In one of my articles, I discussed how to market your web site link twice. It detailed out how to promote not only www.yoursite.com but how you should also promote your site without the www., like this: http://yoursite.com.
This article is to talk about promoting ALL of your pages within your marketing campaign. See, most of us typically only promote the main page on our sites. Ex. www.yoursite.com. The truth is, your site is much more than just the 1st page right? Well, let's condition ourselves to promote everything available within your site...
Search Engine Marketing is crucial for all companies who want to succeed online. I'm sure at one point or another, you will hear how "Optimizing your site for search engines is crucial". Of course, they aren't fooling you, it is a crucial marketing tactic but, what is also crucial is learning how to use different tools to boost your search engine placements once you've optimized your site for the web.
So let's talk about the marketing tactics available to you and implement strategies on how to promote all your pages within them.
LINK EXCHANGES:
Link popularity has become a norm for most small companies to implement in their daily promoting activities. Here's the problem, most companies that perform link exchanges daily fail to utilize it to their advantage. For ex. Let's say you perform approximately 10 link exchanges daily. For each one, you submitted your link "www.yoursite.com". What you'll want to start implementing is submitting 10 different links within your site.
Ex Link Exchanges:
Link #1: http://yoursite.com
Link #2: http://yoursite.com/resources
Link #3: http://www.yoursite.com/services
And so on...
A good strategy would be to open up "Note Pad" and create all the links you want to promote.
1) Add each link<
2) Assign an appropriate title to each link
3) Create an appropriate description for each link
Now all you have to do is to copy and paste each link when performing your daily link exchanges.
WRITING ARTICLES:
Do you write articles to promote your site??? If you do, then you probably have created a "Resource Box" at the end of each article right??? Good, let's change the resource box a little.
My site is host to 100's of Marketing Articles and the 1 thing I notice time & time again is that each author (no disrespect to any of the wonderful authors) Typically only add the main page of their web site within their "resource box".
Ok, let's say you write articles about "Search Engine Marketing". At the end of the article, add a link to a page on your site that talks about "Search Engine Marketing" or something similar.
Ex. http://www.yoursite.com/search_engine_marketing.html
So with that in mind, try revising all your articles to point to specific pages on your web site.
DIRECTORY SUBMISSIONS:
Submitting your site to directories will give your site long lasting traffic. Not all directories will accept any link from your site besides the main page. This is ok though, there are literally 100's of other directories that will allow you to submit any page you want.
Experiment with this and try to change up all your links when your submitting to directories.
I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND : Using anything other than your main page for directories like: OPD Open Project Directory or Yahoo.
So now you have 3 proven marketing strategies on how to improve your search engine placements for all of your pages instead of only your main page. Be creative with this and look for more strategies you can implement this tactic with.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Did I Hear You Say, Mama, Help Me I Lost My Websites
This simple reminder is dedicated to all Webmasters (and Webslaves like me). Don't sleep tonight without reading this. Find out why below...
Have you seen people cried out loud for help because they lost their websites?
I have seen this many times in several forums and have personally experienced the same not long ago. I am a living testimony on this one.
And so I cried out, "Mama help! I lost my websites!"
But no one can help me... Sad but true...
So I face mounting problems that escalates each day as I am rebuilding my websites. Lost sales, lost customers, lost files and lost hairs (it's very stressful you know).
If it did not happen to you just yet, good for you. Otherwise, you already know how painful it is to wake up in the morning just to see your website was wiped out on the face of the internet.
Scary eh?
Webmasters lose their websites for a variety of reasons. This may be due to either one or the combination of the following:
1) Server hardware breakdowns or failures
2) Datacenter disasters (fires, electrical, etc)
3) Software updates and failures
4) Hacking and malicious intents
5) Transfer or server movement problems
6) Your webhost human errors
7) Your own human errors
8) Other accidents I might have missed
Except for your own mistakes (admit it, nobody's perfect) from time to time, all the other reasons
are beyond your control. And it's not good news.
It's a good thing that you NOW know that it's not a question of "IF" it will happen to you. It's <
just a matter of "WHEN" disaster will strike YOU.
- Are you ready for this?
- Can you deal with the consequences and trauma?
- Is your website insured if disaster falls today?
Luckily, most of us know the solution but we keep on ignoring this. Admit it. I know.
The only way to really have peace of mind is to do one simple thing... Just ONE simple thing...
Backup!
Backup!
Backup!
Most of us knew this all along but we don't do it.
Are we crazy? Nope. We are just busy.
We are so busy online we don't have time for this simple thing. No challenge eh?
But you see, this is your ONLY true insurance from the shaky internet platforms and uncontrollable mishaps.
You can't just rely on someone to do this for you.
- Not with your web host.
- Not your programmer.
- Not your website designer.
- Not even your Mom!
YOU, the website owner should do this for yourself.
BACKUP.
I pray that you will not be stricken with this sad online tragedy. Because I really can't help you even if you email me a million times for help.
Remember, accidents strike when you least expect it. (Or it will not be called accidents right?)
So don't forget to BACKUP your websites from time to time. And your vital files in your computer too.
You'll have peace of mind and I tell you, that's a great and wonderful feeling.
Tell your Mom about it. She'll be happy to know...
Have you seen people cried out loud for help because they lost their websites?
I have seen this many times in several forums and have personally experienced the same not long ago. I am a living testimony on this one.
And so I cried out, "Mama help! I lost my websites!"
But no one can help me... Sad but true...
So I face mounting problems that escalates each day as I am rebuilding my websites. Lost sales, lost customers, lost files and lost hairs (it's very stressful you know).
If it did not happen to you just yet, good for you. Otherwise, you already know how painful it is to wake up in the morning just to see your website was wiped out on the face of the internet.
Scary eh?
Webmasters lose their websites for a variety of reasons. This may be due to either one or the combination of the following:
1) Server hardware breakdowns or failures
2) Datacenter disasters (fires, electrical, etc)
3) Software updates and failures
4) Hacking and malicious intents
5) Transfer or server movement problems
6) Your webhost human errors
7) Your own human errors
8) Other accidents I might have missed
Except for your own mistakes (admit it, nobody's perfect) from time to time, all the other reasons
are beyond your control. And it's not good news.
It's a good thing that you NOW know that it's not a question of "IF" it will happen to you. It's <
just a matter of "WHEN" disaster will strike YOU.
- Are you ready for this?
- Can you deal with the consequences and trauma?
- Is your website insured if disaster falls today?
Luckily, most of us know the solution but we keep on ignoring this. Admit it. I know.
The only way to really have peace of mind is to do one simple thing... Just ONE simple thing...
Backup!
Backup!
Backup!
Most of us knew this all along but we don't do it.
Are we crazy? Nope. We are just busy.
We are so busy online we don't have time for this simple thing. No challenge eh?
But you see, this is your ONLY true insurance from the shaky internet platforms and uncontrollable mishaps.
You can't just rely on someone to do this for you.
- Not with your web host.
- Not your programmer.
- Not your website designer.
- Not even your Mom!
YOU, the website owner should do this for yourself.
BACKUP.
I pray that you will not be stricken with this sad online tragedy. Because I really can't help you even if you email me a million times for help.
Remember, accidents strike when you least expect it. (Or it will not be called accidents right?)
So don't forget to BACKUP your websites from time to time. And your vital files in your computer too.
You'll have peace of mind and I tell you, that's a great and wonderful feeling.
Tell your Mom about it. She'll be happy to know...
Protecting your self against online credit card fraud Today more and more people are looking to the internet to do their shopping.
Today more and more people are looking to the internet to do their shopping. With online stores popping up all over the internet the urge to spend money on the World Wide Web has never been stronger. The unfortunate thing is that the urge for scam artists to take your money has never been stronger. So how do you protect your self from these thieves? If you follow these simple steps I promise you'll enjoy shopping on the internet more having taken these precautions.
The first thing you should consider when buying online is if the website you are shopping on is secure? These days most retail websites have secure pages where you enter your personal information but that doesn't mean that all sites are secure. The first step in making sure that your information is secure is to check the address bar and look for "https" this means that you are on a secure page. If the address begins with "http" the page is not secure and your information should not be given. The second step in determining if the website is safe is to look for the picture of a closed lock or an unbroken key. These pictures can be found in the bottom right corner of your browser window. When the lock is open or the key is broken the page is not secure. The last thing to look for is mention of secure certificates or "SSL". These logos usually appear near the bottom of the screen. If you are still not sure if the website is secure you can always ask them through e-mail (make sure to save the reply just in case).
Credit card fraud is still relatively common. Even with all the security that some of the larger websites have, these con artists are still able to scam some people. So what do you do if you suspect that you have been scammed? The first thing you should do is determine if the charges on your credit card are really unauthorized. This is why you should save all of your receipts. Sometimes when a company makes a charge to your card it might show up on your statement as a charge from a name that you don't recognize so it is important to check your receipts and confirmation e-mails (the company will usually tell you what the purchase will be charged as in the confirmation) to make sure that the mystery charges aren't legitimate. Once you are sure that you have been scammed either by the store or by someone that has somehow stolen your credit card information your next step is to contact the credit card company. Some companies such as VISA and MasterCard offer zero liability for fraudulent charges. If your credit card issuer does not have a zero liability policy then you are only liable for up to $50 according to federal law.
