An Internet Job that Went TOO Far?
Are Their Tactics Fair?
Several years ago, I had encountered a person and their group on the
ever famous "MySpace." We had spent hours on the phone and also even
conversed within emails.
Eventually it became interviews and then suddenly they decided I would be an ideal asset to their company.
I believe in their cause, I understood what they were doing, and I wanted to make an impact- just as they were trying to do.
I filled out the application, and agreed to their terms.
They emailed me a template to advertise, and a template for a business card-where I chose to have them made was my own choice. A web page on myspace was made and designed by another, and then I was sent out to make an impact. I was now an Advertising Representative for this So-called professional Internet Magazine.
It is based for working and abused women, and women who have or had have, or know survivors of Cancer. Yes, men are members, and can subscribe. But the main goal is to achieve advertisers of women in business, women who employ women and want to make an impact on other women.
The woman, who made the magazine, was a domestic abuse survivor. I never dealt with her. I was being handled by a person under her, and much younger then myself. The woman who I was dealing with, like myself-- had a kid with ADD or ADHD, just as I did. And I had recently published an article on Associated Content about such issues, as well as in my blog on my own myspace.
The woman, who brought me aboard, offered to publish this very article in their next issue. She said that it wouldn't make me much money, but it would help me obtain my much needed fame. She even said, that when she read my article, she could relate, and it made her cry. I was now getting even more excited! Naturally I told several family members, wouldn't you?!
So in the meantime, I have spent money on my own business cards with Vista Print, and even bought two magnets for my vehicle. I had contacted many people online, who I knew were women oriented, and I had even phoned in a few friends, trying to get advertisers.
Fuel is almost $4 a gallon, and I am driving around to businesses, calling places, emailing and making comments on everyone's web page, with the flyer they told me to use. I was trying. But yet to them, they are seeing nothing.
I am told they are based out of Oregon, because they had phone meetings, and wanted to speak. But our time line was 3 hours off, and my memory is and was unfocused. I asked the girl that recruited me to remind me. She posted a comment on my myspace. In the meantime, I am out plugging, pushing and trying. I am not online. So of course, this looks bad on me, because I can't make the phone meetings.
Then I asked the girl to phone remind me, that by the time I received the comment, it was too late. She claimed to understand and even agree. Their meetings were on Mondays- usually. But you see, when your kids are out of School, you're not always sure which day of the week it is. And what made it worse, my husband was not working but a few hours a week, and here I was using gas that we couldn't afford, and spending money on items to help me build myself up to recognition, and I was making us deeper in debt.
This is a trying time for many people now of days, economy is tight, and it even almost seems like a depression. No one has money to spare, especially with a place or company they know little, if anything about. And telling them about the company- doesn't always thrill people. Internet advertising is not always what everyone wants.
The people of this magazine make the woman that brought me aboard, call me and leave me a voice mail. She said I was not meeting their requirements, and upholding my end of the deal. I was dumbfounded. I was busting my rump! I call her back, and get voice mail. So aggravated, I email the woman. She proceeds to tell me I took her message out of context. I ask her to explain, and she says I just don't seem like a good fit for their company.
And yet, I took her message wrong?
She proceeded to tell me to delete the myspace I had made to represent myself in their company, and that they had already decided to close my company email account. I had to explain I would try to delete it, but since they deleted my company email, I couldn't click the confirm button to cancel or delete.To them, again, I was being uncompliant.
These people only allotted me a two weeks time. And I thought Florida was a right to work state! I thought, how could I go wrong with the internet? This should be easy enough, women have so many causes, issues and they seem to love to flock together.
Yes, it's true, they cannot physically see me and what I am doing or have done. But I was working for them. I could have given them peoples addresses, phone numbers- the whole nine yards for verification, yet they didn't want that, nor did they seem to care.
I emailed the main staff about a month after calming down, and they responded back with 'they would be in touch'. Then the girl who hired me, writes back: subject- "your mass email" and then: "Once I get the time, girl I will certainly tell you exactly how I feel!" Then I write her back that I want to hear from her partners, the owners not her. Then comes an email from one of the people above her, telling me to stop abusing their employees or they were going to sue me. I told them she contacted me, only to be called a liar!
