Don't Fall For A Shady Deal

Buying Tips For Consumers
No one wants to be a victim. It is painful and physiologically damaging to be victimized. In this segment, with the help of Government publications, I will share with you some areas of concern. This is not to say every deal is shady but is to point out when you should be extra alert. You should take steps to be aware of possible shady deals and scams that rob you of your money and dignity. To help protect you and avoid being victimized here are a few points to keep in mind.
1. deals that sound too good to be true usually are! I know, you have heard it a thousand times but even well meaning people still fall for the easy money or super savings deals. Here are some offers that are often directed toward the unsuspecting consumer and fall into such categories as: promises to fix your credit problems, low cost home mortgage, magazine subscriptions, low cost home repair, low-interest credit cards, super special car buys, deals that let you skip credit card payments, business/job opportunities, risk-free investments and free travel.

2.Extended warranties or service contracts are rarely worth what you pay for them. It has become popular to sell extended warranties on automobiles. The tactics used are untrue promises delivered through phone solicitation, emails and post mail. Do not allow a phone solicitation to make you a victim.

3. Say no to credit insurance offers. These are the types of offers that are often attached to credit cards, car loans and home mortgages, it is almost always better to purchase regular property, life or disability insurance from a repeatable company.

4. There is no universal three-day cooling-off period. Don't be fooled into believing that you automatically have three days to cancel a purchase. Only a few types of contracts give you a right to cancel. Federal, state and local governments go by the “buyer beware” rule. There is simply not enough people to police all transactions so the buyer must take some responsibility for the purchase.

5. Think twice before sharing personal information. The Internet has opened up a whole new groundwork for unscrupulous people. There are many offers that require personal information which you should be Leary of. Don't give out personal information unless you know the person or company asking is repeatable.

6.Beware of payday and tax refund loans. This type of transaction used to be called usury. They pray on the poor and stressed people who are most vulnerable. Interest rates on these loans are usually extreme. If you are in direr need, a high-interest cash advance on a credit card might be a better option.

7. Not all plastic cards offer the same protections. The liability you face for the unauthorized use of a gift card or debit/ATM card may be much higher than a $50 maximum on your credit card. Guard all plastic money cards with utmost security. A lost or stolen card should be reported immediately. Keep cards at a minimum, don't carry more than one or two cards at any given time and most of all don't leave a container with your cards inside unattended.

8. Real estate agents represent the seller – not the buyer. There are seller and buyer reality people. If you are using an agent, be sure he/she is representing you. When buying perhaps you should consider hiring an exclusive agent or lawyer who represents you.

9. Home improvement and auto repairs are the subject of frequent complaints. There's always time for a second opinion, especially when important or expensive repairs are needed. When you are dealing with a repair service you do not know ask around for recommendations.

10. Think twice before you rent-to-own. Interest rates on rent-to-own purchases are usually through the roof. If you miss a payment, you could end up loosing the item and have nothing in return. Consider other options such as auctions, buying second-hand at a thrift shop or through ads in your local newspaper.

11. Don't buy under stress. Research suggests that senior citizens, people in crisis (e.g., coping with a death or debt), college students, small business owners, minorities, and immigrants are especially at risk of being victimized. Don't be talked into quick fix purchases. Try to avoid making big-ticket purchases during times of duress.

12. Be cautious of Buy Here, Pay Here used car lots. If you must buy a car from a used car lot, do not let the salesperson pressure you into signing the papers before you have had ample time to read them. Do not and I say again do not sign contracts that allow the dealership to change or alter the finance rate AFTER you leave the lot. Be sure you are properly covered in case the care fails in a reasonable amount of time by a guarantee of as much as you can get.

13. Work-at-Home ads usually don't pay off. Be especially wary of ads that promise huge annual salaries; they often require expensive upfront fees with no guarantee. You risk losing your money and wasting a lot of time and energy for nothing. The Internet has become a haven for thieves willing to rip-off people who are in need. There is no quick way to riches, if there were, everyone would be rich.

Be prudent, cautious, and don't be a victim of snake oil remedies or smooth talking salespersons. Check it before you do it and if it doesn't feel right walk away.

