Tuesday, March 10, 2009

HaCk YaHoO/GmAiL PaSs

IF YOu Try this you will lose ur own password.. I am posting this only because there are many sites whihc say u can hack ..but the truth isthat ur account will get hacked. .SO please DONT TRY anything of this kind


Well ,yesterday i was going through one of the hacking communities just for checking if any new hacking script has come up or not. I saw a topic named ” how to hack gmail / yahoo / hotmail ?? ” . Out of curiousity when i opened it, it made me laugh aloud . I mean some anonymous guy posting a topic like that seemed totally absurd and that too a cheap phishing technique probably used during the early ninties :)

check out what was posted in that topic..

” How to hack gmail/ hotmail / yahoo passwords!
It is possible and it is easy. This way of hacking into any kind of account was brought to my attention by my friend working in microsoft,in animation cell. u have to just…

  • STEP 1- Log in to your own gmail/ yahoo or hotmail account. Note: Your account must be at least 1 weeks old for this trick to work.


  • STEP 2- Once you have logged into your own account, compose/write an e-mail to: ############################# (removed the mail id which was written because ppl were actually trying it )..depending on which account u want to hack..These is the mailing address to the automated server that sends out passwords to users who have forgotten them. What you are going to do istrick the server into thinking that it is sending your password to you but it will send you the pass for the account you are trying to hack instead.
  • STEP 3- In the subject line type exactly: “userpassword retrieve” (case sensative, without the inverted commas)
  • STEP 4- On the first line of your mail write the email address of the person you are hacking.
  • STEP 5- On the second line type in the e-mail address you are using.
  • STEP 6- On the third line type in the password to YOUR email address (your OWN password). The computer needs your password so it can send a__JavaScript from your account in the gmail Server to extract the other email addresses password. This works because you are sending your password to a machine not a person. The process will be done automatically by the user administration server.
  • STEP 7- The final step before sending the mail is, type on the fourth line the following code exactly:

2SUGm9qwM482SUGm9qwM48

Now doesn’t that look professional.Who so ever has written that post must be quite a writer. My guess is that some curious souls who doesn’t know anything about hacking programming and coding (but want to become hacker overnight) must have tried this and fell for this but the odds are too low.

For those who came looking here in search of hacking techniques ,give me a break , do u think becoming hacker is that easy .So get urself a life .

Never try anything like this..your own account will get hacked ..

Rev up the Search Engines

Your web startup needs to cut through the clutter and reel in customers, and search engine optimization (SEO) can be just the ticket. SEO helps improve your search rankings so your website shows up higher on Google, Yahoo and other popular search engines. "SEO is really [fundamental]. It should be a line item when you're developing your website," says Greg Bozigian, founder and chief media officer of new media marketing company Visionary View.SEO is about attracting quality leads and buyers ready to make a purchase. Here are six tips for getting the most out of an SEO initiative, according to SEO expert Steve Wiideman:

  1. Start early. It can take up to six months for competitive search terms to see results through Google.
  2. Content really is king. Make a list of the top 20 search keywords relevant to your business and create content that's thematically linked with those terms.
  3. Don't use the same keywords over and over. Search engines have gotten smart enough to weed that out.
  4. Focus on Google. The magic formula is relevance and popularity. Having a well-written and well-structured website is a big part of the battle. Mentions and links from bloggers and other websites can be a big boost as well.
  5. How do you measure SEO? Create a benchmark. A good SEO expert can actually measure the amount of traffic that results in a lead or in somebody making a purchase.
  6. If you choose to work with an SEO consultant, find one that specializes in the needs of startups and growing businesses. If he or she tries to guarantee you an instant No. 1 ranking in Google, run the other way.

Creating useful content like articles, blogs, forums, metatags, page titles, item descriptions and YouTube videos will help keep your SEO initiative going for the long run. Plan to roll out your SEO strategy over time, tweak it as needed and look beyond keywords to see the big picture.

Amanda C. Kooser is a freelance writer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who specializes in technology.

The onslaught of blogs, discussion forums and user-generated media has changed the flow of information about people, products and brands forever. Anyone with a computer, a video camera or even a cell phone can post information, reviews and comments about you and your brand on dozens of highly visited online destinations.

It's no longer enough to create a website and assume that prospects will learn about your company solely from there. In today's online social media world, businesses of all shapes and sizes must actively participate in online reputation management.

Of course, the best way to manage your online reputation from a business standpoint is to put out great products, provide excellent customer service and honor all your commitments. That's certainly a great start, but you may still need to monitor and respond to what's being said about your organization.Reputation management, however, is not simply about responding to the negative; it's equally important to amplify the positive. Here are some simple ways to get started creating a reputation management program:

  • Sign up for news alerts. Google allows you to set up custom searches on Google News for any phrase, such as your name. When you subscribe to this search, either via RSS or e-mail, you'll receive an alert anytime your search phrase shows up in the news. BoardReader.com and ForumFind.com allow you to keep track of what's being said on bulletin boards and forums. If you need to closely monitor what's being said online in real time, use Twitter's search.twitter.com feature.
  • Participate in social media. One of the best ways to combat negative comments is to make sure you have lots of positive content showing up for searches of your name or company. Best practices such as adding a blog with frequently updated content and information, creating well-written LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, and writing and submitting articles to article directories can help assure that you have a lot of positive content attributed to your name online.
  • Host a blog. Starting a blog and inviting customers to leave comments is a great way to keep an eye out for potential issues. If customers have an issue, and you help them get the answer by way of your blog, you may turn that issue into something positive and stop them from posting negative comments elsewhere.
  • Employ social search engines. Claim and enhance your business listings on search engines such as Yelp, InsiderPages, CitySearch and JudysBook. These sites enhance your business listing and allow users to rate your services and write testimonials. The best thing you can do on these sites is create a great profile and encourage your customers to post positive reviews. More of these reviews are being picked up by search engines like Google and shown in their local directories.
  • Build your reputation. Recently, a number of sites such as Naymz.com and RepVine.com launched with the sole purpose of allowing you to build an online reputation by inviting people to write reviews about you and your work. LinkedIn, the professional networking community, also allows and encourages this practice.