I told them I would make the public exactly aware of what they did, because I do have the saved emails. And when I write back to people, I send a copy to myself, so I am protected- simply because of instances just like this one! I told them maybe I should make the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and the BBB (Better Business Bureau) aware of their practices. I was told to go ahead; they had nothing to fear- that only I would be the one suffering.
Since this time, I am now being harassed by long distance phone numbers, hateful emails, and all kinds of things. The best part of the spam ordeal, is the IP address is not matching mine when I make the companies involved check it out. Now I am not accusing, I am just stating that things started occurring once I was fired, and I mean when the fire phone call came in.
One disadvantage of phone conversations with people, to determine if you qualify for the job and what not- you reminisce and talk about little things, idea's plans and what not. Yes, in the midst of all this, your children and husband are in the back ground talking and screaming. When the phone calls come in, and you can't actually count on your children to be quiet, perhaps you should think before you dial. Harassing phone calls are truly supposed to be discreet people! One more thing, you need to remember telling your perspective interviewee about things you have done to your so called enemies in the past. And then here you are, exactly what you said before- happening now.
This is the thing with small business, and internet business. You yourself don't know if someone is doing the job they applied to do. So you jump to conclusions and make sporadic decisions.
No one ASKED me what was going on, not that they didn't need to. Because I made the woman who hired me- aware. People need to honestly check out their own inner circle of employees before making moves to take on others.
And no, they did not publish my article.
Yes, they fired me.
However, it is of course, their word against mine, as to who did what.
But I am lucky enough, to save a good majority of emails. Least wise, once the hateful voice mail came in, I knew to save from that moment on!!
Protect yourself. These people have my important information, and a signed contract, along with you guessed- my social security number. I guess I was the fool; I gave it to them because I thought it was a real job!
My advice to you the reader: thoroughly check out the internet jobs. This was/is an internet magazine. Sure it looks good on the monitor, but that's about it! You know what they say,
"Beauty is only skin deep!"
Eventually it became interviews and then suddenly they decided I would be an ideal asset to their company.
I believe in their cause, I understood what they were doing, and I wanted to make an impact- just as they were trying to do.
I filled out the application, and agreed to their terms.
They emailed me a template to advertise, and a template for a business card-where I chose to have them made was my own choice. A web page on myspace was made and designed by another, and then I was sent out to make an impact. I was now an Advertising Representative for this So-called professional Internet Magazine.
It is based for working and abused women, and women who have or had have, or know survivors of Cancer. Yes, men are members, and can subscribe. But the main goal is to achieve advertisers of women in business, women who employ women and want to make an impact on other women.
The woman, who made the magazine, was a domestic abuse survivor. I never dealt with her. I was being handled by a person under her, and much younger then myself. The woman who I was dealing with, like myself-- had a kid with ADD or ADHD, just as I did. And I had recently published an article on Associated Content about such issues, as well as in my blog on my own myspace.
The woman, who brought me aboard, offered to publish this very article in their next issue. She said that it wouldn't make me much money, but it would help me obtain my much needed fame. She even said, that when she read my article, she could relate, and it made her cry. I was now getting even more excited! Naturally I told several family members, wouldn't you?!
So in the meantime, I have spent money on my own business cards with Vista Print, and even bought two magnets for my vehicle. I had contacted many people online, who I knew were women oriented, and I had even phoned in a few friends, trying to get advertisers.
Fuel is almost $4 a gallon, and I am driving around to businesses, calling places, emailing and making comments on everyone's web page, with the flyer they told me to use. I was trying. But yet to them, they are seeing nothing.
I am told they are based out of Oregon, because they had phone meetings, and wanted to speak. But our time line was 3 hours off, and my memory is and was unfocused. I asked the girl that recruited me to remind me. She posted a comment on my myspace. In the meantime, I am out plugging, pushing and trying. I am not online. So of course, this looks bad on me, because I can't make the phone meetings.
