Rip Off Report: Who Will Guard the Guards

BELOW IS THE PRESS RELEASE ON OUR FINDINGS ON RIP OFF REPORT

http://www.prlog.org/10167031-ripoff-report-who-will-guard-the-guards.html

RipOff Report: Who Will Guard the Guards?
Ripoff Report refuses to remove false and misleading content from its posters even after the original posters wish to retract their statements citing their users have affirmed Terms and Conditions which permit that course.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Jan 14, 2009 – The following are articles documenting the tactics of RipOff Report and it's use of negative information to gain leverage and promote traffic to its website to gain Google and other advertising dollars.

It all begs the question: Why would a company continue to allow people to post unverified information and complaints without the option for repair or retraction? Answer, to allow someone to destroy a company's reputation and name, (right, wrong, or indifferent) and make money from the process.

Business owners are united in their frustration that RipOff report allows for instant and unmoderated posting with high google ranking without any of the checks and balances of the BBB that provide for proper investigation and mitigation of the claimant's remarks.

For example, if someone were to accuse another of a heinous crime against children on RipOff report or accuse them of rape, and it were totally false, the victim of the lie has no recourse other than "rebuttal". These "rebuttals" are buried way at the bottom of every page and are off the first screen with no internal anchor link for access. In short, most rebuttals are never read. Even if the liar was sued in court for defamation and the allegations were deemed defamatory, RipOff report claims that it is not obligated to remove any false claims because of the acceptance of the Terms of Use by its users.

According to the owner of RipOff Report, Ed Magedson "We will never remove a claim"

However, when a rebutting company defends itself and cites the original claimaint as false and provides the same personal information about the defaming client, RipOff Report does in fact moderate posts and remove names and photos/links to protect its posters.
RipOff Report needs to protect people from the power of a lie. Not profit from it.

One company, for example, was the victim of two false stories:

1. an outright lie to try and extort money, and
2. a client who saw the post, freaked out because of it, and then retracted it - only to find he could not get it deleted even though AS THE ORIGINAL POSTER he wanted to remove it.!The only thing he couild do was to update his complaint with a letter of recommendation. He was so apologetic and felt embarassed and ashamed he could not make it right with the company. It still is a problem since the false posts register for the principle's name as a sole proprietor and it is unfairly hurting its business.

In an at-length telephone conversation for over an hour with Ed Magedson, the owner of ROR, this problem and others were discussed. Instead of being adversarial (something he is used to), Magdeson was presented with creative ways, to make his process more ethical, honest, and equitable to all involved. Even small things like hot-linking rebuttals in the header. Or retracting a statement when the original poster wants to retract it. Or not moderating the comments to protect the identities of the claimants when he allows his claimants free rein to post as they like without moderation. Or not allowing the names of individual people vs corporations in a claimant's posting.

On gleaning the internet, an enlightening dialogue regarding Rip Off Report surfaces quickly, and one can easily find a spreadshot of a mild uprising from not only injured parties, but attornies, web industry professionals, SEO and SEM professionals, web developers, trade professionals, online journalists, and of course bloggers.

Here is a consolidated look at the various postings detailing the strong grass roots coup d'etat effort to upend Google's love affair with a website that many feel trafficks in lies, libel, and defamation. One attorney writes that other of her peers are investigating using the Federal RICO act to bring this company to its knees. Many feel RipOff Report should take note from the BBB who operates with standards, review processes, and equity to all parties:

Andy Beal Writes:
"Ripoff Report: Ripping off those Reported?"
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2008/01/ripoff-report-ri ...

Sarah Bird, Esq of SeoMoz Writes:
"The Anatomy of a RipOff Report Lawsuit"
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-anatomy-of-a-ripoff-repor ...

Reputation Hawk Writes:
"The Ripoff Report Rebuttal Process?"
http://www.reputationhawk.com/ripoff-report.htm

Chris Bennett of 97th Floor Writes:
"Public Spam Report: Google Your Honeymoon with Rip Off Report has to Stop"
http://www.97thfloor.com/blog/public-spam-report-google-your-honeymoon-with-rip-off-report-has-to-stop/

Will Critchlow of Distilled Writes:
"Online shake-downs: help persuade Google to ban ripoffreport"
http://www.distilled.co.uk/blog/reputation/online-shake-downs-help-persuade-google-to-ban-ripoffreport/

Rand Fishkin CEO of SEOmoz Writes:
"Accusations that Rip-Off Report just an Extortion Business"
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/chris-bennet-on-rip-off-report

Bob Kirchman of The Kirchman Studio had this to say on a discussion thread at
http://www.distilled.co.uk/blog/reputation/online-shake-downs-help-persuade-google-to-ban-ripoffreport/#comment-2096

"It’s ironic, really, how my company Kirchman Associates ended up getting slammed on this website.

Four years ago we were facing extortion attempts by those phoney phone directories who would call and tell you that you already were signed up for a recurring charge of always just under $400, but if you payed them once they were back like a bad penny wanting their next installment. I fought back, and as a result some of them put up some pretty outrageous charges about me.

My existing clients know how ridiculous the claims are. The same poster seems to have posed as two “victims” and carries on a rather lame comment lovefest session. My regular clients know that “only telemarketers call me Robert” but it is a bit of a pain to explain this nonsense to new clients or prospects who may have Googled me. How did they get a picture of me? They downloaded it from my own website! Pretty dangerous looking fellow, huh?

Having been in business for 23 years helps, but it would be really nice to see this whole affair put to rest. I contacted the ROR and explained that this was not only false, but malicious information. I was told that I could write a rebuttal! I appreciate what you are doing to help small companies like mine. Many Thanks!"

