Too many business owners believe that marketing their business means just paying for a few ads. What few understand is that Advertising is not same as Marketing. Too many clients have come to us only after they have wasted large sums of money by copying their competitors with ¡§me too¡¨ advertising. And media and advertising agencies love it. When you approach an advertising agency, their mission will be to convince you to spend your entire marketing budget with them, not to help you devise a marketing strategy for your business which will look at all available marketing options, not just advertising.

When developing a marketing strategy for your business, you must consider a number of aspects of your marketplace, before even thinking of your business. You need to answer following questions: =>Who are your competitors? =>Who are your customers? =>Can you segment your marketplace? =>How do your customers make a buying decision? =>Who else has customers who could be your customers?

Once you understand your marketplace you should then consider your business. At this point of marketing process you would ask following questions: =>What is ultimate benefit of my products and services for my customers? =>Why should people buy from me? =>What is my offer? (Product / Service / Price / Support / Guarantee etc.) =>How do I define My Marketplace? (Who / What / Where / When and How)

And only once you have answered these questions, ask one that most businesses ask first rather than last: =>How will I promote my business?

So called phishers try to catch information about account numbers and passwords of internet users. They deceive people with faked emails and websites that resembles exactly originals of well known banks or electronic payment systems. They make people surrender their passwords and account numbers – and afterwards they clear their accounts.

This is a peril for internet merchants, affiliates and webmasters, because they often display email addresses on websites, ads or articles. Phishers may pick easily addresses from these sources.

Phishers try to worry you!

They write you stories as follows:

There have been unusual transactions on your account.

Your account is going to be suspended soon, because it lacks validation.

The database crashed down and has to be restored.

They have lost some email addresses and they need to update their database.

A case has been reported how they try to dupe internet users. The g has been replaced with a q in URL of citigroup. Thus URL www.citigroup.com has been altered in www.citiqroup.com

They urge users to act immediately

The next step is that they urge their victims to act. They offer a link to a website, where people can type in their confidential information. If people submit demanded information, they open unvoluntarily doors to a modern kind of thieves. The accounts of victims can be looted within a few minutes.

How to protect your money?

Be aware: The serious and well known financial service companies never ask people by email for confidential information. I cite from an email by PayPal that I have received after reporting an ominous email to them: “PayPal and its representatives will NEVER ask you to reveal your password. There are NO EXCEPTIONS to this policy. If anyone claiming to work for PayPal asks for your password under any circumstances, by email or by phone, please refuse and immediately contact us via webform..”