Dan Brian 21/02/10

I was approached by a really nice guy asking me for marketing advice to help him build his new Dubli business and also if I would consider joining as a distributor associate in the Dubli program in November 2009.

After an enjoyable first couple of meetings I realised the advice I was given to go do due diligence on the business was not genuine. I submitted the list of questions (extract below) after my initial research and heard nothing back. 

Three months later I've still heard nothing. I've called and left emails and feel like I need to share my experience in the hope that the Scam and Red Flag (questions in bold) signs and evidence can be disproved or others will be warned to steer clear. 

I openly invite any Dubli member or associated entity/persion to come to this blog and answer these questions because your leadership could not. I undertake to publish any response that is written without profanity or poor taste.

Or you can email me at dan.briann@gmail.com 

Dan Brian

Email Extract - Dubli Scam and Red Flag Questions Start in Red Text if you want to scroll straight to it.

Thanks mate, sounds great, look forward to hearing from you. Cheers, Dan 

 From: John D [mailto:john.d@y.com.au]  Sent: Monday, 30 November 2009 1:02 PM To: Dan Subject: RE: Meet nxt wed   HI Dan, We have been working through your questions. Have answers for some. Working on the others. Regards John -----Original Message----- From: Dan [mailto: dan.briann@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, 27 November 2009 4:02 PM To: 'Dan; john.d@com.au Subject: RE: Meet nxt wed Hi John,   

Thanks again for a great chat Wed morning. Dubli is a very innovative and potentially exciting business model. Can you please ask your mate Tom or similar to give me a buzz re these questions we discussed or point me to the best person to clear them up? 

Provided you can clear up these questions and/or show me how I’m getting this stuff wrong I’d like to get started at the top level asap.   Here’s the starting point where I found an unfavourable blog post online http://thespinfactor.com/thetruth/2008/09/25/dubli-another-complex-scam/    I then watched the HYPERLINK "http://www.duba2z.com"www.duba2z.com you referred me too and took the speaker’s advice on doing some due diligence.

Particularly Concerning are the Site Terms and Conditions and these two responses to your unfavourable press - I've quickly linked, highlighted, and typed notes into the "red flags" and questions I (and anyone else for that matter) would want answered:

http://www.duba2z.com/pdfs/Attorney-on-DubLi-Gaming-Laws.pdf 

http://www.duba2z.com/pdfs/Response-to-Negative-Press.pdf 

Questions: 

The Letter of Opinion (http://www.duba2z.com/pdfs/Attorney-on-DubLi-Gaming-Laws.pdf ) provided by the un-named attorney (why wouldn't you disclosure your attorney's name? may make people think it's a fake letter) addresses the possible allegation that Dubli would be regulated as a gaming organisation or accused of having games that would be defined as gambling by a number of jurisdictions in the US and around the world. The attorney explains the elements of the legal definition of gambling being absent from Dubli for the US

 Tom's letter responding to "negative press" says a US attorney has cleared up the "is this gambling?" question. That may be the case in the US although I suspect it's not the case in Australia. Here's the rules I've been able to dig up with a few google searches. Do you have similar Attorney General rulings from each state in Australia and New Zealand? Have you had the Dubli marketing material and collateral checked by the relevant Fair Trading authorities in each state? 

 
 a.     -http://www.dbcde.gov.au/broadband/online_gambling/interactive_gambling_industry_code/frequently_asked_questions#faq1 Where and Who holds Dubli's licence for Australia? If none, what are you doing about getting one?

Link to definition of “gambling service” http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/iga2001193/s4.html#prohibited_internet_gambling_service 

There is a CLEAR AND LIKELY risk that if a Bidder complains about losing money on a product that ultimately NEVER sold either via No Unique Bid, or No Willing Buyers under Express Auction etc. then it’s likely the Aust Communications Media Authority would direct Dubli to comply with the relevant industry code = http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/iga2001193/s32.html 

  I’m thinking of two potentially similar cases at the opposite ends of the spectrum that BOTH came under scrutiny for potential gambling infringements: 

Google & Betfair (see links below 2003 & 2005/2006) 

http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/software/soa/Google-others-breach-e-gambling-law-/0,130061733,139206961,00.htm?omnRef=http://www.google.com.au/search?q=gaming%20laws%20australia&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

http://www.smartgambler.com.au/articles/article_014.html 

Let's say Dubli have figured out this "are we a gambling or gaming entity or not" question by paying a bunch of expensive law firms to write them notes saying "no, we are not, why - because we say so". The moment you listen to any one of these distributors, affiliates, or associates pitch this business opportunity you will see them breaking all sorts of fair trading representation rules.  