He goes on to say in a later thread...

"Get this, Now the founder of ROR claims he is being Defamed by ‘Internet Terrorists’ in the SEO community! While it is laughable, it raises a few questions about Ed and his ‘practices.’

If Ed is so concerned about HIS good name, why is he so quick to assume that the small businessperson protecting her good name is suspect? There are principles at work here that are older than the internet… 'As you sow, so shall you reap!' "

The article referenced above was written by Betsy Schiffman of blog.wired.com
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/03/rip-off-report.html


A very empassioned writer from goodbusinessbureau.com had this to say:
A google cached version http://74.125.95.132/searchq=cache:49WWkwZDj1QJ:www.goodbusinessbureau.com/+rip+off+report&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us

One website www.ezripofflawsuit.com even goes so far as to say that Ed Magedson is wanted, marked by the FTC, etc. It contains his photograph, his criminal background, court dockets against him, and myriad links to court cases against him.

Another press release documents a clone site of ROR, badbusinessbureau.com was found in contempt of court.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-25-2003/0001989115&EDATE=

Another website: www.bad-business-rip-off.com documents depositions, criminal complaints, and more against the owner of RipOff Report.com.

After much review, it seems that the only ones having success bringing ROR to light are the ones who know best how the internet works. Internet Industry Professionals.

Rip Off Report: Unthinkit.com suffers unlawful defamation by Kenneth Wilson of Abingdon VA, begins action

The Following Defamatory Claim was made on a public website aimed at discrediting the honest business reputation of UNTHINKIT.COM

Labor day weekend, Jay Antonic contacted me to work on a website that was a 'time sensitive project.' During this project, he had promised to pay me the day after. I finished the job in the time requested, and he claimed to have mailed a check. Three weeks later, he claimed he put the wrong zip code on the check and he said he re-mailed it a total of two times. This does not happen.. then he started giving medical reasons as excuses, then finally came down to financial problems to why he could NOT pay me. He has lied, avoided me, and given me the run around now for two entire months. I have filed a civil claims, and he will pay me, or have a judgment on his record.

Kenneth c. xxxxxx
Abingdon, Virginia
U.S.A.

The following is our response that the defamatory site buried on the bottom of its page, out of the site of viewers. The site removed Kenneth Wilson's name, but allowed for mine to be disparaged without sufficient recourse.

It has come to my attention that a disparaging report against my company and its services has been made on your website by a Mr. Kenneth W. It is my firm claim that Mr. W's claims are not only utterly wrong, but are completely defammatory, libelous, hostile, and continue to project the pattern of instability that I have seen from him throughout our short-lived working relationship.

Mr. W operates loosely as http://www.innovativecs.biz/
A website that has no contact information, no portfolio, no names, no photos, no phone numbers, etc. Kenneth was referred to me through 4 degrees of seperation.
I was seeking someone to assist me with the template integration of a joomla site and its replication across 4 additional domains. I had no prior proof of Mr. W's expertise or lack thereof prior to my engaging him. Our project was against a tight deadline.

Mr. W and I had no written agreement governing our relationship, our terms, our fees, or the schedule of remission at any time.

Mr. W did work very hard to try to complete this project and did make some progress. My firm did have to re-engage with Mr. W's project as it was clear that he had a learning curve relative to menu creation. What should have taken 3-4 hours ended up taking 3-4 days as Kenneth struggled with focus and mastery of the skill sets he professed to possess.

My firm eventually completed the process for Mr. W and finished the template migrations. We received payment from our client and sent it to Mr. W, the check was returned as he supplied an incorrect zipcode on his contact details.

When Mr W found that he had to wait for his $250.00 payment, he became increasingly hostile. During the time that we waited for the check to return to issue new payment, Kenneth arbitrarily siezed control over my client's four domains and hosting control account at GoDaddy. He also compromised the credit card details and changed all of the account details at the Host and Registrar. This constituted theft and unlawful seizure. We engaged our attornies and prepared suit and criminal action against Mr. W.

My client's technology is first-generation technology that is patented, patent-pending, and provisional status. The worth of this technology and the information related to it is highly sensitive and is valued in the multiple millions of dollars.

Mr. W mocked my company and my client and tried to extort his $250.00 from us first before he released control of the accounts he was unauthorized to administrate. This infuriated the client and jeopardized my relationship with them.

I then began to prepare legal and criminal action as the value of the intellectual property assets that Mr. W seized were of substantial monetary value, a value that would place his actions far above petty thievery. Also with his actions crossing state lines, I began investigating Felony Charges against Mr. W.

During this time, Mr. W would call incessantly, crying sometimes, screaming others, threatening suicide, and claiming that he was a victim of Bipolar depression. He was always very hostile, defammatory, and vulgar.

At this point I suggested to Mr. W that he seek psychiatric help and proceed to a hospital for supervision. I told Kenneth that he needed to restore the account for I and my client to cease our impending legal action.

At this time the check returned to me in the mail.

I instructed Mr. W that he would not be paid if he did not revert the account.

After 2 days of discussions, and Mr. W's incessant badgering and abusive phone calls, he finally restored the account access.

After debriefing in a risk assessment with my client, and calculating the hours spent dealing with Mr. W's continued pattern of instability, in addition the time spent consulting with the host, attorneys, police, etc. It is my firms position that Mr. Wilson will never be paid the $250.00, and should he continue to demand it, not only will we counter bill him for our lost time and wages, but as well the punitive damages leveled against my firm as a result with his unscrupulous actions: slander, theft, and now libel.

Mr. W has been given an order of Cease and Desist, and yet continues to wage his libelous campaign.

