Power Ideaz

By Pinaki Ghosh

No one can actually give you 100% protection for your computer. But the least that you can do is get a firewall which can help you and protect your very important data. Regular updates on your PC can also help in maintaining. The antivirus software’s too having some subscription formalities which one would have to fulfill.

It’s the best that you take enough protection at first, even before your PC encounters any virus problem. 

There are a few basic steps that one can follow to keep away from the Virus attack:

• Using the Internet Firewall can be of much help.
• In case you subscribe to any of the main programs, you can get some automatic updates.
• Do not open any email attachments which you receive from unknown senders.
• Even though you receive a mail from someone you know make sure you know what the attachment is. Sometimes the person sending you the mail too may be unaware of the virus that he might be spreading.
Antivirus
Commercial Antivirus
  avast! http://www.avast.com/
  AVG Anti-Virus http://www.grisoft.com/
  F-Prot  http://f-prot.com/
  F-Secure http://www.f-secure.com/
  LinuxShield  http://www.mcafee.com/us/enterprise/products/anti_virus/file_servers_desktops/linuxshield.html
  McAfee VirusScan  http://us.mcafee.com/root/package.asp?pkgid=276&cid=25655
  Norton AntiVirus http://shop.symantecstore.com/store/symnahho/en_US/ContentTheme/ThemeID.504200/pbPage.NAVstatic/pgm.11227100 
  Panda Antivirus http://www.pandasoftware.com/
  PC-cillin  http://us.trendmicro.com/us/home/
  Windows Live OneCare http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/default.htm
  ZoneAlarm AntiVirus http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/home.jsp 
  BullGuard http://www.bullguard.com/

Free antivirus software
  AOL Active Virus Shield http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp? 
  AVG Anti-Virus Free http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
  avast! Home http://www.avast.com/
  BitDefender 8 Free Edition http://www.bitdefender.com.sg/
  Comodo AntiVirus http://www.comodo.com/
  Clam AntiVirus http://www.clamav.net/
  OpenAntiVirus http://www.openantivirus.org/
  Winpooch http://sourceforge.net/projects/winpooch/

                             By Pinaki Ghosh

 More and more anti-viruses have been developed to fight against the attacks that are made by the viruses on the systems. The developers work on software’s that can be used but no anti virus can guarantee a 100% protection from the web viruses. One may state the most common viruses but, the list keeps changing.

One cannot present a unified list of viruses as they are very difficult to state. As soon as a new virus is born, there is a sudden haste to identify it and name it, and also to understand it. Therefore, after a little research and understanding the behavior of the virus a quick name is added to the virus. Most of the anti viruses work upon their instant reaction when a new virus is detected. Thus, they end up studying and naming the virus individually. Till the time they come on any conclusion, there are a lot of names that are called on for the virus.
You won’t be surprised to know that sometimes the old viruses are initially detected as a new virus. This may happen due to the variable behavior. To give you an example: the variation between the Sobig worm which was earlier known as the Palyh but again went on to being called the Sobig. Thus, if you see, it all depends on how much time it takes, and at the end the old name persists.

From the Numeric computer viruses, 4K or better known as 4096 – MS DOS, it is the first virus to use sleath, but nobody can assume the origin place of this virus. Also the isolation date of the 4K is in the month of January 1990. The other virus from the numeric category is the 5lo –MS DOS type which again had an unknown author and it infects the EXE files. It had its isolation date in the month of October in the year 1992.

The other viruses that have been in the news are:
The Elk Cloner which was the Apple II type and it was the first virus that has been observed in the wild. The Lamer Exterminator, which is the Amiga, Boot sector virus, originated in Germany dated October 1989. The Random encryption fills random sector with “Lamer” notes are the signs. The Scores virus, which had its isolation date in the 1988 spring, was designed to charge on two of the specific applications which ultimately never release. It was also known as the Eric, Vult, NASA or the San Jose Flu.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Viruses destroy your computers hard drive by surfing the Net too at times. The viruses can get into your data through the come through the Temporary Internet Files which can be threatening.

Websites are not safe in this context. You must give proper attention while searching through the major search engines. Google may be safe, but you really cannot trust the other sites. Sometimes the websites are safe, but there are cases that the viruses spread through the websites.
You must be extremely cautious while browsing through any of the sites dealing with sex or maybe drugs. If one may observe, the hackers love placing viruses in every possible way. Sites dealing with sex and pornographic material have more possibility of spreading the viruses.
You must take care while browsing through the search engines, and also the URL’s as unknowingly you might be attacked by the virus.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Spam mails or the mails that one receives from the unknown people are known as the most unwanted, unsolicited messages that are directly sent to your Mail Box. Its nothing but Junk mail!
These emails can contain anything from promotions to attachments on the latest movies etc. But you would never know when the attachments may contain Viruses. This can severely damage your computer. It may directly ruin your saved data directly. Thus, open such unsolicited mails would be of a great risk. 
You cannot control the spam mails, but you can definitely limit them and also delete them once you do receive them. Usually one does not know much about the Viruses as the work without the user having any knowledge. By reading a plain text Email one does not have chance of getting the virus. But if in case you see and codes or attachments like the JavaScript and the HTML message then one must avoid working it out, as this maybe a virus. You must execute proper codes to get it working. Mostly these problems can arise if you insert corrupt floppies too.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Blocking spy ware is a tough job. None of the viruses can be blocked completely. To give you a detailed version:

If one may observe due to the internet, the computers are constantly attacked with the viruses. This is why, the companies and the users have the special anti-viruses to protect themselves from such viruses which can destroy the computers and delete the data. The inbox too is almost flooded by the spam and the other such useless mails which pose a threat to the computer. Once downloaded, if in case the computer is not protected, it can ruin your entire saved memory on the computer. Thus this will result in the computer break down.
The spyware and the adware software’s simply supervise and track down your sites (the ones that you have recently visited) so that you have a record of the sites that you have visited on the web.
To protect one from the unwanted but at the same time unavoidable little programs, you can just follow a little procedure. Sometimes, the spyware and the adware which are free at times turn out to be extremely useless.
Be Careful Where You Download:
The first basic part is that one must ask for a EULA. That is the End User License Agreement. Nobody goes out to read the entire terms and conditions in the box, and instead of clicking on the “No” tab, one goes one to click on the “Yes” Tab. This after not reading a word of the terms and conditions that are stated. Thus, it’s always better to click on a No, than clicking on the Yes button and facing a lot of nuisance.
The best would be that you read the entire terms, before you click on the text. Like the EULA, most of the users think of it as nothing but nuisance. The box works on a click and the once you do, it gets activated. The questions like, ‘would you want to install the spyware program?’ you are given the options like ‘yes’ and ‘no’. If you want to stop, just close the box, or cancel.
Try protecting your system with the help of the antivirus. Now days you may see that the antivirus come under various names. They are under the small parts or codes which help protect your computers. Mostly, the Trojans and the jokes, games and also the Spyware and the Adwares are free to download.  If at all the product does not show off the spyware or any of the products you must recheck your antivirus.
 
