Some personal info will always be on Web
Q. I did a “vanity” search on pipl.com and was appalled at how much information was available (albeit, some for a fee). There were sites offering to get your info off the Web. Are they legit, and is it possible to get your personal info removed from the Web even if it comes from public records? — B.A.
A. The popularity of social media, public records on the Internet and individuals sharing information in general has created a new niche in the world of search often referred to as “people search” or “social search.”
These sites claim to search the “deep Web,” which is the cacophony of dynamic data bits that can be pieced together to create a very detailed profile of just about anyone, whether they are active social media types or not.
These sites can aggregate public records with social media profiles, Amazon wish lists, music preferences from sites like Last.fm and Pandora, reunion or classmate sites or just about anything that you have ever posted on just about any public site.
The current crop of people search engines allows any average citizen to become their own “Magnum P.I.” for little to no money.
Public records are pretty hard to change as the conglomeration of resources used to generate these public records is vast and often government controlled. Each entity decides how much information is made available on the Internet and who gets to access how much of it.
Your public profiles, however, are where you can reduce the amount of detail that is collected about you. Your e-mail address is one easy way for these sites to cross reference you across many sites. So if you always use the same e-mail address for every site that requires you to sign up for an account, you will increase the amount of info that can be compiled.
Free-mail accounts from services like Gmail, YahooMail and Hotmail allow you to have a different e-mail address for each profile, making it harder to connect the dots. You can also set up a fictitious profile to use on nonessential sites and use the same free-mail account on all of these sites so that the aggregate info is collected on your alias persona.
The best way to know what is being collected about you is to do what you did: search for yourself on these sites. Some of the more popular sites include pipl.com, Wink.com, Spokeo.com, Rapleaf.com and Cvgadget.com.
When you see the kind of details being collected, you will oftentimes realize where the information was gathered from, and you can update your profiles on those sites to make it less likely future searches will include this additional info.
Many of these social search engines work the same way as traditional search engines do: If the content gets removed, then it will no longer show up in searches.
If you don’t care that people can learn your music preferences or items that you wish to buy or any of the other benign details, then you don’t have much to worry about.
Unfortunately, the real sensitive personal info is often generated via public records (buying a house, registering to vote, registering a business, court cases, etc.) that can only be changed via legislation in many cases. So be careful about any companies that claim they can remove public record information for a fee.
Some sites, like Rapleaf, will allow you to opt out of their system, which will permanently remove your info from their database based on your Many other online information sites allow you to opt out of their databases. A list of some more are posted here:
Trying to opt out of every information site that will ever come up would take you the rest of your life, so keep your perspective about what is realistic. Being careful with your public profiles is the best way to manage what gets indexed about you now and in the future.
Ken Colburn is president of Data Doctors Computer Services and host of the “Computer Corner.
May 5, 2009
E-mail can be Social-Media Stepping Stone: Forrester
Social media like blogs and peer reviews are gaining influence, and marketers avoiding these newly emerging channels risk losing business, according to Forrester's Shar VanBoskirk.
However, e-mail may provide an entry point into so-called social computing that marketers can feel comfortable with, said a recent report by the analyst.
"Firms need not be aggressive adopters of emerging media to embrace social computing," said the report.
For one thing, marketers should "listen" to their customers, according to VanBoskirk. "The fundamental shift of social computing is that marketers must participate in communities with their customers instead of simply pushing them product or promotional information," her report said.
For example, the report recommended giving registrants power over content, format and frequency of the e-mail messages they receive.
It also recommended adding so-called social media features, such as polls, surveys, message boards and testimonials to outbound e-mail.
VanBoskirk also recommended humanizing the often-impersonal e-mail experience. For example, online ticket merchant StubHub.com improved its registration conversion rate by 500% by adding a message from its CEO, pictures and testimonials from users and customer ratings and peer recommendations, the report said.
"If approached with a conversational, community focus, e-mail marketing programs can provide a familiar medium through which to inaugurate you company into social computing," said the report.
Penton Media, Inc.
May 4, 2009
New Web Ads Do Pay Per Click One Better; Pay Per Call Era Nears; Advertisers would only have to pay when people phone ad's 800 number
By DOUG TSURUOKA Investor's Business Daily
Some developers of Internet ads say a phone call's better than a click, and advertisers likely will soon make the final call on that theory. The ad developers are pushing a new type of paid search ad dubbed "pay per call." In paid search, advertisers pay companies like Google to place their ads prominently on the results pages for specific search terms. The main type of paid search involves pay-per-click ads. That's where advertisers pay a certain amount each time someone clicks on their ad. Pay per call takes that idea one step further. An advertiser pays a certain amount only after a user dials the 1-800 number that appears with the ad. In this case, an advertiser is getting an even more active response than if someone merely clicks on an ad. Teams With Local Search Pay per call ads haven't been tried, but likely soon will be. The idea seems aimed mostly at small businesses. The ads will be programmed to appear in local searches, which target a specific ZIP code. Local search also is on the rise. Advertisers will have to pay more per call than per click, but if the call provides a better lead than the click, online ad developers say the method will take off. "If someone calls you, then you have a better chance of making a sale," said Rob Wilk, director of search engine marketing for Avenue A/Razorfish. Avenue A is a unit of aQuantive, which buys online ad space for clients. Jupiter Research says U.S. advertisers will spend $3.2 billion on paid searches in 2005, up 23% from an expected $2.6 billion this year, so a lot of dollars could be at stake. Pay per call could nudge the paid search total even higher. "These ads will potentially increase revenue from paid search, because the market values calls more than clicks," said Kelsey Group analyst Greg Sterling.