I submit that Mr. Kenneth C. W is not only unstable as a professional, but as an individual as well. It is our firm opionion that no one who values excellence in business should do business with Mr. W at http://www.innovativecs.biz/ or any other spurious domain.

This is what he looks like:
(((redacted)))

Mr. W has virtually no presence on the web, no public portfolio as a professional, and very little reputation.

If I or my firm are guilty of anything, it is of poor judgement in taking the advice of a colleague seperated by 3 degrees, and in selecting Mr. Kenneth C. W to be trusted with access and input into a sensitive and time-critical professional working project.

If Mr. W, feels that he still has a debt owed to him, then he is certainly entitled to pursue a civil course of action in accordance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

I submit that Mr. W's disclosure on this public website of what he deems to be a debt, and what I will actively dispute, to this website as a third party is a direct and now documented violation of FDCPA law which prohibits unauthorized third party disclosure. I do not authorize Mr. W to discuss his alleged debt publically, nor to disclose it to any third party.

If I or anyone from my firm, find evidence of Mr. W's continued defamation, in direct violation of the order to Cease and Desist issued to him by my company, We are fully committed to reopening all of the charges that were prepared against Mr. W.

It is my suggestion that he remove this disparaging and defammatory claim as it is a gross misrepresentation of my company as untrustworthy, but also of Mr. W as one who is a victim of a 'RipOff'. When in fact, we have made a value decision that the time cost associated with dealing with Kenneth and his unstable indiscretion, has cost far more to our firm than he would ever be due.

For these reasons alone, Mr. W will never be paid by either me or my firm.

I request that this untruthful claim be immediately removed from this website by any party who has the administrative capacity to do so.

I deny Mr. W's claim and allegations.

After lengthy discussions with the owner of ripoffreport.com, he refused to remove the false reports even though he consented they were false.

This prompted my own investigation about others who had trouble with defamation on the RipOffReport Website and the results were very telling indeed.

http://unthinkit.blogspot.com/2009/02/rip-off-report-who-will-guard-guards.html

Jay Antonic announces New Website for TTRG

Press Release: Jay Antonic announces New Website Launch for The Technology Resources Group

UNTHINKIT SALES POSITION

CREATIVE MARKETING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE POSITION OFFERED:
http://charlotte.craigslist.org/med/625393297.html
For more information please contact: sales@unthinkit.com

The Goal Behind UNTHINKIT:
We believe that in kindergarten, when asked what one wanted to do when one grew up, the answers were always idealistic- usually indicitive of innate interest, gifting, or exposure. They were not predicated on money, difficulty, education, schooling etc. Most people, we believe are not earning an income in the area of their true gifting or talent.. they are simply going through economic modalities to sustain themselves in the hopes that one day, when they are nearly dead, they can excercise their gifts. HOWEVER....

Now is the best time in the history of the world for gifting, innovation, and rapid response!
Our overall goal is to enable as many people as possible to earn a living in their gifting. helping them refine their abilties by better applying it to business needs, and then making money
as such, I constantly stream through artists and opportunities. I have often created whole sectors of my business around talented people I have found... instead of the reverse...

AGENCY DISLOYALTIES
This is why agencies are so disloyalto designers: they routinely cast off their talent because they can't seem to make the projects fit their client pool.

Basically the agencies work like this...
1. Client is approached by AE
2. AE schmoozes client
3. Client feigns interest,
4. AE offers incentives (tickets, sports, etc.. events)
5. Client comes back to AE
6. AE sells the firm vs others
7. Client agrees to give the firm the shot
8. Agency/AE presents 3 comps for designs by 3 Agency designers
9. AE and top agency brass pitch the comps
10. Client accepts or rejects the comps
11. Client accepts comp 1 and Agency charges Client up the wazoo,
12. The 2 other comp's designers eventually lose their jobs.

Embedded in the project fees given to Client by Agency in #11 above are the following extraneous costs:

1. Overhead (extra office space for designers and A/E's)
2. Labor for the extra comps not selected
3. The margin associated with comp comp work for LOST clients that never went with the
firm , but the firm still had to pay their employee/contract designers.
4. The schmoozing, boozing, and perks
5. The proofs for all comps
6. Other wasteful overages.

CLIENTS GET HURT AND PAY MORE BY THESE LAYERS OF WASTE

What WE do is a few unique things

1. We offer a full set of creative solutions to service ad agencies, marketing firms, architects, industrial deisgn firms, and web developerswe fill the freelance gap as an agency to agencies; NOT as an HR or staffing firm, but rather a subcontracted resource where an agency can cherry pick what they need from us be it 3d, animation, print, branding, logos, etc web design.

2. We offer a full range of business services to startups ranging from trademark and identity, to product development, market penetration, funding, exit, sales growth ... everything We also work with direct clients.

3. We only use the best talent. We respond to the needs of every client and tailor our approach to them to reflect THEIR business rather than come to them with a pitch or a stylization and then attempt to sell it to them. We hand pick our design team from a ready and changing pool of willing American designers to organically meet the needs of each client.

SHOOTING THE GAPS AND FINDING NEEDS:

I once responded to an inquiry for a sketch artist for 8 bucks an hour .. but when I met with the client to probe the reason WHY the client wanted a sketch artist, I exposed a REAL NEED which was that they were having problems with symmetry and patterning in their prototyping process... I therefore introduced them to my 3d modeling, rendering and animation area and it turned into an 8k contract and I never sketched a thing.

FOCUSING ON THE WHY:
Most people focus on the "what".. .we focus on the "WHY"!