Try and scan your system:
Sometimes the antivirus software, and most of the other software that you think would work for you may eventually work miracles for you or at the other times, it might not work for you too. If you can actually download the Adaware Pro, Lavasoft, you can even try out their free trail versions.  It will scan your computer but at the same time manually work on finding out the viruses and the spy wares. Once you try and work on this system, you’re sure to have a system that is full protected and virus free! All the best!

 By Pinaki Ghosh

If you want to completely eradicate the Trojan horse there are a lot of methods that you may use. But none of them are perfect in any sense. You must study and understand them thoroughly before you actually take decision.

 Here are a few points that you can implement as well as understand:

1. Clean Re-installation:
It does look like a difficult operation, but at the same time it is one of the best and easiest ways to clean up the Trojan or any virus. Get a back up for the information that you’ve stored and the reformat your computer. You may re install all the operating system once you’re done. Save it on your CD’s or on the drives. But make sure your taking a back up or you’ll end up losing the information. Get a professional to get your PC cleaned up.

2. Anti-Virus Software:
Most of the software’s can easily manage the Trojan viruses. But none of the anti- virus is capable and can give a 100% guarantee. You must the updated files of all the programs that are on your computer. If one compares it to the olden day viruses, nowadays the Trojans are faster and very hard to detect.   There are a lot of products from which one can make a choice. The McAfee and PC-cillin are just a few examples which can be helpful. At times, you can immediately download the 30 day trial version.

 3. Anti-Trojan Programs:
The Anti Trojan Programs are made specially to deal only with the Trojan Virus. Thus, they have a good time working against the Trojan Horses than any other general virus. One of the most wanted programs has been the cleaner,   which is commercial software which has a free trail round for 30 days.      

(This is a part of the series of mails which tried to steal personal details from the recipients)

By Pinaki Ghosh 

Dear GM Card member,

We value your trust, and we understand that handling your financial information with care is our most important responsibility. So, only those who provide the products or services you might need are authorized to have access to your financial information. We have a strict code of ethics for all associates that require confidential treatment of your information. Any associates with access to information must complete privacy and information security awareness training annually. HSBC Bank also maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect against unauthorized access to customer information.
We operate under a detailed, rigorous information security policy designed to protect the security and confidentiality of your information. The information security program is also subject to ongoing regulatory oversight and examination. In compliance with the program we are performing a regular update on every account enrolled with us to eliminate
The possibility of money-laundering through one-day accounts is more. In order to confirm your account and to preserve the account stability, you are required to login to your account using the following link below:
https://www.householdaccount.com/gm/CustomerCare?cmd_DisplayLogin
Providing you with the state-of-the-art and most convenient services is one of our most important responsibilities.
However, in case your account is not registered in the Form before 30.08.06, it will be automatically suspended for further in-depth check. This procedure is valid both for individual and corporate clients. This procedure is performed one time only and it does not require further actions on the customer side.
Sorry for the inconveniences caused by this message.
Looking forward to your understanding and full support.
Sincerely,
Card member Services
HSBC Bank Nevada, N.A.

Continued from my previous post (below)

By Pinaki Ghosh
PayPal Scam 2

Dear valued PayPal member:
We regret to inform you that your account has been suspended.
As a result, your access on PayPal has been restricted. To start using fully your PayPal account, please update and verify your information by responding this notification. If you could please take 5-10 minutes out of your online experience and update your personal records you will not run into any future problems with the online service.
Please update your records on or before July 28, 2006. Once you have updated your account records, your PayPal session will not be interrupted and will continue as normal.
To update your PayPal records click on the following link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run
Thank You.
PayPal - UPDATE TEAM

PayPal Scam 3

Dear users of PayPal services,
Due to upcoming year 2006, and recent changes in Pay Pal’s Service Agreement you need to submit additional details on your PayPal account. Starting from 2006 all PayPal accounts will come with complete detailed information! Identity protection matters. And PayPal works day and night to help keep your identity safe.
According the new changes in Service Agreement any unverified account will be deleted from the system in 72 hours after receiving this letter.

By Pinaki Ghosh

In this section I am producing some of the legendary Phishing mails, exactly as they came, to make you aware of the nature of Phishing mails and as such, alter you. Here is a phishing mail in the unchanged form, claiming to be from PayPal.

Pay Pal Scam 1: Updating Records

Dear Valued PayPal Member,
During our timely schedule account maintenance and verification unfortunately we have detected a slight error in your billing information on one of the files with PayPal.
Such things might occur due to the following problems:
- Any recent changes in your personal information like the change of address
- Our inability to verify the option of payment that you have selected which may be because of an internal error within our processors.
Therefore your account has been temporarily suspended. We need you to confirm your identity so that you can regain full privileges of your account.
However, the failure to update your records will result in account suspension.
In case it is not completed by July 20, 2007, we would reserve the right to terminate all privileges of your account indefinitely, as it may have been used for fraudulent purposes.
We thank you for your cooperation in this manner.To confirm your identity please follow the link below:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run
Thank you for your patience in this matter.
PayPal - Customer Service
Please do not reply to this e-mail as this is only a notification. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

Pinaki Ghosh

Misspelled URLs

This is an old and common trick which is used for phishing till recently and that is of the misspelled URL names. The names of the reputed URLs that are used with a slight difference of spelling, like the www.mybankk.com or by merely adding an extra word, like ‘online’ like the www.mybankonline.com, or at times by just using a sub domain name like the www.mybank.com.name.com; or www.mybank.com@name.host.com. To understand it better, here’s an example: It will fool someone to believe that the letter has been generated by mybank, but in reality it’s more of a username in an URL, like www.name.host.com. Till recently the IE and the also Firefox have not been allowing these tricks.

Floating window Java Script

Another trick that works and is used extensively by the phishers is the floating window Java Script. It uses a Java Script program to show away the actual URL name from the address window, and cover it with the image of a fake one. Hence you see sometimes that what we put our trust in as a real site, maybe jus a spoof.

Stolen identity

Your identity definitely is used by someone else someone else in turn poses as you, and goes about doing criminal activities, and ultimately you are blamed for the same. Stolen Identity is a serious threat to your financially!

Safety holes in browsers

The browsers like the IE (Internet Explorer) too have been cheated by the phishers, by taking the help of the safety holes. The MS security update is a must in your computer, as you can easily fall prey to fake sites, similar sites and which may that result from the browser safety holes.

Pinaki Ghosh

IBM FairUCE, www.ibm.com, free to download

The new and improved IBM Internet Technology Group has now successfully introduced the latest Spam filter which prevents the spam from reaching the recipients inbox by first verifying the identity of the person sending the mail, and hence stops the content filter arms race. One of the most awaited program to fight the spammers by just reverting the spam with accuracy. Hence, it’s the best no doubts about that! But IBM also lacks from giving a satisfactory answer for a common question! What if it ends up bouncing back the valid emails? Present version is 1.0. Platform—Java, Linux.