Ideas & Tips for moms who want to work from home:

Many moms wonder, from time to time, what they could do to earn extra income for the home, or just help out a little with the finances. To that end, I have compiled numerous ideas; some of which you may be interested in implementing. Here are some things you may not have thought of already:

• Post a resume at Craigslist – it’s free!
• Start going to garage sales and buying quality items you can sell on Craigslist or
• Ebay (there is no charge to sell on Craigslist)
• Shop thrift stores for items to sell
• Plan a neighborhood garage sale
• Contact a legitimate business in order to start your own from their franchise
• (Tupperware, Mary Kay, Arbonne, Pampered Chef, Avon, Gold Canyon Candles,
• etc)
• If you have computer skills, look into jobs that you can do from home (lots of
• postings at Craigslist!)
• If you are an EARLY morning person, consider delivering the newspaper for 2
• hours each day to earn extra cash
• Print out flyers offering to be a dog walker for the working families in your
• neighborhood (some people make great extra income doing this!)
• If you have time, start up your own small business by coming up with a product
• or service that you know people could or would use (you might need a website for
• this)
• If you are able to do childcare from your home or travel to another home for this,
• offer your services to friends, family, neighbors, or post a resume online or on
• local school bulletin boards (if allowed) – lots of parents are looking for quality
• childcare!
• Join a mom’s group in order to meet new people and get new ideas OR share your
• own (such as MOPS or other social networking groups)
• If you are talented at creating crafts, etc, begin your own business and show off
• your work at local craft fairs, school events, etc (might have to rent table space for
• this)
• Offer to be a “floater” babysitter for anyone you know who might like to have an
• on-call person in case of emergencies
• Look into doing part-time receptionist or secretarial jobs while your kids are in
• school
• Post a resume offering to be a personal assistant for a family who may need
• errands run, etc – your kids could go with you in the car if agreed upon at hire
• If you are good with kids and know how to teach little ones to swim, offer swim
• lessons from your back yard pool (if you have one; AND you may need to look
• into special insurance coverage to do this). I had my own child learn to swim this
• way and we paid $10 per half hour lesson – great deal for private lessons and she
• had LOTS of clients!
• Network your skill, trade, or service online or via local networking groups (like
• the ones associated with each city’s Chamber of Commerce)
• Advertise on any website you can for free, in their yellow pages, etc
• Gather up all the items in your home that you no longer need or use (we all have
• them!) and sell them online or in a yard sale
• If you are musical, offer music lessons from home for less than what someone
• would pay a “professional”
• If you are skilled at photography, offer part-time services for various events for
• less than clients would pay a professional photographer
• If you are skilled in any subject or area, offer to be a tutor from home (math,
• English, writing, computers, science, etc)
• If you are trained in beautician services (hair/nails, etc), consider working from
• home part-time
• Look into businesses that need part-time help with home visits for the elderly, or
• help with special needs children
• Search for and purchase any quality books from yard sales or antique shops that
• you can sell online
• If you are a seamstress, contact some local drycleaners and offer your on-call
• services if they are not already contracted with a seamstress for their customers
• If your own children are in school, look into working part-time at a local school
• (preschool, elementary, junior high or high school) to be a classroom aid (many
• schools now require at least an AA for this position; check out their websites for
• more info)

Best wishes in all your business endeavors!

“Be the change you want to see in the world”

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Write and Sell Ebooks Online - Covering the Basics4

Ebooks are a specialty that's hunted down by folks of every age bracket and interest group. There's a special format to setting up an electronic book. Several years back you had to have a program to put together a PDF that was considered acceptable. Now it is truly pretty straightforward to make them with a word processor, some graphics and a method to turn it into the pdf file format. Here's is the basic layout of how to write and sell ebooks online.

Graphics are the pictures and bullets or line breaks used in the layout of your product. You can get free bullets and lines on masses of websites just by downloading the copyright free pictures to your personal computer. Glaringly for photos you can use your favorite imaging software to form these items.

