2012 Year In Review

by my good friend Jon Olson Hit Exchange News

It’s been a pretty intense 365 days in the traffic exchange industry…As I do every year, I’m posting my highlights of the past 12 months and what I think we can expect from the industry in the following year. Sit back, enjoy and get ready for some rants…

The No Timer Debate really set the emotions high in the later part of 2012. To be honest, I say the jury is still out simply because we have no numbers to either back or go against the move. I’ll say this, I applaud Jeff Parker and Traffic Fugitive for trying something and that is to be congratulated. Jeff is loving the results and his surfers are too so more power to him and his decision. The next 12 months should open a lot of people’s eyes to the fact that the T.E. environment has changed.

Social. Period! No debates anymore. Social surfing is here and the huge increase in not only our chats at the TimTech exchanges but entire new programs, dedicated to being social have cemented the importance of chat in the traffic exchanges. You are seeing trends where people’s results are directly in response to how much people recognize and know them from networking with them live. It’s cool too see more surfers embrace this model and even more owners jumping on board. When you put people first, good things always happen.

Vault N’ Keys & Sub Game The TimTech answer to surf promos. We saw a huge opportunity for surfers and owners to do joint surf promos but without being boring about it. So we created our two new surf promos. Best of all, owners can leverage the CTP brand, get increased surfing, more sales and higher activity. What’s up our sleeves for 2013? We’ll be sure to try even more new things…

Spreecast & TE Live It’s a match made in heaven! We’ve been looking for the perfect home for our daily broadcast and we tried everything this year. From uStream, to Hot Conference, to Stickam and even Google Plus…Until we found it! Spreecast has changed the game for all live broadcasting and I expect absolute huge things for this company in 2013. Mobile apps I’m sure will be on the horizon…Wow. Think of the potential…

Real Gamification And no I don’t mean the word search game on your LFMTE script. Real gamification has changed the way people even use traffic exchanges. 2013 will be huge for this and I truly believe we are at a maturation in advertising. It’s no longer push push push. We need to engage people and engage our potential customers. Which in this case, translates into the gamification of business and marketing. IE….Badges

There were many other cool stories this year as well. I think the owners in the Oval of Awesome Sauce have really stepped up huge. These folks have embraced the true spirit of community, they all work together and some of the biggest launches this year are from this group of owners. What’s funny is all the talk about coming together, forming alliances, building associations…All of it was going on while the Oval was already built and doing great things. Amazing what happens when you work together and don’t stab each other in the back. It’s an honor to be a part of that group.

As for 2013…

I anticipate even more benefits of being social and two way communications between owners and surfers. Gone are the days of a top down hierarchy where people aren’t on a level playing field. Social opens the game. Social makes us all members of a community. Social is not the future, it’s now! Embrace it!

But here’s something I think we will see this upcoming year. And it’s going to scare some of the lazy bad business people. Surfers aren’t only surfing for credits now. They surf for fun. They surf for games. They surf for community. They surf for companionship. We have to grow and as an industry I truly believe the ‘credits’ have limited us in this arena. We have always been for marketers, by marketers. And while it serves a great purpose, for us to grow we need to re-look at how we present our model for advertisers and surfers.

Is the no timer the answer? Who knows. However I look at models like StumbleUpon and have to say to myself…The people are a part of those communities because they WANT to be. Not to earn credits, not to get their pages seen. But because they truly want to see what’s out there…An amazing concept huh? And when you get people that WANT to be there, the advertisers will follow. Happy communities mean happy customer. Happy customers mean growth.

Meh…Maybe I’m out to lunch. But I can tell you one thing. The folks that follow the same old same old, will go away. The folks that embrace change. The owners and surfers that try new things. Those folks will be the leaders of 2013. The old guard is done. Here’s to the changing of the guard!

Oh by the way….TimTech Sucks!

Top 10 Scams List for 2012 and 2013

With scams costing Americans, and consumers globally, billions of dollars every year, we turn our attention to the annual Scambusters Top Scams List.

Looking back on our Top 10 scams for 2012, we were pretty near the mark, with just one important omission: the huge growth in imposter crime.

These comprise mainly tricksters posing as a relative or employee in trouble, asking for money to be wired to help them.

Click Here to read the full article. 



©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

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Rental Car, Travelers' Checks Used in Latest Craigslist Scams

We start with two new Craigslist scams that have surfaced in recent months that head up this week's special Snippets issue.

In both cases, the alleged culprits have been arrested, but the tricks are so simple and convincing they're likely to surface again -- something for you to be on the lookout for.

The first one targets car buyers and, as usual, the vehicle is offered at a bargain price.

The scammer arranges to meet his victims in a parking lot with the auto, which they test drive and are wowed by the condition.

Click here to read the full article. 


©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

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Christmas Card Scam and Spam Alerts

With the holiday season in full swing, Internet security firms have issued a strong warning about a card scam surge - not of the credit card variety (though no doubt we'll have them too) but of virtual greetings cards, or ecards.

In addition to delivering a seasonal message, bogus ecards are bombarding victims with spam or installing malware on their PCs.

Click here to read the full article. 


©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

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10 WAYS TO GET CLIENTS IN 10 MINUTES

Does it seem like you can never find the time to market for more clients? It's hard to find open hours in the middle of a busy week. But not every marketing task requires big chunks of time. Here are ten productive things you can do to get more clients when you have just ten minutes.

1. Place a call. Which of your past clients have been totally happy with your work over the past couple of years? Think of one you haven't been in touch with recently. Call to see how he or she is doing. When your fans are reminded of your good work, new projects and referrals often ensue.

2. Send an email. Who has referred you the best client over the last year? Send an email to express your continuing thanks. Showing your appreciation to referral sources frequently results in more referrals.

3. Make a date. Think of a prospect or referral source you have always wanted to know better. Contact that person and make a date to have coffee or chat by phone. Informal conversations deepen relationships and build trust.