SpamItBack, www.spamitback.com, free to download, $29.95 for Bonus Version
The Spam-it-back claims that they have created this pack only for free distribution, as they are a group of good programmers who are bugged with spamming and want to take charge of the spammers and teach them a lesson. By using their program, you can by your self create a message that you would want to convey to the spammers. This software would also allow you to mainly focus at the spammers’ websites, the online ordering forms, or any personal spam e-mail addresses that have been discovered, with your message, and makes sure it gets delivered. You can get the message delivered any number of times. You can also make the message as large as you want, 1KB, 10KB, and 100KB. Present version is 1.0 (stable) Platform-Java, Linux.

By Pinaki Ghosh 
According to Peter Hildreth, New Hampshire’s Director of Securities Regulation and President of NASAA, “Today we have an ideal climate for fraud! Millions of new investors, many of whom expect unrealistically high returns, are looking for places to put their money. At the same time we’re living through an Internet-driven technology revolution that is a boon to investors and con artists alike.”
Eric Clark, the Secretary of State, Mississippi, has made a report on the top ten online investment scams in order to caution the internet users from the happenings.
According to Clark, “Securities fraud costs Americans billions of dollars each year; I know Mississippians just like me are investing for their retirement or their children’s education. But all of us need to be careful and watch out for these scams.”
The list has been worked upon by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA).
The following is a list of the most spoken about Top Ten Scams, ranked in an order of seriousness or prevalence:
1) Internet fraud:
The scamsters or the frauds that log on to the web to “pump and dump” small stocks, peddle bogus offshore “prime bank” notes and perpetrate fraudulent pyramid schemes comprises of the first internet scam. Most of the states have certain programs that supervise the web for such fraud and conduct Internet “Surf Days.” The web world is like a city with good people and also bad people, and the people wanting to invest need to be a little extra careful about taking the advice from the people they do not know. Do not invest on the basis of a “tip” on the web without indulging in any independent research. You might not have the slightest hint about who’s offering you the not wanted help.

2) Investment seminars:
The people who invest must know about the seminars that are very costly and where the self proclaimed gurus imply that you can quickly get rich!
By luck, some people do tend to get rich. But if one may observe usually they’re the ones taking the seminars, making the money from the admission fees, and selling their books and audiotapes. An Idea that works to promote oneself! The seminars that are marketed through the media such as the newspapers, radios and TV ads and “infomercials” on cable television too have the capability to get some people in their favor. Just recently the promoters have started their own colloquium and tutorials that promise to turn the investors into a successful stock “day traders.” The day trading, more similar to gambling than investing, is inappropriate for the vast majority of investors.
3) Affinity group fraud:
The people from the closely knit religious, political or ethnic groups are often the target here. The frauds from the same religion, ethnicity or political orientation target them. The crooks that seek to misuse the natural trust of the common people like us. The targeted media advertising is used to recognize the people who can be easily fooled. Most often this works with the offers of employment or mere financial advice. To explain better take an example of the California’s Asian communities that have been wronged by scammers luring them in the foreign exchange investments which are bogus. Most typically the promoters steal the money and absolutely no reserves are made.
4) Abusive sales practices:
The entire State and other securities regulators have been working on and also report progress in the fight against “microcap” stock fraud by suspending, barring and criminally prosecuting brokers who specialize in the manipulation of low-priced securities. But none the less the investors need to be on a constant vigil and should hang up on cold callers.
5) Telemarketing fraud:
The new “boiler rooms” or the high-pressure telephone sales operations are unlocked most of the time, and they sell the illegal or the fraudulent investments. The advertisers try to make the most out of the headlines—from the fears over the Year 2000 problem to the Asian currency crisis or breakthroughs in computers or biotechnology. In one way the weak investors can try and protect themselves by using their telephone answering machine to screen their calls and not even answer solicitations by the much irritating salespeople.
6) Promissory notes:
The growing area of fraud and the notes that are supposedly “insured” and backed by real assets are better known as the promissory notes. In fact, they are backed only by often worthless promises to repay. They tend to give you the high interest rates also to the investors who may be trying hard to get the income from the money market funds or also the certificates of deposits. The investments are sold by the life insurance agents that are lured by the high commissions, and most of the times even they know nothing about the promoters also of the savings beyond what they have been told. Sometimes, the agents do not know much about what has been licensed as the security brokers with the state securities regulators to sell these notes. In most of the cases, the notes must be recorded with the regulators. The multi-state investigations which also have been exposed to a number of the promoters of these notes state that there have had problems with the regulators of the past. Most notes that are questioned are on the behalf of companies which do not even exist. In any case if the companies are legal, investors should realize that the reason these notes are being offered directly to small investors is because banks and venture capitalists have refused to invest in the companies.
7) Viatical investment scams:
The most wanted and the hottest new investment product and at the same time extremely risky, “viatical contracts” are usually the interests in the death benefits of terminally ill patients such as AIDS and cancer victims. The patient who is insured gets a percentage of the death benefit in cash, supposedly to improve the quality of their lives in the last days. The investors get a part of the entire amount of the death benefit when the insured succumbs into his ailment; this is only once a fee is paid off to the viatical investment broker. Because of such reservations in stating as a terminally ill person would die, these investments must be considered extremely exclusive.
8) Entertainment fraud:
The con artists or the frauds zero down on the investors hoping to hit it on a big by purchasing a piece of the next big ship like “Titanic.” Leaving aside the movies and investment vehicles include the cable television shows, video games and other such entertainment products.
9) Ponzi/pyramid schemes:
Almost always in style, these cheat by promise on high rates of return to the investors, but the only people making a profit are the advertisers which send them in motion, at the expense and out of funds from later investors, and those who end up losing their money when the house of cards inevitably caves in.
Illegal franchise offerings:
The State that has now taken the strict action relating to the inadequate information and fraud involving franchise investments, often marketed at business opportunity and franchise trade shows where promoters target people attracted by the prospect of owning their own business.

Today’s post continues from where I left yesterday

Pinaki Ghosh 

The Bait:
The report that you’ve been “pre-qualified” to receive something like a low-interest loan or credit card, or repair your bad credit even though banks have turned you down is the ultimate bait here. To take the benefit of this, you must first be ready to shell up a processing fee which may be of some several hundred dollars.
The Take:
A lawful and pre-qualified take also means you’ve been given the chance to apply. Firstly you must try and complete a form which can still be turned down just in case. If you have paid a fee in advance for the promise of a loan or credit card, you’ve been hustled. There may be a list of lenders, but there’s no loan, and the person you’ve paid has swiped off your money and run away.
Your Safety Net:
If in case you think it’s just a promise with no legal documents, do not pay! The legal lenders never base their cards on “guarantee” or talk about loans before you even apply. It may require that you pay for the application, appraisal, or credit report fees, but these fees rarely are required before the person who is lending is identified and the terms and conditions are completed. The plus is that the fees which are generally paid to the lender and not to the middle man who arranged the much “guaranteed” loan.
You can forward unsolicited email containing credit offers to spam@uce.gov.
 