Shopping on the internet is more popular than ever and with the flood of internet shoppers comes a wave of con artists. Protect your self from these crooks. Follow the information I have laid out for you and remember to save your receipts, look for secure pages and if that isn't enough then only buy from well established websites that you have had good experiences with.
The first thing you should consider when buying online is if the website you are shopping on is secure? These days most retail websites have secure pages where you enter your personal information but that doesn't mean that all sites are secure. The first step in making sure that your information is secure is to check the address bar and look for "https" this means that you are on a secure page. If the address begins with "http" the page is not secure and your information should not be given. The second step in determining if the website is safe is to look for the picture of a closed lock or an unbroken key. These pictures can be found in the bottom right corner of your browser window. When the lock is open or the key is broken the page is not secure. The last thing to look for is mention of secure certificates or "SSL". These logos usually appear near the bottom of the screen. If you are still not sure if the website is secure you can always ask them through e-mail (make sure to save the reply just in case).
Credit card fraud is still relatively common. Even with all the security that some of the larger websites have, these con artists are still able to scam some people. So what do you do if you suspect that you have been scammed? The first thing you should do is determine if the charges on your credit card are really unauthorized. This is why you should save all of your receipts. Sometimes when a company makes a charge to your card it might show up on your statement as a charge from a name that you don't recognize so it is important to check your receipts and confirmation e-mails (the company will usually tell you what the purchase will be charged as in the confirmation) to make sure that the mystery charges aren't legitimate. Once you are sure that you have been scammed either by the store or by someone that has somehow stolen your credit card information your next step is to contact the credit card company. Some companies such as VISA and MasterCard offer zero liability for fraudulent charges. If your credit card issuer does not have a zero liability policy then you are only liable for up to $50 according to federal law.
Shopping on the internet is more popular than ever and with the flood of internet shoppers comes a wave of con artists. Protect your self from these crooks. Follow the information I have laid out for you and remember to save your receipts, look for secure pages and if that isn't enough then only buy from well established websites that you have had good experiences with.
Check Out Easy Ways Of Domain Name Registration
Domain name registration is a significant, easy, and strategically important first to form an online presence, whether it is for business or otherwise. A domain name gives the first impression to your customers. A well-chosen domain name can set up your success in different ways; most importantly help generate search engine traffic for your website.
You should consider a few important points while going for your domain name registration. You can easily get your domain name registered. You should choose a domain name that will help to make your site effective. Domain names are not only the web addresses or URLs, but they are far more than that.
A domain name is the marketing brand and is the most important marketing tool that you possess, because it helps to draw traffic to your website.
Anyone can easily register a domain name, and register as many domain names as possible. Even if you do not own any website, then also you can register a domain name. Anyone can register a domain name up to 67 characters long. Register up to 10 years in advance.
There are many benefits of a good domain name. Owning a good domain name also gives you a decisive edge over the competitors. You can make your position strong in the industry with the help of a good domain name.
Domain name allows making a site virtual, and also adds the credibility to the site. People mostly want to choose the business partners with the sites that have their own domain names. Domain names make an organization professional.
The ownership of the domain name gives you the option of transferring the website to any web host while maintaining your address. It allows for the continuity of the business and also allows shopping for the hosting service. Domain names also promote the branding of your products. A descriptive domain name can work as an effective marketing tool. Bear in mind that a short domain name can be easily memorized.
You should consider a few important points while going for your domain name registration. You can easily get your domain name registered. You should choose a domain name that will help to make your site effective. Domain names are not only the web addresses or URLs, but they are far more than that.
A domain name is the marketing brand and is the most important marketing tool that you possess, because it helps to draw traffic to your website.
Anyone can easily register a domain name, and register as many domain names as possible. Even if you do not own any website, then also you can register a domain name. Anyone can register a domain name up to 67 characters long. Register up to 10 years in advance.
There are many benefits of a good domain name. Owning a good domain name also gives you a decisive edge over the competitors. You can make your position strong in the industry with the help of a good domain name.
Domain name allows making a site virtual, and also adds the credibility to the site. People mostly want to choose the business partners with the sites that have their own domain names. Domain names make an organization professional.
The ownership of the domain name gives you the option of transferring the website to any web host while maintaining your address. It allows for the continuity of the business and also allows shopping for the hosting service. Domain names also promote the branding of your products. A descriptive domain name can work as an effective marketing tool. Bear in mind that a short domain name can be easily memorized.
What Is Black Hat Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
What Is Black Hat Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Seo has been very useful and famous in internet marketing. There are many techniques that make boosting your site a success through different seo strategies. But despite the success of seo, there are some black practitioners who tend to see the field of search engine optimization as war, and the search engines are doing anything to beat the competition whether it is fair or foul. Those white hatters market with the other search engines as associates or partners who can help them drive links and business to their client's sites.
Cloaking happens when a website or a web page displays different content for a certain search engine spider in opposition to a human user. Cloaking is the one that delivers a version of a page to an Internet user and a different description to a search engine. You will notice a cloaked page is filled with keywords and phrases that the site wants to make them rank high.
This is done by cloaking the programs that weigh the IP address of the other party to a database of the known IP address which comes from a definite search engine spider. If there is a match in the IP address on the list, it serves a page which is particularly written for the search engines.
Cloaking has several good reasons which include increasing advertising and promotion. If you are trying to control your rankings in the different search engines, it might result to penalize your site or it might be banned.
Spamming or the keyword stuffing is a long list of keywords placed in the content and also the code on the page which makes it unreadable. Have you seen a page that repeatedly displays an ad with certain words? It is obvious that the site is trying to rank its page. This is known as keyword spamming but it is just one tip that most SEO companies are trying to do to increase page rank.
You might not notice the page may have invisible text, title tags, meta tags and comment tags. If a page repeats a certain keyword repeatedly, google might place a filter to lessen the ranking or much worse, ban the site. Keyword density can be quite tricky but following the general rule, 3% t0 12 % is the percentage to which a site can use the targeted keywords.
You will notice there are some hidden texts in SEO strategies. This happens when a text or link is invisible to the website visitor but can still be seen by the search engines. If this happens it is considered hidden. Before, people used small fonts to hide the text or they would even use the same color for the background.
This makes them able to put some links which are unseen, but has long been noticed by the search engines that is why they have come up with another strategy this time. Spammers are using the cascading style sheets in order to hide the text. Some are also using tags which are set to hide the text on the page. These strategies are considered hidden if they are left unseen but search engines have their own technique of spotting invisible links so better not do it at all.
The doorway pages are those that exclusively exist to rank well in the different search engines. You may notice some of the pages being ugly and some contain paragraphs which do not have any relation to the topic. Most of the time these doorway pages are not part of the regular navigation of the site which are called orphaned pages.
A black hat SEO can use very good software to filter or generate the doorway pages. This happens when they plug a few keywords and search the page.
You may notice some sites linking to other sites which are have no relation at all. Some sites just link to other sites which is part of their strategy. Now, you will find this truly spamming.
If you are going to put up your own website, make sure that you will avoid these things and keep SEO marketing fair and do not think of competition. Think of how you can increase your site ranking fairly.
in SEO
What now? Once you have read this article, give it a rating.
Seo has been very useful and famous in internet marketing. There are many techniques that make boosting your site a success through different seo strategies. But despite the success of seo, there are some black practitioners who tend to see the field of search engine optimization as war, and the search engines are doing anything to beat the competition whether it is fair or foul. Those white hatters market with the other search engines as associates or partners who can help them drive links and business to their client's sites.
Cloaking happens when a website or a web page displays different content for a certain search engine spider in opposition to a human user. Cloaking is the one that delivers a version of a page to an Internet user and a different description to a search engine. You will notice a cloaked page is filled with keywords and phrases that the site wants to make them rank high.
This is done by cloaking the programs that weigh the IP address of the other party to a database of the known IP address which comes from a definite search engine spider. If there is a match in the IP address on the list, it serves a page which is particularly written for the search engines.
Cloaking has several good reasons which include increasing advertising and promotion. If you are trying to control your rankings in the different search engines, it might result to penalize your site or it might be banned.
Spamming or the keyword stuffing is a long list of keywords placed in the content and also the code on the page which makes it unreadable. Have you seen a page that repeatedly displays an ad with certain words? It is obvious that the site is trying to rank its page. This is known as keyword spamming but it is just one tip that most SEO companies are trying to do to increase page rank.
You might not notice the page may have invisible text, title tags, meta tags and comment tags. If a page repeats a certain keyword repeatedly, google might place a filter to lessen the ranking or much worse, ban the site. Keyword density can be quite tricky but following the general rule, 3% t0 12 % is the percentage to which a site can use the targeted keywords.
You will notice there are some hidden texts in SEO strategies. This happens when a text or link is invisible to the website visitor but can still be seen by the search engines. If this happens it is considered hidden. Before, people used small fonts to hide the text or they would even use the same color for the background.
