5) Do not open executable attachments in form of .exe, .pif, .com, etc from people you don’t know. It might be a Trojan or a spy ware sent to you, just to get personal information about you. In case you find out that your PC has been running slow lately, its most likely that it has spy ware or ad ware running in background. Use free programs like Lavasoft AdAware to remove these spy wares and ad wares from your PC. You can download a copy from www.download.com.

I am already a victim...what do I do? Well…then God help you. Just joking! There are places where you can report this, so that authorities can bring those criminals to book. Almost all countries have their own IT laws amended that can get you out of this problem and also ensure that person committing this crime gets punished.

The US has one of toughest punishments for people committing this crime. Most of these criminals are not less than a hacker. If you are in US, these links should help you out:

U.S. Postal Inspection Service: http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/

Federal Trade Commission: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft

U.S. Secret Service: http://www.secretservice.gov

Department of Justice: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: http://www.fdic.gov/consumers

India has been taking crimes committed by using IT as a means quite seriously. In fact, it is compared to hacking. Mumbai Police in India has setup a special Cyber Crime Cell to curb this kind of offense. In fact, Mumbai Police’s Cyber Crime Cell Call Center is first call center in world to have been certified for its facility and its operation as per British Standards. These are some of links that can help:

Mumbai Police - Cyber Crime Cell http://www.cybercellmumbai.com/

Central Bureau of Investigation – Cyber Crime Cell http://www.cbi.nic.in/cyber1.htm

Pakistan too has its own Cyber Crime Cell by name PakCERT (Pakistan Computer Emergency Response Team). These guys track down people defacing websites and keep cyber crime at bay.

The link to PakCERT is: www.pakcert.org

These are just some examples. If you run a search on Google.com, you might end up with umpteen websites that will help you from being a victim. However, as it is always, prevention is better than cure. Isn’t it true? You bet!

Chris N. Fernando is a Sr. Staff Writer with Magazine 360 - an IT magazine published by ITNation, Mumbai (India). He has also worked as Technical Editor with Peer Technical Services and as Reporter for PCQuest and Living Digital magazines. He also writes for www.TheCheers.org.

Now let's do same thing for 'charm bracelets'. At time of this article Google returned 1,950,000 competing sites and Overture returned a count of 50417. The result was 38.67 (1,950,000 / 50417 = 38.67).

Charm bracelets is winner because ratio between searches and number of competing sites will make it easier for your site to be found.

This is online demand in it's simplest form but it can give you a good idea of what you are up against.

Next you must research your competition

Always know what your competing sites are doing and how they are doing it. Let's say you decide to sell those charm bracelets. Type 'charm bracelets' into Google and take a good look at first few pages of listings that come up. Look at each site and study it. Make a chart and note following for each site.

- What products do they offer? - What are strengths and weaknesses of each site? - What information or services does each site provide? - What did you like or dislike about each site?

Once you've compiled your chart this will help you determine how you can make your site better and what information or services you might want to include that would offer better value and/or service. The key here is to find out what is out there and how you might deliver it better. What kind of profit can you make?

Profit is calculated after all your expenses are met. It's basic business 101 but sometimes online business owners forget that.

If your porcelain doll cost you $10 and you sold it for $30 you may have made $20 but your profit may be lower. You also need to take into account what it cost you to make that sale, advertising, website costs, merchant account costs, shipping, etc.

After expenses, 30-50% can be very good. Anything more would be ideal, however if you can't show a profit after expenses it won't be worth your time.

Study your competition, keep your costs down ,keep your price competitive, offer something free if you can, stress your value and be sure to take all facets of cost into account.

Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years in the service and support industry. She has moved her expertise to the world wide web helping businesses find trusted tools, enhance customer service, build confidence and increase sales. You can visit Elizabeth's sites at: http://www.homenotion.com http://www.pro-marketing-online.com