What is with Mouithsone? Is it legitimate? I do not know but I have been burned and people should hear about it.
In February 2012, I was approached by the editor of a new magazine geared towards relationships. I was asked to write an article for the first magazine which was due the end of March. I wanted to get my word out there and immediately agreed. By the end of the day, the first article was written. The editor loved it.
Soon after this I was followed on Twitter by Cheney Clinton (@AskWomenNow), someone who reputedly works at Mouithsone.com. Chatting away, she presented herself as the Marketing Director and suggested that I take out an advert in their magazine for a year. There was a special offer for contributors to their magazine. For $380 I would get the following:
- Your advertisement will be showcased in an internationally promoted publication.
- Promotion of your website/blog/twitter/facebook account, products and services.
- Free advertorial ad. at http://www.mouithsone.com/ and its partner websites.
- Drive traffic to your site.
It would be presented to:
- 580000 email subscribers.
- Tweeted within 500 twitter accounts with over 2.9 million followers and counting.
- We manage 120 StumbleUpon accounts with over 1.1 million followers and counting.
I was then asked to be a constant contributor to the magazine. That is a dream. I would get my name out there. I provided another article to the editor.
Then everything went wrong. The editor had a falling out and left them. Every time I approached them I got strange answers. What about my designs? What about the buzz? Excuses and excuses. I found it strange as the first magazine was supposed to be on the shelves at the end of March and I had written an article for the following issues as well, the April issue.
Eventually I got a design for the advert for the magazine. Fair enough, changes needed to be made. Mid-March I was told that the deadline was and there was pressure to finish the advert. Cool. I was excited.
I asked what about the new editor because I wanted to work on my article for issue #3. I was told: “the new editor is coming to work soon, we will let you guys know.” I have not heard anything yet!
Delay after delay. But wait a moment, what about the marketing campaign? Tweets; emails; stumble upon; driving traffic etc. That is not happening.
I received an email that they had banners for me and Chanel sent them to me. I found a mistake and she said they would fix them and add them to the site. But when is the magazine out? When will my banners appear? But wait a moment, what about the marketing campaign? Tweets; emails; stumble upon?
Mid-April I ask again as I cannot see any mention. I approach them and they say it is on every page. Well, I looked and so did a few friends and nada. No banner, no mention. Not even in the section about Books. Simply nothing.
My last contact from them was 24th April. Emails are not answered; tweets are not answered; Facebook queries are not answered. There is no magazine yet, as far as I can see.
Since their last contact I have changed my book cover and other links, but there is no one to approach to there. I have a feeling that there are only a couple people involved in the entire operation but they give the illusion of having much more. From what I can understand, it is run by Jeremy Mouithsone, but their digital footprint is minimal.
Am I a victim of fraud? I do not know. They did do some work, but then again, I wrote articles for them and did not get paid. I asked PayPal to open a dispute but they say that too much time has elapsed.
Help me get the word out and perhaps let them return at least some of my money.
Help me tweet to them as well: Tweet to @MOUITHSONECOM