4. Expand your network. Log on to your social media channel of choice, and choose a colleague you think of as well-connected. View that friend's connections. Send connection requests, or follow, every one of those people you recognize. More people in your network means more potential prospects.

5. Review your image. Browse through your website or social media profile with a critical eye. View each section as if you were someone visiting for the first time. Note any areas you think could improve and schedule time to make some changes. First impressions make a difference to surfing prospects.

6. Examine your contacts. Scan your contact database seeking anyone who might be a prospect that you haven't made contact with in the last 30 days. Reach out to that person with a personal call or note. People who already know you are more likely to become clients than new, cold contacts.

7. Send an article. What's the last article you read that might be helpful to some of your prospects? Email them with a link to it or mail them a copy. When prospects perceive you as a helpful resource, you gain their confidence.

8. Follow up a meeting. What was the last meeting you attended where you collected business cards? Did you follow up with those people? Find the stack of cards and send one or two a nice-to-meet-you note. Repeated contact helps people to remember you.

9. Touch your network. Visit your favorite social network and peruse recent posts by the prospects and referral sources you're connected to. Post some likes and replies about what they're saying. Relationships build when communication is two-way.

10. Find a referral partner. Think of occupations who naturally come in contact with your ideal clients. Then consider who you already know in any of those occupations. Send a quick note to suggest you talk about becoming referral sources for each other.

Marketing projects don't have to consume your whole day. You can chip away at them a bit at a time, whenever you have a few moments. Keep this list handy on your smartphone or by your computer. The next time you've got ten minutes to kill, use it to find clients instead.
Copyright © 2012, C.J. Hayden

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Pet Meds Scams: How They Work & How to Avoid Them

With pets in about 73 million American homes, it's not surprising that the pet meds business is booming.

Unfortunately, so are pet meds scams.

They're one of several ways that crooks who claim to care about our pets could actually be threatening their lives while helping themselves to some of the $45 billion we spend each year on pet food, veterinary treatment and pet meds.

Click Here to read the full article. 



©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

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Beware Pinterest Spam, Scams and Hoaxes

Add Pinterest spam and scams to the catalog of dangers and frustrations you face if you're an Internet social networker.

As most readers will know, Pinterest is a "virtual corkboard" -- a website where members "pin" and share their favorite photos and graphics.

It's a relative newcomer to the social networking scene, having really only taken off in the past year or so, but already it has an estimated 30 million-plus members.

Click here to read the full article. 


©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

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A Real Test, It’s Gut Check Time…

by Jon Olson Hit Exchange News

I woke up real early today so I’ve been able to get quite a bit of surfing in this morning. I like to see what other people are promoting, how they are promoting and what’s the latest ‘hype’ of the month in the industry. I guess it’s the surfer in me but what I found was quite alarming…

Sure there are new names in the business. There are thousands of new surfers coming online each and every week but there are a chunk of folks who have been in the business for over a year at least. It’s great that they are still personally branding themselves but what is amazing to me is that they are program hopping. Here’s the question I have to ask…

Are you in the same ‘opportunity’ you were this time last year? Today?

Really?

I’ve seen some ‘known’ names jump from program to program all year and haven’t really said anything about it because it just seemed to be accepted in this business. It’s like the cool thing to do, every time something new jumps up, hop on it! And then we sit and scratch our heads and wonder…Why God? Why can’t I make any money online…

Broken record starts to skip and replay right..About…Now!

Get in line and stay in line means simply this, if you expect results stick with things that have staying power. And then for the love of everything that is good in the world, don’t jump ship because of a new shiny object. Stay the course. And yes, I’ll say it…Evergreen products are the way to go to build sustainable, lifelong commissions.

Are you program hopping? Hey you are a grown adult, you can do what you want…Just please don’t come whining and complaining to us when you aren’t making any money next year.

Sincerely,

Successful Traffic Exchange Surfers & Owners

Have a great day!

To your success.

Barb :)

Barbara DelGiudice
news@dpbiznews.net
Digital Products Business Newsletter
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Where to File Your Internet Scam Complaint

Where do you turn when you want to make a scam complaint?

Many organizations involved in the fight against fraud and con tricks, from law enforcement to consumer outfits like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), can help you.

But if you're not sure, a good starting point is the Internet Crime Complaint Center, better known as IC3.

IC3 is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C).

Click here to read the full article. 


©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

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Introducing The Sub Adventure Game

by Jon Olson Hit Exchange News

We like to have fun at TimTech! Since day one, it was very important to our game plan to add ‘fun’ into every thing we do in our web sites and programs. Click Track Profit really shook up the way people learn how to use the traffic exchanges but when we added badges, boy oh boy…We started something big!

Gamification was here and after the badges, the next big thing for our game plan was to add some TimTech ‘fun’ to the way people did surf promos…We introduced the Vault N’ Keys!

To say the Vault N’ Keys were a success is an understatement. Ask any traffic exchange owner who has added the Vault to their program and they will tell you it means an increase in new members, surfing numbers and yes, even income. The surfers? Absolutely loved it! So we decided to keep the game moving forward….

The Submarine Game is our newest addition to gamify the industry and it works like Vault N Keys but adds a ‘Minesweeper game’ to it…

* Simply surf 35 pages at the 4 partner traffic exchanges and claim a ‘Mine Badge’ at each program.
* Unlock the Sub Game and then you get to unlock game pieces.

* Each unlock you get, wins you a penny. You keep unlocking pennies until you find the bomb. After that, the game is over.

* You can win one cent or up to a dollar every time you play and wow, it’s addicting!

Here’s the best part for savvy traffic exchange owners, you can partner with 3 other exchanges and create you own promo and leverage the power and activity of Click Track Profit. Heck, you don’t even need to do one with a TimTech exchange, it can be 3 other independent programs. But the potential for this can be huge especially when you consider how active CTP members are. We hope the owners love it and gives them a new aspect along with Vault N’ Keys to crush it with us.