The biggest thing you want is a good word processing program to make a polished looking product. Always double space between your paragraphs and use wide margins as well as headers and footers. Paragraph headers and key points are always in bold print.

Don't pay for a program to create pdf files. It is truly simple to use.

Whatever you choose to writer your book about it should solve an issue or provide information that a large amount of folk are searching for online. Don't write about something you do not know a lot about. If you give out bad information you can never get anywhere online.

How to Create an Ebook

There is no question that discovering how out to create an e-book is a brilliant money maker and a great viral marketing tool because they increase website traffic.

1. Write Or Acquire Some Content
Anything you understand how to do can be made into an info product. I mean {anything|anything at all|! Anything you know about or how to do is a subject which you can write about.

Create Your Own

This is the best Free content because you control the distribution rights.

The worth is in the info i want to discover.

To start moving fast, you can get content that is in the public domain. There are numerous public domain sources on the internet. The work itself will be in the general public domain but the website HTML is not.

Private Label Right Content ( PLR ) is also a brilliant source of pre-written material when learning how to create an ebook. In all cases, you can re-write the content and put your name as the author. PLR content is way easier to source than public domain content. Many Internet marketers today compile a series of PLR articles into a PDF with their own title. Then they create another PDF telling folks how they were given rich on the internet selling eBooks!

Many affiliate programs now offer Free content to help their affiliates be more successful.

Timeless info includes info on business, advertising, client service, life and happiness, cook books, formulas, philosophy, gambling systems, for example.

2. Build Pages From Word and Other Office Applications
Take note that the regular Free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader won't create PDF eBooks.

The biggest benefits in having your eBooks in PDF ( movable Document File ) format ( file-name.pdf ) is that both Windows and Mac users can read your eBooks, the file sizes are far littler and more folks will download them because they don't have the .exe extention.

alert : While Free and cheap PDF creation software will make a PDF, it's a common mistake to use such software and discover the hyperlinks don't work and you can't create bookmarks within the document. This is true in many cases excepting this Free PDF maker. I however, use Adobe Acrobat full version to make PDF eBooks and white papers. Build HTML Pages
Once you understand how to create even a basic net page, you can make an electronic book. Don't attempt to be a design expert. Just get the info into the web page so it is easy to read.

Keep the pages clean and simple to read and keep vexing distractions as low as possible. Only use images if it compliments what you are teaching. Write your content right into the HTML editor or you can copy and paste it from somewhere else.

Load the e-book
To do that, you will need some kind of HTML compiler. The one you select will depend on how many features you want and how professional you need the product to look.

Now that you know how to create an ebook you need to find out how to launch it. To learn you need to test outThis awesome ebook

How to go green in six steps

At this time when the world faces up to progressive global warming, as more and more insidious greenhouse gases teem into the atmosphere, more and more folk are wondering how to go green and make it cost efficient too. The great news is that it's dead easy to do. In fact, done properly it's difficult not to save cash while helping the planet recuperate. Thus, here's how to become green (and save money) in 6 painless steps.

1. Drop your wintertime heating by at least one degree. If you could endure two or three degrees less, then all the better. You will use less energy and still be cosy. And then in the summertime, have the air con chill the home a little less. That's a great start in your quest to live green.

2. Fix your washing machine to launder clothes in cold water. Up-to-date cleaning powders do not need hot water, and heating up the water is what consumes most of the energy that the laundry machine uses. Of course, try not to employ your dryer, put it outside on the line to dry instead.

3. Compact fluorescent light bulbs expend 10% of the energy that a standard bulb requires and these last ten times longer. Therefore, switch your light bulbs. And if you desire to know how to become green in a large way with lights, check out the recent LED bulbs. These may be doubly as efficient as the CFL bulbs.

4. Expend less water. Check all faucets for leaks and mend any you find. Have shorter shower baths, don't bathe, and consider having a fresh throne cistern that will use fewer than two gallons of H2O each flush. Regular cisterns employ about three and a half gallons. Using less water expends less energy and saves you cash!