This makes them able to put some links which are unseen, but has long been noticed by the search engines that is why they have come up with another strategy this time. Spammers are using the cascading style sheets in order to hide the text. Some are also using tags which are set to hide the text on the page. These strategies are considered hidden if they are left unseen but search engines have their own technique of spotting invisible links so better not do it at all.
The doorway pages are those that exclusively exist to rank well in the different search engines. You may notice some of the pages being ugly and some contain paragraphs which do not have any relation to the topic. Most of the time these doorway pages are not part of the regular navigation of the site which are called orphaned pages.
A black hat SEO can use very good software to filter or generate the doorway pages. This happens when they plug a few keywords and search the page.
You may notice some sites linking to other sites which are have no relation at all. Some sites just link to other sites which is part of their strategy. Now, you will find this truly spamming.
If you are going to put up your own website, make sure that you will avoid these things and keep SEO marketing fair and do not think of competition. Think of how you can increase your site ranking fairly.
in SEO
What now? Once you have read this article, give it a rating.
Tips For Selling On Ebay
Tips For Selling On Ebay
Ok, so you have decided you are going to sell an item in ebay be it a dvd, stamp collection or whatever. How should you go about getting the best possible price?
First of all you should do some research into what prices similar items have been fetching. You can use ebay's 'completed listings' tool to do this. This shows you what has been sold and at what price and is split down into product categories. This will give you a good guide as to what price you can expect to achieve.
The next important step is your opening price. You do not want to set a high opening price that will scare off bidders. It is far better to open with a low reserve and hope this attracts several bidders. It is a fact that people are drawn to items with bids on them already. Having several bidders can lead to competitive bidding and you are more likely to receive a higher final price. To restrict the chance of the item going for a very low price you should set a reserve price – if this is not reached then the item will not be sold.
Consider using a 'buy it now'. Some bidders do not like to wait until the end of an auction and would rather 'impulse buy' in the knowledge they have won the auction. Other bidders enjoy the thrill of the auction. If you have more than one of the product it may be worth considering selling one item on a buy it now and one as a normal bidding auction – this will cover you both ways.
Having a good description and photo is very important. I have seen countless unsold items where the product was probably very good but a terrible photo make it look awful. If appropriate, use a scanner for eg stamps, but for larger items take photos using a digital camera and keep taking pictures until you get a good photo. A good photo is worth a 1000 words! Bidders are instinctively drawn towards items with photos and away from those without. Give as much information as you can as to condition, age, manufacturer, model number etc. If you were selling a tv for example, tell the viewer that it is a Phillips 32" flat screen tv model number P2350, two years old put in perfect working order.
Finally, make sure you give all the details for post and packaging. I've been caught before when buying a small item where I thought the postage would be pennies; the seller didn't disclose the postage cost until after the auction and I had a nasty shock. I'm not the only person this has happened to so make sure you disclose your postage and packing charges or you may lose some potential bidders.
in Auctions
What now? Once you have read this article, give it a rating.
Ok, so you have decided you are going to sell an item in ebay be it a dvd, stamp collection or whatever. How should you go about getting the best possible price?
First of all you should do some research into what prices similar items have been fetching. You can use ebay's 'completed listings' tool to do this. This shows you what has been sold and at what price and is split down into product categories. This will give you a good guide as to what price you can expect to achieve.
The next important step is your opening price. You do not want to set a high opening price that will scare off bidders. It is far better to open with a low reserve and hope this attracts several bidders. It is a fact that people are drawn to items with bids on them already. Having several bidders can lead to competitive bidding and you are more likely to receive a higher final price. To restrict the chance of the item going for a very low price you should set a reserve price – if this is not reached then the item will not be sold.
Consider using a 'buy it now'. Some bidders do not like to wait until the end of an auction and would rather 'impulse buy' in the knowledge they have won the auction. Other bidders enjoy the thrill of the auction. If you have more than one of the product it may be worth considering selling one item on a buy it now and one as a normal bidding auction – this will cover you both ways.
Having a good description and photo is very important. I have seen countless unsold items where the product was probably very good but a terrible photo make it look awful. If appropriate, use a scanner for eg stamps, but for larger items take photos using a digital camera and keep taking pictures until you get a good photo. A good photo is worth a 1000 words! Bidders are instinctively drawn towards items with photos and away from those without. Give as much information as you can as to condition, age, manufacturer, model number etc. If you were selling a tv for example, tell the viewer that it is a Phillips 32" flat screen tv model number P2350, two years old put in perfect working order.
Finally, make sure you give all the details for post and packaging. I've been caught before when buying a small item where I thought the postage would be pennies; the seller didn't disclose the postage cost until after the auction and I had a nasty shock. I'm not the only person this has happened to so make sure you disclose your postage and packing charges or you may lose some potential bidders.
in Auctions
What now? Once you have read this article, give it a rating.
Starting an Ebook Online Business in Just 3 Easy Steps
Everybody knows that if you wanna make money online there are a few "simple" things that you have to do. I'm going to give you the steps you need to start your own online home business. Whether your a student (like me), a stay at home parent, teen, or anyone else who just want to make money from home.
First, you'll need a product that will sell and on the internet "Information is Everything". From money making ebooks and recipe books to dog training manuals, Almost everybody can write an ebook on something that they have either done before or don't mind researching. If you can't write, don't worry there are ebooks that you can purchase the resell rights to and sell just like your own.
Ebooks serve two main purposes; the first and most obvious is income. Most ebooks merchants have little or no overhead; Once you write it or purchase the master resell rights it's yours to sell over and over again and keep all the profits. That's why the majority of the people who really make money online sell some form of information.
The second purpose of ebooks is generating targeted traffic to your website. "Branding" puts your website links inside of ebooks that you sell so you can have your ebooks pulling in orders and traffic 24 hours a day.
Second,you need a web presence. Whether it's a website, newsletter, blog, or RSS feed it is essential that you have a medium to connect to your potential clients. It's better to have more than one ex:(website & newsletter) this allows you to follow-up with people who might not purchase the first time around; Also to connect with people who might prefer a choice. A good website and hosting package with a domain name should cost less than ten dollars a month.
To be looked at as the professional you are, a domain name (www.yourname.com) is crucial. Those "free" websites aren't really free when you begin to count all the missed customers. Not to mention the banner ad or text link that they embed into your page, driving them a ton of free traffic.
An important, but often unused component of new online marketers is tracking your visitors. When setting up your new website it's important to add a tracking service of some kind. This is so once your new site begins to take off, you know exactly where your visitors are coming from.
You want to do this so you will know which ads are working and which aren't. Track all the way to the order page, this is so you know not only visitors but also orders. You can find free tracking services online, even some with with invisible counters.
And for my last step, you need to get the word out about your new site. There are a few little known secrets that I personally use to drive targeted traffic to my sites. One, submit your site to search engines and directories. This takes some time to get a large amounts of hits, but once they start there highly targeted based off the keywords that you choose. Search engine optimization or SEO prepares your site to rank high in the search engines results, giving you more visitors.
Second, is article submissions. Like I said earlier, online information is everything and this is true for advertising. A well-written article can be picked up and re-published thousands of times for free. How does this effect you? At the bottom of every article you write there is whats called a resource or bio box containing the author's info and websites.It's illegal to remove this box, therefore you get free advertising on potentially thousands of sites by people wanting to use your article in there ezine, newsletter, website, etc.
This is also a great seo tool also since search engines count and rank sites by how many other sites link to them. Also if your worried that you can't write articles either, you can find plenty of them free with rights to edit them and make your own. There called private label rights or plr articles. Be sure to rewrite them because search engines can tell unique
content and will not index you.
First, you'll need a product that will sell and on the internet "Information is Everything". From money making ebooks and recipe books to dog training manuals, Almost everybody can write an ebook on something that they have either done before or don't mind researching. If you can't write, don't worry there are ebooks that you can purchase the resell rights to and sell just like your own.
Ebooks serve two main purposes; the first and most obvious is income. Most ebooks merchants have little or no overhead; Once you write it or purchase the master resell rights it's yours to sell over and over again and keep all the profits. That's why the majority of the people who really make money online sell some form of information.
The second purpose of ebooks is generating targeted traffic to your website. "Branding" puts your website links inside of ebooks that you sell so you can have your ebooks pulling in orders and traffic 24 hours a day.
Second,you need a web presence. Whether it's a website, newsletter, blog, or RSS feed it is essential that you have a medium to connect to your potential clients. It's better to have more than one ex:(website & newsletter) this allows you to follow-up with people who might not purchase the first time around; Also to connect with people who might prefer a choice. A good website and hosting package with a domain name should cost less than ten dollars a month.
To be looked at as the professional you are, a domain name (www.yourname.com) is crucial. Those "free" websites aren't really free when you begin to count all the missed customers. Not to mention the banner ad or text link that they embed into your page, driving them a ton of free traffic.
An important, but often unused component of new online marketers is tracking your visitors. When setting up your new website it's important to add a tracking service of some kind. This is so once your new site begins to take off, you know exactly where your visitors are coming from.