As for surfers…You guys WIN big time! Huge upcoming promos from us means you now can win even more cash just from surfing your favorite programs. It’s going to be an awesome winter season in the traffic exchange industry…

If you would like to purchase your own promo for the Sub Game you can do so right here. Or if you would like to see a schedule of our upcoming promos, you can check it out on Brenda’s official Sub Game blog!

This is awesome stuff!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

To your success.

Barb :)

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8 Business Scam Tricks That Target Small Firms

Pretending to be some sort of official organization or helping to fulfill a supposed legal requirement is a favorite trick of business scam artists.

They approach small firms and tell them they need special documentation or authentication services that they just happen to be able to provide -- for a fee of course.

We've identified at least 4 business scams that use this technique. A couple have been around for a while but all are active right now.

Click Here to read the full article. 


©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

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ARE YOU OVERWHELMED BY MARKETING?

Does it seem like there are just too many things to do to market your business? It's easy to get overwhelmed by marketing ideas, plans, and tasks, especially when many of them involve learning new skills. And then people are always telling you about something else to do. But you're only one person. You can only afford to pay for so much help. Is it really even possible to do everything about marketing that others say you should?

Here are four steps to find a clear path out of marketing overwhelm.

1. Decide what you're offering.

One of the fastest ways to overcome overwhelm is to narrow your focus to marketing only one product or service at a time. Yes, you may have a complete menu of offerings, but you can't effectively market them all at once. The more clear you are about what you are marketing to who, and when, the less overwhelmed you will be.

Every time you have to make a choice about what to do with your marketing, first choose what you will offer. For example, if you are a psychotherapist who offers individual therapy, group programs, and paid presentations, you might be trying to decide whether to market yourself with networking, building referral relationships, advertising, social media, or public speaking. Each one of those might be a good approach to use, depending on what you are offering.

Narrow your focus. Choose. For example, "This week I want to work on getting more clients for individual therapy." As soon as you make that declaration, you will have a frame of reference for making more decisions. Now you can ask yourself questions like, "How have I found most individual therapy clients in the past?" or "How do most of my colleagues find their individual therapy clients?" A likely route for you to take will start to emerge.

2. Get clear about your immediate goals.

What do you need more of right now? What is coming up soon that you should prepare for? What problems do you need to address? Questions like these can help you determine what your primary objectives should be for marketing at this particular time. Here's what a marketing goal might sound like:

• One new major client by the end of this month.
• Three new ongoing clients by December 31st.
• Take advantage of next week's speaking engagement to sign up at least two new clients for my service.
• Increase the number of website visitors who opt in to my mailing list by 25%.

Including a quantity and timeframe in your goal will help you determine the best way to accomplish it. For example, if you want one new major client by the end of the month, it's unlikely you will achieve that by attending networking events or increasing your social media activity. You will more likely need to focus on following up with prospects you already have, and further developing existing relationships.

3. Choose just a few specific things to do.

When you have a long list of varied tasks to accomplish, it's difficult not to feel overwhelmed by it. This is especially true when some of the items are stated in a vague or general way. Consider what you plan to offer and what your immediate goal is. What are a few activities that are most likely to take you in that direction? Get as specific as possible. For example:

• Contact three new possible referral sources for individual clients this week and invite them to coffee sometime this month.
• Place follow-up phone calls to five prospective clients for my monthly retainer service per day and send an email when I don't reach them.
• Spend 30 minutes each day interacting on social media with people who are likely candidates for my new program.
• Write a 20-page ebook that will appeal to clients for my assessment package to use as a bonus gift for opting in to my mailing list.

Resist any temptation to record every activity you can think of. List what seems like about a week's worth of items, then stop. Revisit your list next week to revise or add to it. If you think of items you'd like to address sometime, but which don't make sense to tackle this week, put them on a "Maybe" list that you can refer to weekly when you revise your current list. Don't keep looking at ideas or tasks you aren't currently working on; that is a sure road to overwhelm.

4. Do only what you said.

Give yourself permission to have the activities you put on this week's list be the only things you do about marketing. This can be one of the most difficult challenges of avoiding marketing overwhelm, but it's essential. Don't be distracted by "opportunities" that find their way into your email, voice mail, or social media stream. If they seem potentially helpful, put them on your Maybe list, and consider them next week. This week, and today, do only what you said you'd do.

Marketing does not need to be overwhelming. All you need is a simple, targeted plan. Follow these four steps, and you'll soon find yourself producing greatly improved results with much less effort.

Copyright © 2012, C.J. Hayden

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The Death of the Free Mentality

by Jon Olson Hit Exchange News

I remember the good old days…

There was a time when guys like Robert Puddy, Soren Jordansen, Tim Linden, Paul Kinder, Tony Tezak and myself used to hang out in a Hot Conference room and discuss business all day, everyday! It was a fantastic time for traffic exchanges and something I miss about it was the MESSAGE that every owner shared with their members and people that came and hung out with us in the conference room…

It takes money to make money!

It was encouraged and at times beat into people’s head that they needed to spend money on their business to eventually make money down the road. Somewhere along the line, we lost our way…

With the re-launch of Trck.me yesterday we’ve seen a few rumblings around the net with ‘outrage’ and disgust that (heaven forbid) a for=profit company starts to charge for their service. We made a decision to get rid of free accounts but still allowed members to use our system for 30 days for free to try it out. Hey I know sometimes people think it’s evil for companies to actually turn a profit but it is what it is…

Why the entitlement mind set? Why should everything be free? Does this make sense?

