I have mentioned on The Rookie Blogger a couple of times that one of my favorite blogs is John Cow. Well, yesterday on The Cow’s website he posted about the importance of backing up your blog and provided a link to a Wordpress database backup plugin. Well, it seems he is not only showing the importance of a backup, but also trying to make a little coin from the lesson. If you head over the John Cow’s website you will notice an interesting redirect page:

“This blog is hacked, if we do not receive $100 in 24 hours cow gets well done!”

I always enjoy writing about original marketing ideas. I just love this ploy - all the way down to the kidnapping ransom style magazine letters. Some readers may find this misleading, but I think it is a perfect mix of getting one’s point across and making money. I wonder how much The Cow will make from these “donations”?

One side note to think about - I hope this doesn’t give actual hackers any ideas to hold our blogs for ransom!