Complaint Review: Kathy Gustafson - Advance Marketing - Rockton Illinois

Ms. Gustafson:

Stick to the facts of this case. 

The evidence speaks for itself.  You stole web copy from my web site.   Anyone who can read can see that my screen captures prove that.  If you believe I am posting false accusations, you have every right to sue me. I encourage you to do so.

You are not the victim here.    Again, I point to the evidence:

1.  A screen capture of my web site (time stamped and date stamped for March 16, 2011):
(((Redacted)))

This screen capture was gathered by clicking the CACHED link beneath my web site once I found it in the search engines.  Cached copies of web sites show you what a web site used to look like on a certain day.  This screen capture shows the SEO code that I had at the bottom of my web site. 

2.  A screen capture of Kathy Gustafson's web site (time stamped and date stamped for March 18, 2011). 
(((Redacted)))

That screen capture was also captured by clicking the CACHED link
beneath Kathy Gustafson's web site once it appeared in search results.
shows that on March 18, Kathy Gustafson had absolutely NO SEO linked
coded at the bottom of her web site.  That text appeared on
approximately March 28, 2011.  It was NOT there on March 18, 2011.


3.  A screen capture of Kathy Gustafson's web site as it appeared on April 2, 2011. 
(((Redacted)))


This screen capture (if compared with the March 16, 2011 screen capture of MY web site, will show you that Kathy Gustafson copied (literally, verbatim) the text at the bottom of my web site.  She was even too lazy to change the paragraph formatting. She left it EXACTLY like mine.  All she did was add a couple of more words and change the URLs so they point
to her web site.


On March, 31 I posted  message on Kathy Gustafson's "Advance Marketing" Facebook page.  In that conversation, I requested we discuss the issue via a recorded phone call and Kathy refused to talk to me.  She has deleted the conversation, but here's a screen capture: (((Redacted)))

She claims she did not delete the Facebook conversation. If you visit her fan page, you'll see it's not there: http://facebook.com/advancemarketing


 CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

#1. Professional, you are not.

#2. Unless you own the words "Marketing", "Social Media", "Consultant", "Beloit, WI", et al and you can prove to me such, then, and only then, will I remove the text box at the bottom of my page. I did nothing wrong. You just have a sore axe to grind personally (as your history shows you do with many) and do it in the only way you know how-which is to bully, call names, terrorize and intimidate. There are many companies out there that you have done the exact same thing to through your extremist, vile, UNPROFESSIONAL nature.

#3. I did NOT delete your posting on my facebook page, Genia. I went back to post a reply to tell you I would be more than happy to talk with you on Friday, April 8, between 10 and noon or again between 2 and 4 pm, but your post was no longer there. You must have deleted it yourself and again are making false allegations against me and my company here on this page and every where else you believe your nonsense will be seen, heard and/or listened to.

#4. Do you really not have anything better to do with your time? Business must be mighty slow to be able to spend so much time on the internet posting all over about me, paying people to post about me, ad nauseum.

#5. Anger, you have much of it, and I would warn any other business owner to be leery before doing any business or engaging in any affiliations with Genia Stevens. ESPECIALLY if you happen to offer some of the same services as she does.

#6. Good luck in your crusade in finding someone to send you works that I have copied, because there are none. I am not only a creative marketer, but I am also a writer who upholds copyright infringement seriously and wholeheartedly. I have never copied anyone's work and never will. I've been inspired, yes, but never would I ever plagiarize. 
 
#7. You have turned this into a case of libel, for which you haven't a leg to stand on, with the intent to cause me and my company much harm. I am doing my professional best to stay above board with you and to not lower myself to your playground. Genia, if I thought for a second I had done wrong, I would be bending over backwards to change it. You know this about me.  The internet is NOT the open field anymore oldschool internet people like you must believe it still is. You should know this well enough if you truly are, in fact, educated and a "professional" at what you do.

To end, I want all of my current and future clients to know that I care about your business. It is the utmost of importance to me and is why I am in the field of marketing for small business. I can guarantee you, and can give you testimony from clients that will speak to my integrity and attention to outstanding customer service, that you will always have my utmost best. Guaranteed.

I am a professional who prides herself on always behaving ethically.  This is a small town and your reputation means everything.  I would NEVER post a false accusation against someone and ruin my reputation.  I have definitive proof that Kathy Gustafson stole web copy from my web site.  Here's the proof I have:

1.  A screen capture of my web site (time stamped and date stamped for March 16, 2011):

http://geniastevens.com/mywebsite_march16.png

This screen capture was gathered by clicking the CACHED link beneath my web site once I found it in the search engines.  Cached copies of web sites show you what a web site used to look like on a certain day.  This screen capture shows the SEO code that I had at the bottom of my web site. 