John Jantsch is a veteran marketing coach, an award-winning blogger and the  author of Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide

A Site That Reflects Your Biz

Picture this: You're in downtown Los Angeles, about to visit a lounge called The Edison. To get there, you have to walk down a dark alley and through a set of wrought iron gates, leading you down a staircase into the underbelly of a century-old building that houses the remnants of a grungy power plant. But the venue is actually anything but grungy: Plush couches surround authentic generators and turbines, and beautiful chandeliers hang among original piping. Though Thomas Edison was responsible for much of the innovation during the building's era, the inventor behind the nearly 2-year-old lounge is Andrew Meieran.

"It's a melding of technology and aesthetics from that time with [those of today]," says Meieran, 41. "It's an echo of a historic epoch but made applicable to the world now."

Naturally, the grandiosity of the venue extended to the website. Designed by Meieran and Damjan Krajacic of ActiveColor, the Flash-intensive site uses various layers, elements, visuals and sounds to guide visitors through the different parts of The Edison's "universe." "The idea is to get involved and become part of what the site is trying to tell you," says Meieran. "And the key was getting the sense of what was happening down there [in the lounge] out to a mass audience." It's reasonable to say that the site has accomplished its goal: It sees 30,000 unique visitors a month, and the lounge will bring in $6 million in sales this year.

How to Sell at Craft Fairs and Shows

When Terry Speer was a struggling art student in the 60s, he put himself through college by selling his prints and paintings at local art shows. In 1979, after eight years as an art professor, Speer left academia to do the show circuit full time with his wife, Deborah Banyas, a fellow artist and quilt maker.

"I had tenure and benefits," Speer recalls, "but I was miserable. I thought, 'Why am I torturing myself as a professor when I can have more fun doing this and make more money?'"

Speer hasn't looked back once. Today, he and Banyas run a homebased business selling their whimsical mixed-media sculptures at art festivals and craft shows around the country, including the recent Coconut Grove Arts Festival in Miami where they rang up sales of several thousand dollars over the three-day Presidents' Day weekend. Despite an estimated $3,000 in travel and other miscellaneous costs, Speer and Banyas ended up making a tidy profit. Then they packed up their truck and headed home to Oberlin, Ohio, where they stayed for less than a day before traveling to another show in Baltimore.

"This isn't an easy way to make a living," says Banyas, who estimates that the couple exhibits at 12 shows a year. "You've got to be willing to drive a truck and get up at four in the morning."

Still, Speer and Banyas can't see themselves doing anything else. And they're not the only ones who feel that way. Though it's impossible to know how many artists and craftspeople sell their wares full or part time at shows and festivals, their numbers appear to be growing as crowds turn out by the thousands to buy paintings, sculptures, woodwork, metalwork, glasswork and jewelry and to meet the artists and craftsmen who make them. And as Speer and Banyas have discovered, there's real money to be made. Last year, the Coconut Grove festival drew more than 150,000 visitors who purchased approximately $4 million in artwork from more than 330 exhibitors over the course of the three-day show. (Figures for this year's show were not available at press time.)

"I think it's a great opportunity for the public to connect with artists," says Lisa Remeny, a Miami artist whose painting was picked to be the official poster art of this year's Coconut Grove show. "You don't have that in a gallery where people buy from dealers."

For homebased artists and craftsmen, selling at fairs and shows provides an opportunity to ring up sales and find new customers at little cost and no overhead. Typically, shows charge just a few hundred dollars for a booth and allow artists to enjoy big markups on the work they create--profits they don't have to share with a gallery or store owner. But making money at fairs and shows isn't as easy as it seems. It requires research, planning and the ability to keep a smile on your face while standing on your feet for long hours. And that's not for everyone.

"To be successful at shows, you need to have a retail personality and that's not me," says Debra Sachs, who creates fanciful wooden canes with her partner, Marilyn Keating, at their company, The South Jersey Museum of Curiosities LLP in Gloucester City, New Jersey. Even though Sachs says she and Keating made a profit at every show they attended, the shows took them away from doing what they really loved--creating art. "We're doing public art projects now," Sachs says.

Think selling your work at shows and fairs might be for you? Follow these 10 road-tested tips to success:

1. Walk the show. Just because your Mom used to tack up your drawings on the refrigerator doesn't mean your work is professional enough for people who aren't related to you to buy it. First, attend a few shows to see if your stuff is good enough to pass muster. Some shows are juried, which means that judges review your work and select you; others are open to everyone.

It's also important to find the right venue for your work. While an indoor art show may be beyond your grasp, a craft show or Renaissance fair may fit the bill just right. You can find out a lot of information about the shows by talking to artists and craftsmen you meet there. "The best way is to ask other vendors where the best shows are," says Christopher Spelman of Wax Creations in Oceanside, New York. "They'll tell you which fairs to not even bother with."

2. Do your homework. Find out who typically attends the show, what kind of turnout you can expect and how much it will cost to exhibit there. Even though booth space typically costs just $200 to $300--the Coconut Grove festival charges $550--you need to factor in travel costs, shipping costs and the cost of a table, banner and the booth itself. And don't forget the materials costs; for jewelry or sculptures made of precious metals, those costs can add up. And depending on the city or state the show is in, you may also need a license or permit to sell there. It's best to figure out your breakeven point--that is, how many items you need to sell in order to make a profit--before you decide to pack up and go.

3. Start small. Most established artists and craftspeople sell to repeat customers who frequent the same shows every year and often collect their pieces. While you're establishing your reputation and building a following, keep your expenses to a minimum. Speer suggests renting or borrowing a booth from another artist instead of buying your own. Another option is to share a booth with another artist or craftsperson. "Don't invest a lot of money until you're sure it's going to work," he says.

4. Price it right. While cheaper work is easier to sell, you've got to sell a lot more items to cover your costs and make a profit. At the same, an artist selling $10,000 paintings may go home empty-handed. That's why many art show veterans offer a range of price points to potential customers. Biba Schutz, a New York City jewelry artist, sells her work for anywhere from $150 to $900 but offers one-of-a-kind pieces for up to $5,000. "If your material costs you $10 and you double it, you've got a $10 profit," says Schutz, who works in silver, bronze, copper and gold. "If the material costs you $200 and you double that, it's $400. You need to sell less to make those numbers."