You want to do this so you will know which ads are working and which aren't. Track all the way to the order page, this is so you know not only visitors but also orders. You can find free tracking services online, even some with with invisible counters.
And for my last step, you need to get the word out about your new site. There are a few little known secrets that I personally use to drive targeted traffic to my sites. One, submit your site to search engines and directories. This takes some time to get a large amounts of hits, but once they start there highly targeted based off the keywords that you choose. Search engine optimization or SEO prepares your site to rank high in the search engines results, giving you more visitors.
Second, is article submissions. Like I said earlier, online information is everything and this is true for advertising. A well-written article can be picked up and re-published thousands of times for free. How does this effect you? At the bottom of every article you write there is whats called a resource or bio box containing the author's info and websites.It's illegal to remove this box, therefore you get free advertising on potentially thousands of sites by people wanting to use your article in there ezine, newsletter, website, etc.
This is also a great seo tool also since search engines count and rank sites by how many other sites link to them. Also if your worried that you can't write articles either, you can find plenty of them free with rights to edit them and make your own. There called private label rights or plr articles. Be sure to rewrite them because search engines can tell unique
content and will not index you.
Affiliate Marketing And Back-End Selling
In affiliate marketing, all people involved in the program get benefited. The affiliate earns income each time he refers a visitor to the website of the merchant. And on the other side, the merchant produces sales without spending a lot of funds for advertising and promotion. The goal, of course, of both sides is to attain as much earnings as possible.
Since the goal is to earn more income, both affiliate and merchant should consider including the practice of back-end selling in their business activities. Back-end selling is a great support for affiliate marketing. It can greatly augment the income produced from affiliate marketing.
Basically, back-end selling is the selling being conducted after the initial sale. That is, when a visitor becomes a paying customer for one product, another product can be advertised and sold to the same customer. This second product is called the back-end product. Since the customer is already acquainted with the merchant or affiliate, there is already an element of trust planted in between. Selling the back-end product may be easier than the initial sale.
Historically, back-end selling has helped boost the sales of both the online businesses and the land-bound companies. As indicated before, the major reason is the established trust between the customer and the merchant or affiliate. If the customer is satisfied with the first product that he purchased, he will logically assume that the online company is offering quality products. A satisfied customer can be easily turned into a "repeat customer"
The usual technique in backend -selling is to make the customer aware of another product, This second product can cater to the other needs of the customer. And when the satisfied customer becomes aware of the second or back-end product, he will certainly look into it and may decide to purchase it. After such a sale, the merchant or affiliate may offer another back-end product.
Back-end selling had been proven to be powerful in augmenting the income many traditional and land-bound companies. This marketing practice has also made hundreds of online companies flourish and expand. Therefore, it can be a marketing practice that can surely work well with affiliate marketing.
While affiliate marketing will attract new customers and lead to the first sale, the back-end selling can build loyalty among the customers. In other words, back-end selling is one major ingredient in creating that winning formula in affiliate marketing.
Every affiliate should look into the financial promise of back-end selling when coupled with affiliate marketing. These two can make the affiliate earn unbelievably amazing income.
Since the goal is to earn more income, both affiliate and merchant should consider including the practice of back-end selling in their business activities. Back-end selling is a great support for affiliate marketing. It can greatly augment the income produced from affiliate marketing.
Basically, back-end selling is the selling being conducted after the initial sale. That is, when a visitor becomes a paying customer for one product, another product can be advertised and sold to the same customer. This second product is called the back-end product. Since the customer is already acquainted with the merchant or affiliate, there is already an element of trust planted in between. Selling the back-end product may be easier than the initial sale.
Historically, back-end selling has helped boost the sales of both the online businesses and the land-bound companies. As indicated before, the major reason is the established trust between the customer and the merchant or affiliate. If the customer is satisfied with the first product that he purchased, he will logically assume that the online company is offering quality products. A satisfied customer can be easily turned into a "repeat customer"
The usual technique in backend -selling is to make the customer aware of another product, This second product can cater to the other needs of the customer. And when the satisfied customer becomes aware of the second or back-end product, he will certainly look into it and may decide to purchase it. After such a sale, the merchant or affiliate may offer another back-end product.
Back-end selling had been proven to be powerful in augmenting the income many traditional and land-bound companies. This marketing practice has also made hundreds of online companies flourish and expand. Therefore, it can be a marketing practice that can surely work well with affiliate marketing.
While affiliate marketing will attract new customers and lead to the first sale, the back-end selling can build loyalty among the customers. In other words, back-end selling is one major ingredient in creating that winning formula in affiliate marketing.
Every affiliate should look into the financial promise of back-end selling when coupled with affiliate marketing. These two can make the affiliate earn unbelievably amazing income.
Blogs Could Become An Embarassing Exposure
Public entries intended for friends could become an embarrassing exposure.
The number of places where young people go to bare their souls, to vent, to gossip is increasing. These places are the blogs – where people post their innermost thoughts for any number of Web surfers to see.
"My philosophy is to be totally honest – whether it's about my neighbor's dog or my opinions about Iraq war, since the people who read my blog are friends or acquaintances of mine." said Sarah, who lives in suburban Illinois and has been blogging for three years.
But some people find that a price can be paid for putting one's life online. Maya Marcel-Keyes, daughter of conservative politician Alan Keyes, had some discussions on her blog about being a lesbian, and this became an issue during her father's recent campaign for U.S. Senate because he made anti-gay statements.
Such incidents can cause personal and public dramas, often taking on a life they wouldn't have if the Web had not come along and turned individuals into publishers.
Other people think that some blog entries about partying and dating exploits will have ramifications down the road.
"I would bet that in the 2016 election, somebody's Facebook entry will come back to bite them,", says Steve Jones, head of the communications department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, referring to a networking site for college students and alumni, that is something of a cross between a yearbook and a blog.
Some traditional blog sites, like Xanga, LiveJournal or MySpace, which allow easy creation of a Web site with text, photos and often music, have gotten more popular in recent years, especially among the younger set.
Pew Internet & American Life Project made some surveys completed in recent months and found that nearly a fifth of teens who have access to the Web have their own blogs. And 38 percent of teens say they read other people's blogs.
I'm increasingly hearing stories about the risk of posting a blog, says Amanda Lenhart, a researcher at Pew. For example, a man whose daughter was a college student looking for a job. He typed his daughter's name into a search engine and found her blog, with a title that began "The Drunken Musings of ...."
"And they surely have some discussions" said Lenhart, chuckling.
The number of places where young people go to bare their souls, to vent, to gossip is increasing. These places are the blogs – where people post their innermost thoughts for any number of Web surfers to see.
"My philosophy is to be totally honest – whether it's about my neighbor's dog or my opinions about Iraq war, since the people who read my blog are friends or acquaintances of mine." said Sarah, who lives in suburban Illinois and has been blogging for three years.
But some people find that a price can be paid for putting one's life online. Maya Marcel-Keyes, daughter of conservative politician Alan Keyes, had some discussions on her blog about being a lesbian, and this became an issue during her father's recent campaign for U.S. Senate because he made anti-gay statements.
Such incidents can cause personal and public dramas, often taking on a life they wouldn't have if the Web had not come along and turned individuals into publishers.
Other people think that some blog entries about partying and dating exploits will have ramifications down the road.
"I would bet that in the 2016 election, somebody's Facebook entry will come back to bite them,", says Steve Jones, head of the communications department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, referring to a networking site for college students and alumni, that is something of a cross between a yearbook and a blog.
Some traditional blog sites, like Xanga, LiveJournal or MySpace, which allow easy creation of a Web site with text, photos and often music, have gotten more popular in recent years, especially among the younger set.
Pew Internet & American Life Project made some surveys completed in recent months and found that nearly a fifth of teens who have access to the Web have their own blogs. And 38 percent of teens say they read other people's blogs.
I'm increasingly hearing stories about the risk of posting a blog, says Amanda Lenhart, a researcher at Pew. For example, a man whose daughter was a college student looking for a job. He typed his daughter's name into a search engine and found her blog, with a title that began "The Drunken Musings of ...."
"And they surely have some discussions" said Lenhart, chuckling.
Phishing It's Signs and Your Options
Phishing is the act of some individual sending an email to a user in an attempt to scam the user to release personal information. Is it easy to determine if it's a scam? Sometimes – but not always. I hope to give you enough examples and information to help you to safeguard yourself from these unsavory individuals.
In addition, sometimes the email is sent to malicious software so as to render your computer helpless. Thus, it is important that you do not click on the link they provide, because that is the trigger that will load the software to your system.
EXAMPLES OF PHISHING
You receive hundreds of emails in your mailbox, but one email catches your eye – it directs you to a website, requesting that you need to update your personal information. It requests such personal information as:
passwords
credit card numbers
social security number
bank account numbers
"It appears to be legitimate", you say to yourself. And you also notice that the emails are from companies that you have been doing business with for a while. Warning: The website could be bogus.
Here are several examples of phishing in action.
1. E-mails stating they are from E-bay and they feel that your account may have been compromised and would like you to verify your information with they so conveniently supply. DO NOT click on it.