Freemium is a popular business model and it’s something we will always have in our traffic exchanges and programs like ClickTrackProfit but for essential tools like Trck.me, hosting, autoresponders and even AdKreator, that doesn’t always make sense…

And why is this such a bad idea? Most offline businesses require 100′s of thousands in capital and initial investments not to mention the minimum 3-5 years to turn a profit but online it’s looked down on for asking people to budget 75 bucks a month? It’s insane…

And for everyone that starts the argument like this ‘It’s hard to spend money when you have none’…Guess what I did and every other successful business person online? They found the money, they worked offline to make money to fund their online business…They struggled, they clawed and they fought to make their dreams a reality. But they never used the entitlement mind set…It’s a very dangerous card to play!

Invest in your business. Invest in the tools and don’t ever cut corners when it comes to this. Down the road, you will see how important it is to break out of the freebie mentality and build your business by INVESTING in yourself and your business!

Have a great week!
To your success.
Barb :)

news@dpbiznews.net

 

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5 Most Common Self-Storage Scams and 8 Ways to Protect Yourself

And although the self-storage industry does a great service in providing a secure temporary home for our unneeded "stuff" -- like most other business groups it also has its share of unscrupulous and shady characters who give it a bad name.

Self-storage scams come in many forms but if you are planning to put some of your possessions in lockup storage, here are the four most common ones to be on the lookout for.

Click here to read the full article. 


©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

Reprinted with permission.

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A Busy Few Weeks Ahead In TimTech Land

By Jon Olson Hit Exchange News

Wow, it’s pretty easy to see that it’s fall as we are really gearing up for the months ahead. Just a quick update on what’s going on and what is upcoming in the fun filled world of TimTech LLC…

- Last week we hit a huge milestone as 50,000 members joined ClickTrackProfit. As well we added brand new Badge Mastery and e-Book mastery courses and just a few days ago our members claimed badge number 6,000,000! Wow!

- We’re into Day 5 of our annual Spooktacular promotion and wow, the numbers have been great. This year, we’ve added outside programs to the promo and members are loving it. Be sure check out our daily Spooktacular deal every day!

- We’re setting up an industry first…A weekly KRM / TimTech seminar every single Friday afternoon starting this week! Two of the biggest companies in the industry, coming together and discussing some very cool topics…This should be epic!

- The launch of The Pizza Plan 2 has been quite remarkable. Without any JV launch or ‘big list guru’ support we once again have proven that the real power is in the community! Huge thanks to everyone that helped make PP2 such a huge success! Three cheers for un-sexy budgeting!

- And finally we’re getting ready for the re-brand and re-launch of TE Toolbox which will soon be known as Trck.Me. We’re beside ourselves for this one, and we hope people will really love what we’ve got planned…Check out the cool new video Tim did discussing our exclusive Team Affiliate tracking feature…This is going to be simply awesome!

Have a great week!

Barb :)
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You Just Can't Overdo Privacy Protection

When it comes to privacy protection you just can't do enough, as the concerns of one of our subscribers highlights in this week's Scambusters issue.

We're retracing our earlier steps on the big issue of shredding your documents and highlighting the importance of managing your email accounts effectively.

Click here to read the full article. 


©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

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WANT CLIENTS TO CHOOSE YOU? BE SPECIAL

The marketplace is crowded these days. It doesn't matter how you're trying to get clients. If you're going to live networking events, you may find half a dozen professionals in your field at every event you attend. Online, there may be dozens of websites in your category that get a higher rank than yours. On social media, you probably see content from professionals like you all over the place. How will your potential clients find and choose you with all that competition?

Put on your clients' hat for a moment. They are seeing the exact same thing. They want to work with a financial advisor, and they may have met four of them recently. Or they are looking for a psychotherapist, and when they Google "psychotherapist Denver," they get 400,000 results. Or they want to hire a copywriter, and they see dozens of experts giving copywriting advice on Facebook and Twitter. How do they even begin to choose?

The answer to both these questions is the same. If you want potential clients to find and choose you, you must be special. Whether you are a life coach, a graphic designer, or a tax preparer, you have to stand out from the others in your profession. You don't want to be just one of many choices, you want to be the best choice – to your desired clients, that is. And the way to do that is to have them recognize your specialness.

Most professionals position themselves by simply stating what they do, giving their qualifications, and describing some ways they help their clients. For example, "I'm a massage therapist. I'm a Licensed Massage Practitioner, and I help my clients alleviate pain, discomfort, and stress with a variety of therapeutic massage techniques." The problem is that other massage therapists are saying almost exactly the same thing.

When you sound just like everyone else in your profession, you are generic. You remain a commodity. This leaves your potential clients with no good reason to choose you over others like you. And it does nothing to attract the clients you would most like to have find you in the first place.

Now consider what happens when you become special. For example, "I'm a web designer for authors. I help authors create a site that showcases their book, builds their visibility and credibility with their audience and the media, and allows them to connect with their readers." If you were an author, isn't that the web designer you would choose?

I know what you're thinking. You don't want to limit yourself like this web designer has. You're afraid that if you choose a target market that narrow, you'll be ruling out too many potential clients. Here's a different perspective. It's been estimated that there are 500,000 authors in the U.S. alone. How would you like to attract 1/10 of 1% of that market?

Here's another way to become special. Let's say you are a psychotherapist. Most psychotherapists say they work with a list of common issues such as depression, anxiety, trauma, relationship problems, and grief. What if your psychotherapy practice was focused exclusively on romantic relationships and dating? Or on dealing with illness? Or on financial difficulties? Wouldn't a specialty like one of those appeal to many of the clients you're already seeing?

Choosing a specialty like this doesn't limit you; it focuses you. It narrows the field of people you are trying to reach, and the issues you are trying to address, to a manageable scope. It would be awfully difficult to become the best known psychotherapist in Chicago. But it would be entirely possible to become the best known romance and dating psychotherapist in Chicago. How many people in Chicago do you think need help with concerns about dating and romance?

