Scams: How to identify and avoid - List of the most known ,including Ebay Scams

Telephone lottery scams: These include the Canadian lottery scam and the El Gordo Spanish lottery scam, which deceptively uses the name of a genuine lottery. People respond to an unsolicited mailing or telephone call telling them they are being entered into a prize draw. They then receive a telephone call congratulating them on winning a big prize in a national lottery - but before they can claim their winnings, they must send money to pay for taxes and processing fees. The prize doesn't exist.

Prize draw, sweepstakes and foreign lottery mailings: many typical scams take the form of prize draws, lotteries or government payouts. Most appear to be notification of a prize in an overseas draw or lottery in return for administration or registration fees.

Premium rate telephone number scams: Notification by post of a win in a sweepstake or a holiday offer includes instructions to ring a premium rate 090 number to claim your prize.

Investment related scams: An unsolicited telephone call offering the opportunity to invest in shares, fine wine, gemstones or other soon-to-be rare commodities. These investments often carry very high risk and may be worth a lot less than you pay. The shares are not quoted on any stock exchange and you will not be able to sell them easily afterwards. 'Solid' valuable investments, such as gem stones, are often said to be stored in secretive Swiss bank vaults, so you can never see your investment.

Nigerian advance fee frauds: THE MOST KNOWN SCAM. An offer via letter, e-mail or fax to share a huge sum of money in return for using the recipient's bank account to permit the transfer of the money out of the country. The perpetrators will either use the information given to empty their victim's bank account; or convince him or her that money is needed up front for bribing officials. Pyramid schemes: offer a return on a financial investment based upon the number of new recruits to the scheme. Investors are misled about the likely returns as there are not enough people to support the scheme indefinitely - only the people who set up the scheme are able to make any money.

Matrix schemes: are promoted via web sites offering expensive hi-tech gadgets as free gifts in return for spending £20 or similar on a low-value product such as a mobile telephone signal booster. Consumers who buy the product join a waiting list to receive their free gift. The person at the top of the list gets their free gift only after a prescribed number – sometimes as high as 100 – of new members join up. In reality, the majority of those on the list will never receive the expensive item they expect.

Credit scams: another advance fee fraud, originating in Canada. Advertisements have appeared in local newspapers offering fast loans regardless of credit history. Consumers who respond are told their loans have been agreed but before the money can be released they must pay a fee to cover insurance. Once the advance fee is paid, the consumer never hears from the company again and the loan never appears.

Property investment schemes: would-be investors attend a free presentation and are persuaded to hand over thousands of pounds to sign up to a course promising to teach them how to make money dealing in property. Schemes may involve the opportunity to buy properties which have yet to be built at a discount. A variation is a buy-to-let scheme where companies offer to source, renovate and manage properties, claiming good returns from rental income. In practice, the properties are near-derelict and the tenants non-existent.

Work-at-home and business opportunity scams: often work by advertising paid work from home but which require money up-front to pay for materials; or by requiring investment in a business with little or no chance of success.

Ebay Scams/PaypalBank scams

1. You can receive an email from "your" bank or paypal asking you to log in in order to..(say verify something) the page you are redirected is actually a phishing page and all the information,including your account passwords will be stolen. DO NOT EVER trust any emails like this. If in doubt,call your bank or go directly to the website(eg. www.ebay.com) and inter your account details there.

2. EBay scams may involve people trying to buy goods from you with money order,where they pay you with  fraudulent bill. You sent the goods,thinking your bank will clear this up,but it would not.... Always wait until the money are cleared by your bank,before sending stuff. Sometimes they use their own shipping company.

3. Ebay scam which is also popular involves stealing someone elsese account(by the means of #1,etc). Then they post an item for sale for a price you can't resist. When you purchase it, they will ask you to pay,using money order or similar service.  They can also set up a fake escrow service. Beware.

