God invented all of these concepts so he must agree that we should receive payment for what we do. Therefore, do not feel guilty for charging your clients for the services that you provide to them, as long as you are providing high quality work that you can be proud of, and that is not taking from your clients in any way what you do not deserve.

Other than that, you should not feel guilty in billing what you are worth. Decide what your time is worth, what your services are worth, and bill accordingly. Then, strive to put out high quality work, and you might even want to go beyond that. A popular concept is to “under promise and over deliver.” Meaning promise that the work will be done, say, “by the end of the week”, however deliver early, therefore over delivering on your promise. This will impress your clients and most likely win you repeat customers.

Being paid is apart of our lives. What is important is that we value the money that we receive correctly. Respecting that our clients had to earn the money, and remembering that we must give back to God a portion of what we earned. In everything that we do including the way by which you go about earning your wage you should be striving to honor God.

If you do this, you will surely not be guilty of allowing money to take the part of evil in your life.

Alyssa Avant is a Christian speaker, writer and business owner. Her Writer for Hire business provides online entrepreneurs and business owner’s with articles and content. To have Alyssa write for you, visit her website

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Tags: price, right, online, history

The banks in the UK have quietly passed an amendment to the online banking code that could result in less protection for their online customers. The subtle change is the incorporation of a new clause 12.13. This clause states that “Unless you have acted fraudulently or without reasonable care (for example, by not following the advice of 12.9), you will not be liable for losses caused by someone else which takes place through your online banking service..”

The escape clause for the bank is 12.9, the clause that states that you must “use up-to-date antivirus and spyware software and a personal firewall..”. The issue revolves around what is up-to-date and even what is antivirus and spyware software.

If your antivirus software is not updated ever moment then it is by its nature not up-to-date. If you only turn your PC on once a week or so then in terms of anti-virus software it would be very out dated. If you don’t own a PC but use one at work or in a cybercafé to carry out your online banking you have no control over the anti-virus software, would you still be liable for any losses from your account.

The clause is very ambiguous as the term antivirus and spyware software is very wide. It encompass a wide range of software from free downloads to the more expensive monthly subscription services. The reality is that most of this type of software struggles to keep up with the developments in online fraud. The fraudster’s test their new virus and spying tools against current software to ensure that they can gain access to the data that they require to carry out the fraud.

Are the banks simply admitting defeat and shifting the burden from their own systems to that of the consumer? You can still get home insurance without security guards at your front door but it seems as if the banks don’t want to play by the same rules. Surely it should be down to the bank to ensure that it has in place systems that maintain security. The advent of third party security keys has been an attempt to address this issue. The banking industry have managed to shift the emphasis for security onto the consumer and potential the losses as well.

Tony Heywood ©

Bounced cheques, cheque clearing, banker draft, bank giro credit, bounced cheques, cheques

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Tags: online, business, fraud, ethics, unethics

Just as in an offline business, there are ethics and standards that should be followed. If you are starting an online business, you’ve probably spent some time online already and can see that there are hundreds of thousands of businesses trying to sell their products and information and services to you. Study how they do it. Spend some time visiting the websites of your competitors, much like you would when preparing a business plan for an offline business. Look for and evaluate the following characteristics to determine the integrity of the business as a whole:

What are they selling? When you first come to their index page, can you quickly and easily figure out what they are selling? Is it a real product, an information product, a membership or a service? Do they offer something of real value right off the bat for free such as informative content or a related ebook? If you cannot determine within the first 30 seconds what they are selling or why they are in business, chances are that they are just a hodgepodge of links put together to make the owner affiliate revenue. However, if you do see something of value, stay a bit longer and evaluate further.

Can you contact them directly? Look on the main page. Contact information could be in the top nav bar, on the side nav bar or at the bottom of the page. Also, look for a direct link such as Contact Us. Click this link and see where it takes you. Do they provide a physical address, a contact name or email, and a phone number? These three things are a must for a legitimate business. If an owner is not confident in his business enough to put an address and contact phone number on his site, he must be hiding something. The final test is to send an email to the company and see who responds and how long it takes to get a response. Most one-person web businesses should be able to answer your email within 1-2 business days.

Is the content valuable and correct? One of my biggest pet peeves is spelling and grammar. If the owner has done his research and knows what he is talking about, this should show in the quality of the information on his site. A professional image depends on attention to details. Presentation is everything. If you are going to put out information, it has to be presented in an organized fashion with no mistakes. When I see more than one misspelled word or grammar mistake on a website or page, I move on. If the owner has not proofread his own material or verified the information on his site is correct and presented professionally, I won’t be trusting that his products are much higher in quality.