Things like;

• Dubli is the next Ebay - with Dubli you can have a share in the next Ebay
• Dubli is the next Amazon - with Dubli you will have a share in the Amazon
• Dubli is going to be bigger than both of the above - is a statement I've heard over 50 times on the internet and several times in person from different representatives. This statement is so insane it's just embarrassing for the brand - and worse it makes you LOOK like a scam.  

The business models of these two internet companies could not be further from the Dubli model.

The negative press response letters stipulate Dubli's deliberate intention NOT to sell large ranges of product but to focus on the number above. Why, why say one thing with your website and associate sales force then another thing secretly in the boardroom or among to elites?

In relation to product and price disclosure - Why is there no oversight on who is bidding on what, when, or who won at what price after the sale is completed?

Why not appoint an independent umpire or referee to adjudicate any bidding dispute?  

Why can the bidders not see how many $0.80 clicks Dubli earned throughout any given auction?

Do you understand why we see no reasonable explanation as to why you would hide this information? 

Do you see how you could take endless $0.80 and not decrease the price as you say you will provided people are bidding rapidly down to zero you could take a huge number of "extra" bids and no one would ever know accept Dubli in Cyprus (tax haven and court dodge) head office - and of course you won't subject yourself to the same rules of transparency us companies in normal jurisdictions have will you? 

How do we know the company doesn't have "dutch auction" bidders rigging certain Auctions - I suspect this is why Ebay lets you view the bidders user ID's and bid history as each auction progresses - why not do the same? 

Why would you continue to allow people to promote the business this way? Why won't you display a warning to people clearly stating that there are elements of chance involved and no one is guaranteed of anything in certain auctions - not even the ability to see the statistics of who bid on what after the auction has closed? 

The Letter of Opinion goes on to recommend:    a)     (Recommends) Dubli retains either a national Auctioneer Licensing Authority or a licensed auctioneer for each state – has this happened?  b)     QUOTE – p8 of 8 http://www.duba2z.com/pdfs/Attorney-on-DubLi-Gaming-Laws.pdf    (Further the letter of opinion recommends) The best strategy would be to limit possible exposure to jurisdiction claims by 1. working through third parties and contractors as much as practicable; 2. ensuring that the terms and conditions specify   
 
d)     Continuing on from the above quote, the company history suggests that the first head office location (ie. Jurisdiction for the purpose of resolving disputes such as commissions or bonuses etc) was Denmark, then Germany and UK (which the Attorney recommended stay the same), however it appears within the last 2yrs that was changed again to Cyprus which is a know Tax Haven according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_haven ). Given that Dubli could have selected a another tax haven such as Luxembourg which does have some extradition and reciprocal legal language.

Another online sceptic raised the fact that Cyprus has no extradition treaty agreement with Australia so neither a civil case or criminal case could be pursued against Dubli Head Office or it's founder in the event he or the senior management misappropriated funds or , investors, associates, or similar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extradition_law_in_Australia#Countries_with_which_Australia_has_concluded_extradition_agreements

Why choose Cyprus? Let's concede perhaps you are crazy paranoid about tax and lawsuits then why not set up an independent review body in the trading market countries for these disputes? Why not agree in advance to be bound by that umpires decision - you could even cap any potential penalty pay out figures for yourself? At least you could say you were willing to be held accountable in the markets you trade to some degree. 