Use commone sense for every purchase. If it's too good to be true- IT IS. No free cheese in this world other than for your pets :)

Cash Gifting: Is There Room for Everyone in Cash Gifting?

It seems that everyone is looking for that one fantastic opportunity to develop a home-based business these days. Why not? Who wouldn't like to be able to work from home, or the beach, or the road as they travel? A lot of people think that all Internet marketing opportunities are over-saturated - that only those at the top of a given opportunity actually generate any sizable income. They are wrong.

While the overall picture of Internet marketing plans and programs may seem incredibly saturated, many people overlook cash gifting programs. For whatever reasons, they do not understand the wonderful opportunity presented by these safe and secure gifting systems - and it's costing them a lot of money and freedom! Here are a few quick facts about Internet marketing in general:

- There are over 300 million people in the US alone;
- There are over 6.6 billion people on the planet now;
- The Internet is a powerful vehicle that allows your business endeavors to span international borders;

While there are over 18 million active home business entrepreneurs in the US alone, there are only 16,000 people participating in cash gifting programs. 16,000 out of 18 million - that's a market that has massive expansion potential!

Check out these facts about cash gifting:

- Cash gifting works, and it works fast! While many MLM "opportunities" promise the moon, cash gifting delivers cold hard cash in speedy fashion.
- There is no way to be cheated in modern cash gifting programs. They are strictly monitored to ensure equal opportunity and advancement for all members. If you are promoting the program, the money will be there.
- Of the 16,000 people who are registered in cash gifting programs, only half of them are working the plans. That means that there's just that much more opportunity for an inspired individual!
- Cash gifting is by no means an MLM scheme. When you join a gifting program that provides excellent mentoring, you are on the road to massive cash generation.

If you have been thinking about getting involved in an Internet-based business, then you definitely need to explore the cash gifting realm further. There are so many bogus scams out there in cyberspace. People get disheartened and create massive failure rates. Over 99% of all home-based business endeavors fail miserably within the first six months.

That's because they didn't check into cash gifting!

The cash gifting realm presents us with unparalleled opportunity for online cash generation. And unlike most Internet-based business plans, it is definitely not over-saturated. Learn more today!

Google To Remove All Search Engine Queries After Two Year Period

In the wake of growing concerns about Internet security, Google announced recently that they will be implementing a new policy of data retention, which will involve the deletion of all search engine queries after a period of 18 to 24 months. Google is the first major search engine to set such a time limit for information retention, and has pledged to begin this process before the end of 2007. Search Engine query information can reveal much about an individual user, based on the number of queries about certain topics, which has recently sparked criticism of Googles previous policy of keeping these logs of information for an indefinite period. In a statement released by the leading search engine, spokespersons for Google responded to this radical new policy change by explaining that it is in response to feedback form both privacy groups and government agencies, and that the new policy will provide better privacy protection for it’s users. The amount of time that queries will be kept before deletion, they explain, is the time period required by many foreign laws which state that user information must be kept for up to two years in the event that it is needed for any legal and or court proceedings. Per this new policy of the deletion of search engine queries, Google will erase eight of the bits that form a user’s Internet Protocol, or IP address, which is identifies the computer used in a search engine query. Google also has plans to make cookies, the small files that track user visits to certain websites, anonymous under the new policy. This amount of information kept, says the company, will help to improve services and aid in the detection of fraud, and will be used for no other purposes. Retention of these search engine query records has been a much discussed and debated issue since the demand of the Justice Department that several websites turn over their query data. Yahoo Inc, AOL Time Warner, and Microsoft Corp complied with this demand, turning over the information, to the dismay of many Privacy Advocacy groups. Google however fought this request in court and was allowed to provide a reduced amount of this user information. Under this new policy, the disclosure of such information to any party becomes a non issue, since, in the words of Kurt Opsahl, attorney for the digital rights group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation you can’t disclose what you don’t have.

Cash Gifting: Is Cash Gifting Really as Easy as You Hear?

