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I received this by email the other day from Willie Crawford so please take notice.

“First of all, DON’T click on ANY LINK in ANY Skype message that you get from me.  I rarely send links in Skype messages unless I am already in the middle of a conversation with you.

Apparently, my Skype account has been hi-jacked, which means that my hundreds of Skype contacts likely received a phishing message trying to get you to click on a link, where upon you’ll be prompted to log back into your Skype account, and they will hijack the account.  I don’t remember going through all that, but I DO remember a cryptic email from a friend (who normally sends fairly cryptic emails) asking me to take a look at something.

I intuitively asked what it was before clicking on the link, and was satisfied enough with the also cryptic response that I clicked on it.

At that point, Skype started to download something to my computer, and I stopped the download, but Skype logged me out, and when I logged back in, I guess that’s where the damage was done!

Over the next hour or so, I got emails and phone calls from a dozen friends telling me that they think my Skype account has been compromised… and they based that upon the REALLY poor English in the Skype messages they were getting.

One friend pointed me to this link which explained what was likely going on: http://getincomeblog.com/tag/cyber-vandals/

Skype doesn’t seem to have a convenient way for you to deal with the issue, a support ticket could take days to get a response… and there is no number on their site that I could find.  The hacker apparently changed the contact details to HIS email address, so I can’t retrieve the new password (since he apparently changed it) and I can’t delete the account.

Stay tuned, but I don’t currently have control of MY old Skype account.  I thought of starting a new one, but will try to resolve the issue through channels.  Skype has done one thing that indicates they are aware of the problem.

Starting a new account would mean that I’d lose the 500 or so contacts that I had in my account… many of whom I routinely communicated with

Apparently, this problem is pretty big, which is why I’m sending you this alert.

Willie Crawford”

Please keep this in mind next time you receive a link in Skype, even if it is from someone you know.

Even if you are not currently promoting a product or service of your own, but are instead involved in affiliate marketing or CPA offers, you still need to be able to generate traffic in order to create profitable campaigns.

For many new marketers, the first step in building an online presence involves creating a newsletter that targets a specific niche market. Again, you will need to know how to generate traffic to your squeeze page in order to build your lists and monetize your email campaigns.

Thankfully, setting up effective traffic campaigns isn’t difficult or
expensive.

To read more and find out how to get traffic to your website(s), click here…

http://bit.ly/d5arNv

20 Productivity Boosting Methods For The Positive Mind

Individuals can get engrossed in the details of their lives and chase the next big thing without finding time to complete the projects they previously started. When faced with all of their incomplete projects, they often become deluged and start to procrastinate. You’ll find that their productivity decreases and they don’t produce the results or environment you’re used to seeing. What are the things on your list of things that need to get done?

Discover how you can…

• Get Rid Of It and Setting Daily Goals
• Dreaded First and Apex Cycles Of Productiveness
• No Communication Times and Micro-Mileposts
• Time Framing and Wake Early
• Pacing and Clear The Clutter

People who struggle in business and life will find these things in common:

• They don’t know how to set goals.
• They have no idea how to find their productive times of the day
• They are struggling with the idea of micro-mileposts.
• They also don’t understand time framing!

The time is right for you to  make the necessary changes needed for you to be successful!

Don’t know about you but I have trouble asking for help especially since I took over this business with there being so much to learn and know to be successful.  I don’t want people to think I’m dumb and for the most part I’m still not sure what sort of help to ask for so I’ve just been doing what I can.  But that hasn’t been working out very well for me so far to bring in more income.  It has been mostly a hit and miss thing and that isn’t good at all.

I do get some input, suggestions from other IM’ers, which is great and truly appreciated but I just don’t know how to keep it going.  Or which skill is important for me to be working on right now, sometimes I think I’m trying to do too many things at one time, other times I don’t seem to do enough.

