YouTube: Patrick Pretty Explains HotlinkALARM
Friday, January 25, 2008
Hi Friends,
Here's a 10-minute Hotlink Alarm YouTube video in which I explain the basics of the product. You'll get a glimpse into the Hotlink Alarm back office and learn about the powerful features of the product.
Visit HotlinkALARM.com
Patrick Pretty
The "Most Beautiful Little Boy In The World" -- 1964
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 4:27 PM,
, links to this post
Saying 'No' To Those Who'd Exploit Your Good Name
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Willie Crawford, Will Bontrager and I have been very busy with the launch of HotlinkALARM. Our product, which sends users an email when it detects hotlinking to files and gives them a heads-up that a thief might be at work, is a response to the global problem of digital piracy.
Our core belief is that most people online have honest intentions. But it's definitely not all people. There are individual thieves who delight in taking things without paying for them, even using branded images to trick their website visitors into believing their operations are above-board.
HotlinkALARM takes that trick out of the thief's playbook. It is a strong deterrent not only against product theft, but also against identity theft. As a practical matter, a practiced thief wants his or her website visitors to believe they're dealing with an honest broker.
And they pull off the deception by using branded images they steal from websites. If you're like most people, you pour your heart and soul into your business. And you tweak and refine so your presentation is "just right." It's what distinguishes you from competitors and helps you build long-lasting relationships with your customers.
They know they can count on you to over-deliver.
But what they may not know is that they're not really dealing with you: That's the precise confusing circumstance hotlinkers create.
They create the appearance of honesty by adopting the identities and branding tools used by honest merchants. Hotlinking and identity theft are part of their poison plan to make money through deception.
It was a trick used against us: A person illegally posted "20 Ways To Make $100 Per Day Online" on eBay only a few days after its release on October 8. He offered a two-thirds discount on "20 Ways" in his illegal eBay auction -- and he pulled images and testimonials from our sales site, meaning he used our bandwidth so he could extract a double penalty from us.
Not only did he take our product, he sent us a bill to make it easier for him to deliver the product to his customers. Such things happen all the time -- and lots of times it's just the tip of the iceberg.
That's why we designed HotlinkALARM not only to detect hotlinking to images, but also to files such as PDFS (eBooks), video files, audio files and other types of files.
HotlinkALARM is an early-warning system that also has the ability to inform visitors to a hotlinker's website that he or she is displaying unauthorized files. It's a remarkable product.
Think about the position the thief put us in: First, there was the issue of the theft itself. And then, of course, he was harvesting illegal profits from our hard work. His customers actually left him positive feedback because they didn't know they were dealing with a thief.
A thief was serving as a spokesman for our product, basking in the glow of the positive feedback and diluting our hard work and our carefully conceived brand identity every step of the way.
But what if a customer asked for a refund? If they couldn't get it from him, they very likely would have turned to us. After all, it was our book, our brand -- and the customer likely would believe we had sanctioned this auction.
We could have found ourselves in the position of sifting through Support Tickets for a thief. And what if he'd changed our product or edited it in some way? In other words, what if he'd decided to turn our product into something that it wasn't while trading off our good names?
A person willing to steal our product and our brand identity certainly is capable of other misdeeds.
We had an extremely low refund rate with "20 Ways"; it's a quality product that became one of the bestselling ebooks of 2007. It's still flying off the shelves.
But that's not really the point: The point is that someone stole our property, adopted our brand identity as his own -- and put us in the position of having to clean up his mess.
That's one of the biggest reasons we created Hotlink Alarm: We had the need to take a tool of deception away from hotlinkers and digital thieves. Our product gives webmasters, online merchants from virtually all market segments, designers, artists, authors, Internet Marketers, brand-based businesses better control over their intellectual property.
HotlinkALARM and "Image No Copy," which is included with Hotlink ALARM, make it tough on image hotlinkers, digital pirates and thieves.
And speaking of thieves . . .
Have you heard that a company has sprouted up that sells phishing kits?
That's right! I'm not making this up. Customers, for a fee, now can buy a turnkey phishing site. Included in the kit are email templates and hacking tools -- a complete hacker's kit all under one roof.
Yes, thieves are recruiting an international army of like-minded thieves. And they're even trying to game the thieves they recruit by inserting calback features into the code so private data from the thieves and the thieves' customers all can be exploited.