WHY do they need an artist, WHY do they want a logo, WHY are they hiring sales people, WHY are they looking for a Project Manager... etc WHY are they hiring a product designer,.... WHY do they want to build a website we can get to literally dozens of purposeful services that typical agencies cannot. We are VERY dynamic in our approach.

DESIGNING SALES REPS:
We only work with account execs that can design thereby UNTHINKIT can close projects for them that they can become stakeholders in.

MAXIMIZING RELATIONSHIPS:
When we get a startup company client, we are there for the LONG HAUL:
naming, branding, logo, identity, prototype, market deployment, advertising, marketing, internal presentation materials, brand building, web site design, 3d rendering, search engine optimization, sales channel development, business consulting, funding, financing, equity plans, exit strategies

We can MAXIMIZE every client.
A recent client we have, for example came to UNTHINKIT for a cheap logo.
That business has grown into logo, web, signage, fax marketing, webmail, consulting, network maintenance, LAN setup, software support, business development, and internal marketing
150 bucks to several thousand

INCENTIVIZING THE CLIENT:
Every client gets $ for referring new business offsetting their developments.

GETTING PAST NO:
Often times when you, as a designer or small agency, can't close a sale it is because of the client's lack of cash flow either in delayed receivables, no startup capital, or a weak cash position.
We are now opening up a whole new area of business financing that will allow us to help our clients literally finance their development with us through receivable loans, signature loans, secured loans, etc... Thereby we not only remove cashflow as an objection, but we also help our clients acquire our own project fees....

For example when a medical practice wants to do a new website costing 15-20k with video
and they are holding off because of cashflow... it is because they have delayed receivables from
insurance companies, medicare, etc...We can offer them credit-based financing on those receivables to get them the money now to start their projects with us.. then they pay it back to our factor over time and actually build their credit now...

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

Do you have offices here in Charlotte?
No, not for the forseeable future. Family is very important to us as business people and we all work from our homes.

Isn't an office necessary to maintain productivity?
No. We use as many networking tools as possible (chat, ftp, blog, phone, e-fax, e-mail, voip, relay, etc) to manage our informational logistics. Typically most industry account execs are selling and meeting clients out in the field at their places of business, coffee shops, restaurants, events, etc. while the design work is usually done at an office. We reduce overhead by working from home offices, networking, and meeting collaboratively at central locations to our team members.

We work with designers and reps all over the region. Forcing them to commute daily to an office adds another layer of unneccessary expense that would result in higher prices for our clients. It also reduces our Ecological Footprint on our economy.

All of our freelancers typically have their own software and computers already which eliminates the need for an office network, extra computers, printers, T1, internal file servers, lighting, office supplies, decor, etc. By virtue of our business being virtually paperless, we not only reduce our Ecological Footprint, but we remove nearly EVERY LAYER of business expense contributing to expanded pricing for our clients. In so doing, we scrape out all of the overages, and present our clients with more integrity in our pricing by getting down to root costs of production. This allows us to actually sell fantastic creative at a nearly wholesale rate. For this reason, other marketing firms, ad agencise, web developers, architects, and industrial design firms don't view us as a competitor, but rather an amazing resource. For, instead of getting the use of a single freelancer for odd projects, they get an entire domestic agency!

What skills are you looking for in an Account Executive?
The thing with the AE for us is that it is really not sales per se- it is more of referral sales and leads generation. Commissions are the same as a sales rep. but you don't have to write contracts, give quotes, handle paperwork, or anything else. the AE is not closing sales... they just digging up leads and referring them to sales we do the closing, the quotes etc if the project involves an area that you are talented in, you get the design work too we collect 70% up front from our clients so as far as payment, commissions are paid when the contract closes NOT when completed work is delivered to the client. The company makes its margin on the back end and pays YOU first.

What are the biggest challenges an AE faces in its position?
Little supervision. We give LOTS of guidance, assistance, and provide great infrastructure as needed, but little supervision....so trust, hard work, and discipline are very important. For our AE's, unlike other companies,

What is the most important part of the job?
Sticking to the plan UNTHINKIT lays out for lead generation.
The other challenge is to be able to listen for and uncover needs that a client may have that may not be apparent
but that need to be uncovered through probing and effective contextual listening/sythesis.

Does each sales rep have a protected territory or region?
Again this is not cold calling or knocking doorsWe have unique niches of people looking for help. We turn you on to these niches and your job would be to talk to them, introduce them to UNTHINKIT, present us favorably, ask about their project, and ask if we can get back to them or set a phone appt to provide a quote get name, time/date, company, contact details etc, and e-mail it in to our closing team. Each niche will have a different approach and presentation, and therefore requires a different level of sophistication, manner of speech, personal approach, use of language, and understanding of industry lingo and technical terms. there are no territories, but focused industries that i give reps autonomy over. No relocation is necessary as our sales come in from all over the country.

Your website says more than one artist works on a given project. How does that work?
We undercut prices in big markets because our fees are indexed to the Charlotte cost of living
depends on the project. One client may want print, logos, web, 3d rendering, and direct mail
different designers are stronger than others in certain disciplines. Also we can meet deadlines way fast through running multiple creative processes concurrently. We call on marketing firms and ad agencies as a wholesale provider so our responses must be fast and accurate.

So you have a wide range of designers that you work with?
Yes. We work with dozens of hand-picked designers, developer, and artists nationwide. All are hand-picked by UNTHINKIT based on portfolio, experience, credibility, efficiency, and communication skill sets.