Then I asked the girl to phone remind me, that by the time I received the comment, it was too late. She claimed to understand and even agree. Their meetings were on Mondays- usually. But you see, when your kids are out of School, you're not always sure which day of the week it is. And what made it worse, my husband was not working but a few hours a week, and here I was using gas that we couldn't afford, and spending money on items to help me build myself up to recognition, and I was making us deeper in debt.
This is a trying time for many people now of days, economy is tight, and it even almost seems like a depression. No one has money to spare, especially with a place or company they know little, if anything about. And telling them about the company- doesn't always thrill people. Internet advertising is not always what everyone wants.
The people of this magazine make the woman that brought me aboard, call me and leave me a voice mail. She said I was not meeting their requirements, and upholding my end of the deal. I was dumbfounded. I was busting my rump! I call her back, and get voice mail. So aggravated, I email the woman. She proceeds to tell me I took her message out of context. I ask her to explain, and she says I just don't seem like a good fit for their company.
And yet, I took her message wrong?
She proceeded to tell me to delete the myspace I had made to represent myself in their company, and that they had already decided to close my company email account. I had to explain I would try to delete it, but since they deleted my company email, I couldn't click the confirm button to cancel or delete.To them, again, I was being uncompliant.
These people only allotted me a two weeks time. And I thought Florida was a right to work state! I thought, how could I go wrong with the internet? This should be easy enough, women have so many causes, issues and they seem to love to flock together.
Yes, it's true, they cannot physically see me and what I am doing or have done. But I was working for them. I could have given them peoples addresses, phone numbers- the whole nine yards for verification, yet they didn't want that, nor did they seem to care.
I emailed the main staff about a month after calming down, and they responded back with 'they would be in touch'. Then the girl who hired me, writes back: subject- "your mass email" and then: "Once I get the time, girl I will certainly tell you exactly how I feel!" Then I write her back that I want to hear from her partners, the owners not her. Then comes an email from one of the people above her, telling me to stop abusing their employees or they were going to sue me. I told them she contacted me, only to be called a liar!
I told them I would make the public exactly aware of what they did, because I do have the saved emails. And when I write back to people, I send a copy to myself, so I am protected- simply because of instances just like this one! I told them maybe I should make the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and the BBB (Better Business Bureau) aware of their practices. I was told to go ahead; they had nothing to fear- that only I would be the one suffering.
Since this time, I am now being harassed by long distance phone numbers, hateful emails, and all kinds of things. The best part of the spam ordeal, is the IP address is not matching mine when I make the companies involved check it out. Now I am not accusing, I am just stating that things started occurring once I was fired, and I mean when the fire phone call came in.
One disadvantage of phone conversations with people, to determine if you qualify for the job and what not- you reminisce and talk about little things, idea's plans and what not. Yes, in the midst of all this, your children and husband are in the back ground talking and screaming. When the phone calls come in, and you can't actually count on your children to be quiet, perhaps you should think before you dial. Harassing phone calls are truly supposed to be discreet people! One more thing, you need to remember telling your perspective interviewee about things you have done to your so called enemies in the past. And then here you are, exactly what you said before- happening now.
This is the thing with small business, and internet business. You yourself don't know if someone is doing the job they applied to do. So you jump to conclusions and make sporadic decisions.
No one ASKED me what was going on, not that they didn't need to. Because I made the woman who hired me- aware. People need to honestly check out their own inner circle of employees before making moves to take on others.
And no, they did not publish my article.
Yes, they fired me.
However, it is of course, their word against mine, as to who did what.
But I am lucky enough, to save a good majority of emails. Least wise, once the hateful voice mail came in, I knew to save from that moment on!!
Protect yourself. These people have my important information, and a signed contract, along with you guessed- my social security number. I guess I was the fool; I gave it to them because I thought it was a real job!
My advice to you the reader: thoroughly check out the internet jobs. This was/is an internet magazine. Sure it looks good on the monitor, but that's about it! You know what they say,
"Beauty is only skin deep!"
Published by Deneale K. Williams