Yes, we can see you have some delivery companies and trading entities in the US and similar trading countries but all of your head office, company assets, main servers, and most importantly OWNERSHIP reside in Cyprus, true or not? 

e)     The important question is,  did Dubli HQ decide they needed to flee from Denmark, Germany, and UK to Cyprus to be in a jurisdiction where they could “offload” and "avoid" legal responsibility to the contractors and customers and regulations of the markets they were trading in.  Dubli would be insulated not only from taxes and government gambling law lawsuits but also from contractor or Associate law suits as a result of a particular foreign jurisdiction pursuing the local contractor?

eg. I sign up here in Australia, selll $10,000 in my first month and decide that you paid me a short commission cheque. If I disagree with your handling of it I have to fly to Cyprus hire my lawyers and pay for your lawyers before you will even come to the Cyrus court to mediate the dispute? 

This leads me to concerns surrounding the Dubli Terms & Conditions 

Link http://us.dubli.com/info/13-Terms-Conditions

Given there is no chance at appealing any Dubli decision how can I be assured my business will not be taken from me without good cause, fair reimbursement value, and due process if I object or disagree with the action taken by Dubli?

Can I have any civil dispute I have with Dubli heard by an Australian court?  

  Not according to these Terms and Conditions: 

Section 3 (1) & (2) - Participants may be excluded from the site at any time at the discretion of DubLiDubLi is entitled to change (in particular to reduce or suspend) its services at any time and without prior notice 

Section 11 § 11 Legal Succession DubLi is entitled to fully or partially transfer its rights and duties resulting from contracts with participants to a legal successor.

Does this mean Dubli can dissolve it’s operations and bank accounts or sell part of all of our accumulated business networks at any time? 

Section  12 Liability Exclusion/Limitation

(1) DubLi shall not assume any liability for actions of a participant and the resulting claims from another participant or third party, to the extent that the participant is responsible for this. Legal claims that could arise against DubLi in this respect, are assumed by the responsible participant. The accountable participant shall also assume the costs of a legal defense with regard to possible emerging solicitor, court, expert or other costs in connection with an extra-judicial or judicial legal dispute. This disclaimer does not apply when the participant is not responsible for damages that have arisen.

This seems to directly suggest that should the Australia Govt or anyone else with a legal claim against Dubli should pursue the local associates and/or promoters of the Dubli site for gambling law breaches that Dubli would not assist in anyway and we would have no right to ask them for help? 

§ 14 Written Form, Applicable law and Legal Jurisdiction

Declarations undertaken in the contractual relationship with DubLi must be in written form and sent to the address indicated in the imprint or sent to us by e-mail. With contractual relationships with companies, the parties agree to the applicability of the law of the Republic of Cyprus, to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. To the extent that merchants are involved in the contractual relationship with DubLi, the legal jurisdiction is agreed to be Limassol.

Dubli will not accept any other venue outside of Cyprus to negotiate or arbitrate a dispute? And no doubt as above an Associate would have to pay his or her own expenses if they had a dispute over something like commission rates, payment dates, or similar? 

THAT”S IT. 

 Just a professional advice piece also, 

A lot of the marketing material claims this is similar to ebay and yet Tom Ashlock claims in his letter that he aims to never sell a lot of product and the auctions are just a “means to an end” (a key characteristic of Ebay and difference to Dubli) so I think the communications coming from head office should be a little less disingenuous and more disciplined. http://www.duba2z.com/pdfs/Response-to-Negative-Press.pdf 

 
I'd would rather be told the products are just a fun, gambling based incentive to convince you to look at the credit/MLM network. As opposed to being bait and switched on a pitch of "this is going to be like Ebay" then it turns out closer to Avon. If you don't cut this deceptive messaging out and discipline your troops the bad press will spread like wildfire on the web and absolutely kill any viral capacity you otherwise would've had. 

 
I’m sure some of these matters can be cleared up with a quick explanation and I look forward to meeting up again and getting started John. Please get your contact to phone me if email if too difficult to reply too – apologies for the format and typos. 

