It's that time of year again, when a new batch of travel scams
shows up on the Scambusters radar as millions of us make plans
for our annual vacation.
And we're here to let you know that, although we've featured
travel scams virtually every year since we started the
Scambusters newsletter, the crooks haven't run out of ideas
and have dreamed up a new bag of tricks to relieve you of your
possessions.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
Friday, May 25, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
The New Wall Street Racket Looting Your City, One Block at a Time
Alternet /by Matt Reichel
New schemes hold the public hostage to private finance.
Alternet /by Matt Reichel
New schemes hold the public hostage to private finance.
When Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced a
“new and innovative” financing tool last month to help Chicago renovate
failing infrastructure without precipitating another budget crisis,
many in the city were understandably critical.
Chicagoans
have already endured the notorious 75-year lease of their parking
meters to a consortium headed by Morgan Stanley. That sale promulgated a
system wherein the public is held hostage by private finance, due
largely to the inclusion of arcane legal stipulations like “non-compete
clauses” and “compensation events” in the language of the contract.
Ellen Danin, writing in the Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy
relates that: “Chicagoans learned about compensation events when CBS
reported that the city’s parking meter contract required reimbursement
for events like repairing streets. Public records showed that in the
first quarter of 2009, the city was liable to the parking meter
contractor for more than $106,000 in lost income during the slow months
for street repair and street closings for festivals, parades, and
holidays, as well as repairs and maintenance. At that rate, it is not
unreasonable to predict that Chicago will owe roughly $500,000 a year to
the private contractor.”
Ask Your Doctor if This Big Pharma Scam Is Right for You: The Dangers of a Drugged Up America
Alternet /Hightower Lowdown /by Jim Hightower
In medicated America, the fix for every problem is just a prescription away. Except that it's not.
Butterflies waft across a beautiful field of spring flowers. A delightful young family bicycles joyously down a country lane. A couple on a park bench leans sensually into each other. A 40-something woman's face radiates with both perfect beauty and internal happiness. "All's right with the world," is the message... as long as you've taken your dosages of Lunesta, Celebrex, Cialis, and Botox.
Welcome to medicated America, where the fix for every problem--from incontinence to erectile dysfunction, stiff joints to mood swings, weight gain to wrinkles-- is just a prescription away. Thus the beautiful images, stirring music, attractive actors, and soothing words in the omnipresent, multibillion-dollar kaleidoscope of drug advertising by Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, and other giants of Big Pharma--all pitching their particular brand-name nostrum directly at us hoi polloi (the industry spends a fourth of its income on ads and other promotions, nearly double its expenditures on research and development). The corporate come-ons typically conclude with a phrase that has achieved cliche status in America's vernacular: "Ask your doctor if 'Suprema Wundercure' is right for you."
Click here to read the full article.
Alternet /Hightower Lowdown /Jim Hightower
In medicated America, the fix for every problem is just a prescription away. Except that it's not.
Butterflies waft across a beautiful field of spring flowers. A delightful young family bicycles joyously down a country lane. A couple on a park bench leans sensually into each other. A 40-something woman's face radiates with both perfect beauty and internal happiness. "All's right with the world," is the message... as long as you've taken your dosages of Lunesta, Celebrex, Cialis, and Botox.
Welcome to medicated America, where the fix for every problem--from incontinence to erectile dysfunction, stiff joints to mood swings, weight gain to wrinkles-- is just a prescription away. Thus the beautiful images, stirring music, attractive actors, and soothing words in the omnipresent, multibillion-dollar kaleidoscope of drug advertising by Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, and other giants of Big Pharma--all pitching their particular brand-name nostrum directly at us hoi polloi (the industry spends a fourth of its income on ads and other promotions, nearly double its expenditures on research and development). The corporate come-ons typically conclude with a phrase that has achieved cliche status in America's vernacular: "Ask your doctor if 'Suprema Wundercure' is right for you."
Click here to read the full article.