2. E-mails from Paypal or your bank asking that you verify your information because they feel that your account has been compromised, or heaven forbid, suspended. Same scenario, different company. DO NOT click on the link.
3. E-mail that states that an unauthorized transaction has occurred on your account. Please click the link below and confirm your identity. DO NOT.
4. Here's a work at home scam – We have seen your resume on Monster and feel you would fit our position. If you are interested, please go to our website, look over the experience required and submit your resume if you have this background. Website is professional looking, offer looks good – but it could be a scam.
WHAT ARE THEY AFTER
In the above examples they are after information about you, be it passwords, credit cards, social security numbers, anything that can identify you – and that which they can use to profit from you.
The job email is used to verify that the email address is a true blue, active email address. What do they do with this info – they sell these accounts to spammers for good money. They need to verify your email address-because if the spammers come up empty – this person's business is dead.
HOW TO VERIFY SAFELY
1. If they want you to verify your account, do not cut and paste, or use the link they provide in the email. Close your Internet session, open a new session and enter the site that you have on record to verify.<
2. Emails requesting resumes – Verify their account before you send your resume. When verifying – these red flags should be considered:
1) If they are hesitant to provide a phone number – might be a scam. 2) If their business address is not verifiable –might be a scam. 3) If the website is new – might be a scam. 4) If they use a large company's name-and that company never heard of them – might be a scam.
5) Again, verify this information before you send your resume.
WAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF
Here are some quick tips to protect you and your computer system.
1. Use anti-virus software and a firewall – keep them up to date.
2. If you have a broadband connection make sure you have a firewall in place.
3. Don't email personal or financial information.
4. Before providing personal information – search to see if the site is secure – look for a lock icon. However, remember not all phishers are stupid – in fact, they could be computer savvy enough to forge security icons. Thus, look for a site whose link looks like this: https://www.somename.com -- this shows that it is a secure site.
5. Coupons from respected companies – Verify that it is a true-blue coupon from the company – I had one coupon sent to my email address from what I thought was Staples. Verified it with Staples – not a coupon honored by Staples. When on the Internet – if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it still may not be a duck!
6. When making transactions on the Internet – be it online banking, Paypal, Internet Gold, etc. – complete your transaction, log out of the website, and close out of your Internet Explorer-and then continue with a new session of Internet Explorer.
WHERE TO FORWARD SPAM THAT IS PHISHNG
If you encounter spam that is phishing, or are a victim of a phishing scam, you can forward the information to spam@uce.gov and to the company, bank or organization that the email may have stated they are from. In many cases, the other organizations have information on their website where you can report the attempted scam.
In addition, if you have been scammed, and you wish to file a complaint – go to ftc.gov.
To conclude, no one is immune to spam or a scam. But try to be ever vigilant and do your due diligence with anything you do on the Internet. But being human is a scammer's hope – they know that most will ignore the bait, but some will be tempted. So, if you so humanly slip, and succumb to a phishing scam, you can report them to ftc.gov.
In addition, sometimes the email is sent to malicious software so as to render your computer helpless. Thus, it is important that you do not click on the link they provide, because that is the trigger that will load the software to your system.
EXAMPLES OF PHISHING
You receive hundreds of emails in your mailbox, but one email catches your eye – it directs you to a website, requesting that you need to update your personal information. It requests such personal information as:
passwords
credit card numbers
social security number
bank account numbers
"It appears to be legitimate", you say to yourself. And you also notice that the emails are from companies that you have been doing business with for a while. Warning: The website could be bogus.
Here are several examples of phishing in action.
1. E-mails stating they are from E-bay and they feel that your account may have been compromised and would like you to verify your information with they so conveniently supply. DO NOT click on it.
2. E-mails from Paypal or your bank asking that you verify your information because they feel that your account has been compromised, or heaven forbid, suspended. Same scenario, different company. DO NOT click on the link.
3. E-mail that states that an unauthorized transaction has occurred on your account. Please click the link below and confirm your identity. DO NOT.
4. Here's a work at home scam – We have seen your resume on Monster and feel you would fit our position. If you are interested, please go to our website, look over the experience required and submit your resume if you have this background. Website is professional looking, offer looks good – but it could be a scam.
WHAT ARE THEY AFTER
In the above examples they are after information about you, be it passwords, credit cards, social security numbers, anything that can identify you – and that which they can use to profit from you.
The job email is used to verify that the email address is a true blue, active email address. What do they do with this info – they sell these accounts to spammers for good money. They need to verify your email address-because if the spammers come up empty – this person's business is dead.
HOW TO VERIFY SAFELY
1. If they want you to verify your account, do not cut and paste, or use the link they provide in the email. Close your Internet session, open a new session and enter the site that you have on record to verify.<
2. Emails requesting resumes – Verify their account before you send your resume. When verifying – these red flags should be considered:
1) If they are hesitant to provide a phone number – might be a scam. 2) If their business address is not verifiable –might be a scam. 3) If the website is new – might be a scam. 4) If they use a large company's name-and that company never heard of them – might be a scam.
5) Again, verify this information before you send your resume.
WAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF
Here are some quick tips to protect you and your computer system.
1. Use anti-virus software and a firewall – keep them up to date.
2. If you have a broadband connection make sure you have a firewall in place.
3. Don't email personal or financial information.
4. Before providing personal information – search to see if the site is secure – look for a lock icon. However, remember not all phishers are stupid – in fact, they could be computer savvy enough to forge security icons. Thus, look for a site whose link looks like this: https://www.somename.com -- this shows that it is a secure site.
5. Coupons from respected companies – Verify that it is a true-blue coupon from the company – I had one coupon sent to my email address from what I thought was Staples. Verified it with Staples – not a coupon honored by Staples. When on the Internet – if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it still may not be a duck!
6. When making transactions on the Internet – be it online banking, Paypal, Internet Gold, etc. – complete your transaction, log out of the website, and close out of your Internet Explorer-and then continue with a new session of Internet Explorer.
WHERE TO FORWARD SPAM THAT IS PHISHNG
If you encounter spam that is phishing, or are a victim of a phishing scam, you can forward the information to spam@uce.gov and to the company, bank or organization that the email may have stated they are from. In many cases, the other organizations have information on their website where you can report the attempted scam.
In addition, if you have been scammed, and you wish to file a complaint – go to ftc.gov.
To conclude, no one is immune to spam or a scam. But try to be ever vigilant and do your due diligence with anything you do on the Internet. But being human is a scammer's hope – they know that most will ignore the bait, but some will be tempted. So, if you so humanly slip, and succumb to a phishing scam, you can report them to ftc.gov.
Safe Trading On Ebay: Avoiding Fraud For Buyers Sellers
Safe Trading On Ebay: Avoiding Fraud For Buyers & Sellers
Turn on CNN or Fox News, read a column on the Internet or play your favorite all news radio station an you'll become acutely aware of the "so-called" fraud online – specifically related to eBay.
Definition of Fraud: "In a broad strokes definition, fraud is a deliberate misrepresentation which causes another person to suffer damages, usually monetary losses."
Like many, I have had negative experiences one eBay. However, I've also had negative experiences with unscrupulous people in the real world. The truth is that eBay is just a microcosm of real-life society where 99.9% of people are good nature.
Have you had a bad experience on eBay? I spoke with someone recently who said that a "fraudulent experience on eBay" ruined their desires to use eBay as a sales platform." That seems just a bit immature, don't you think? Just a few weeks ago my nine year old daughter left her board shorts on a lounge chair while swimming in the pool (at a nationally recognized vacation resort). When she returned, her shorts were gone. Someone stole her shorts. Fraud and theft. How should my nine year old respond? Should she never swim in a public pool again?
Of course not. But, she can learn a valuable life lesson of how to protect herself and her property. And to that we discover the purpose of this article. How can we protect ourselves from potential fraud on eBay?
Fraud on eBay, while small in proportion to the number of transactions that take place, is a real issue for the unsuspecting eBay member. Follow the following points to reduce the potential of fraud on eBay in your online trading adventures.
Fraud Tip #1: Understand Phishing
1. A new word to the Websters' Dictionary for 2005, this has become #1 of the top areas of Fraud Alert in the history of the internet. Here is the definition from dictionary.com: "A method of identity theft carried out through the creation of a website that seems to represent a legitimate company. The visitors to the site, thinking they are buying something from a real business, submit their personal information to the site. The criminals then use the personal information for their own purposes, or sell the information to other criminal parties." In specific terms, it may relate to your eBay membership, PayPal account, bank account, credit card, or other account where you need an ID, password and/or personal information.
2. Fraud on eBay can occur when you receive a phishing email that sounds 100% legitimate. It might come from: support@... And looks like this: "Dear eBay member, You have received this warning because we have strong reason to believe that your eBay account had been recently compromised and it could be used by a third party without your authorization. In order to prevent any fraudulent activity from occurring we are required to open an investigation into this matter. To speed up this process, you are required to verify your eBay account by following the link below."
a. Here's what happens: when you click on the link listed, you are taken to a web page that looks exactly the same as the sign-in page -- for example, you are sure you are at the eBay sign-in page. You are asked for personal information, including ID and password, etc.
