Comments on: Am I Risking a Penalty if I Give this Hot Fudge Away?

By: Kris

Kris — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 06:59:38 +0000

Great Post – so now we’re talking Hot Fudge Marketing.

I suppose it would work, as advertising is a science and hot fudge is a medium in this case. Is there a way you can attach your website address to each fudge you send out (like with stickers), that is a silent, passive way of directly marketing your link.

I cannot imagine Google penalizing your OBL when your obtaining them through quality direct marketing, delicious, chocolate flavoured marketing.

Best of luck,

Kris

By: jigs

jigs — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:54:08 +0000

Hi Jim.
this is really good idea and i don’t think its spam.
@sam Agree with you, just let them decide, if they find it helpful they will definitely give the links. this will be natural and truly ethical way to get links.

thanks

By: sam

sam — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:24:50 +0000

Perhaps just give it as a gift and leave it at that? If people want to they will link back.

By: Gregor

Gregor — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:20:23 +0000

Why don’t you just give them a load of cash and ask them to link to you with keyword rich anchor text? Then you can eat the fudge!

By: Gerald Weber

Gerald Weber — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:28:44 +0000

I think this may possibly be breaking google webmaster “hot fudge code of ethic” guidelines. Something they take very seriously!

By: Herb Pagano Jr

Herb Pagano Jr — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:25:55 +0000

Jim,

Nothing happens until something is sold. Market it.

Why don’t you have interested folks come to you?

Make relevant, thoughtful comments on food, dessert, recipe blogs and forums. At the comment end simply say, “By the way, I’ve got a very few jars of the best sundae sauce a mom could ever make. It’s like a kiss without the hug! [Contact me] and tell me why you deserve this Christmas treat”. Or …

Set up a Blogger or WordPress.com blog (hotfudgesundaesaucegiveaway.blogspot). The content can mimic a press release/news format with enticing photos, etc. Add a poll (Top sundae sauce treats). Then tell the interested what to do: “If you are a [ ], with a blog or site about [ ], tell us why we should send you a free sample of the best ….”

Then bookmark it to all social sites. At Digg: “Madman Gives Away Mom’s Sundae Sauce”. At Yahoo buzz: “How To Get Free Hot Fudge Sundae Sauce!” The interested will read the post. Respond to all.

Just a couple of ideas.

Herb

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:35:39 +0000

What if I just go into your office and steal the hot fudge off your desk? Then I eliminate your moral quandary and I get me some fudge?

Of course, if anyone asks, I didn’t take it. QualityGal did.

By: Saad Kamal

Saad Kamal — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:01:39 +0000

Jim, I want one!

Anyway back to serious business – In my opinion, the thing you just described is fine. Its all Marketing anyway!

Google doesn’t and can’t possibly monitor all links that are paid. I dont think they can say whether a link is paid/natural, simply by looking at it.

But looking at other variables like it’s placement (e.g. sidebar, footer) and the Anchor text — they can probably make an educated guess. However, having said that, this only happens when the site goes under a ‘manual review’. A spider isn’t that smart anyway..

If your link adds ‘value’ to the content of any existing page on the web, I think you should by all means go for it.

By: Brian Hawkins

Brian Hawkins — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:56:34 +0000

We still offer pingo.com phone cards to any site or blogger to test out are product. We hope that they will post a review and link to us. But its up to them. I’d say that its fair “bait” vs paying dough to try to get a link.

By: QualityGal

QualityGal — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:37:33 +0000

You had me going until the PS.