Thread: Do dancers need link clicks this badly?

I recently discovered that a bellydance directory messed up the link to my page by misspelling my web address in their link redirect. Apparently someone else discovered it too, because when you click on my link you don't get a "page not found," you get another local dancer's website. I checked and sure enough... she bought the domain that is my misspelled website and redirected it to her own website so that when folks click me in the directory, they get routed straight to her page.

What happened to "hey.. I was checking links in this directory and yours isn't coming up... you might want to contact them." Now we have to take advantage of web directories' mistakes?

And before you ask... no, her name and web addy aren't anything like mine... quite different in every way in fact.

Wow I find that a little bit sad that she would do that....

Nikki

It takes all types. All you can do is correct the directory listing and go on...

I emailed the directory admin and it was changed immediately!!

Actually, Zorba, there may be something I can do about it. I'm not going into detail now because I have some facts to check first, but she may have to pay for her sneakiness in the end.

I can't believe another dancer would do something so stone cold unethical, and also think they'd never get discovered! Talk about chutzpa! ,m::

WOW! I'm sorry to hear about this. . .

That's amazing! In a sad, pathetic way, of course ...

Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.

Just remember, though: what goes around comes around.

Just think: the dancer who got clobbered by the Armoire of Doom in the notorious BD Accident clip could have very well been an undercutter, a link click thief, or a scene drama queen who finally got her punishment for being an idiot.

Owned! ..l;,

Wow!!! Have you talked to her? That's really creepy... Seriously, what happened to playing fair?

Grr - That makes me mad! ,m:: I'm sorry to hear this happened to you!

I haven't talked to her yet, but I think I may... I just don't know what to say without totally going off on her. I want to remain professional about it, y'know?

So close to outing her... really.

Well, the directory listing has been changed, so at least she's gone through the trouble of buying and setting up the false domain for nothing.... But really, talk about PATHETIC.

karma and all that.... ;-)

Originally Posted by aazura

Well, the directory listing has been changed, so at least she's gone through the trouble of buying and setting up the false domain for nothing.... But really, talk about PATHETIC.

Thanks for your support... More importantly... thanks for the South Park reference sig line!!

I responded over on Tribe, but one more tidbit: Did you use Freeway to design the webpage? (I suspect you did, from the way the page looks - the things you used are easy to do in Freeway; I like that program myself.) If you check your layout of the home.html page, the very top line of the page "Raks Christina, ... Chicago, ..." is represented as an image, and not as text. I.e., search engines don't know that text, they just know there is an image.

Not sayin' that the lady's actions are ethical, but you may as well use technology in your favor, and do whatever you can do to help Google rank you high, so that unethical folk have less leverage.

Good luck!

I didn't use Freeway.. I use Dreamweaver, although i suspect they're similar in this way. The search engine stuff you mentioned over in tribe did make sense though. I'll try beefing up my other info.

I sent her a letter. Kept it professional and free of personal attacks. Let's see what happens.

that is just... weird...

I heard back from her. She says she has no idea how this happened but will be talking to her web guy. I'm not completely convinced however since the bad url still redirects to her site.

*shrugs* whatever.

Fishy, fishy. But Zorba's right - takes all kinds!! There is another dancer in my area who is similar in appearance to me (and that is where our similarities end) who use to put my gig dates, places, and times on her online calendar.

Originally Posted by Whisper

Fishy, fishy. But Zorba's right - takes all kinds!! There is another dancer in my area who is similar in appearance to me (and that is where our similarities end) who use to put my gig dates, places, and times on her online calendar.

Wow. I've seen some dirty tricks, but THAT'S just bizarre! ...How would that even work to her advantage? I mean, sure, maybe weirdly flattering that she apparently thought you were such a good dancer that she wanted people to think you were her, but say a customer sees her website, goes to see "her" dance, then approaches the dancer afterward...they're going to find out they were duped and they're going to get YOUR card not hers.

..c:: Some people are really messed up....

Originally Posted by mihri

I heard back from her. She says she has no idea how this happened but will be talking to her web guy. I'm not completely convinced however since the bad url still redirects to her site.

*shrugs* whatever.

Heh. Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhh....

I mean...I suppose it's *possible* she just has a web guy who is her friend, thinks he's really looking out for her, and shelled out his own $$ to get an extra domain etc. etc. without any of her knowledge but...it's also possible she's a compulsive liar. Or that she's playing the "technical" truth game (she knew all about web guy doing it, but she let him do it so she has plausible deniability and she doesn't actually know HOW it was done/physically and technologically how it happened.) In anycase, unless her "real" name is (c**********) someone somewhere did something fishy.

Run, Christina. Run like the wind.