Debt Relief
The Bait:
This is when the mails advertise themselves in a way that one can combine their bills into their monthly payment without even borrowing; or the stop credit harassments, foreclosures, repossessions, tax levies and garnishments; or pay off your credits.
The Take:
The offers, often involve a lot of bankruptcy proceedings, but rarely say so. The reason being, that it has a negative and at the same time a long term impact on your creditworthiness. A bankruptcy stays on your credit report for 10 years, and can hinder your ability to get credit, a job, insurance, or even a place to live. To top it off, you will likely be responsible for attorneys’ fees for bankruptcy proceedings.

Your Safety Net:
Try getting the main idea from the mails. Before actually resorting to the bankruptcy, get into a conversation with your creditors about arranging a modified payment plan, contact a credit counseling service to help you develop a debt repayment plan, or carefully consider a second mortgage or home equity line of credit. But you must take care that while a home loan may allow you to combine your debts, it may also require your home as security. And just in case you do not make your payments, you could unfortunately lose your home.
You can forward debt relief offers to spam@uce.gov.
 

Investment Schemes
The Bait:
The mails which promise one the “investments” and the high rates of return with little or no risk are the bait here. In one way it seeks the investors to form an offshore bank. In another way it is absolutely vague about the nature of the investment, and also the stress in the rates of return. The promoter’s sometimes publicize the high-level financial connections; and also the fact that they’re privy to information from within the body; also that they’ll give a guarantee on the investment; or again that they’ll buy it back. To stop the deal, they would often serve up phony statistics, and then misrepresent the significance of a current event, or stress the unique quality of their offerings.

The Take:
Most of the unsolicited plans are often a good investment for the advertisers, but not so for the ones taking part. Promoters of fraudulent investments operate a particular scam for a short time, close down before they can be detected, and quickly spend the money they take in. Here, they might open an account in a new name, and also by selling another  

Investment scam.
Your Safety Net:
Take as much time in understanding the offer as the higher the promised return then the higher is the risk. Do not let an advertiser put you under pressure into committing an investment before you are sure that it’s legal.
To understand and sign up for any investment offer, get yourself an attorney or an accountant who can help you understand.
In case of any scam spam, forward it with investment-related schemes to spam@uce.gov.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Work-at-Home Scams
The Bait:
What works here are the advertisements which lure the audience with the steady income in turn of minimal labor — in the medical claims processing, envelope-stuffing, craft assembly work, or other jobs. The ads here use some one liner like: Fast cash, minimal work, no risk and also the advantage of working from home when it’s convenient for you.
The Take:
The amount of time or the hours are not mentioned but only the nature of the work to be done. After you put in your individual time and money, soon after you’re most likely to find your promoters who in turn refuse to pay you, claiming that your work isn’t up to their quality standards.
Your Safety Net:
Whenever you commit any money to anyone, try and find out the nature of the work that you will have to fulfill, or whether you will be paid a salary or work on commission, or also who will pay you, when you will get your first paycheck, the total cost of the program — including supplies, equipment and membership fees — and what you will get for your money. Try getting some advice from a professional lawyer, an accountant, a financial advisor, or another expert if you need it, and check out the company with your local consumer protection agency, not only where the company is located, but also where you live.
You can forward work-at-home scams to spam@uce.gov

Weight Loss Claims
The Bait:
These Weight Loss Claims commit a revolutionary pill, patch, cream, or other product that will result in weight loss without diet or exercise. These products lure and block the absorption of fat, carbs, or calories; others guarantee permanent weight loss; and at the same time suggest that one would lose lots of weight at a lightening speed.
The Take:
These are nothing but ideas that indirectly take over your senses. An immediate hope takes place in a persons mind. Nobody thinks that there’s nothing that is present via email which can be worn or applied to ones skin which can cause any kind of weight loss.
Your Safety Net:
The experts also know for a fact that the most reliable way to cut the fat is to munch on a fewer calories and also gain any kind of physical activity so that you are capable to burn more energy.
To set a goal to lose about a pound in a week is achievable. Most of us, which means that one, have to cut about 500 calories in just a day, by eating a variety of nutritious foods, and exercising regularly. As the lifestyle changes, the weight loss is expected. You can have a conversation with your health care provider about some nutrition and exercise plan which can suit your lifestyle and metabolism.
You can forward your weight loss emails to spam@uce.gov.
Cure-All Products
The Bait:
The mails which actually try to prove that a product is a “miracle cure,” a “scientific breakthrough,” an “ancient remedy” — or an instant quick and effective remedy for a large number of ailments or diseases. These normally announce the very short accessibility, and also require a payment which has to be cleared off in advance, and that also offers a no-risk “money-back guarantee.” The case histories or testimonials by some vague people or doctors which claim to have the amazing results are not at all uncommon.
The Take:
There is no absolutely no item for consumption or nutritional supplement that can be sent through emails and which can prove the claims to shrink tumors, cure insomnia, cure impotency, treat Alzheimer’s disease, and prevent severe memory loss right. This usually deals with the remedies of the diseases; that the companies make claims which follow the FDA’s pre-market testing and review process required for new drugs.

Your Safety Net:
When trying to evaluate any of the health-related claims give it a skeptical thought. If possible consult any of the health care professionals before buying of any “cure-all” packs which claim to find a wide range of ailments or also that offer some quick cures and easy solutions to the much serious illnesses. Frankly speaking, the cure all, cure none formula works here.
You may forward spam with miracle health claims to spam@uce.gov.
Check Overpayment Scams
The Bait:
What can look like a net to trap you can be a response to the ad that you’ve posted or any of the online auction posting, offering to pay with a cashier’s, personal, or corporate check. The so-called buyer (or the buyer’s “agent”) makes up a valid reason for writing the check for more than the purchase price, and can also ask you to wire back the difference once you have deposited the check.
The Take:
You lose just in case you deposit the check. Mostly the checks that are issued are counterfeit, but definitely they are good enough to dupe the unsuspecting bank tellers; and if in any case they bounce, you must pay the entire sum.
Your Safety Net:
Do not agree to a check for any amount which is more than your selling price. Do not succumb into any situation even if it tempts you. You can ask the buyer to give you the check for the purchase price. If the buyer gives you the incorrect sum, return the check. In such cases do not send the merchandise. If you are the vendor who accepts payment by check, you can ask for a check which is drawn on your local bank, or a bank with your local branch. This way, you can also personally make sure that the check is ultimately valid. If this cannot be done call the bank from which the check was drawn and by using the phone number from directory assistance or an Internet site that you know and trust, not from the person who gave you the check. Find out whether the check is totally valid.
You too can forward the check overpayment scams to spam@uce.gov and your state Attorney General.
Also, you can find contact information for your state Attorney General at www.naag.org.

By Pinaki Ghosh 
Also known as Junk Mails, Spam mails are sent at a bulk, and are almost identical. At just one time, these mails are sent to a numerous recipients. Over the years, there has been a considerable increase in the sending of these Spam Mails.  Most of the time, these Spam Mails have a lot of viruses too. There are a lot of precautions that you can personally take care of so that it does not affect you and your computer at a financial level. You can delete the spam mails as and when you see them in your inbox or the junk folder. This war, it would be easier to keep your mail box safe. Spam mails are most of the times mails that are sent by the scamsters. A huge number of spam mails are into circulation nowadays, which is an area of concern. If in any case you want to keep yourself safe from these spam mails, you can follow some safety precautions for yourself. Do not sign in for any newsletters as most of the times, these newsletters are also Spam. Unless and until your sure about the site that you want to view, do not click on to any unknown sites.
Try not entertaining the spammers. Do not fall prey and subscribe to buy what they want to sell. Just mail in a complain mail to them. It is not point trusting the Spam Mails.
Usually the spammers log on to the user nets to hunt for people who can fall prey to these scams. They trick the people in every possible way over the internet. On request, these spammers get the required information from the servers. Spammers have web-spiders that spider through web pages, looking for email addresses (e.g. email addresses contained in mailto: HTML tags).