Alternet /Hightower Lowdown /Jim Hightower
Friday, May 11, 2012
Prescription, Jobs and Mortgage Scams Promise to Ease Money Worries
Mortgage scams are back in the headlines following the launch
of the Federal Government's Home Affordable Refinance Program
(HARP).
We'll also be taking a close-up look at how crooks are cashing in on the launch of the latest iPad Model, and how others are fooling people into paying for prescription services and discounts that they can actually get for free.
And an "old favorite" has recently resurfaced in the shape of a scam in which victims are accused of failing to turn up for jury duty.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
We'll also be taking a close-up look at how crooks are cashing in on the launch of the latest iPad Model, and how others are fooling people into paying for prescription services and discounts that they can actually get for free.
And an "old favorite" has recently resurfaced in the shape of a scam in which victims are accused of failing to turn up for jury duty.
Click here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
Friday, May 4, 2012
Watch Out For These 4 New Phishing Scams
If you've ever been caught out by one of those trick questions
that have you kicking yourself when you realize you fell for
it, you'll have some idea of what it feels like to be the
victim of a phishing scam.
You look back on the incident that led to you giving away important confidential information about yourself and you wonder how you could have fallen for it.
Well, one reason why people are still giving their information away and usually suffering identity theft as a result is that the crooks keep coming up with ingenious ways of fooling you, by convincing you they're genuine.
Click Here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
You look back on the incident that led to you giving away important confidential information about yourself and you wonder how you could have fallen for it.
Well, one reason why people are still giving their information away and usually suffering identity theft as a result is that the crooks keep coming up with ingenious ways of fooling you, by convincing you they're genuine.
Click Here to read the full article.
©Copyright Audri and Jim Lanford. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
Subscribe free to Internet Scambusters at
http://www.scambusters.org
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
FROM CONVERSATION TO CLIENT IN FOUR SIMPLE STEPS
Our
lives as professionals marketing our own services would be much easier
if clients would simply read our sales copy and decide to hire us. But
in the real world, it rarely works that way. Instead, we must have
conversations with our prospects before a sale takes place -- sometimes
several conversations.
These selling conversations can seem difficult or intimidating, but they don't have to be. Here are four simple steps to turn conversations into paying clients.
Step 1. What do you need?
Keys to success: Being curious. Listening. Letting go of assumptions.
Begin every sales conversation by asking prospects to tell you about their needs, and listen carefully to what they tell you. Forget about what you think they should want, and pay attention to what they really do want.
Common mistakes: Starting with Step 2 instead, or beginning Step 2 too soon.
Even when prospects start the conversation by asking you to describe your services, take a moment to find out more about them first. When prospects tell you their problems and goals, they are handing you the secrets of how to sell to them successfully.
Step 2. Here's what I have.
Keys to success: Matching what you have to what they need as specifically as possible.
Describe your services in direct response to the needs your prospects tell you about. If they're in a hurry, tell them how you can work quickly. If they want accuracy, describe your attention to detail. Use the same words and phrases they used, and speak to the same issues they did.
Common mistakes: Sharing features and processes instead of benefits and results.
When prospects ask how you work, what they really want to know is what results you produce, not the steps you follow to get there. They want to hear what benefits your services have for them, not an inventory of all the bells and whistles included in your service package.
Step 3. Is there a match?
Keys to success: Collaborating with your prospect. Consulting or coaching instead of persuading.
You'll make more sales when you and your prospects are on the same side, instead of being adversaries. Act as if they have already hired you, and help them solve their problem. Don't just talk about how you could help; show them what it's like to work with you.
Common mistakes: Ignoring your prospects' concerns. Becoming defensive. Trying to coax prospects to buy.
Every concern a prospect has is legitimate. Acknowledge each one and explore together what resolution might be possible. Stay focused on their needs instead of your own. Trying to convince prospects you know more about what's right for them than they do will backfire.
Step 4. Will you hire me?
Keys to success: Asking a yes or no question, then waiting for an answer.