 
 Cheers, 

  Dan 
dan.briann@gmail.com 

Top pr firms  = http://prlink.com.au Source and creator of the following tools for you guys to enjoy: 

Straight extract from a great Brisbane PR Company Site with execellent tools

Australia Media Contacts Directory - great tool and post top 70 odd outlets to add to the twitter journalist list from yesterday 

Media Outlet Name 

               Media Outlet Website (print, tv, radio) Media Outlet Mail Address Suburb State Media Phone 

2CH http://www.2ch.com.au Level 1, 33-35 Saunders Street Pyrmont NSW +61 02 8570 0000

2GB http://www.2gb.com/ Level 1, 33-35 Saunders St Pyrmont NSW +61 02 8570 0000

2SER FM http://www.2ser.com 26th Floor Bldg 1, 15-73 Broadway Broadway NSW +61 02 9514 9514

2SM http://www.2sm.com.au Level 3, 8 Jones Bay Road Pyrmont NSW +61 02 9660 1269

Brisbane PR Company reveals Updated Advanced PR Strategy for DIY Media Pickup and Web Conversion
Here's our revised Six Steps of the journoWhale Advanced PR Strategy
1.Indentify Keyword, Consumer Interest Topics and Themes, and segmented Buyer Profiles.
2. Build Cornerstone Content, Media and PR Strategy, and Search Engine Optimisation Plan (Position Keywords, Anchor links, etc). Combine this with a schedule and forecast performance benchmarks against competitor research.
3. Implement Launch across multiple web points of presence and Metrics reporting and analysis schedule for review.
4. Implement and Refine Long Tail Purchase Paths via. follow up directs, mail, etc schedule ongoing campaigns
6. Repeat

Full Article 

http://prlink.com.au/15022010-brisbane-pr-company-uses-advanced-pr-strategy-conversion.html

The PR Link agency is one of the few Brisbane or Australian PR firns to offer a media guarantee and we’re proud to be CLEARLY separated from “traditional” PR consultancies, PR retainer firms, consultants, and public relations agencies. Ask any of them for a guarantee of service and you'll receive a flood of justifications, "apples and oranges", and other straw-man arguments as to why they don't do it.

Suggested Answer - "So, does all that mean you don't guarantee your services?"

You'd be right in thinking, why does my $5 lunch come with a guarantee and this charging wounded bull doesn't.

At PR Link agency we've built solid relationships with editors, journalists, presenters and producers across every type of media in every state and territory of Australia and abroad. All top pr firms develop these sorts of close-working relationships to provide us with the access and insight necessary to make this guarantee achievable.

Like life, personal relationships and trust between friends and colleagues matter.

We also have the advantage of our unique, advanced pr strategy product, journoWhale which has certified us Australia’s top pr firm for integrated PR, web, and marketing strategy and tool source. This powerful system drives measurability, accountability and tangible public relations, marketing, and sales/enquiry increase outcomes for our clients.

So how does this media guarantee apply to you? PR Link agency offers this media guarantee to clients on the journoWhale program. The media guarantee requires clients to be on the program for at least 2 months and if you haven't got any media coverage in magazines, newspapers, radio or TV, we'll work for free until we do.

Outside of this time, we offer a standard money back guarantee on all non-cost fees. To put it simply, if you’re not happy for any reason, all you’ll pay for is your direct “on-costs”, and no fees, at all, ever. Fullstop ;-)

As an entrepreneur or manager who needs to drive results, the guarantee provides you with confidence in PR and will help you:

• Obtain widespread media exposure
• Build a media profile
• Position your company as a market leader and your key spokespeople as subject and sector experts
• Gain access to journalists
• Increase public awareness about your company and its products and services
• Leverage off PR results into web, indirect, direct, and face to face marketing activities

Here's a cool post by my fearless comrade...

By Dan Brian | 9th Feb 2010
dan@prlink.com.au

Forget the Spin,

The truth is, you can get as much PR as you want, talk to any journalist, editor, producer from any outlet or program no matter how famous (yes, Oprah is the exception) if you have a decent story. This post will show you how to write and target send a release - and sound pretty damn pro while doing it.