Everywhere you turn today, you hear people talking about the simplicity and effectiveness of cash gifting. Are the rumors true? Can you truly generate loads of passive wealth from cash gifting programs? The answer is yes, but there are a few considerations. Let’s take a look: • You need to first understand what it is. It’s easy! You give a gift of cash. You promote the offer to other like-minded individuals, and then you receive gifts of cash in return. • Anyone can do this, but it isn’t something that is effortless. You still have the issue of promotion to consider. Even if you are giving away free chunks of gold, nobody will take it if they do not know about it, right? You have to get the word out. Getting the word out implies marketing. That’s the bottom line with everything online or off. • Anyone can learn effective marketing techniques. They exist and they are able to be assimilated. You just have to be diligent and purposeful. It is known that over 98% of all online marketing attempts fail. It has nothing to do with what is being promoted. It has everything to do with promotional techniques. People are erroneous to believe that just any old method of online promotion will do. The hard truth is quite to the contrary. • Cash gifting is definitely less difficult than other promotional efforts though. This is because you are promoting exactly what everyone wants for sure: CASH! There is nothing easier to promote because the value of the product is thoroughly understood and desired by the general public already. You do not have to convince anyone of the potential uses or benefits to having more cash. • Every other type of Internet marketing program revolves around trying to sell others a product or products that they have no interest in or use for. They buy these products only in hopes to generate cash for themselves. With cash gifting, we can eliminate the nonsense and get down to what we all are really after. That’s right: CASH! Take the next step in developing your dreams. Explore the realm of cash gifting further today. You will learn why the Internet communities and private communities are all excitedly talking about it. You give to those in need. You promote what everyone truly desires. People come to you to learn of the vast potential. In return, you receive gifts of pure, sweet cash. Yes, it is legitimate. Yes, it is proven. Yes, it takes some work. Yes, it can be for you!

Blackjack Strategy Tips: How to Win in Blackjack

Blackjack is one of the few casino games that are beatable in the long run. It means that by using a basic blackjack strategy you can have an advantage over the casino and eventually step away from the blackjack table as a winner. Here you can find the basic blackjack strategy explained in a simplified manner.

The blackjack strategy is based on the mathematical probabilities of the game and it provides you guidance on the best decisions to make at every possible situation during the game. It takes about an hour to memorize this strategy but it is worth every minute. This does not man you will win every single blackjack game from now on, but with the help of the blackjack strategy, patience and persistence, you can significantly improve your chances of beating the casino in the long run.

Note that some blackjack rules vary from one casino to another. In some casinos, both brick and mortar and internet casinos, blackjack is played with one card deck while in others the blackjack game occupies four decks or more. In addition, in some of the casinos the dealer hits on a soft 17 while in others he is required to stand and doubling after splitting is allowed only in some of the casinos.

Here you can find a basic strategy to a single deck blackjack game where the dealer hits on soft 17. Playing other blackjack variants would require you to make some adjustments for a few borderline occurrences.

First, here is a short introduction to the terms mentioned here:
Hard Hand: two initial cards that do not include an Ace.
Soft Hand: two initial cards that one of them is an Ace
Stand: when a player is not asking to be dealt more cards after the two initial cards.
Hit: when a player calls for an additional card to be dealt
Double: when a player doubles his initial bet after the initial deal, but it requires him to hit only one card.
Split: when a player separates the initial two cards into two individual hands and plays them as 2 hands.

