And Sometimes You Flat Out Make A Mistake
I read your feedback and here’s what I have to say about it
Links in this show: www.mrsaltwatertank.com/site/algaechapter
Update: I want to thank all of you who left me your comments below. Nearly all of the 176 comments are positive and while I cannot respond to each comment, I have read them and thank you for your support . Your words mean a lot to me and I’m not going to stop doing what I’m doing!
Browse the Store! Questions?
As far as I see it you did nothing wrong and have nothing to apologize for. I understood that when you plugged it, it was supposed to be cute and fun. I’m sorry people freaked out the way they did there was no reason for it. I bought the guide and it was very helpful! You even offer a full refund if it doesn’t work or you don’t like it. And I’m one person not asking for their money back. It was very informative and as always filled in some things I didn’t understand. I have all the guides and think they have been worth every penny. No person should every be told to give their work away for free. I’m happy you’ve given me as much info as you have for free. Haters will hate. Thanks again for everything mark!
Sorry folks are giving you a hard time. You don’t deserve it. Thanks for the good info
Mark, dont let these haters get you down. You produce a quality product, and to everyone that expects content to always be free, who cares about them anyway.
There is nothing wrong with trying to monetize your site, adwords, affiliates, paid content, its all cool.
The apology is good damage control, but not necessary for those of us that have half a brain and understand the free market.
Mark, hang in there big man.
You have saved alot of people alot of money unlike the LFS..
Looking forward to the friday morning quick tip.
That is the stand up thing to do. It was a rough reality check. I know it’s tough to find that happy medium between product placement and in face your teaser add.
I feel the same way as Brandon and Deb. I enjoy your videos and you are the FIRST person who actually is giving me courage enough to try a salt water tank at my age (63). I have done freshwater aquariums since the 1980’s and fully planted tanks for the last 3 years. Your show IS informative & delightful. You are just hearing from the cranky ones….those of us who appreciate you usually don’t post. Keep on with what you are doing. I watch every show. Yes, I will be buying your guides.
Thanks for doing these morning tips. I LOVE them and never miss one. Haters will hate, as Brandon stated.
Mark-I have been and will continue to be a supporter of you. I value the information you provide, I value the joy you have for the hobby, I value the informed decisions I make based although not completely, often times largely guided by your reports.
Very few people want to return an email from a person who has a tank controller problem, a sick fish or some other tank issue. You have consistently helped me with issues going above and beyond.
For those people who were offended that is regrettable but if those same people reflect on the value of what you provide they in my opinion should feel differently.
Thank you for all you do!
Dave
Mark,
That was very kind of you to offer a chapter for free. I don’t think you did anything wrong. I just think people were offended by your marketing tactics. Don’t let it bother you too much; people always have strong opinions when they are behind a keyboard.
Take care and I look forward to your next video
~Nick
It took me awhile to figure out what you did to offend me. Now that I know why I was offended, I forgive you.
I agree, I do not think you have anything to apologize for. I also have all your guides and have found them extremely helpful. It seems like there are to many people that feel like they should get everything for free. There are not very many things that we watch or read that does no have some form of sales in it, everyone has the right to make a living! Keep up the good work and everything you do, Mark!
Mark, this is clearly showing your good soul and superb gaol to get everyone happy, informed and listening to what you say. Unfortunately part of the problem is with us as good readers and listeners we don’t do our job of giving you our positive feedback for the excellent work. I’m always a happy viewer to all your videos and articles. I apologies for not putting the thank you message. One advise is to take it easy with viewers as you make the transition to payed structured knowledge.
Thanks a lot for giving me this free copy as I struggle with my tough algae growth.
I can understand why people were so upset with the video that Mark posted, but I think people need to be a little more understanding. I have a few friends that are in the same business making video tutorials and this is NOT a lucrative business by any means. Making a few dollars here and there almost never offsets the cost of time put into videos and the equipment used to film, render and edit these videos.