Here's a quick 4 Step Plan

Step 1         Get a Decent Story

• Match story to outlet target. Most city papers write about people, sex, death, or money. Make sure your story is interesting, pithy,  and fits into their coverage style. 
• If you're stuck for a headline or story intro go and read examples of stories formats and positions you want. Cosmo or more sensational press are better for this.
• It's got nothing to do with your product - it's about the audience, they are people, they want stories about people.
  Eg. if you have a great new space invention talk about real stories of loss, discomfort, struggle then
  redemption, salvation, joy etc, before and after they found your new space widget. Thank you Jesus

Step 2          Write in Several Short Formats

Each time we update Editor and Journo contact lists for prlink.com.au we hear many press release and press pitch horror stories. Editors forced to change their desks, email addresses, phone numbers, because of nuts sending War & Peace sized conspiracy stories against the local Rotary Club President all the way to sexy PR vamps turning up at the Bureau all hours to buy them a drink for no particular reason - press release strapped into covert mini-skirt suspenders and all.

Breathe out, you don't have to do either, nor should you.  Journo's want and need your good content. If you've tried to call a couple and received a less than welcoming response you can blame the whack job and PR Vixen that came before you. Then you can move on to do the following:

• Prepare your release in the preferred format the journalist/s want it. If you don't know you can presume they will accept it via their general outlet "tips" email address or via direct phone or email for targeted subjects.
• 400 words is too long but it's a limit if you need one - it's also the length of one dispatch on most international wire services.
• Check out this Media Release Template for formal structure and the Social Media Release Template we've used to send press releases in one or all formats (source: designed by Shift Comms).
• If you have indepth data or research or images to include in your press release place a link or a PDF/attachment to the release so the recipient can pursue if required.
• Once you've delivered the Who, What, When, Where, just resist the pressure to spew out any more corporate superlatives and PUT THE PEN DOWN. Don't worry I do it worse then most, we're in this together ;-)
• Formats you might want to post in; press release via email, fax, sms, phone, newswire, social media, video, audio, hard copy, press conference, media kit, photo opp, doorstop...insert your fav here,

Step 3          Send Press Release to Someone

The sad part for many who get the this point is not many journo's even hear about the story because the releases were untargeted. I've seen press releases on gardening products being sent to Playboy magazine editors. It shouldn't have to be this way. When you send a press release, make sure it is targeted to the correct journalists. You can even find a journalist looking for specific stories these days via sites like Help a Reporter, PR Link, Top 100 Journalists on Twitter, and Google's got stacks more. Key Take Away = Target Your Message Tone, Content, Format, and Recipients.

If you send press releases yourself, we provide these recommendations:

• Identify journalists and/or audiences who would be most interested in what you have to say.
• Only send your release to one person per news outlet.
• Brevity is essential. It shows you respect the time of busy editors & reporters. If they require more information, they will ask..
• End your press release with either ### or END typed across the center of the page a couple lines below the end of your text to let the reader know it's not missing further detail.

Be patient. Sending a press release is like fishing. Not every editor or reporter will bite. Likewise, not every cast will produce a catch. In some cases, you may have to rewrite the release and try again, follow up with a phone call, pre-empt your release with a phone call, there are no set rules or industry standard for these things. If you have written the story then you are the best person to decide where it might be best served.

Step 4          Calling Journalists or Media Outlets

 If you are going to call the press do a little preparing so you've got a 30sec or less pitch of what your story is. You should consider paring it down to simple who you are, what the story is, and then asking if they'd like to see more info? It's that simple.  If you're really bootstrapping it and can't engage a PR firm with existing media relationships then prepare your release, jump on Google, and find the outlet switch board phone numbers. Here's an easy way to ask for the right person at these broad outlets:

Newspapers, TV, Radio - Switch answers,

"Hello mindless switch operator how can I help you..."

you respond,

"Hi, it's Dan Brian from prlink, can I please speak with the news desk I have a potential story I'd like to discuss about.....(1-5 words - eg, local biz giving a car away)."

 If it's a local newspaper or community station you should simply ask to speak with the Editor or the best person to discuss new story leads with straight up. Repeat until you've survey the response of the top 10 outlets you think are most likely to want to cover the story - if you don't get any bites within a few days it's safe to focus on another round.

