Complying with the CAN-SPAM Act

Hi, I'm Colleen Robbins, an attorney at the Federal Trade Commission.
Like many smart and successful marketers, you may use email to promote your company's products or services. Whether you're emailing potential customers—or letting your current customers know about your latest offer, the CAN-SPAM Act establishes guidelines you must follow.
For example, the law describes specific information each email must provide—including a way for recipients to unsubscribe—and it spells out penalties for violations.
If you use email to pitch your products or services, it's up to you to comply with the law. How? It's not as complicated as you might think. Here are seven things you need to know to make sure your emails comply with the provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act:
You can't use false or misleading information. The FROM, TO, and REPLY TO fields—as well as the domain name and email address—must be accurate. And they must identify your business, or the person sending the email.
It's illegal to use a subject line that would mislead people about the contents or subject matter of the message—so make sure your subject line accurately reflects what's in the email.
You must include a disclosure that the email is an advertisement. And like all good disclosures, it must be clear and conspicuous. That means people should be able to find it and understand what it means.
The email must include your address. This can be your current street address, a P.O. box, or a private mailbox you've registered.
The email has to tell people how to opt out of getting more emails from you. Make this information easy to find and understand—and give recipients an email address or a website they can use to opt out or unsubscribe.
When someone asks to be removed from your email list, you must delete their name and address within 10 business days. Once they unsubscribe, you can't share their email address with other marketers.
Finally, even if you hire someone to handle your email marketing, it's up to you to make sure your email messages comply with the law.
If you don't your business and the company you hire each could face penalties of up to $16,000 per violation.
You know, failing to comply with CAN-SPAM can be a costly proposition, but complying with the law—well, it doesn't have to be.
To learn more about how to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, visit the Business Center at business.ftc.gov.

Buying Their Way to Twitter Fame

Emily Berl for The New York Times

The comedian Dan Nainan performing, left, and views of his Twitter page and a page from StatusPeople that says it can ascertain “how many fake followers you and your friends have.” Mr. Nainan said he bought a block of Twitter followers.

By AUSTIN CONSIDINE

Published: August 22, 2012 24 Comments

AS a comedian, Dan Nainan was blessed with fans, millions of YouTube views and, once, an audience with President Obama. But one thing was missing.

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“The number of Twitter followers I had in relation to how many people in the world know about me was woefully inadequate,” he said. So in June he bought a small city’s worth for $424.15, raising his Twitter follower count from about 700 to more than 220,000.

“There’s a tremendous cachet associated with having a large number,” said Mr. Nainan, 31, adding later, “When people see that you have that many followers, they’re like: ‘Oh, my goodness, this guy is popular. I might want to book him.’ ”

It may be the worst-kept secret in the Twittersphere. That friend who brags about having 1,000, even 100,000 Twitter followers may not have earned them through hard work and social networking; he may have simply bought them on the black market.

And it’s not just ego-driven blogger types. Celebrities, politicians, start-ups, aspiring rock stars, reality show hopefuls — anyone who might benefit from having a larger social media footprint — are known to have bought large blocks of Twitter followers.

The practice is surprisingly easy. A Google search for “buy Twitter followers” turns up dozens of Web sites like USocial.net, InterTwitter.com, and FanMeNow.com that sell Twitter followers by the thousands (and often Facebook likes and YouTube views). At BuyTwitterFollow.com, for example, users simply enter their Twitter handle and credit card number and, with a few clicks, see the ranks of their followers swell in three to four days.

Will Mitchell, the founder of Clear Presence Media, a marketing company outside Tampa, Fla., said that he has bought more than a million followers for his clients, which include musicians, start-ups and a well-known actress he declined to identify.

“And it’s so cheap, too,” he said. In one instance, Mr. Mitchell said, he bought 250,000 for $2,500, or a penny each.

One site, Fiverr, an online classified for cheap marketing services, has several ads offering 1,000 Twitter followers for $5.

Heddi Cundle, founder of MyTab.co, a San Francisco company that helps people raise money for trips, spent $5 on Fiverr to buy 200 followers last October, when her site started. By the next month, “we had about 1,100 to 1,200 people on both Twitter and Facebook, which was amazing,” she said. “We needed that to get ourselves going.”

Fake Twitter followers briefly made the news in July, when Mitt Romney’s Twitter following jumped by more than 100,000 in one weekend — a much faster rate than usual. A flurry of news reports purported to expose the practice of buying followers. “Romney Twitter account gets upsurge in fake followers, but from where?” read a headline on the NBC News Technolog blog.” (The Romney campaign has denied it bought followers.) Similar claims were lobbed at Newt Gingrich last year; his campaign also denied that he paid for any of his 1.3 million-strong Twitter following.

Having fake followers, it is important to note, does not necessarily mean that they were purchased. Unlike Facebook friends, Twitter does not require users to approve followers. In other words, anyone can follow you on Twitter, whether it’s your mother or a spammer.