5. Stroll rather than drive for very short trips. Use a bike for moderate trips, and only use the auto if you truly need to. Petrol is expensive and it fouls the atmosphere. Economize on your use of it and you will spare some money too, as well as help the environment.

6. Whenever you have got to drive, keep your speed down to roughly 55 miles per hour if viable. Your car's engine will be going at its most efficient at that speed burning the minimum amount of gas. Exercise driving smoothly as well. Don't speed up fast from a standing start, and do not brake heavy. This is how to become green with your car, though using public transport, walking and biking is even better.

Business and Social Networking for Women, uniting women of today's world!

Business and Social Networking for Women, uniting women of today's world!

   

An interesting new website, the Successful Women Network is ready to make its debut in the coming days. The site incorporates many aspects of existing business networking and social networking sites into a single, streamlined and easy to navigate package. This alone would be reason to take notice; no other networking site has yet managed to pull off the combination of these two distinctly different forms of community networking. However, as the name suggest, the Successful Women Network is a business and social networking site that is also aimed squarely at women.

http://www.successfulwomennetwork.com

http://www.successful-women-network.com

The Successful Women Network development team are working towards opening a site which was the brain child of Gueler Wilkins, the CEO of the Successful Women Network. The original project plan called for a site with a dual purpose, a social community for professional women to use as a forum to express ideas and communicate with other like minded women, and as a business platform, aiming to bring women together in an atmosphere conducive to encouraging mutually beneficial commercial networking. Gueler Wilkins tells us that, “The original idea for the Successful Women Network stems from the fact that as a successful business woman, I found myself yearning for a networking site which would allow me to interact with other women of a similar nature. I quickly came to realize that all of the established business networking sites were predominantly male driven. I also began to notice that males use networking sites in a different way to females. I decided to spend some time designing the optimal feature set for a networking site focused solely upon the female half of the population. I believe that every woman can be successful in what she does, be that raising a family, running a business or simply trying to keep afloat in this crazy, male focused world, this is why I chose the name Successful Women Network.”

http://www.successfulwomennetwork.com

http://www.successful-women-network.com

The Successful Women Network is basically a social networking site which extends the concept by adding obviously business type applications, and this is no more evident than in the upgradeable membership plan. For a small monthly fee, women who sign up for the Successful Women Network will be able to use the site advertisement free, they will also gain access to the most useful business related functions. By paying for the enhanced membership scheme every woman is free to use every part of the site, and without being bothered by advertising. Gueler Wilkins comments once again, “We decided to opt for a split level membership plan for very good business reasons. We want to encourage a more professional membership and make the Successful Women Network a world class business resource, for all types of women in commerce and industry. We feel strongly that by charging a nominal monthly fee for advanced membership, we will be ensuring that only those women, who are serious about extending their career or business through networking, will become the most empowered and prolific users of the Successful Women Network site.”

http://www.successfulwomennetwork.com

http://www.successful-women-network.com

This is an aggressive business model, and a brave move from a new website provider. It is also a very well thought out concept. As more and more social and business networking sites become increasingly bogged down by trivial use and frivolity, people have begun to seek more selective and organized sites to use as a networking platform. It could well be that the Successful Women Network have come up with the right idea at the right time.

http://www.successfulwomennetwork.com

http://www.successful-women-network.com

Sell Like an eBay Powerseller By: Michael Ellis

There isn't a week that goes by without someone asking me how to sell products on eBay. It's a great question! And I enjoy talking about the topic quite a bit, but my answer is always the same - sell like a Powerseller! Here's what I mean...

An eBay Powerseller is someone that generates $1000 or more in sales for three consecutive months. You don't have look too far on eBay to realize that the place is literally crawling with Powersellers.

I've spent over 5 years studying eBay, as well as, buying and selling products under several eBay IDs. I noticed that there are two types of eBay Powersellers:

1. Niche Powersellers
2. On-Demand Powersellers

The Niche Powersellers specialize in a particular area - like antiques, coins, dolls, etc. This particular area is a hobby to these people and they are very good at finding products at a low enough cost within this market to sell for a nice profit. These Powersellers are hard to imitate.