Is there a free trial or guarantee on the products and services being offered? Those businesses that have developed a quality product or service and are confident in it will not hesitate to put a guarantee on it. They will stand behind it 100%. Even better are those companies that let you try the product or service for free. This way you can test it out to see if it is indeed what you need and meets the quality standards of a legitimate business.

How do they advertise? Look at the other links on the website. Visit some of them to see the quality of partners associated with the first business. Do the links take you somewhere valuable and helpful? Is the business partnered with other legitimate businesses? Also, how did you find out about the website in the first place and what in their ad drew you in? Did the ad lie to you? Make sure that when you advertise that you don’t misrepresent what you are offering. In addition, don’t be a spammer. Make sure to develop a double opt-in email list that you can use to send valuable follow up information to your customers. This will help to build loyalty as well as word of mouth referrals. Visit forums and pay-per-click sites to see the companies who are advertising the same products and services that you are to find out what promotion methods they are using. Use them as a starting point and try to set your standards of quality and honesty a step above when developing your ads.

The bottom line is, there is good karma and bad. Even though we all know those people in life whose bad karma hasn’t caught up with them yet, don’t join the crowd. Be a leader, be a source of integrity, and provide a quality product or service that you can stand behind. In the long run, this will help you build a profitable, long-standing business rather than a fly-by-night get rich quick scheme.

Ruth Harris is a real entrepreneur who has helped many others promote their business online. Visit his blog here to learn more about setting up your online business.

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Internet has introduced a way for consumers to manage their money online. Not to mention, Internet has transformed the way investment companies operate their business and has made it easy for private investors to gain straight access to a range of different markets and online tools that were at one point only reserved by the use of investment professionals. Consumer investing and online trading has dramatically changed over the last decade. Online trading dynamically continues to be redefined. Services have expanded to include integrated management of additional financial accounts. Not to mention, it has subsequently expanded in conjunction with ground-breaking improvements to the traditional trading interface, such as telephone interface systems.

Of course, online trading has many pros. There are several wonderful reasons to invest online and consider online trading.

1. Money saving opportunities
The amount of money you save depends primarily on the online brokerage firm that you choose. No two firms are the same. There may be different regulations, similar to bank regulations. There are minimum deposits required that must be maintained. As mentioned above, this will depend on the online brokerage firm.

2. Instant online access
You can gain instant access to your account, the value of your portfolio updates immediately before your eyes.

3. Enter online trades at anytime
You can enter online trades at anytime and from anywhere. This is very convenient if you live in a different time zone than the country you are trading in. Not to mention, it is especially fit for investors with busy schedules.

4. With online trading you are in charge
You are in control of your investments. No sales pitches and no hassle. You decide where to invest your money.

Nevertheless, with all the convenience of online trading there are still investors who prefer the old fashion way of offline trading. Offline trading has lost some popularity but it is still the main form of investing. Offline trading offers many benefits as well.

1. The one benefit that an investor appreciates the most is that they are not alone when making investment decisions.

2. There are experienced and professional brokerage companies that handle their investments for them.

3. Investors are not faced with the challenge of making these vital investment decisions; especially, if they do not have the experience necessary to make the appropriate investments.

4. Also, there is someone there to answer any questions that may cause concerns.

Not to mention, with offline trading mistakes are less likely to take place. No one wants to throw their money away or stand by and watch someone else throw their money away. It may be wise to hire a professional to assist you in making the correct investment decisions if you feel you lack the knowledge necessary.

William King is the director of UK Wholesale, UK Wholesalers and Dropshippers Directory. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

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Tags : online, offline, stock, trader, business

Turns out this person could not get past a troublesome captchca code on my website’s contact form. Yet she still took the time to email me directly and let me know that she was not able to successfully “verify her humanity.”

As someone who offers usability consulting, I felt a bit silly, and embarrassed to say the least. But I was also incredibly thankful. This person could have clicked away to another consulting site in seconds. Instead, she took the time to not only explain the very poor usability of my contact page but then asked about possibly utilizing my services.

To me this anecdote could apply to numerous scenarios in business. Too often we feel hurt or even maimed by the words of others in a cyber world where words are all we really have. But this is totally unnecessary, and often causes us to miss important opportunities for both new clients and the better operation of our business.

