I have a list of People I know, all written in a book. And every Year at Christmas time, I go take a look. For that is when I realize that these names are now a part. Not of the book they are written in, but of My very Heart. For Every name stands for someone, sometime.
And in that meeting they've become the rhythm of the rhyme. And while this sounds Fantastic for Me to make this claim, I really feel we are composed of each remembered name. Even if You may not be aware of any special link, Just meeting You has shaped My life far more than You can think. For once You've met somebody the years cannot erase the Memories of a Pleasant Word or a Friendly face.
So never think My Christmas Greeting is just a mere routine of names upon a Christmas list, forgotten in between. For when I send a Christmas Shout that is addressed to You It's because You're on a list of those I are indebted to. For I are but a total of many I've met, And You are also one of those I prefer never to forget, And whether I have known You for many years or few, In some ways You have a part in shaping things I do. And every Year when Christmas comes I realize anew that the best Gifts that life can give is Meeting those like YOU.
So may the spirit of Christmas, which forever and ever endures leave it's Richest blessing in the Hearts Of YOU and YOURS.
Free landing pages, are they just a squeeze page or an ordinary opt-in page ? YES, There is a major difference between lack luster free landing pages and proven to succeed free landing pages.
Yes it's a given that any sort of landing or opt-in/squeeze page is better than no landing page at all. But why would You use just any old landing page template when You can start using proven landing pages that are used by experts in the field and have more than proven their ability time and time again.
The massive boost that is generated in increased conversions is undeniable when using a proven free landing page template compared to an ordinary one. There is a reason why these free landing pages work and that's because they have been researched by the experts for total niche marketing use.
Creating a killer landing page is essential in the world of online marketing. Whether You are new to online marketing or a seasoned professional,the need for a great landing page is the number one thing that must be done and for some people can seem like an unenviable task. The very last thing You need is to be held up and wasting valuable time at the first jump on the marketing track because You can't get a professional free landing page up and running.
No matter how good Your giveaway may be, I guarantee that Your leaving huge conversion numbers which lead to sales increases on the table if Your not utilizing proven to work free landing page templates. Why waste Your same amount of valuable time producing a low conversion unproven free landing page when You can use expert proven free landing pages that will boost Your conversion through the stratosphere.
The sheer importance of a smart landing page to capture Your clients information can in no way be understated. Your ability to communicate with Your subscribers has it's very first bearing on Your potential visitors when they come to Your landing page, their decision process kicks in immediately and they either go straight away because Your landing page looks unprofessional, tardy and untidy or they do exactly what they are supposed to do when the come upon a professional landing page that looks smart, slick and inviting, and that is to give their details for further information.
Free landing pages can be extremely successful if they are proven by experts to work already, right now and currently in Your marketing niche. It's very simple really, You are in the position right now just like a landing page, You either decide to check out these killer awesome free landing page templates that ate proven to work by experts or You can click away and forever wonder " What If I Had Just Checked Them Out ". The decision is Yours, if You wan them now then check out just below and click there now, You won't be disappointed.
Of course I'm sure you know Jeremy Burns for the huge PLR packages that he does several times year but today I simply must tell you about something much bigger.
I’m talking about a PLR offer like you’ve never seen before to a product that you’re not going to believe.
This isn’t a package of eBooks or a software package or anything like that which you may be thinking.
I’m talking about getting full Private Label Rights to a fat, heavy physical course that you can sell for massive returns.
You know the kind of course I’m referring to…
The huge physical monster that costs $700 and makes the creator tons and tons of profit over the course of a couple of months.
Before you start working up thoughts of this being excruciatingly expensive, I want to let you in on a little secret…
The private label rights to this course are extremely affordable. I’m not talking about $1,000 affordable but a price point much lower.
I personally think Jeremy is nuts and did tell him that I thought he was crazy for practically giving away the private label rights to such a premium course but as usual, he wants to give you major value!
As you’ve seen from EVERY offering Jeremy has ever put together, he offers nothing short of extreme value every time, like clockwork.
This offer takes that to a whole new level.
You truly have to see this to believe it so get over to this site and check out the spy photos of this mega course and see what a work of art this masterpiece is…
So I thought I'd share this free keyword research with you.
Hold the horses though! Because I want you to understand something...
What's more important than the keywords is the fact there is a STARVING CROWD with an ever present BURNING DESIRE...behind these keywords.
See if you can figure out why?
Here's the keywords...
************************************************************ -Beyonce Wigs- 8100 searches per month! Competition is p-r-e-t-t-y easy with only 16,000 exact match competition. ************************************************************* ********************************************************** -Beyonce Front Lace Wigs - 2000 searches per month!! Only 318 competition. (Just write an article and you'll be on the first page...easy!) ******************************************************** Another type of wig in HUGE demand! ******************************************************** -Remy Front Lace Wigs- 5400 searches last month and only 1,180 competition! *******************************************************
Now get this!
These wigs go for an average of $400
$400!!
And they sell...Sell...SELL...
Here's a popular shop (boasting 10,000 happy customers):
Some of the highest grossing Paypal shops in the beauty category are shops on all kinds of celebrity wigs.
It gets EVEN BETTER!
Beyonce is NOT the only celebrity women want to emulate.
Jessica Alba Jennifer Hudson Ashley Simpson Reese Witherspoon Brandy Eva Longoria Whitney Houston Halle Berry Tyra Banks
And it goes on and on and on!
You could nail top spots on most of those celebrity names in conjunction with 'wig' or 'lace wig'.
This is also an EVERGREEN niche...meaning it will always be there. They were selling wigs back in the 1700's and they'll sell today and they'll sell 100 years from now.
Can you smell the money?
Do you fully understand why this is such a lucrative niche?
Right.
Women have a burning passion to be attractive, beautiful and be like the people they admire.
This is SUCH a great market!
(Cosmetics do NOT suffer during economic bad times either)
You could probably...with a little time make a living just in the "Celebrity Wig Market".