I’m still having trouble engaging my subscribers, even when I send them a “free gift” not many take it or I get a lot of unsubscribed.  I’m feeling more desperate now than when Barry first died.   It has been over a year and I should be much better at this or at least my understanding should be better but I don’t feel it is.  I’ve had people tell me I’ve come a long way since March 2009 and yes I have in some respects but not in others.  Some days I just stare at my computer not knowing where or what to do, I’m sure some of you felt the same way when you first started, at least I hope this feeling isn’t just mine.

I’m not looking to make millions although that would be nice but I just want to be able to pay my bills and have some left over instead of struggling to pay my bills.  I’m not mad at Barry for dying so suddenly anymore but I am still a bit disappointed that he didn’t make sure I knew what I needed to to continuing running our business.

 

Yes, I’m UPSET (No Furious) about them and I feel they have no place in Internet Marketing. I take a great deal of pride in NOT using them. I hope this matters to you. It sure does matter to me.

I have seen them for quite some time, but in the last few months, they have been EVERYWHERE!

You know the ones:

“CREDIT PENDING On Your Account”
“Download Request: ZH74L96WE – Please retain for your records!”
“RE: Refund”
“RE: DELIVERY NOTIFICATION”
“Order Confirmation – please save this email”
“Verification Email (Action Required)”

…and the list goes on.

What? Do these “other” marketers think everyone on their list is stoopid? (yes, I know I misspelled stupid) Did you really order something and forget that you did? Did you “REALLY” ask them for a refund?

They are simply playing with your mind just to get you to open their emails and that is WRONG! In my opinion, this is deceptive, unethical and ridiculous, maybe even cheating. You be the judge. They may and I said may even be breaking some of the rules in the can-spam act which is a law not just an “act”.

It is also giving us (myself included) a bad name in this business.  I’m fighting for every “opened” email I can get and yes, people in general are not opening as many emails as they once were. I am not a rich man monetarily, not even close. I am though “rich” in my beliefs that being honest, ethical and sincere is what is expected of me. It IS the right way to conduct yourself both in business as well as your personal life.

I will always believe that a subscriber list whether it be 100 or 10 thousand and worked hard for in a honest and ethical way is better than a “list” of 50 or 100 thousand that was achieved through deception and/or unethical practices or shall we say “TRICKERY”.

Which list would you be proud of? Do you like this being done to you? Do you feel insulted by this kind of marketing?

I bet you don’t care for it and I’d love to hear from you about it.  In a fairly short even one sentence statement, I would greatly appreciate your input.

I have set up a dedicated email address for this and if you would be so kind, please click the link and send me your thoughts on this matter. I will compile all responses after 5 days or so and share them with my fellow honest and ethical marketers plus send them out to you as a newsletter so you can see what other’s thoughts and opinions are.
A fellow IM’er,  Randy Koehler, wrote this email and I agree totally with what he has to say.  If you’ve been on my list for any length of time, you know that I have never sent subject lines like those and never will. If you would like to comment on these subject lines, send Randy and email at
goodmarketing@marketing-your-way.com

Any and all comments are welcome even if you think this form of  marketing is acceptable, I’d like to hear from you because I value every single person’s opinion that this letter will reach. Heck, tell a friend about it if you’d like.

I ask that you not be offended in any way by this email, but if you are, I’d love to hear from you as well. 

————- My thoughts on this subject…..

What I’ve usually do is go through and delete the emails with these or similar subject lines but now I will just be unsubscribing from them even though some that I’ve received have been from well known Internet marketers.  I know they are human just like me and there is no excuse for these sorts of subject line but it is still disappointing to see them using these.

I have received some comments so far from my mailing today on this subject, here is one and I will post more as I receive them.  Please feel free to post your thoughts about this subject and to send Randy your comments as well.

“Hi Martha,

YES!!!!!  I am VERY tired of those kinds of subject lines!  I have
tried to complain to marketers about it but most of them can’t be
reached easily and the few that have replied to my complaint always
defended their actions – so now I handle it much differently…

Whenever I receive emails from marketers with misleading subject lines
(and those I’ve listed below especially!) I ALWAYS do 2 things…

FIRST – I unsubscribe from any and ALL lists I may be on that belong
to that marketer…

SECOND – I delete every single email I ever got from that marketer
(often there are hundreds!).