5. Bring your credit card machine. Credit cards are the common currency of shows and fairs, and if you don't accept them, you're going to lose sales to vendors who do. You also face the risks of dealing with bounced checks from strangers who may be hard to track down after the show. Especially if you're selling work priced in the hundreds of dollars, credit cards are a must. To find out more about obtaining merchant credit, see our "Resources" section.

6. Don't go it alone. While shows can be exciting and profitable, they can also be physically and emotionally exhausting. That's why it's important to bring along someone to help you work the booth and deal with customers. This will also give you a chance to get up and go to the bathroom and grab a hotdog or something to drink without losing sales. Spelman of Wax Creations works the fairs with his wife. "You need a lot of good friends and family willing to help you," he says.

7. Pack your stuff. Make sure you bring enough work to sell but not so much that you'll have to carry most of it back. Besides your artwork, you'll also need to pack your booth, several chairs, a small table, a calculator, a credit card machine, bags for customers to carry your products home in and any brochures or marketing materials you might have.

8. Put your best foot forward. People like to see a craftsperson creating artwork in his booth, not just selling it. While this isn't always possible, it's a crowd-pleasing idea that works well for jewelry makers, woodworkers, quilters and other craftspeople. At the very least, make sure your display table is clean and attractive and that your products are well displayed with prices clearly marked. Some artists, like jewelry maker Schutz, string lights in their booths and display color photos of their work to spice things up a bit.

9. Build a mailing list. Shows are a great way to develop your customer database. Try putting a fishbowl on your table and offering people a chance to win a piece of artwork in return for giving you their contact information or business cards. Giving away promotional items with your company's name and logo works, too. This way, you can send out postcards inviting prospects to your next show. Don't forget to collect e-mail addresses, too! It's a lot cheaper to send out 100 e-mail messages than it is to pay for paper and postage. "I have some customers who've bought from me every year for 10 years," Schutz says. "These days, I send more e-mails than postcards, and with my wholesale customers, I actually call them."

10. Count your money. Before you move on to the next show, sit down and figure out how much you made on the last one. For example, if you spend $1,000 on this show, did you make $1,000 back? Remember, we're talking about profits, not sales! Don't forget to include the cost of your materials, the booth space, travel, shipping and cleanup. This kind of breakeven analysis will help you figure out if you should exhibit at the same show next year.

Don't be disappointed if you don't make a fortune your first time out--or ever. Except for artists like Speer and Banyas, who sell exclusively through shows and fairs, most artists and craftspeople also sell through galleries, wholesalers, the Internet and other marketing channels. "My best year ever I made $18,000," says Spelman of Wax Creations, who does most of his business at parties and events. "I'd consider making $2,000 in a weekend to be a success. Some people live off these shows; other people use it to market their business."

Helpful Resources

Looking to break into the world of fairs and shows? Check out the web links below to jump-start your business today.

  • Festival Network Online.This searchable database of 17,000-plus festivals, arts and crafts shows and other events also offers information on products, services and resources for artists and other vendors. Membership starts at $49 a year. Free demo available.
  • Art and Craft Shows.Browse this searchable database of 2,000-plus open-entry craft shows and art festivals by date, city, state and region.
  • The Crafts Fair Online.This website offers links to thousands of crafters' websites plus listings of craft shows and information about suppliers, publications, newsgroups, classes, software and more.
  • Business Licenses and Permits.This informative article from Entrepreneur.com provides information about permits, state and federal licenses, sales tax licenses and more. Contact your state or local government website for information about local laws and regulations.
  • National Craft Association.This trade organization for the crafts industry offers homebased and online craft businesses the ability to accept major credit and debit cards.

10 Tips for Getting Your Business on Reality TV

Whether or not reality TV truly reflects the real world, it does generate real publicity. We spoke to Chuck LaBella, New Wave Entertainment's director of TV development and Stephanie Drachkovitch, co-founder and executive vice president of Studio City, Calif.-based 44 Blue Productions, a supplier of reality, documentary, lifestyle and action-adventure programming for U.S. broadcast and cable outlets. Drachkovitch is also the creator and executive producer of Peter Perfect, a business makeover reality TV show.