Once you've completed the first three steps, it's time to ask your prospects if they are ready to work with you. Be sure you've resolved their concerns from Step 3. Ask a direct question; don't wait for them to offer. Then stop talking until they reply.
Common mistakes: Asking too soon. Not asking at all. Giving them reasons not to buy.
Don't talk yourself out of a sale by bringing up their concerns again when you ask if they're ready to get started. For example, "Would you like to work with me? I know you said the price was higher than you planned, but..." Just ask, and wait.
The good news is that once you arrive at Step 4, the answer is rarely "no." If your services aren't a good fit for your prospects' needs, you'll find that out by the time you get to Step 3. (And in that case, you won't be asking for their business at all.) You're more likely to hear a reason they wish to delay their decision. Help them determine a timeframe for making up their minds, and set a date to resume the conversation at Step 3.
If selling conversations are challenging for you, rehearse these steps with a friend, colleague, or coach playing the role of prospect. Once you become more comfortable with the process, you'll find your prospects begin to relax also, and these conversations will become easier for both of you. And that will lead naturally to more sales.
Copyright © 2012, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
These selling conversations can seem difficult or intimidating, but they don't have to be. Here are four simple steps to turn conversations into paying clients.
Step 1. What do you need?
Keys to success: Being curious. Listening. Letting go of assumptions.
Begin every sales conversation by asking prospects to tell you about their needs, and listen carefully to what they tell you. Forget about what you think they should want, and pay attention to what they really do want.
Common mistakes: Starting with Step 2 instead, or beginning Step 2 too soon.
Even when prospects start the conversation by asking you to describe your services, take a moment to find out more about them first. When prospects tell you their problems and goals, they are handing you the secrets of how to sell to them successfully.
Step 2. Here's what I have.
Keys to success: Matching what you have to what they need as specifically as possible.
Describe your services in direct response to the needs your prospects tell you about. If they're in a hurry, tell them how you can work quickly. If they want accuracy, describe your attention to detail. Use the same words and phrases they used, and speak to the same issues they did.
Common mistakes: Sharing features and processes instead of benefits and results.
When prospects ask how you work, what they really want to know is what results you produce, not the steps you follow to get there. They want to hear what benefits your services have for them, not an inventory of all the bells and whistles included in your service package.
Step 3. Is there a match?
Keys to success: Collaborating with your prospect. Consulting or coaching instead of persuading.
You'll make more sales when you and your prospects are on the same side, instead of being adversaries. Act as if they have already hired you, and help them solve their problem. Don't just talk about how you could help; show them what it's like to work with you.
Common mistakes: Ignoring your prospects' concerns. Becoming defensive. Trying to coax prospects to buy.
Every concern a prospect has is legitimate. Acknowledge each one and explore together what resolution might be possible. Stay focused on their needs instead of your own. Trying to convince prospects you know more about what's right for them than they do will backfire.
Step 4. Will you hire me?
Keys to success: Asking a yes or no question, then waiting for an answer.
Once you've completed the first three steps, it's time to ask your prospects if they are ready to work with you. Be sure you've resolved their concerns from Step 3. Ask a direct question; don't wait for them to offer. Then stop talking until they reply.
Common mistakes: Asking too soon. Not asking at all. Giving them reasons not to buy.
Don't talk yourself out of a sale by bringing up their concerns again when you ask if they're ready to get started. For example, "Would you like to work with me? I know you said the price was higher than you planned, but..." Just ask, and wait.
The good news is that once you arrive at Step 4, the answer is rarely "no." If your services aren't a good fit for your prospects' needs, you'll find that out by the time you get to Step 3. (And in that case, you won't be asking for their business at all.) You're more likely to hear a reason they wish to delay their decision. Help them determine a timeframe for making up their minds, and set a date to resume the conversation at Step 3.
If selling conversations are challenging for you, rehearse these steps with a friend, colleague, or coach playing the role of prospect. Once you become more comfortable with the process, you'll find your prospects begin to relax also, and these conversations will become easier for both of you. And that will lead naturally to more sales.
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)