The old, familiar "You've won a fortune" lottery scams. The trick hinges on convincing someone -- by phone or email -- that they've won a fortune, then either telling them they have to pay fees or other charges to collect, or asking for bank details so the supposed winnings can be deposited.
In the first case, the money has to be wired and is never seen again; in the other instance, the crooks use the bank details for identity theft.
In an attempt to make themselves more convincing, scammers these days often use celebrity or official labels for the supposed lottery.
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, November 26, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Money Wiring Scams
Money wiring scams cost victims millions every year, yet one simple step will avoid most of them. Despite all the publicity and additional security measures, money wiring scams rob victims of tens of millions, maybe even hundreds of millions, every year.
But their success hinges on one simple feature: the willingness of those victims to send cash, untraceable, to someone they don't know.
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
But their success hinges on one simple feature: the willingness of those victims to send cash, untraceable, to someone they don't know.
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
Monday, November 8, 2010
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: BOON OR BOONDOGGLE? C.J. Hayden, MCC
It seems that everywhere you turn these days, someone is promoting social media as the lowest cost, highest impact marketing channel available for small business owners. And that right there is a problem. Far too many people are promoting this idea -- many of whom are those likely to benefit if you make use of their media channel, enroll in their social media class, or hire them to manage your social media for you.
But what is the reality? A recent study reported by eMarketer shows that only 42% of small business owners who use social media marketing are receiving sales leads from Facebook, 36% from LinkedIn, and 16% from Twitter. That's a pretty poor showing from a marketing channel that's being touted as so effective.
The study doesn't indicate the quantity of leads these businesses are getting, or what percentage they've been able to convert into paying customers. But it does report how much these leads are costing them. More than 70% of the small businesses surveyed say they are either losing money or no more than breaking even on their investment in social media. Ouch! What small business can afford that?
How is it that so many small business owners are being misled about the value of social media for their marketing? Let's consider this question for independent professionals, the small business owners I know best.
First of all, social media is not a marketing strategy or even a set of tactics. It's a platform for marketing that can be used in a wide variety of ways, like the telephone, email, or the Internet itself. You can use social media to execute any of the six strategies that independent professionals typically employ: direct contact and follow-up, networking and referral-building, public speaking, writing and publicity, promotional events, or advertising.
Ranked from most effective to least effective, the strategies above are listed in order. For an independent professional seeking clients, the least effective marketing strategy is advertising. But this is exactly how self-employed professionals are most often using social media. They are hosting company pages and posting status updates that consist primarily of sales messages about their services, products, and programs. No wonder they're not getting the results they expect.
The best use of social media for independent professionals is to execute the most effective strategies rather than the least. That means using it for direct contact and follow-up, and networking and referral-building.
Social media is no different in this respect from any other marketing channel for professionals. Phoning someone you already know to have a conversation is much more effective than having a robot deliver voice mails to strangers. A personal email to share helpful resources with an existing contact works much better than sending promotional email broadcasts to people who never heard of you.
What social media is best for is actually what it was originally designed for. Remember when we called it social networking? For the independent professional, that is still this platform's best use -- networking with people you already know in order to stay in touch and deepen your relationship.
There are many nuances to the effective use of social media I don't have space to detail in this article. For example, the awareness that networking must be reciprocal rather than self-centered. You can't just keep putting out your own information and never read or respond to what others have to say. Or the need to balance promotional items with healthy doses of useful, entertaining, or inspiring posts if you want people to keep following you.
Or recognizing that a significant number of the people who choose to follow you are doing so just so you will follow them back, and will never read anything you post. Or admitting that your attraction to social media may be that it allows you to stay in your office and never have to speak with strangers, thereby avoiding rejection.
But the overriding issue for any independent professional to resolve about social media is this. What is the role it should play in your overall marketing plan?
For businesses in general, social media can be a useful tool for creating brand awareness and market visibility. But small businesses can rarely afford that type of visibility marketing, and independent professionals even less so.