Extreme?  Maybe – but that’s just how much I do NOT like those kinds
of tactics and if that’s the sort of thing the marketer is teaching then I do not want his emails taking up space in my inbox!
Some of the subject lines that irk me the most (in case you’re compiling a list) say something like…

“Paypal Payment Received” (or some such wording to imply you made a
paypal sale)…
…since I have a couple of websites that take Paypal payments this type of email always feels like a mean, juvenile prank.

“Clickbank Order Received” (or wording to that effect to imply a clickbank sale was made)…
…I also sell a product through Clickbank so these are just more mean, juvenile pranks.

“Re: Fill-in-the-blank”…
…any email with “Re:” in the subject implies that it’s a reply to something I sent (and it never is) – very misleading!

“CANCELLED By myName”…
…then after opening I find it has nothing to do with anything I may have cancelled – I’m relieved at first (because I don’t remember canceling anything) and then I feel angry that someone got me concerned and worried for nothing!

And like you said – the list goes on.

Please forward my thoughts to as many marketers as you wish – post it
on as many websites as you wish – or whatever.  You have my permission
to do anything you wish with any part of this email if it will help with this problem – it really is getting out of hand.

Thank you very much for allowing me to rant and share my irritation -
I feel much better now.

Have a terrific day today! 

Lynn”

Here is another comment…

”

Hi Martha.

Hope all is going well for you. Nice to hear from you.

I cannot agree with you more about these email subjects!

There have been many marketers doing this. I had been on one very popular marketers list since 2007 and got one from him a few days ago. Opened it and unsubscribed without giving it a second thought.

I am a really busy person and do not have time to read emails like these. There is a time set aside to read marketers emails.  When I get one that makes me think I need to stop and take action right then and there, ticks me off big time. Disrupts my time and thoughts.

Very glad you brought this up and as always, enjoy reading your emails.

Sincerely,

Terry Jett”

I received this earlier today and I knew I had to pass this
on to my readers.
Here’s what I found in the ‘Million Dollar Script Box with MRR’
after a cursory examination:

~ epay clone: Copyright (c) 2002-2003 Any redistribution without
permission of Todd M. Findley is strictly forbidden. (in index.php)

~ hotscripts.com clone: site name, email address, etc., from a
known hack / crack / rip-off site (Mafia Scripts) in config.php -
SCRIPT RIPPED OFF

~ imageshack.us clone: index page appears to be directly
ripped-off from image shack as almost every link in it is one of
theirs…

` myspace.com clone: index.php file is branded by ‘liquidice’
which upon a google search turns out to be a hack / crack group.

~ tinyurl.com clone: // Copyright(C), E-FoRuMTuRK LiNK ! . 2006 ,
All Rights Reserved. All forms of reproduction, including, but not
limited to, internet posting, printing, e-mailing, faxing and
recording are strictly prohibited. One license required per site
running E-FoRuMTuRK LiNK – script old & ripped off

~ xdrive.com clone: the config.php file is branded by scriptz.ws
which, upon another google search turns out to be another hack /
crack group. script ripped-off.

Should I keep going on or have you seen enough?

Obviously NetActivated.com will NOT be listing this script
package, and you shouldn’t either…

You could get in SERIOUS trouble for using or selling some of
these scripts.

Pass this on to your lists as well.

 

If you sell digital products online you are no doubt aware of the two most popular affiliate networks, ClickBank and PayDotCom.

While both of these are great and I highly recommend each of them, today I came across a brand new service that really caught my attention. It’s called PaySpree and the reason it caught my attention is that ALL its members get paid for their sales instantly by PayPal.

Even affiliates get paid for their referred sales instantly by PayPal.

I expect it to become quite a hit as the lure of  ’instant commissions’  played a big part in the massive success of products such as 7DollarSecrets and the RapidActionProfits scripts.

I’ve actually come across products for sale that are just lists of affiliate programs that pay instant paypal commission. And I’ve seen many threads in the various internet marketing forums asking about where to find instant commission affiliate programs. Now there is an entire site and marketplace dedicated to them.

