Welp, I have achieved a milestone with MasterGuitarSchool.com. The website is now big enough that the scambot algorithms are noticing! It's kind of an inverted Social Proof.
Yay....
First thing is I received an email from a Site Member who had commented on a blog. He received a "like" to his comment and wanted to know if I knew anything about it:
I didn't know anything about it and deleted it from the blog page. Later the same day I get this Site Member sign up notification:
Well, that looks familiar! I immediately deleted this "Site Member" from the list.
Then 7 minutes later I get this:
This rat-bastard scambot had managed to "comment" on 15 different blogs before I deleted it. The "comments" were the same thing as the "name,"
"Invest $150 to get $5k5 in 2hr Ask ne how : +(314) 467-0369":
Does the idea occur to you that English might not be this guy's native language? Yeah, me too. Or maybe he was in a hurry? Or too busy to proofread? I would highly recommend you NOT call that number.
I went through each blog and deleted the "comment." That took a minute or two, not to mention it's freaking annoying!
Then, the NEXT day I get this:
As you can see by the lower circled notification, when 2 people sign up the same day the notification groups them together into one notice. When multiple people sign up in a day it will say "So-and-so and 5 other people are now members of Master Guitar School."
So when I deleted the scambot from site membership, that didn't carry over into the notifications. Jayquan Williams had the bad luck of signing up the same day the scambot did.
I mistakenly conflated "Jaquan Williams" and "Invest $150..." and immediately deleted Jayquan, a legitimate site member, from site membership. I was able to retrieve Jayquan's email and send a personal apology and an incentive to sign up again. I hope he does.
First world problems, man!
Why are the scambots now targeting me?
Because my site membership has grown past a certain threshold.
Why has my site membership grown past a certain threshold?
See below.
How about 5 FREE Lessons?
The 5-Lesson Foundational Series teaches the Circle of Keys as an organizational mechanism by which you ensure that whatever you learn is drilled in every key in all possible positions. It also gives you a method to find any note, anywhere, without memorizing note names on every string. That is a beautiful thing!
You can download the 5-Lesson Foundational Series right here for free (a $39 value) with no further obligation or commitment.
Check out Master Guitar School!
Sign up as a Master Guitar School site member - it's free! - and get access to dozens of free site-based lessons, a monthly newsletter that contains a brand-new free lesson, and DEEP discounts on lesson series downloads - plus more!
For more information on site membership see Why Become a Site Member?
Sounds like your website's growing pains have arrived! MasterGuitarSchool dot com is getting so popular that the spambots are taking notice. It's a strange kind of badge of honor, like an inverted social proof. But on the plus side, it means you're attracting real users who are engaging with your dyson v8 spares content.
Congrats on reaching such a big milestone with MasterGuitarSchool ! It’s always exciting when a project grows to the point where new challenges—like managing an ever-growing audience—start popping up. It shows that your content and offerings are really resonating with people. While dealing with things like scambots can be frustrating, it’s also a sign that your site is gaining more attention. As someone working on literature review writing services, I totally understand the ups and downs of managing online growth. Keep up the great work, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next for the site!