When someone takes the time to be honest with you, it usually means they care. And they care about at least one of the following:

1. about helping you be more successful

2. about looking smarter than you

3. about getting something they need from you

4. about expending energy for no good reason at all

Number 4 is not common but it does happen (hey, we all need a hobby). Number 1 is quite common and generally brings good karma in a networking situation. (Just don’t ask for anything in return. Be nice. Say “You’re welcome.” And go home.)

Number 2 is darned annoying, but you must let it go as soon as it happens. There’s work to be done, and it’s the kind of child’s play that will wear you down fast. In the meantime though, be on the lookout for Number 3. For when honesty happens in this context, a rare business opportunity has just come a knocking. Ask yourself:

1. Is this person representative of my target market?

2. Does he or she have connections to my target market?

3. Is he or she is a potential ally?

More often than not, those who take the time to give honest-and unsolicited-advice or feedback are people who can benefit you or your business in some way. And when you think about it like that, you’ve just been given pure market intelligence. For free.

Lap it up. Forget about your feelings for a moment. And trip over yourself to address whatever business problem or issue this person has just helped you to uncover. This, of course, is after thanking them profusely for their thoughtful input.

Just remember to close the deal! You’ve got the hottest kind of prospect on your hands. Attentive. Thoughtful. Honest. And, looking for a fair trade.

That’s what I call a golden opportunity.

Snap! Virtual Associates provides internet marketing services for the progressive entrepreneur as well as search engine optimization (SEO), website copywriting and editing, website audits and more. Subscribe for the Outsmart newsletter and get a free Marketing & Usability Checklist. Visit the website

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Tags: business, ethics, ethical, internet, online

1. Unfortunately the Typical Network Marketer Does What’s Most Convenient An ethical dilemma can be defined as an undesirable or unpleasant choice relating to a moral principle or practice. As human beings, we seem prone to failing personal ethics tests. Why do we do something even when we know it’s wrong? Do we cheat because we think we won’t get caught? Do we give ourselves permission to cut corners because we rationalize that it’s just one more time? Is this our way of dealing with pressure?
2. Network Marketers Will Do What They Feel They Must to Seek Victory I think most people are like me: I hate losing. Business people in particular desire to win through achievement and success. But many think they have to choose between being ethical and winning. Many people believe that embracing ethics would limit their options, their opportunities, and their very ability to succeed in business. It’s the old suspicion that good guys finish last. If I believe that I have only two choices – to win by doing whatever it takes, even if it’s unethical or to have ethics and lose – I’m faced with a real moral dilemma. Few people set out with the desire to be dishonest, but nobody wants to lose.
3. A Network Marketer Will Rationalize their Choices with Relativism Many people choose to deal with such no-win situations by deciding what’s right in the moment, according to their circumstances.

According to Dr. Joseph Fletcher in his book, Situation Ethics, “right is determined by the situation, and love can justify anything – lying, cheating, and stealing … even murder. This philosophy spread rapidly throughout the theological and educational worlds … Since the 1960s, situation ethics has become the norm for social behavior. After spreading so rapidly through the world’s education, religion, and government, it has penetrated a new area – the business world. The result is our ethical situation today.

The industry of network marketing unfortunately has not been spared the spread of “situation ethics.”

The result is ethical chaos. Everyone has his own standards, which change from situation to situation.

It is interesting to note that though our decisions at one time were based on ethics, now our ethics are based on our decisions. If it’s good for me, then it’s good. Where is this trend likely to end?

Let’s take a look at what would happen if we applied this trend to network marketing:

1. What if a Network Marketer didn’t always do what was most convenient? What if we decided, as network marketers, to just handle every situation based on what was convenient to us? Not over a short period of time, but over a long period of time. What do you think would happen to our relationships with our downline, as well as our upline? Total disaster.
2. What if a Network Marketer didn’t feel that they must do whatever to seek victory? As network marketers, our entire business relies on the relationships we have with the people within our business. As business owners, if we try to “win” each and every transaction or interaction with the people in our business, over time those relationships will die off. The only way to ensure that both your business and your relationships with the people in your business grow is to seek a win-win scenario for each transaction and/or interaction.
3. What if a Network Marketer didn’t choose to deal with a no-win situation by deciding what was right in the moment, or according to their circumstances? What if they had a system to guide them? As a network marketer, or even a human being for that matter, waiting until the last moment to decide how to handle a situation without a proper moral compass will end in disaster sooner rather than later.