3. How to protect yourself? You need to know that eBay, PayPal or any other secure site will NEVER ask for your personal, identifying information in an email. What should you do? Delete the email and tell yourself you're not going to fall victim to a phishing scam.
A high percentage of online and eBay fraud is eliminated simply by understanding phishing and knowing how to deal with it.
Fraud Tip #2. Only Buy From Sellers With an Established Feedback Score
• Love or hate eBay's feedback system, but is has its purpose. By doing your due diligence you can weed out potentially fraudulent eBay sellers simply by reviewing their feedback score. Pay particular attention to the last 90 days and be sure read all the comments posted on the first 3 pages. A sellers feedback score will is increasingly important if you are purchasing a high ticket item. Fraud on eBay can be dramatically reduced by following this Fraud Tip.
Fraud Tip #3. Do Not Pay With Western Union
• The chance of Fraud on eBay has been reduced through eBay's own internal policing of buyer payment options. If you are going to pay for an item you purchase on eBay – always use PayPal as you are covered by PayPal's buyer protection program.
• Here is eBay's latest "Safe Payments Policy:
"Permitted on eBay.com: Sellers may offer to accept PayPal, credit cards including Mastercard/Visa /Amex/Discover, debit cards and bank electronic payments online for eBay purchases. Sellers may also offer to accept bank-to-bank transfers, often known as bank wire transfers or bank cash transfers. Sellers may accept COD (cash on delivery) or cash for in person transactions. Sellers may offer to accept payment through Certapay and Propay. Sellers may offer to accept personal checks, money orders, cashier's checks, certified checks and other negotiable instruments.
Not permitted on eBay.com: Sellers may not solicit buyers to mail cash. Sellers may not ask buyers to send cash through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Western Union or Moneygram. Sellers may not ask buyers to pay with Stormpay. Finally, sellers may not request payment through online payment methods not specifically permitted in this policy."
With regards to cash payments on eBay, "The U.S. Postal Service tells us it's unsafe, and now eBay is telling everyone that it is unsafe," said Matt Halprin, eBay's global policy VP. "So if a seller solicits or encourages offers to accept cash, [they are] encouraging unsafe payment methods and we do remove that seller's listing."
eBay Fraud, which accounts for only a small fraction of one percent of all transactions can be significantly be reduced by your use of PayPal.
Fraud Tip #4. Preventative Measures - Tips For Your Protection
• The IFCC (Internet Fraud Complaint Center) has an excellent website that includes a tips page where you will read about Internet Auction Fraud, Non-Delivery of Merchandise, Credit Card Fraud, Investment Fraud, Nigerian Letter Scam, and Business Fraud.
In a perfect world, everyone would be honest and trustworthy, but, unfortunately, there are those who will try to take advantage of others. The Internet provides tremendous opportunity – like anything else, use it wisely.
in Auctions
What now? Once you have read this article, give it a rating.
Safe Trading On Ebay: Avoiding Fraud For Buyers & Sellers
Turn on CNN or Fox News, read a column on the Internet or play your favorite all news radio station an you'll become acutely aware of the "so-called" fraud online – specifically related to eBay.
Definition of Fraud: "In a broad strokes definition, fraud is a deliberate misrepresentation which causes another person to suffer damages, usually monetary losses."
Like many, I have had negative experiences one eBay. However, I've also had negative experiences with unscrupulous people in the real world. The truth is that eBay is just a microcosm of real-life society where 99.9% of people are good nature.
Have you had a bad experience on eBay? I spoke with someone recently who said that a "fraudulent experience on eBay" ruined their desires to use eBay as a sales platform." That seems just a bit immature, don't you think? Just a few weeks ago my nine year old daughter left her board shorts on a lounge chair while swimming in the pool (at a nationally recognized vacation resort). When she returned, her shorts were gone. Someone stole her shorts. Fraud and theft. How should my nine year old respond? Should she never swim in a public pool again?
Of course not. But, she can learn a valuable life lesson of how to protect herself and her property. And to that we discover the purpose of this article. How can we protect ourselves from potential fraud on eBay?
Fraud on eBay, while small in proportion to the number of transactions that take place, is a real issue for the unsuspecting eBay member. Follow the following points to reduce the potential of fraud on eBay in your online trading adventures.
Fraud Tip #1: Understand Phishing
1. A new word to the Websters' Dictionary for 2005, this has become #1 of the top areas of Fraud Alert in the history of the internet. Here is the definition from dictionary.com: "A method of identity theft carried out through the creation of a website that seems to represent a legitimate company. The visitors to the site, thinking they are buying something from a real business, submit their personal information to the site. The criminals then use the personal information for their own purposes, or sell the information to other criminal parties." In specific terms, it may relate to your eBay membership, PayPal account, bank account, credit card, or other account where you need an ID, password and/or personal information.
2. Fraud on eBay can occur when you receive a phishing email that sounds 100% legitimate. It might come from: support@... And looks like this: "Dear eBay member, You have received this warning because we have strong reason to believe that your eBay account had been recently compromised and it could be used by a third party without your authorization. In order to prevent any fraudulent activity from occurring we are required to open an investigation into this matter. To speed up this process, you are required to verify your eBay account by following the link below."
a. Here's what happens: when you click on the link listed, you are taken to a web page that looks exactly the same as the sign-in page -- for example, you are sure you are at the eBay sign-in page. You are asked for personal information, including ID and password, etc.
3. How to protect yourself? You need to know that eBay, PayPal or any other secure site will NEVER ask for your personal, identifying information in an email. What should you do? Delete the email and tell yourself you're not going to fall victim to a phishing scam.
A high percentage of online and eBay fraud is eliminated simply by understanding phishing and knowing how to deal with it.
Fraud Tip #2. Only Buy From Sellers With an Established Feedback Score
• Love or hate eBay's feedback system, but is has its purpose. By doing your due diligence you can weed out potentially fraudulent eBay sellers simply by reviewing their feedback score. Pay particular attention to the last 90 days and be sure read all the comments posted on the first 3 pages. A sellers feedback score will is increasingly important if you are purchasing a high ticket item. Fraud on eBay can be dramatically reduced by following this Fraud Tip.
Fraud Tip #3. Do Not Pay With Western Union
• The chance of Fraud on eBay has been reduced through eBay's own internal policing of buyer payment options. If you are going to pay for an item you purchase on eBay – always use PayPal as you are covered by PayPal's buyer protection program.
• Here is eBay's latest "Safe Payments Policy:
"Permitted on eBay.com: Sellers may offer to accept PayPal, credit cards including Mastercard/Visa /Amex/Discover, debit cards and bank electronic payments online for eBay purchases. Sellers may also offer to accept bank-to-bank transfers, often known as bank wire transfers or bank cash transfers. Sellers may accept COD (cash on delivery) or cash for in person transactions. Sellers may offer to accept payment through Certapay and Propay. Sellers may offer to accept personal checks, money orders, cashier's checks, certified checks and other negotiable instruments.
Not permitted on eBay.com: Sellers may not solicit buyers to mail cash. Sellers may not ask buyers to send cash through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Western Union or Moneygram. Sellers may not ask buyers to pay with Stormpay. Finally, sellers may not request payment through online payment methods not specifically permitted in this policy."
With regards to cash payments on eBay, "The U.S. Postal Service tells us it's unsafe, and now eBay is telling everyone that it is unsafe," said Matt Halprin, eBay's global policy VP. "So if a seller solicits or encourages offers to accept cash, [they are] encouraging unsafe payment methods and we do remove that seller's listing."
eBay Fraud, which accounts for only a small fraction of one percent of all transactions can be significantly be reduced by your use of PayPal.
Fraud Tip #4. Preventative Measures - Tips For Your Protection
• The IFCC (Internet Fraud Complaint Center) has an excellent website that includes a tips page where you will read about Internet Auction Fraud, Non-Delivery of Merchandise, Credit Card Fraud, Investment Fraud, Nigerian Letter Scam, and Business Fraud.
In a perfect world, everyone would be honest and trustworthy, but, unfortunately, there are those who will try to take advantage of others. The Internet provides tremendous opportunity – like anything else, use it wisely.
in Auctions
What now? Once you have read this article, give it a rating.
Turn on CNN or Fox News, read a column on the Internet or play your favorite all news radio station an you'll become acutely aware of the "so-called" fraud online – specifically related to eBay.
Definition of Fraud: "In a broad strokes definition, fraud is a deliberate misrepresentation which causes another person to suffer damages, usually monetary losses."
Like many, I have had negative experiences one eBay. However, I've also had negative experiences with unscrupulous people in the real world. The truth is that eBay is just a microcosm of real-life society where 99.9% of people are good nature.
Have you had a bad experience on eBay? I spoke with someone recently who said that a "fraudulent experience on eBay" ruined their desires to use eBay as a sales platform." That seems just a bit immature, don't you think? Just a few weeks ago my nine year old daughter left her board shorts on a lounge chair while swimming in the pool (at a nationally recognized vacation resort). When she returned, her shorts were gone. Someone stole her shorts. Fraud and theft. How should my nine year old respond? Should she never swim in a public pool again?
