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Online Marketing Guide for Home and Small Business

Online Marketing - Gary Bates

Online marketing can be an inexpensive and highly effective way to promote your home or small business. This in-depth guide to online marketing will help you decide which tools and techniques to include in your marketing strategy.

More on Home Business Marketing

Home Business Spotlight10

Randy's Home Business Blog

More Work from Home Jobs Posted

Tuesday November 24, 2009
The latest list of work from home jobs jobs has been posted for the week. This week's opportunities to work from home include opportunities for freelance writers, a blog editor and some work for anyone who might be considering doing voice overs or writing scripts for audio broadcasts. As usual, there are a number of tech-oriented work from home positions as well.

The Latest Work from Home Jobs
Convincing the Boss to Let You Work from Home
Home Work Guide

Survey Finds 46% of Small Businesses Use Email Marketing

Tuesday November 24, 2009
Results of a recent survey have been released by Campaigner, an email marketing solutions provider. The results show that 46% of those surveyed with small businesses ranging in size from 1-20 employees currently use email marketing as part of their marketing mix.

The results also indicated that 36% plan to begin email marketing in the next 12 months, while 18% of businesses with 1-20 employees say they have no plans to begin using email marketing. Newsletters, sales and promotional offers and announcements are the most common ways respondents said they use email marketing. Among online marketing tools used by small businesses, email newsletters are second only to marketing through social networks.

The complete survey results, which are included as one of two reports compiled into their 2009 State of Small Business Marketing Survey are available in PDF format through a download on Campaigner's website. The report is free, but requires user registration to access.

Related topics:
What is Email Marketing?
Direct Mail Marketing
Email and Strategic Internet Marketing

Latest Work from Home Job Postings

Tuesday November 17, 2009
Work from Home Job Postings - by BigStockPhoto.com
Ten more work from home job postings are now available.

This week's job postings include two highly paid positions that are telework eligible from the federal government, one in human resources based in Washington, DC, and one in building management based in Chicago.

I've discussed the Hilton@Home reservationist program in the past, but this week's work from home jobs include a position with them as Customer Service Coordinator.

Believe it or not, this week's work at home jobs includes a position as a blogger on the topic of telecommuting. Finally, there have been comments from a few of you who are disabled that have mentioned CORA, and this week's postings include opportunities with them. Admittedly, they are minimum wage, but you do get to work from home.

10 New Work from Home Job Postings
Discuss Finding Work from Home in the Forum
Sign up for my Work from Home and Home Business Newsletter or RSS Feed

Free Work at Home List? Not Hardly!

Friday November 13, 2009
Today I discovered and reported another scam ad on my home page here. Here's what the ad looked like:
Free Work at Home List Scam Ad - Google AdSense
The ad clearly says, "Free Work at Home List", doesn't it? So I clicked through and reached a sign up page. Innocent enough. Provided an assumed name and a valid email address and clicked Submit. Then I reached a page that told me:
To Get Your Free Work at Home List Please Follow These 3 Simple Steps to Confirm Your Email Address
Which told me to open my email, open the message and click the confirmation link. I opened my email. The message read:
You were just at our site FreeWorkAtHomeList.com and requested our Free Work At Home List. I look forward to sending it to you. But first, you just need to take a quick second to click on the confirmation link below. This ensures that we only send our list to people who really want them, and it helps eliminate spam.
Okay. I figure no problem. Now I can complete the process. I clicked the link.

The link went to a sign up page for a FREE Google Automated Income Kit - Fast - Free - Profitable. Son of a B, if it's not the same Google work at home scam routine wolf in sheep's clothing again!

But what happened to the "Free Work at Home List"? It's nowhere to be found!

I then clicked the Terms and Conditions link from the Google Income Kit sign up page (always my first step before signing up for anything). Lo and behold, a pop-up window, which describes the Terms and Conditions for the "BlogToolKit" I bring you the same old crap! Where did the BlogToolKit come from? And where is my "Free Work at Home List?" Did somebody eat it when I wasn't looking?

To their credit, this outfit admits they want to take your money right on the sign up page, although it's in very pale gray text. It says (emphasis added):

This is a trustworthy, authentic and secure website (actually, when I clicked through, the browser told me the site's security certificate was invalid)... By continuing, your kit will be sent to you via United States mail, in 3 to 5 business days, S/H not included, so be sure to look for it. Also, by continuing you understand this offer includes a 14-Day Free Trial to the BlogToolKit.com website, which can help you create an additional income using the tools and strategies inside. After the 14-Day Free Trial period, you will continue to enjoy full membership at an affordable $39.95 per month billed automatically to your credit card.
Well, isn't that special? So you're telling me, my Free Work at Home List, is neither:
  • A work at home list, nor
  • Free.

But wait! It gets even better.
("How could it?", you're asking.)

What they don't tell you directly on the sign up page but do mention in the Terms and Conditions (and I assume the Privacy Policy too, except that I was too ill to read it by that time, and again, I've added emphasis here as I wouldn't want you to miss something exciting):

We may sell our user information and/or join together with other businesses to bring selected opportunities to our members. By allowing us to make the information you supply available to these third parties, you are able to receive free information on products and services that may be of interest to you. We will use contact information from your registration data to send you information about our products and services and to keep you informed of our other products and services that may be of interest to you. This information may also be shared with third party advertisers who may contact you by means of e-mail, telephone or other sources of marketing. We do not control, and are not responsible for, the practices of our third-party advertisers.
Now that's really special! Thanks so much. I'm so glad I clicked your ad. I'm also glad to you are able to eliminate spam by making me click a confirmation link that goes to a completely different offer than the Free Work at Home List you advertised, yet you are willing to SELL my information to others so they can spam me! Now that's just so special that my eyes are welling up with tears.

You have just changed my life! You take truth in advertising to a whole new level! I can't wait to get my Free Work at Home List! Oh, that's right. I'm not getting it. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go on using regular toilet paper instead.
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