Thieves stealing from thieves and the customers of thieves: There truly is no honor among this constantly expanding lot.
The headline on the post you're reading is "Saying 'No' To Those Who'd Exploit Your Good Name."
HotlinkALARM helps you do just that.
The world is a big place indeed. Some people have licensed themselves to exploit honest merchants, to extract illegal online profits and appropriate personal property and carefully crafted brand identities.
I mentioned the phishing kit above because it illustrates the point that thieves will go to great lengths to enrich themselves while harming other people and companies.
Lots and lots of people likely will buy the turnkey phishing sites, a criminal business in a box. They'll be looking for even more wicked ways to exploit online merchants and their customers.
Hotlink ALARM helps you say no to the exploitation of your images, products -- and your good name.
Have a piracy-free day, Friend.
http://hotlinkalarm.com
Patrick Pretty
The "Most Beautiful Little Boy In The World" -- 1964
Labels: 20 Ways To Make $100 Per Day Online, brand dilution, hacker's kit, illegal eBay auction, illegal online profits, phishing kits, turnkey phishing site
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 9:39 AM,
, links to this post
Which HotlinkALARM Neighborhood Do You Prefer?
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Hello Friends,
Because many of you visit me from access points other than PatrickPretty.com, I've created a few more routes from which you can view the HotlinkALARM video.
If you've read "Pluck Forever," you know I favor the "No-Hype" approach to Internet Marketing. That has carried over to HotlinkALARM. Willie Crawford, Will Bontrager and I believe the best way to present a product in the marketplace is to let it do the talking.
So, if you're used to visiting me at PluckForever.com, here's a site from which you can view the HotlinkALARM video.
http://pluckforever.com/hotlinkalarm.html
Lots of you visit PatrickPretty.com, of course. Here's another site from which you can view the special Hotlink ALARM video:
http://patrickpretty.com/hotlinkalarmvideo.html
And since more and more of you are visiting me through HotlinkALARM.com, here's yet another gateway to the video.
http://hotlinkalarm.com/hotlinkalarmvideo/
No matter your preferred port of entry, you'll find the video and the accompanying PDF transcript of the Hotlink Alarm teleseminar session.
Dozens and dozens of people registered for the teleseminar, which was conducted last week. It sure was nice to know so many people take digital piracy seriously.
HotlinkALARM users have an extra layer of protection against those who'd steal their website graphics, digital products, audios, videos and more. Our users are giving highly positive reviews of Hotlink Alarm.
In other words, it's getting a "Thumbs Up" because of the protections it provides.
When I reflect on the time spent developing HotlinkALARM -- the long hours in our private development forum and all the testing and tweaking to maximize the value of Hotlink Alarm -- I'm reminded that we created it for a reason: To help customers and online merchants from all markets and niches better control their intellectual property and to empower them to prevail over thieves.
Visit us at a HotlinkALARM gateway soon.
Patrick Pretty
"The Most Beautiful Little Boy In The World" -- 1964
Labels: digital piracy, Pluck Forever, stealing website graphics
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 7:38 PM,
, links to this post
Hotlink Alarm explained in a PDF
Monday, January 21, 2008
Hi Friends,
We've made a transcript of the HotlinkALARM teleseminar and have made it available in PDF format.
http://hotlinkalarm.com/news/HotlinkAlarmTeleseminar.pdf
Willie Crawford, Will Bontrager and I talk about the development of the product and our motivation in creating it to serve webmasters and online merchants.
Reading the Hotlink Alarm teleseminar transcription is a good way to get the "inside scoop" on Hotlink Alarm. It's serious business, to be sure. But we also share a few laughs. :-)
We talk about the testing of the product through the various phases, from the first alpha to the final beta. And we talk about the release version of Hotlink Alarm, which also includes "Image No Copy" to help you guard against the copying of images for exploitation later.
The HotlinkALARM PDF is a nice, quick read -- a conversation among the developers that took place in front of a teleseminar audience of dozens of people.
Read the Hotlink Alarm Teleseminar PDF.