One more avenue to become special is to design a unique process or approach for the way you work. Let's say you are a management consultant specializing in conflict resolution – you and about 100,000 others, Google suggests. But what if you were to build your business around your proprietary "Harmonious Resolutions" process, which clients could hire you to implement, or bring you in to teach their employees?

A unique approach like this is something you can speak about, write about, blog about, and discuss on social media. It gives you a platform to stand on, a brand to become known for, and a way to stand out that your competitors don't have. Wouldn't you choose a conflict resolution consultant who had his or her own proprietary approach over one who did not?

If you want clients to be able to find you, connect with your message, and choose you over the competition in a crowded marketplace, you must get beyond being a commodity. Choose a defined target market you would enjoy working with, define a specialty that will allow you to use your gifts, or design a unique process to make your work stand out.
However you do it, it's time to become special.
Copyright © 2012, C.J. Hayden

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99% Of People Reading This Post…

by Jon Olson Hit Exchange News

It’s a pretty big day today for TimTech but I’m not going to lie….I’m VERY excited about today on a personal level.

We just launched the brand new Pizza Plan 2 and I feel like a kid at Christmas. As you guys know, TimTech really doesn’t launch new things often and when we do, we launch it in very unconventional methods. No JV’s, just launch! We actually launched it yesterday for upgraded members at ClickTrackProfit and it rolled out slowly. We’re about long term and even though the launch hype is cool, we know the long run is much more profitable for affiliates and owners rather than a quick boost.

Anyways, here’s the scoop…

We’ve added a brand new ‘E-Book Mastery’ course at ClickTrackProfit! Of course Pizza Plan 2 has been added but this opens it up to a brand new market. Just like we added Viral List Builders last month, e-books are a vital part of the internet marketing world so why not focus on some of the best products out there. Much more to come down the road…

As it’s in CTP, this means JUMP LINKS!!!! Every time you see a Pizza Plan 2 link in this blog, or emails we send to our members across the TimTech network, YOUR affiliate link will be in place for all your downlines. Hurry up and make sure you add your referral ID into your CTP e-book mastery course now before we start to let our members know via email! That means easy referrals and potential commissions for you!

And finally…We’re offering a massive 50% commission on all upgraded rebrands of this ebook! Not only can it generate some cool commissions for you if you decide to promote it but when you rebrand these things you get your referral links splattered around the internet. It used to be called ‘affiliate landline’ promotion…We just call it smart business! Be sure to rebrand your copy today!

All in all, we’re pumped! But Jon Olson, the guy writing this right now, is SUPER pumped! We hope you enjoy the brand new ebook and the other bonus ebooks in the Pizza Plan 2….It’s been a blast to launch this and we’re only about 20 hours into it!

99% of people reading this blog post won’t take action with the Pizza Plan 2, and 99% of the people won’t make a dime online this year…Be part of the 1%!

Have a great weekend!

To your success.

Barb :)

Election Scam Crooks Out in Force

It's election time -- as if you didn't know -- which means that it's also election scam time.

Crooks are posing as pollsters, election officials and fundraisers in a bid to trick you into giving them money or confidential information.

We have the details this week of the four most common election scams and what you should do to avoid them.

Click here to read the full article. 


©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

Reprinted with permission.

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LinkedIn, Twitter and PayPal Scam Alerts

A new PayPal scam heads up this week's Snippets issue, which includes details of the latest social networking phishing tricks.

We also sound two new alerts: the potential dangers that could arise from a suggested "virtual tax audit" process and the risk of dangerous, recalled goods reappearing on store shelves.

Click here to read the full article. 

©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

Reprinted with permission.

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One Simple Rule to Avoid a Lottery Scam

It's been in our Top 10 Scams list for years and, as we reported a few weeks back in National Consumers League Targets Telemarketers and Online Scams, the lottery scam was just named number one in the complaints chart compiled by the National Consumers League.

People are tricked into paying money to supposedly collect non-existent prize winnings is costing Americans hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Yet, by following one simply rule you can never be caught out by these crooks.

Click here to read the full article.

©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

Reprinted with permission.

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Locksmith Scam Rips Off Home and Auto Owners

A Locksmith scam that traps desperate home and auto owners into overpaying for emergency services has been named as one of the fastest growing frauds in the country.

Unlicensed and unqualified, bogus lock technicians charge up to 10 times the going rate for rescuing locked-out victims.

But their ruse is easy to spot and prevent, just by following the tips in this week's Scambusters issue.

Click here to read the full article. 

©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

Reprinted with permission.

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GET MORE CLIENTS BY DOING LESS

by C.J. Hayden

I've been hearing from a lot of tired entrepreneurs lately. "I'm tired of going to networking events," they say, or, "I'm tired of always having to think up new stuff to post online." They're working pretty hard at marketing, it seems — networking, blogging, posting to social media, speaking, making calls, sending out e-mail blasts, and more.

When they don't get the results they want from marketing, entrepreneurs usually try to take on more. If their focus has been on in-person marketing, they begin marketing online. Or if they have been writing articles and blogging and being active on social media, they decide to start speaking and giving workshops. Or if they've been going to lots of events and lunches and coffee dates, they add in a call-mail-call campaign.

Huff, puff... It makes me tired just to write about all that activity.
What if the answer was actually to be found in the opposite direction? What if instead of doing more to get clients, you should really be doing less?

Here's an example of what I mean. A client I'll call Rhoda was trying to build her psychotherapy practice with a dozen different marketing approaches. She was going to professional meetings, posting flyers around her neighborhood, advertising in several directories, maintaining a Facebook page, trying to optimize her website, and more. She was tired, overwhelmed, and still didn't have enough clients.