Twitter followers are sold in two ways: “Targeted” followers, as they are known in the industry, are harvested using software that seeks out Twitter users with similar interests and follows them, betting that many will return the favor. “Generated” followers are from Twitter accounts that are either inactive or created by spamming computers — often referred to as “bots.”

Buyers and sellers see nothing wrong with it. “Buying followers generated by bots is against Twitter’s terms and frowned upon by the public,” Mr. Mitchell said. “However, it is perfectly legal.”

The practice has become so widespread that StatusPeople, a social media management company in London, released a Web tool last month called the Fake Follower Check that it says can ascertain how many fake followers you and your friends have.

The tool examines Twitter relationships, said Rob Waller, a founder of StatusPeople. “Fake accounts tend to follow a lot of people but have few followers,” he said. “We then combine that with a few other metrics to confirm the account is fake.”

If accurate, the number of fake followers out there is surprising. According to the StatusPeople tool, 71 percent of Lady Gaga’s nearly 29 million followers are “fake” or “inactive.” So are 70 percent of President Obama’s nearly 19 million followers.

But Twitter is starting to clamp down. In April, it filed suit in federal court in San Francisco against five spammers, including those who create fake Twitter followers. (The case is pending.) That didn’t discourage Mr. Nainan, the comedian. He recently asked about “the theoretical maximum” Twitter followers he can purchase.

“They said, ‘You could probably get over a million, a million and a half,’ ” he said. “And I’m like, ‘Why not? I can afford it.’ ”

"Choosing A Good MLM Company"

What is Multi-level marketing other wise know as MLM?

MLM is a purported income opportunity, in which people recruited into a pyramid of participants make ongoing purchases of products and services, and recruit others to do the same, and they still others to do the same, etc.- in an endless chain of recruitment and and personal consumption, in order to qualify for commissions and bonuses and to advance upward in the hierarchy of levels in the pyramid. Product purchases become the means of disguising or laundering investments in what is in fact a product based pyramid scheme.

Prospect are typically lured into the scheme with exaggerated product and income claims. And because the pay plan is heavily stacked in favor of those at the highest levels in the pyramid, the vast majority of participants spend more than they receive and eventually drop out, only to be replaced by a stream of similarly misled recruits, approximately 99% of whom are likewise destined to experience loss and disappointment.

What is a pyramid scheme?

A network marketing opportunity to get rich quick off the payments of others who join the organization. Network marketing isn't built on simple mathematics where many losers pay a few winners. Network marketing isn't a opportunity to get rich quick. Period.

How to find a good MLM opportunity.

1. Make sure the Network Marketing distributors aren't forcing the sale of a large amount of product or services, To qualify you as an MLM distributor for commissions. An amount over $500 is very suspicious. Good MLM companies don't require a lot up front when you start as an MLM distributor.

You need products to sample yourself and to learn to sell, so not having any product purchases to a shaky deal.

2. Network Marketer Distributor personal monthly purchase requirement (qualification) is no more than is comfortable for a MLM distributor and his family to consume each month. Play it safe, if your Retail Customer's sales are counted as part of your monthly requirement. Remember a customer does not belong to the pay plan nor do they make money.

3.Make sure the company actually emphasizes sales to Customers as a part of the company's marketing plan. The company to be legal has to have a track record of sales to Customer's that do not belong to the pay plan. company training should emphasize such sales in their training material.

4. Make sure the company has training that you understand. Initial training should show you how to make retail sales to customers, as well as sign up new distributors underneath you.

5. Make sure the company distributor agreement has a buy back policy for products/services guarantee for 90 days up to a year is best. the buyback should return at least 90% of your money when you return the products.

Don't be in a big hurry to join a MLM unless you like the products or services. If money is the only reason that you are joining, wait awhile and think it over. More information go here.

 

To Your Success

 

Howard

 

"Redirect Problem"

Created My Own Problem!

I don't know if you have ever created a problem for yourself and not know exactly how you did it. That's what happened to me. Maybe this little bit of information will help you. I will try and make this as clear as I can.

I was setting up a capture page and using Aweber as my autoresponder. I have four list set up there. I created a webform for this one particular list, with the normal stuff for the autoresponder to perform. I got everything done and then I got the code for the webform and returned to my capture page.

I entered the information I wanted on the page and now it's all set and ready to go. On my fan page I have an icon that when clicked takes you to the capture page, so good so far. After I brought up the capture page I wanted to test it so I entered my name and Email address, clicked the submitt button, guess what happened, somewhere I had redirected to another capture page other than the one I wanted.

I'm no expert at this thing believe me. How did this happen? I went to Godaddy where I have my domains registered and started checking, after fooling around there for several hours, checking and rechecking I realized the problem was not there. Next I went back to my capture page and redid it all over, the problem was not there, now what.