You can have lucrative niches just like the "Celebrity Wig Market" delivered to your inbox...EVERYDAY!
Website Flipping is HUGE, If Your NOT into this gig right now..... You are definitely missing out on great cash making times. If You want to learn about how to flip websites for Profit You would do very well to watch this short but extremely awesome video below giving You all the nitty-gritty details about this cash phenomenon called Website Flipping.
We help companies connect with their customers, one tweet at a time.
Twitter Intellect is a Niche Global Marketing Business with expertise in extending and compelling Your Twitter Personal or Business Communities for You while You may be on vacation, busy or away for whatever reason.
By doing so We are also helping You in the continuation of the growth and sustainability of Your Twitter Image or Business Brand which then allows You to keep on cultivating Your strategic e-markets and maximize Your ROI, whilst being able to help streamline & deliver synergistic e-business solutions for Your Enterprise or Personal Profile.
We know that by helping You to continue to deploy Your cutting-edge interfaces gives You more time to concentrate on what's really important, and that's how better to incubate Your e-business supply-chains and really unleash those proactive initiatives You have been thinking about installing but haven't had the actual real time to do so.
At Twitter Intellect We know that You have developed dynamic partnerships with Your Twitter Communities and understand that You must architect & drive magnetic front-end convergence whilst also enhancing their one-to-one experiences. We will give You the extra time & relief You need to be able to orchestrate Your Businesses leading ideas and engineer innovative products & services for Your dot-com users.
Think of us as public relations, marketing, and customer service, all rolled into one. Simply put, we do your tweeting for you. We send out pre-approved messages about everything from information about your company or product to special events. We also respond to Twitter users who send messages directly to your Twitter address-consulting with you as needed to ensure the user receives the most appropriate response.
Your Brand A Business Dedicated to Maintaining your Professional Brand or Your Personal Message on Twitter in your absence and to deliver upon the methodologies which reflect Your Personal or Professional Business Brand.
At Twitter Intellect We understand how much effort You have put into Your Twitter Brand & Image already. And with that in mind We know how vitally important the upkeep of that Professional Brand is & that it continues while Your away or just need time off from Twitter.
We Pride ourselves on the Fact that We ONLY Totally Focus on the delivery and continuation of the Blue Ribbon Business or Personal Brand You have already built. We know that helping You orchestrate Your Businesses mission-critical Tweets gives You the pure & clear ability to e-enable efficient mindshare that You or Your Business needs to monetize it's dynamic solutions.
We also know that harnessing enough time to be able to concentrate on how to further engage Your proactive e-markets is extremely hard to find in this fast paced & ever increasingly quick lifestyle that we lead on Twitter.
How can You continue to Tweet and not lose contact with Your Valuable followers but also find enough time to concentrate on the continued growth of Your Business at the same time ?
Twitter Intellect has the Answer.
We know that You need more time to be able to build Your viral initiatives & scale up new killer solutions to provide to Your Twitter communities needs.
Twitter Intellect provides the time solution You need.
With a hand-picked team from Marketing Backgrounds based strategically around the World, Twitter Intellect has employed a team with cross-media experience is world-class and project management skills that are mission-critical. All staff have been trained and familiarized with all aspects of the International Data Protection, Privacy Legislation and Electronic Documents Act.
Specialized Twitter Applications and Analysis Tools
Translation of your Tweets
Search Engine Marketing
Blogging/Podcasting/Social Media
Email Marketing, and Affiliate Marketing
Provide Value: the more you add to Twitter, the more you get out of it. People follow you for a reason. Give them valuable information, and they keep coming back for more.
Network with others: don't be scared to communicate with others and respond to their updates. Twitter is a networking site. It's a many-to-many communication service. It's not just about you!
Know the limits: if you are a business owner, you should know that what you say on Twitter can help or harm your business name significantly. Don't say anything you don't want others to hear about in a professional situation.
Listen: Twitter is live and kicking 24/7. That means that you have constant access to what folks are talking about, their needs, and their wants. By listening to what others have to say on Twitter, you can build new products, improve your existing ones, and find new partners.
Our Solution
We offer a very competitive and unique Marketing System that enables you to go on Vacation or have time away from Twitter with the knowledge of knowing that You can be Assured that your Online Brand and Reputation will be ' As if you were really there'.
Considering the fact that Twitter moves so fast Today & that this momentum will ONLY increase dramatically in the Future, even just a very short period of absence on You or Your Businesses behalf can & will have Your Valued Followers becoming Dis-Connected' from your message.
We know that Having Your followers Dis-connected from Your Brand Message can mean the VERY REAL chance that all Your previous hard work could invariably crumble or even worse, dissolve altogether & this can happen Phenomenally FAST.
At Twitter Intellect We know, Understand & Fully appreciate that You can NOT afford in any way to have these or any interruptions to Your Twitter Strategy & We Specialize in Ensuring that Your Business or Personal Brand Message will always continue to be Squarely right in front of Your Valuable Established Twitter Communities at all times.
We know that the formation of efficient personal partnerships with Our clients to deliver impactful collaborative results that are a Mirror Image of Your Professional or Personal Brand works and is a Foundation Cornerstone of Our very Own Business Mission-Statement to YOU.
We also know that being able to visualize together We can deliver Your integrated intuitive content on Twitter & continue to implement Your robust content at Your request which will give You complete readiness at all times to deploy Your world-class web services.
At Twitter Intellect We know the absolute importance placed upon being able to synthesize with Your B2C e-markets properly & coherently through the application of Your benchmark back-end content that will continue to massively optimize Your relationships with Your followers & maximize their experiences of Your Brand 24/7.
Twitter Intellect operates 24/7 365 days a year With employees working across the World...with one in YOUR time zone RIGHT NOW with total capability to integrate Your global convergence & continue to drive Your Valuable e-business & e-commerce.
Which allows You to do what You do BEST, which is concentrate on what next Your Business will create to revolutionize new web services for Your Valuable Twitter following.