The smaller the business and more personal the service being delivered, the more important it becomes to focus your marketing plan specifically on client acquisition. That is, identifying prospects who might become clients and following up with them until you close the sale.
Looking through that narrow lens, the most fitting uses of social media for independent professionals are not brand awareness, market visibility, or even attracting new prospects (as the study quoted above shows). Instead, its best uses are one avenue (among others) to network with your existing contacts, and to follow up with prospects you attract in other ways.
In other words, social media can play a part -- and perhaps a small part -- in your marketing plan. It can't carry the whole plan. You need to use other strategies to attract prospects in the first place, and other channels to follow up with them after you do.
Is social media marketing a boondoggle? Not necessarily. Social media, like any marketing channel, has its uses. But neither is it the ultimate boon to small business marketers that many are claiming.
There is still no "silver bullet" solution for marketing your professional services at zero cost in your spare time. You still have to invest time and money to identify likely prospects, follow up with them to deepen relationships, and have sales conversations that expose you to rejection. And that will be true no matter what new technology for marketing is invented next month or next year.
Copyright © 2010, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
But what is the reality? A recent study reported by eMarketer shows that only 42% of small business owners who use social media marketing are receiving sales leads from Facebook, 36% from LinkedIn, and 16% from Twitter. That's a pretty poor showing from a marketing channel that's being touted as so effective.
The study doesn't indicate the quantity of leads these businesses are getting, or what percentage they've been able to convert into paying customers. But it does report how much these leads are costing them. More than 70% of the small businesses surveyed say they are either losing money or no more than breaking even on their investment in social media. Ouch! What small business can afford that?
How is it that so many small business owners are being misled about the value of social media for their marketing? Let's consider this question for independent professionals, the small business owners I know best.
First of all, social media is not a marketing strategy or even a set of tactics. It's a platform for marketing that can be used in a wide variety of ways, like the telephone, email, or the Internet itself. You can use social media to execute any of the six strategies that independent professionals typically employ: direct contact and follow-up, networking and referral-building, public speaking, writing and publicity, promotional events, or advertising.
Ranked from most effective to least effective, the strategies above are listed in order. For an independent professional seeking clients, the least effective marketing strategy is advertising. But this is exactly how self-employed professionals are most often using social media. They are hosting company pages and posting status updates that consist primarily of sales messages about their services, products, and programs. No wonder they're not getting the results they expect.
The best use of social media for independent professionals is to execute the most effective strategies rather than the least. That means using it for direct contact and follow-up, and networking and referral-building.
Social media is no different in this respect from any other marketing channel for professionals. Phoning someone you already know to have a conversation is much more effective than having a robot deliver voice mails to strangers. A personal email to share helpful resources with an existing contact works much better than sending promotional email broadcasts to people who never heard of you.
What social media is best for is actually what it was originally designed for. Remember when we called it social networking? For the independent professional, that is still this platform's best use -- networking with people you already know in order to stay in touch and deepen your relationship.
There are many nuances to the effective use of social media I don't have space to detail in this article. For example, the awareness that networking must be reciprocal rather than self-centered. You can't just keep putting out your own information and never read or respond to what others have to say. Or the need to balance promotional items with healthy doses of useful, entertaining, or inspiring posts if you want people to keep following you.
Or recognizing that a significant number of the people who choose to follow you are doing so just so you will follow them back, and will never read anything you post. Or admitting that your attraction to social media may be that it allows you to stay in your office and never have to speak with strangers, thereby avoiding rejection.
But the overriding issue for any independent professional to resolve about social media is this. What is the role it should play in your overall marketing plan?
For businesses in general, social media can be a useful tool for creating brand awareness and market visibility. But small businesses can rarely afford that type of visibility marketing, and independent professionals even less so.
The smaller the business and more personal the service being delivered, the more important it becomes to focus your marketing plan specifically on client acquisition. That is, identifying prospects who might become clients and following up with them until you close the sale.
