Pet Peeve Caturday
A couple of weeks ago I had to provide a bio page for the Catster site and one of the questions they asked me was, “What are my pet peeves?” to which I glibly replied, “I’ve never had a pet peeve. Where do you get one? I’ve had cats, dogs, rabbits, frogs, guinea pigs, and hamsters … do they count?” Wow, well color me corrected, because it turns out I DO have a pet peeve and it is a BIG ONE.
Unsolicited emails and SPAM comments on my blog. Okay, make that two pet peeves… I realize it’s the nature of the beast when you blog to be targeted by SEO monsters, but enough is enough. As it stands, I get so many SPAM comments from Louis Vuitton that I could open my own flea market and sell handbags on their behalf, because apparently they love me and find my posts, especially the one’s I have been doing recently on spay/neuter of particular relevance to them… And yes, I do have a SPAM filter on my blog so it really is a matter of just one keystroke to obliterate them from my sight, but I still find it highly annoying to have to go through any effort about it whatsoever.
I guess I should probably cut them some slack – clearly they think I am independently wealthy and can afford their merchandise as a result of all the other emails I get from the King of Prussia who has so generously offered me, and me alone, to deposit untold amounts of wealth into my bank account as long as I just give him some frivolous information like my name, address, phone number, social security number, bank account number, and my ATM pin number. I’m sure it’s all perfectly legitimate. Not to mention, his father, or is it his brother, is dying of some horrible illness and for some reason these millions of dollars can’t stay in his country.
The SPAM I get from people that are just trying to be helpful are also wonderful. Obviously anyone that reads my blog knows that I could benefit from posting MORE pictures and posts with MORE content. Um… Right. If there is one blogging rule that I break over and over, it’s the one where you’re supposed to keep it short and sweet. I’m a writer with a teaching background who is trying to educate people… Content is my middle name… But thank you again for the advice. And thank you for taking the time to read my blog to get to know what I’m all about…
And then, of course, are all the emails from caring people that noticed I could do better in my SEO ranking and all I need to do is contact them to magically help me become number one in my category. Because apparently it is mathematically possible for ALL cat bloggers to be number one in the category of cat bloggers on search engines.
The emails that I get from people who said they enjoyed meeting me at a conference I NEVER attended or asking me to review dog collars are always nice too. The dog stuff doesn’t completely bother me – I do happen to love dogs, and at least it is pet related, but people, a little courtesy please. Do your homework. I will do posts on dogs if it is for good cause like raising money or food or awareness, but I am not reviewing a dog collar.
Then, I really thought I had seen it all until last week when someone emailed me and said, quote, “I was checking out your page about beauty treatments and I thought you might be interested in this infographic that includes acne treatments as well as celebrities with acne. We were thinking since you talked about beauty treatments on your site that you would want to share our link.” Really? You were looking at my site about CATS and saw a page on beauty treatments? Now granted, my cats are quite lovely, but unless someone contacts me about celebrities with acne who have cats with skin disorders, I am not interested. But hey, thanks so much for thinking of me.
I went off the deep end a couple of days ago, hence the reason for this post and my momentary bout of insanity, when I finally hit the roof after receiving this email:
“I noticed that you talked about baby gifts on your site and thought you might be interested in seeing these crazy unique baby gifts that celebrities bought for their children. You can check it out here (I refuse to re-share the link they inserted here).
I would really appreciate if you wouldn’t mind mentioning this on your site. It would be great for your site, traffic, and rankings to continually update your site with fresh content. If there is anything that I can do in return please let me know.
I appreciate your time and hope you have a great day!”
This email came as a result of a post I did about Zoey and her kittens… I very firmly emailed this person back and told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of his suggestion that I share his link on my CAT site. I realize it will not go anywhere and it did NOT make me feel any better commenting back to him in a firm, sarcastic, and curt manner. Upon further investigation, this email is part of some subscription service that I NEVER signed up for in the first place that I can unsubscribe from, which I did, not that it will help. I notice that most of the emails that I unsubscribe from just crop back up in one form or another.
Maybe rather than unsubscribe, I should just barrage these people with my own stuff – email them all day long with text and links about how if they buy my book, it will enrich their lives and increase their site traffic or emails about shopping on my Zee/Zoey Zazzle boutique to find unique baby gifts or acne products for celebrities that just so happen to feature unrelated pictures of my CATS. Or, how about we all pool our efforts and email these people back as one collective cat coalition with our own endeavors. Sigh… okay, I’m done…
Sorry about the rant. To ensure that I am not upsetting anyone who came here to see pictures of my CATS on my CAT blog, here is one of Rolz who also hates to have his personal space and privacy invaded. In this particular photo he was testing out the NVR Miss Litter box, which is actually a product for a CAT. It’s a great litter box for those of you that might have problems with cats who like to perch on the edge of litter boxes and spray the walls with urine. This one has high walls and completely eliminates that problem. You can read the review here. As far as the unsolicited emails and SPAM, I think ending the post talking about litter is about right… because that’s where they belong in my opinion!!!!
that is definitely a pet peeve of mine too and yours was hilarious!! Did you see the post I did where I printed the email that some idiot sent to me? I sooooooooooo would have loved to have printed their name. I think we should all combine our emails and publish a book lol.
