Most of the time, we get civilised and positive messages from businesses in Polokwane.

But sometimes we get messages like this (translation follows Afrikaans):
"Van wanneer af het jy die toestemming om ander mense se besighede se inligting te gebruik sonder om die eienaars se toestemming te verkry? Ek neem aan jy het tonne geld vir regskostes? Jy gebruik nie eers die korrekte skryfwyse van ons besigheid se naam nie.
Ons stel nie belang om op mypolokwane gelys te word nie. Verwyder onmiddelik ons besigheid van julle web site of ons sal die nodige regstappe neem."

Translation:

"Since when do you have permission to use other people's businesses' information without obtaining the owner's permission? I suppose you have tons of money for legal costs? You don't even use the correct style of our business' name.
We are not interested in a listing on mypolokwane. Remove our business immediately from your website or we will take legal steps"

Before we reply we need to mention that all information on MyPolokwane.com was gathered from public sources and permission was therefore not needed. (But, we do have money for the legal steps, if necessary)

Before any person calls for the removal of his/her business' entry from MyPolokwane.com we suggest that the owner consider what we are doing here. This is not just a website that was put on the Internet and forgotten. It is not a website where you pay for your entry. It is not just a website. It is part of a social media network that includes Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, blog, a newsletter, Friendfeed and a host of other initiatives to ensure that every business in our business directory has a footprint on the Web. We also do not use excessive, colourful, impressive ads that do not have any value on the web, apart from looking nice. The whole design of our website is aimed at increasing the likelihood of being found on the Internet. That is the real value we want to create for Polokwane businesses and people.

We need to point out that we did not approach any business to advertise before we gave them a free entry in our business directory. That enabled us to have over 3000 businessess in our directory, which resulted in a directory that does not have its equal in the city.

We call on business owners and groups to contact us to afford us the opportunity to explain social media, how it can be used by businesses to promote themselves and how it can be used by interest groups to advance their aims. We are prepared to visit you and address individuals as well as groups to explain these exciting developments in Internet technology that was one of the bigger contributing factors to the election of Barack Obama as US president.

We need to keep in mind that Polokwane will have world standard Internet access before the end of 2010 and businesses need to be prepared for that.

We will assist any business, regardless of whether it is an advertiser or not, to get the most from social media and MyPolokwane.com

But if an individual do not want to keep up with the times, we are quite prepared to consider deleting his business' entry from our directory, although we obviously prefer a civilised conversation rather than empty threats.

We have decided to comply with the request and you will not see the entry of bizWorld.Limpopo in our directory in future. If MyPolokwane.com does not give you what you are looking for, we suggest www.polokwane.info. They also know what they are doing.