Looking through that narrow lens, the most fitting uses of social media for independent professionals are not brand awareness, market visibility, or even attracting new prospects (as the study quoted above shows). Instead, its best uses are one avenue (among others) to network with your existing contacts, and to follow up with prospects you attract in other ways.
In other words, social media can play a part -- and perhaps a small part -- in your marketing plan. It can't carry the whole plan. You need to use other strategies to attract prospects in the first place, and other channels to follow up with them after you do.
Is social media marketing a boondoggle? Not necessarily. Social media, like any marketing channel, has its uses. But neither is it the ultimate boon to small business marketers that many are claiming.
There is still no "silver bullet" solution for marketing your professional services at zero cost in your spare time. You still have to invest time and money to identify likely prospects, follow up with them to deepen relationships, and have sales conversations that expose you to rejection. And that will be true no matter what new technology for marketing is invented next month or next year.
Copyright © 2010, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
Friday, November 5, 2010
The GOP Recipe for Keeping the Economy Down Until Election 2012
Alternet/ Robert Reich's Blog by Robert Reich
Could it be that Republicans want to keep the economy struggling through Election Day, 2012?
The real message from voters was “Fix this stinking economy.” But Republicans have no intention of doing so. With Republicans in control of the House, forget spending increases or tax cuts to stimulate the economy.
Republicans don’t believe in stimulating economies. They think markets eventually clear — once the pain is sufficient. Or in the immortal words of Herbert Hoover’s treasury secretary, millionaire industrialist Andrew Mellon: “Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmer, liquidate real estate. It will purge the rottenness out of the system. People will work harder, lead a more moral life.”
Click here to read the full article.
Alternet/ Robert Reich's Blog by Robert Reich
Could it be that Republicans want to keep the economy struggling through Election Day, 2012?
The real message from voters was “Fix this stinking economy.” But Republicans have no intention of doing so. With Republicans in control of the House, forget spending increases or tax cuts to stimulate the economy.
Republicans don’t believe in stimulating economies. They think markets eventually clear — once the pain is sufficient. Or in the immortal words of Herbert Hoover’s treasury secretary, millionaire industrialist Andrew Mellon: “Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmer, liquidate real estate. It will purge the rottenness out of the system. People will work harder, lead a more moral life.”
Click here to read the full article.
Alternet/ Robert Reich's Blog by Robert Reich
Securing Your Resume For Online Job Hunting
These days, when most people change employment every few years, online job hunting is very much part of the search process.
And to give themselves the best chance of success, many job-seekers post their resume on one or more of the scores of Internet job search sites.
This makes sense if you believe that the wider you cast the net, the more likely you are to land a good catch, but promoting yourself online does pose a risk of identity theft, spahamming (misspelled intentionally) and other scams, as we've reported in previous issues.
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
And to give themselves the best chance of success, many job-seekers post their resume on one or more of the scores of Internet job search sites.
This makes sense if you believe that the wider you cast the net, the more likely you are to land a good catch, but promoting yourself online does pose a risk of identity theft, spahamming (misspelled intentionally) and other scams, as we've reported in previous issues.
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, October 22, 2010
How To Improve Your Online Conversion By 300% Or More
By Michael Fleischner
Do I have your attention? Anyone trying to make a living online is interested in one thing, improving conversions. As an Internet marketing veteran, I’ve seen plenty of web sites and blogs miss one their biggest opportunities for growth. The answer is actually quite simple, making the most of your list.
Maybe you have your own email list of fifty-thousand names or more. Perhaps you have a small list of just a few dozen prospects who have emailed you questions or comments. Regardless of where you begin, having a list is only part of the equation. The most successful marketers I know utilize their list in a variety of ways to build relationships and sell products that are a win-win for both buyer and seller.
The first way to utilize your list is through an auto responder sequence. If you’re not using an auto responder, I advise you to search for auto responder services online. Popular services like Aweber only charge around twenty dollars per month, allowing you to send unlimited messages. These messages should position you as an expert, provide purchase ideas, and continually provide value.