Finally, here is a basic blackjack strategy:
When your initial two card hand sums up to 8 or less: hit
When your hand sums up to 9 and the dealer hand value is between 3 and 6: double if else: hit when your hand sums up to 10 and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 9: double; if else:
When your hand sums up to 11 and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 10: double; if else hit.
When your hand sums up to 13, 14, 15, or 16 and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 6: stand; if else hit.
When your hand sums up to 17: stand.
when your initial two card hand contains Ace 2 or Ace 3 and the dealer has either 5 or 6: double; if else: hit.
When your hand contains Ace 4 or Ace 5 and the dealer has 4, 5 or 6: double; if else: hit.
When your hand contains Ace 6 and the dealer has 3, 4, 5 or 6: double; if else: hit.
When your hand contains Ace 7 and the dealer has 2, 7 or 8: stand; if he has 3, 4, 5 or 6: double; if else: hit.
When your hand contains Ace 8 or Ace 9: stand
When your hand contains a pair of 2s or 3s and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 7: split; if else: hit
When your hand contains a pair of 4s and the dealer has either 4 or 5: split; if else: hit
When your hand contains a pair of 5s and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 9: double; if else: hit
When your hand contains a pair of 6s and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 6: split; if else: hit
When your hand contains a pair of 7s and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 7: split; if else: hit
When your hand contains a pair of 8s: split
When your hand contains a pair of 9s and the dealer hand value is between 2 and 7 and either 8 or 9: split; if else: stand
When your hand contains a pair of 10s: stand
When your hand contains a pair of 8s: split

Basic Rules Of Starting Your Franchise

Starting a franchise can be a really profitable venture and a decision you will be glad you made. However, starting a franchise can be disastrous as well if you do not know exactly what you are getting into beforehand. So, if you want to start a franchise then do some research to find out all of the plus and minuses of franchises as well as the specific one you are interested in. It will be worth the time and effort to find out all of the information before you invest your many thousands of dollars. There are, however, several things you will want to now upfront. These include the different franchise opportunities currently available, market saturation, and the like. Once a particular franchise is determined on, or several are, then you will need to compare more specific information.

First, do some research to find out what companies franchise. Once you know all of the franchise options, you will be able to pick out the ones you like best and are most interested in. After that, you can narrow those down based on your investment ability and the demand for this particular franchise in your proposed market. The best thing to do is find a market that had a high demand for a particular franchise and then buy that one. All franchises will be more successful in a market with a high demand for the product.

Also, when considering a franchise you need to consider the market significantly. What franchises currently exist, what demand is there for your proposed franchise, are there plans for other similar franchise in the works by competitors, and the like. Evaluate the market as best as possible. By doing this you educate yourself on the market which means you will be able to match a franchise to the needs of the market. That is really important.

Finally, when you have narrowed down the franchises available that meet the demands of a particular market, then you can compare the statistics of the various franchises to find the one that best fits your management style, investment ability, projected profits and loss, advertising, and market. You will also need to ensure that the franchiser supports the franchise significantly, especially at first in order to ensure a successful start and continued business. If the franchiser is not interested in helping the franchise get started, then you probably want to look for one that does.

Once you have decided on a particular franchise, then it will be after considerable research. Because of this, you will pick the best franchise for you and the market, which means you have a better chance at being successful and enjoying your business.

Advanced Online Marketing: Training for Using The Reverse Funnel System

When a system comes out closing sales completely for you it can sound too good to be true. Yet, The Reverse Funnel System (RFS) is designed to do just this and closes and average of twenty percent on the back end. Meaning if you can get just five people to pay the fifty dollars for the paid survey in a week, you’ll be walking out of your home office with a twelve hundred and fifty dollar week minimum, every week.

So how can you get five people to go through the paid survey in a week? Simply send a hundred people through to your sales page, your own personal copy of RFS.

This can be completed in a number of ways. One I find extremely effective is video marketing and the use of YOU-Tube and Meta-Café. Video marketing is extremely easy for anyone who has a web cam or a small camcorder. All you need to do is record yourself hyping up RFS, giving out free marketing advice, or maybe even just talking about life. This will drive traffic to your URL and if you can build some conversation, maybe a debate in the comments section of your video, you’ll get more views and more traffic.