If your business limits its online presence to advertising banners and blogging, it's missing out.
The Internet provides powerful networking opportunities that allow users to effectively target their audience by logging on to social sites like LinkedIn, Digg and more.
Take advantage of these tools by asserting your company's presence online and reaching more potential customers, business partners and employees
Building Community-creating a strong community of followers that ultimately help drive business objectives and bring in new customers
Customer Service-using Twitter to successfully engage with customers needing help
Selling-driving online and offline sales by using Twitter to post promotions, discounts and offers
Prospecting-creating demand and pinpointing potential customers needing the type of solution your product offers
Branding & Awareness-employing Twitter in creative ways to increase awareness around a product, person (celebrity) or business
Our Specialisms
Brand
Brand Identity
Brand Image
Brand Manager
B2B Advertising
Persuasion Process
Potential Market
Product Differentiation
Product Positioning
Product Life Cycle
Promotion
Promotional Mix
Psychological Segmentation
Psychographics
Tag line
Target Audience
Target Market
Target Market Identification
Some Sites We Utilise Reddit: Upload stories and articles on reddit to drive traffic to your site or blog. Submit items often so that you'll gain a more loyal following and increase your presence on the site.
Digg: Digg has a huge following online because of its optimum usability. Visitors can submit and browse articles in categories like technology, business, entertainment, sports and more.
Del.icio.us: Social bookmark your way to better business with sites like del.icio.us, which invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking.
StumbleUpon: You'll open your online presence up to a whole new audience just by adding the StumbleUpon toolbar to your browser and "channel surf[ing] the Web. You'll "connect with friends and share your discoveries," as well as "meet people that have similar interests."
Technorati: If you want to increase your blog's readership, consider registering it with Technorati, a network of blogs and writers that lists top stories in categories like Business, Entertainment and Technology.
Ning: After hanging around the same social networks for a while, you may feel inspired to create your own, where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the Web. Ning lets users design free social networks that they can share with anyone.
Squidoo: According to Squidoo, "everyone's an expert on something. Share your knowledge!" Share your industry's secrets by answering questions and designing a profile page to help other members.
YouTube: From the fashion industry to Capitol Hill, everyone has a video floating around on YouTube. Shoot a behind-the-scenes video from your company's latest commercial or event to give customers and clients an idea of what you do each day.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a popular networking site where alumni, business associates, recent graduates and other professionals connect online.
Ecademy: Ecademy prides itself on "connecting business people" through its online network, blog and message-board chats, as well as its premier BlackStar membership program, which awards exclusive benefits.
Xing: An account with networking site Xing can "open doors to thousands of companies." Use the professional contact manager to organize your new friends and colleagues, and take advantage of the Business Accelerator application to "find experts at the click of a button, market yourself in a professional context [and] open up new sales channels."
Facebook: Facebook is no longer just for college kids who want to post their party pics. Businesses vie for advertising opportunities, event promotion and more on this social-networking site.
MEETin.org: Once you've acquired a group of contacts in your city by networking on MEETin.org, organize an event so that you can meet face-to-face.
Tribe: Cities like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Chicago have unique online communities on tribe. Users can search for favorite restaurants, events, clubs and more.
Ziggs: Ziggs is "organizing and connecting people in a professional way." Join groups and make contacts through your Ziggs account to increase your company's presence online and further your own personal career.
Plaxo: Join Plaxo to organize your contacts and stay updated with feeds from Digg, Amazon.com, del.icio.us and more.
Networking For Professionals: Networking For Professionals is another online community that combines the Internet with special events in the real world. Post photos, videos, résumés and clips on your online profile while you meet new business contacts.
Learning how to be Safe Online & NOT Becoming Marketers Bait - Basics
That's what Dorothy said in the "Wizard of Oz".....‟There are lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!"
Out there on the World Wide Web, there really are lions and tigers and bears, as well as, other critters that can eat you alive, make your life miserable, or rob you of your dreams and ambitions.
The dangerous jungle creatures are also very smart jungle creatures. They all have opposable thumbs and are capable of setting traps for you to fall into. The "bait" they use to get you, the unsuspecting newbie to fall into these insidious traps is "help". They trick you into believing that what they are offering you is help when, in fact, what they are doing is tricking you into falling into their traps.
Some bait that is used is: You have been CHOSEN: This little piece of bait usually arrives in your inbox. It is nothing that you solicited so it IS SPAM but it is very clever SPAM.
The email will say something like, “You have been chosen to participate in a______________!!
The blank can be filled in many ways. One of the ways that went around for awhile, and may still be making the rounds, is “You have been chosen to participate in a program that is marketing walk-up Internet access.” All you have to do, since you have been CHOSEN, is to buy this machine that will be installed in a "high-traffic" area close to where you live.
Then you can just go pick up your money whenever you find the time. They imply that you can easily find the time to go pick up your money between flying by personal jet to play golf with Donald Trump and having dinner with the President. Snap! You send in your several thousand dollars to purchase (or lease) this machine then you have absolutely no control over where the machine is places...IF it is placed. It can be put in a low traffic dimly it corner of a dive in the sleaziest part of town...it isn't up to you. Oh, My!
You are SO SMART! Well, everybody likes to be thought of as intelligent, don't they? This is very good bait! It is designed to make you believe that FINALLY somebody realizes just how smart you really are. Again, this bait usually arrives in your inbox and it is SPAM. The offer tells you that because you are such an intelligent person, you can become an Internet Consultant and earn millions just by advising others.
Sometimes you will also see these kinds of advertisements on websites as well. But, wait just a minute! Didn't you just get here? Aren't you still considered a newbie in the world of Internet commerce? What exactly do you know and what can kind of advise can you give?
Ah.....but the critters that baited this trap will gladly tell you everything you need to know so that you can become a highly paid and sought after "consultant".....for a price. Oh, My! You are SO HONEST! Well, of course you are honest. You know that, you just didn't realize that others were aware of this fine quality.