So with you...every designer must generate their own work/leads?
No. The A/E is a role that is not like other roles typical of our industry. We have a very unique and dynamic business model. With this position, it is basically leads generation. Leads are brought in to unthinkit, we qualify, and close them, pay commissions out, then set up the projects and assign designers to the roles necessary.
We actually fill a lot of gaps in companies who have gotten rid of their designers as an on-call resource. Many of these relationships orginate from designers who have been let go by their firms due to costing/portfolio but they still have good personal relationships with their former agencies. By returning to their firm as an ambassador of UNTHINKIT, the rep can offer dozens of freelance services to their agency, and in many cases, earn more from that new relationship than they did as an hourly employee.

So, do we get started?
what we do is usually discuss what segments of business you are most familiar with and connected in...
telecom, medical, fashion, manufacturing, furniture, nascar, etc and then set up and support a comprehensive lead generation strategy for the market segment(s) you pick.

Am i shooting in the dark with these leads or do i have some direction?
You have a LOT of, not what we would call direction, but assistance. training, exposure, shadowing, coaching, role-playing, etc remember the nice thing is, is that you really arent SELLING. You are just talking enough with people to get them to call, e-mail in, or set an appointment for UNTHINKIT to work with them and develop the projects. Most is by phone, email and personal networking our approach is really very subtle and consultative rather than pushy or agressive. We have some very sophisticated means of generating leads that are almost entirely unused by our profession.

Do you have some materials you could send to me?
Due to the higly competitive nature of our business coupled with our open-source business model, we do require all prospects, designers, and sales reps to sign a pretty stiff non-disclosure, non-circumvent, and non-compete before receiving our procedural documentation.

Does this mean i can not freelance on my own anymore?
Not necessarily, no. Not unlike our clients, every developer's life-situation is unique and we are sensitive to the fact that everyone needs to earn a living. We structure our arrangements as uniquely to each designer as we for each development process. Albeit, we do require protecting our process via an instrument of non-cicrumvention. We do allow deisgners to maintain their own websites etc. but we do have some exclusions: While we allow our designers to un-exclusively consign their portfolio to unthinkit for "pitching" purposes, we do restrict our designers from showing work done through the UNTHINKIT system on their own domains or private portfolios. As a concession, we keep a live listing of this work on our website with design credits and offer hyperlinks back to a designer's website. We have NO problem with you directly freelancing for clients obtained through your own resources provided that the level of work does not interfere with your efficiency as an UNTHINKIT contributor. This is something that we manage on an individual basis.

Are there other benefits to this process?
Yes, because AS a desgner and sales rep, you will be able to do two things:

1. offer WAY more services than you normally would
2. get more money and faster via our sales process

UNTHINKIT is generally better at closing deals more quickly, on a better fee structure, and on a more equitable payment schedule than most freelancers can generate... and on a more consistent basis. We also carry the contract liability, billing, credit card processing, business infrastructure, and in some cases project financing

Are there other incentives?
As a design and lead contributer UNTHINKIT reward each team contributor with points. These are used as an accrual to earn bi-annual or quarterly profit sharing as a dividend for continued production within the system.

In some cases UNTHINKIT is offered equity positions in various companies as a result of its efforts in building developing companies. As a contributor to these several projects, you may be awarded bonus monies in the event that, for various reasons, these equity positions materialize into cash positions. While imbursements are at the sole discretion of UNTHINKIT and no offer is made to designers of private or common stock, UNTHINKIT's position is that it voluntarily seeks to reward its finest contributors with parachute blesssings achieved through its positive long term relationships. Relationships enhanced by that team member's contribution. This incentive is nearly unheard of in our industry and we are very excited to make it a part of our process.

What is the commission structure for repeat business ?
It depends on the project and its margins, but typical residuals are 3-8%. Additionally, if your existing client refers a new client to us independently, you get a 3-5% override of the full value of the new contract originated by your client’s referrals.

Do you offer an expense account for client lunches/dinners?
Not usually, no. The absence of this part of our process and costing model. We DO NOT schmooze people or blow smoke and mirrors with dinners, concert tickets, etc. We provide a phenomenal product at a fantastic price. We shoot very straight with clients when we tell them that their projects are not padded with the entertainment budgets of our account execs. (reference the movie "In Good Company" when Topher Grace's character takes the longtime client to a hip-hop concert to pander for a sale.)

We provide VALUE. Most of what you will do will be on the phone, by email, and MAYBE at a coffee house. We do the closings, client appointments, contract delivering, receivables, etc. Really, it is much much easier a typical A/E role. BUT...We are willing to pay an AE’s commission simply for lead generation!

Do you offer a salary plus commission?
No. Noone in the entire company receives a salary. All income is derived through direct contribution. Contributors earn, non-contributors do not. We will likely never pay anyone a salary ever. That being said, we usually do not hire account execs that do not design. By truly eliminating the A/E position, and offering a lead role in design fees to lead-generating reps, one stands to make more money than doing either independently.
After all, if WE can't sell... what business do we have teaching our CLIENTS how to do it!

For more information please contact: sales@unthinkit.com

Unthinkit marries into Bridal Marketing Services

UNTHINKIT now offers services for wedding and Bridal marketing companies



Our experience working with internal marketing key personnel as well as external photographers and photo editors makes the UNTHINKIT catalog offering truly unbeatable. Whether client- driven, or with full creative license, our team of graphic artists and designers create a collaborative product that not only reinforces your branding statement, but truly sells your product lines.

We also provide digest catalogs, CD- rom catalogs, coffee table books, unique format print, dealer catalogs, retail and consumer catalogs, online catalogs, annual reports. An essential element of your marketing campaign, a well- designed and expertly organized catalog should guide your customers to the products they need.