Now video marketing can also be fun. If you want to spend a little more time than 15 minutes on the video you can design something that will really grab people’s attention. Think super bowl. The most appealing things and what sells THE ABSOLUTE MOST for all major corporations is humor and good looking people, combining them just rocks the boat. But as long as the commercial plays into some emotion while exposing the whole money/potential thing, it will be more effective.

If you’re not the most video friendly personality there is other things you can do to promote your URL, although trust me traffic will be hurt as the use of video’s in cross promotion is one of the most effective free internet marketing methods. Still you can use networking communities to spread the word and well as a number of different written marketing techniques.

But as long as you’re driving traffic, your copy of RFS will be working for you and you will be making money. Get to the nitty gritty of internet marketing and do that marketing, drive that traffic and wait for the paychecks.

Cash Gifting: Take a Leap of Faith - in Yourself!

Are you ready to discover your dreams? Really - are you ready to make a firm commitment to yourself and believe in your ability to rise above your current state of existence? Cash gifting can take you there, and further still. It's true. Everyone wants to be the next Internet millionaire. Millions of people claim to have the dream to work from the comfort of their homes - or even from the freedom presented by the open roads. Armed with a laptop and a cell phone, you are able to travel and work simultaneously. You can develop your business as you cover the globe. You are able to make your dreams come true! Most people never actually do it though. They will claim to have big dreams. They will do a little research here and there, get excited, try a few marketing moves, and then go back to working their nine-to-fives for the rest of their natural lives - never experiencing the profound joy that is only developed from living out your dreams. When you have dreams, you are blessed. You have thoughts of advancement. You see yourself in a better realm. You have the heart of a lion! The beauty of cash gifting is that it makes your dreams into possible realities. Ask yourself what you long for. Ask yourself what it is that motivates you like nothing else when you think of it. Is it: • A lifestyle of unlimited and non-stop traveling? • Sports cars that make you look like Fonzi times ten? • A better life for your family? • Private schools for you children? • A house on your own private trek of beach? Go ahead - stop being afraid to dream. Ask yourself what you really want from life. You need to realize that most people - the vast majority - never get to experience their dreams. You also need to realize that there simply is not one good reason for it to be that way! If you truly desire what you say you desire, then you have to be ready to stand up - no, jump up - and go for it! Do you want to grow any older in your current financial state? Do you want to continue to drive that jalopy? Is it really alright with you if your children just follow suit and join the ranks of the normal? Or do you want change? Are you willing to take a leap of faith in yourself and begin developing your dreams. Cash gifting delivers dreams to people all around the world each and every day. It can deliver your dreams to you too if you are willing to jump in headfirst and work a proven system for success. Do not be disillusioned! Do not think that there are not those of us out here who are living our dreams through cash gifting. Don't let the sheep of society beat the hope out of you too! Now, ask yourself again: Are you ready to take a leap of faith and start to recognize your lifelong dreams - or not?

Entrepreneurship and Cash Gifting: Are You an Entrepreneur in Your Heart?

In order to succeed at cash gifting - or any other type of serious program - you need to have or be willing to develop the traits of an entrepreneur. You must already be at least considering the notion - you're here reading this article right now. A lot of people want to begin reaping the immense benefits of cash gifting, but are a bit hesitant to initiate the process. You see, cash gifting - even though it is one of the most simplistic concepts to promote - still requires regular and effective promotion to keep the wheels in motion.

Some people are very attracted to the concept of cash gifting and want to become a part of a program. They procrastinate because they are fearful of smooth-talking, money-flashing con artists who will promise them the moon and then never deliver. They are right to afraid. There are dishonest and incapable people in all realms of business, unfortunately. So, when you join a gifting program, you need to prepare yourself first by doing thorough research about the program and how it is operated. You need to hook up with a dedicated mentor who truly cares about your capacity to make the program work. You need to learn how to avoid all of the hype that the cons will throw at you when trying to get you sign up.