I may just be a beginner in this hobby, but I can really appreciate what Mark does for the hobbyist community. I think Mark does a really good job at explaining concepts and procedures. Yes, sometimes it may seem that Mark is trying to make a buck off the community and yes, he does make mistakes. Mark is human, give the man a break.
Mark screw those idiots. You have a fantastic show and you deserve to make money for all the hard work you put into it. You cut out all the crap rumors and teach us how to be successful. What the hell is wrong with someone making a honest living for their hard work? I mean i cant even believe this is a issue. you’ve obviously spent months working on this book, these people really think it should be handed to them for FREE??
no matter who you are, you will always have haters.you cant make everyone happy. But those haters WILL in fact make you more popular, i promise 🙂
People hate to pay for a lot of things. However i think with the past two guides and esp the video’s instead of havving some fun video to watch we where watching some advertisement.
A lot of information is out there. And the problem is with that that when you look hard enough someone will back you up with what you want.
I (and many others) felt like recently this side became really really comercial. I don’t think (i don’t know mark (he’s more then welcome to stop by but its a long flight 😉 ) ) that is what he wants. IMHO he needs to find a ballance between giving information for free and making guides for sale.
Before i started a (salt water) aquarium i got a dutch book costing 60 euro’s and two others (also 60 euro’s each). Those 60 euro’s where well spend. And starting an salt aquarium the first guide is also well spend. That being said, for anybody with a reef tank i would not recommend buying the guide alone (with the new video’s however it is usefull to have some better view of how it could look). Therefor i think the first guide should be on sale at all times.
The same goes for this guide. I can buy it now, or maybe some other time. I’m starting a new 250 gallon (approx 1000 liter) aquarium in a few months ( hope ). I don’t except problems but i would like to buy stuff i need. Altough i’m still thinking of buying the guides, because they DO contain good information. And more important from ONE source, mixing sources is imho one of the key mistakes made in this buissiness.
My aquarium runs fine (so i don’t know the cruise control one) and the APEX guide is also not for anybody in the EU.
However if mark is bringing out an profilux guide for around 25 dollars in the next few months well i’m buying it.
Hi Mark,
I wonder how many of these people would work for free! I appreciate the time you take to put this very useful advice together and think you have every right to recover your costs and more.
Plus your advice is alway spot on in IMHO.
Thanks again,
Martin
I cant even imagine how many mistakes i would have made if i never found your show. THat alone is worth its weight in gold.
Screw them all, make your entire show a private members only PAID club. I swear i would pay a monthly fee
I agree with Matthew – that was definitely a stand up thing to do. I was with the majority as far as my disappointment, but definitely not a ‘hater’, and it’s annoying people keep referring to others as that. You should certainly be charging money for your guides, since a lot of time and effort is involved. Do I think the price is steep for a pdf? Yes, but that’s my personal opinion. Maybe you already have this listed somewhere, and I missed it, but I personally think it would be really helpful if you outlined exactly what’s in your guide a little more – how many pages, chapters, and list every algae covered. You say all algae, but does it include the nuisance bacteria and different types of protists, such as cyano and dinoflagellates? I think if people knew exactly what was in the guide, it would be much easier to decide whether it’s worth purchasing or not.
Thanks for all you do. I am a avid reader and love your videos. You have inspired me in lots of ways. Dam if you do ..Dam if you don’t. Your real friends know what you are about. I have days that don’t seem to go right and I know how you feel. Thanks again for your service to our community.
Thanks for the apology, Mark. You didn’t need to offer a freebie; it was not necessary, but appreciated. Those people always looking for a freebie or upset that you charge a fee for different services are flat out wrong. It may be helpful to announce in advance when you are putting out an ad. This way there is no confusion as to what you are doing. I look forward to some of the old Mark again. Thanks!
Almost everything I’ve learned about Saltwater Aquariums has been through your videos and messages. I appreciate your dedication to enlightening all us newbies. I’m so sorry that you received such negative feedback. You’re a standup guy and you have true character. Thanks for all you do!