Fortunately, there is an increasing desire for ethical dealing in business, and as far as I can see, this desire reaches the very summit of the network marketing industry.

My next article entitled “Is the Global Market Altering it’s Ethical Behavior?” will examine this position.

See you on the Beaches of the World,

Kevin McNabb

Kevin McNabb is the author of The Responsible Network Marketer Series. Chief Executive Officer of Toronto-based. He is a network marketer, author, freelance writer, and offers seminars, and Internet training programs on personal development for the network marketing industry. For more information on the topic of this article, please see at Here

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Tags: unethical, network, marketing, online, business

However e-gold at the moment is irreversible (and I congratulate the CEO of e-gold for trying to clean up the system). Currently one of the highest areas of fraud is in currency exchanges.
One of the ways fraudsters attempt to defraud ignorant individuals is by insisting on a currency exchange with the same bank.

Let me give an example, you might receive a typical message that goes something like this:

“”I need e-gold, and I am willing to pay from my Wells Fargo account…”"

The scammer will also insist that his/her potential victim also has a Wells Fargo account/or same bank/

The reason why is since e-gold is irreversible, i.e you cannot initiate a chargeback, all the scammer has to do is retrieve the funds, because of the reversibility associated with e-currencies such as paypal, stormpay e.t.c it is not so lucrative to scammers, as any unauthorized withdrawals from these accounts would be flagged and reversed.

Due to this there is a very large underground movement, where scammers trade in , stormpay and paypal accounts e.t.c, many from phishing emails, or which they obtain for a trifle due to the difficulty in cashing out these accounts; then look for unsuspecting individuals who are willing to exchange e-gold for a bank wire with the same bank, it should be clear now that anybody requesting an e-gold currency exchange with a bank wire to the same bank, has stolen bank details and is trying to defraud you of your money, as the fraud will be traced to the victim who received the bank wire, while the scammer cashes out with e-gold.

Mr Dan Stevens is one of the admins on this site

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It’s a great tool to be in touch and to widen your business. However be wary of the fine line between spamming and being persistent when sending mails.

Spamming is frowned upon in most countries. If it is found by your e-mail account provider that you are guilty of this sacrilege, your account could be suspended and your outgoing e-mails could be blocked out by the the recipient’s mail server, making your efforts futile.

Tip
No matter how rude someone may be to you, or how offended may be by another’s opinion, don’t lower yourself to their level by stooping to obsceneties, threats or claims of self-importance. Always state your opinion clearly and concisely, without personalising an issue or resorting to name-calling.

A good definition of spamming would be-the use of any electronic communication medium to send unsolicited messages in bulk. But the term ‘spam’ means any commercially-oriented, unsolicited bulk mailing that is excessive in nature, and more importantly, undesired.

To the popular perception, the most common form of spam is the one delivered in e-mail as a form of commercial advertising. Nevertheless, things comparable to spamming for non-commercial purposes in media other than e-mail have also been recorded.

The spammers have developed have developed a variety of spamming techniques over the years. This can happen in each of the medias: e-mail spam, IM spam, Usenet newsgroup scam, Web search engine spam, weblogs spam, and mobile phone messaging spam.

It is imperative that you desist from all the above forms, and understand what could be termed as spamming before you decide to send out a mass mailer announcing to the world about your business-or even your landing on the WWW.

There is no entry barrier as far as spamming is concerned, but the volume of unsolicited e-mail produce other costs which are actually borne by the public in terms of lost productivity and fraud. And it is a burden for Internet service providers, which must add extra capacity to cope with the deluge.

Spamming is generally dealt with strictly by the internet authorities, and has been the subject of legislation in a number of jurisdictions, including the United States’ CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

Fact
The term Spamming derives its name from the Monty Python Spam sketch about SPAM brand processed meat, is economically viable because advertisers have effectively no operating costs beyond the management of their mailing list.

Somnath Mitra

Somnath Mitra is a blogger writing about the various aspects of netprenureship on his two blogs mentioned in the write-up. Visit here.

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Tags: internet, reseach, ethics, online, business

One big mistake you can make in Internet Marketing is to try to engage in too many activities concurrently. This can strain your resources and/or make you lose focus very quickly.

You will get more value for your marketing when you master activities one at a time. Also, while there is no written rule as to which techniques you should learn first, you don’t want to get into certain techniques until you have some skin in the game.

You can get some skin on the game of driving traffic to your website by using Press Releases; they are easy to write and master.