Catalogs are essential sales tools which, when developed with your marketing strategy in mind, serve to reinforce your company image with engaging copy and design. Your product catalog may include product images, company information, and a means for potential clients to contact you. Having your entire product offering at the fingertips of the consumer is vital to maximizing your sales results. We offer great web- design as well.

UNTHINKIT provides powerful web design solutions for small businesses and marketing firms. Building a website requires many elements from many different resources to become a success: seamless on- line inventory integrations, properly generated meta- tags, well written copy and product descriptions, proper pay- flow integration, and above all, design. We are here to help with your site from start to finish. We offer trade show booths, large format printing, banners, vehicle wraps, truckside advertising, POP, displays, digital signage, interactive CD- roms, Flash photo albums, and much much more.

UNTHINKIT
PO Box 1345
Denver, NC 28037

Contact
Jay Antonic
(704) 302-7474 tel
Request Information

Event Vendor Type
Invitations / Graphic Design

Year Founded
2004

Event Types
Wedding
Banquet / Dinner
Private Party
Corporate Event
PR / Marketing Event
Meeting
Conference
Convention
Lecture / Speaker
Stage Performance

North Carolina Rendering

unthinkit.com provides exceptional 3D Architectural rendering by contract. North Carolina based 3d rendering. We can take your 2D cad designs or siteplans and render them out with fully photo-realistic lighted interiors.

A small portion of our work is featured on our website: www.unthinkit.com/unthink3d.htm We are a full scale turnkey creative design firm that provides: branding, advertising, web design, rendering, modeling, coloring, graphic design, print work, catalogs, photo editing, logos, and more! contact sales@unthinkit.com to view our portfolio and learn more.

UNTHINKIT.COM provides: Industrial Design, Product Design, Prototype Modeling, Medical Rendering, 3D from CAD designs, Footwear Component Design, Automotive Part Design, and architectural design and rendering.

WV state Posting

Our family-owned creative services agency is a great solution for WV businesses looking to set themselves apart from the pack.

Our designers have lots of big business experience and can offer your small business the same results for a fraction of the cost.

Why?

Because we already provide freelance design work to some of the country's best known ad and marketing agencies working with some of the biggest clients in top 20 markets.

In smaller markets, we work with small business clients and mid-level manufacturers and retailers. Take a look at our limited online portfolio at www.unthinkit.com and www.unthinkit.net.

We offer the following services, quickly, efficiently, within budget: Graphic Design, Logos, Branding, Billboard, direct-mail, Print Campaigns, Streaming web videos, interactive cd/dvd-rom, web design, web development, Search Engine Optimization, webmail marketing, discreet competitive research, e-business consulting, e-tailing, e-commerce, internet community sites, web directories, and more...

We also offer elite services like Prototype development, industrial design, 3d modeling, 3d rendering, CG rendering, animation, product design, patent drawings, wire-frame models, toy design, packaging design, cinematics for video games and flash intros for websites... Commercial illustration, airbrush, fashion design, footwear design, footwear component design, photography, photo editing, catalog development... Voiceovers, sound editing, video editing, post-production work, After Effects...

We have expert level skill in the following applications and code bases:

Applications: Adobe: Photoshop (CS, CS2), Illustrator, Acrobat, InDesign, After Effects,GoLive, Dreamweaver MX, Flash, ColdFusion.

MS: Office, Frontpage, Visio

3d Applications: Maya, Poser 6, Solidworks, Rhino, LIghtwave, ZBrush, MOI, 3DSMAX, Flamingo, Deep UV, CBModelPro, After Effects, Studio8

Programming Languages: HTML, XHTML, DHTML, XML, ASP, JSP, PHP, JAVA, PERL, PYTHON, C++

Audio: Sound Forge, ProTools, Sonic Foundry

So can we really do all of this stuff? YES. and we rock at it.

Our work is NOT outsourced overseas to somewhere like China, India, or Pakistan. We value the creativity and ingenuity of American business and promote the EXPORTING of American ideas and products...NOT JOBS!

Get ahead of everyone else in your market... Visit us today at www.unthinkit.com or e-mail us at sales@unthinkit.com for a free project estimate. become an unthinker! Are you a freelancer? e-mail leads@unthinkit.com to learn how we can help boost your portfolio.

Commercial Illustration

UNTHINKIT.COM - Charlotte, North CarolinaThe Unthinkit.com illustration team provides the highest quality illustrations and paint work. 3D modeling rendering airbrush pen and ink cartooning packaging industrial design product design marketing collateral assets book illustration cards lettering logos and graphics. Graphic design as well. sales@unthinkit.com to request a quote

Prototype Design

Unthinkit - Charlotte, North CarolinaUnthinkit.com has emerged as one of the early leaders in affordable prototypical design, 3D modeling and CG Rendering. We specialize in several categories of three dimensional design.We provide renderings and models in the following ways:Industrial Design, Product Development, Prototype Design and Modeling,Medical Imaging and Rendering, Footwear and Footwear Component Design, Automotive Part Design, CG Animation sequences for marketing and training materials,and architectural design and rendering.

3D rendering, 3d Modeling, Concept Art, Extrusion

Service Description
UNTHINKIT.COM
View Portfolio
Unthinkit.com provides 3d architectural rendering and modeling services to architectural and interior design firms. We offer photo-realistic fully extruded, shaded, lighted, and rendered designs from your CAD files and elevations. We can include people, cars, trees, landscape architecture and more.

Unthinkit.com can animate as well: picture a sunrise/sunset effect over various views, day to night elapsed photography with outdoor lighting effects in parking areas... Flythrough animations, walkthrough animations, 360 virtual tours in fully digitally rendered buildings...all before they even exist! Interior decorators can model and show variable palettes and design motifs in the same space with digital rendering. We can texturize any fabric, any pattern, and any material for photo realism inclulding metals, plastics, water, wood, fabrics, glass, and more.