This offer for a credit card or a guaranteed loan is made by unsolicited email sometimes but you can also see these advertisements in trade magazines and in newspapers. They tell you that, even if you are young and aren't well established financially or even if you have had credit difficulties in the past, THEY know that you are an honest person and they are willing to help you because you are such an honest person.
You will see the word, "honest" repeated often in these advertisements. You are told that you can get a home equity loan even if you don't have any equity in your home. You are told that you can get a credit card with a really high spending limit no matter what your credit history is.
These offers are most often Ponzi schemes (which we will discuss later) or they are an attempt to get your personal information for the purpose of identity theft. Oh, My! You DESERVE our help! Somewhere inside all of us mere mortals there is a little place that tells us that we really ARE deserving of the better things in life.
That is just a fact of human nature and one that can be used as bait by the Internet jungle critters to lure you into their traps. Not always, but certainly most of the time, people do get what the deserve. If you work hard and long you will most likely succeed and if you don't, you most likely won't. But we aren't born DESERVING anything. We make our own luck and we build our own success. This is another bait that the Internet critters use to trick you. Don't take the bait.
Sometimes this bait is used to lure you into making risky investments. Many times the Internet jungle animals believe that because you are in business for yourself, you must have a ton of disposable income and they want to get their greedy little hands on some of it. So they place advertisements that tell you that you DESERVE to participate in the LIMITED offer.
The offer is only limited by the number of people who actually take this bait. A lot of these offers that are made because you are so deserving of them are pushing off-shore bank accounts or land in foreign countries. Many are MLM or Ponzi schemes. Some of these offers are for free goods or services.
After all, you DESERVE to get stuff for free. The offer will be a membership in a "buying club". Of course, there really are many legitimate buying clubs that really do offer great discounts on brand name merchandize. There offers will not, however, arrive in your inbox unsolicited.
Oh, My! You can be NUMBER ONE! Okay, who doesn't want to be number one? There is a tiny little problem, however. There is only ONE number one spot and only one person or company can occupy that position. Promising to make you number one is very good bait. When you see advertisements that guarantee you the NUMBER ONE spot in Google search results, stop just a minute and think about that promise.
How many number one spots are there? There is ONE...so how can this company promise to make everybody number one and deliver on that promise? Answer: they can't deliver. They can, however, collect a lot of money for themselves. If that amazing offer appeared in your inbox, you can bet your bottom dollar that it is part of a mass mailing that went out to hundreds of thousands of other people just like you.
If you see an advertisement for such an offer, you don't think that it was placed just for you, do you? How many people do you think will see the same advertisement? Here are the hard cold facts about rankings in Google search results (or rankings in any search engine results for that matter).
The top Internet marketers, the guys and gals who really do make tons of money marketing on the Internet, struggle for YEARS to gain a PageRank of 7 or better. Top page ranks in search results is one of the hardest tasks in all Internet marketing.
There is NOBODY that can promise (and keep the promise) to make you number one in search engine results. There are ways to improve your PR in search engine results....all of which take time, effort and know-how.
Writing and marketing articles and ebooks, posting to blogs and forums, doing link exchanges, etc are all proven PR rank improvements techniques. There is no magic formula. Don't take this bait!
Oh, My! Success can be EASY for YOU! Everybody looks for an easier way to do everything. Hey....why do you think the wheel and the lever were invented? We all want to do as little work as possible to achieve our goals.
You aren't the only one. “Easy for You” is a bait that is wildly successful for that very reason. These advertisements sometimes arrive as unsolicited mail in your inbox but they can also be found splashed all over the Internet and in newspapers and magazines. Easy riches! Wow! They tell you that only fools work hard to make money. They say that making money is so easy that it is basically a "no-brainer".
They shout that hard work is overrated and a totally unnecessary complication that YOU don't have to be burdened with. ALL you have to do, they say, is take their advice, which they will happily supply to you for a price. There are those in this world who really do have a lot of money that they didn't work for.
They were born rich or they hit the lottery or a long lost rich uncle died and left them millions. You have a better chance of being struck by lightening than you have of having millions without putting in the blood sweat and tears that are required to earn them. So...SNAP! This bait is designed to take whatever money you do have out of your pocket and put it in the pockets of these jungle critters.
THEY certainly don't intend to work for their money. Oh, My! You can learn the SECRETS of Success! Do you know what a secret is? It's a piece of information that isn't common knowledge. It is something that is whispered into listening ears.
Ah....but we all want to know the "secrets". What great bait! Secrets! You will be inundated with offers from those who will reveal their secrets of success to you. Almost every time that you opt-in to a list or sign up for a marketing course of any kind, you will be promised that you are going to learn some "secrets".
Now, some courses and seminars really do provide useful inside information to budding Internet entrepreneurs but the information is hardly a secret. It might be gems of knowledge gained through experience. It could be bits of wisdom or even some very good advice.
The trick to knowing which of the thousands of courses, seminars, teleseminars or webinars that you can really benefit from, is knowing who the leaders of the authors of the courses or the leaders and speakers of events are.
You need to know what their backgrounds are. You can learn a lot from those who have blazed trails...but they won't be secrets. Really successful Internet marketers have a lot they can teach you and much wisdom they can share but everybody is NOT a successful Internet marketer who offers to reveal secrets to you.
One way to check out whom really successful Internet marketers are and who are just jungle beasts that want your money, is to plug names of authors or speakers into the search box of your favorite search engine ( Google Them).
You can learn a lot about people if you just look around the Internet. Don't believe everything you read. Check out the credentials of authors or speakers before you pay for the information they are offering. Don't take the bait!
Oh, My! You can learn to SELL Anything! “Everyone lives by selling something.” - Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish novelist, poet.
How true! We all sell something. We sell our time or our knowledge or we sell a product or a service. Everybody is selling something. Some of us do it better than others. There is, however, a catch to selling. You have to have something of value to sell before you will have any paying customers.
Hype won't cut it. There is no doubt that effective selling techniques exist. There is no doubt that some of these techniques can be taught. But....you can't actually learn to sell ANYTHING. You can sell something. You can sell merchandize or services that have value.
