Contacted From London Over Business Advertising...ugh!
Business By Ginger08 Updated 11 Feb 2007 , 8:20pm by cakesbycathy
Well, I have a strange feeling about this, so thought to seek advice from you all on here. We got a phone call this morning from a woman in London, from Atlantic Multimedia company, saying they are putting together cd's that are going on the May 2007 issue of Bridal Guide magazine and that we were selected to be the Wedding Cake representation for the state of Washington. Now, ego of course I would love to jump at this, to be nationwide with our business name, but of course it costs money, approx. $580 to be exact, so thats whats got me hesitant. Has anyone else been contacted by these people? I would love to know if its a scam or legit, and the BBB doesnt work outside of the U.S. (as far as I can figure out). Any advice here would be great. Thanks!
Summary: Someone called you asking for money.
Do you give money to everyone who asks for it?
I agree with the other posters. Do some research before you make any kind of decision.
My gut reaction is that it isn't a part of BG magazine at all but a paid 3rd party advertisement/insert. I'd be super careful with that because you don't know if the magazine has actually accepted the ad/CD insert. I'm concerned that a London-based rep would be working on a US magazine. That's highly unusual expecially since Atlantic Multimedia is in Canada.
A friend of mine was contacted by them. She decided to turn it down though. Thats about all I know about it. I honestly don't know what being all over the us and more would do though.. Unless you ship cakes. It kinda sounds fishy to me.
BEWARE!! My South African friend (businessman) told me that there are people from OTHER African countries that can contact you and can make it all LOOK like it is from Canada, England, or the US. There is no way for them to be prosecuted from the US!!
DON'T SEND MONEY!!
Beth in KY
Thank you! NO I dont give money to just anyone who asks for it, but this was a business proposition, and we do pay for advertisement on a large wedding site that was over the phone also. I will definately NOT be sending money to these people though, since my initial reaction was no! Thank you for the imput!
I got a call from them a few months ago about the exact same thing. Even though I turned it down I did some research at the time and it appeared to be legit.
Here is the web site for Atlantic Multimedia http://www.atlanticmultimedia.net/ and if you check out the recent work link you will see some basic info on the 2006 CD ROM guide they put together.
I told them to send me a copy of the finished 2007 version and I would decide if we wanted to be involved in 2008.
I don't blame you for being hesitant.
Piece of Cake offered a great link and I think I would check it out first before putting any money on the line.
I got a call from them today too. I asked them to send me an e-mail to read it over. I'm not going to do it because I'm already over my advertising budget and I don't know anything about them, but here is what they sent me.
Thank you very much for your time during our recent telephone conversation. Further to our discussion, please find below further information on the the BRIDAL GUIDE 2007 CD ROM. As discussed, our website is www.atlanticmultimedia.net and the website for Bridal Guide is www.bridalguide.com .
1) We are including on the CD ROM, amongst other things, a unique BRIDAL Directory, which is going to profile some of the top companies in the United States . We will be profiling just one Wedding Cake company per state. After viewing your stunning repertoire of wedding cakes and discussing the project with you in person I would be delighted to profile you as the sole Wedding Cake company for the state of Nebraska .
2) Inclusion would involve us including a full screen advert (800 x 400 pixels) profiling your companys product and/or service and a hyperlink to your website. Examples of previous adverts can be viewed at www.atlanticmultimedia.net/sample and a video interview sample from a past disk is viewable at http://atlanticmultimedia.net/videos/chanel.mov (you will need Quick Time in order to view this video sample)
3) As a special introductory offer we are willing to REDUCE our £495 participation cost. All we would charge you is £295 which is about $580 at present (exchange rate in dollars can be viewed at www.xe.com). As already stated, our objective is to prove to you how effective participating in this publication will be on a regular basis. Hopefully you may then decide to re-subscribe at the full amount for the 2008 title - although please be assured you are not obliged (or tied in) to do so
4) A minimum of 350,000 CD ROM's will be distributed on the front cover of the BRIDAL GUIDE magazine in early May 2007
5) Should you wish to enhance this suggested profile then there are a host of additional stand-alone advertising opportunities available. Naturally I would be delighted to discuss them with you in more detail
6) You can also visit our media pack by clicking the following link www.atlanticmultimedia.net/bridalguide
I sincerely hope that this information is useful and that you are interested in participating in this exciting and innovative publication. I very much look forward to obtaining your feedback.
With kind regards
Deborah Reed
(Sales Executive)
150 Tooley Street London SE1 2TU
0 11 44 207 234 0444 (t)
0 11 44 207 234 0555 (f)
www.atlanticmultimedia.net
If it is legit you are basically paying to advertise in this mag. They just word it differently to make you think you are not just paying for an ad.
I was also contacted by them today. I think it is weird. I'm a very small business and the wedding cake portion of my biz is barely off the ground, yet. Why would they want me to be the state rep??? 
I'm going to check their website though, just for kicks!! 
Just a follow up to add...we told them no, said it is not something that we think would be best for our business, and the advice over shipping cakes was right; we dont want to do that at all so why nationwide. We are going to put our money into the big wedding show we have every year here and get the local brides. Now, after telling this lady that twice by my business partner, I said no (being the level headed one my mom said), she called my business partner again and was a little irritated with us over not wanting to do it; made me mad she went over my head. Well see...might have missed out on something, but Ill be keeping my eyes open for that May issue (website says August) and purchase it just to see what all this fuss is about. Thanks for the helpful advice!!!!!!!!!!!!
She talked to your business partner again after you told her no twice?!? 
Even if this is legit (and sounds like it is), I wouldn't want to do business with someone that behaved that way. I think you made the right decision.
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