UNTHINKIT can help collaborate with your design team as well to help you innovate. Our prototype division is highly skilled at industrial design, taking sketch art and making working real prototypes from 3d models. We have a sophisticated process that allows us to design a product from scratch and have a prototype milled, casted, or molded in 2 weeks to 30 days depending on the project. We offer product design, prototype development, digital packaging models,and more.

We are skilled in the following applications: Maya, Poser, 3dMAX, Lightwave, ZBrush, Solidworks, Rhino, Photoshop, Illustrator, CAD, AutoCAD, and many more.

We also offer flash, gif and movie reel animation sequences. If you are building a product or marketing a brand, UNTHINKIT can fully design your concept right from the brand name, trademark, and logo all the way through packaging, samples, and production assistance. We are a turnkey solution. If you need a real 3d architectural model built, we can have our 3d models built into physical models. If you need a prototype built on a new design, we can handle it. If you need patterns rendered on a known solid or other core, we can do it. All of these things that we do accomplish time savings, capital investment savings, saved opportunity cost, lower materials waste, higher sales closing ratios, and faster time to market/production.

We have an additional specialty in medical rendering from CAT scans and MRI data. We can animate and detail in full color and 4D (realtime) cross-sectional or focused approaches to detail surgical procedures, pathology. We can also execute videos to provide informed patient consent disclosures prior to specific or unique surgical procedures.

UNTHINKIT has a very strong Footwear and Footwear Component Design portfolio as well. We specialize in line building, sampling, last designing, component and sole design, patterning, and more. We can guide the entire process from sketch art to fit trial and market launch/trade show exhibition. Past clients include Harley-Davidson, Ingersoll-Rand, Puma, and several Southeastern US Architectural Firms.

UNTHINKIT.COM also offers full-scale branding and market penetration collateral so that you can broadcast your message across multiple media channels. Print, Web, Large Format, Commercials, Streaming Video, Audio Files, Webmail, Direct Mail, Signage, Trade Show fixtures and Kiosks, boxing and packaging, Point-of-purchase, and more. Everything your business needs to bouth create and sell your product from birth to its fully developed life cycle. Contact a representative today at -- for portfolio samples and a risk-free estimate of your next design job. Most of our work is proprietary and is not published for public viewing but is only available upon request.

We look forward to working with you.

Unthink your approach to design and become an unthinker today! --JLA


Year Founded: 2004
Number of Employees: 6-19

We are a full scale turnkey virtual design studio that employs artists of varying degrees of expertise and skill over a broad range of industries and applications. For each client, we hand select a team of designers from our unthinkers best suited for the project at-hand. All are highly trained, experienced, and proficient in their crafts with strong agency/executive experience behind them.

Our designers work in the following disciplines:
* line art
* sketchwork
* air-brush
* typesetting/layout
* print (catalog, marquee collateral)
* print advertising
* Large Format (billboard, kiosk, mobile)
* Video (dvd, cdrom, tv, video, podcast)
* Copy (blog, technical, editorial, content)
* 3d (modeling, rendering, lighting, effects)
* Animation (articulation, light, posing)
* Character ( video game, gnovel, movies)
* Architectural (modeling, rendering, sim)
* Industrial Design (products, component)
* Medical (orthopedic, surgical, rendering)
* Web (design, code, scripting, SEO)
* Packaging (design, layout, construction)
* Marketing (strategy, penetration, attrition)
* Branding (brand dev, conventions, trade)
* Commercial Artwork
* Cartoon and Cartoon Anim
* Media Buyers (ad placement, scheduling)
* Voice Talent (voiceover, radio, web, tv)
* Commercials (tv, radio, web, webinar)
* e-business development
* brand positioning and market share
* Search Engine Optimization
* Viral Marketing and User Recapitulation
* Design Process Engineering
* Engineering
* CAD/AUTOCAD/DRAFTING

and much much more

Standard Business Terms:
Our payments are negotiated on a per-contract basis with each client.
Our structure is this:

1. non-disclosure/non-compete executed
2. Free-Estimate/Quote Bid is given
3. Estimate refined, scope refined
4. Contract Offered
5. Contract Ratified and Deposit made
6. Client provides necessary files to facilitate development (cad, or other)
7. Designs are executed and delivered in sequence as they are developed
8. On final delivery, and on receipt client remits remainder of contract fees.
9. Client retains ALL source files (we are an open-source firm!)
10. Client retains all rights, interest and ownership in the designs.
11. Upon successful completion and full client satisfaction, Unthinkit typically seeks right of first refusal on subsequent work, but not in all cases.
12. Unthinkit offers referral incentives to existing clients who have completed projects. These range from 10-25% of the value of the referred contract. This is to help offset the development fees of our clients (although they are NOT marked up to account for this... we simply have decided NOT TO EMPLOY full time sales reps.

All of our business comes from referral or from the market directly by reputation.) Depending on the location of the contracting Client, payment terms may vary. These are handled on a per-client basis based on reputation, on country/state of origin and on the nature of the business.

For example, a simple logo job would likely be done via paypal or corporate check. Placing a national mobile billboard media buy would be done through corporate credit card or check. A small elevation study for a drive up fotomat could be handled by check, and a full city scape of Boston would likely be handled by bank wire.

We are a firm who treats every company as an individual. No policy fits every company so we work with everyone to find the most effective and trustowrthy way of remuneration.

