MIBW
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February 25, 2003
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My IBiz Weekly
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Starting a Business on the Internet isn't impossible if you have the right help...
Vol.2, Issue 7
February 25, 2003
Editor : Donesia Muhammad
Copyright (c) 2002 KDM Publishing
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In This Weeks' Issue
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>> Editors' Notes
>> Scam Alert
>> Voice Your Opinion Column
>> Quick Thoughts From Your Publisher: Refund Scams, Important Numbers For You
>> Feature Article: Seven Ways To Protect Yourself From Getting Scammed On the Internet By Kristi Sayles
>> Spotlight Ads
>> New Column By Virginia Rounding: Weave Well: Writing Tips for the Web......Argument Weak – Talk **Louder**!!!
>> Hot Off The Press: All About Autoresponders
>> Feature Article: New Legal Techniques Of The Sp^mmers By Michael Grant
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>> Contact Information
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_______________________________________________________________
Editor's Notes
_______________________________________________________________
Hi everyone and welcome to another edition of MIBW. As usual a lot of useful information in today's issue. As usual there are some great ad prices found in today's issue..just look around ( hint )
This issue seems to be dedicated to scams and how we can protect ourselves. Before I even start to discuss web design, I realize that the more important issue now is learning how to have a great online presence through brand recognition, good customer service, and basically coming across as a responsible human being.
I also see a lot of reality checks online. When you find out that you are not going to be able to pay all your bills with your online income the first few years, you get very discouraged and start to listen to all the negative thoughts out there.
Don't listen to them, hang in there. I am. There are plenty of times, I feel like shutting everything down especially when I look at your yearly profits. But then you get that one special email thanking you for helping them and it all seems better again.
Just hang in there, it has it's ups and downs but it is worth it. Think about all that we have to come up with just to start an offline business, and then to see it fail hurts worse than ever. But they still hang in there, so can we.
So take it from me, I feel that way at least a few times a month and I am still here.. a year and a half later...
I hope you enjoy today's edition and please have a pleasant week and see you on Friday for our Classified Edition.
FYI: If you are interested in reprinting any of Virginia's Weave Well for The Web column, please contact here first to request permission
mailto:webmaster@virginiarounding.com?subject=reprintingcolumn
Yours Truly,
Donesia Muhammad
mailto:donesia@ezineadhelper.com
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AD SPECIALS
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As always if you have any questions, comments, or feedback , just let me know here
mailto:donesia@ezineadhelper.com
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SCAM ALERT
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Sc*am Alert! 02-16-2003
http://scamreport.org/phpws/
KISS is a highly illegal Py*ramid Scheme.
It is based on the illegal chain letter that moves up
four positions for every one whom you pay $5.00 to
and then they in turn put you on their mailing, and so on..
Hundreds went to jail over that and it is still around
in some form or another, just like this.
KISS is using an illegal py*ramid to do the same thing.
They think by giving you tools as they call it to make
it appear legal...but they are still violating hundreds
of laws, and you are too if you participate in it.
In fact, you can be arrested and prosecuted according
to U.S. Law!
The Sc*am Report Staff
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_______________________________________________________________
VOICE YOUR OPINION
_______________________________________________________________
From Luana Flacco:
I do have a question and that is about paid to read emails. Do any of your readers have success with them? I would like to have some feedback on the success rate of this type of opportunity. Thanks.
Luana Flacco
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MY QUESTION:
I use Outlook 2000 and I have noticed that some newsletters I subscribe to arrive unformatted ( no word wrapping) and it just looks like one jumbled mess. I thought it had to do with my domain so I subscribed with other addresses and I get the same thing. This happens with many newsletters or other email I receive. I have heard of other Outlook users with this problem but how do we correct this??
My eyes have gotten used to reading unformatted email but after living with this problem for so long ( kind of like my Win98 shutdown issue ) I need a solution.
Any help would really be appreciated, Thanks
Donesia
If you have a question that you want answered, anything that has to do with business, computer related, etc, just send it here and I will post it for everyone to answer
mailto:donesia@ezineadhelper.com?subject=voiceyouropinion
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QUICK THOUGHTS FROM YOUR PUBLISHER
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On the subject of scam refunds, and credit card fraud, I discussed this issue over the weekend with the publishers in my ad coop.