  1. Treat reality TV as a reality. It might just be the future of television. "The European landscape is filled with reality-type programs with the occasional drama and sitcom sprinkled into it," LaBella says. "I think that's where the American landscape is going at this point."
  2. Familiarize yourself with the different shows. This will help you not only determine which one you want to be involved with but also better hone your pitch.
  3. Know who to pitch your business to by paying attention to the show's credits. On most reality shows, there's a title for "Talent Producer" or "Talent Executive," LaBella says. "It is a very small community of people who work on these shows," he says. "Get familiar with those names. If one show does not work out, they will be working on another show."
  4. Got a great startup story? Be sure to tell it. You don't necessarily need an agent to get noticed. You just need a good story, so be ready to share the details of your rise to success. "Stories about humble beginnings or inventing something by accident always work," LaBella says. "The woman who invented Spanx is a great story. The woman who invented White Out is a great story. (She was also mother to one of The Monkees.) Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are exciting because they created empires from their garages. Education and credits can be impressive but a good hook such as a happy accident or coming from humble beginnings is very important."
  5. Get ready to bare all. "We cast big personalities," Drachkovitch says. "We're drawn to people who know how to tell their story with emotion and animation. Be willing to bare your soul, with warts and all. You should be willing to be honest about any mistakes, and about what might happen if your business needs to close. Tell us the emotional stakes."Know a good pitch from a bad pitch. We asked LaBella for examples of both. Here's what he had to say.
  6. A good pitch: "When I was finding successful entrepreneurs to give away money to worthy causes on Oprah's Big Give, the Maloof Brothers' publicist Troy Hansen called me. All I knew about the Maloof Brothers were that they grew up billionaires and owned a sports team. So immediately I thought 'two rich guys born with silver spoons in their mouths. Not interesting.' However, when I met with them, they told me how their dad instilled common values in the whole family and how they had to work their way up in their own corporation, sweeping floors driving trucks, etc. I had no idea how these two billionaires were basically raised as two blue-collar guys and have always given back and are especially passionate about the inner-city community. They go around to poor neighborhoods and talk to kids and give them brand new sports equipment as well as donate money to community centers. When we met, they actually pitched me the whole idea of how they wanted to give away money on the show. Oprah ended up inviting them as guests on her show as well as Oprah's Big Give. If their publicist had not insisted on me meeting them and explained to me that they were different, my perception of them might not have changed."
  7. A bad pitch: "A very wealthy entrepreneur called me because he basically wanted to be on TV and become the next Donald Trump. He invited me to his home in Palm Desert. It was exactly like Shangri-la. Servants with name tags, great lunch, he showed me photos of him and every living president and even had my car detailed when I was there. No story. Just a rich guy who thought he should be on TV."
  8. Be creative when pitching your business and consider the different options. You could appear on the show yourself or you could have your business's product be part of a reality TV challenge. If you prefer to have the spotlight on your product rather than yourself, follow Drachkovitch's advice: "Contact the executive producers of the show that interests you and send samples, along with an explanation of what you are willing to do," she says. "In the case of a product, we need to see it, touch it, taste it--whatever the case. Also, producers will need to clear the product use with the network, so things take time. Producers will want to work the product into the storyline organically. If it's not a physical product, but a service provided by a company, we can credit the service provider."Calculate the risk. Reality TV can be a risky business, and you might not be portrayed as you desire. 
  9. Feel out the producer you're working with. "No producers will allow the participants to control the filming and editing process, so it's important that you have confidence in the production company and in producers at the outset," Drachkovitch says. "Research clips of other shows that the company has done. Look at the types of shows they do and decide if you like those portrayals. By opening the doors to filming, you're opening the doors to who you are and if you be yourself, candid and authentic, then people will relate well to you."
  10. Be ready to capitalize on the exposure that you'll receive--and the surge in sales that might follow. "In preparation of your episode airing, be prepared with a good phone system, a website that is ready for traffic, and make sure you have the ability to quickly fill orders of any product seen on TV," Drachkovitch recommends. "You might consider taking on temporary help. We've typically seen a dramatic spike in phone calls and website hits, and a 30 to 50 percent increase in foot traffic for the businesses on Peter Perfect, as well as salons featured on our Style Network show, Split Ends."

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Keys To Email Success

Keys To Email Success

To succeed in email marketing, you must get your emails on the right track and in the right direction. You must know how your emails will turn out to be. Still they must capture email addresses and increase subscriber engagement.
The simple email is the route to getting success in the strategy of email marketing. How best can it be used to drive the subject of subscriber engagement? What can be done to make a simple email be effective and bring in optimum results in terms of subscriber engagement? It is a well known fact that when emails are received, recipients have to the choice to do something with them or just do nothing but enjoy clicking in deletion. 

To ensure that your emails will be effective in reaching out and capturing prospects, there are keys to email success that will help you along: 

(1) Targeting the correct audience 

You should have a plan as to what target market you intend to aim at. This is imperative to the next step of sending out your emails to the correct and precise audience that will fit in to be your subscribers and customers in the future. The whole process requires you to define proper segmentation for your target audience. 

(2) Get your emails to be personalized, relevant and targeted 

Emails must be personalized. In order to do this, you must have firstly identified your target audience. Be relevant in your communications. The message content should preferably be drafted with a humanistic tone. The whole email will then be more personal in approach. 

(3) Communicate the benefit clearly 

Time is precious for the readers. Do not let them feel annoyed reading your emails trying to understand what they can get from your message regarding your product or service. The first three to five seconds are crucial in this respect. Give them the privilege of feeling recognized and valued. Make known clearly the benefit(s) of your product or service so that they can take action immediately. Do not underestimate the power of these few seconds. It holds the key to your email success. 

(4) Email message must create strong impact 

To get email success, it is vital that the message contain a call to action that is compelling. It should drive home the benefit(s) of your product or service convincingly, leaving no room for the prospects to have second thoughts. Give them the reasons for the deadline to buy. Convince them that it is in their best interests to buy now. 

(5) Email message should be of correct length 

It is always good to send out some emails to test the response with regards to length. This will enable you to ascertain what your readers will prefer, short or long emails. That said, it is important to note that the main intention of your whole message should be condensed within the first few lines. This is to prevent wasting readers' precious time in searching and understanding what you have for them. 

(6) Craft a really powerful subject line 

The subject line should be powerful. Readers will open the email and read on, or they will just not bother. This is what drives up your email subscribers list in the future. They will be curious to know "what's in it for me?" when they read a powerful subject line, that clearly intrigues and captivates their attention. This is one of the vital keys to email success that merits your serious attention. 

(7) Ascertain if audience receive the emails 

One of the problems in email marketing is the issue of email deliverability. Emails may be sent out to the right addresses, but fail to reach the targeted audience. There may be many reasons for this. If your messages ended up in some remote folder that is seldom checked, then your message is sadly not being communicated but lost. If you have a subscribers list, request them to include you into their email address books, as this will help prevent your emails being thrown into junk or spam filters. 

(8) Apply the correct metrics 

The click rates will help you ascertain the extent of initial engagement from readers. Tracking your own conversions from these emails as well as the movement on your return on investment are important metrics that deserve your careful consideration. Getting many clicks is healthy but closing the sales remains the top priority. 

In email marketing, it is vital to get and increase subscriber engagement. Still, email success can only be achieved if there is a good knowledge and sound understanding of how effective the emails will turn out to be.
  By Jeremy Long Chia Teik

Successful Subscriber Engagement

Successful Subscriber Engagement

How do you keep your subscribers happy? How do you keep them engaged through your opt-in marketing strategy? Subscribers are precious. They are your potential pot of gold. Subscriber engagement should remain top priority at all times. Your email marketing campaign success depends on it completely!
Opt-in marketing opens the door to building the mailing list and to fostering special relationships with subscribers. It signifies that half the battle is won as far as your email marketing campaign is concerned. You may now proceed to send your email messages as permission is already granted for you to do so. You may plan your strategy to retain these subscribers for future campaigns. 

