Do You Agree With This Grey Hat Tactic?
Just recently I came across a report written back in 07 about how to use MySpace to make money.
The writer professed to say that all you needed was
- A copy of the report
- An internet connection.
- Some time. Not a lot of time, but you will need to commit to a certain amount of time each day or every few days. It all depends how soon you want the cash flow to start!”
This, of course, intrigued me to continue on reading.
The first point used to explain why MySpace was so great to do this, was first of all, the SIZE of MySpace.
“Anytime you can gain access to such a ridiculously large amount of people all you need is the most rudimentary marketing skills and you can make an absolute killing.“
I agreed with that point.
“It’s still relatively unknown to the mass markets“
Maybe back in 2007, but today MySpace is basically number one in social networks and the tactics laid out in the report may now be overworked.
“It’s free”
Yes, people love free stuff and is why MySpace is so popular.
“It’s “cool,” or perceived as cool”
Which keeps the MySpace members there to continue interacting.
“The friends system”
Friends are great and the more the merrier.
But how can we take advantage of all of these points and make money with it?
What happens when you have thousands of friends?
How do you turn that into dollars?
According to this report, one Grey hat technique is to set up many accounts designed to target a specific niche. That made sense to me. However, this report takes it a little further by suggesting that you need to use an alias, preferably that of an attractive female between the ages of 18 to 24.
They would not be real people. The how is then explained in detail as is the what to do and the what not to do.
I must say that I was impressed by this person’s ingenuity and although I particularly didn’t like the method, I could see how this technique could end up being quite a money maker.
I would be interested in hearing your views on this type of marketing.
This is an interesting post and using social sites to reach your target markets is a technique all social marketers should consider employing. However, I also think that branding yourself is also important and part of that, in my opinion, includes honesty. Posing as an attractive female between the ages of 18 to 24, when I’m really a 35 year old man, would send the wrong message to my clients and could potentially rob them of the opportunity to get to know who I really am which could result in mistrust.