But you can't sell just ANYTHING! Many marketers, those of the brick and mortar world and those of the Internet marketing world, have found out that selling is only the first part of a process. The second part is that the customer who buys whatever is being sold has untold power. Today, if the customer isn't happy, they usually have a recourse.
If you sell inferior products, you will get a lot of returns and you will have your credibility severely damaged. Selling isn't all that hard if you have a good product or a good service that will satisfy the customers who purchase it. You have to keep it sold. You don't want returns. Being a good salesman can be learned. Selling an honest product or service will keep it sold.
The bears that live and unfortunately thrive in the Internet jungle come in several varieties. Out in the real world you only find a few kinds but on the Internet there are many more.
Being ambitious is not a crime.
It is an admirable quality and one that you should be proud of. Wanting to do better is what has made this country great. It's the corner stone of every fortune that has ever been built.
Wanting to better yourself and being willing to roll up your sleeves and do the work necessary to achieve a better life for yourself and your family is also the cornerstone of success in the world of Internet business.
Many people want a job and there is nothing wrong with wanting a job but others want to be their own boss. They want to be the one who gives orders and not the one who takes orders. They want to make the decisions and not just carry out decisions that have been made by others.
They want to be captains of their own ships and masters of their own destinies....there is nothing wrong with that either. It is to be admired. Ambition is good but it can also be dangerous. An eagerness to succeed can cause you to forget that you are living in a jungle that is fraught with danger on every side.
There are big ugly bears out there just waiting for you to forget for one minute that they are out to get you. They are waiting for you to get careless. They are waiting for you to let ambition cloud your judgment. For every one ambitious, hard-working, honest Internet entrepreneur out there, there are at least a thousand under-handed, crooked bears waiting to take advantage of them. Successful internet businesses can be created.
They HAVE been created.
You can create one yourself if you are willing to put in the time, effort, energy and, yes, money that is required. A successful Internet business will not be created over night and anybody who promises you that it is an easy and painless process is lying to you.
Don't underestimate the bears. They are very, very good at what they do. They have fooled some of the best of them. MLM schemes: We have briefly discussed Multi-Level Marketing schemes before but there is a lot more that you need to know so that you won't get suckered into one of these schemes and become a bear yourself.
MLM schemes are illegal and if even if you get suckered into becoming a part of one, you are just as guilty as the person you involved you. Ignorance of the law is not an acceptable excuse. These "plans" for success on the Internet come packaged and presented in ways that make it difficult to identify them as MLM schemes.
They do, however, all have some things in common. The most obvious and the easiest to spot sign is that you are offered a commission for sales of products or services that are made by others....this is above and beyond any commission payments for sales that you make yourself. That's the thing that makes these plans MLM.
You will be paying part of your commission to the person who recruited you and you will be receiving commission payments from people whom you recruit, as will, the person who recruited you and the person who recruited them. The only limit to the number of levels that can be achieved in a MLM scheme is the point at which it collapses in on itself.
Did I mention that the pyramid is an upside down one? The point is at the bottom...not at the top. There is always a point at which the scheme will collapse. When it gets heavy enough at the top, it will come tumbling down. You do not want to be anywhere near the point of collapse. As a matter of fact, you don't want to be anywhere near the pyramid at all.
Do you recall "chain letters" ? Chain letters are started by a person of a group of people and they prey on the greed of others. The first person starts a letter and collects $1000 from each of the next nine people. Each of those nine people recruit (there's that word again) others to send them a $1000 each...and on and on the pyramid builds until it gets top heave and collapses.
That is precisely what happens in an MLM scheme except that there is always a product involved in an MLM scheme and there isn't ever a product involved in a pyramid scheme. So how do you know for sure what is really an MLM scheme? Here's a check list that will help you to avoid this bear:
1. Are you required to recruit others in order to make money?. If the answer to that question is "yes", it would be a pretty good bet that it is in fact an MLM scheme.
2. Do I have to buy any inventory? Remember....there is ALWAYS a product involved in an MLM scheme. If you are required to purchase inventory, you may well be looking at an MLM scheme.
3. If you see the words, "downline commissions" anywhere....especially in the fine print...this is definitely an MLM scheme. "Downline Commissions" means a percentage of a commission that someone else has been paid.
4. Others have made millions! Oh, did you believe those glowing testimonials that you read? Anybody can write a testimonial. I could write one for myself or my business and sign anybody's name to it and so could you. There is never a way in an MLM scheme to check out the "testimonials". It simply isn't possible. Even if you are given addresses and phone numbers or email addresses, you have no way to be certain that these testimonials are fact and not just a lot of marketing hype.
Fact: MLM schemes are illegal. Be certain that you are not drawn into one because then you are guilty of fraud.
E-mail processing: This is a bear that is very much like the enveloping stuffing one that preys on those seeking a work-at-home job but it is hungry for the person who wants an Internet business of their own rather than just a job. Rather than say, "envelope stuffing" it says, "email processing".
This bear only wants you to take fifty bucks away from you. He says that for that very low price, you can start your very own business and work at your leisure from the comfort of your own home. You can be your own boss. You can just work when you want to. Now wait just a minute here! Back up that mail truck and let‟s take a look at what is really inside this offer.
First of all, who do you think needs email "processed" and what is processing? I've seen advertisements that claim you can make up to $25 dollars just for processing a single email. You have an email account yourself. Go look at it and see which of your emails would need to be processed. I can tell you....none of them.....and nobody else has email that needs to be processed either.
This isn't a business opportunity. It's a bear.
If you send in your $50, what you will get in return is a set of poorly written instructions telling you how to place the same ad that you fell for and get other people to send you $50 each. That doesn't sound like a legitimate Internet business, does it? It isn't one. The only thing that you will gain from falling for this will be a wallet that is $50 lighter.
You want to be the proud owner of a successful and legitimate internet business. You don't want to become a scam artist or a bear yourself.