By Pinaki Ghosh

‘Hacking’ is a concept known by most of the people who log on to the internet. Hacking is a crime! By simply punching some codes, one can get a copy of the passwords and then in turn misuse the account that belongs to someone else. These spoofs hamper the safety of the internet users. Generally people wanting to explore the possibilities of getting into someone else’s account indulge themselves in these hacking tactics. But this is also a way of misusing the information. People who indulge in these crimes are known as Hackers. Usually the hackers hack the computers of big companies and leak the important information.  Hackers normally are not differentiated from the crackers, who are the people who get the unauthorized access to any of the restricted computers. The security of the computers is hampered due to the hacking that takes place. Most of your important information is leaked out due to the hackers. If most of your files are deleted or blocked by the hackers, you cannot access your own PC. This is when we end up saying “My PC has been hacked!”
Just as to protect your PC from such cases, you can install the firewall that can help you and protect you from the existing hackers to a certain extent.

I will continue my series on hacking, phishing, viruses and all other online threats, and how to protect yourself. I shall discuss later who ar ethical hackers and how they can be helpful.

By Pinaki Ghosh

More than 9.9 million people have been hit by the cases of the identity thefts in just a matter of year. This too, only in the United States region. This shows the seriousness of the problem. Even though the people are told to take care of their details, most of the times, a minor mistake can get the consumer in trouble. People are mainly advised to change their passwords at regular intervals. Laptops that are stolen also are a source from which the data is misused. Most of the professionals in hacking get the easy way in stealing the information. If one may see the past records, most of the thefts are done by the teens. This may be due to the lavish expenditures and the interests that the people have nowadays. The teens from your own family can be lured in committing this crime.

To protect your family and yourself from getting hit by these scamsters and con men, you can take the following precautions:

For the overall protection of your personal and financial matters, you must try and keep the information to yourself and avoid mailing such details over the net. You can also have a one to one talk with the teens in the family just so that the information does not leak from your boundary.

Try not passing such details from the cyber cafes and the other internet cafes. Keep such matter on your lap top if necessary or on your home PC. If in any case, you have to mail the details, make sure you log off completely. Clear off the SSL slate and the history in any case.

If at all you receive any mails from any companies for your details, take proper care in getting the details of the same, as most of the times this is in just a part of the phishing scams.

If you use you office computers too, there are chances that your information is been jotted down by people looking over your shoulder

Try not shopping over the net in sites that are not secure, as your credit card details are being passed on across the internet. Secure sites should bear a security seal at the bottom (or elsewhere) and the site will be visible even if you type https:// instead of http:// in the address bar with the url of the site.

Also, giving your teenagers credit cards can be risky.

If you are a victim of the Identity theft, do not waste any more time! Inform the police as well as your bank to stop all the transactions that are being done from your cards. If you have any online accounts, change your passwords immediately. Keep your records intact.

By Pinaki Ghosh

To go out and hire your manpower after settling your finances in setting up your office is the big question! Where would you find manpower?

The first step: chalk out
1. Your wants of the exact number of employees and what are the various types of employees for the suitable designations needed for setting up a small office.
2. Write down the duties to be given to each employee which is extremely essential for setting up a small office.
3. The mode of training is also extremely necessary! It is essential even if you are setting up a small office.
4. Decide upon the justified returns for your workers.

Next step: how to get employees
1. Placement agencies–these are private agencies that are skilled in the job of finding the right candidates and at times charge a minimal fee to do so.
2. Online job sites– pretty effective and also a quick way of finding the right employees.
3. Interns— are the college students who will do your work to gain some professional knowledge. You must get in touch with college authorities for this. They will help you out to get interns.
4. Window poster—pretty simple but effective technique of getting employees for a small office.
5. Hiring freelancers– Hiring freelancers is common in the world of internet marketing. You can keep projects low cost, and compare prices and work of several freelancers.

You also have to decide how you want to keep your employees.

1. Service contract— When you hire your employee for a limited or fixed period of time. After the period is over, you may say goodbye to them. You can get fresh faces and new talents at regular intervals by this system. Also you can keep low on the salary part by this arrangement. You can also go in for this system of getting an employee if the nature of your duties is temporary. The drawback is that the employees may lack motivation and attachment for the office; since they know they will be there for just a few days.
2. Permanent employees– These will be under your payroll. Then you will have to face with all HR related and union related issues. But since there is no middleman between you and your employee, you may save on the payments you will be making for compensation/wages/salary. Employees give their best in this system. A raise that is given regularly is what the biggest drawback is in this case!
3. Professional Employer Organizations— You can take the help of these organizations that can supply you with employees. The organization will deal with the HR related headaches and you can be much relieved in these issues. Employees will be under their payroll and will be actually the employees of that organization. The drawback here is that the organization will eventually control your office.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Once you take the plunge into the internet marketing business, mostly your mode of payment would be via the credit cards to make the online payments. It’s not always secure to make online payments through the credit card.

You can follow some of the tips from experts on online credit card safety:

• Truly, encryption technology means online transactions can be much safer than using your card over the phone or by fax.

• But the buying must be done from the secure sites only. A small closed lock symbol towards the lower, right side of the site (Internet Explorer), or an unbroken key on a dark blue background at the bottom of a site (Netscape Navigator assures that the site is protected. It also means that your credit card, and purchase information is scrambled over the net; which means your credit card information is safe. But the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) reports that these symbols can be duped also.

• It’s not safe to pass on your credit or debit card info out via email, nor use it as proof of who you are.

• In case of getting any deals do the needful with only known companies. If it is a little known company, ask for their printed documents for your records.

• Mostly you must pay through a third party between you and the merchant, like Pay Pal, rather than directly giving away your credit/debit card information to the merchant.

• In case of doubts, take strict and swift action. You must not ignore to report to the bank immediately.

• Go through your statements and be sure that the amounts shown are yours. At times it may happen that the business name is different from the brand name, and what looks like an unauthorized transaction, may really be your transaction! Be careful!

• If you’re assured that the amount was not transacted by you report the card as stolen to the company, and also to your bank. Even if you still have the piece of plastic, someone else has the numbers. So it’s stolen, anyway.

• Use complex, alphanumeric (combination of letters and numbers) passwords for online accounts. Do not use your personal information like wife’s name, son or daughter’s name, your own nickname, your car number, your phone number etc. for such accounts. There are chances that whoever is using your account is acquainted to these details too.

• Try using just one card for the transactions.