One the other hand, the On-Demand Powersellers are not very familiar with the products they sell, but they are very familiar with what the eBay community wants and how they can go about getting it. I call them On-Demand Powersellers because they seek out products to sell based on the level of demand inthe eBay community. These are the Powersellers that you should try to follow.

A common misconception that new eBay users have is thinking that all Powersellers are large retail outlet doing business on eBay. This simply isn't true. The majority of the Powersellers that I know typically run their business out of a basement or garage. Ebay has a great way of leveling the playing field in this respect. For example, a student can open an account and create ads that are just as enticing as any large company that happens to be selling the same products on ebay.

So how can you do business like On-Demand Powersellers?

That's actually an easy question to answer; obtain a seller's permit, find a demand for a particular product, and then find a wholesale supplier for that particular product.

A seller's permit will allow you to purchase products for wholesale from wholesale venders. This is the first thing any legitimate wholesale company will ask for, and if you don't have one, they could very likely not do business with you.

You can obtain a sellers permit here

You can find the demand for numerous products on eBay by using the eBay 'Hot Items' resource (in link below). This resource consists of (among other things) a 40+ page pdf document that lists which items are hot sellers in the numerous categories. The data is usually for the previous 2 months.

Find out 'What's Hot' on eBay here

After you've identified which items were hot sellers, go to eBay's Advance Search and conduct a search for those products to make sure they're still hot sellers (have plenty of bids). Also do a search for the same product with the 'Completed Items' option in the Advanced Search checked. This will show you which auctions sold and how much they sold for.

Once you have a product in mind, do a search on Google for the manufacture of the product. When you get to the website, look for a contact number, or a 'Dealer inquiry' number. This information is also usually on the box of the product itself, so it may take a run to your local store if you don't have any luck on the web.

Give them a call. Inform them that you run a business and are interested in becoming a dealer of the product. Most are very helpful in getting you setup. However, be aware, some may have a minimum purchase order. Never the less, if you did your eBay research correctly, you'll know how much these items have recently sold for, and how much they are currently selling for, thus, you can be pretty confident that the money will be made back.

I recently came across two Powersellers that are extremely successful doing with this process. One Powerseller had sold over $100,000 worth of those little robotic-vacuuming-Frisbee thingies in 60 days! The other Powerseller does extremely well selling dog chews. Both Powersellers simply identified the demand for these products, then sought out the manufactures and became dealers… the rest is history.

Sincerely,

Michael Ellis

How To Multiply The Response To Your Yellow Pages Ad By: Tom St Louis

If you think that advertising in the Yellow Pages is not right for you, you may be right. But before you write off the Yellow Pages, you should do a bit of research into how many responses your heading receives every year. You might be surprised. You might find a great opportunity that a lot of your competitors are missing out on.

If you DO advertise in the Yellow Pages, there are a few things you need to know. First of all, you should understand the nature of the beast, which may come as a surprise.

The Yellow Pages directories are a “marketing orphan”. They are unloved, unglamorous, unsexy. Most marketing experts know next to nothing about how to use them. But I’ve seen many very profitable businesses derive virtually all their business from one good ad run in many directories.

But, and this is extremely important, less than 1% of Yellow Pages advertisers know what an effective ad is. The bad rap the Yellow Pages has is not earned. If you know how to use them, the Yellow Pages can be incredible!

Most advertisers have the vague notion that they want a response. That’s logical. “We want the phone to ring!” they say. But the way they go about it leaves a lot to be desired.



Exposed: The #1 Cardinal Sin of Print Advertising

The biggest mistake neophyte advertisers make is to assume that the theme of their ad should be: “Who we are, what we do, and how to reach us”. The second biggest error is not having a great headline. Here’s a clue: Your name and logo are not a headline. They are the least important things in your ad—until a person wants to call you and knows exactly why. At that moment, and not before, your company name and number become important.

The “name, rank and serial number” approach is wrong for any print ad, but especially the Yellow Pages, which is a “magic moment” medium. There is no other medium where people in need go to find an instant solution, ready to take buying action right away. If you could but understand the mindset of your prospect in their moment of need, you would dominate your heading year after year.