E-Mail Marketing Business: While it is certainly true that many people do make very nice incomes sending out marketing emails that advertise products, it just is not as simple as the ads telling you that you can send emails and make money make it sound. You can become an email marketer but you must build your own list of people to market to.
What these advertisements are selling is a list of names and email addresses. Understand that anytime you see an advertisement telling you that you can make boat loads of money, there will ALWAYS be a product that is being sold.
Selling this product is the way that the people who placed these ads plan on making THEIR boat load of money...not YOURS.
Back in 2003 the United States Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act. It became the law of the land in January 2004. CAN-SPAM is an acronym for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing.
The CAN-SPAM Act states that sending unsolicited bulk email is a crime. The Act is enforced be the Federal Trade Commission and they really are not kidding. There are fines and penalties for violations of the Act that go up to $11,000 per incident that are handed down be the Department of Justice.
Legitimate internet marketers, those who sell their own products and services, as well as, those who sell products and services of others (Affiliate Marketers), all have what are known as "opt-in" lists. These are lists of people who have agreed to allow these legitimate merchants to send them email.
The CAN-SPAM Act is not being violated if you have permission to send bulk email. When you buy a list of names and email addresses, you do not have permission to send bulk email to the names on that list. I know....I know....the sellers of these lists will tell you that they have the right to give you permission to send email.
They DO NOT have that right. The one and only person who can give you permission to send bulk email to their inboxes is the person who owns that email address...the recipient. Third parties cannot give you that permission. There are many legitimate list building techniques. None of these techniques are easy and they are certainly not fast.
You can write and market ebooks and articles, you can post to blogs and forums, you can do a lot of legal things to build your own opt-in list but you cannot BUY a legal opt-in list no matter what those ads tell you.
If this bear get you, it can end up costing you millions of dollars. There really aren't any shortcuts to having a successful online business. Fact: Sending unsolicited bulk email is a crime according to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.
The penalties are very STIFF.
1-900 Business Opportunities: This bear has claws and teeth. You will see an advertisement that says something like, “Call 1-900-555-5555 to discover your pot of gold!!!!!” It is sad but it is true that it is perfectly legal to advertise a 900 number. Unlike 800 numbers or 866 numbers, the 900 number call is NOT free.
Not only is it not "free" the cost per minute is set by the owner of the number and can be exorbitant. The advertisements are slick and very convincing. When you call one of these 900 numbers, your telephone company will be charging you be the minute. Fees per minute can be a few dollars of quite a few dollars.
You will be kept on the phone for as long as possible. You will be given information on how to set up your own 900 number (that's the secret that you are paying for) and how to place advertisements to get others to call your 900 number. When you get your next telephone bill, you may go into cardiac arrest because it is likely to be well over $1000.
You will have no recourse. You will either pay the bill or your telephone company will disconnect your service. The person who placed the advertisement gets most of the money that you will pay your telephone company.
FACT: Never call a 1-900 number! You do not know how much you will be charged per minute for the call and the ‘secret’ that you will be given access to is just how to pull the same dirty trick on others.
Instant Riches Can Be Yours! This bear is used by many different crooks and scam artists. The body of the advertisement changes with the tides or the seasons but the message remains the same. The message is that you can become unbelievably wealthy overnight if you just know how. The bears that place these advertisements are preying upon your ambition.
Your ambition is a good thing but you must remember that is also bear bait. Do you remember when the "Dot-Com Bubble" burst in 2000? For several years prior to the burst of the bubble, many bright-eyed-bushy-tailed young entrepreneurs made millions overnight.
They lost those millions overnight, as well.
Here is the bottom line of all Internet business opportunities: You can be a successful online business entrepreneur.....IF and ONLY IF....you are willing to put in the time, effort, energy, and money to become successful.
That success is not going to come overnight.
You might appear to be an overnight success to your friends and families but YOU will know better.
Fact: Overnight fortunes are never made overnight. They are the product of a lot of hard work and devotion to a dream. Don’t believe the hype.
Become a Blogging Millionaire: When this bear came out of the woods, I was just sure that nobody would buy into the scheme. I was wrong. A lot of people have fallen for this. The "pitch" is that all you have to do is just set up a blog (you can do this for free) and then sell high priced advertising space to big multimillion dollar companies.
You are told that these huge companies have stacks of cash lying around just waiting for you to claim it. Yes, blogging is big on the Internet at the moment but you won't be making millions by starting your own blog.
Blogging is a tool that is used by many very successful Internet marketers but it is not a business unto itself. There may well be a few blogs that are owned and operated by people who are famous or infamous that make money selling advertising space. Yours is not going to be one of them. You always must ask the question: “What is the promoter getting out of this offer?”
You can bet your boots that they aren't doing all this advertising for YOUR benefit and to help YOU get rich. They are selling something that will make money for THEM. In this case, the blogging website is free but the information that, according to them, you MUST have comes at a price.
For just a few hundred bucks they can tell you how to turn your blog into a “money-making machine”. Do you have any idea how many blog sites there are on the Internet? Me either but I can tell you that there are a lot more than a few. Huge multimillion dollar International corporations are not going to pay you for advertising space on your little blog website.
Fact: You aren’t going to make millions selling advertising space on your blog site. There are many legitimate ways to start and succeed at running an online business. You are to be greatly admired for wanting to do better for yourself and for your family. You do, however, need to understand that succeeding in the world of Internet commerce isn't going to happen overnight.
It isn't even going to happen over many nights. Succeeding at anything takes a lot of your time, effort and energy and succeeding at Internet commerce isn't an exception to that rule.
There are a lot of bears out there in the Internet jungle that will try to convince you that there are shortcuts that can make you successful and wealthy overnight. The bears are lying!
There are Tigers, There are so many ways that newbies can "be had" on the Internet. It is just sad that so many of those that are eaten up by the tigers that roam through the Internet jungle are only trying to find a way to be able to make some money using their personal computers and their Internet connections.