I went to Aweber to check and see if I had made a mistake there, I couldn't find anything. Back and forth form my capture page, to Godaddy to Aweber. After a couple days I sent Godaddy a help request and they responded with what they thought would solve my problem but it didn't. Not Goddady's fault. Went to Aweber with the same request for help. Aweber responded with the answer.

The solution was so simple once Aweber pointed out how the problem was created.

If you are familiar with Aweber, when dealing with list names, if you make any changes to your setup you must make sure you are working with the correct list name, this I did. Next when creating your webform, what I did was set up a custom redirect withou realizing what I had done.

Here is Aweber instructions:

When setting up a custom redirect page for web forms, click on the Web Form tab then the name of your form. Now, you can move to step 2 which is settings by clicking the blue button towards the bottom right of the page. On that page, you want to move to the Thank You Page setting and click the down arrow menu. From the menu, choose custom URL and enter the URL you want to send subscribers to.  THIS is where I messed up I entered the wrong URL, so when I entered my name and Email on my capture page it redirected me to the URL I had entered . I entered the correct URL and all is well. For more information Click Here

Hope this will help someone...
Howard

"The Network Marketing Beginner"

 "Tips For The Beginner"

The first and most important step is to start. It is also the most difficult step to take because we fear failure. Strangely enough though action cures fear.

Get into the business mindset. Some people believe network marketing offers an easy solution to financial security, and after they get their system set up the cash will roll in by the boat load. This kind of mindset could kill your venture before it even gets started.

Many would be marketers throw in the towel at the first sign of troubles. They surrender to defeat and start jumping onto the next opportunity that comes along. They fail to treat their network marketing business as a business.

You have to put as much work, passion, and energy into your business as you do the rest of your life, then you will discover there is no reason to surrender to defeat and that those terrifying obstacles are easier to overcome.

As a network marketer you have to set specific goals for both short term and long term success. You have to develope your skills and knowledge through training and education. You must concentrate on one opportunity at a time.

You will need to determine your expenses. You'll have household expenses, insurances,food, clothing, etc. On the positive side, you can look at how much you will be saving if you work from home. You can save on car expenses such as gas and maintance, office clothes, lunches, parking, plus other expenses.

Reason For Having Your Own Home Based Business.

Be your own boss, is the number one reason why people want to start their own home based business. After researching many websites and start to get a little anxious, one day you decide that you can do it. You may want to star part time at first until you start making some income and then you can surpise your boss one day and tell him you found a better way to make a living and you decided to be your own boss.

Make more money. making money is very important but, in network marketing helping others outweighs everything else. If you get the help others first mindset, the money will come.

More quality time with family and friends. being able to spend time with those you enjoy being around the most. Going to your kids ball games, or dance recitals , being able to handle emergencies at home, taking those dream vacations that you've wanted to take for years and much more.

Next, finding a good business opportunity and go from there. Start small, one step at a time and do not get overwhelmed. A good place to start can be found on my profile website. Check it out. You can trust this site. For mmore information Click Here

To Your Success,

Howard

"Death Of A Network Marketer"

Why do so many new Network Marketers die before they succeed?.

Marketers don't physically die, but their dreams die. The cause of death is lack of knowledge. 97% of marketers fail, they never reach their goals, success never comes their way and there are several reason why.

The average marketer has no idea what to do, or how to do it, they jump from one opportunity to another looking for that magic business opportunity that will set them free but, they never find it.

When most people get into network marketing they do it because the saw a video, or read something about how to get rich working from home, they have never been in any type of business before. They do not have the disciplines or skills necessary for success.

So, what do they do? Start spending money, out of a strong desire for success, they begin to buy tapes, Cd's, books, courses,etc. that doesn't really teach them anything. Why buy a book about writing an ebook if you do not have anything to write about. Why join a business if you have no idea how to get people to view your website, why write an ad if you have no idea to get people to notice what you have to say?

Marketers must first educate themselves. (Education without Action leads to Failure) It's not just action that determines your success but taken the right action. You must take your business seriously. If you want success, treat you business like aa business not a hobby.

Unless you have something to offer people that will solve their problem, stay out of Network Marketing.

Network Marketing is not about money, sure the money is nice, but you must first learn how to help others solve their problems.

Stay way from the get rich quick scams. Network Marketing is not a get rich quick method to success. Plan on spending some money. Stay away from the 24/7 auto pilot fluff, there are no auto pilot programs where you fill in a couple blanks on a form and wait for the money to come. After you get everything set up, yes, there are ways to keep in touch with your prospects automatically, but that is down the road aways.

Overall this is just a small introduction to Network Marketing.

Network Marketing is not easy, you will need to work and work hard, connect with the right people that will teach you, and not rip you off by selling you a bunch of junk that will not help, these kind of people and orginizations are out there. For more Information Click Here

To Your Success!

Howard