I asked Rhoda where her best clients had come from so far — those who paid her full fee and continued to work with her over time. It turns out they had all been referrals from other professionals. I suggested that Rhoda stop everything she was currently doing about marketing, and concentrate on referral building. She was to identify a few categories of professionals who were likely to refer clients in her market niche, and get to know some people in those professions better.

When I checked in with Rhoda a few weeks later, she had already gotten some referrals from new people she had gotten to know. It was clear that if she kept working on building referral relationships with appropriate professionals, more clients would result. "Why didn't I ever do this before?" Rhoda said. "This is so much easier than all that other stuff I was doing, and it obviously works better."

Another client — I'll call him Doug — was seeking more small business clients for his IT consulting business. He was writing a blog and spending a lot of time on several social media platforms. When we first spoke, he was trying to decide whether he should launch a podcast, offer a webinar series, or both.

"What's your follow-up strategy?" I asked Doug. He wasn't sure. I tried again: "Okay, how many prospects do you have in your pipeline?" He didn't know that either. In fact, a bit more probing determined that Doug didn't have a pipeline, or a follow-up strategy. He was simply trying to be more visible online, and hoping that as a result, clients who needed him would contact him.
My suggestion to Doug was that before he spent any more effort on becoming visible, he should put in place a strategy for identifying, capturing, and following up with likely prospects.

Doug decided to offer a free phone consultation to business owners who met a few qualifying criteria. He posted about his offer in his blog and on social media. One of his first free consultations turned into a new client, and two other consultations generated clients later on when Doug followed up with them. Doug never did launch a podcast or webinar series; he didn't need them.

A woman I'll call Mara was a student in one of my classes. She had diligently been attending several new networking events per week, and was regularly meeting many people. She asked me how she could find new places to network, because only a handful of the people she met had become clients so far. And maybe they could be breakfast meetings, because her calendar was already so full at lunch and in the evenings.

Mara was surprised — and relieved — when I suggested that finding even more places to network might not be the best approach. "What if you were to choose just a handful of those networking groups," I proposed, "go back to the same ones on a regular basis, and become better acquainted with the other members?" Mara agreed to try this out, focusing on those groups where she had found the highest concentration of people in her market niche.

I ran into Mara again at a speaking engagement some months later. "You were so right about networking," she told me. "When I stopped running around to all those different places, and became a regular, people started to recognize me, and then they started to do business with me."

Are you tired of doing so much marketing? Maybe it's time to discover how you could do less. Ask yourself, like Rhoda, what is the one thing you've done to market yourself so far that had the biggest impact. Could you do more of that? Or, like Doug, determine how you can take better advantage of the visibility you already have. Or, like Mara, stop for a moment and wonder if there is a more effective way to employ the tactics you're already using.

Entrepreneurs do tend to work hard. But I'll bet you'd much rather work hard at your profession, and get paid for it, than to spend all your entrepreneurial energy getting clients in the first place.
Copyright © 2012, C.J. Hayden

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How to Remove Name Details and Other Personal Info Online

Where do you start if you want to remove name details and other information about yourself from the Internet?

Don't think it's an issue?

 Well, as we reported in our special report on cyberstalking last year, Doors Open Ever Wider to Cyberstalking, there are scores of organizations whose entire business is built on gathering personal information about you and either displaying it for free or, more often, selling it.

Click here to read the full article.

©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

Reprinted with permission.

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Yo-Yo Car Scam Delivers Threats and Bills

Car scam tricksters are at it again with a new way of backing out of deals their victims thought were complete.

They've also put together a couple of sneaky tricks to get you to hand over money with offers that seem too good to be true.

We have the details in this week's issue, along with a timely warning about buying a car sight unseen.

Click here to read the full article.

©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

Reprinted with permission.

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Sitizens Took A Big Leap Today… It Has Great Advertising Now!

By my good friend.

Jon Olson Hit Exchange News

Sitizens is ‘officially’ about a month old. We’ve been very focused on this project and we hope we have brought something new and very exciting to the advertising / social gaming market. Here’s a few stats about Sitizens that should really wet your whistle if you are an advertiser…

We have over 5500 members with an average of 250-300 new players joining every day! Here’s the best part, it has hit a small tipping point where it’s spreading itself. We saw HUGE jumps in new players and active players this week and we’re very excited to see how this progresses in the future. 95% of these people are from OUTSIDE the traffic exchange industry. If you are a traffic exchange advertiser this should be making you drool…

Let me re-phrase that…300 new people are being brought into Sitizens that have never heard of a traffic exchange….Every day!

Crazy opportunity and of course, we released one of the final ‘pieces’ to the vision of Sitizens today…The Sitizens Advertising Dashboard!

You can now advertise within the Sitizens network. This is targeted traffic like never before seen in the traffic exchange industry and with all these new people joining every day, it’s a great time to get involved in the program.

For a few short days we are offering dirt cheap pricing on all advertising and with our dashboard you are in complete control of who looks at your site, how much the view it and how often…

Check out the Dashboard and set up a campaign. Let us know what your results are like and we hope this brings something new to the traffic exchange industry that has never been seen before…That’s the game plan, we hope you enjoy it!

(Note: The Advertising Dashboard is separate from your Sitizens account on purpose…As this site grows advertisers will be looking at ways to promote but not play the game, this is why we have set up advertising as a new ‘system’ on top of the game itself)

Have a great week!

To your success.

Barb :)

news@dpbiznews.net

Digital Products Business Newsletter
http://digitalnews.dpbiznews.net/

Google + and TimTech – A Match Made In Heaven?

by Jon Olson
Hit Exchange News

We have been looking for years for a perfect solution to our needs at TrafficExchangeLive.com. We have been in Hot Conference for years, we started out in uStream and just recently we played around with Stickam. Nothing worked like we wanted it to. Hot Conference was such a one sided conversation, if you could even call it a conversation. We hate that! We LOVE when the members can interact directly with us and that’s what being part of a community is all about. All the other options never provided reliable audio and video until yesterday…

We have found Google+ and YouTube…I know, this is one social network I really thought wouldn’t take off until I had a chance to really play with Hangouts…Wow! It’s pretty much the greatest thing we’ve ever used! Check this out, while you are looking at this blog right now you will be a part of the brand new TE Live live broadcast….Directly on the world’s largest video platform, YouTube! Press the big play button below to get involved live

If you ever want to come hang out with us, simply go to TrafficExchangeLive.com and click on the FishBowl link. This will provide you with live access to the most interactive and fun community in the traffic exchanges! We look forward to hanging out with you!