They aren't even hoping to become rich or famous. They don't expect making money to be easy or fast. They simply want a job that will allow them to stay at home with their young children, help to put a loved child through collage or add to their retirement income. They are honest, hard-working decent people....that make the tigers out there start thinking about lunch.
Work-from-home If you are considering trying to find a work at home job, you need to know that you will be working more hours for less money than you made at your job that was located in the brick and mortar world. On the other hand, you will not have all of the related expenses of a brick and mortar job either. # You will not have the expense of traveling to and from work. # You will not have the expense of suitable clothing for work. # You will not have the expense of day-care. # You will not have the expense of lunch out everyday.
Good things...all of them! But there is a downside to working from home, as well.
# You will be considered to be self-employed # You will have to pay all of your FICA tax. (Your employer now pays half.) # You will have to convince your family and friends that you really do have a job. # You had better be aware of the tigers and other critters that want to have you for lunch...at the entree.
There are schemes and scams out there that are directed at those who want to be work-at-home moms, those who are looking for an additional income source and those who are retirees looking for part-time work to supplement their incomes.
Some of these scams are:
Stuffing envelopes: “Make extra money by stuffing envelopes from home!” This tiger is a bit long in the tooth. It's been around for years. Advertisements for "at-home-envelope stuffers' can be found in newspapers at your local library that date back several decades....and yet people will still fall for it.
The reason that people will fall for this ploy is that they get all of that unsolicited mail at their own homes and they think that somebody had to have put that paper into those envelopes that are addressed to them. Nope! Sorry.... but no living person actually put that paper into those envelopes. It was put there by a machine and it was addressed by a computer. It was mailed in bulk. There is always, of course, a "small fee" to get started in the envelope stuffing business.
In return for this, "small fee" you will most likely get instructions for placing ads just like the one you fell for to get others to bite. It is tiger...it is a con...and the only way that you will ever get your money back is to fool others into thinking they can make money by stuffing envelopes.
Fact: There are no envelope stuffing jobs to be had!
Craft or assembly jobs:
This tiger is very attractive. It appeals to those who are talented at crafts or handy with hand tools. These folks see an advertisement that promises them that they can make a ton of money by just doing what they already know how to do and are very good at and it is just almost irresistible.
This looks like the opportunity that they have been looking for! Whoa! Put that sewing machine or those hand tools away and let‟s think this over. There are some things that you don‟t know.
There isn't any reason for you to know these things but you better learn them.....fast. The headline of this advertisement is in big bold print and there are usually multiple exclamation points, as well. The headline promises that you will be sent the material and then be paid for the finished products when you send them in to the employer.
Don't skip the print that isn't quite as big as that headline. That's where the "catch" is.....or, maybe I should say, catches. There's more than one way for this tiger to get you.
Usually the first thing is that you will be required to „invest‟ in some special equipment or supplies that aren't going to be included in the "free materials" that were promised in the larger print. This equipment or supplies can run anywhere from a few dollars to several hundred dollars. This is what the advertisers are selling! You will see that there is a no return policy for the equipment or supplies that you must purchase....there never is.
If you get out your magnifying glass and read the itty-bitty print at the very bottom that is well below the scroll line, you will see a statement that says something like, “All work must meet quality standards.” It will look something like this: “All work must meet quality standards.” That's where this tiger is really going to get you and get you good.
No work will ever meet quality standards. It isn't possible. You will buy the equipment or supplies. You will work to create the products as directed. You will never see one thin dime in payment for the finished products that you send.
It gets worse. You have no legal recourse. You agreed to buy the equipment or supplies and were told that there was a "no return" policy. You agreed to produce products that met "quality control standards" that were not specified. You've been had!
The fact is that there really is a huge market for hand-crafted products out there. The market is huge...maybe almost unlimited. If you have a talent for making hand-crafted products and if you have the ability to market them, you can make some money doing it.
You will not, however, ever make any money just using your talents to assemble hand-crafted products at home for these tigers that are not even selling them. They are selling the equipment and supplies....that is ALL they are selling...and they want to sell them to you.
Fact: You can make money selling hand crafted items but not by assembling these items for others.
Medical Billing: This very large headline will read something like, “Job explosion in the Health Care Industry!!!!!!!” There are always a lot of exclamation points. You will see these advertisements in newspapers, magazines and, of course, on the Internet. You will be told that the entire reason that medical costs are so high is because the medical profession needs your personal assistance and that just by taking a job, for which you will be very well paid, you can single-handedly lower the cost of health care for the whole world. Wow!
You need a job...and they need you! Sounds like a partnership that would work out well for everybody. These advertisements try to sell you on the idea that it's the overwhelming amount of required paperwork that is the root cause of the inflation of health care costs....for all of us.
These advertisements claim that all that is needed to fix this problem in the implementation of electronic claim processing....which is a new and innovative technology that has recently become available. Horse feathers! Electronic billing is done by a few well established companies. Doctors subscribe to these services and have been doing so for more than a few years. Medical billing isn't done by hand and hasn't been since the late 1980's.
If you answer one of the advertisements, what you will get in return for the hard-earned dollars that you send in is a brochure, an application, some discs, a contract, some disclosure statements (in tiny print), and possibly some testimonial letters from people who will swear that this has changed their lives and made the wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. HA!
What you will have are some basic instructions for setting up your own medical billing business. What you will not have is a medical building job. You will be required to get your own clients. They will not be supplied. As I said before, there are a few (and only a few) well established companies that have been doing this billing for doctors for many years.
They are your competition...and very stiff competition. You will be promised that you can earn a ton of bucks by only working part time and at your own pace. Now stop just a minute and think about that. Part time AND a ton of money? Does that really sound reasonable to you?
It isn't a reasonable expectation. You aren't likely to make a ton of money working at a full time job of any kind and you certainly won't be making very much, if anything, by working part time. Real world business doesn't work like that and neither does Internet based businesses.
Oh, and you will also be required to make a personal investment of between one and TEN thousand dollars in order to get in on the golden opportunity.