To institute a successful subscriber engagement program, you will need to weigh your priorities accurately. You will need to shift your focus to keeping your current list intact simply because it is more valuable and cost-effective to do so. That said, what is important is to keep on building the relationships with your subscribers. Understand their special needs and keep them happy. 

How then can you develop a subscriber engagement that will succeed in retaining your current subscribers and making them feeling on top of the world? Here are some good pointers: 

(1) Appropriate frequency 

Subscribers will be annoyed if they are subject to frequent emails. They will have no choice but to unsubscribe. You will have to decide the correct frequency, taking into consideration who are your subscribers and how are your relationships with them. 

(2) Good and appealing content 

Subsequent emails should contain appealing content that subscribers will be interested in. Relevancy and meaningfulness are the key qualities for your content. It is good for you to check the click-through results to confirm which emails are working and which are not. Content that may appeal include success stories, tips, how-to articles, feature articles, case studies, just to name a few. Of course, offer content that is in line with your industry. 

(3) Subscriber segmentation 

To institute a successful subscriber engagement program, it is essential to perform segmentation for your subscribers. It can be done according to interests, gender, purchasing behavior, geographical location etc. Using the opt-in registration form, ask for the pertinent information. Of course, do not ever ask for too much details, as this will encourage subscribers to click away from registration. You will then be able to use different approaches to differing segments of subscribers. 

(4) Extend a warm welcome 

Warmly welcome your subscribers in your welcome emails. This is important to making them feel warm and comfortable with you. Let them know what sort of messages and content you will be sending them. Give them a free offer for their registration. Do not forget giving them the option to unsubscribe if they choose to. Assure them of your privacy policy that will guard their interests. Show your care for them, sincerely. 

(5) Do some experiments 

It is good to do some testing with your list. This is due to the fact that the interests of subscribers do change over time. You will then be able to fine-tune your strategies and maximize the potential of your emails. This will boost the overall result of your email marketing campaign. 

(6) Count on quality of subscribers 

Having a long list of subscribers will not help your campaign. Only subscribers who are eagerly awaiting your next email will contribute to successful subscriber engagement programs. Therefore, emphasize on quality and not quantity. Quality subscribers include those who are interested, qualified and engaged . As mentioned earlier, segmentation definitely helps in this respect. 

(7) Short and straight-forward emails 

Emails should preferably be brief and to the point. Still they must contain the more important content and graphics that will sell your point. Lengthy emails take up too much of your subscribers' time. Do not take this risk. 

In conclusion, subscriber engagement warrants your attention, as it can make or break your email marketing campaign. The pointers listed above are by no means exhaustive. They can help you to build a successful subscriber engagement program to support your email marketing strategy. 

For latest updates on how to increase traffic, raise page ranking, write effective articles and powerful squeeze pages, create explosive blog marketing system, learn about viral marketing, and bring in massive income from your internet marketing business, please click here.
  By Jeremy Long Chia Teik

How Email Marketing Helps Sell Pencils

How Email Marketing Helps Sell Pencils

Email marketing will benefit office supply stores, placing them ahead if their larger competition, making clients feel greatly valued, and bringing the store more sales.
Every office and business needs organizational tools to help keep the business well run, so why not offer customers discounts to the things they require, in order to stay ahead of the competition, with email marketing? 

Email marketing is a cost effective way to stay ahead of the competition, which also makes your clients feel valued. This increases your overall brand awareness and leads to higher sales numbers. As an owner and operator of a business supply store, pulling customers away from the big boxes and establishing loyalty with you is crucial to your businesses success. 

By designing an email marketing template, you will be able to target your audiences, and provide a more streamlined marketing technique for future campaigns. 

The most effective email marketing programs give you the option to design a campaign from over 200 templates. Having this amount of options helps you to determine the best marketing strategy for your needs, and allows you to match your communications to your company's color schemes. 

To start off with, you should be offering your customers discounts using a variety of different products to choose from. Include computer hardware products, software products, paper discounts, office furniture discounts and writing utensil discounts. Provide pictures of each product including a link to a page on your website where they can get more information on the product. 

Email marketing tracking capabilities will be able to show you, in real time, which of your subscribers have clicked on the products they are interested in. This is valuable information for future campaigns, especially because the best email marketing programs allow you the ability to export this data, and use it for analysis, sales optimization, etc. Next time you send out your campaigns, you can segment your list of subscribers to provide them information on the products they showed the most interest in. 

Using an email marketing template is easy. It is merely a matter of uploading images and cutting and pasting your content to go along with the images. Some things to think about when creating are to avoid over stylized text material, meaning don't input entire paragraphs in bold or italics (or both). Also, in the subject line of your email avoid statements like "50% off!" or the use of dollar symbols ($) and excessive use of exclamation points(!!!). 

These are considered "visually enhancing", so the spam filters are designed to react with an understating that, if your content needs to be visually enhanced, it probably lacks substance. Therefore, the spam filters can send your email to people's junk mailboxes and not their inboxes. 

Email marketing is a cost effective way to stay ahead of your big box competition, so that you maintain a loyal client base. Email marketing costs as much one cent per email address. So, setting up a professionally designed email marketing campaign keeps you on par with the big boxes. This is accomplished in a more effective manner by targeting your customers directly, and making them feel valued. The discounts you offer them through an email marketing campaign that is designed to better target these audiences will keep your store and its products top of mind. Start competing with the conglomerates by taking advantage of email marketing. 

Robert Burko is CEO of Elite Email, the complete email marketing package used by office supply stores around the world. You can deploy a comprehensive email marketing program for your business supply store with a no-risk free trial. Start harnessing the power of email marketing today!

By Robert Burko

Build Email Lists Fast

Build Email Lists Fast

Build customer lists in excess of 30,000 almost instantly with this brand new super system. The only system where your subscribers line up to pay you just so they can be on your email list.
Build Email Lists Fast
Is this for real? Can you really build email lists of 30,000 or more in under 90 days? The short answer is yes you can. This new secret tactic you are about to learn will enable you to build email lists of this size so fast your head will spin. 

But here is the big catch, when you build email lists in this manner, you will never have to spend another cent trying to acquire double opt in subscribers from this day forward. Each and every one of your new subscribers is actually going to pay you $2 just so they can be on your list. So how does this all work? 