The second way to use your list effectively is to provide pre-notification of product launches. There are many super affiliates that use their list in this manner, generating tens of thousands of dollars per month. Once you know of an affiliate product being launched within a six to eight week period, map out a pre-launch communication plan that reaches out to individuals prior to launch. This may include access to product information, downloads, videos, etc., to build anticipation around launch day. When launch day comes, create a sense of immediacy and scarcity – purchases will ensue.
The third way to leverage the power of your list is through referrers, building an even larger list that you can communicate with. Are you asking those who sign up for your list to refer your company, products, or services to others? Make your emails easy to forward and encourage referrals. This is a great way to reach individuals who are more likely to value your content and accept your offers.
The final method for leveraging an email list is to communicate on a regular basis. Your auto-responder sequence should integrate a series of messages spread out over time. By continually staying in front of your list and utilizing the content that you have to provide value, these individuals will stay engaged and have a higher propensity to purchase from you.
The time to start building your email list is now. In parallel, be sure to focus your energies on leveraging that list using the proper techniques. Having a great list is fine but unless you utilize it properly, you’ll never see the true value inherent in the list itself.
Michael Fleischner is an SEO consultant and author of SEO Made Simple, revealing strategies guaranteed to improve search engine rankings. Learn more about Michael's hands-on SEO training program, Internet Marketing Forum, and SEO consulting at MarketingScoop.com or contact him via the Marketing Blog at http://marketing-expert.blogspot.com.
©2009 MarketingScoop.
Do I have your attention? Anyone trying to make a living online is interested in one thing, improving conversions. As an Internet marketing veteran, I’ve seen plenty of web sites and blogs miss one their biggest opportunities for growth. The answer is actually quite simple, making the most of your list.
Maybe you have your own email list of fifty-thousand names or more. Perhaps you have a small list of just a few dozen prospects who have emailed you questions or comments. Regardless of where you begin, having a list is only part of the equation. The most successful marketers I know utilize their list in a variety of ways to build relationships and sell products that are a win-win for both buyer and seller.
The first way to utilize your list is through an auto responder sequence. If you’re not using an auto responder, I advise you to search for auto responder services online. Popular services like Aweber only charge around twenty dollars per month, allowing you to send unlimited messages. These messages should position you as an expert, provide purchase ideas, and continually provide value.
The second way to use your list effectively is to provide pre-notification of product launches. There are many super affiliates that use their list in this manner, generating tens of thousands of dollars per month. Once you know of an affiliate product being launched within a six to eight week period, map out a pre-launch communication plan that reaches out to individuals prior to launch. This may include access to product information, downloads, videos, etc., to build anticipation around launch day. When launch day comes, create a sense of immediacy and scarcity – purchases will ensue.
The third way to leverage the power of your list is through referrers, building an even larger list that you can communicate with. Are you asking those who sign up for your list to refer your company, products, or services to others? Make your emails easy to forward and encourage referrals. This is a great way to reach individuals who are more likely to value your content and accept your offers.
The final method for leveraging an email list is to communicate on a regular basis. Your auto-responder sequence should integrate a series of messages spread out over time. By continually staying in front of your list and utilizing the content that you have to provide value, these individuals will stay engaged and have a higher propensity to purchase from you.
The time to start building your email list is now. In parallel, be sure to focus your energies on leveraging that list using the proper techniques. Having a great list is fine but unless you utilize it properly, you’ll never see the true value inherent in the list itself.
Michael Fleischner is an SEO consultant and author of SEO Made Simple, revealing strategies guaranteed to improve search engine rankings. Learn more about Michael's hands-on SEO training program, Internet Marketing Forum, and SEO consulting at MarketingScoop.com or contact him via the Marketing Blog at http://marketing-expert.blogspot.com.
©2009 MarketingScoop.
HERE IT IS AT LAST — THE SECRET TO MARKETING C.J. Hayden, MCC
Well, that got your attention! Isn't that what every independent professional is really looking for -- that one magic formula that will take the effort out of marketing and bring you all the clients you need, forever?
