Oct 24, 2009

How To Avoid Fraud, Deceit & Scams!




by: Joe Clare
The world is full of people who feel they can take advantage of others to obtain their goals in life. Fraud, Deceit & Scams happen in the real world every day. Just tune into your local news to hear about them. But, Fraud, Deceit & Scams also happen in the virtual world as well. And, unfortunately they often hit those who can lease afford the losses. 
 
Online we are always inundated with "get rich quick schemes" and their claims of "overnight success". If you're like me you find this kind of s.p.a.m clogging up your email box on a daily bases. They tell us how easy it is. How we can just sit back and relax, do nothing all day long and still make a roll full of money. 
 
Hell, we might as well go golfing because we'll be making money hand over fist while on the golf course. :-| Now while sitting back and watching the money roll in would definitely be nice, reality is, rarely does any get rich quick scheme ever work. The promises of millions never pan out no matter how hard you try.

The problem here is that so many people want and need to make more money. And they want to make that money as quickly as they can. So they believe, or hope that what the scammer is telling them will be true. 
 
But understand this, even the greatest, largest companies in the world took time and work to build. Martha Stewart for example will tell you that she started her business in the basement of her house. And look where that business is today. A multi billion dollar a year corporation. While we all can't be Martha Stewart or Donald Trump or Hugh Heffner we can have our own successful home based business if we just stay away from the scams.

So, how do we spot the scams? Well, if you are serious about operating your own home based business there are things you can watch out for. Sort of the red flags of the business opportunity world. Let's have a look at some now. 
 
- Charging you for information about their business opportunity. It's pretty plain and simple. A so called business opportunity tells you all you have to do is go to your mail box pick up the checks and cash them, but first you must send them a check to get the information on how this is done. I'm of the thinking that your check is going to be the only check getting cashed here. 
 
This type of ad appears all over the internet. But if their business opportunity is so good why must you pay to find out what it is. Would it not make more sense to give you that information for free so they could get you interested in their product. I would think so! And unfortunately many people get scammed into sending these frauds the money they ask for. Then if they receive the information they paid for they will often find it pretty much useless and often they are require to send more money for more information. Stay away from these types of ads, they will not get you a successful home based business!

- They want to charge you a fee to sell their products.
O.K., I've got to ask - What's up with that?! If their product is so great won't you be selling them like crazy? Won't you be making money for not only yourself but for the company as well? Don't pay to sell someone else's products. 
 
- They offer you free products.
Ever see these ads where you are entitled to a free (what ever) only to discover you'll need to purchase something first. ie: Sign up today and get (what ever) for FREE! Of course what they don't tell you is you'll have to purchase a sample package first in order to get the freebie. 
 
- Fly by nights
Fly by night companies that pop up and take peoples money operate both offline and online. Very often they disappear without warning. So to keep yourself safe from these frauds ask yourself the following questions. Is this an established company? How long have they been in business? Do they have an actual street address or only a P.O. Box? Or worse, no address and no way to contact them at all? Do they use only an auto responder or do they have an email where you can get in touch with a real person? 
 
I know that all these points seem like common sense. But why then, do so many people ignore them. That is why these scammers can exist. As explained in my book "eBay Marketing Wholesale SourcePak" when looking for your perfect home based business it is important to look for a company that only gives you the straight goods. No promises of exorbitant amounts of money falling from the sky into your lap without you doing a thing to make it happen. And, they should not be charging you for any information on their business opportunity it should be laid out for you. Use your own common sense, if something looks to good to be true, then it probably is to good to be true. 
 
Best of Luck!
About the author:
Joe Clare is an active Netpreneur and eBayer! He is the author of numerous articles on how to make money online and be successful on eBay! Check out his latest Best Selling eBook "eBay Marketing Wholesale SourcePak" Your Passport to Success! at http://www.ebooksnsoftware.com

How Non-technical Webmasters Are Harnessing the Power of RSS...



by: Ron Hutton
The opportunity to quickly and easily implement and harness the power of RSS is quite real and new programs become available every week that allow non-technical marketers and webmasters to capitalize on the effective use of RSS.
 
Jim Edwards spoke of this trend in the recent "For a Greater Cause" teleseminar. Media-rich blogs and content sites are stickier and keep visitors on site longer.
 
Consider delivering audio content via the internet by setting up a blog and incorporating streaming audio. By doing so, your media-rich message creates a relationship with visitors that cannot be achieved with text alone.
 
If you'd like to take this one step further, start using video content. It's the difference between reading a flyer versus listening to the radio versus watching television. Why do people gravitate to the TV when every home has a radio? When presented with the option, we prefer the satisfaction of both the auditory and visual senses.
 
The real power of blogs, audio and video is that you can invite your visitors to participate and interact with you by allowing them to post comments. Your blog becomes a community event and we all love a party.
 
If you'll be using the strategy of blogging with audio and video, there are three things that you should do.

First, as mentioned above, allow your visitors to post comments to your blog.

Second, always give visitors the opportunity to sign up for your newsletter or ezine directly from your blog.
Third, for those who prefer to receive news via RSS feeds, post your RSS feed on every page of your blog.
 
Recorded interviews with industry experts fed via podcast can raise your credibility simply by association. Arrange for a phone interview with an expert in your market area, get permission to record the call and post it to your blog. If you're offering publicity and exposure for the interviewee, it should be simple to find willing and eager parties.
 
RSS offers you the ability to provide high frequency content updates. It can be daily or hourly. Deliver important messages, news and other content on demand rather that waiting for your regularly scheduled e-zine.
 
What's next?...
Here's where things get fun for the online marketer and webmaster. One area in particular where you can really start to take advantage of RSS technology is to build sticky content on your sites and monetize it with programs like Google's Adsense.
 
RSS feeds are available in abundance that provide product news, press releases and updates. Sites such as PRWeb (http://www.prweb.com) want you to use their news feeds on your site. So why not? Build your site's content with news and information feeds that deliver steady streams of traffic.
 
Do a bit of searching and you'll find programs and scripts that make the addition of RSS feeds to your website very simple and fast.
 
RSS gives you an edge over your competition by allowing you to create a sense of community, offer interaction and provide the latest news and information nearly on autopilot.
 
About the author:
Ron Hutton is a 20 year sales and marketing veteran with a passion for coaching and training. To watch a free video tutorial on how RSS was used in one little experiment to generate an extra $100 in Adsense income in 2 weeks (10 days actually), go here now... http://www.gothrive.com/auto-news-video.htm
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