Another big problem - even if your sponsor really wants to see you succeed - is that they just do not understand the fine art of mentoring. Just because someone has had some luck in a given cash gifting program doesn't mean that he or she can lead you to prosperity. You have to associate yourself with pros who have been to the place where you are, know how to rise above it, and have loads of resources, experience and knowledge to get you where you want to go. You need a mentor to help you learn the ropes of Internet marketing and supply you with the tool kits to allow you to do so. Many people are disheartened when they sign up for a cash gifting program and then are left "hung out to dry" by their sponsors. You have to protect yourself.

A smart entrepreneur knows that you don't have to go it alone. There really is power in numbers. When you become part of a like-minded group of individuals who share your passion for developing success, you greatly increase your odds of achieving your goals. That's what it's all about! Whether you want to save up money for a new home, send your kids to a good school, travel the world or just live "large", you have to be dedicated. You have to approach your program from the viewpoint of a diligent professional.

A successful entrepreneur has the mental focus of a laser. Entrepreneurs understand that there is a lot of competition, but most of it can be easily outshined by employing proven techniques of success. If you are ready to enter the entrepreneurial realm of cash gifting, be sure to set your mind for achievement, associate yourself with a solid mentor and be prepared to put in the effort to see it through. That's how people live their dreams with cash gifting programs!

A Beautiful Plan – Maintaining a Down Line with RFS

A large part of success in any Network Marketing venture is understanding and taking advantage of the companies compensation plan. If the plan is garbage, you may be an expert marketer and still, you will have trouble making money with the company. Too often with network marketing companies you need to develop down lines of thousands of people before you start to see any real turnover.

RFS helps you stop worrying about where you will find thousands of people to convince to join you business by linking up with GRN (Global Resorts Network) and its accompanying compensation plan. GRN combines a MLM type comp plan with a direct sales type comp plan. It pays you big on the initial sale, one thousand dollars, but also rewards you for how deep you can grow you organization.

Your front line is totally devoted to you. You make an addition one thousand dollar commission on every sale that anyone in your front line makes, minus the first person that makes a sale in your front line, they bump up to the guy who brought you in. You make a thousand of the sale initially but not off any of the sales that this person will ever make. Don’t worry, this is designed to help you.

Maybe you have fifteen people in your front line after the second month. That is fifteen thousand dollars you made in the two months. But now your front line has also been making sales and you pulled another ten thousand from eleven sales made by your front line. All of the sales by different legs of your front line are people that could potentially become the equivalent of another person in your front line, if they make the first second line sale in that branch.

This works way down the line, rolling people up to you so you can make a thousand off of each sale they make. This makes educating, training, and motivating your down line very profitable as if can mean tens of thousands of dollars for you over and over again.

Maintain your down line, feed them your successes, teach them your ways. Get them driving as much or more traffic than you, being in more forums, blogs, articles directories, co-reg lists, co-ops, key words, networking community personalities than you could ever possibly be in yourself and profit.

7 Steps To Achieving Joint Venture Projects

Joint Ventures are considered an essential part of growing your business and becoming successful. However, many people looks at JV’s as a fearful or overwhelming idea. If you follow some steps and have some preparations together then you can move forward confidently.

First, before approaching anyone, do you have your business set up and do you know what you want to do a joint venture on. Many of the people that you approach may already be receiving several offers, so preparation is the key.

Then decide on who you want to have JV’s with. If you are not sure, you can do some research to help you find some potential people. The details on searching can be an article in its self, but to highlight you can:
Look at what your business is; what other businesses would complement yours. Then search the web for them. You can also ask around at forums and newsgroups and ask for referrals. Once you have done that carefully, pick a handful that you would like to try.

Look at their websites. Ask yourself, what is it about them that I like and why would I want to do business with them. What about their site stands out for me and that I could comment on.

Is there a report or course that I could try get to know them better. Is there a product that I can try? Is this even the right person for my JV? When you understand the other person, not only will it help you approach them, you will also be able to know if indeed you could recommend them to your list.

