To want people PAY to advertise their stores?!?!?!

[StroppyandUnreasonable]

I am sick of this whole "google me if you want to look at my store".

Its not putting up a link to your store, no, but it IS still advertising and quite frankly its f*cking rude.

There is an advertising section - £30 for 3 months. £10 a month. 33p a day.

Pay to advertise, or don't mention that you sell x,y & z. If you want MN for customers, then you should pay for them and then you can mention your store in any conversation you like, link to your ad, whatever.

If you don't want to pay, then just chat about whatever is your chosen subject be it craft stuff, pushchairs, clothes, nappies whatever.

Have namechanged because I don't want to directly piss off people, but DO want to rant where it can be seen (if that makes any sense whatsoever).

YANBU.
I imagine it must be very annoying for those who have stumped up for an ad, and if people are in business then £30 of advertising really isn't so very much is it, esp when it all goes into Mumsnet's little piggy bank?

I have no idea what you are talking about but if it upsets you this much why don't you use the red exclamation and report them as advertising .. MNHQ will then have a 'quiet word' (TM)

there is nothing worse than an MNHQ 'quiet word' (TM)

{whispers} I just report 'em and the ones who buy and sell on in volume ....

I don't know why you felt the need to name change. It's a perfectly acceptable thing to be pissed off about!

not noticed this

yanbu.i agree with everything thats already been said.including no need to change name for it.

I am a volunteer member of the MN task force for reporting this kind of thing.

I publicly shamed someone who was posting on the lines of 'anyone ordered something from [specific] maternity site? their stuff looks really nice' by pointing out that a month previously she'd posted saying she'd bought some maternity clothes from there and they were all fabulous...

otherwise, red button 'em

report them........

especially if not a regular mumsnetter...

Thank you - have red buttoned a couple of said posts.

I don't want MN towers to think I'm whinging about it

The namechange is due to not wanting a full slanging match or anything. I have got too much going on right now for an online war too.

if they are doing wrong,i doubt theyd answer anyway

am worried about recommending stuff incase people think I am touting - like if I had a friend would made some lovely things I would mention it on here - would taht be wrong?

I quite often tell people to look up stuff on my website, but I don't sell anything on it, nor do I make any money from it (oh except amazon links, which is pence and doesn't cover the cost of the hosting). It's an information resource; and I hope useful to people with an autistic child. I used to write the same thing out here over and over again (eg link to ASTLIP, link to IPSEA), I no longer have time to so I link them to my site instead. It's that or I don't share the information or I say "do a search on my name" (which wouldn't work as I have had many).

TBH I haven't really noticed people linking to commercial stores and when they do they're usually picked up on it on the thread.

YANBU

there is a place on mumsnet for advertising your services (for want of a better word).
At base its unfair on people who have paid that you potentially steal business from them.

And anyway, saying google my name is downright lazy imo

My webpage is voluntary stuff - information provided to help people. It provides detailed information about services that might help people- eg claiming disabled facilities grants, how to get a diagnosis, how to get private SALT, where to go for info on starting biomed interventions, reveiws of produts I've tried (save other people wasting money as I have on unsuitable stuff), reviews of books - ditto. I'm more than happy for other people to provide the information. It has taken many hours of my time over the years sharing that info on here. I don't have the time anymore, but if linking to a website (that doesn't generate money) is unwelcome then fine I won't.

but gess, there is a difference between your site, and a commercial enterprise, who should expect to pay to advertise.....you are a regular mumsnetter, and i think that makes a difference too

if i see something that looks a bit , i search the name, and more often than not, it is the first post..so i report it..and suggest they advertise in the small business ads section

yes lulu I think there's a difference too, I made the first post in case there was confusion when people saw my links. Seemed a good place to state why I was linking. But mumofmonsters post suggests that she still thinks its unreasonable.

NO! Gess - I don't think this is about sites like that.

You tend to see this a lot in the nappy section where there is a lot of range for people asking advice about products. Some have got ads, and offer advice via email/through our ads. There are often sites that come, live only on those boards, and tell people to look them up for advice, or ooh I stock that, come and look etc.

I am assuming that this is about that kind of thing - it is a business thing. If you are genuinely wanting to offer just advice, then you have a site with no sales (like yours, or the blw blog etc), if you are wanting sales then you need to advertise as a business, as it is what you are.

I thought Musicianswidow (MoM) was just referring to the OP.

noooo Gess not you!

Sorry!

You make no profit from directing ppl so it makes no sense to buy an ad from MNHQ.

My post was in reply to OP re online shops rather than charities/volunteers

For example...I sell (well DP really but for the sake of the exapmle....) mirrors/oil paintings and prints but i haven't paid to advertise so i won't even link cryptically. If i had paid however i could start a trillion threads linking everyone to my ad and my business!

Your case is very different and i apologise for the generalisation.

It annoys me sometimes as I have paid £30 for an advert and then somebody selling the same product as me will give out their e mail ad or web site to contact them about it (make sense?!! lol)

Blatant spamminess is annoying, certainly, but there is sometiems a grey area when a thread discusses a certain product or service that someone wants - if you are a regular MNer and you know that either you or a friend of yours offeres such a product or service I don't think it's necessarily that bad to mention it ie (purely hypothetically and not referring to anyone in particular) if someone wanted a piano tuned and you were or knew a piano tuner in their area...