Once you've done all the above, turn your evangelical efforts online and throughout your business and personal networks for as long as the interest lasts. At the worst you will help spread quality content about you on the internet and at best it will be shared by millions.

If all this fails, which it sometimes does even for us pros, don't blame yourself or the media. The press are simply covering what their editors and in turn their audience want to hear and although it may not go in your favour this time with excellent content the tables may turn next time. Simply start again, send often, or wait until you have another event, announcement, or idea to submit.

Keen to hear and share other links, tools, and ideas so hit me via comments or email dan@prlink.com.au

Here's a cool post by my fearless comrade you can check original or contact him for more info

Dan Brian, 1 Feb 2010 Web Ads and recommendations were the clear winners while friends or the ambiguous namesake "people like you didn't fair so well in the 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer Survey. 

Anyone developing brand messaging or communications/marketing should download the Survey  and read it thoroughly. 

Some of the data conflicts but most is extremely telling of the forces in our time. 

By Dan Brian 
dan@prlink.com.au 

Why do some great ideas and startups seem to succeed so well and others fail? 

Will your office be like Google's or is your great idea sending you 

Coming up with a great idea is a good start. Step 2 most people get is you need to prove that idea has an audience or market either through clients or subscribers who will buy or sign-up for your product or information that will lead them to your product in future. The next part is where most come unstuck. 

Entrepreneurs think that Venture Capital firms or Angels will no doubt think the way they do and although they concede it may take a meeting or two to get the idea across they live in deluded hope that the outcome will be the same. That is, them getting a great big cheque. 

Capital Raising on Great Ideas like Fire on Ice? 

Most VC's and Angels were entrepreneurs, owners, or managers at some point in their career. However, in their new role their survival depends on applying the harshest of scrutiny to your business and ultimately convincing you, should they like it, that it is worth as little as they want to pay in exchange for as much ownership as you're willing to give. Yes, it's really that simple.  

You should think about preparing your pitch and/or approach with this frame in mind. Try to target a win win for both of you. Here's a pitch formatted in Powerpoint used by a successfully funded startup called http://wufoo.com. If you'd like to explore the above perception differences in more detail read this blog from one of the founders on how not to pitch a startup. 

Once you've overcome these audience and perception demands you need to consider the most common reasons we've found for why companies fail to raise funds:

1.  Believing they have capital secured, when the money is not in the bank

 2. Relying on one large investor or founder without seeking backup sources 

3.  No budget allocated to the promotion of their Capital Raising and/or starting the Capital Raising process too late

4.  Trying to raise capital at ridiculous valuations

5.  Poor presentation of their offer to potential investors

6.  Not having the right Board in place

7.  Poor company structure

8.  Not seeking new potential investors, after the initial or seed capital is raised

9.  Falling prey to rip off merchants who promise access to a "ready" source of funding bank, investor, or otherwise based on large upfront fee for service arrangements or conversely paying similar advisors too high a percentage of the capital sort can be an immediate red flag for investors

The common misconception is because you have a good business/idea/opportunities it should be relatively easy to convince others and therefore easy to raise capital. Just in case you were unsure if this is true or not please visit idea-a-day.com to see how much ideas are worth. 

Investors or large companies looking to acquire smaller competitors never look out for great ideas - they look for great ideas with proven audience and market and often must also be showing a strong trajectory towards rapid growth. 

Each time we raise funds for a client or advise on a project we briefly celebrate the achievement and then get straight back to work putting the framework of collateral and company messaging in place for the next round of funding - even if we're not sure they'll need it. 

 Keen to hear some of your opinions or stories on why some are getting ahead while others languish? 

Monday's article at the Wall Street Journal, which provided confirmation of an Apple tablet device, had all the earmarks of a controlled leak. Here's how Apple does it.

Often Apple has a need to let information out, unofficially. The company has been doing that for years, and it helps preserve Apple's consistent, official reputation for never talking about unreleased products. I know, because when I was a Senior Marketing Manager at Apple, I was instructed to do some controlled leaks.