Of course not. But, she can learn a valuable life lesson of how to protect herself and her property. And to that we discover the purpose of this article. How can we protect ourselves from potential fraud on eBay?
Fraud on eBay, while small in proportion to the number of transactions that take place, is a real issue for the unsuspecting eBay member. Follow the following points to reduce the potential of fraud on eBay in your online trading adventures.
Fraud Tip #1: Understand Phishing
1. A new word to the Websters' Dictionary for 2005, this has become #1 of the top areas of Fraud Alert in the history of the internet. Here is the definition from dictionary.com: "A method of identity theft carried out through the creation of a website that seems to represent a legitimate company. The visitors to the site, thinking they are buying something from a real business, submit their personal information to the site. The criminals then use the personal information for their own purposes, or sell the information to other criminal parties." In specific terms, it may relate to your eBay membership, PayPal account, bank account, credit card, or other account where you need an ID, password and/or personal information.
2. Fraud on eBay can occur when you receive a phishing email that sounds 100% legitimate. It might come from: support@... And looks like this: "Dear eBay member, You have received this warning because we have strong reason to believe that your eBay account had been recently compromised and it could be used by a third party without your authorization. In order to prevent any fraudulent activity from occurring we are required to open an investigation into this matter. To speed up this process, you are required to verify your eBay account by following the link below."
a. Here's what happens: when you click on the link listed, you are taken to a web page that looks exactly the same as the sign-in page -- for example, you are sure you are at the eBay sign-in page. You are asked for personal information, including ID and password, etc.
3. How to protect yourself? You need to know that eBay, PayPal or any other secure site will NEVER ask for your personal, identifying information in an email. What should you do? Delete the email and tell yourself you're not going to fall victim to a phishing scam.
A high percentage of online and eBay fraud is eliminated simply by understanding phishing and knowing how to deal with it.
Fraud Tip #2. Only Buy From Sellers With an Established Feedback Score
• Love or hate eBay's feedback system, but is has its purpose. By doing your due diligence you can weed out potentially fraudulent eBay sellers simply by reviewing their feedback score. Pay particular attention to the last 90 days and be sure read all the comments posted on the first 3 pages. A sellers feedback score will is increasingly important if you are purchasing a high ticket item. Fraud on eBay can be dramatically reduced by following this Fraud Tip.
Fraud Tip #3. Do Not Pay With Western Union
• The chance of Fraud on eBay has been reduced through eBay's own internal policing of buyer payment options. If you are going to pay for an item you purchase on eBay – always use PayPal as you are covered by PayPal's buyer protection program.
• Here is eBay's latest "Safe Payments Policy:
"Permitted on eBay.com: Sellers may offer to accept PayPal, credit cards including Mastercard/Visa /Amex/Discover, debit cards and bank electronic payments online for eBay purchases. Sellers may also offer to accept bank-to-bank transfers, often known as bank wire transfers or bank cash transfers. Sellers may accept COD (cash on delivery) or cash for in person transactions. Sellers may offer to accept payment through Certapay and Propay. Sellers may offer to accept personal checks, money orders, cashier's checks, certified checks and other negotiable instruments.
Not permitted on eBay.com: Sellers may not solicit buyers to mail cash. Sellers may not ask buyers to send cash through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Western Union or Moneygram. Sellers may not ask buyers to pay with Stormpay. Finally, sellers may not request payment through online payment methods not specifically permitted in this policy."
With regards to cash payments on eBay, "The U.S. Postal Service tells us it's unsafe, and now eBay is telling everyone that it is unsafe," said Matt Halprin, eBay's global policy VP. "So if a seller solicits or encourages offers to accept cash, [they are] encouraging unsafe payment methods and we do remove that seller's listing."
eBay Fraud, which accounts for only a small fraction of one percent of all transactions can be significantly be reduced by your use of PayPal.
Fraud Tip #4. Preventative Measures - Tips For Your Protection
• The IFCC (Internet Fraud Complaint Center) has an excellent website that includes a tips page where you will read about Internet Auction Fraud, Non-Delivery of Merchandise, Credit Card Fraud, Investment Fraud, Nigerian Letter Scam, and Business Fraud.
In a perfect world, everyone would be honest and trustworthy, but, unfortunately, there are those who will try to take advantage of others. The Internet provides tremendous opportunity – like anything else, use it wisely.
in Auctions
What now? Once you have read this article, give it a rating.
Safe Trading On Ebay: Avoiding Fraud For Buyers & Sellers
Turn on CNN or Fox News, read a column on the Internet or play your favorite all news radio station an you'll become acutely aware of the "so-called" fraud online – specifically related to eBay.
Definition of Fraud: "In a broad strokes definition, fraud is a deliberate misrepresentation which causes another person to suffer damages, usually monetary losses."
Like many, I have had negative experiences one eBay. However, I've also had negative experiences with unscrupulous people in the real world. The truth is that eBay is just a microcosm of real-life society where 99.9% of people are good nature.
Have you had a bad experience on eBay? I spoke with someone recently who said that a "fraudulent experience on eBay" ruined their desires to use eBay as a sales platform." That seems just a bit immature, don't you think? Just a few weeks ago my nine year old daughter left her board shorts on a lounge chair while swimming in the pool (at a nationally recognized vacation resort). When she returned, her shorts were gone. Someone stole her shorts. Fraud and theft. How should my nine year old respond? Should she never swim in a public pool again?
Of course not. But, she can learn a valuable life lesson of how to protect herself and her property. And to that we discover the purpose of this article. How can we protect ourselves from potential fraud on eBay?
Fraud on eBay, while small in proportion to the number of transactions that take place, is a real issue for the unsuspecting eBay member. Follow the following points to reduce the potential of fraud on eBay in your online trading adventures.
Fraud Tip #1: Understand Phishing
1. A new word to the Websters' Dictionary for 2005, this has become #1 of the top areas of Fraud Alert in the history of the internet. Here is the definition from dictionary.com: "A method of identity theft carried out through the creation of a website that seems to represent a legitimate company. The visitors to the site, thinking they are buying something from a real business, submit their personal information to the site. The criminals then use the personal information for their own purposes, or sell the information to other criminal parties." In specific terms, it may relate to your eBay membership, PayPal account, bank account, credit card, or other account where you need an ID, password and/or personal information.
2. Fraud on eBay can occur when you receive a phishing email that sounds 100% legitimate. It might come from: support@... And looks like this: "Dear eBay member, You have received this warning because we have strong reason to believe that your eBay account had been recently compromised and it could be used by a third party without your authorization. In order to prevent any fraudulent activity from occurring we are required to open an investigation into this matter. To speed up this process, you are required to verify your eBay account by following the link below."
a. Here's what happens: when you click on the link listed, you are taken to a web page that looks exactly the same as the sign-in page -- for example, you are sure you are at the eBay sign-in page. You are asked for personal information, including ID and password, etc.
3. How to protect yourself? You need to know that eBay, PayPal or any other secure site will NEVER ask for your personal, identifying information in an email. What should you do? Delete the email and tell yourself you're not going to fall victim to a phishing scam.
A high percentage of online and eBay fraud is eliminated simply by understanding phishing and knowing how to deal with it.
Fraud Tip #2. Only Buy From Sellers With an Established Feedback Score
• Love or hate eBay's feedback system, but is has its purpose. By doing your due diligence you can weed out potentially fraudulent eBay sellers simply by reviewing their feedback score. Pay particular attention to the last 90 days and be sure read all the comments posted on the first 3 pages. A sellers feedback score will is increasingly important if you are purchasing a high ticket item. Fraud on eBay can be dramatically reduced by following this Fraud Tip.
Fraud Tip #3. Do Not Pay With Western Union
• The chance of Fraud on eBay has been reduced through eBay's own internal policing of buyer payment options. If you are going to pay for an item you purchase on eBay – always use PayPal as you are covered by PayPal's buyer protection program.
• Here is eBay's latest "Safe Payments Policy:
"Permitted on eBay.com: Sellers may offer to accept PayPal, credit cards including Mastercard/Visa /Amex/Discover, debit cards and bank electronic payments online for eBay purchases. Sellers may also offer to accept bank-to-bank transfers, often known as bank wire transfers or bank cash transfers. Sellers may accept COD (cash on delivery) or cash for in person transactions. Sellers may offer to accept payment through Certapay and Propay. Sellers may offer to accept personal checks, money orders, cashier's checks, certified checks and other negotiable instruments.
Not permitted on eBay.com: Sellers may not solicit buyers to mail cash. Sellers may not ask buyers to send cash through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Western Union or Moneygram. Sellers may not ask buyers to pay with Stormpay. Finally, sellers may not request payment through online payment methods not specifically permitted in this policy."
With regards to cash payments on eBay, "The U.S. Postal Service tells us it's unsafe, and now eBay is telling everyone that it is unsafe," said Matt Halprin, eBay's global policy VP. "So if a seller solicits or encourages offers to accept cash, [they are] encouraging unsafe payment methods and we do remove that seller's listing."
eBay Fraud, which accounts for only a small fraction of one percent of all transactions can be significantly be reduced by your use of PayPal.
