Farewell to Tips

I think this was a great decision. Bob and I both felt that the tips were more and more getting to be either:

1. A one-to-two sentence "philosophy of life" (read: not helpful) or

2. A hard-sell ad for someone's business.

Thanks, Dan, for keeping this community focused on providing help and support and not just another channel for spammers.

I'm heartbroken that the Tips have been removed. I understand your concerns, but would have preferred to have seen some sort of oversight rather than total removal.

I believe the decision was a step backward. A large component of your brand promise, and of a vibrant online community in general, is the ability to post various content. By removing this modest posting resource you have diluted your brand promise and taken away something significant that makes your site unique.

The Biznik Manifesto says, "if you've got business to give, go for it." So, why was it so bad that some Tips offered links directly to people's sites, and acted as pseudo ads? Isn't that in keeping with the Manifesto and "going for it"? Biznik profiles provide access to live web site links. Why was it so bad then to provide a link right in a Tip? Isn't the Biznik philosophy to share info and connect, in the hope of growing and expanding business?

I appreciated the one or two sentence nature of the Tips, when they were useful, just as I appreciate the greater depth of articles, when they are useful.

In the end, I still love the site, but I'll miss the Tips. :(

Ah. Padlocking the playground because the bullies and vandals are hanging out ... sad.

Best wishes in finding a better solution; I see the same spammy practice more and more all throughout Biznik, be it self-congratulatory events, Biz Talk comments and posts, or in members' profiles.

I understand your points, however, the article criteria makes it difficult for those of us who find length a challenge. Not everything that's long is good. Is there a way to have a shorter section perhaps 250-500 words?

Trish,

Your point is well taken. If I'm correct, guidelines for articles say 500-1,500 words. You're saying sometimes something 250 words could be just as valuable. I agree.

But what I was seeing toward the end in the tips was, say, one person writing 8-10 "mini-billboards" that were 100% ads with links back to their own websites—and no meaningful content.

Of course, no one is forced to read them, but it became difficult to tell the content-rich from the spammy ones without opening and reading. I eventually stopped reading the tips altogether.

I'm not sure tips were screened before posted, as articles are. That's a very time-consuming job and there were so many of them coming in.

Don't know what the answer is, but I'd love to hear more perspectives.