Oh yeah, add me at Google+ to stay up to date with everything we are doing in the TE Live Fish Bowl!

The State of Tim Tech

by Jon Olson
Hit Exchange News

Heart On My Sleeve Time:

The traffic exchanges were starting to get on my last good nerve. It seemed every time I opened my trap or TimTech did anything, we got back stabbed or thrown under the bus. And I know why, we cause a lot of this ourselves but at the end of the day we know where our heart is. It’s in online business. It’s in helping people. It’s in paying record commissions. It’s in every thing we do.

These past few weeks, we’ve really got a kick in the rear. There’s been a breath of fresh air in TimTech and it does come from Sitizens as Tim sums it up pretty good in his latest blog post. We are doing things for our happiness and our customers. The people that dislike us or what we do, meh….You kinda had your chance to curb stomp us while we ‘took it easy’ this summer but alas…We kicked our own butt

Here’s a few things on top of Sitizens which we have been playing with…
First, is The Fish Bowl. Justin and me have been DYING to do this for months and we finally jumped into it this week. Basically it’s 24-7 live streaming of our Skype calls. That’s right, we are being completely transparent and opening up exactly how we think and how we communicate for all to see. Nothing hidden, nothing held back. Stop by anytime and come hang out with the Nerds…Or just lurk and clown us behind our backs. We don’t mind either way LOL We just love being transparent and we think The Fish Bowl is something new and exciting in the business.

We also fired up Traffic Exchanges Care again for our 6th campaign to bring awareness to the need for fresh water around the globe. To date, we have raised over $6,000 directly from the traffic exchange industry and that translates into fresh clean drinking water for 300 people for….20 years! That’s right. 300 people on planet earth will have clean drinking water for 20 years because of YOU, the traffic exchange surfer and owner!

Two simple projects but they have really got TimTech back into the swing of things along with Sitizens. We’re amped. We are refreshed and we are ready to crush it like never before. Oh yeah, we are giving away $1000 EVERY WEEK in our Tournament at Sitizens. Not prizes, not banner impressions, not credits, not over-hyped marketing ebooks…Real cash! We hope you enjoy it and good luck in the tournament!

Now back to doing what we do best…Putting passion into the traffic exchanges!

DON'T GIVE UP BEFORE THE MIRACLE

by C.J. Hayden


"It's just not working," my client said dejectedly. "I've been doing exactly what the experts say — networking, building referrals, following up, but I still have only a handful of clients. I'm thinking about giving up and getting a job."
"How long have you been doing this?" I asked her. "How long have you been following this approach in the way you are now?"

She considered. "Two months, I think, since I really started marketing this way. Before that, I was mostly running ads and trying to get website traffic."
"Do you think that's long enough?"

She thought for a moment. "Probably not. I do have some new clients, but I guess it might take a little longer to build relationships and trust, and get to know people better. Then I might start seeing a bigger impact."

"Right," I replied. "You should probably give it a bit more time before you declare it a failure. Especially since you've already seen some success."

‡ ‡ ‡

Another of my clients had a different concern. "The deal isn't going through," he told me. "They never got back to me on it."

"Did you call them?" I asked.

"I sent an email," he replied. They didn't respond."

"Suppose for a moment that the deal hasn't fallen through," I suggested. "What could be some other reasons you haven't heard from them?"

He paused. "Well, maybe they haven't made a decision yet. Or maybe there's a crash project that put this on the back burner for a bit. Or maybe the department head went on vacation."

"So what do you think should you do?"
"I should keep following up with them." He chuckled. "I guess I don't really know what's going on until they tell me."

‡ ‡ ‡

Client number three began by declaring, "I'm no good at marketing. I just can't do it."

"What is it you can't do?" I asked.

"I can't go to these networking things and meet people," she sighed. "I just freeze up. I don't know what to say."

"Is that all there is to marketing? Going to networking things?"

She thought about it. "No, there's a lot of different ways to market."

I probed some more. "Are there some of those you ARE good at?"

"Sure," she replied. "I'm good at talking to people one-on-one, once I know them, I mean."

"So are there some people you know that you could talk to one-on-one who might help build your business?"

She brightened. "Yeah, a bunch of them! You mean I could stop going to those awful networking things and just talk to people I already know?"

"Isn't that also called networking?" I asked.

She laughed. "Yeah, I guess it is. But that kind I can do!"

‡ ‡ ‡

These three dialogues make one thing clear. It's completely normal to feel discouraged at times about marketing. It does take time for your efforts to pay off; sometimes you put yourself out there and get nothing back, and some elements of marketing will be out of your comfort zone. But none of these truths are deal-breakers.

If you market yourself consistently using proven approaches, if you follow up persistently with prospective clients over time, and if you seek out ways to market that feel natural to you, you will see results. In fact, when your marketing starts to work, it often seems almost miraculous, because clients start to appear as if by magic.

But if you allow yourself to be deterred because you don't get immediate results, to feel rejected when all that happened is you didn't get an answer, or tell yourself you're a failure just because there are some areas where you don't shine, this "magic" won't happen.

It's kind of like baking a cake. Mix some flour, milk, butter, eggs, baking powder, sugar, and flavorings, put it in the oven for a bit, and miraculously, it turns into a cake. But if you neglect to measure out the ingredients and stir them together, don't let it bake long enough, or give up halfway through because you've never made a cake before, the miracle never has a chance to occur.

