An Internet Marketing Tutorial for the rest of us

Have You Lost your ID today?
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
This may be a good question is you are a Hotels.com customer. ZDNet reports that an Ernst & Young employee's laptop was stolen in a seemingly random car burglary.

Ernst & Young are the auditors for Hotels.com, and the stolen laptop contained personal financial data on some 243,000 Hotels.com customers from 2004 and prior.

The theft occurred some time in February, and we are just now learning of it because on May 31, Ernst & Young instituted stricter security measures, including password-protection and encrytion software. The stolen laptop had the password protection but not the encryption software.

To their benefit, Hotels.com has instituted a toll-free call center for questions or concerns, and has contected the credit card companies. They also began immediately upon being notified of the theft to reconstruct the stolen data and notify affected customers.

Several people who responded to this story on ZDNet were offended that such information should be stored on a laptop that someone took with them. This particular practice is commonplace during audit season, though. The best suggestion I found among the respondents was to store this information on a server, instead.

If you have any alternative solutions, we welcome your comments.

CIAO for now,
Randy

Blended and Blessed
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Good morning! I wanted to take a moment to comment on a new form of marketing I have instituted this past week.

It's called Word-Of-Mouth Marketing, or WOM for short. I've been trying to get the word out about my other site, Blended and Blessed, agreed to post a link to the store. Not only that, but the webmaster there actually embeded the store front on one page. Blended and Blessed is a group of people involved in step- (or "blended") families. We meet every Sunday, have some social time, prayer and a message, usually delivered via video or cassette.

I'm not trying to drag you to church, however. I'm simply pointing out some of the possibilities that axist for marketing your site. Develop some strategic relationships and watch your hit counter soar!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Winsome Gunning Art Walk
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Greetings to our latest blog renter, Winsome Gunning Art Walk!

Not only does he have some nice art work on display at his site, but he also has a healthy dose of artistic philosophy: discover the creative spirit within and listen to its promptings.

Since he has passed out of his self-proclaimed "dark phase," his work is very vibrant, colorful, and goes well with a cup of cappuccino and some Miles Davis. Please enjoy his work and visit often!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Delor's Art FX
Mood:  happy
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
For my readers who are art lovers (as I am), please check out Delor's Art FX at http://community.webshots.com/user/DelorsArtFX. The art here is created free-hand, burned on wood with a magnifying glass.

David Delor specializes in sun-burned art and paintings. Personalized artwork is also available upon request. David told me today that if you sent him a photo, he could create an exclusive sun-burning for you. Please email him for prices: davidmdelor juno.com.

Enjoy the art and have a great day!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Tags: sun-burned art, personalized artwork

Posted by Randy at 7:37 PM ADT
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Top 10 Adwords Mistakes
Mood:  loud
Topic: Make Money with Your Blog
Here are ten of the most common mistakes internet marketers make when launching an Adwords campaign. These also apply to Overture, Adbrite, and others.

1) Long list of untargeted keywords
2) Not stating the unique aspects of your product or service
3) Few or no keywords in your ad text
4) Directing users only to your home page
5) Creating single Ad Groups
6) Using single campaigns
7) Only using broad match
8) Not optimizing Ad Serving for your ads
9) Not tracking results
10) Not modifying bids

CIAO for now,
Randy

Life is Fresh!
Mood:  bright
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
What an awesome title, huh? Well, it's also the title of my newest blog-renter's blog. The author, Jack, is a software engineer that enjoys gardening in his spare time and shares his insights with you.

Please visit him in the box to the right! Also sign up for our newsletter and visit our fine sponsors! Thanks a lot!

CIAO for now,
Randy

MySpace not such a Safe Place
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
WCBS-TV reports that two teens from Long Island - Shaun Harrison, 18, and Saverio Mondelli, 19 - hacked MySpace and stole personal info from users.

MySpace quickly booted them from the site, at which point they held MySpace at "ransom" for $150,000 by threatening to distribute the code they used to steal personal info.

Both got arrested when they went to LA to try to get the payoff. Both face charges of illegal computer access, sending a letter threatening extortion, and attempted extortion. The penalty for these charges is more than four years in state prison.

Personally, I am not a great fan of MySpace. Many people lie about their personal details, and there have been a few cases I know of where predators have used MySpace to attract victims. Also, I think the charges against the two teens are way too lenient. ID theft and ID fraud should have much stiffer penalties.

CIAO for now,
Randy

Symantec is a Hacker's Best Friend
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
According to Security Pro News, "A flaw in Symantec's Antivirus and Client Security products could leave the machines they are protecting subject to exploitation.

Symantec, for its part, is unaware that any consumers are affected, and also offers the following advice:

Restrict access to administration or management systems to privileged users only, with additional restricted access to the physical host system(s) if possible.
Keep all operating systems and applications updated with the latest vendor patches.
Follow a multi-layered approach to security. Run both firewall and antivirus applications, at a minimum to provide multiple points of detection and protection to both inbound and outbound threats.
Be cautious visiting unknown or untrusted websites or following unknown URL links.
Do not open attachments or executables from unknown sources or that you didn't request or were unaware of. Always err on the side of caution. Even if the sender is known, the source address may be spoofed.

EEye.com has been instrumental in pointing out this serious flaw. Hackers could take control of your computer without you doing anything. To be fair, only two Symantec products have been investigated: Client Security 3.1 and Antivus Corporate Edition 10.1. Also, no Norton products are involved. Symantec is currently working on a patch to fix the problem.

So here's the BOTTOM LINE: don't rely solely on software providers to provide security for your home or business PC. Hackers are frequently former employees of some of the software companies and know how to disable the products better than the engineers working on the patches. Practice safe surfing - avoid suspicious emails from unknown people, don't fall for any Nigerian Scams, be careful about whom you share your email with!

Please sign up for our newsletter, visit our advertisers and tell a friend about "An Internet Marketing Tutorial for the rest of us!" Just tell your friends to click on the link at internetmarketing4.us!

CIAO for now,
Randy

Go Directly to Jail - Do Not Pass Go - Pay $57,000
Mood:  loud
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
This just in from VNUnet:

A 21-year-old got 21 months in prison and a $57,000 fine for his phishing scam. Jayson Harris from Iowa targeted MSN subscibers with an e-mail that directed them to a fake MSN site in order to steal their personal information.

Microsoft worked with the FBI to track Harris' criminal electronic trail as far away as Austria. Microsoft won a default judgement of $3 million in December '05, but the amount was reduced as Harris' only source of income is his Blockbuster job.

To further educate my readers, please take the phishing IQ test, to see if you can recognize a phishing e-mail.

Please sign up for my newsletter, visit my advertisers, and have a great day!

CIAO for now,
Randy

How to Prevent Identity Theft
Mood:  energetic
Topic: Create + Promote Blogs
Today I would like to review a wonderful website I encountered called How to Prevent Identity Theft. He covers wonderful topics like the Nigerian scam, the lottery scam, the free gas scam, as well as giving incredible advice on protecting yourself from cybercriminals and knowing how to identify criminal types you might meet online.

One additional example of ID theft I heard about this week is the government worker this week who went home with military records (a violation of policy) which were stolen by a thief the next day. This is definitely a dangerous world today, and I appreciate the fine work Mr. Hamilton does on this site to educate, inform and prepare us for such potentialities.

So please visit How to Prevent Identity Theft! I would also appreciate it if you would visit my advertisers, and sign up for my newsletter!

CIAO for now,
Randy