Searching for this marketing silver bullet, they read articles and books, take seminars and home-study courses, and hire consultants and coaches. And in the process they learn about many, many so-called marketing secrets.
These "secrets" to marketing consist of supposedly surefire approaches like search engine optimization for your website, publishing articles online, social networking, joining a leads group, sending postcards, and running pay-per-click ads. There are of course many more, and each of them is being touted by someone as the ultimate solution for marketing your business.
Trying to sort out the truth in these conflicting claims leaves you with three basic possibilities:
1. All of this is nonsense; there is no secret to marketing.
2. One of these approaches probably really is the secret, but since you have no way of knowing which one, you'd have to try them all.
3. All of these probably are secrets for some people at some times, but none of them may be right for you.
No matter which of these points of view you take, the result is that none of these secrets are ultimately very helpful.
For many years, I've said that the real secret to marketing for independent professionals is choosing a set of simple, effective things to do, and doing them consistently.
That word "effective" can make this a bit tricky. You have to know what is effective in order for this secret to work for you. If you were to choose a set of completely ineffective things to do, this approach would fail.
But by "completely ineffective," I mean ideas like running a Yellow Pages ad to market a management consulting business, or networking on Facebook in order to make more contacts with doctors, or sending out direct mail letters to attract psychotherapy patients. When the marketing tactics you pick are that far off base, no amount of consistency will make them work.
If you choose a set of activities that have any level of effectiveness, they will work if you do them consistently. Cold calling will work if you make enough calls. In-person networking will work if you attend events regularly and follow up with the people you meet. Public speaking will work if you speak to audiences of a decent size on a regular basis.
With consistency and persistence, you can make even the most mildly effective marketing approaches pay off in the long run. But that qualifier "in the long run" is the catch. You don't want to wait that long. No one does.
Is there another layer to this secret that will make it all happen faster? Yes. Choose a target market that needs your services and can afford to pay for them, craft a message that market will respond to, choose a set of simple, effective approaches to reach that market, follow through on each approach, and spend enough time on your marketing to produce results.
Notice your emotional reaction to reading those words. They're not very exciting, are they? It sounds like work.
It would be much easier if the secret was something like search engine optimization, where you could pay someone else to do all the work and the clients would simply appear. Or joining a leads group, where you could show up at a weekly meeting and the other members would hand you business. Or running pay-per-click ads, where you would never have to talk to people before they became your clients. But of course none of these approaches really work that way.
Don't blame yourself for wanting to avoid hard work. It's human nature to look for the easy way out. But if you spend all your time searching for the effort-free way to market, you will end up making your job much harder. Every time you try another new way to market but then don't follow through on it, or give up too soon to see results, you waste time and money, and lose momentum. By trying to avoid work, you actually create even more.
So instead of looking for a magic formula to avoid the work of marketing altogether, find ways to make it easier on yourself. Here are four suggestions that will help.
1. Choose a target market you enjoy spending time with, and whose issues and goals you care about.
2. Get help with crafting marketing messages if messaging isn't your strong point.
3. Use role models, recommended advisors, or a trusted system to identify only the best marketing approaches, then do what they advise.
4. Use the support of a buddy, coach, or success team to help you follow through on your plans, market consistently, and break through fear and procrastination.
Note that if the above are ways to make marketing easier, doing the opposite of any of these will make it harder. Refusing to choose a target market, for example. Or spending time and money marketing with an off-target message. Or trying flavor-of-the-week marketing tactics no successful person in your field uses. Or not doing enough marketing because it's scary. Or trying to do everything on your own. Or continuing to chase after silver bullet solutions.
The secret to successful marketing for independent professionals is choosing a set of simple, effective things to do, and doing them consistently. The secret behind this secret is finding ways to make the process easier. And the secret behind that secret is to stop looking for another secret and get to work on implementing the first one.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
Searching for this marketing silver bullet, they read articles and books, take seminars and home-study courses, and hire consultants and coaches. And in the process they learn about many, many so-called marketing secrets.
