Hire a Professional TROLL

Trolls are generally looked down on across the internet. And they should be. I certainly do. BUT everything has its pros and cons.

An expert troll has specific skills. They tend to be wordy. Some are quite responsible in their "trolling duties". They can generate conversation and keep conversation threads going for far beyond what would be expected from the subject. And the best of them do so without appearing to be trolling.

In forums for PoDs and SEO (print-on-demand like CafePress, Search Engine Optimization) we often talk about the boost to SEO from having dynamic (changing) content on your web site. It is often recommended to add a blog, quest book, newsletter, or even a forum. The shopkeeper might mention his latest shirt creation, or discuss the creation process, or have a contest. All of these are good ideas but for someone who isnt naturally chatty they might come to a halt there. Just saying "add a blog" is no good for someone who is not a blogger. But for those people, also adding a troll could be the answer. Dont bother trying to wrap your mind around what it is that a troll might do. If you find the right troll then all you have to do is explain what I said above, or even show it to them. They will grasp their mission and know how to proceed.

Keep in mind that any publicity is good publicity. Especially for SEO. So keep a thick skin up. The trolls efforts will be to create "discussion" (arguments), and to get traffic to the site to continue the fight. This will mean posting to busy internet locations that good trolls know of. Something along the line of "you should come and take a look at this". It might work better for items which are a fiery topic. Shirts, and bumperstickers, on subjects which have clear pro and con sides. Hit a pro site and post a con about the item, then hit a con site and do a pro post about the item. An experienced troll might even create two different personas and argue with themself just to get the battle lines drawn. But even if its not a hot topic you might be surprised that a practiced troll is able to create active dynamic conversation even on something like "hummingbird shirts". Again, keep a hard personal armor up since that often involves making an obviously wrong and offensive statement forcing people to flock to the site to correct it or to defend you.

Trolls arent used to getting paid. Send one $20. Or a free shirt. Or even just offer to let them buy one shirt a month "at cost" (meaning you put their wanted shirt into a hidden pocket of your online shop with no markup). You might even personally know a troll (in which case you might want to ask them to help fill in your descriptions).

Now I am NOT in favor of trolls. I would not wish to turn it into a viable career choice for kids anymore than the idea that kiddie hackers can get themselves hired for white-hat security jobs (which mostly just happens in movies). So if this topic heats you up and makes you want to post a nasty comment to me, then just consider this to be a troll for my blog. :)

Gandalf Parker

"finding" images to use

I have talked about how to find material but I have a new suggestion that I want to put out there. People seem to spend alot of time and effort trying to find images online. People! Images found on the internet are RARELY legal to use on something you sell. Making sure that it is might be more hassle than its worth.

Often the images I see people wanting are things like backgrounds (trees, water, a fountain, clouds, a rainy day, fog), or something common (a dog, a horse, a flower, a street sign). Sometimes its even something local like a landmark or tourist attraction near them. Of course any serious entrepreneur in this business MUST have a digital camera and/or a scanner. And they MUST have their camera with them always. But you probably already know that I rarely bother talking to the serious entrepreneurs. So lets continue talking to the rest of us. :)

Now I know that specifically going out and trying to get those shots is a pain. But consider this.. Dont you have a throw-away camera in the car? You are supposed to. I think that all insurance companies and the police say that you should keep one in the car in case of an accident. Then they warn not to keep it there for years without replacing it.

Well here is what Ive found. While waiting someplace or running errands I will see a perfect item. A mossy rock, or a sunset, or a pile of dog ****. I can go to my car, get the camera and snap it (and immeadiately ask permission to use it if I need to). When the camera is half full (dont want it to get all full) I will replace it. They are cheap. Then I get the images developed. You can now get the images as computer images on a CD! Or you can take them to local businesses like Kinkos or Staples and get them scanned.

Ive even seen someone doodling some cartoony art, or selling some homemade mugs with monster faces, and gotten some great stuff for use that way. Of course, you must ask to use their work and might want to get them to sign something in your idea notebook (you carry one of THOSE dont you?!?) just to cover yourself. But its still pretty easy and a great way to get more material. And its material which no one else has and you dont have to worry about CUP violations.

Gandalf Parker

Free Copyright?

There are different levels. But of course the only thing equal to a copyright, is a copyright.

People say that the "poor mans copyright" is no longer a workable
thing. That was the common suggestion of putting your idea in an envelope
and mailing to yourself, then never opening that envelope. True, it does
not take the place of a real copyright but that does not make it worthless
either.

Actually there are cases where it was accepted as "evidence" but none I
know of where it was accepted as "proof". My last major gig was sysadmin
for a law firm that become owner of an ISP. I got to hear a lot of
interesting discussions. Especially about internet things.

Its one of many methods that a person can show that they at least tried to
lock it down. Its better than just saying that its yours, or getting
friends to testify that they saw it in your scribble pad. But its
considered far from being a replacement for copyright. Variations include:
paying a couple bucks to get it notarized, putting it in a bank lock box
and never visiting it again as their logs can verify, giving it to a
lawyer to keep in their vault, including it as part of your "legacy" so
that its included with your will and other papers that you might already
be paying a lawyer to verify time/date then store untouched by court
standards. And of course, copyright. Also many of those can be grouped
together.

The end result is that like many things, there is a scale of how firm a
result you will get based on a sliding scale of how much money and effort
you want to put into it. The "mail it to yourself" is probably the easiest
and cheapest, therefore the least effective. Not worthless, but basically
its about 39 cents worth of protection.

Gandalf Parker
--
If I knew more about what I was talking about I could charge more for my help.
What am I charging now? Oh this was for free.