I have no idea why people freaked out about this I saw nothing wrong. Everyone wants something for free and I can’t believe how selfish people are when you already give so much free information! Keep up the great work don’t let the haters get ya. By the way thanks for the free guide, even though you should have felt the need to do this. I’m looking forward to tomorrows tip, thanks again, Jay.
Hey Mark:
Keep up the good work! People do not want to have to pay for anything these days, but they want to get paid for everything they do…………..
Again keep up the work!
Jeff
The peasants will consume even the greatest king, because inside of them burns a greed that consumes the reality of the moment. Hehehehehe Mark don’t fret about those greedy fools out there, u make excellent information available and once in a while you make a large project that takes a ton of time and energy and creates an amount of information that should be bought and paid for! I only have your NNG 1 right now and would LOVE to purchase the rest and Will, however funds right now can’t even cover the bills. But regardless, you make the videos that save people X amount of dollars, and on top of that people shouldn’t be griping about paying for something that increases their knowledge! Knowledge is priceless! Keep up the great work Mark, I look forward to more guides someday soon, hopefully 😉
Mark
I would like you to know that you are my GO TO GUY
I find your Mr Saltwatertank the most informative page out in the web.
you have nothing to apologize for. You have done nothing but give all of us noobs in saltwater great info and this I am grateful for. I think if people want something for nothing then they should do the research for them selves I have bought your books in the pass and have full intentions of purchasing all your books . I will gladly support your endeavors in making this hobby a less stressful one and a more enjoyable for all .
Thank you your the best
Mike Chiasson
I’ll admit that the previous video sounded like a huge sales pitch, but the free chapter was a very nice gesture, IMO people slightly over reacted.. You did the research and spent the time making this guide. You give free info all the time and ive gotten so much of my saltwater knowledge from watching your videos. Keep up the good work mark!
I can‘t understand why someone would send you a hate mail. Your TV show and your knowledge is priceless and I have enjoyed it greatly. Your shows have helped me a lot. I have bout your No nonsense guides and I will by the newest edition you just published.
Keep up the great work and don‘t let a few grumpy’s tear you down.
Hi Mark,
The reason why I started watching you was b/c I love looking at your tank , your fish and all your equipment, and of course your advise. Sadly though over the past 3 – 5 months you’ve gone commercial and are trying to sell us info we can easily find on the internet or in a cheap magazine. You are not going to get rich selling those guides, you are not going to be able to pay the bills selling those guides. Please …please go back to the old Mr Saltwater Tank not the Sham-Wow version.
Mark has made many many helpful and informative videos and shame on anyone for sending him hateful mail. The books are full of information that are worth every penny. There’s no such thing as free. There’s nothing wrong with him trying to make some money so he could make his tank look better or for w.e he wants.
Hello Mark:
To all the haters… stopand watch the video you are complaining about.. in fact watch it several times.
That video is loaded with tips lets cover a few
1. what kinds of critters you can add to attack algae
2. what equipment you can add
3. a bit on light control
4. the basics of refugiums and macro algae.
So what he did not give the scientific explaination of how/why macro algae are limited in fighting micro algaes. Mark has done this research and you could have done it also. Go pick up some college bio books at a couple hundred dollars a pop or go ask Dr. Tim to give away his secrets (but Dr. Tim would not give away all his secrets either now would he)
Mark do not listen to the people that do not have a basic understanding of how business works. I bought your guide as soon as it was offered and then you can out with that video tht they were complaining about and I saw nothing wrong with it.I since then have watched that video several times after all this hype and realized that there is a fair amount of information in that video for someone that has not bought the guide. Enough information infact that if they were that concerned with knowing what macro algae can not do they could look it up easily on their own.
I knew before I bought your guide on algae that marco algaes can not break down large compounds to get the building blocks of those compounds out and i was not up set that it was in the guide.
