Targeted email addresses?

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Admin

How many times do you come across a site or program that is offering ‘targeted’ e-mail addresses?  Have you stopped to think if these email addresses are truly targeted?  Probably not, and that could get you in hot water.

Most internet and affiliate marketers have no idea of the laws that cover the industry and plow ahead like a bull in a china shop without ever considering those laws.  As a result many are violating the laws and they don’t even know it.  Well there is one thing that all marketers need to know and understand, ignorance of the law is not an excuse!

The Law covering email marketing is known as the CAN SPAM ACT.  If you are using email to market then you need to be familiar with this law.The FTC has plenty of information available on CAN SPAM.  There is one more thing that marketers need to understand, Affirmative Consent.

With email harvesting software programs and leads lists being sold, the understanding of Affirmative Consent is vital to staying out of hot water with the authorities.  I’m not an attorney so I am not going to try to explain it to you.  Instead I am going to refer you to the blog of  Ivan Hoffman, an attorney who has explained it.

If you are harvesting email addresses or buying leads lists, you have not received express consent from those recipients.  They have not ‘opted in’ to receive e-mail offers from you.  When you sent that email the recipient will be within his or her rights to report your email to the proper authorities who can impose fines of up to $16,000 per incident.  and per incident means per each email.

Before you start using email campaigns, take the time to learn more about the requirements of CAN SPAM.

Posted in Business, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Activity or focus? You actually need both

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Admin

I want you to think about activity for a moment.  What is activity?  It is doing something, in its simplest definition taking action.  Many people running a business have action.  They have so much activity going on that they are a blur and there are getting…nowhere.

 

Why is it that someone who is super busy accomplishes nothing?  Because they have no focus.  Like Taz, they are spinning furiously but also ending up all over the place.

Now think about focus.  In business, focus is where you want to be, the light at the end of the tunnel.  Many people can see clearly where they want to be but never get there and that is because they do not have activity or they do not have the right activity.

These people are like Wiley Coyote.  How long has Wiley been chasing that roadrunner?  He still hasn’t caught Roadrunner because Wiley is so busy focusing that he overlooks the activity that would get him to his goal, he is too busy planning to accomplish.

The key to accomplishing any goal is focused activity.  For many this is the stumbling block that trips them up.  They can see their goal they just don’t figure out what will take them closer to that goal.

Now look at what you are doing with your business.  Are you a whirling dervish of activity just thinking be active and it will happen?  Are you so focused on attaining your goal that you are ignoring the activity it takes to get there?  Or do you understand the concept of focused activity?

 

Here is how you focus your activity:

*Determine your ultimate goal.

*Figure out what activities will allow you to reach that goal.  Keep in mind that we all have different strengths and weaknesses.  Your strong point may just be my weakness, adapt your activities according to what produces results for you. 

 

Understand that running a business is not a case of ‘one size fits all’.  If every business was marketed exactly the same, there would be no ‘Brand Names’.  There would be no difference in driving a Chevy as opposed to a Cadillac.  No one would care if they owned a Blackberry or an Android.  PC vs Mac wouldn’t mean a thing.  Even your choice of toilet paper wouldn’t matter.

If it was one size fits all, every entrepreneur would be a Richard Branson, Donald Trump or Bill Gates.  But we aren’t even though we have the potential to be.  The difference between those men and the rest of us is focused activity.  They knew where they wanted to be, Figured out what it would take to get there and then implemented the activity needed to attain their goals.

 

 

Posted in Business | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Business or virtual insanity?

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Admin

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I find myself dumbfounded by the overwhelming number of people running ‘businesses’ that have not grasped the two absolute must haves every viable business has.

1. A product or service that appeals to enough people to allow the business to realize a profit.

2. A pool of consumers outside of the corporate structure.

How anyone believes they can have a successful business when they are missing either of these two crucial elements is beyond me.  If people don’t need or want what you are selling,how do you plan to sell it?  Who is going to buy it?  The niche market I hear someone answering.  Who or what is that niche market? How big is it?

Okay lets talk about a ‘niche’ market for a moment.  I’m going to give you an obscure little niche.  Tricorn Hats.