  By Pinaki Ghosh 
The Idea:
Most of us would want to agree that Paypal is one of the best things that developed in the e-commerce zone. Paypal has a heavy ranking among the most popular sites, and also is an assured form of sending and withdrawing payments between you and the customer. If you do not wish to give your credit card details to the merchant as it may prove to be a risky affair, send your payments through Paypal! Isn’t that beneficial? Paypal stays between you and the vendor and your details remain a secret. People with an email address can easily, and without hassles and on a faster mode receive and send payments online, using the Paypal system. Paypal works on the existing network of bank accounts and the credit cards, to create a global payment solution. Paypal also is a brand acquired by Ebay.
To open an account:
You really do not have to shell out money to open a Paypal account or even send money via Paypal. A person with an email id and a valid credit/debit card can open a Paypal account and from then start receiving and sending money. However, to withdraw or transfer money you need to get verified, which will cost US$1.95, that will be charged on your credit or debit card account.  In your card statement you will receive a 4 digit expanded use number, which you have to use, to get the expanded use process completed. Once you get verified by Paypal, you can use the seal ‘Paypal verifier’ in your site; which gives more confidence to those who will deal with you.
To get the payments done: Paypal is extremely easy and instant. After getting registered for a PayPal account, you need to get the payments done, and also add your credit or debit card to your account, click on the “Send Money” tab, and then enter the email address of the person who will be receiving the payment. Also you may use your PayPal balance or your checking account to fund your payment.
Is it safe?
Paypal takes the help from the SSL technology to keep the information safe. When you complete the payment through the Paypal system, the much risky information like the credit card number, bank account number, is not revealed. Even the receiver does not know about the payments. However as I mentioned earlier about the phishing mails, which get your information and eventually hack your account are a scary thought! You must be careful with such mails and scamsters. The actual Paypal site would never ask for your password etc by sending you mails.

By Pinaki Ghosh
The Blackhat SEOs are the search engine optimizers who repel the illegal means and practices in order to encourage and boost the website rankings in the search engines. It involves methods that break the TOS of all reputed search engines. Cloaking, spamming, keyword & link stuffing, using doorway pages and site hijacking are some of the methods used by black hat SEOs.
The term black hat SEO is exactly the opposite of the White hat SEOs, who then use legal, ethical means for the search optimization. These terms have evolved from the classic western movies, where the cowboy hero is seen wearing a white hat, and the villains, wear on the black hat. Most take the witches from the tales wearing a tall, wide brimmed black hat. Thus, the black hat symbolizes the evil.
To save money employs the Blackhat SEO’s which are also economical. Most take their help to pull them out from some sort of trouble they have stepped into. Blackhat SEOs are known to solve some of the toughest problems with ease. But still, the Blackhat SEOs are never employed by any famous organizations. Blackhat SEOs do not believe in ethics and follow no ethical guidelines. They will give a high rank to a site by methods that are fair or foul. It is however debated that many SEOs who pose to be white hats, are really black hats in disguise. This theory differentiates that the black hats and the white hats live in the same body. Some white hat SEOs who copy paste content of one site into another, and thus create 50 or 100sites, are really Blackhat SEOs; lacking in ethics. A true writer white hat will never create a second site with content of another site.
The sufferers are the search engines, who are deceived and made to list bogus sites above good sites. Next to suffer are the surfers, who have to make up to choose the better sites from the list containing the bad, ugly and the spammer sites.

Pinaki Ghosh

When one adds the website to any of the search engine, it automatically uses a scanning software called ‘spider’ to go through the content of web pages. The so called spider then adds the links to the other pages to read all information on the different pages and join them in a larger database of the search engine. If then there is any need of the information on certain keywords from the search engine, it would help in searching its database and look out for sites offering information on the keywords that are needed. Most search engine have there own crawlers which vary in code from each other, but at the same time, have a similar set of rules which one can then apply to look on the web.
The simplest forms that are used by these crawlers are the HTML codes that are used by the sites and come free from errors. Why make a face if one does not find his site cached by the search engines; the mistake lies in the poor coding of that particular site. It also can mean that the menu system design restricts the technological spiders to follow it. In such a case your site will not be indexed by the search engines.

You can correct by following the ways given below:

(a) Change the menu system to CSS type, text based menu system.
(b) Add a text menu below the web page (as a second menu system).
(c) Update the latest code to a search engine friendly version.
You can also optimize your web page by keeping the following advices in mind:
(i) When it comes to understanding pictures the search engines are useless. They really understand nothing much but only the text names of the pictures. Thus, using the ‘alt tags’ which are text equivalent of the pictures on the site helps.
(ii) Try and make up a site map away connecting from the main page, to let the search engines find out the other pages of your site.
(iii) Never use the same kind of color of the text and background. Also, making the text appear transparent can get you penalized by any of the search engines for using irrelevant ways.
(iv) Try not to use the ‘hidden text’ in your CSS files.
Make use of the traditional techniques like the title, description, metatags, and at the same time some good content in your site; and then be convinced that your page will be cached.

The world of online business through cyberspace has provided people from all over the world the opportunity of connecting and communicating.. www.focusonprosperity.com.au, is an Australia based company offering home based business opportunity. www.focusonprosperity.com.au.  is the business segment of ‘Life path Unlimited’, a company offering products in the personal development and personal growth industry.
As you log in, the company offers an individual-
1) A home based business opportunity with a unique team support.
2) Personal and prosperity development products that are claimed to be the best in the   industry that transforms life.
3) An opportunity to create an executive-level income within 4 months or so, without being involved in selling, convincing, monthly product purchase, any inventory or product delivery.
4) Secrets of business success from leaders in the online marketing industry.
5) Personal one-on-one training that will help the entrepreneurs to establish and grow their Home Based business.
6) A home based business that is positioned for explosive growth over the next 12 months, transforming the life of the individual as well as the people with whom they work with.
The most unique feature that I came across while going through the business plans of the company is the compensation plan that it offers in the direct sales industry. Even after retirement, individuals will still be receiving a residual income. Apart from the aspect of self development, this is one reason why I would recommend this home based business opportunity.

Good Points
The website has a unique page layout. After logging in to the site, a visitor need not wonder where to go and look for the required information for setting up a business. Every bit of necessary information is laid out in the most simple and unsophisticated way, so that even the most ordinary person can avail of all the information that he/she is looking for. The site has been built up in the most user friendly way as possible. It consists of all the top features that a good website should have.
1)      The site has easy readability, with background colors that make the text attractive and pleasing to the eye.
2)      In terms of navigability, the site is unique as the visitors do not have to look for information and be frustrated .Neither do they face any hassles, as everything is laid out before them in the simplest form. They do not have to click here and there for any information or query that they have. The division on Citizen Corps provides the visitors provides all research based information on home based business, which will guide the individual in the decision making process.
3)      The site loads quickly and the visitors do not have to wait for a long time.
4)      There is no dead link on any page, and the layout ensures that if a visitor visits that page he/she should get all the relevant information regarding the business. It also gives the visitor a very clear picture at the first instance whether this is actually what he/she is looking for.
5)      The content is apt, precise and to the point and interesting for the visitors, and provides a vivid description to the visitor what the website is about. It also contains the contact details of entrepreneurs Brad and Sonya, so that apart from the general information that the site presents, visitors can also personally contact them with any other queries related to the home based business that individuals might have.
6)      The site has been created aptly keeping the target audience of prospective home based business owners in mind. It is simple and bold, expressing what the visitors can expect from the site, an exposure to the business by Robert Kiyosaki, a contact page at the bottom for visitors to fill up to get a glimpse into the reviews that would help them to make a choice, and information about the entrepreneurs themselves.
Suggestions for improvement
1.    After you have glanced the home page, you discover that you cannot locate any other link and wonder where to go from there. There is a form below where you have to leave your name, email address and that is the gate pass to the other pages. Here I had two questions that came up in my mind. This form will discourage a majority of visitors to visit the other pages, because nowadays people do not want to leave their email addresses in order to avoid receiving spam. This is why I left a fake name and email address and while I was wondering whether it will block my way; it allowed me inside! Thus you can fool the system and enter the internal pages leaving a bogus name and email identity.