You Build Email Lists of Opportunity Seekers 

And this is how you do it. One of the hottest markets on the planet today is Business Opportunities. This 100% new list building system promotes a business opportunity. This brand new system offers opportunity seekers the chance to make a whole heap of money just by recruiting 20 people into the same system. A system where they get paid just $2 but it’s paid 5 levels deep. Wait until you see what the figures are… 

Level 1: You write articles or use other FREE forms of advertising to attract just 20 opportunity seekers. The following figures represent obtaining just 20 recruits. Most list builders who are really hungry for a bigger list obtain a whole lot more. At level 1 your initial 20 recruits pay $12 to join. $2 of this comes straight to you and all 4 people under you get $2 each as well. Your income for level 1 is $40 

Level 2: Out of those initial 20 people lets say that only 30% get their 20 recruits. That equals 120 new recruits at $2 each. Total income on level 2 = $240 

Level 3: Out of those 120 people lets say that only 30% get their 20 recruits. That equals 720 new recruits at $2 each. Total income on level 3 = $1440.00 

Level 4: Out of those 720 people lets say that only 30% get their 20 recruits. That equals 4320 new recruits at $2 each. Total income on level 4 = $8,640 

Level 5: Out of those 4320 people lets say that only 30% get their 20 recruits. 
That equals 25,920 new recruits at $2 each. Total income on level 5 = $51,840 

You now have a combined total of 31,100 subscribers that you can start marketing to as part of this system is having double opt in access to each and every member of your entire list 5 levels deep. And by the way, you made $62,200 just for building a list this big that, any other day, you normally would have paid for. 

For the full details on how to build email lists this size, and information on joining, just visit my website Build Email Lists. It does take a couple of minutes to figure this out, but once you do you will soon see for yourself that this is the most powerful list building system on the planet. It does not get any easier than this!

By M S Knight

Email users warned of new virus

Email users warned of new virus

A worm that spreads through email is threatening to become one of the biggest viruses of 2003, antivirus firm Sophos warned today. 

The Mimail worm is disguised as a message claiming to be from the network administrator, telling the user that their email account is about to expire and urging them to read an attachment called message.zip. When opened, the attachment contains an html file that will infect the machine with the worm. 

Then the worm will send itself to the user's entire address book, spreading the same email to other computers. 

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos Anti-Virus, said: "Mimail's author has gone to great lengths to disguise his code as a legitimate email. 

"However, Mimail's text does leave a vital clue that it is a rogue email - business email accounts don't expire. Users need to think carefully before they launch any attachment, even if it does appear to come from a bona fide email address." 

Microsoft has warned its customers to download a security patch that will prevent the worm from exploiting a vulnerability in its operating system. 

Microsoft spokesman Sean Sundwall downplayed the worm's potential to cause major security problems. "The damage is simply an annoying e-mail," he said. 

The Mimail worm was first detected in the US on Friday. Sophos said its customer support team has seen a heavy increase in the number of reported infections since this morning. 

"The Mimail worm is getting a second lease of life as UK businesses log on to start a new working week," said Mr Cluley. 

"While US firms have been patching their systems against this threat, their UK counterparts have been enjoying a sunny weekend, blissfully unaware that a virus is sitting on their email system just waiting to be unleashed."

 Guardian News & Media 2008

Emails And Network Security

Emails And Network Security

Network security is threatened by viruses and malicious programs disguising as emails and email attachments.
Emails And Network Security

With the number of small, home-based businesses at present, computers and the internet are fast establishing themselves as essential tools for business management. But the active use of computers in business as means of banking and other financial transactions has attracted unscrupulous individuals. These individuals come up with programs and viruses that are threats to network security in hopes of intercepting important files from home computers. The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) at Carnegie Mellon University says that there are several ways how internet criminals threaten network security through emails. These methods seem harmless and are virtually undetectable until it is too late. 

These threats include: email spoofing and email viruses. All these are classified as intentional computer misuses but are unwittingly spread by people who are not aware of their possible effects on network security. CERT explains that the writers of the viruses and malicious programs usually exploit the ignorance of most computer users to spread their viruses. 

Email spoofing happens when emails display sources other than the original source. The virus writer or the original source manipulates the virus program to make it appear that the source written on the "From" box is the actual sender of the message. Most cases involve "messages" from network system administrators asking the users to modify and send them new passwords or other important information. Others report receiving strange emails from banks or telephone companies. The recipient opens the email, thinking that it is an urgent reminder. The virus then starts spreading in the computer system. The usual function of viruses like this is to weaken network security in order for the virus writer to infiltrate the system. 

Viruses can also infiltrate systems by email attachments. This happens when a virus writer programs a virus and sends it to people disguised as a harmless email or attachment. The criminal usually attaches a funny picture or story in the email to entice recipients to open it. The recipient, thinking that the message is harmless and funny, sends it to other people. The virus spreads and disables network security with minimum effort from the writer. Email viruses usually come as attachments with hidden or concealed file extensions. Most victims open attachments thinking that these are harmless text documents or images taking note only of the ".txt" or ".jpg" in the filename. CERT advises that the first file extensions are not important in an attachment or file. The important attachment is the last because it indicates how the attachment functions. Extensions like ".exe" or ".vbs" means that the attachment will run as a program once the recipient opens it. 

There are no foolproof ways on how to prevent the spread of malicious programs and viruses. To maintain network security, CERT recommends ignoring strange emails even if these are sent by an authority. Verify the messages' origin by calling the agency that "sent" them. For best protection, CERT advises email users to avoid downloading and saving attachments in their computers unless they have verified its source. Installing firewalls and other anti-virus software also strengthens network security. 

For more valuable information on Network Security, please visit http://www.datascp.com

By Todd Lange

Computer Viruses

Computer Viruses - What Are They?

Viruses are something we are facing every day nowadays and computers are very exposed if not properly protected. There are many kinds of viruses: Trojan horses, worms, email viruses etc. We’ll see how they work and what how they can affect our computers.
Computer Viruses - What Are They?

When you listen to the news, you hear about many different forms of electronic infection. The most common are: 

Viruses - a virus is a tiny piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. For example, a virus might attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program. Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too, and it has the chance to reproduce (by attaching to other programs). 