Well, she runs a 'troupe' and rarely dances. She'll be on the schedule regularly and always becomes ill during the week and have one of her girls cover her night (taking a percentage of their restaurant pay AND tips, mind you). So it's hard to catch her actually dancing for a comparison I guess....

Originally Posted by Whisper

Well, she runs a 'troupe' and rarely dances. She'll be on the schedule regularly and always becomes ill during the week and have one of her girls cover her night (taking a percentage of their restaurant pay AND tips, mind you). So it's hard to catch her actually dancing for a comparison I guess....

*raises one eyebrow*
Huh. Well there ya go. ...Maybe she actually isn't very good and knows it but doesn't know what to do about it? ...Or maybe she's just...kind of an odd duck? Interesting. Well...takes all kinds. I would think presenting "you" as "herself" would backfire more often than not, so I still don't really see the benefit. Odd.

Originally Posted by Whisper

Well, she runs a 'troupe' and rarely dances. She'll be on the schedule regularly and always becomes ill during the week and have one of her girls cover her night (taking a percentage of their restaurant pay AND tips, mind you). So it's hard to catch her actually dancing for a comparison I guess....

Excuse me? Who the hell would charge someone for doing a favor? Jeeze, whoever is letting this person take a percentage of their tips and wages needs some serious enlightenment! I'm all for booking fees under the right circumstances, but covering someone's show because they're "ill" is doing that sick person a favor. The nerve of her to charge a booking fee for that!!!
,m::

Wow. Thats all I've got to say.

Originally Posted by mihri

I heard back from her. She says she has no idea how this happened but will be talking to her web guy. I'm not completely convinced however since the bad url still redirects to her site.

*shrugs* whatever.

I wish "WOW" was all I have to say. . .
I just have to choose my words carefully now.
(cuz I have a lot to say, but I don't want to offend/out anybody)

It gets me that this was a LOCAL dancer.
It gets me that the 'dancer in question' didn't let Christina know about the error,
but instead- bought the misspelled domain.

It gets me that, when I read the original post, curiosity got the best of me,
and I started googling.
When I googled Christina's name, the closest major city, and belly dance. . .
Christina's webpages didn't come up-
but another local dancer's page did come up.
(I found the site without knowing the misspelled version of Christina's.)

It gets me that the word "Christina" doesn't actually appear anywhere on the webpage that google pulled up (of the dancer in question)
Which makes me wonder. . .
why does this dancer have "Christina" as part of her search engine??
(and no her real name is -nowhere- close to Christina)

Anyways- now when you google search, Christina's page is the first to come up. So Christina, congrats on making something positive out of all of this-

I'm not so sure I believe that she 'has no idea how this happened'?????
considering the company that hosts her web sites are also owed by the
company that her husband is president of.

The dancer in question is a bhuzzer. . .
although I'm not sure if she's ever posted in the forums,
(maybe she doesn't even read them?)
But she does post her events on Bhuz.

this is just an odd situation~

Thanks, Egyptdancer. It was easy to find out who this is. Not that I had heard of her, but now I can avoid any dealings with this person.

Originally Posted by Egyptdancer

I wish "WOW" was all I have to say. . .
I just have to choose my words carefully now.
(cuz I have a lot to say, but I don't want to offend/out anybody)

It gets me that this was a LOCAL dancer.
It gets me that the 'dancer in question' didn't let Christina know about the error,
but instead- bought the misspelled domain.

It gets me that, when I read the original post, curiosity got the best of me,
and I started googling.
When I googled Christina's name, the closest major city, and belly dance. . .
Christina's webpages didn't come up-
but another local dancer's page did come up.
(I found the site without knowing the misspelled version of Christina's.)

It gets me that the word "Christina" doesn't actually appear anywhere on the webpage that google pulled up (of the dancer in question)
Which makes me wonder. . .
why does this dancer have "Christina" as part of her search engine??
(and no her real name is -nowhere- close to Christina)

Anyways- now when you google search, Christina's page is the first to come up. So Christina, congrats on making something positive out of all of this-

I'm not so sure I believe that she 'has no idea how this happened'?????
considering the company that hosts her web sites are also owed by the
company that her husband is president of.

The dancer in question is a bhuzzer. . .
although I'm not sure if she's ever posted in the forums,
(maybe she doesn't even read them?)
But she does post her events on Bhuz.

this is just an odd situation~

I know who it is, too, Christina. I suspected as soon as you posted, and now I know for sure. It's sad, but she's done similar things in the past. And really, when was the last time you saw her dance in any of our events? When you step on that many dancing toes . . . Well, we have a great belly dance community in our area and the majority of us are very supportive of one another.

All I can say is, she's a legend in her own mind. ..c::

Oh my lord! Christina, all of us in C'dale are behind you! How seanky and underhanded.

I hope she gets hers some day soon!