Is there a market for tricorn hats?  Of course there is but how big is that market?  You would probably find a decent market on the east coast of the US where there are a lot of cities and towns that have strong connections to the Colonial Era of US History.  Occasionally there is a need for them when movies are made but it is not a common item with a widespread appeal,  it  is a very specific niche with a very low demand so finding buyers while not impossible would not be easy. 

Now think about the hundreds of Internet marketing systems out there and the in truth low number of people that are looking for them.  How profitable is it selling internet marketing systems to internet marketers?

This brings me to my second point, a customer base outside of your corporate structure.  In other words for those who don’t get what I am talking about, your downline.  Every single penny coming into your business is simply money transferred up to you from your downline.  The money you pay in is going to your upline and on up until it reaches the top where commissions are generated to the various downlines. 

Where did the money for these commissions come from?  How long can this constant cycling and recycling of dollars last?  Eventually that one person will come along that is going cause this entire system to collapse.  There is not going to be enough left to cycle down to them.

Now lets look at a case where you have consumers out side of the corporate structure.  Every sale made is an infusion of cash into the business.  Let’s say I make great pies.  I start selling these pies to other people and then decide I want to share the wealth.  I come to an agreement with someone else to also bake and sell these pies and I get a cut of what they make also.  As long as we continue to sell to customers and not sell to each other every sale brings cash into my pie business and that is how a business is meant to operate.



Unfortunately much of what is passing for business today is not about selling to customers or clients to bring cash into a business and turn a profit, but to market redundant ‘products’ to a tiny niche through downlines.  It all depends on cycling money through a closed system because there is no offering of services and products to consumers; and even if there was, consumers are not interested in you little internet money making scheme.  The only ones interested are other internet marketers already in competition with you.  And that is a tiny niche indeed.

Posted in Common Sense | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The hidden catch

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Admin

Almost every day another new business opportunity hits the internet.  And everyday would be internet markets jump in with no thought or evaluation only to end up scammed.  However some do check and jump in only to find that there was a hidden catch that they missed.

Many jump into something the ‘free goods’ programs.  These programs offer you free goods for purchasing a coupon or voucher.  When the time comes to cash in the voucher, they find that they are required to pay additional fees making the items more expensive than just buying them outright at a local retailer.

Then there is the receive text message programs.  These programs can end up costing you in overage fees from your cell phone carrier for each extra text that you receive.

While these programs may be legitimate by the letter of the law, they still contain hidden catches.  Catches that you may not realize are there until you get burned.  Before joining anything, no matter how legit it sounds, take a bit of extra time to look for hidden catches.

Always read the TOS carefully.  Catches that are not mentioned on the hype page may very well be buried in the TOS.  You may find that the account balance you accrue is not in any form of legal tender, but in some form of unregulated program credit.  The program can set the value as any amount that they like.   Your balance may read $200 but because it is not regulated, the program creator can set the value at 1 program dollar equal to 1 cent.  That $200 balance would in reality be worth $2 in real money.

If you are spending money for a voucher or coupon, check on Shipping and handling fees.  Many of these coupon programs have S&H fees that can go as high as 40%.  That means that your  grocery coupon worth $200 is actually costing you as much as $280! (The $200 you originally spent on the voucher and as much as $80 in Shipping and Handling)

Anytime you are agreeing to receive text messages or emails check with your internet provider and cell phone carrier before you agree to it.  You may find that your internet provider only allows you so much usage per month or you have have set number of text messages that you can receive per month.  You will be charged charged the overage fees generated by your ‘free’ opportunity.

Understand that it is not just the obvious scams you have to worry about, they are obvious.  You need to worry about the hidden catches that are not spelled out.  Use your common sense and look at things realistically.

Posted in Common Sense | Tagged , , , | 44 Comments

Yee haw! Prospecting for Pyrite!

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Admin

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

George Santayana

This quote is lived day in and day out in the internet marketing world.  It seems that internet marketers today cannot remember the past.  If they could, they would not continually repeat it.

In 1848, Gold fever swept the world.  Hundreds of thousands of people descended on California with dreams of becoming filthy rich by picking up gold nuggets just laying on the ground for the taking.  Some people did get rich, but many more ended up with nothing more than they had when they started.