May 3, 2009
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Home - Based Business On A Shoestring
April 3, 2009
HERE IS TODAY’S FEATURE ARTICLE
Starting Your Home Based Business On A Shoestring Budget
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
Whether seeking a supplemental income or a full-time income,
many folks have undertaken the task to discover a viable home
based business solution to meet their personal needs.
For most folks who contemplate a home business, a low-cost or
no-cost solution is not only nice, but also very necessary. Many
also seek to find a home business that will permit them to
maintain their regular day job in order to protect their base
income.
Taking the cautious approach to a home based business and
keeping one`s job during the start-up period is often a very
good decision. By maintaining one`s job, one can maintain the
health of their personal finances while permitting their home
business grow healthy and strong.
Fortunately, most home based businesses can be started with
little or no cash, can be maintained on a shoestring budget, and
can be operated successfully with only a part-time investment.
One day, the business will be strong enough to support itself
and its owner. When that time comes, it will make good sense for
the business owner to leave his or her outside job to dedicate
more time to growing and maintaining their new thriving home
based business. You will know when that time has finally arrived.
The nature of a home based business makes it easy and very
realistic for most folks to take the plunge into home business
ownership.
Yet, many folks put off starting their own home based business,
because they have the misconception that they will have to risk
thousands of their own hard-earned dollars at start-up. Then
later, if their business fails, they fear they may be forced to
take out a second mortgage on their house just to stay out of
bankruptcy.
Are you one of these folks? Do you let your fears of failure
keep you from reaching for your dreams?
If so, then allow me to introduce you to a few home business
ideas that you can start for less than $100 and can be started
and operated very profitably as a part-time business.
THE LIFEBLOOD OF ALL SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES
First of all, let me advise you to search out a business model
that will deliver steady and repeat business. It is the one
thing — above all others — that will assure that your
company can survive the test of time.
HOME-BASED MAIL ORDER:
Home-based mail order is a good example of how one can quickly
grow a home business income. Mail order is a low cost start-up
business that can be launched for around $100 USD.
With proper planning, your home-based mail order business will
not require up-front inventory purchases. In the mail order
business, it is not uncommon to rely upon drop-shippers for
product fulfillment services.
By utilizing drop-shippers, we can sell the products, collect
the money and then purchase the products from the wholesale
outlet. The wholesale outlet will then put a return address for
your company on the product packaging and deliver the product
directly to your customer.
Your primary expense in the mail-order business is advertising.
Classified advertising tends to be a relatively inexpensive form
of advertising with thousands of outlets available to the small
business owner.
WHOLESALE BUSINESS:
Buy low — sell high. You can acquire high quality,
top-of-the-line merchandise for a fraction of the retail cost.
AUCTIONS:
Auctions can be an excellent source for buying cheap and selling
high. Both government auctions and Internet auctions can lead to
some excellent profit opportunities. Auctions are an excellent
tool for both acquiring and selling merchandise.
MAKE AND SELL YOUR CRAFTS:
Crafts are a hot seller at country fairs, swap meets or anyplace
where people gather. Make your own crafts and sell them for a
tidy profit!
SELLING INFORMATION:
Selling information by mail is another good example of an
inexpensive home based business start-up. One can gain the
resale rights to information for usually about $50 USD. Other
costs will include printer cartridges, paper and postage. There
are plenty of free classifieds sites on the Internet, in which
to successfully advertise your information.
WRITE INFORMATIONAL BOOKLETS:
Write and publish your own informational booklets; sell them at
a high price! All you need is a little know-how, a printer,
paper and stamps. This is a GREAT home business idea! You can
also sell the resale rights to others, for extra profits. In
this age of the Internet, you may also take advantage of the
fact that selling information is one of the most profitable
endeavors one can pursue online.
OFFICE SERVICES:
Offer office services for hire in your local paper. You`ll be
surprised at the amount of regular office business that can be
gleaned from one little classified ad. Word processing, typing,
accounting, data entry, proofreading, transcription, promotional
letters and newsletters. All these tasks can be accomplished
right from your own home office.
AVON REPRESENTATIVE:
Yes, Avon`s been around for eternity, hasn`t it? Then it`s not
such a bad prospect as a home based business, is it? I once knew
a woman who did so much business as an Avon rep. that she had
people calling her and knocking at her door wanting to order
products at all hours of the day and night! Once you are an
established Avon representative, you, too, will turn a good
profit.
CONCLUSION:
On your search for the ideal home based business, try not to get
caught up in any scams that will run off with your money. There
are thousands of scam artists out there just waiting for the
next sucker to come along. Remember, if it sounds too good to be
true, then it probably is. Just use your good judgement and
invest wisely in proven methods of earning extra income.
“See You At The Top”