I also realized that it is an important issue and I am reprinting the information I gave them which includes some important phone numbers to some of the leading payment processing companies that 95% of all the online marketers use for their ecommerce payments.
When you are new, you tend to forget that people who view you as a business will also scam you as such because they figure " "Oh these companies have the insurance to cover this fraud, they won't miss a thing"
Not when the company is you and your pc. That is when reality hits you.
I hope this helps at least one person who has any problem with their ecommerce and get frustrated looking all over the place for one silly phone number. Learn from my errors..
THE UP AND DOWN SALES SCAMS
Nothing is more exciting to us than to see that email which lets us know that we have a sale. Whether it is for an ebook, or an ad, we are jumping for joy.
You promptly send them an email to thank them and give them
their product or service that they paid for.
You don't hear from them about any problems so you assume all is well.
Then a few months down the line, you get an email from the
payment processing company that the customer has requested a
refund and the funds will be deducted from your account...
No questions asked....
Now hold up, wait a minute... Why does he/she need a refund?
They acted as though they were satisfied with the product and
never sent you so much as an email to tell you they were
dissatisfied with the product, so what gives..
Well guess what, chances are you have been scammed.
This is a growing problem. You see it really doesn't matter what type of refund policy we have on our websites. As long as they paid through a payment processing company such as Paypal,
Clickbank, or any merchant account where a credit card is used,
all they have to do is contact their bank where their credit
card was issued or Paypal ( for example) directly and they are
refunded their money, no questions asked.
You see sometimes you have to be leery, especially with large
orders.
A person has 90 days to dispute a charge on their credit card.
Last week I had one advertiser request a refund from Clickbank
for an ad he purchased for $110.00
He purchased these ads on December 5th.
Oh so now he has a problem with his ad that ran 3 months ago.
He told Clickbank that is was an unauthorized transaction.
Now either that means if this was true that he was not supposed
to use that card at all , or plain and simple, he was scamming.
He filled out my ad form, received confirmations from the
publishers and all of a sudden now you have a problem.
Now since I was waiting for Clickbank to send me their latest
affiliate check, they took the money out of my pending funds,
and their administrative fee and bam, there goes your commission.
Come on. Most people when they have a problem with your product
or service, they make an attempt to contact you first either by
email, phone, letter.
I mean really... tie a note to a pigeon if you really want to
get in touch with someone.
I knew then that I was scammed for basically a free ad. We are
so happy to see a large ad order, we will bend over backwards
for them and that is good but sometimes it can hurt you in the
long run. Sometimes you just have to weed them out and see how
sincere each advertiser is before you chalk them all off as
scammers.
PROS AND CONS TO THIS STORY
Now I am not saying that we shouldn't have this type of Buyer
Protection plan. I myself have gone through Clickbank to request a refund, and this was after repeated attempts to contact the website owner, so it's not as if I didn't try to reach them.
Unfortunately once you have been online for a period of time,
you may experience some type of fraud involving your credit
card, or the ecommerce solution that you use.
Everyone should be allowed to get a refund whenever they want
to, but good grief at what cost to us??
I have seen customers request refunds and then I would ask other coop owners if they dealt with this customer and they would tell me that the person scammed them as well.
So you have to be aware of what is going on out there.
Don't be afraid to ask other publishers or web site owners if
they have dealt with a shady customer.
How else will we know if we don't ask.
I wish there was a list that would let you know of some of these payment scammers. If someone knows of a list, please send me the link.
PHONE NUMBERS
You know what also bothers me. How hard it is to find a phone
number with Paypal or Clickbank.
It's not like they are selling some 10 dollar ebooks or a 20
dollar ad for crying out loud. They hold millions of dollars a
year, you would think there would be a prominent display of a
phone number.
Hey if they don't want all the phone calls, then stay out of
that type of business.
CLICKBANK: (208) 345-4245
Monday-Friday Mountain Standard U.S. Time 8am-5pm
What is a shame is that I had to go through my directory
assistance just to get this number
I know they have an 800 number but that is mostly for those who
have credit card disputes and nothing else.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
PAYPAL:
NOTE: what is even more pitiful is this information from Paypal
had to be found on one of those anti-paypal sites
http://paypalsucks.com Now that is a shame.