Pyrite-also known as 'Fool's Gold'

And most of those who got rich did not get rich mining gold.  They got rich off of the starry eyed miners who more often than not ended up finding plenty of pyrite, also known as ‘fool’s gold’.

There were many of ways to get rich of of the miners.  Some got rich by selling equipment and supplies to the miners.  Others sold phony claims or played out mines and the miners desperate to build a fortune in the gold fields, were eager to part with their money in exchange for pipe dreams.

Get rich quick? Wake up and smell the scam!

Today we see the same thing in internet marketing.  People turning to online programs and schemes in hopes of getting rich.  Some people do have successful online businesses but the majority of internet marketers get suckered into ponzis, pyramids and iffy programs.  Just like the 49′ers, these internet marketers are eager to buy the pipe dream.  How many internet marketers have purchased ‘automated’ marketing system after marketing system only to find that they are throwing money down a bottomless pit or finding fool’s gold.

Before you sign up for any program, do your due diligence.  Understand that you cannot as an honest person make money off of anything that lacks a product or service.  Paying $5 to join a program that pays you for getting more people to pay $5 to join under you is not a business, it is a ponzi scheme.

Look for red flags and use your brain.  There’s no way any business can survive without a cash flow generated by the sale of products or services.

Posted in Common Sense | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Your reputation is protected

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Admin

There are a variety of features and benefits to being a Kooiii Business Resources member.  The thing that most impresses me is not really something you can measure or touch.  It is an intangible benefit but no less real.

Kooiii Business Resources is committed to remaining spam and scam free.  They follow guidelines set by the Federal Trade Commission and other agencies that investigate and prosecute fraud on the internet.  This means that questionable programs and outright scams are not allowed.  Of course this also means that a lot of internet marketers don’t like Kooiii.  The fraudulent programs that they are promoting are not allowed.

This is a huge benefit for me as a legitimate business owner.  There is an old saying, “You are known by the company you keep.”  That means that your own reputation is affected by those around you.  I have spent a lot of time and effort in building a good reputation, and my reputation is important to me.

“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.” – George Washington

I have put years of work into building my reputation of honesty and integrity.  It is not easy to do this.  You have to remain above reproach but more importantly your actions need to match your words.  Customers and people in general put a lot more store in what they see you do than they do in what they hear you say.  If you say that you are against scams but you are networking and associating with scammers, helping scammers perpetuate fraud; you will be tarred with the same brush.

Kooiii Business Resources with its’ commitment to banning scam programs means I don’t have to worry about being tarred by the actions of those around me.  I can rest assured that I am in the company of honest professionals and that protects my reputation.

The bigger picture is quite simple and easy to see.  With Kooiii Business Resources no matter which feature may be your favorite, the advertising, training or social media marketing; it all becomes much more powerful with Kooiii.  The power is in the value Kooiii puts on reputation, integrity and honesty.

You don’t have to worry about what is being advertised next to your ad.  You don’t have to worry members using your posts and articles as vehicles for their spam advertising, and you don’t have to worry about members using a connection to you to promote anything questionable.

It does not take much to ruin a good reputation; bad news travels at the speed of light, good news seems to creep along at a turtle’s pace.  I know that I will find men and women of good quality at Kooiii.

What is great about Kooiii Business Resources is that is that people find value in so many of the different features.  To give you an example here are a couple of posts that you really should take the time to read.

Paula von Dun finds value in the ease of finding educational information and resources on running her business:

In my opinion reading is one of the most important things you need to do. Especially for starting an online business.

Any one can start an online business with zero funds and no diploma. It is the attraction and the danger at the same time and the number one reason that people fail in online business.

Cindy Bolley finds value in a different feature of Kooiii.  She is able to create targeted lists with the built in Rapid Marketer Autoresponder:

We hear it over and over and over the money is in the list. That statement is true but a better statement would be the money is in “Your Targeted List”

 

Like me, these ladies find value in Kooiii Business Resources not just from the tools and resources; but what those tools and resources can do for their business efforts!

Posted in Kooiii Business resources | Tagged , , , | 56 Comments