The Ultimate Secret To Acing The Yellow Pages

Now let me share with you a powerful secret that very few people in the marketing business understand. You may not believe it at first, but if you take it to heart, this secret could revolutionize your Yellow Pages response forever—and the rest of your direct response print ads too!

Here’s the secret: the Yellow Pages Is NOT A Visual Medium! (Huh?) Yes, really, no kidding.

But how can that be? Aren’t all ads supposed to look great and employ a lot of “white space”? Sorry to break it to you, but those are two of the big lies that agencies and graphic artists have been perpetuating for years, which have been consistently disproved by measuring response.

The Yellow Pages may be full of colour and pictures and maps and words. And yes, you have to LOOK at the page to read it, but it is not a visual medium. Let me offer you an analogy to explain:

Imagine going to a fancy restaurant and ordering supper. The waiter brings your order along with a picture of a beautiful meal, which looks even better than the one, you ordered. Which one would you want to eat?

The incorrect assumption everyone makes is that appearance counts for more than substance in the Yellow Pages. Anybody who tells you this does not understand the state of mind of your Yellow Pages prospect in need. The only time a prospect looks at your ad is when they are in dire need and ready to take action. They are not looking for pretty pictures.

With nothing but pretty pictures to choose from, your prospect will have to pick one. But, when there’s one good information ad, and several pretty pictures, the information ad will win, hands down, every time.



How To Double The Response to Your Yellow Pages Ad

You will double your response -- EASILY -- if you turn your ad into an information piece, or “advertorial”. Why? Because the person who is in distress wants information—all the credible information they can get their hands on. And, even more than that, you will stick out like a sore thumb. Your ad will jump off the page and it will look like an information piece, not a sales pitch. Everyone else is saying, “I’m the best!” and you are giving them precisely the information they crave. Who do you think they’ll want to talk to?

I have seen information ads multiply the response of image ads in the Yellow Pages on numerous occasions. In every case, the directory rep tried to talk my client out of running the ad. Don’t listen to them! Your directory sales rep is in the space selling business, not in the direct response business.

And one more thing: once you run your ad, try to resist the temptation to plaster the little “Let Your Fingers Do The Walking Stickers” on your vehicles and in your store window. Did you ever stop to think how foolish it is to invite your prospects and customers to go where your competitors are advertising?

Blogging for Dollars

Blogging for Dollars

Blogging for dollars might sound like the latest game show or some new drinking game, but it's the latest craze to hit the Internet. Bloggers began blogging for a number of reasons, but as the blog movement has increased in popularity, they have found ways to monetize their blogs and are seeing their commitment pay off.

Whether a blogger's focus is to communicate with customers or just to have fun, they have begun looking at ways to earn revenue from their blogs. The most popular ways for bloggers to earn some added cash for their pet projects are:

1. ) Google Adsense in Blogs
Google AdSense allows webmasters to dynamically serve content-relevant advertisements in blogs. If the visitor clicks one of the AdSense ads served to the blog, the website owner is credited for the referral. Webmasters need only to insert a Google-generated java script into the blog or blog template. Google's spider parses the AdServing blog and serves ads that relate to the blog's content. Google uses a combination of keyword matching and context analysis to determine what ads should be served.

2. ) Affiliate Programs (Product Endorsements)
Affiliate Programs work when an affiliate web site receives income for generating sales, leads, or traffic to a merchant website. Generally, bloggers will mention or endorse specific products and if site visitors purchase the product, bloggers will receive a portion of the sale.

3. ) Product Promotion
Businesses use blogs to detail how specific features or product add-ons can increase functionality and save time. Content-rich product promotion will help with search engine placement.

4.) Banner Ads
While less popular than in the past, websites with high traffic levels can still earn decent revenue by selling banner space.

As the Internet evolves bloggers will continue to seek out ways to monetize their opinions and thoughts. Daily journals and online blogs have become more than just a communication means to many.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for the NotePage http://www.notepage.net and FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com product lines. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and http://www.small-business-software.net