I had someone contact me with a vague email asking to guest post. She mentioned my “blog” I wrote back…”which blog are you talking about and what SPECIFIC content can you provide for me?” You got it…….never heard from them again 🙂
Have a great day!!!!!!!
I do remember that post you did, Caren! It was hilarious and I can only imagine the volume of junk you get sent your way since you do so many reviews on your blog! They just make me crazy!
Sorry for laughing , but this is to funny 🙂
I don´t get many e-mails , but I do get a lot of spam-comments with link´s to all from gluten-free diet to Viagra-pills.
Since I´m a cat I don´t eat bread and since I´m neutered I DON`T need Viagra-pills eiteher 😀
Seriously… a neutered cat with Viagra? What are they thinking… Maybe that’s why we have so much cat overpopulation – all the un-neutered mancats are taking Viagra!!
MOL!
Well, we do get a lot of spam too, some even offering little not-so-old kitty me services that I could not mention here.
Question is: do some people “buy” this? I mean, if they keep on sending/posting, even if it’s a robot, it probably means that some people fall for it.
Kitty sigh.
Purrs
Oh yes, Texas… we get some SPAM and emails that we can’t mention either. Ugggg… it’s just so aggravating, but you are right, apparently some people do fall for it…
Spay and neuter should be mandatory for all spammers!!!
MOL Brian!!! Too funny!!!!!!!!!!!
So you never had a “pet” peeve huh? MOL
Once you realized that you DO have a pet peeve….it’s a very valid one…and I can relate but certainly not to the extent of yours. I get the “we see you love cats, dogs, animals in general….would you like to donate…blah, blah, blah”. Which I completely understand….BUT I also am not independently wealthy and give every dime I possibly can WHEN I can.
And really, it’s okay to ask…just be prepared to back up your organization or event…I really would like to find more than 3 followers on your site.
Pet peeve #2 – dishonest people…and that’s all I’m going to say about that.
Oh and by the way, the NVR Miss Litter Box is the best thing since sliced bread!! And I have a friend that would love for you to do a review for…ah, just kidding ; )
Toni – I am like you – I don’t mind helping when I can, but it really does have to be genuine. Much as I would like to, I can’t save the whole world or give my energy to every cause. The disruption of these off the wall emails is really so distracting!
And yes, the NVR Miss Litter Box truly is amazing and I would highly recommend it to anyone that has cats!
You go girl! You are so right on! I hate too, but I realize I don’t get as much as most.. I really wonder if spammers do get any business from the spam they leave behind. I certainly don’t see how they could, but there must be some attraction for them to keep doing it. What a waste of their time and ours! Our litter box is handy too!
Mariodacat – you are lucky you don’t get so much spam… I could go on and on with the stories I have!
I’m laughing so hard, Deb. Certainly spam in any form is tedious and unfun but your comments about it all really made me smile. I think you SHOULD get back to these people about this blog, your book and your shop. Then again, it could all be a big ploy to make you notice them regardless of what your replies may be.
Wendy – the worst part with spam and emails, is that you can’t trust anyone anymore. Some of them are nothing more than scams by hackers to get you to open up a link that infects your computer with a dangerous virus…
I’ve learned to love my spammers…some of them are old friends now, even following me over from my old blog to my new one…so sweet…and they make sure I have the latest info on necessary “hygiene” products too…so thoughtful BOL!
Oh Gizmo, you have brought a tear to my eye, your story is so touching… they followed you to your new blog… that really is extremely considerate of them!!
Perhaps they were confused because the cats are so beautiful?
Chey, being that you are so beautiful too, you probably know this dilemma firsthand (paw)
First things first, Deb – you look FABULOUS in that photo!
Loved your post (and you don’t know how I have longed to write something similar! as this is one of my pet peeves too!)
So, I will share my secret to relieving my spammer frustration: I visit the Blogess and dream of sending them all photos of Wil Wheaton!
http://thebloggess.com/heres-a-picture-of-wil-wheaton-collating-papers/
Have a great day! 🙂
Create With Joy – thank you so much for your compliment – throw on an old evening gown you have lying around, put some cat ears on, along with some leopard shoes and there you go, viola!! Instant glam!!