Some people just expect things t be completly handed to them and think that if it is not that it is the person who is not handing them stuff that is to blame, they can not look at themselves and take personal responsibility for their own expectations.
Mark I understand that you care about your customers and that you made this apology for the hand out wanters and it was very big of you to do so. Do not let them get you down and do not let them make you think that making some profit from your time, your investment, your learning, your work is wrong. They would not work for free why should anyone work for free. I think it is great all the stuff you do put out for free
Thank you Mark for all the great information you put out for free and for purchase
Sgt Thomas Norris Ret.
Will sorry mark u do work keep it up do not let people git to you I a a fan for life
I have to say that if not for this web show I would have given up on this hobby a long time ago. I’ve was in the hobby for 4 years, and now a second time for almost 3 years. If not for Mark and guys like him I would go crazy. I have a background in biology, worked with marine mammals, and still to this day volunteer at my local zoo testing and improving water quality for their ocean life. When I found Mark’s show I though(and still think) I found a savior. No one out there would just give you everything they know for nothing. And I’d never ask them to. Yes, I volunteer my time and information but I also work very hard to be able to do so. This is what Mark does, he works and get paid for it. It’s what we all do.
Thank you Mark, for everything you do.
Keep up the great work Mark. I love you videos, very informative and helpful.
Don’t let the few spoil it for the many.
Hi Mark
The guide was great learnt loads got a small hair algae issue at the moment
so it came a just the right time !!
Can’t believe you trashed the sexy tank on purpose !!
Thanks
Paul
Mark, The people throwing fits are just the loudest. They do not represent all of us. Keep up the good work and MAKE DAT PAPPAH !
Mark I’ve been into aquatics for over 20 years. I got into saltwater tanks in 2003. I recently ran across your videos and web site and I must say, I was impressed. It takes a lot of time and effort to do what you do, most of which is free information that you gave out. I’ve learned a lot from you given my experience just from watching your videos. I did buy your guide to controlling algae. I don’t regret it a bit nor did I give it a second thought. There are way too many people out there that want something for nothing. That I suspect is where the hate is comIng from. Keep on trucking, do what you do best, and never mind the haters. In everything one does there is choice. If the info. is available elsewhere for free, then let them get it there. Personally, I’d rather support you for all you’ve done and continue to do for us.
P.s. my wife loves your shirts!!
God bless,
John & Tami
As the old saying goes…”you can please some of the people, some of the time…”
Mark, thanks for demonstrating such great integrity and accountability. While I personally find no fault in your efforts, I applaud you for trying to make it right with the masses. Please continue you campaign and sharing of knowledge. I for one am most appreciative!
Plugging your products every now and then is fine and for people to take offense is ridiculous. Almost HALF of any television show is now commercials, every web page is chock full of ads and forget about listening to the radio, driving to work!
Thanks for all the helpful tips, keep up the good work and don’t lose any sleep over this!
If people don’t like the way you run your site then they can go elsewhere to get information. I will continue watching and reading from your site. Thanks for all the information and free guide offer. Thanks, Johnny Slayton.
It amazes me how so many people want something for nothing. Mark probably spent Weeks putting together this guide and people want it for FREE! WTF Screw them! You deserve some $ for your hard work Mark. More than what your charging if you ask me. Keep up the good work Mark! Love the shows!
wow, just wow….whomever complained needs to get a reality check, you guys think Mark does this out of the goodness of his heart (well maybe ;))? He’s combining two things, something he loves + a potential money making career, I dont get it why people would be upset.
Mark I’ve never bought your stuff (not saying I wouldn’t), but I think what you do is great. there was no need to offer that chapter for free.
This is ridiculous. Mark provides free help and information all the time. He is trying to sell his book that he put his time and effort into. I see no problems with that or the way it was marketed.
Thanks Mark and keep up the work. I follow you and LA FishGuy…!
