Unfortunately, that turned out to be a very costly lesson for Coca-Cola. They lost millions of customers to their bitter rival and number two soft drink giant, Pepsi.

They also took a bath financially.

Yes, Coca-Cola is still number one soft drink. But gap has been narrowed significantly.

Here's another example:

Burger King wanted desperately to be "French Fries King." For years, No. 2 hamburger chain beat out McDonald's in taste tests of hamburgers, but Golden Arches kept a lock on having number one french fries. So, Burger King spent several years formulating a new french fry, a potato stick coated--unlike its predecessor--with a layer of starch designed to help retain heat and add crunch. Armed with a $70 million marketing war chest, company rolled out its biggest product launch ever in 1998.

So, what happened? Burger King's new french fries turned out to be a whopper of a flop! "Sales of fries are significantly down," stated a 1999 internal memo. "Double digit percent of consumers avoid Burger King because of our french fries."

Ouch! Fortunately, Coca-Cola and Burger King were able to survive near catastrophic miscalculations, because they had billions of dollars behind them.

But other companies that badly miscalculate that don't have those kind of financial resources, generally end up going out of business.

That's basically why so many dot-com companies are dropping like flies--and will continue to do so.

Don't try to reinvent wheel. Instead, take path of least resistance. Focus on what people are actually buying, and promote daylights out of it, applying sound, proven advertising and marketing techniques.

In closing, you'll incur fewer risks and your wallet will be a lot fatter, if you just sell what people are buying!

Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached at mailto: dean@lets-make-money.net

1. Open a new browser window. 2. Click on tools. 3. Click on internet options. 4. Click on security 5. Click on custom 6. Scroll down until you find "Installation of desktop items" and set to "prompt" 7. Click OK

Remember, If your Internet security controls aren't properly set, just visiting a Web site or clicking on a Web ad can install an application. Please note that if any of your programs are set to auto-update, you will need install on demand option enabled.

How do you get rid of spyware?

Before running spyware removal tools, clean up your pc a little by hand first, that way scan won`t take as long.

1. Open a browser window. 2. Click on tools. 3. click on internet options. 4. Choose delete cookies --> ok 5. Choose delete files --> delete all offline content --> ok

The 2 most commonly recommended spyware removers are Spybot Search & Destroy, available here: www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html and Ad-Aware SE Personal, which is available here: www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware

Both of these are free, and they don`t pressure you into paying for a full version, although spybot also immunizes your computer from known spyware without purchasing a "paid version", unlike adaware.

A great forum for getting answers about spyware and other related problems can be found here: http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?b=1

Another really good place to find help with computer problems is http://forums.techguy.org

HijackThis is a general homepage hijackers detector and remover.It does not target specific programs/URLs, just methods used by hijackers to force you onto their sites. As a result, false positives are imminent and unless you are sure what you're doing, you should always consult with knowledgable folks before deleting anything. The above-mentioned forums are good places to ask for help with this. You can get HijackThis for free here www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html

Make it a part of your regular maintainence routine to scan your system for spyware, and remember that NO spyware blockers will be fully effective unless you keep them up to date, so check for updates often.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-Resource Box-=-=-=--=-=-=-=- How to easily avoid those contrived Scams, Shams, and Spam. Yes; without spending your Hard won money with every so called Guru. Be far better informed and prepared With This Brand New, Huge money Saving Free E-Book! Now You can quickly learn how to run a real home spun business without all Hype. http://annamarketing.com/pops/splash.html Subscribe to Not Just Another Ezine http://annamarketing.com ============================================= This article is available for reprint in your opt-in ezine, web site or ebook. You MUST agree not to make any changes to article and RESOURCE BOX MUST be included. (c) 2004 AnnaMarketing.com. All Rights Reserved