Fact: Medical billing is well covered by the few companies who have been doing it for decades. You aren’t the answer to the soaring cost of health care.
Date Entry: No doubt you can picture yourself just putting numbers in columns for a few hours a day from the comfort of your own home and making enough money by doing it to make up your financial short fall, right? No...sorry....that isn't really very likely to happen.
I'm not telling you that there are NO data entry jobs available. I am only telling you that you aren't likely to get one of them by answering one of those slick ads that promise you a data entry job if you will but sign up for their course.
The problem with these so-called data entry courses, is that they rarely have anything to do with data entry jobs. Most of them are more on the order of teaching you (more or less) how to set up and run your own affiliate program. There isn't anything wrong with affiliate programs but they aren't data entry jobs.
They are businesses in which you will do some data entry work....like on tax forms when you file your self-employment tax returns. There can also be data entry work in the operation of an affiliate marketing business.
You will need to enter data in order to maintain orderliness in your business. If you let this tiger get you, after you pay you money you will get a course that will either be delivered electronically via the computer, on CD‟s or DVD‟s. This course will teach how to find affiliate programs that you can sign up for (information that is readily available for free on the Internet).
Then you will be instructed how to set up advertisements in Google Ad Words (this information is also readily available on the Internet). What you will not be told is that affiliate marketing is an extremely competitive business.
It isn't a data entry job. You will be told that these ads that you have to set up in Google Ad words will only cost you one penny each. Now there is a big fat, out-and-out, rotten lie. You might set up ads that will only cost you one penny each time someone clicks on them....that much is true. Your ads will be listed on about page 15 in search results and you aren't very likely to have them clicked on.
But if, by some stroke of luck, they are clicked on, they cost well more than one penny per click. Fact: Data entry courses are a scam. They will not secure a data entry job for you.
Writers Wanted: Here's is yet another tiger that is out to make you the main course for his dinner. It is absolutely true that the Internet gobbles up words at an alarming rate and that there is always a demand for those who can write articles, ebooks and reports about a variety of subjects.
Writing for the Internet is an art. Just because you can string sentences together that are grammatically correct and make sense doesn't mean that you can write for Internet marketers. The advertisements that you see that say, "Writers Wanted" don't really want writers. What they want are the people who want to be writers. There will always be a course you are required to pay for or a list that you are required to buy.
That's what these advertisements are selling....courses or lists....they are NOT selling writing jobs.
Fact: You will not get a job writing by taking a course or buying a list.
Check List.
There really are work-at-home jobs out there. The problem is finding the ones that are legitimate job offers. So many are nothing more than Internet jungle tigers waiting to take advantage of you. Here is a check list that will help you to separate the fact from the fiction:
1. What is the "cost" of getting the job that is advertised? Find out what, if any, equipment or supplies are required. Legitimate work-at-home jobs do not require that you spend money. They pay YOU money.
2. Tell me what the tasks are that I must perform in order to get paid. This is a legitimate question to ask. Every job on earth comes with a job description of some kind. If the company or individual that you are talking to can describe the job is a few sentences, keep looking.
3. Is this a salaried position or will I be paid on a commission or hourly basis? Here's another one question that any potential employee shouldn't hesitate to ask. Pay is always based upon something. It is either paid as a salary that has nothing whatsoever to do with hours worked or it is based upon an hourly pay scale for which you will be required to sign in and sign out or it is based upon a commission of percentage of sales that you must make.
4. Who pays me and when? That's an easy question. Every single legitimate company or individual employer has regular and specified pay periods. You might be paid once a week, once a month or twice a month. Any of those pay period options are perfectly legitimate.
5. Where are you located? This is a question that only someone who is working from home would have to ask. If you were working in the brick and mortar world, you would be well aware of the place where you were expected to report to work. The Internet presents another little problem. We are all connected electronically rather that physically. You might be working for someone who is located in Malaysia. You need to be told where the person or business is physically located.
6. How will I receive instructions? Here again, this is a problem that only comes up when the job is being done on the computer. You may receive instructions by email or by way of an instant messaging service.
7. Who will I receive instructions from? This is a question that might need to be answered for real world businesses as well as for online ones. Many times there will be more than one partner in an online business. You need to know who it is that will supply you with instructions and directions. You don't want to have to decide who to take direction from.
What Can You Do if the Tiger Gets You? You are not likely to ever recover any money that you have paid to the work-at-home scam artists have taken you for. Of course, it never hurts to try. Who knows? You might get lucky and at the very least you might prevent another person from getting taken in.
You might even make it hard enough on a work-at-home scam artist to make him think he has a tiger by the tail.
1. The Federal Trade Commission is the government entity charged with the protection of consumers. Call them at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). That is the place to report fraudulent business practices.
2. If you live in a metropolitan area, there is most likely a consumer protection office in your area. You can call them or write them.
3. Report the offending business to the Better Business Bureau. This sometimes seems to be an exercise in futility but it does have a direct impact on businesses.
4. If any part of the correspondence came to you through the USPS, you can contact your local postmaster to report it. Mail fraud is a federal crime.
5. You can contact the Attorney General of the state in which the company or individual is based. They may well have violated some state laws in the process of scamming you. Frankly, it just makes my blood boil when I see these slick advertisements that are aimed directly at those that are least able to absorb the cost of being scammed.
There may be very little that you can actually do to undo the damage that they have caused you, but by putting forth some time and effort you may prevent them from doing the same thing to others.
5 Tips To Effective Facebook Marketing
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For those of you who are familiar with marketing online, you should know
that it is essential to have the necessary knowledge and skill set in order
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I run several websites online that provide Me a sustainable income and the ability to be happy as My own boss. I am more than happy to answer any questions You may have regarding your online Business and it's strategies.
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Business Topics Sports, Internet Marketing, Marketing, E-Business, Advertising Strategies, Websites, Home Based Businesses / Public Speaking, Business Plans, Start-Up Businesses, Other
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