Archive for the Business Tools

Scammers are getting more and more clever in their tricks to get you to turn over financial information.

Just today, I received two emails about my Google AdWords acount. I use Google AdWords, so I was definitely interested. HOWEVER…

Neither email was legitimate.

Here is one of them:

Subject line: Your payment didn’t succeed, so your ads have been suspended.

Oops - what’s wrong with my payment??

This is the body of the email:

Dear Advertiser,
——————————
We were unable to process your payment.
Your ads will be suspended soon unless we can process your payment.
To prevent your ads from being suspended, please update your payment information.
————————
Please sign in
to your account at http://adwords.google.com/select/login,
and update your payment information.
————————————
We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available.

Thank you for advertising with Google AdWords.

It looks legitimate, I don’t want my ads to be suspended, and they were kind enough to include a link to login to  my account. When I click on the link, the page  looks exactly like a Google AdWords login page.

These guys are tricky - and they catch a lot of unsuspecting people this way.

So - how do you protect yourself?

1.  NEVER go to a website from clicking the link included in the email. Instead, open a new browser window and type in the link to the website. Access your account from there.

2. Check the link included in the email. On the surface, the above link is a Google AdWords link. But when you look at the embedded link, it is not at all the same. This is where you really end up from the link in my email: http://www.adwords.google.com.cdoip.cn/select/Login   See the cdoip.cn portion of the link? That is not a Google link.

How do you check this? If you put your mouse over the link, look at the bottom left of your computer screen. Most of the time, the address you are going to will show up in the corner.

 3. Report fraudulent or suspicious emails. These companies want to protect you. Go to their website and look for Customer Support.

Someone had already reported this email - when I checked this “google” website, I was greeted with this:

As many of you already know, I’ve been focusing more and more on Web 2.0/Social Media and two things are becoming very apparent; many people are struggling to understand where to begin and just as many are simply trying to find out which sites to participate in.

Given the power of Social Media and how it might help your business, I’d like to invite you to a teleseminar on May 19th, at 7PM EST, where Chris Muccio, the CFO Strategist and I will introduce you to, and begin to help you sort through the Social Media puzzle. To register for this free call, please go to http://www.imarket20.com/teleseminar. If you can’t make the call, but are still interested in hearing it, sign up anyway. We’ll send out the recording.

Hope to talk to you Monday!

I’m posting this today to make you aware of a great offer – one that can help you build a successful career and life.

Bud Bilanich, has just released an amazing new book, Straight Talk for Success. In this book, Bud shares the five traits that all successful people have in common.

· Successful people are self confident.
· Successful people create positive personal impact.
· Successful people are outstanding performers.
· Successful people are dynamic communicators.
· Successful people are interpersonally competent.

Bud is the Common Sense Guy. A strong personal brand is one of the components of Bud’s second key to success – Positive Personal Impact. Bud believes, like I do, that all successful people develop and nurture their personal brand.

He developed these keys to success in his executive coaching work and through extensive study of successful people over the past ten years. He uses them with his coaching clients to help them develop successful careers.

Now, for the first time, he is sharing them with you. Bud is working with me and several of his friends to make you a great offer. If you purchase Straight Talk for Success today, April 22, 2008, you will receive $1,000 in bonus products that will help you on your way to career and life success.

All you have to do is go to http://straighttalkforsuccessbook.com/booklaunch/ and follow the link to purchase your copy of Straight Talk for Success at Amazon.com. Then enter your Amazon.com transaction number in the space provided and you will be directed to a page where you can claim your bonuses.

I’m working with Bud on this promotion because I believe what he has to say in Straight Talk for Success. It’s one of the best books on success that I have ever read. I’m sure you’ll keep it near your workspace as a handy reference guide for years to come.

So don’t delay go to http://straighttalkforsuccessbook.com/booklaunch/ and claim your copy of Straight Talk for Success today. You’ll also get $1,000 in valuable bonuses if you act today, April 22, 2008.

Best wishes for your continued success!

Hi there!

I’d like to invite you to a free teleconference happening tomorrow, Thursday, Feb 7, hosted by my good friend Michael Ehlert. You don’t even have to register - just show up if you’re interested!

We received many great questions about last week’s presentation and the Rev Up Workshop, so I am going to dedicate tomorrow afternoon to answering the questions received, any new questions as well as going under the hood of the Rev Up Your Web Business Workshop.

This will help you decide if it is right for you at this time before we start next week. I’ll be sure to give you enough great information to get started on your own too!

The Road to More Traffic, Higher Conversions and Exploding Your Perceived Value
And
The Rev Up Your Web Business Workshop (Classic and Platinum Groups)

DATE & TIME: Thursday, February 7th at 4:30pm Eastern

Phone-Number to Dial: 419-400-0203
Use Conference ID: 434276#

TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, CLICK THIS LINK NOW…
http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=1868799

See you there!

Want more details? Visit RevUpYourWebBusiness.com

We have been using (and I love) Basecamp, by 37signals. We also use their Highrise for a contact manager. And I use Backpack by the same company.

There is a great little note taking product I couldn’t live without, EverNote.  (Does anyone see where this is going?)

The problem is, all of my business information is scattered among several different systems and my team is only able to access bits and pieces at any one time, so we’ve been researching some all-inclusive project management software.

FileMakerPro is in the running, but it seems really bulky and not intuitive. Veetro looks incredibly promising and it’s web-based. We do need something robust, to handle many different aspects of the business.

What project management software would you recommend and why do you think it’s great?

One of the challenges I hear most often is that people *know* what they should be doing to run a successful online business, however they don’t have the time or the specific know-how or the skills to pull it off. My friend, Designer Extraodordinaire Michael Ehlert has put together an amazing program that is a systematic way of creating a sales based website and online marketing campaign. The best part is that while you’re learning how to do it, your production team is creating the actual marketing plan, niche profitability analysis, keyword list, two page web site, pay per click account for you and a whole lot more.

This is something you could walk away with as your company’s web site, or plug in to your existing web site to expand your revenue streams immediately.

Michael graciously invited me to be part of his team for the program and our first run was hugely successful. The second program begins on Tuesday, Oct. 2. There are several otpions - one of them will meet your needs wherever you are in your business development. Check it out here.

One thing that is critical to business building is tools. There are a lot of tools I use in my VA business, and some I simply couldn’t do business without. I thought I would share some of them with you.

In every business there are things that must be done, appointments to be kept, schedules to maintain… enter www.37signals.com and their Backpack system.

Backpack is a great place to store your To Do list, your calendar, set up reminders that can be sent to your email or mobile phone, upload photos, idea lists… and best of all, it’s free. (The Free version is free… you can always upgrade if you simply must spend money! )

So there you have it - an incredible tool to help you get organized. I’d love to hear some of your favorite tools that make running your business easier!