Then decide which of them you would want to work with. Now you can approach them. Think about what your goal is for the JV. Yes, there are the thousands of dollars it can bring, the free advertising and leveraging each other’s resources, but what is the ultimate goal for each JV.

What would your answer be when the potential JV partners says, "So, what do you have in mind?" Is this JV about writing and promoting a book, starting a contest, creating a product or sharing advertising costs, just to name a few.

While you are thinking about your answer, you need to realize that the potential JV partner is thinking, WIIFM. (What’s in it for me).

Why should he or she pick you over (or as well as) the other people that are also approaching them. Think about how this will help them. Do you have a large list, or contacts that they may want? Do you have stats to show how your plan will help them?

If they say no, and some will for many reasons, go on. They may already have too many things on the go right now. Ask if you can contact them in the future.

There are also different rules and viewpoints on the initial contact. I have heard some people say to phone, as they get so many emails that the call would stand out. Others have said, don’t presume to phone and interrupt them when you haven’t already met them.

There is a combination of things that you could try. For example, send an email that you wish to call. Send a letter via the post office. I have even seen people send requests by an express service and have included a number of different trinkets, samples and attention getters. You may need to experiment, as each person is different.

Ultimately, I believe that you should show that you have taken the time to get to know them on some level and know what their products are. When people feel that you respect them and their product or service, this can go a lot farther than being seen as just a source of your revenue.

Ultimately, plan, prepare and then take action and you will find yourself not only attracting great JV partners but also making good friends along the way.

"I’ve always found it very important to do your homework first and then talk."
– Irwin M. Jacobs, Qualcomm Inc. CEO

5 Tips to Choose the Best Home Business Opportunity

With the rise of the Internet, there's never been a better time to launch a home business. Millions of people are choosing to work from home and make money on line, using only their computer and mouse. Millions more are involved in more traditional network marketing, scheduling parties and selling products to their friends, neighbors, and family. If you want to make money on line, how do you know what the best home business opportunity is for you? Read on for five tips to help you choose.

1. Know your options. There are tens of thousands of Internet-based home businesses, if not more. They range from multi level marketing opportunities to ecommerce to intellectual property sales. Your first step should be to find a website that has an overview of the best home business opportunities. This will save you countless hours scouring the Internet in order to find all of the choices available.

2. Know your strengths. Perhaps you're a great writer, and would enjoy - and profit - from taking public domain books and articles and crafting them into books and articles that you could sell on the Internet. Perhaps you're an experience network marketer and would do well selling products or online opportunities to others who want to break into the field of network marketing. When reviewing home business opportunities, narrow your field to those that play to your strengths.

3. Know your weaknesses. If you don't know the first thing about building websites, it doesn't make sense to choose a home business where you'll have to build a bunch of websites. Likewise, if you couldn't sell water to someone in the desert, don't go into direct sales. Even though you might find an incredible home business opportunity, if it doesn't dovetail with your talents, it's not for you. It's like any other job: there are jobs you're automatically qualified for, those that you can learn as you go, and others that are beyond your reach. Again, success lies in playing to your strengths.

4. Diversify your revenue streams. Despite what many opportunities claim, your best chances for success come when you bring in revenue from several sources. You may begin with one home business, but over the course of a few months, you should add several others. By doing this, if one revenue stream goes south in any given month, you'll always have backup sources of revenue.

5. Set goals and meet them. In order to be successful, you need to set goals. The goals you set should include revenue goals, marketing goals, and goals specific to the home businesses you're engaged in. Once you've set your goals, you need to make a plan to reach them. Then, you need to commit to doing whatever it takes to follow your plan.

Having a home business is incredibly rewarding. If you're a parent, you'll have more time to spend with your children. If you're retired, you'll have additional income. If you're a student, you can pay for your education. If you simply like the idea of giving up the hassles of a nine-to-five job, a home business will give you the freedom you desire. Just do your research, play to your strengths, diversify your revenue streams, and set and meet your goals, and you'll experience the satisfaction that being a successful home business owner can bring.