2.    Though there is an excellent support team provided by ‘Life Path Unlimited’, which truly leads individuals to a wide range of options to choose from, a website that contains all information in a comprehensive manner will always be a better choice for individuals who are venturing out for a home based business setup. When a visitor will get all relevant information from a single site, he/she will remain a permanent visitor and customer to that site.

By Pinaki Ghosh

If you have still not heard of Alexa; don’t feel shy, beauause many internet users still are not aware of Alexa. So, what’s Alexa?

It helps in giving rankings to the sites, and is therefore an extremely powerful tool which can compare the traffic of a site to the rest of the web. Alexa a brand owned by the very famous www.Amazon.com, gives ranking to any site with the help of the users participation. It also includes the webmaster services and data services.
To see the ranking of your site you can either log on to http://www.alexa.com, and then type in the name of any site, whose rank you would want to see, or else install the Alexa toolbar on your browser which is much more convenient. After you have installed the Alexa toolbar, you can view the various numbers on the toolbar, as you visit the sites. These numbers are basically the rankings of the sites. The lowest the number, the more visited site it is. Like Yahoo ranks no1, Google no5 and Amazon.com no 14; it means Yahoo is the most visited site on the internet.
Want to know how it works? As you install the Alexa toolbar on the browser, it starts scrutinizing all the sites that you visit; at the same time using the data to rank the sites. Then Alexa casts a vote to that site for the day. However you do not get more votes if you visit the same site several times during the same day. Soon after, It monitors the number of pages of the site you visit, and then adds up the number of pages you visit during the day (again, it does not count the same page twice, if you have visited it twice). The reach is the counting of each view, and the counting of page visits is called page views. Alexa combines these figures and uses the same data for three months to calculate the traffic visiting a site.

By Pinaki Ghosh

To know the importance of the keyword density, we must know the importance of the keywords first. It is a word used to find the similar web pages. It was popularized during the early days of Internet search, as it was not possible to ask natural language questions and find the desired sites. Searches gave the best results if only a few keywords were chosen and searched for. These “keywords” capture the essence of the topic in a question and were likely to be present on all sites listed by the search engine. Many modern search engines have methods for determining which words in a search string are important and are ought to be treated as keywords. Words like articles (a, an, the) and the conjunctions (and, or, but) are not keywords as almost every English-language site on the internet. Searching for these words is a mere waste of time!

Most of the websites present themselves high on the list of the search results by increasing the keyword density. Which means, if the keywords appear frequently on the website, there are chances that the search engines would find your site several times and list them high.

The term keyword density mathematically means the number of times the main keyword would appear in any passage, which can be divided by the total number of words in the passage and then multiplied by 100. Like a 5% keyword density means that the keyword appears 5 times for every 100 words of the passage. 4% - 7% is normally the best ratio of keyword appearance. The keywords should not at one place, and must be spaced out throughout the content. The search engines fine the artificial and unjustified ways in which the search engine optimization takes place, like by increasing keyword density, like repeating keywords one after another spacing them out by commas. Some of the black hats SEOs use techniques like hidden keywords by making the keyword color same as the background color, and increasing keyword density. The search engines penalize anyone using text color very close to the background color. Penalized sites therefore, get a poor ranking.

You can take the professional help of www.writer4me.com for your site in this regard.

By Pinaki Ghosh 

The Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns work the best in comparison of the other ad campaigns. By using the keyword search, the Google, Yahoo and MSN search engines have worked in benefit of the people. But they also give the special benefits to the sites which pay them. If you shell out some money with the Google AdWords, your site’s name will flash on a good ranking on the search results. If you pay the ‘Yahoo Search Marketing’ then even Yahoo will list you in the 3 major positions on their search engine. This means they control the natural listings and pull up the names of sites that pay them.
Discover the 7 secrets to improve the performance of your PPC ads. To know more, read the following:

1. Optimize
‘Optimize’ has two meanings:
(a) Make the advertisement copy or banner perfect, professional-looking, and target oriented. As you pay heavily to run the ad campaigns, you must understand which phrase or copy will attract the maximum number of visitors. Use a professional and get the banners and the copy done, rather than trying them yourself. (b) Make your site optimized with a high keyword density for the keywords which you will be paying to run the PPC ad-campaign. Most of the people make the mistake of paying for the PPC keywords, but not optimizing them in their own sites, which means their sites have a low keyword density, resulting in poor campaign-result and wasted funds.

2. Consider increasing your budget if you want your PPC ads to appear more frequently
If some organizations which lie in the same category bid for the same keyword; the highest bidder, will appear on position no. 1 in the search engine listings, followed by the second highest bidder and then the third. When the ads appear in any other websites, the advertisements of the highest bidder (and the payer) will appear most frequently followed by the others. If you want your ads to appear on position number 1, or more frequently, you have to consider paying more.

3. Go with the giants
There are a lot many organizations which provide the PPC ad service, but it is always the best to go with the biggies like the Google (AdWords), Yahoo (Yahoo Search Marketing) or MSN (MSN AdCentre). The others like LookSmart, Kanoodle, Findwhat, BlowSearch are good but cannot be compared and their tools for preventing click fraud are not so well developed.

4. Avoid Flash and flashy pages
The Flash landing pages and pages with music take a long time to load, resulting in visitors pressing the ‘back’ button and moving away from your website. This will be a heavy loss for you. Not only will you lose your customers and still have to pay for their visit. Colorful pages do not look good or professional. The light pages in combination with the formal colors look best to the visitors.

5. Make the correct judgment about landing pages
Most of the sites make their guests land on their home page from the PPC ads. The home page is not always the best page for the business purposes. Try and understand which of the pages are the most convenient to give the maximum business, and link the ads to that particular page. The page should have the ‘buy now’ tabs which can be located conveniently.

6. Run campaigns seasonally
Since these campaigns are not a minor cost, it is advisable to run them seasonally, mostly during your high seasons.