Their toll free number is (888) 221-1161
Another toll free number is (800) 836-1859
Yet another toll free number is (877)672-9725
Their NEW regular telephone number is: (650) 864-8000
Their regular phone number is: (650) 251-1100
Their fax number is: (650) 251-1101
Their mailing address is:
PayPal
P.O. Box 45950
Omaha, NE 68145
Their corporate offices are at:
1840 Embarcadero Rd.
Palo Alto, CA 94303
US
The Nebraska office is at:
Paypal
11128 John Galt Boulevard
Omaha, NE 68137
(402) 935-2000
(402) 935-7733
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
EGOLD:
At least their info can be easily found on their site.
+1 321-956-1200 or fax at +1 321-951-0790.
service@e-gold.com
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
STORM PAY:
I am currently unaware of a direct phone number for Storm Pay
but if someone has it, please let me know.
StormPay.com
Copthall, PO Box 2331
Roseau, Common Wealth of Dominica
West Indies
For Sales Please send an email to: sale@stormpay.com
For General Support Issues: help@stormpay.com
For Fee Related Questions: fees@stormpay.com
For Funding and Transfers: transfers@stormpay.com
For Website Problems or Questions: website@stormpay.com
For Login and Password Issues: login@stormpay.com
For Account questions or Issues: account@stormpay.com
For Technical Support/Website Integration and scripting:
tech@stormpay.com
For Affiliate questions or problems: affiliates@stormpay.com
To Report Spam: spam@stormpay.com
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
2 CHECKOUT.COM
Mailing Address:
2Checkout.com Inc.
3974 Brown Park Dr.
Suite I
Hilliard, OH 43026
Email:
Sales and support questions are handled expediently, at all
hours, on a first come first serve basis via email.
Tech Support - support@2checkout.com
Customer Service - service@2checkout.com
New Sales - sales@2checkout.com
Phone:
The number appears on each credit card statement and is reserved
primarily for buyer's questioning charges on their credit card
statements
PAYSYSTEMS:
PaySystems.com Inc.
575 Madison Avenue
10th floor
New York, NY
10022-2511, USA
PaySystems Corporation
1500 University Street
Suite 920
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 3S7, Canada
PaySystems Limited
Dauntsey House
4B Fredericks Place
London EC2R 8AB, England
Sales/General Information:
Tel. (514) 227-6868
Fax. (514) 227-6869
Toll-free. (866) 699-9022
sales@paysystems.com
International Toll-Free
++ 0 800 3000 - 0030 Corporate Office
Tel. (212) 605-0529
Tel. (514) 227-6868
Fax. (514) 227-6869
Toll-free. (866) 699-9021
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS ISSUE?
What can we do to prevent these type of scams or refunds in
general??
mailto:donesia@ezineadhelper.com?subject=onlinescams
_______________________________________________________________
SEVEN WAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM GETTING SCAMMED ON THE INTERNET
_______________________________________________________________
by Kristi Sayles
1. Get a free custom-designed website for a 30-day trial period, with no obligation to continue! Sound familiar? It sounds too familiar to many who have been charged on their telephone bills for offers they never accepted! The FCC says this type of fraud is becoming all too common. Be choosy about who you give out your personal information to. Review your telephone charges regularly. Don't be too shy to challenge all charges that you don't recognize.
2. Don't fall for the Nigerian Sad Stories. The one I got was so interesting, I emailed the guy back to see if I could get more information. It sounded like a great story for a magazine article! He wanted me to give him my phone number and to meet me. I refused and told him to get lost. I later read that some people weren't so smart-some lost loads of money in exchange for empty promises of millions! Those who agreed to meet? Never seen again.
3. Don't go for the chain letter millions. Just because you hear of a kid making thousands, doesn't mean that it's legit. Just ask those who've tried it. I confess. Nada. Zilch.
4. Check out invention promotion firms. My sister created the most adorable invention once. She paid thousands to an invention promotion firm. The invention is still not patented. It has been long forgotten. In reality, few inventions make it to the marketplace and still fewer become commercial successes. Investigate the company before making any commitments. Call your Better Business Bureau. You
can call the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at (703) 557-4636 and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) at 1-(800)-827-5722.
