Common Sense Terms Of Service
Our members ask questions about getting the most from MySMARTblog while staying within the terms of service. This page is meant to clarify those boundaries. Your use of MySMARTblog is subject to this framework which is explained more thoroughly in legalese on the official Terms of Service page.
We Understand Your Privacy Concerns.
On the issue of privacy, note that MySMARTblog will store the administrative username and password for your various blogs. We don’t have an interest in combing through your account. Our business is content generation and, in order to auto post to your blog(s) for you, we need this type of direct access. If you are uncomfortable with MySMARTblog having direct access to your blog(s), we’re sorry.
How We Determine Our Posting Schedule
MySMARTblog writes and posts new content up to every calendar day, except those which are considered either a federal holiday (e.g.; President’s Day, Christmas), or a weekend; and on those on which the stock and/or bond market is closed (e.g.; Good Friday). You’ll get 150+ blog posts per year from us, give or take a few, depending on the calendar.
How We Protect Your Credit Card And Billing Information.
MySMARTblog processes credit cards through Authorize.NET and uses Infusionsoft to manage monthly billing. None of your credit card information is stored on the MySMARTblog servers. We do this for security reasons. Furthermore, because Authorize.NET’s policy is to mask credit card numbers and expiration dates from merchants like us, we couldn’t view your billing information even if we tried. This should make you feel safe.
Memberships Are Monthly And May Be Canceled At Any Time.
All MySMARTblog memberships are recurring monthly and billed on the first day of your monthly cycle. There is no long-term contract. Memberships also come with a Satisfaction Guarantee. You may cancel at anytime during your first 30 days and receive a refund on all membership monies paid and any unused portion of the setup fees. After your first 30 days is over, should you choose to cancel your membership, you will not be entitled to a partial refund for any “unused portion” of the current month’s membership fees. Your service will remain active through the next renewal date after your cancellation.
SMARTblog Website Setup Fees
Our SMARTblog Marketing Systems are packed with value for a very low investment. This is due to our business model which features our membership and long term commitment to add value to your online marketing presence. Our normal setup time is between 7 and 10 business days. Any lag beyond this time frame is invariably a lack of communication and delivery of the required information by the buyer of our services. The way we keep our prices low is by cutting out the normal stagnation in the development process. So we’ll deliver the website completely with a final walk-through within 5 business days. You still have our 100% Money Back Delivery Guarantee for a full 30 days from the date you purchase your system. Your membership fees will start on the monthly anniversary date following your date of purchase. There are no exceptions to this policy. (Think of it as an incentive for both of us to get the job done as quickly as possible!)
Our 100% Money Back Delivery Guarantee
We understand how nerve-wracking it can be to hire someone to put your web presence together. You want the best quality results, and don’t want to waste your money or connect with someone who delivers poor quality, keeps your money, and then just disappears. We make it easy. We guarantee our work 100%. No hassles, no excuses. If we don’t deliver exactly what we promise within the first 30 days, we’ll immediately make it right or we’ll give your money back. After all, we work primarily by referral so the last thing we want is an unhappy customer!
The Risks of Blog Posting Via API.
The MySMARTblog business model leverages publicly-available APIs to post directly to our members’ blogs. Sometimes, APIs and the methods to access APIs change. These changes rarely occur without warning which means we will generally have ample notice to make the appropriate changes to our code. However, if an API changes unexpectedly and it causes our service to break, we’ll work to make the fix. Recognize that some APIs are owned by third-parties and changes may force us to alter the way we do business.
Software Can Break.
Like all software, MySMARTblog is bound to face technical troubles and/or unexpected errors. We certainly don’t want our product to have bugs, but it does happen. If MySMARTblog fails in the technical sense, we’ll evaluate the cost of the fix versus the perceived benefit to our members. In nearly all cases, we fix the bug. In some cases, however, we may choose to leave the bug as-is as a “known issue”. You can’t hold us responsible for personal or business matters related to technical errors or other bugs.
Accounts Are For Your Personal Marketing Only. You May Not “Share” An Account.
MySMARTblog is not a “sharing” product. We expect the consumers of our content to be paying subscribers. Legitimate business partnerships may jointly own an account, but individuals may not. As an example, a real estate team comprised of a buyer’s agent and a seller’s agent may share an account and not be in violation of these terms. That team may not share their account with a lending partner, however, nor another real estate agent in the office.
We Are Vigilant Against Copyright Infringement.
MySMARTblog produces content for our members’ personal use. But when non-members misappropriate content, it is harmful to our paying members, and to our business. Therefore, MySMARTblog adds hidden text strings to its licensed blog content to help track whom is using our licensed content and for what purpose. The hidden text helps us to identify copyright infringement and other service term violations. Hidden text in your licensed blog content is visible only in its source code — not your blogs’ web-based readers. You may not remove this hidden text for any reason.
You May Not Spam The Internet With Your Licensed Content.
It is a violation of the MySMARTblog Terms of Service to submit your licensed content to third-party websites whose main business is news aggregation. This includes ezine repositories and most “industry news sites”. We want you to have a broad reach with your licensed content but you may not use it to generate advertising revenue for third parties, or for a commercial application. In good faith, we expect you to use MySMARTblog content for personal use only.
We Track How You Found Us.
MySMARTblog advertises online and collects data to determine which venues are profitable and which are not. Part of this evaluation process requires us to store small piece of data in your browser called a cookie. There is nothing harmful in the cookie and you can delete it at any time.
You Assume Some Risks When You Edit MySMARTblog Content.
MySMARTblog produces content that is free of copyright infringement and we stand behind this pledge. Our charts, text and graphics are either home-grown or specifically licensed for use. If you edit a specific MySMARTblog post in any manner whatsoever, this pledge is nullified. We can’t be responsible for content once it’s been edited.
All images presented on your SMARTblog website are solely your responsibility. You must be aware of appropriate copyright rules and the penalties for infringement. We will provide licensed, royalty-free images to our SMARTblog clients during the website setup process through 123rf.com upon request.
We Try To Be Consistent, But The Timing Of Daily Posts Will Vary.
MySMARTblog makes posts every business day and our content is usually posted prior to 10:00 AM ET. However, on some days, we miss our deadline. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens. Sometimes, we’ll notify you of the delay and other times we won’t. If the delay is major or related to a technical issue of some kind, we’ll notify you either by email or other means.
We Will Market To You From Time-to-Time. Responsibly.
We are a marketing company and we know the value of a good database. We also know that sending you spam will kill our goodwill. Therefore, expect to receive specific marketing messages from us on occasion. You can opt-out of these emails, but we think you’ll benefit from getting them. For example, the messages we like to send out are the ones with discount codes to industry conferences you’re probably attending anyway, or the ones with tips on doing a whole lot more with your blog with minimal effort. We don’t spam. We know you’d hate us for it.
Businesses Can Change, Merge, Or Fail. If It Happens To Us, We’ll Treat You Fairly.
MySMARTblog has been writing blog content every business day since 2010. We intend to continue long into the future. However, it’s possible that our business model could change materially at some point. Should this happen, we will offer refunds on current memberships on a prorated basis.