E-mail viruses - an e-mail virus move around in email messages, and usually replicate itself by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the victim's e-mail address book. 

Trojan horses - a Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The program claims to do one thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead does damage when you run it (it may erase your hard disk). Trojan horses cannot automatically replicate. 

Worms - A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that has a specific security hole. It copies itself to the new machine using the security hole, and then starts replicating from there, as well. 

Let’s learn a bit about viruses, and see how we can protect ourselves against them. 

The best way to start is with admitting the truth: People created viruses. Out there are people who do more than play games or watch TV shows. Out there are a few people that find a pleasure in ruining somebody’s day, or even somebody’s computer. 

A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user. The original one may modify the copies, or the copies may modify themselves, as in a human body virus, so it is harder to be traced and deleted. 

A virus cannot move by itself from one computer to another, it can only spread when its host is taken to the uninfected computer, for instance, a user sending it over a network or carrying it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, or USB drive. 

In studying computer viruses you will be amazed of how many interesting things you can discover and see! Viruses have some interesting points. On the one hand, viruses show us how vulnerable we are. On the other hand, they show how sophisticated and interconnected human beings have become. 

Computer viruses are called viruses because they share some of the traits of biological viruses. A computer virus passes from computer to computer as a biological virus passes from person to person. 

There are similarities at a deeper level, as well. A biological virus is not a living thing. A virus is a fragment of DNA inside a protective jacket. Unlike a cell, a virus has no way to do anything or to reproduce by itself -- it is not alive. Instead, a biological virus must inject its DNA into a cell. The viral DNA then uses the cell's existing machinery to reproduce itself. In some cases, the cell fills with new viral particles until it bursts, releasing the virus. In other cases, the new virus particles bud off the cell one at a time, and the cell remains alive. A computer virus must piggyback on top of some other program or document and once it is running, it is then able to infect other programs or documents. 

As virus creators got more sophisticated, they learned new tricks. An important one was the ability to load viruses into memory so they could keep running in the background as long as the computer remained on. This new way to work gave viruses a better way to replicate themselves.

Another trick was the ability to infect the boot sector of the hard disk or floppy disc. The boot sector is a small program, which is the first part of the operating system the computer loads. The boot sector contains a small program that tells the computer how to load the rest of the operating system. By putting its code in the boot sector, a virus can is guaranteed to be "at work" each time the computer is on. 

If you can, try to use more safe operating systems, like UNIX. If you use Windows, a good idea is to buy some protective software, like antivirus programs and firewalls. Also, never double on an attachment that contains an executable file. 

We live in a world where both computer and biological viruses are surrounding us. I don’t believe we will ever find a way to completely stop them. Even if we will, until then the only way is to protect ourselves.

By Claudia Miclaus

Identity Theft with USB Drives

Identity Theft with USB Drives

USB drives' use as identity theft tool is increasing as they become more widely used.
USB drives, or Universal Serial Bus drives, are a convenient form of modern technology. After all, they can store a vast amount of information in one small device. While the power and abilities of these tiny contraptions is certainly something to be admired, it is also a source of concern. What would you do if the information on your USB drive was stolen by an identity thief? With so much information available, you could potentially be financially devastated by what a thief can do with your USB drive. 

The Widespread Use of USB Drives 

Due to their small size, easy portability, durability, and low cost, USB drives are found in a number of different devices. In fact, they are regularly used as storage devices for popular electronic gizmos such as: 

Digital audio players 
Digital cameras 
Game consoles 
Laptop computers 
Mobile phones 
PDAs 

Yet, because they are commonly found in so many devices, it is easy to take USB drives and the information they contain for granted. 

The Downside to USB Drives

Although the miniscule size of USB drives is one of the many benefits they provide, it is also one of the drawbacks. After all, an item that is as small as a thumbnail is easy to swipe and to conceal. Furthermore, because they are so small, many USB drive owners have a tendency to misplace them. Therefore, when a USB drive is stolen, it may take months before the owner realizes it was not simply misplaced. Yet, according to research, nearly half of USB drive owners have unprotected confidential information stored on their USB drives. 

The Case of the Disappearing USB Drives

Many horror stories involving missing USB drives have made headlines around the world. Some of these include: 

A USB drive belonging to the Army was found for sale at a bazaar just outside of Afghanistan. According to an email from Lt. Col. Thomas Collins, the Army does not know how the flash drive was lost in the first place. 

120,000 patients of Wilcox Memorial Hospital in Lihue, Hawaii are still looking for a USB drive containing sensitive information such as their names, addresses, Social Security numbers and medical record numbers. Since its disappearance, the use of USB drives has been banned in the hospital. 

6,500 former and current students at the University of Kentucky are waiting for a professor’s USB drive, which contained Social Security numbers and grades, to be recovered. The university is reportedly "reevaluating" the use of these drives. 

These stories are not as unique as you might think. In fact, 20% of companies surveyed admitted that at least one of their drives is lost each month. 

Taking Information with Ease

On the flip side, missing USB drives are not the only concern for businesses and individuals. Since they are so simple to use and so easy to hide, USB drives are also the perfect tool for quickly downloading information from a computer. This has become such as concern that some companies have gone so far as to super-glue their USB ports shut. Yet others use special encryption tools, which encrypt any information that is removed and placed on any form of portable storage device. 

So, if you use a USB drive to store information – even if you do not consider it to be very "sensitive," you might want to think twice about where you leave it. Remember, a skilled identity thief only needs a few pieces of information to make your life miserable for months or even years to come.
Identity Theft with USB drives
ID Theft, Identity Theft, USB Drives.

By Ryan Smith

8 Million Hotel Guests Face Risk of Identity Theft

8 Million Hotel Guests Face Risk of Identity Theft

The first in a series of informational articles entitled, Awareness of Identity Theft, This article covers details of a major leak of confidential information that should be of concern to all and should be read by anyone who has established a good credit rating and is determined to keep that record in good standing.
8 Million Hotel Guests Face Risk of Identity Theft 
This is the first in a series of articles which will increase your awareness about Identity Theft. 

