Christmas stuff seems to be all the rage at the moment – I think I’m allergic to tree-decorations in November, cos I’ve got a stuffy head and can’t stop sneezing.
An old post, from when I was living in Germany, seems to be attracting a lot of interest right now – something a bunch of Linuxchix did that year was to get offline, and send real, dead-tree Christmas cards to each other.
I blogged my offer to send a Christmas card to anyone who wanted one, and a few people did indeed mail me (and were dutifully, if occasionally slowly, sent cards).
Now, almost two years later, I’ve gotten three comments on that post in just under two weeks. They’re all talking up a newly-launched service for personalising greeting cards, apparently based in Ireland and supporting a children’s hospice (although not one I’ve heard of). They’re all from the same IP address, although they’re signed with different names, and the comments seem like they’re strangers/don’t know each other.
I’d be interested to hear from anyone who’s used this company – were they any good? For any other bloggers, have you heard anything from this crowd, or the people who’ve left me comments? GreetingCardsCafe.com, who are you exactly?
And finally, since I’m currently #5 on a Google search for Christmas cards (pages from Ireland), I might as well re-iterate my offer. Want a Christmas card? Just let me know!
[...] or email. Thanks for visiting – Damien.Nóirín is. She ranks very well for Christmas Cards on Google and it was a post about these where she got three spam comments from people, all claiming theirwebsite was GreetingCardsCafe.com, all recommending the site and ALL coming from the same IP address. I do remember a company on the Enterprise Ireland mailing asking for SEO advice recently. I don’t think anyone would have recommended this tactic. If it wasn’t people from GreetingCardsCafe.com then I’d consider it someone try to give them a bad name by leaving these comments but at least their IP has been logged! Digg it! | Reddit | Del.icio.us | Stumble Upon | Google [...]
Spam, that’s all it is, and now you’ve given them a link. Go on. nofollow it before Google noticed it!
there is no children’s hospice in Ireland. I haven’t read the original comment but they are claiming to support an existing hospice they are spam. There is a foundation whice aims to establish one called the Laralynn Foundation, who are indeed a very worthy cause.
Mary – actually there *is* a children’s hospice in Ireland, albeit in Antrim.
The greetings card posters are indeed giving a % to the Laralynn foundation.
To All,
Apologies on the spam, I didn’t think it was Spam in that sense, but was as we are new to this arena, and were looking for some simple way to get the name out there, this was a way submitted to us to get you up the rankings. Please forgive and I will cease to continue.
At this late stage, Word of Mouth, Adwords and sending emails to only those in our own database is the option for us.
However, the Charity is real, its run by a lovely lady Jane McKenna, who we have supported over many years and her charity is on http://www.lauralynnhospice.com for those who wish to see what she is trying to achieve, in fact she was voted one of the “People of the Year” this year. So please visit to see her website.