Mark,
No apologies are necessary!! You run a great site and have saved many of us a lot of money by avoiding problems. We do understand that you make money by promoting other companys products so people should not jump down your throat when ever you decide to advertis your own product. If people are in this hobby and are afraid to spend an extra $40 on a reference that is going to help them spend less money on tank well then they can go get advice from somewhere else. Keep your head up Mark and keep pumping out the good information.
Mark don’t worry about them fools. You are doing a great job. You are smart enough to start a business. You are not forcing people to buy your guide. I bet ya people asked you before if you written books about the hobby. That is probably what motivated you to write this great informative guides. For the haters this is what I gotta says ..have you heard the phrase FREE LUNCH there is not free lunch in business . If you don’t like, then don’t tune in. Mark thanks for taking the time away from your family to do this videos. And yes, i’ll be picking up the free chapter. I might be cheap but no a hater. Thanks again mark.
Love to see your videos, and must of the comments at your page, as well as your fb wall , but never bought anything from u, thanks to that free chapter u just share I fell I am ready to get your guides, thank u haters, u done a good sales job, by the way Mark, when ever u want some great mexican food come to Mexico and give a call.
Mark,
I thought that was an excellent plug. You have to make money also and for all of the information that you provide I thought that it was fine. I still read the information that you had provided and I was made aware of it prior to your follow up to the hater comments. So don’t feel bad the info is out there and in the information age not finding answers to your questions reflects laziness. And this is to everyone who complained stop giving a good person a hard time and do the footwork yourself.
Mark,
When I got into the saltwater world your videos were among the first ones I found. I really enjoyed them and felt like here’s someone who loves what he does, wants to help others from his experiences and wants to help us save money and not buy all the stuff we are told we need but really don’t. I understand you need to make a living to support your family and hobby.
I can understand why some people did get upset, but for what its worth, I have a greater respect for you now and I think it was very big of you to post an apology and give a free chapter of your guide.
Just remember you can please some of the people some of the time but you can’t please all the people all of the time.
Thank you again for all of your help and videos. I look forward to many more.
Julie
Mark, Thank you for your apology, how ever I will not accept it for it was never necessary to begin with, and never warranted. You share your knowledge freely and others take that for granted. And if you so choose you ARE entitled to earn a living with your knowledge by writing a book or a manual, this is nothing new to our society or any ones for that matter. Its called earning a living and if you have the ability to earn a living doing what you love then more power to you because your one up on the rest of us who work for someone else. Writing a book is time consuming and a quite challenging, it takes a lot of research, fact finding and accreditation for the resources used in its creation. I for one do not have an issue with paying for accurate and helpful information. In todays day and age everyone with a computer thinks they should be able to just google and get the info for free. Personally I would rather trust a source that was researched appropriately. When you make your No-Nonsense Guide to Setting Up A Saltwater Tank available for purchase again, I will no issue with making that purchase because I will know that I can trust the contents of book and the knowledge of author to help ensure my future salt water tank will be a success.
Derek S.
As far as it goes you did nothing wrong and have nothing to apologize for. Apologizes are for the weak and you are not weak!!!
People can be so, hummm, whats the right word for it? I can think of so many words, but I wont say it, dont want to go to thier level.
I personally think you are doing a great job and once in awhile you have to make some money to consider that all that you do to make those videos gotta be a bit costly and not for free. So people get a grip and move on. Thanks Mark
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK YOU DO FOR US!!!
Mark,
Keep up the good work. With the ‘yall’ (you all) it is evident your heart is still in Texas.
I’m sorry but why are so many people moaning about Mark selling his guide. Is he not supposed to recoup some of his money invested in these shows that we all love. Just from the face of it he has spent money on things he didn’t really need (e.g. Sexi tank was to demonstrate how to deal with nano tanks), apart from that i don’t see anyone bitching about paying teachers, adverts on TV plugging a product or a publisher charging for textbooks and I’m struggling to see a difference between any of them and Mark.
Mark ignore the fools, hopefully the kind words on this thread show you haven’t annoyed us all and some people just want to be unhappy, you were just an excuse for them to be.