As soon as you become a member you can start promoting any product in the marketplace, and you can add your own products so affiliates can promote them for you. All commission payments are handled automatically by PaySpree, it sounds like a winner to me.

I’ve just signed up and had a look around the site and it seems pretty simple and non cluttered, check it out at the link below and let me know what you think:

http://bit.ly/bkoDaj

 

These last few weeks business wise has been more frustrating than right after Barry died.  I’m learning more things such as Squidoo and I’ve been listening to some webinars.  Maybe I’m trying to do too many “new” things at the same time because I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed today.  I’m also feeling the pressure to bring in more money to help cover some expenses. 

 

I think this push to make more money is affecting my relationship with my subscribers, which is never good.  This week I needed to stop another one of the memberships that Barry had started because of declining membership and with the domain coming up for renewal, I couldn’t see the point in renewing it again with only a few members.

 

I feel like I’m slowly ruining the business Barry worked very hard to build up and I can only blame him for not showing me what I need to know only so long.  It has been over a year since he left me suddenly and now it is up to me to keep this business going and find a way to make it thrive again.  I’m sure part of it is that I’m not really passionate about IM’ing and if I could find some niche that I’m interested in that would help a great deal.  But right now I just don’t know what to try or look into. 

 

I know it really hasn’t been long since I’ve had to take over but in some ways it has been and I don’t think I’m doing any better than I did right after he died.  I  can feel a depression coming on which isn’t good because then I don’t usually want to do anything.  Maybe I just need to take a couple of days away from this to relax and maybe think of something else I can do online to bring in some money.  Any suggestions would be great if any of my readers have any.

 

Death seems to be what I know a lot about right now but I don’t want that to be my niche, even though I did make my first Lens about death and I’m still adding to it as things come to me about how things were right after Barry died.  I like sports, music and reading crime/mystery books but is that something that can bring in some income?  I don’t know since I haven’t looked into it.  It would be great if those things could and I guess I should look into those topics to see what is out there. 

 

I did an Adswap the other day and I think it did ok.  I couple of days later I sent my new subscribers a “thanks for joining” email and gave them another freebie and 1.56 of them complained!  I just don’t understand that since I wasn’t selling them anything but just welcoming them again and thanking them for signing up to be on my list.

 

It has been months since I’ve had a cigarette but every once in awhile I think about having one, not that I would but I’m sure that craving will come up from time to time, especially when I’m stressing.

 

I have a fantastic find for you to look at today….

But first let me ask you a question…

Have you ever wondered how some people seem to get swarms of traffic to their sites for free?

You may have been told it’s all about ranking high on search engines such as Google and that in turn depends on getting backlinks.

Yeah, right! How’s the ordinary person supposed to understand any of this?

Haven’t you ever wished someone would simplify all this for you so that you just have a to click a few buttons?

Well today I want to recommend a script to you that does just that.

Yes, it’s true you can just install the script, paste in your website address and press some buttons.  That’s it.

Oh, and there’s also two upgraded versions available so watch out for the customise your order page!

These give you massive additional benefits:

You can add your own name and website link to the script and give it away or sell it.  When people install the script on their sites you then get additional backlinks to your site and also traffic. There’s one more benefit as well – your
Affiliate ID is also stored in the script so you get commission on any sales of the upgraded scripts made when someone clicks on your links (including
links in the scripts you gave away!)

This is a very viral system and once you start it the links, traffic and commissions grow almost by themselves. (Actually via other people doing the work for you but you get the idea.)

I can highly recommend you grab a copy of this script while it’s FREE.

http://bit.ly/cJqevp

 

 

I recently read an ebook on Squidoo Lens and signed up for a free account and started working on my first Lens.  Of course the subject I choose was Marketing after the death of your  spouse, since that is what I know right now.  It is still a work in progress and it is another important skill that I believe Marketer’s need to have since the more way you can get traffic to your website and/or your name out there the better.

 

Here is the link to my Lens, leave me a suggestion or comment please.

http://www.squidoo.com/MarketingAfterDeath