5. Keep copies of everything. Make and date notes of every telephone call that has to do with a business deal. Write down everything you can remember about previous calls. Get in the habit of writing down the names of people you talk to. Keep good records. Just the other day, my husband noticed that a deposit of $200 wasn't showing up on our bank statement online. We called and found out that they had NO
record of the deposit. If my husband had not kept the deposit
receipt, we would have lost that money.
6. Don't you just love Paypal? I do! I love the convenience it
offers! But.the other day I received an email that seemed to be
from Paypal. It stated that I should immediately go to the site provided and login to my account. I am glad that I noticed something very important! The URL was not Paypal's! It
said, "http://www.paypalsys.com ." If I had logged in there, I
would have given away the bank-literally! Paypal will not contact you and ask that you verify information.
7. Don't send money for guaranteed scholarships. They don't
exist.
Here are some warning signs that you are about to be lied to:
· "The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back."
· "You can't get this information anywhere else."
· "I just need your credit card or bank account number to hold
this scholarship."
· "We'll do all the work."
· "You've been selected by a 'national foundation' to receive a scholarship" or "You're a finalist" in a contest you never entered.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a
secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. Place a complaint online with the Better Business Bureau:
http://www.bbb.org/complaints/consumerform.html
If you have been scammed, don't just take it! Fight!
Even intelligent people make mistakes-they just don't repeat them.
KRISTI SAYLES, author of too many publications to list here,
invites everyone to sign up for her free ezine called "Internet Treasures."
mailto:treasures@sendfree.com
______________________________________________________________
Hot Off the Press: ALL ABOUT AUTORESPONDERS
______________________________________________________________
From the desks of Donesia Muhammad and Glenn Gordon:
We have teamed up to bring you special pricing on a product
that anyone using email marketing won't want to miss, at a
price you can't get anywhere else.
We don't have to tell you how important it is for any Internet
marketer to have autoresponders working 24 hours a day,
automating your advertising, sales and follow-up efforts.
But, until now, there was no one place to go to get all the
information you needed to put autoresponders to work for
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Like side-by-side comparison charts showing you all the
current choices at a glance, so you could choose the right one.
Like a really comprehensive manual showing you all the techniques that take years to discover.
Well, now there is a source for all that information, plus lots more. Glenn Gordon put in the hours and dollars so you won't need to.
The result is what one reviewer called The Ultimate Autoresponder Guide. More than just the most comprehensive e-book on the topic - it's a combined e-book, product database and monthly news bulletin. At a special price you'll agree is almost a steal. It includes a set of fantastic bonuses, like Terry Dean's "Insider Secrets to Email Marketing," the #1 selling Email Marketing course on the net.
Available for one week only at this price, so don't wait! Go to
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Let's face it, you don't have the time to sit around thinking
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Best regards,
Donesia Muhammad
http://ezineadhelper.com/
AND
Glenn Gordon
http://www.allaboutautoresponders.info
_______________________________________________________________
SPOTLIGHT ADS
_______________________________________________________________
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
DO AUTORESPONDERS CONFUSE YOU?
Believe me, you're not alone. Get answers to your follow-up marketing questions at A1eBiz Solutions! No more FAQ's! No more forums! No more help pages written in geek.
Visit http://tinyurl.com/5mu0
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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_______________________________________________________________
So, how do You Like this Ezine?? Feedback and
Testimonials are Greatly Appreciated.
Contact me at either:
mailto:donesia@ezineadhelper.com or
mailto:webmaster@ezineadhelper.com
>> Still Reading...
Send me an email now and send your ad to one Classified Ad Group free ( must use a valid address and you WILL be subscribed to the ezines in the group you choose)
View the groups here http://ezineadhelper.com/coop/groups.htm
send me the email here with the group you choose mailto:publisher@ezineadhelper.com?subject=freegroup
_______________________________________________________________
WEAVE WELL: Writing Tips For The Web
ARGUMENT WEAK – TALK **LOUDER**!!!
By Virginia Rounding
_______________________________________________________________
Please visit Virginia's site http://www.virginiarounding.com
and sign up for her ezine, Poetry Competition Updates. Tell her Donesia sent you :)
Have you heard of the preacher (there are probably quite a few of them fitting this description) who wrote in the margin of his sermon ‘Argument weak – talk louder!’? Well, as with sermons and speeches, so with ads for your online business – talking louder won’t convince anyone if your fundamental argument is weak.