Visit Hotlink Alarm.com
Have a day free of hotlinking worries, Friend. :-)
Patrick Pretty
The "Most Beautiful Little Boy In The World" -- 1964
Labels: Hotlink Alarm teleseminar transcription, HotlinkALARM PDF, Image No Copy, teleseminar
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 10:07 PM,
, links to this post
Listen To The Hotlink Alarm Teleseminar
Sunday, January 20, 2008
We recorded Friday's HotlinkALARM teleseminar.
Over the weekend, we created some visual aids to accompany the audio portion of the teleseminar. So, the audio now has an accompanying video slide show.
Hotlink Alarm already is making a difference in users' lives. :-)
As you listen to the "Hotlink Alarm" teleseminar, you'll see several slides that reveal some of the features of HotlinkAlarm and demonstrate some of the powerful graphics that are included with the software to alert a hotlinker's website visitors that he or she is displaying unauthorized graphics.
You'll meet Willie Crawford, Will Bontrager and me by listening to the HotlinkALARM recording.
And you'll also be introduced to Hotlink ALARM. :-)
Patrick Pretty
The "Most Beautiful Little Boy In The World" -- 1964
Labels: HotlinkAlarm teleseminar. displaying unauthorized graphics
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 8:02 PM,
, links to this post
HotlinkALARM Teleseminar To Be Released Soon
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The Hotlink Alarm teleseminar Willie Crawford conducted yesterday will be posted here in the very near future.
Several dozen people registered for the teleseminar. Will Bontrager and I were the guests.
We explained how HotlinkALARM came into being, the testing we did over the past few months, and how the product went from conception to full release. We also talked about the worldwide problem of image piracy and product theft.
Prior to the launch of HotlinkALARM, Will, Willie and I established a private development forum from which we brainstormed, tested, refined, and re-brainstormed, re-tested, re-defined.
Repeatedly. :-)
It was important to do a thorough review of Hotlink Alarm. Our private forum resulted in hundreds and hundreds of exchanges among us -- each one of them designed to create a product that adds security and value to customers' online businesses.
One customer already has reported that Hotlink ALARM reported 14 hotlinks -- the source of profit drains.
http://hotlinkalarm.com
Patrick Pretty
The "Most Beautiful Little Boy In The World" -- 1964
Labels: Hotlink Alarm teleseminar, review of Hotlink Alarm
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 12:31 PM,
, links to this post
A HotlinkALARM Teleseminar
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Willie Crawford will be hosting a teleseminar on HotlinkALARM on Friday, January 18, at 2 p.m. CST (U.S.A.).
Will Bontrager and I will be guests. We'll discuss digital piracy, image hotlinking and online product theft -- and how pirates are eroding profits of Internet Marketers and online merchants worldwide.
Hope you'll join us. Click on the link below for more information and to register.
http://hotlinkalarm.com/teleseminar/
Will Bontrager, our Hotlink ALARM programmer, is sure to talk about the conception of the product and how customers can maximize the value of their purchase.
Here's where you can take a look to see how HotlinkALARM can help you protect your website images, PDFs, video and audio files from digital pirates:
http://hotlinkalarm.com
Have a good day, Friends.
Patrick Pretty
The "Most Beautiful Little Boy In The World" -- 1964
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 3:06 PM,
, links to this post
HotlinkALARM: The Day 2 Report
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
As you likely have heard, Will Bontrager, Willie Crawford and I released Hotlink Alarm yesterday.
That made today the first day customers awakened to HotlinkALARM protection of their images, PDFs, videos, audios and other files. It makes them feel good -- and it makes us feel good.
Customers already have reported that HotlinkALARM and its one-of-a-kind, email-alert system are doing the job.
I remember the first Alert email I received when HotlinkALARM caught a person pirating my proprietary images.
"Thank you," I thought to myself.
You're likely to feel the very same way. Some of you are apt even to be stunned by the number of websites that have helped themselves to your digital images, pulling them directly off your server at your expense.
I'd seen HotlinkALARM in action prior to it catching an actual digital pirate, of course. We used in on a couple of testing domains .
I knew I'd receive the Alert emails. And I knew that I'd see the HotlinkALARM replacement images on the testing site when I viewed the page.
But when Hotlink Alarm caught the first actual hotlinker, well, that's when the power of our product really struck me. A person licensed himself to my property; he didn't ask, he simply took it.
And HotlinkALARM notified me right away that the hotlinking was occurring.
