Spotlight Shopper Magazine Spotlight Shopper, Melissa White, Hometown shopper, Spotlight Magazine Deceptive Publisher! Grayson, Georgia
Local New Media publisher, Melissa White, of Spotlight Shopper Magazines fraudulently borrowed a competitors online version of a magazine & called it her own.
Melissa White replaced the competitors logo on all of the pages with her own, Spotlight Shopper Magazine logo. This is stealing, manipulating, unethical & copyright infringement.
Look for yourself and compare the similarities of the magazines www.spotlightshoppermagazine.com and www.mtmshopper.com (Loganville edition)
Melissa claims to have been publishing this magazine for 10 years, when, as a matter of fact, there has never been a Spotlight Shopper published.
Be aware when doing business with Melissa White, Spotlight Shopper Magazine. She is also attempting to sell franchises of Spotlight Shopper.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Melissa
Grayson,Georgia,
United States of America
Response
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, April 01, 2010
After speaking with a few potential advertisers and local merchant friends, it became clear that a mock-up magazine was needed to show potentials what the look, feel and size etc. of the publication was to be. A couple of those merchants suggested that we produce a mock up, utilizing their ads that they produced for another publication that they do business with.
Feeling that it would certainly be okay to use locally used ads as place-holders to show potential advertisers what we are producing, we built a mock up that revolved around ads from local vendors. Upon being informed that utilization of those ads, even for a mocked-up sales tool, was not advisable, and why, we more than willingly halted production of that sales tool, and were still able to move forward utilizing ads that we had FULL permission to use, as opposed to ads that we found out in the public domain.
Spotlight Shopper Magazine thanks MTM for bringing that to our attention, and looks forward to serving the Grayson, Loganville, and Snellville communities, and other communities as we expand, with a high quality, low cost solution to their print and on-line advertising needs, while staying true to the focus of spotlighting a local hero or organization that is making a significant difference in the community, whether personally or as an organization. (we invite you to submit recommendations at the Spotlight Shopper website http://www.spotlightshopper.com).
Having had involvement and ownership in similar magazines with YEARS of thought and integrity behind them, Spotlight Shopper and its principle management look forward to continuing that tradition in this lastest exciting evolution, and to serving YOUR advertisement and information needs LONG into the future!
In fact, there ARE a few questions that someone might want to ask before advertising with ANY direct-mail or on-line based organization:
*Always ask to see a printed or emailed (PDF) proof of your ad- whether you as an advertiser designed it, or had it designed by the advertising publication. This is an important step to make sure that information and colors match you business message.
*Ask for proof of distribution or website traffic. It is easy for people to get excited about having a distribution of about X copies. . .but how many were ACTUALLY put into the mail stream, or how many views did the advertiser website ACTUALLY receive?
*Make sure that you, the advertiser, is on the mailing or email list for the advertorial- often, a business may not even see the final product unless they ask for it.
*Get clarification as to the ownership of your ad, and its usage- ie: whether your business or the printed or on-line publication owns the ad and its use, or if the ad is considered public domain. (Spotlight Shopper allows advertisers unlimited use rights to their advertisement).
*Get to know your sales person, ask for a direct contact number, and RELY on them! They are your life-line to any organization that you may advertise with!
Keeping these things in mind will help you, as an advertiser and consumer, to make the most of your advertising experience. Thank you again, and we look forward to seeing you in the Spotlight!
Melissa White
Publisher, Spotlight Shopper Magazine