The way it works is that a senior exec will come in and say, "We need to release this specific information. John, do you have a trusted friend at a major outlet? If so, call him/her and have a conversation. Idly mention this information and suggest that if it were published, that would be nice. No e-mails!"

The communication is always done in person or on the phone. Never via e-mail. That's so that if there's ever any dispute about what transpired, there's no paper trail to contradict either party's version of the story. Both sides can maintain plausible deniability and simply claim a misunderstanding. That protects Apple and the publication.

In the case of yesterday's story, Walt Mossberg was bypassed so that Mr. Mossberg would remain above the fray, above reproach. Also, two journalists at the WSJ were involved. That way, each one could point the finger at the other and claim, "I thought he told me to run with this story! Sorry."

Finally, the story was posted online late Monday, eastern time, so no one could ever suggest there was any attempt to manipulate the stock market.

The net result is that Apple gets the desired information published by a major Wall Street news outlet, but can always claim, if required, it was all an editorial misunderstanding. The WSJ is protected as well.

__________________

Controlled leaks are almost always the solution to a problem. In this case, it could have been that Apple needed to release the tablet information early because they wanted:

• to light a fire under a recalcitrant partner
• to float the idea of the US$1,000 price point and gauge reaction
• to panic/confuse a potential competitor about whom Apple had some knowledge
• to whet analyst and observer expectations to make sure the right kind and number of people show up at the (presumed) January 26 event. Apple hates empty seats and demands SRO at these events.

Of course, if Wall Street draws the right conclusions, and AAPL goes up, as it has, then everybody benefits. But the manipulation of stock is never the purpose. It's simply a favorable outcome of the process. Again, Apple is protected.

That's how Apple does controlled leaks, and the WSJ article from yesterday was a classic example.

Attribution - Repost Mac Observer  http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/wsj_apple_to_release_tablet_in_march_for_1000_maybe_including_wifi/

Well over a decade into the Age of the Internet it's rare that we would have the opportunity to change the rules, get in on the ground floor, and all those cliches ;-) 

The Dec 14 announcement by Google that it had finalised it's indexing deal to make Facebook content searchable is a major contributor to one of those moments. As with most perfect storms it's the combination of other key factors that creates the environment, in this case, it's the growth of Facebook (compare Faceboo's now 600M+ users to Twitter's hype soaked 1M+ and you start to see where the money is). 

The main factor is the very real impact the additional Facebook data will have on search engine indexing. Think about all the businesses and news pages and outright strange stuff that pops up when you Google you biz or name and add to that mix the tsunami like data flow and historical archives of 600M Facebook users and you understand the situation a little more. There are still many unanswered questions as to the index method and realities however it's a sure bet that those who embrace this change in their overall SEO and web strategy stand to gain unprecedented ground on those who miss it. 

Smart operators can move quickly to ensure they have reviewed their Search Engine Optimisation across all web content as well as reviewed or start a Facebook content strategy. 

Here's what we're recommending and implementing for our clients. Even the ones who are total social media naysayers are now doing these basics as a form of reputation insurance: 

WHAT SHOULD I DO? 

1) Build a Facebook fan page immediately if you don’t yet have one.

2) Engage or delegate someone to engage your fans in an authentic, relevant, interesting, appealing – if you just want to invite reviews, questions, and comments about your brand that's a fine start. Don't try to force it. Just let it grow organically keeping in mind the web in a melting pot of culture and any attempt to hard sell content will be met with swift ignorance and probably blackballing of your page for good. You can update your fans’ stream a lot – just make sure you’re not spamming them with offers – but instead, offering rich, relevant text, photos, videos, notes and polls.

3) Grow your fan page. Use your own marketing and communications assets and start to get across some write ups on Facebook advertising which may become a player in the near future depending on the culture trends. 

4) All of this information will now become part of your web presence as searchable content. If you take the lead on your competitors you will likely dominate Google real-time search listings and grow your business. 

I'll be covering more practical strategies and tactics this week so be sure to RSS the blog and check in soon. Keen to hear your thoughts and ideas as well via comments or any other channel.