It's not just for images; HotlinkALARM also guards files such as PDFs, videos, and audios, for example.
A nice groundswell of support for HotlinkALARM is developing.
Willie is conducting a teleseminar Friday, Jan. 18, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. CST. Will and I will be guests.
I'll let you know how to access the teleseminar tomorrow.
Have a good HotlinkALARM day, Friend.
Patrick Pretty
The "Most Beautiful Little Boy In The World" -- 1964
Labels: " Patrick Pretty, Hotlink Alarm, HotlinkALARM, Will Bontrager, Willie Crawford
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 6:10 PM,
, links to this post
Hotlink ALARM! Battle Digital Pirates And Hotlinkers
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Hello Friends,
Last month I told you that I had a new product ready for launch, although I didn't explain what it was.
Today is launch day for HotlinkALARM.com:
http://hotlinkalarm.com
Hotlink ALARM and its family of products help you guard against product theft and hotlinking.
Willie Crawford, Will Bontrager and I developed HotlinkALARM after a thief stole "20 Ways To Make $100 Per Day Online" and posted it on eBay.
This occurred only a few days after our highly successful "20 Ways" launch.
Yes, the thief stole our product. And then he stole our graphics and testimonials.
Finally he listed "20 Ways" on eBay, selling it for one-third of its retail price. To make matters worse, he hotlinked to our graphics.
What a sad way to do business. Not only did he steal "20 Ways," he was using our server to help himself make sales.
HotlinkALARM is the result of our encounter with the eBay thief.
You'll get an email when our software detects your images are being hotlinked. It will identify the domain from which the hotlinking is occurring.
And the graphic that the thief is hotlinking to will be replaced by a substitute graphic that tells the thief's website visitors that he's displaying unauthorized graphics.
By using the unique PowerALARM functionality built into HotlinkALARM, you'll be able to redirect the thief's traffic back to your website. Heck, you can even personalize a message you'd like the thief's website visitors to see.
That's right! With the PowerALARM function, you can beam the message right onto the thief's page.
HotlinkALARM has many useful functions -- things you'll like, things that can help you reclaim profits lost to a thief.
You can use HotlinkALARM to protect against thief of your videos, audios and PDFs, for example.
It's just plain cool.
We've included a bonus with HotlinkALARM. It's called "Image No Copy," and it stymies thieves when they try to copy your images to their desktop for exploitation later.
They'll be surprised by what they get when they try to lift an image protected by ImageNoCopy.
Stop on over at HotlinkALARM.com today to see what all the fuss is about.
http://hotlinkalarm.com
Have a nice, theft-free day!
Patrick Pretty
The Most Beautiful Little Boy In The World" -- 1964
Labels: Hotlink Alarm, HotlinkALARM, Image No Copy, ImageNoCopy
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 10:37 AM,
, links to this post
'Notification of Payment Received': The First IM 'Whopper' of 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
It sure feels good to get a "Notification Of Payment Received" email from PayPal. Internet Marketers love to dance to that tune.
Except when it's a lie.
Today at 9:39 a.m. ET (U.S.A.) I received a "Notification Of Payment Received" email -- only it wasn't from PayPal.
It was from an Internet Marketer who thought his use of that headline was clever, that it might prompt people to buy what he was selling.
So, on New Year's Day 2008, I unsubscribed from this marketer's list. I actually unsubscribe from very few lists -- perhaps two all of last year. I remain on lists because I genuinely like the marketer's product or approach, and because list emails provide a free education and fodder for thought.
But "Notification Of Payment Received" emails -- when no payment is forthcoming -- is a bogus practice. There is nothing creative about it. Nothing.
It's an irritant, something that gives a noble pursuit a bad name.
Some marketers argue that such a headline is something that needs to be split-tested, that if it results in conversions, why not use it?
My answer to them is "lotsa luck" with your split-testing of headlines: I am not a conversion, I'm a customer.
Happy New Year, Friends! May you receive many "Notification Of Payment Received" emails this year -- and may they be the real ones.
Patrick Pretty
The "Most Beautiful Little Boy In The World" -- 1964
Labels: " Patrick Pretty, Notification Of Payment Received, PayPal, split-testing of headlines
posted by Patrick Pretty @ 10:08 AM,
, links to this post