2.  A screen capture of Kathy Gustafson's web site (time stamped and date stamped for March 18, 2011). 

http://geniastevens.com/kathygustafsonswebsite_march18.jpg

That screen capture was also captured by clicking the CACHED link beneath Kathy Gustafson's web site once it appeared in search results. shows that on March 18, Kathy Gustafson had absolutely NO SEO linked coded at the bottom of her web site.  That text appeared on approximately March 28, 2011.  It was NOT there on March 18, 2011.



3.  A screen capture of Kathy Gustafson's web site as it appeared on April 2, 2011. 

http://geniastevens.com/kathyswebsite_april2.png

This screen capture (if compared with the March 16, 2011 screen capture of MY web site, will show you that Kathy Gustafson copied (literally, verbatim) the text at the bottom of my web site.  She was even too lazy to change the paragraph formatting. She left it EXACTLY like mine.  All she did was add a couple of more words and change the URLs so they point to her web site.


On March, 31 I posted  message on Kathy Gustafson's "Advance Marketing" Facebook page.  In that conversation, I requested we discuss the issue via a recorded phone call and Kathy refused to talk to me.  She has deleted the conversation, but here's a screen capture: http://geniastevens.com/advancemarketingconversation.png

Again, I state that Kathy Gustafson is a liar and a thief and she's definitely not a "marketing professional." 

This is completely an inaccurate and false allegation against my company levied by an unscrupulous competitor, Genia Stevens of Social Media Academy Beloit of Beloit, Wisconsin. I did not, nor would I ever, steal anyone's "code" from their website. What she is referring to is the wording at the bottom of her site and on mine that look similar, and unless she owns the words "Marketing", "Social Media" and the towns that are mentioned, there has been not one single impropriety done.
 
The problem here is that I am a new business owner in the town next to her. We are also involved in "professional" organizations together. I do Social Media. So does she. She was ranked number 1 on google, which is great for her. However, my site was not even showing up on page 7 in keyword searches. I wanted to change that. Now my site has bumped her and I am number 1, which was a pleasant surprise you can imagine. I was not expecting that.

Here is the truth that she is being blind to. Two weeks ago, I did many hours of SEO work on my TEMPLATE website utilizing Intuit (whom I paid) to do backend SEO work on my site. At the same time, I also was doing many other things to help my SEO, none of which had anything to do with adding code, because honestly, I don't know HOW to copy code or what to do with it on a template website even if that was the case. I can read code because I have html experience, but do not know how to do what she is accusing me of.  

In discussions with an SEO expert (which I am not), I was told that what is at the bottom of my page, which IS similar to hers as far as wording, is old style SEO work and is now being frowned upon by Google. This, they told me, is not what propelled me up and they believe it was moreso the work that was done on the backend by Intuit as well as the efforts at working on backlinks, metatags, etc. which helped my ranking.

The facts are I was told that there are hundreds of websites that this SEO expert said he can show that do the exact same thing at the bottom of their pages of their site (listing their services, affiliations and towns they serve). This is NOT uncommon, however not as effective anymore.

This is a case of a very nasty woman, who through her own unhappiness and bullying behavior has targeted someone who got an unintended edge. In reality, she should be more concerned about her reputation that she is ultimately hurting and doing a good job for her diminishing clients. This she should be more concerned about rather than attacking a new business owner who just happens to offer some of the same services. If she is that concerned about my business, then she should work on building her reputation up instead of tearing it down by bullying others. Who wants to do business with someone like her? Would YOU want to put your business on the line by working or doing business with someone that you might fear will someday shoot off their loose cannon in the general direction of your business? The hard work, time and energy that you have put in to have someone like this work so hard and obsess over to try to destroy? Over what? Words being the same at the bottom of a template website?

Again, these are false allegations and she has gone on a mission to harass my company and tarnish my reputation through an online harassment campaign. THIS coming from a woman who claims to support other businesses in commerce as she is a newly elected Vice President of the Chamber I belong to and is a newly elected President of a women's networking group I co founded and brought women together to organize. I am highly disappointed, but not surprised, by her extremist and tacky behavior. It is very typical of her and is part and parcel with her track record and history. Which I wish I would have known about BEFORE I became involved with her in business.

If there is one silver lining to this cloud, it is that through her vicious campaigns, my website has received more hits than ever before. WHICH is helping me with my google rankings in the long run! I also have received more "likes" and "recommendations" on my website since she has launched this very negative and distasteful campaign to tarnish her perceived competition. So, thank you Genia Stevens of @sisterstalk (twitter), gaywallet.com, sisterstalk on facebook, sisterstalk.net, Social Media Academy Beloit, Beloit College, Neighborhood Housing Services Beloit Wisconsin  and sisters talk radio for the exposure. Albeit I wish you would work on your professionalism and get your extremist, angry, negative behaviors worked out with a good counselor.
 
My reputation will remain intact. Sadly, you are destroying what little good you had in yours.