Whenever you have a new product, service, event, or occasion to promote, you want to put out a Press Release. Web traffic Press Releases are much like normal Press Releases except you want to optimize them for search engines by spicing them with keywords relevant to your product or service. Equally important, you should have links in your Press Release that take people back to your website. In your Press Release, don’t go on about who you are or how great your company is. Nobody cares. You want to identify a big problem that many of your potential visitors have, and then pitch your new product or service as the solution to this problem. PRWeb is one of the best Press Release services.

Press Releases are very good tactical tools for blasting your news all over the web and getting you ranked in search engine results. However, a Press Release does not establish you as an expert in your niche, which can win you regular and dedicated visitors. This is where Article Marketing comes in. Furthermore, a Press Release does not necessarily put you right in front of people who are already looking for you. One of the most effective tools for that is Pay-per-click (PPC) Advertising.

Capitalizing on his copywriting skills, Gbenga Alaran founded the web strategy and marketing firm Aran Meta Investments (AMI) to help new and established small business owners strategically develop their web presence. Visit the AMI blog to get more intelligence for driving traffic to your website.

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Tags: pr, online, traffic, press, release

Let’s remind ourselves of the basics. Start global and in subsequent paragraphs move into the specific. A strong headline that grabs the eye and draws interest enough for the reader to continue is a must have. The first paragraph should support the headline, explain it, and outline the entire story. It must paint the ‘big picture’. The structure of the entire release, which is usually no longer than 250 words (perhaps 350 for mainly trade or technical press), should then have a natural flow. A beginning, middle and and ending to some extent and certainly explain the why, what and how of the story.

The subsequent 5 or 6 paragraphs should go increasingly into the specific detail of the story and include any supporting information. The less interesting or supporting detail should be left until the end, but interspersed to help bring the story to life the people involved in the story can be quoted to help tell it. The standard tools of editors notes, contacts, supporting information should all be used at the end of the piece, and clearly indicated as such.

Now we come on to the basic rules of web writing. It has to help the eye: readers’ attention spans are shorter on the web (and in general these days), and it is also more difficult for the eye to read on a screen. So remember the following:

• Chunky – keep the paragraphs chunky, short and never long. Help the eye flow through the piece and break it up with headers and images for longer pieces
• Relevant – know your target audience inside out, picture them (him or her) as you write the release, and use words that talk his language. Make sure that you keep the content, images, timing all relevant for the target audience. It may be that the first para or two need to be tailored or adapted for a different target audience and this is all you need to make it relevant
• Accurate – digital communication can encourage sloppiness, SMS is a case in hand. But if you spend time and effort making sure your writing is grammatically and factually correct, with no spelling errors, you will be more successful, credible and believable in what you write
• Brief – anything you write for PR, and especially for the web, has more impact with fewer words. Write your release. Then re-read and edit, re-read and edit, re-read and edit … and then cut out another 10 per cent of words. Then you’ll have perfection!
• Scannable – does the copy scan well? Do it draw the eye down and catch and keep attention. Can someone scan it quickly and get the gist of the story in one scan? Make sure the answer is yes to all these questions.

And now for the grand finale of online release writing. Both the headline and the copy, particularly the first few paragraphs of the body, need to be keyword rich. This copy needs to include a mix of keyword phrases that people use to search for information on the web. To achieve this you will need an insight into what words and phrases searchers use to find information on the web. Optimised news will attract more journalists and customers alike. And research consistently shows that these readers use the web as their preferred medium for finding out news about your clients products and services.

Links are also critical, both to provide helpful insight, information and additional support for your readers and to help with SEO so that your news is easier to find. Internal and external links are equally as important. As are inbound links from external websites. And this is certainly one reason why having your online media centre on an independent domain – i.e. not a subdomain of your main site – helps with your SEO. So make use of the online release distribution sources such as PR Wire, cisionwire, Response Source etc.

Tags are important considerations but you should only aim for around four per release and they need to be directly relevant to that release, and not a blanket ‘brand name’ repetition. And don’t forget the RSS feed – your releases will need to have their own unique feed if you really want to give journalists the edge in finding your news quickly. They can subscribe to your feeds via email download, browsers or burn them into their feedreaders to have your news pushed into their inboxes as soon as you issue it. There’s more to writing press releases in the digital age than meets the eye, and its time for PROs to get web savvy.

Listen to Changeworks’ podcast to find out more.

Sue Tupling
Director

Changeworks Communications Ltd

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