These "secrets" to marketing consist of supposedly surefire approaches like search engine optimization for your website, publishing articles online, social networking, joining a leads group, sending postcards, and running pay-per-click ads. There are of course many more, and each of them is being touted by someone as the ultimate solution for marketing your business.
Trying to sort out the truth in these conflicting claims leaves you with three basic possibilities:
1. All of this is nonsense; there is no secret to marketing.
2. One of these approaches probably really is the secret, but since you have no way of knowing which one, you'd have to try them all.
3. All of these probably are secrets for some people at some times, but none of them may be right for you.
No matter which of these points of view you take, the result is that none of these secrets are ultimately very helpful.
For many years, I've said that the real secret to marketing for independent professionals is choosing a set of simple, effective things to do, and doing them consistently.
That word "effective" can make this a bit tricky. You have to know what is effective in order for this secret to work for you. If you were to choose a set of completely ineffective things to do, this approach would fail.
But by "completely ineffective," I mean ideas like running a Yellow Pages ad to market a management consulting business, or networking on Facebook in order to make more contacts with doctors, or sending out direct mail letters to attract psychotherapy patients. When the marketing tactics you pick are that far off base, no amount of consistency will make them work.
If you choose a set of activities that have any level of effectiveness, they will work if you do them consistently. Cold calling will work if you make enough calls. In-person networking will work if you attend events regularly and follow up with the people you meet. Public speaking will work if you speak to audiences of a decent size on a regular basis.
With consistency and persistence, you can make even the most mildly effective marketing approaches pay off in the long run. But that qualifier "in the long run" is the catch. You don't want to wait that long. No one does.
Is there another layer to this secret that will make it all happen faster? Yes. Choose a target market that needs your services and can afford to pay for them, craft a message that market will respond to, choose a set of simple, effective approaches to reach that market, follow through on each approach, and spend enough time on your marketing to produce results.
Notice your emotional reaction to reading those words. They're not very exciting, are they? It sounds like work.
It would be much easier if the secret was something like search engine optimization, where you could pay someone else to do all the work and the clients would simply appear. Or joining a leads group, where you could show up at a weekly meeting and the other members would hand you business. Or running pay-per-click ads, where you would never have to talk to people before they became your clients. But of course none of these approaches really work that way.
Don't blame yourself for wanting to avoid hard work. It's human nature to look for the easy way out. But if you spend all your time searching for the effort-free way to market, you will end up making your job much harder. Every time you try another new way to market but then don't follow through on it, or give up too soon to see results, you waste time and money, and lose momentum. By trying to avoid work, you actually create even more.
So instead of looking for a magic formula to avoid the work of marketing altogether, find ways to make it easier on yourself. Here are four suggestions that will help.
1. Choose a target market you enjoy spending time with, and whose issues and goals you care about.
2. Get help with crafting marketing messages if messaging isn't your strong point.
3. Use role models, recommended advisors, or a trusted system to identify only the best marketing approaches, then do what they advise.
4. Use the support of a buddy, coach, or success team to help you follow through on your plans, market consistently, and break through fear and procrastination.
Note that if the above are ways to make marketing easier, doing the opposite of any of these will make it harder. Refusing to choose a target market, for example. Or spending time and money marketing with an off-target message. Or trying flavor-of-the-week marketing tactics no successful person in your field uses. Or not doing enough marketing because it's scary. Or trying to do everything on your own. Or continuing to chase after silver bullet solutions.
The secret to successful marketing for independent professionals is choosing a set of simple, effective things to do, and doing them consistently. The secret behind this secret is finding ways to make the process easier. And the secret behind that secret is to stop looking for another secret and get to work on implementing the first one.
Copyright © 2009, C.J. Hayden
Read more free articles by C.J. Hayden or subscribe to the GET CLIENTS NOW! E-Letter.
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