In August 2008, up to 8 million people were thought to be at risk for some sort of Identity Theft, after the Best Western hotel chain, the world’s largest hotel chain, disclosed that their on line reservation system had been subjected to a successful breach of security. 
It is estimated that information pertaining to any guest of the Best Western Chain who stayed at a Best Western Hotel in Europe during the past year, may have been compromised, and it is thought that the data was being sold by a web site operated by an organized crime gang based in Russia. 

Data reported as stolen includes: 

Home addresses, 
Credit Card details, 
Employment information. 

The company is investigating how the breach of security happened, but at this time does not have any answers. 

This is a further, real life instance, one of many over the past few years, involving loss of data from corporate or government owned data facilities that were thought to be protected and secure. 

I will update this article if and when I obtain further information regarding investigations, fall out and or arrests. 

For more detailed information on Identity Theft, and to sign up for our 5 part e-course, go to http://www.identitytheftpreventionplan.com. 
  By John Ritchie

Search Engines like Google turned into Hacking Tool

Search Engines like Google turned into Hacking Tool!

How do the hackers use search engines as a free hacking tool?
Search Engines like Google turned into Hacking Tool!

This is my first article so this might be boring for you but I just hope that it will not be just a waste of time for you. Please give me feedback if you have comments, objections or advice. I would love to hear from you. 

The search engines are the most useful and handy tool in the cyber world. No matter what kind of information you need, all you need is a browser and an Internet connection and you get everything that you are looking for. But most of us forget that things that are normally created to do good to people can also be misused by people whose only hobby or profession is to get their hands on what they are not allowed to. You would be surprised to know that the only thing that turns search engines like Google into an easy but deadly weapon is the laziness or less knowledge of people who has got their stuff online. Unfortunately a big majority of those people are the System Administrators of the companies, who fail to protect the important confidential information that belongs to their employer. I am not writing this article to teach somebody how to get somebody’s confidential info or download illegal stuff. I should not be held responsible for any kind of misuse of the information contained in this article. 

What kind of data can one actually search and download? 
Nearly everything that can be downloaded or accessed over Internet through other means, can be downloaded or accessed more easily and safely with the help of search engines. This can be the confidential electronic data of your company such as xls, doc, pdf, jpg etc files or this can be illegal music or videos etc, and this is not all; this can be the lists of your passwords etc too which can open access to your mail accounts, bank accounts or other databases etc. 

How does it happen? 
The answer is more then just simple. Let’s take the the mother of search engines "The Google" as an example. The search engines give you the facility to search specific data types and that is the option that is normally being misused. Imagine yourself as a cyber thief who wants to get certain information. Then think what format could be the files that would probably contain the information you need. Ok how about getting some password files? Oh Yes! They can most probably be either .txt files or .xls files which can be opened with Notepad or Microsoft Excel program. You would then use the Index of and filetype strings to search the possible name of the file along with the data type. To do that you would simply go to www.google.com and search for the following phrase: 

Index of /passwords filetype:txt 
Or 
Index of /passwords filetype:xls 

The first query will return all the results where the file types would be .txt and the second one will show you all files that are .xls type with the passwords as the part of the names. Everything that a thief needs is now on the screen. Isn’t it scary? Such an easy access to such a sensitive data! Or consider getting a collection of .mp3 songs free to download. The cyber thief only needs the name of the song and he will get it even in multiple formats. Suppose he wants to download the song "Push The Button" in mp3 format. He just goes to Google and searches for: 

Intitle:index.of "push the button" mp3 

Wow, a whole list of web URLs where this song is freely available to download and not just this, the person who whose URL provides the access to songs has got his whole music albums uploaded there. Normally those are URLs of web spaces where some people or companies upload their data and music etc but forget that their site is listed in search engines and without password protection the folders and data can be exposed to outside world. Now the cyber thief is just a little bit scared if he is accessing a big company’s data, because the web site logs the information such as IP addresses and other details of their visitors. In that case an expert thief uses a second method for his safety "Anonymous Proxy Servers". That means that he involves a third party to reflect the data to him. The anonymous proxy servers masks the IP address and host information of the visitor so that means that if you are using a proxy server and access my site; I would not be able to see the real information that can be used to identify you. Anyway, the topic of proxy servers can be discussed in the next article as right now we can not go much in detail. 

Ok, that was how the evil brains turn the useful search engines into a weapon. Now let’s have a look at how can you save yourself if your data is also unwillingly listed. 

1. Password protect your directories which contains confidential information or preferably make new directories with new names and passwords and move your data to the new locations so that the link listed in the search engines can not be used to access your data. 
2. Make create robots.txt file in the root directory of your web space and include the names of the directories which you don’t want to be listed in search engines listings. So that the Google and other search engine bots will not crawl those directories and this way they will not get listed. 
3. Try to avoid putting your confidential data online as much as possible, because no matter what somebody says, there is no perfect protection for anything that is online. It is often said in the world of Networking that the only computer that is safe on the network is the one which is not connected. 
There are other strings as well that can be very useful to search with Google. I am writing a little about the syntax of that too only for the positive use and knowledge of those who want to know. 

Inurl:YourSearchWord inurl: lets you search the URLs with specific words. Suppose if you search a URL that contains the word "Dog" you would search the phrase: 

Inurl:dog 

This will return the results for only the list of URLs containing the word Dog. 
Site: This string is used to search for the sites with a specified domain name extension. For example .net .com .uk .mil etc. So if you search for: 

Site:net computing 

You will get the list of the sites having .net as the domain name extension and having the word "computing" as the search or keyword. 

Index of This option allows you to find the directory listings of specific folders on servers. For example if you want to search the directory listings of admin folders then: 

index.of.admin 

This would give you the directory listings of admin folders. 
Intitle: This string gives you the ability to search for html files that have a certain word or phrase in their titles. 

Intitle:your word or phrase 

Would show you the listing of those html files which have "your word or phrase" in the title. 

If you look at all those options, you will find out that all of them are basically for positive use. They help you get more specific results if you are searching through a search engine but there are always black sheep who would try to find out a negative use for almost everything that they know. I hope that none of the readers would use the above information in any illegal activity. I also request a direct feedback or comments in email again for future so that I can improve myself too. Good Luck!
CyberScout.Net!
My Cyber Home!
  By Shahid Wazir