3 Tips For Choosing A Payment Gateway: Collecting Money Online

As a consumer, when you check out of your local convenience store, you may swipe your credit card through a point-of-sale device and your gas, coffee, and donut are paid. But what if you are the retailer and your business is online? It’s not like you have a card-swiping device at every customer’s PC! There must be a way for you to process that information. Essentially, that is the job that a payment gateway does for online retailers. Roy Banks, president of http://Authorize.net, a leader in the payment gateway industry, describes his company’s function as “the digital version of a hardware point of sale terminal.”

What is a Payment Gateway?
Payment gateways allow online merchants such as eStore owners or auction sellers to accept credit card payments over the internet. They authorize the cardholder’s credit—that is, they check to ensure that the customer has enough money on their credit card to cover the charges. They then place a hold on that amount so the buyer can’t turn around and spend that same money elsewhere before it gets transferred to the retailer’s merchant account. Banks describes this as “the technology…necessary to consummate a payment transaction.”

A Payment Gateway is NOT a Merchant Account.
Many people confuse merchant accounts with payment gateways but they are not the same. Merchant account services act, for the most part, as a liaison between your business bank account and the payment gateway. When a customer orders a product from your online business their card is processed via the payment gateway. The money is then moved over to the merchant account service. The merchant account service then moves those newly captured funds to your business bank account.

3 Tips for choosing a Payment Gateway:

1. Is it PCI-compliant? That means that the company’s security has been audited by a third party and found to be up to industry standards. Since payment gateways store all your customers’ credit card information (sparing you the stress), it also means you can sleep better at night, knowing your customers’ valuable information is safe and sound.

2. Good customer support. ‘Nuf said.

3.Lastly, it is important that the payment gateway you choose be integrated to the third-party solutions you are planning to use. That means things like store front platforms and shopping carts—you want them to be compatible with your gateway.

Payment gateways will not only allow you to collect the monies from your sales, many also offer an array of security features, some of which will help you avoid becoming a victim of fraudulent orders! In the end, they will make your ecommerce business a less-stressful, more pleasant experience—for both you and your customers.

“The Cons of a 50/50 Equity Business Partnership.”

This article could have been titled “The Pros and Cons of a 50/50 Equity Partnership”, but the cons far outweigh the pros.  When partnerships are formed, the obvious concerns are addressed.  How do each partner’s skills-set and experience complement each other?  How much will each partner contribute to get the business going?  How long will they grow the business until they entertain selling it?  Is that it? … hardly. 

Once the business gets going no doubt economic and industry variables change which affect the business.  Each partner’s perception of the direction the business should go changes as well.  There are constant decisions with regards to the mixture of product and service offerings … the decision to get into another line of business or get out of one.  Should the focus be on a higher volume, lower profit margin business model or vice versa?  What about a shift to a more capital intensive model.  If the business becomes a success, many times potential investors creep in, whether an angel investor or venture capitalist.  Both partners need to agree on the investment proposal. 

What if one of the partners acquires an asset for the business whether it’s land, a building, a small data center, a thousand servers, or to complicate things further contributes an intellectual asset of some sort.  When the company is going to be sold, what is the value of the partner’s contributed asset?  Who is supposed to value it?  This can become an insurmountable hurdle.  Most buyers know not to value any one piece near what it’s worth by itself.

When it’s time to sell the company, the financial situation of each partner has no doubt changed since the company was founded.  The consideration for the company could be all cash, all stock or a combination of cash and stock. The tax implications of each of the three scenarios are different for each partner.  I have seen the process of divesting a company go up in smoke too many times because the partners didn’t agree on the proposed deal.  They spent years growing the business then totally disagree about when to sell, who to sell to, and/or how much to sell it for.   

Business is about return on equity, not “all for one and one for all”.  My suggestion … one ship, one captain.