Fraud Tip #4. Preventative Measures - Tips For Your Protection
• The IFCC (Internet Fraud Complaint Center) has an excellent website that includes a tips page where you will read about Internet Auction Fraud, Non-Delivery of Merchandise, Credit Card Fraud, Investment Fraud, Nigerian Letter Scam, and Business Fraud.
In a perfect world, everyone would be honest and trustworthy, but, unfortunately, there are those who will try to take advantage of others. The Internet provides tremendous opportunity – like anything else, use it wisely.
in Auctions
What now? Once you have read this article, give it a rating.
Yahoo To Prohibit Competitive Keyword Bids Containing Trademarks
Yahoo Search Marketing (searchmarketing.yahoo.com) has recently announced its advertisers of a new policy to be implemented as of March 1st 2006, concerning the use of trademarks within their products and services *.
Under the new policy, no reference to a trademark can be made (except for ads placed by the trademark owners themselves, obviously), and consequently no bids can be make for keywords containing such trademarks. Exceptions refer to usage of trademarks in non-competitive ads, such as those made by re-sellers, or in informative (and still non-competitive) ads.
The previous policy allowed references to competitors' trademarks and comparisons as long as they were "objective and informative" - the formulation makes me cringe, as it is clearly troublesome trying to evaluate one's objectivity when speaking of business competitors. As for the "informative" side of it… the probability for someone to actually PAY for an ad to be informative of someone else's product/service, that's as believable just like the existence of Santa Claus.
It is really good to see Yahoo making a big step forward in regulating abuse and misuse of trademarks, even though that probably translates in some revenue loss for them, by having certain advertisers migrate to a "friendlier" place such as Google. According to Google's policies, "[...] advertisers may select trademarked terms as keywords or use them in the content of the ad. As a provider of space for advertisements, Google is not in a position to arbitrate trademark disputes between advertisers and trademark owners. As stated in our Terms and Conditions, advertisers are responsible for the keywords and ad text that they choose to use. Accordingly, Google encourages trademark owners to resolve their disputes directly with the advertiser, particularly because the advertiser may have similar ads on other sites. However, as a courtesy to trademark owners, Google is willing to perform a limited investigation of reasonable complaints."
The question is why would Yahoo change its policies and apparently offer Google an even bigger bite from the SEM cake? It is way too early to say now, and their official explanation is not entirely believable: Yahoo states to have had the users' best interest in mind, by providing them with a better experience when searching terms that contain trademarks. Though this would make a laudable initiative with a good PR potential, experts know the search market is driven by large publishers and advertisers and not by the little surfing guys. Numerous speculations can be made: threats of large legal actions from trademark owners, pressure from certain groups of interests are among the most vehiculated ones.
However, a more plausible one is that Yahoo makes preparations for a much larger scale movement destined to influence the market in a manner we cannot anticipate just yet.
Until further industry news, there's one thing to rejoice: from now on, no "better than Botox" ads on Yahoo and their partner sites!
* - the products and services covered by the new policy are: Sponsored Search, Local Advertising, Search Submit, Product Submit, Travel Submit and Directory Submit.
Under the new policy, no reference to a trademark can be made (except for ads placed by the trademark owners themselves, obviously), and consequently no bids can be make for keywords containing such trademarks. Exceptions refer to usage of trademarks in non-competitive ads, such as those made by re-sellers, or in informative (and still non-competitive) ads.
The previous policy allowed references to competitors' trademarks and comparisons as long as they were "objective and informative" - the formulation makes me cringe, as it is clearly troublesome trying to evaluate one's objectivity when speaking of business competitors. As for the "informative" side of it… the probability for someone to actually PAY for an ad to be informative of someone else's product/service, that's as believable just like the existence of Santa Claus.
It is really good to see Yahoo making a big step forward in regulating abuse and misuse of trademarks, even though that probably translates in some revenue loss for them, by having certain advertisers migrate to a "friendlier" place such as Google. According to Google's policies, "[...] advertisers may select trademarked terms as keywords or use them in the content of the ad. As a provider of space for advertisements, Google is not in a position to arbitrate trademark disputes between advertisers and trademark owners. As stated in our Terms and Conditions, advertisers are responsible for the keywords and ad text that they choose to use. Accordingly, Google encourages trademark owners to resolve their disputes directly with the advertiser, particularly because the advertiser may have similar ads on other sites. However, as a courtesy to trademark owners, Google is willing to perform a limited investigation of reasonable complaints."
The question is why would Yahoo change its policies and apparently offer Google an even bigger bite from the SEM cake? It is way too early to say now, and their official explanation is not entirely believable: Yahoo states to have had the users' best interest in mind, by providing them with a better experience when searching terms that contain trademarks. Though this would make a laudable initiative with a good PR potential, experts know the search market is driven by large publishers and advertisers and not by the little surfing guys. Numerous speculations can be made: threats of large legal actions from trademark owners, pressure from certain groups of interests are among the most vehiculated ones.
However, a more plausible one is that Yahoo makes preparations for a much larger scale movement destined to influence the market in a manner we cannot anticipate just yet.
Until further industry news, there's one thing to rejoice: from now on, no "better than Botox" ads on Yahoo and their partner sites!
* - the products and services covered by the new policy are: Sponsored Search, Local Advertising, Search Submit, Product Submit, Travel Submit and Directory Submit.
Computer Networking Fundamentals
A computer network is a collection of two or more computers with communication between them through a medium. The communication medium can be through radio waves, wires, infrared, optical fibers etc.
Computer network is an integral part of our daily lives, with the most important reason being that of communication. The use of computer networking is to share resources like fax machines, printers, modems, files etc., and its other uses are database server, computer server, email, chat, internet etc. The computer to which the resources are attached is called the server and the other computers that access the resource are called clients. In peer-to-peer computer networks there are no servers.
The sharing of fax machines, printers, and modems amongst many computers and users reduce the operational cost. A database on a computer network is a very important application as it stores and runs many important data and jobs. Emails and chats can be used for instantaneous communication and sending of files on a computer network.
The computer networks are classified, depending upon the size, as Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area Networks (WAN), Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN) and Personal Area Networks (PAN). The topology (topology is the way the computer networks and network resources are connected) of the networking can be classified as Bus Network, Ring Network and Star Network.
The networking hardware basically consists of wiring, network cards and a hub. Computer network cards are required so that one computer can understand what the other computer is "talking". Network cards have a unique MAC address to identify computers on a computer network. Hubs connect all the computers in the network. Hubs can also be used to connect to other hubs to increase the size of the computer network. Two computers can be connected using Ethernet cards or phone lines or power lines for communication, with hardware kits available at roughly a cost of $100.
As the number of computers in an office or a home increases, so do the number of cables, so wireless networking is a viable solution. In wireless networking radio transreceivers or infrared signals are used to communicate between computers and devices. Examples of wireless networking include Wi-fi and Bluetooth technology, though there may be security issues involved in wireless networking. However there definitely is a stronger preference towards wireless networking nowadays among consumers.
Computer networks have added a new dimension to the 21st century. Today the cyber world is much faster and wider than the real world. This has all been made possible due to computer networks. Computer networks have revolutionized business, communication, travel, research, defense, society and almost all human endeavors. The evolution of computer networks has helped the technological revolution take a big leap forward.
Computer network is an integral part of our daily lives, with the most important reason being that of communication. The use of computer networking is to share resources like fax machines, printers, modems, files etc., and its other uses are database server, computer server, email, chat, internet etc. The computer to which the resources are attached is called the server and the other computers that access the resource are called clients. In peer-to-peer computer networks there are no servers.
The sharing of fax machines, printers, and modems amongst many computers and users reduce the operational cost. A database on a computer network is a very important application as it stores and runs many important data and jobs. Emails and chats can be used for instantaneous communication and sending of files on a computer network.
The computer networks are classified, depending upon the size, as Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area Networks (WAN), Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN) and Personal Area Networks (PAN). The topology (topology is the way the computer networks and network resources are connected) of the networking can be classified as Bus Network, Ring Network and Star Network.
The networking hardware basically consists of wiring, network cards and a hub. Computer network cards are required so that one computer can understand what the other computer is "talking". Network cards have a unique MAC address to identify computers on a computer network. Hubs connect all the computers in the network. Hubs can also be used to connect to other hubs to increase the size of the computer network. Two computers can be connected using Ethernet cards or phone lines or power lines for communication, with hardware kits available at roughly a cost of $100.
As the number of computers in an office or a home increases, so do the number of cables, so wireless networking is a viable solution. In wireless networking radio transreceivers or infrared signals are used to communicate between computers and devices. Examples of wireless networking include Wi-fi and Bluetooth technology, though there may be security issues involved in wireless networking. However there definitely is a stronger preference towards wireless networking nowadays among consumers.
Computer networks have added a new dimension to the 21st century. Today the cyber world is much faster and wider than the real world. This has all been made possible due to computer networks. Computer networks have revolutionized business, communication, travel, research, defense, society and almost all human endeavors. The evolution of computer networks has helped the technological revolution take a big leap forward.