And THANK YOU also for sharing that link – SOOOOOOOOOO FUNNY!! I loved it and will revisit it myself when my frustration level hits insanity levels again!!!
I go with what Brian said!! Good thinking.
Just take the 1 second, breath deeply, hit the junk button.
All Gone! No Stress! Don’t open them, pet your cats, then they
won’t have acne! just kidding, bad joke.
Connie – I find the best advice in any circumstances is to pet my cats!! 🙂
Ah yes – the spammers and email from people who have no clue what your blog is about. Gotta love ’em! 😉
Vicki – I guess I should thank them – it did make for an entertaining blog post!!
Okay, I laughed hysterically through that entire post – mainly because you so eloquently expressed my feelings EXACTLY! Did you get the second Firmoo offer too? Oh and the SimplyBridal infographic they thought I’d surely want to share. Faraday’s WAY too young to be thinking along those lines anyway, even if I were into that stuff. Which I’m not. (He would, however, be open to the Mrs. Smith’s pie review offer – he does rather favor their pumpkin…)
Thanks for the fun break in my day! Now back to trying to salvage my savaged wood floors (my hands hurt from sanding…will it never end…???). Yours is the only blog I’ve had a chance to visit today. I’m glad I did, it lightened the day for sure!
Lisa!! I am so happy that I gave you a minute away from those dreaded wood floors for a laugh! I have not gotten the offers you mention, mine tend to focus around handbags or Canadian pharmacies. Although I did get this touching comment from someone regarding a post I did about cats sitting in an upright position. I feel I must share it, it was just that meaningful and beautiful to me:
“I simply wished to say thanks once again. I am not sure the things that I would have implemented without the tricks shared by you directly on this topic. It actually was an absolute troublesome dilemma in my opinion, but finding out your professional approach you treated that forced me to weep with fulfillment. I am just grateful for your advice and in addition have high hopes you find out what an amazing job you are always carrying out teaching people today via your webpage.”
I have to go now – I am just simply too overcome with emotion to continue writing… my post that she/he/it read was so touching that I forced she/he/it to “weep with fulfillment.” Pretty powerful stuff…
:::snicker::: oh Verklempt, even!
LOL I think we’re getting the same emails. Seriously, my inbox volume has doubled and not just spam.
I know what you mean, Layla. It really is hard to keep up sometimes!
All of us must be on the same email list…LOL. The latest one I received is asking me to promote a college scholarship contest on my pet health blog. I’m still trying to make the connection between college and pet health. Although I’m betting my cats are smarter than the email marketer that sent the email. 🙂
Lorie – I agree with you – the cats are clearly smarter!!
We hate spam too…our spam filter catches most of it so we rarely see it unless we go looking for it. But we do get some crazy emails sometimes. The mom usually just hits the delete button on them.
Thank goodness for spam filters, Island Cats, or I would go nuts!
Mazal tov (however that’s spelled and means) to you for opening those emails. If I see something that looks like spam I delete it unopened. My friend Ann Paws gets spam on her blog about rectal bleeding so it could be worse.
Cathy – I actually just skim my emails and I never open any links or attachments because you never know what kind of virus you are inviting. As far as the spam, I have to briefly glance through it, because sometimes the filter accidentally will put a genuine comment in the spam box!!
Shoot. I never get that stuff. You’re just too popular 😉
Oh Spitty… you are very loved and very popular. Trust me, you don’t want the stuff!!
Deb this was sooo funny do people actually look at your stuff before they try and flog you handbags or skin cream for Acne or whatever?! Madness!!
I love your look BTW! My 50th soon so I’m not going to grow old discracefully we are all out on the town dressed as Black cats! lol! 🙂
Keep at ’em!
Happy early birthday, Leah!! A black cat toast in advance to you and thanks for the compliment!!
Wowwzers! Wes never read the spam! But not only did you have me in laughing so hard that my coffee just about came out my nose, but reading all the responses got me to giggling too! Particularly the Will Weaton Collating page -I’ve book marked that one for the spam I get on my work email.
Thanks for the lovely belly busting laugh to start the day!
Nellie’s Mom
Penelope – glad you enjoyed the post! At least we can have a laugh from the aggravation and I love the Will Weaton too!
You get more creative spam than I do — mine is very garden variety, whatever that means. MOL. It’s really getting out of hand and although it does only take a minute to delete them, I also find them hugely annoying. Spammers are the new “scourge of the earth.”
But your post made me wonder who came up with that term, pet peeve, and why did something we love so much (pets) become associated with something so negative? Hmmm…
Julia – whether it is door to door salespeople (or religious people trying to convert you), junk mail in the mailbox, or telemarketers, it’s all spam to me and it’s all annoying!!
As far as the pet peeve thing, I wonder about that too… I think the term needs to be changed!