I decided to be an AdSense advertiser. The Google ads you see on my blog are managed by a company called AdSense. I have an agreement with AdSense and want to make very sure that I am following their rules, as per our contract agreement. In order to follow their rules, I need to ensure my comment boards are managed, by me, in an appropriate manner. Also, I may elect to introduce future ads other than AdSense/Google ones and I need to “keep a clean shop” for that reason as well.

Ground rules for Jeanne’s Endo Blog:

(A) There will be no personal attacks on the comment boards.
(B) There will be no political or religious discussions on the comment boards.
(C) Due to my contract with Google/AdSense or ads with any future advertising companies, please be vague if ever referencing commercial items (i.e. please state “prescription estrogen” rather than posting words or links about or including a specific brand name of estrogen or even a specific manufacturer or prescription estrogen. It’s OK to say “estrogen” or provide a website/web link about the general topic of estrogen. However, posting comments about a particular brand of estrogen or posting comments linking to websites that ever carry ads for specific brands of estrogen would not be appropriate for this particular blog. Please try to remember not to name any specific pharmaceutical companies, drug wholesalers, etc.

Also... due to the number of comments and private emails regarding this blog I have already gotten (keep them coming!!!), I may not always be able to reply to each and every comment posted on my blog. I have already gotten a wonderful response in under a month and it is steadily rising. In addition to responding to comments here on the blog, posting on the blog, adding cool features to it (check out the cool FEEDjit widget tools in the sidebar of my blog) and the private emails I send/receive about the endo blog... plus my duties as a volunteer co-leader for an in-person endometriosis support group in my geographical area... plus my numerous chronic illnesses, there will certainly be times when I can’t respond to every single comment. (I do pledge to read all of them, though, as soon as I am able).

Please bear in mind that I have been too sick too work outside the home for several years now. This blog is a big undertaking for me and I will continue to do my best to be as responsive as possible to your comments on the blog and your emails to my personal account: mailto:endendo@frontiernet.net?subject=Endo%20Blog%20Ground%20Rules..

I would prefer you post comments unless it is a private matter. This will reduce duplication of efforts on my part and improve the speed with which I can respond to all readers of this endo blog.

As you know by this point, I am not known for being brief! So writing simply takes time and energy for me that SOME days just won’t exist with my illnesses.

I’m not complaining!! I have absolutely loved my first month of blogging and am happy to be writing this blog and providing a safe, pleasant place for readers to converse on the comment boards. If you are new to posting comments on blogs, my blog is very simple to use. BlogSpot blogs like mine have a “comments link" in small font underneath each post. If you see a post/article you’d like to comment on, just click comments. A window will appear. In the window, type your comment. If you have a Google account and wish to post with that name showing, you may do so. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED, HOWEVER TO HAVE A GOOGLE ACCOUNT TO POST ON THIS BLOG. You may simply type your first name (or even a “pseudonym”). Or, you can even choose an “anonymous” option if you choose to do so. There is no special log-in required! It’s fast and easy!!!

As far as I’m concerned, the more comments the better!!! While I may not be able to keep pace with all of you simultaneously commenting here (or emailing) me, you all can have fantastic conversations without me! If I’m too sick to post, I will make every effort to “publish” all appropriate comments as quickly as possible. You all are perfectly capable of talking amongst yourselves.

You can post back and forth because if you check the option (when you post your comment) that indicates you want to be copied in on any additional comments to xyz post then you will get email notification (if you checked that option) of a new comment being made when it happens.

So if I got hit by a bus, I would have my husband select “publish” on any emails that were pending moderation (provided they follow the above rules). Once the moderation goes through, your comment gets posted and the same thing happens with the next person. So I don’t necessarily even have to write anything to keep the comment area rolling along as long as I have someone who would be willing to step in temporarily and moderate the comments based on the above rules.

So please let’s keep the great discussions we’ve already been having going on in just this first month going strong AND let’s have many more where that came from.

I am very pleased with the warm reception I’ve gotten for this endo blog. On and off the blog... by comments and by emails, you have been so supportive of the effort it has taken me to create and maintain this blog. With my illnesses, it’s not easy. The great thing is that I can set my own pace and I can do it in the comfort of my own home. It has been heartwarming to see the reaction from my family & friends, my fellow (local) endometriosis support group members, my fellow bloggers (blog writers) and everyone who has posted comments on this blog! I am psyched up and ready to go.

So let’s get this blog really rolling now. The more comments you post the better. I can’t wait to hear from you!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS MADE THIS ENDOMETROSIS BLOG POSSIBLE!

TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THAT THIS LIST OF PEOPLE IS VERY, VERY LONG!

THANK YOU!!!

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.


This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.