Marketing isn't rocket science. It's much more like baking. The recipe goes like this: Be consistent. Persist. Believe in yourself.
Then don't give up before the miracle.
Copyright © 2012, C.J. Hayden

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When $1000 In Cash Is Really $1000 In Cash

by Jon Olson
Hit Exchange News

It’s no secret, TimTech has been very focused on Sitizens and our new project to branch this business out into the rest of the internet. We truly believe we have found a perfect mix between traffic exchange and social game and we want the world to know about it. So we have tried a few things that most ‘internet marketers’ might be shocked at (especially our advertising budget) but we decided to do things different and instead of spending money on ‘typical’ advertising, we created a contest…..

Actually it’s 3 contests and they happen every week. The player who refers the most, gets a cash prize. The player that arrives at sites the most, get a cash prize. And finally the player that explores the most, get a cash prize as well.

Here’s the kicker….Cash prize.

Now I understand marketing and I understand that credits, upgrades and banner impressions have value but here’s a problem we have with it. You can say $1000 in cash and prizes and never have to really invest a penny. You see, as an owner of a traffic exchange you can fabricate banners, text ads and credits. They don’t really cost anything, so it looks really cool to say we’re giving away the farm when in fact, you don’t really have anything invested.

But then along comes a contest where people can win real cash and well…$1000 cash and $1000 cash & prizes look the same…

For the record, I have nothing against giving away upgrades and credits…Heck I think it’s brilliant on a business side of things especially if you are working with a limited budget…I guess I just want some more disclosure. If you are giving away 100 bucks cash and 900 bucks worth of prizes..Say there is $100 cash prize and 900 dollars worth of upgrades…That way the members get full disclosure and people know exactly what they are being rewarded with.

What do you think? Make sense? Or is Jon thinking too much into it….lol

Have a great day!

To your success.

Barb :)

news@dpbiznews.net

http://digitalnews.dpbiznews.net/

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Thousand Dollar Contest in Sitizens!! Join Free, Promote, Win!

Hello Subscribers I hope you are having a great week so far.
Join Sitizens on this link and win real cash by getting others to join!
http://sitizens.com/?friend=Wo
Explore and Rule the Web!
Join on the link above and get Contest Details  on the NEWS link (in White) at Top of Page after logging into Sitizens.
Have a great day!
Barb :)

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Convincing Bank Scam Uses Bogus Chat Box

A new and particularly convincing bank scam involving a bogus chat box is popping up on virus-infected PCs.

Appropriately called the chat box scam, it's convincing because it only appears when you actually visit your bank's website.

We're all familiar with live-chat boxes that sometimes pop up when you visit retail sites, asking if you need help with your purchase.

Click here to read the full article. 

©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.

Reprinted with permission.

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Exposing How Donald Trump Really Made His Fortune: Inheritance from Dad and the Government's Protection Mostly Did the Trick

Alternet /Berrett-Koehler Publishers / by Brian Miller, Mike Lapham

This excerpt from "The Self-Made Myth: The Truth About How Government Helps Individuals and Businesses Succeed" tells the real story about how Trump got so obscenely rich.

In March 2011 Forbes estimated Donald Trump's net worth to be $2.7 billion, with a $60 million salary. Many praise and analyze his “success” as if it were self-made, and they fail to attribute the proper credit to others in society where it is deserved. Despite what Trump may espouse, his success would have been in no way possible without his father, the general public, and the US government. Unfortunately, Trump decided to forget or selectively ignore these truths while forming his political philosophy, a sentiment made particularly clear during his brief bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. 

Trump was born in New York City in 1946, the son of real estate tycoon Fred Trump. Fred Trump’s business success not only provided Donald Trump with a posh youth of private schools and economic security but eventually blessed him with an inheritance worth an estimated $40 million to $200 million. It is critical to note, however, that his father’s success, which granted Donald Trump such a great advantage, was enabled and buffered by governmental financing programs. In 1934, while struggling during the Great Depression, financing from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) allowed Fred Trump to revive his business and begin building a multitude of homes in Brooklyn, selling at $6,000 apiece.

Furthermore, throughout World War II, Fred Trump constructed FHA-backed housing for US naval personnel near major shipyards along the East Coast.

In 1974 Donald Trump became president of his father’s organization. During the 15 years following his ascension, he expanded and innovated the corporation, buying and branding buildings, golf courses, hotels, casinos, and other recreational facilities. In 1980 he established The Trump Organization to oversee all of his real estate operations. 

Trump eventually found himself in serious financial trouble. In 1990, due to excessive leveraging, The Trump Organization revealed that it was $5 billion in debt ($8.8 billion by some estimates), with $1 billion personally guaranteed by Trump himself. The survival of the company was made possible only by a bailout pact agreed upon in August of that same year by some 70 banks, allowing Trump to defer on nearly $1 billion in debt, as well as to take out second and third mortgages on almost all of his properties. If it were not for the collective effort of all banks and parties involved in that 1990 deal, Trump’s business would have gone bankrupt and failed. 

In 1995 Trump took Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. public and received a substantial financial boost from society and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations that enable the market to function. He initially sold 10 million shares at $14 per share and then in 1996 sold 13.25 million shares at $32.50 a share. This initial public offering granted Trump’s company a stability and legitimacy that would have been impossible without millions of people around the world trusting his organization and investing with the hope of shared success. 

Despite the clear societal and governmental assistance described above, Trump continues to be outspoken in his criticism of government. In his book The America We Deserve, Trump explains that “the greatest threat to the American Dream is the idea that dreamers need close government scrutiny and control. Job one for us is to make sure the public sector does a limited job, and no more.” This quote proves to be particularly ironic when considering Trump’s feelings 

Click here to read the full article.