Turnaround time can range from 48-72 hours to 30 days depending on the complexity of the project. This is typically defined in the estimation/project scope phase of the project cycle.

FAQ: Frequently Alluded to Quandaries

UNTHINKIT is quite pleased to be able to provide quality contract work to some of the country's best marketing firms, ad agencies, Public Relations Firms, and Web Development groups. As a result of these relationships, many clients of ours have recurrent questions. Here is my attempt to document a few responses:

ON OUR RATES AND TERMS:

Everything is negotiable by contract. I tend to avoid hourly because I have simply seen so much dishonesty with subs as far as reporting more hours than actually expended, or even not enough for harder deals or picky clients. What I do is usually start off with a new firm with a small easily executed project. I warranty that all of my project quotes carry a guarantee not-to-exceed. Each of my agency clients are different and have different expectations for their portfolio. For each regular client I develop a tailored menu of services that covers a good breadth of basic projects pursuant to their identifiable needs.

ON STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS:

We also do a lot of quid pro quo. For example I am opening up a JV with a media/video/interactive company that has full sound/video production capability and does interactive 360 tours, online streaming video presentations, etc. I do all of his basic SEO and web design work and he does all of my video work. In this way we have a reflexive relationship that is self-complimentary. My Client is able to sell projects that he normally would walk away from like print, billboard, e-commerce, etc…


BUSINESS WE DON'T TOUCH WITH A TEN FOOT POLE:
Hosting, Actual Printing (we do offer liaison services though), ISP, Re-selling Content Management Systems/Web Portals, Gambling/Porn/Hate websites, Domain Reselling, DNS management, Proprietary Mail Server Installations.

NEW BUSINESS WE ARE JAZZED ABOUT:
3d modeling, Rendering , After Effects, Animation, Character Modeling, Architectural Rendering/Modeling, Product Animations, Video, executive presentations, interactive cd-rom, branding, footwear and footwear component design, toy design, catalog management for e-commerce. Photo asset editing and management (en masse or piece-meal)

MIDNIGHT OIL:
We are also a great resource for meeting tight deadlines as we often pull all-nighters to help clients both make their delivery windows and allow them to work the rest of their pipeline so they don’t get log-jammed. We get a LOT of 11th hour assignments!

So if you are sitting there freaking out at 11:00 p.m. about a next-day deadline and think that the only ones awake to help you are over in China, give us a shout! Call or e-mail the unthinkers today: http://www.unthinkit.com/contactus.htm

Unthinkit.com : 3D rendering, 3d Modeling, Concept Art, Extrusion Architectural Rendering, Prototype Design

Unthinkit.com provides 3d architectural rendering and modeling services to architectural and interior design firms. We offer photo-realistic fully extruded, shaded, lighted, and rendered designs from your CAD files and elevations.

We can include people, cars, trees, landscape architecture and more. Unthinkit.com can animate as well: picture a sunrise/sunset effect over various views, day to night elapsed photography with outdoor lighting effects in parking areas...

Flythrough animations, walkthrough animations, 360 virtual tours in fully digitally rendered buildings...all before they even exist! Interior decorators can model and show variable palettes and design motifs in the same space with digital rendering. We can texturize any fabric, any pattern, and any material for photo realism inclulding metals, plastics, water, wood, fabrics, glass, and more.

UNTHINKIT can help collaborate with your design team as well to help you innovate. Our prototype division is highly skilled at industrial design, taking sketch art and making working real prototypes from 3d models. We have a sophisticated process that allows us to design a product from scratch and have a prototype milled, casted, or molded in 2 weeks to 30 days depending on the project.

We offer product design, prototype development, digital packaging models,and more. We are skilled in the following applications: Maya, Poser, 3dMAX, Lightwave, ZBrush, Solidworks, Rhino, Photoshop, Illustrator, CAD, AutoCAD, and many more.

We also offer flash, gif and movie reel animation sequences.

If you are building a product or marketing a brand, UNTHINKIT can fully design your concept right from the brand name, trademark, and logo all the way through packaging, samples, and production assistance. We are a turnkey solution.

If you need a real 3d architectural model built, we can have our 3d models built into physical models. If you need a prototype built on a new design, we can handle it. If you need patterns rendered on a known solid or other core, we can do it. All of these things that we do accomplish time savings, capital investment savings, saved opportunity cost, lower materials waste, higher sales closing ratios, and faster time to market/production.

We have an additional specialty in medical rendering from CAT scans and MRI data. We can animate and detail in full color and 4D (realtime) cross-sectional or focused approaches to detail surgical procedures, pathology. We can also execute videos to provide informed patient consent disclosures prior to specific or unique surgical procedures.

UNTHINKIT has a very strong Footwear and Footwear Component Design portfolio as well. We specialize in line building, sampling, last designing, component and sole design, patterning, and more. We can guide the entire process from sketch art to fit trial and market launch/trade show exhibition. Past clients include Harley-Davidson, Ingersoll-Rand, Puma, and several Southeastern US Architectural Firms.

UNTHINKIT.COM also offers full-scale branding and market penetration collateral so that you can broadcast your message across multiple media channels. Print, Web, Large Format, Commercials, Streaming Video, Audio Files, Webmail, Direct Mail, Signage, Trade Show fixtures and Kiosks, boxing and packaging, Point-of-purchase, and more.

Everything your business needs to bouth create and sell your product from birth to its fully developed life cycle. Contact a representative today at sales@unthinkit.com -- for portfolio samples and a risk-free estimate of your next design job.

Most of our work is proprietary and is not published for public viewing but is only available upon request. We look forward to working with you.

Unthink your approach to design and become an unthinker today!

--JLA