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3 Tips To Avoid Internet Marketing Scams

February 26, 2013 by admin 1 Comment

The online world is full of scams. While this does not sound very promising for someone who is starting up their own business, it is important to be aware of the risks and dangers that are out there. Finding unbiased information is a lot more difficult these days, especially considering the amount of marketing that takes place on the Internet. There will always be people out there who are looking to make a quick buck. The first thing business leaders need to understand is what they have to do in order to avoid getting tricked or scammed. This is especially important for businesses like Pittsburgh Internet Marketing Exact and individuals who are just started to sell their services online.

Avoiding the Scams: Look for Reviews

Internet marketing scams can take a number of different shapes. This is often what can make it difficult to determine what is the truth and what is a scam. Some scammers are very clever and very good at hiding their true motivations from readers. If you receive an offer, it is a good idea to see if others have received it as well. What you can do is simply search online to see if others have had the same experience. By reading through the reviews of a specific company or website, you will begin to get an idea of what the company is like. It is important to remember that some customers may have it out for the company, and may falsely state that it is a scam. The trick here is to look at how many reviews state the company is a scam. Another possibility is that the scammer paid ‘customers’ to write good reviews of their website. Although this is not a completely accurate way of determining a scam, it is a good indicator that something is not right.

Contact Details

This may seem like a very simple thing to do, but it is vital that every business has contact details available. Normally when you go onto a website, there will be an icon that clearly marks out the company’s contact information. These will normally include a telephone number, an address, an e-mail and sometimes even a fax number. A lot of the time, there will also be a help desk available for customers who have questions. Steer clear of websites that have none of this. If you want to make doubly sure, you can always ask a question. See how long it takes for the company to get back to you. Companies that take themselves seriously and care about their customers needs will always respond to you promptly, even if it is two or three days later.

Look at Their Product Patterns

Scammers generally do not have sustainable products. Since these products generally do not last, they are going to constantly need new ones in order to replace them. Take a look at the product history of the company and, again, make sure to look at reviews. Patterns of new products being released only months apart is going to indicate a true scam here.

Keeping safe on the Internet is important, and it is also important to scrutinize anyone that you come across. There is a lot of opportunity out there for unscrupulous people to take advantage of others. By knowing some of the telltale signs, you will be able to avoid the worst companies.

Using Proxy to Check SMB Competition

November 29, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

By Sharon Robinson

If you are surfing the Net and don’t realize that every keystroke you make and every search you instigate is being monitored than you have no right to be on the Net. Information is being gathered at all times to feed this beast that is the Internet; information that is available to virtually everyone for the right price.

This information is vital if you are running a business with an online presence. Never has it been easier to monitor your competition than with the Internet. The Internet has served to destroy barriers to entry in most fields and encourages small and medium sized businesses to broaden their horizons and seek growth via exports to foreign countries. It is this fostering of competition that means that you must keep a closer eye on your competitors than ever because every niche that is perceived as being profitable quickly attracts an inordinate amount of competition. In cyberspace it is the quick or the dead.

If your competition is worth keeping an eye on then rest assured they are targeting overseas markets with tailored content and advertising to suit local tastes. The foreign sites will probably require different keywords and will attract local advertising as another revenue source. So why not monitor their offshore strategies and perhaps copy what you deem to be their successful campaigns. After all, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and all is fair in love and business.

However, when you perform searches, the search is tailored to your previous search patterns and also localized for content. Via your IP address, the servers know where you are based and respond accordingly. Using a proxy server though, you can check your competition with impunity, safe in the knowledge that you cannot be tracked and your competition will never know you have been checking them out.

Similarly, you can receive accurate search results from foreign websites of your competitors by using a proxy server in the country from which you want to receive the search results. For example, if you want to see how your competitor is tackling the Swedish market, you can connect to a Swedish proxy server and receive localized Swedish search results.

Although there are free proxy services that usually compel you to receive free advertising, it is best to pay for a premium proxy such as GeoSurf where you are assured premium service and you may even select from over 100 countries from which to “surf.” The cost is not exorbitant and it is a legitimate business write-off.