7. Narrow down on keywords
Try and avoid adding many keywords or keywords that are not specific, as that would result in increasing your budget unnecessarily. Mostly try to target the specific interest groups rather than the entire world. Like, ‘vintage car tyres’ will cost much less than just ‘tyres’, as there will be people bidding for the keyword ‘tyres’.
If you’re bidding for $40 PPC, you will have to pay $40 in advance, and the entire sum will be deducted from your account when 100 people click their mouse on your name in the list. Thus, when your PPC balance reaches zero, you will have to pay in advance again.

By Pinaki Ghosh 

Viral Marketing is the most inexpensive and at the same time widely studied strategy of the internet marketing today. The name too, as it sounds, has been derived from the study of the multiplication of the virus which is also the growth. The Virus divides from 1 to 2, 2 to 4, 4 to 8, 8 to 16 and so on. The figure below would help you understand the viral marketing campaign:
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The central idea is; give out interesting things to people free of cost, with the name of your site inscribed in it, and people will happily pass them to others. The name of your site will spread like wildfire.
1. Give some laughing gas to people
People love to laugh no matter what age group they belong to. But however, the strain of modern lifestyle increases the hunger for laughter in people all the more. Giving out funny stuff, free of cost, from your site, and mainly via mails to your friends in and outside MySpace will work positive. It may include very funny pictures and videos. And, not to forget; the funny stuff must carry the name of your site written on them, or your effort is a waste. The people, who receive them, will love them, and pass them to a number of other friends, and the stuff will automatically keep passing as a chain-mail.

2. Give out free e-books, exploiting people’s greed
Most of the people are greedy by nature. If you give them some free e-book which promises success, they will be happy. Do pass your friends some free e-books and they will in turn pass the same to many other friends. This will go on for 6 to 7 stages, and within 2 weeks, the free e-book will reach a huge number of people. People must exhibit a burning interest for the book that will be an outcome of their greed. This will make you successful. Needless to say, the e-book must have a link to your site.

3. Exploit social networks
The viral marketing exploits social networks. Most of the people keep regular contact with 12 people on an average, who are the inner circle of friends and associates. If people love something, they almost invariably share it with these 12 people of the innermost circle. This is one of the secret of viral marketing success.

4. Keep it easy to transfer
The stuff you will give out for free must be essential. That means; it must be something which is transferable and downloadable over the internet. It should be easy and quick to transfer. If it is difficult to transfer or takes a very long time to download, you will fail to achieve the best result.
5. Campaigns must be repeated with new stuff in 2 – 3 weeks
The effect of a viral marketing campaign lasts for at least 2 – 3 weeks, after which it dies out. You have to repeat the process with a new campaign every 2 – 3 weeks, with new free stuff to give away.

6. Allow others to use your stuff
Make your stuff copyright free, so that they can be freely used and transferred to others.

7. Be ready for a magical growth
As people say, the virus that you create can kill you. This kind of viral marketing can lead to unbelievable rapid growth. If you are not ready to grow with it, it’s your business that will suffer. You must be ready to handle 10 times the order within a given time, or a bigger bandwidth for your website, to handle the additional traffic-load. You must be ready to hire people whenever necessary. If you can’t supply at par with the growing demand, you die!

By Pinaki Ghosh

This kind of a site allows the webmasters the ability to promote their sites or the associates, marketing campaign absolutely free of cost. This is just like the Click bank site, except that the exchanging is free. Without paying any charges to the traffic trading site, one can opt to surf and browse through the hundreds of affiliate programs which are offered.

The advantages of using free traffic sites are:

•  Saving; It is free!
• These sites get lots of visitors and members. You will get the attention of these visitors.
• Search engines give a lot of attention to traffic trading sites for:
  o Their heavy traffic.
  o Rapidly changing content.
  o Have several outgoing links.

By Pinaki Ghosh

1. Give away freebies: The most common methods that work is to forcefully make people sign up and give their details so as to give out free gifts. These free gifts should preferably be digitally downloadable. It should be automatically downloadable, to cut off any hassle.

Such free gifts are generally:
E-books on subjects like:
o Self help
o ‘How to’ topics
o ‘7 Secret tips’ type topics
o Business/career tips
o Internet business related
o Stress management
o Relationship development
o Health/fitness
o Travel
o Child care

• Software products of small niche utility, like mail management.
• Games
• Video
• Music

2. Disable some features for non members: While making your website, make an option for signing in. This means visitors have to become members to use all the features i.e. they will have to sign in to use the features. Non members should be allowed to see everything, but should not be allowed to use all features. If your website has appealing material, visitors will view everything and ultimately sign up.
This way you can get paid members too!

3. Allow a trial, create an addiction: Most of the times give a 30 day trial period to your users. After 30 days if they want to use all the features, or the software, they will have to sign up, may it be with payment. This will definitely work.

4. Offer discounts to members: You must showcase two types of rates for your products and services. One should be for the members; and the other for non members. This difference of rate will automatically make your visitors sign up.

NEW DELHI: Not just the economy even the US newspaper industry is going through tough times these days. Shrinking circulation, dwindling

advertising revenues, growth of the internet edition and rising newsprint prices have together put pressure on their margins. Even the best and most established US newspapers are feeling the heat.

To cope with the pressure, most newspapers have adopted various cost cutting measures. From reducing global coverage, cutting down the number of pages, streamlining resources and cutting excess jobs, they are trying out all kind of combinations to stay ahead. Now, the industry is also contemplating outsourcing some work outside the country to reduce costs.
The trend started a few years ago, as some US-based newspapers offshored their editorial work to India. In the next five years, offshoring is expected to gain traction.

According to a study done by Pune-based research firm ValueNotes, the offshore opportunity from newspaper publishers (including both the US and UK) is estimated to be around $3.5 billion.

It’s expected to reach $12 billion by 2012. The number of people employed in this industry is also likely to cross 5,500. Interestingly, the overall publishing outsourcing industry too has been growing fast in India for some years now.

There are over 100 vendors in this space. What’s more, revenues from Indian publishing offshoring is slated to grow from $444 million in 2006 to reach $1.46 billion in 2010. An estimated 26,000 people work in this space and the number is likely to grow to 74,000 by 2010. Most (96%) of the India-based vendors have capabilities to service the academic publishing segment. But newspaper outsourcing is different. And its this space that’s gaining ground now. As of now, only the top Tier 1 newspapers from the US are offshoring. Their work is largely limited to ad production services.

However, as the space matures, Tier 2 and Tier 3 publishers too are expected send a wide range of work to India. Since its still in the early stages, only a few service providers are active in India. According to ValueNotes research, the total number of people employed in the newspaper outsourcing industry is around 2,300, as of July 2008. However, there is a scarcity of ‘end-to-end’ service providers. And as the space grows vendors are expected to build complementary capabilities to achieve this objective.

However, as the space matures, Tier 2 and Tier 3 publishers too are expected send a wide range of work to India. Since its still in the early stages, only a few service providers are active in India. According to ValueNotes research, the total number of people employed in the newspaper outsourcing industry is around 2,300, as of July 2008. However, there is a scarcity of ‘end-to-end’ service providers. And as the space grows vendors are expected to build complementary capabilities to achieve this objective.

Source: Times of India News, 23 Sept, 2008