You know what I mean by ‘talking louder’ in an online context – it’s all those exclamation marks!!! and CAPITAL LETTERS and **asterisks**. If what you have to say is convincing, if – dare I say it? – it’s actually true, you don’t need to shout. Which ‘opportunity’ would you be more likely to investigate –
‘MAKE $25,000 in **TWO** Hours without LIFTING A FINGER!!!’ or ‘Earn a realistic part-time income working from home for a few hours every week’?
All right, in certain frames of mind one wouldn’t investigate either of them, but I’d certainly be more inclined to hit the delete button on the first without giving it another thought. And the ‘shouting’ technique makes it even less believable, not more.
OK, so I made up those two examples but here, taken at random from my inbox, is the genuine shouting article:
Lead Lightning Takes the Internet by Storm!!!!
25 Ad Fr*ee Autoresponders, Ad Tracking, and more!
A MILLION DOLLARS YEARLY!!
When you’ve seen this about a dozen times, it can only make you laugh (or scream). There’s certainly nothing at all convincing about it – particularly as it seems so anonymous. One knows nothing about the actual experience of the person trying to convince you to join this program. Why should you take their word for it just because they’re shouting at you?
If you have a tendency towards exclamation marks and capital letters in your ads, or if you’ve been given some like this to use, what I would suggest you do is:
Write out the ad again, leaving out all exclamation marks, asterisks and capital letters;
Read it through, and see if it still sounds good to you or whether the argument is indeed weak;
Strengthen the argument where necessary, not by hype but by stressing what the benefits have been for you personally – and at this stage still keep all exclamation marks and so on out of it;
When you’ve got the right wording and you’re satisfied that your ad makes sense, then – and only then – choose the most important word to highlight by the use of asterisks or capital letters. If you must, choose two words, but no more. And allow yourself an absolute maximum of one exclamation mark!
VIRGINIA ROUNDING
http://www.virginiarounding.com
If you are interested in reprinting any of Virginia's Weave Well for The Web column, please contact here first to request permission
mailto:webmaster@virginiarounding.com?subject=reprintingcolumn
_______________________________________________________________
NEW LEGAL TECHNIQUES OF THE SP^MMERS
_______________________________________________________________
by Michael Grant Copyright © 2003
Today we have a major epidemic diminishing the credibility
of online business. Do you ever open your email account to
find your inbox filled with unsolicited commercial email?
Millions have everyday. Why should ISP's be forced to
endure the surge of bandwidth on their servers in order to
accommodate millions of emails that their members did not
request. There are so many ways that these spammers harvest
the email addresses to blast their UCE to. They harvest
from free/fee online classified websites, FFA websites,
Usenet postings, ...etc. They use bulk mail and email
extractor software. These spammers even alter the headers
of the email so the message could not be traced and remain
unaccountable. Now the spammers are using newer legal
techniques to spam their messages to you.
Posting To FFA websites Using an Autoresponder
Spammers are posting to FFA websites using an
auto-responder address rather than a real email address.
What's wrong with this? First the FFA website owner did
not specifically request the email from the auto-responder.
You may say, "Well it is not spam if the person sent an
email first." Not necessarily. The FFA website owner has
a right to send a confirmation to the FFA poster. This
confirmation does not give the FFA poster the right to
add the FFA owner to a long winded auto-responder follow-up
sequence. This is not about "since you spammed me I can
spam you." This type of spam marketing does not work. The
only reason the person opens the email is to bounce back
an ad. None of the actual email get read. I suggest people
start presenting their opportunities before pre-qualified
targeted prospects.
Subscribing to Optin lists to opt out to opt back in again
Some spammers subscribe to optin/ezine lists, then opt out
then optin ...etc. The reason that they do this is to
legally be able to send spam to the optin/ezine list owner.
They legally bounce back the welcome message, then opt out
and optin to bounce back the welcome message with an ad.
Why do marketers get involved in legalized spamming like
this? It is not wise to force people to receive your
message if they have not shown any interest in your offer.
Subscribing to Optin/Safe/Ezine lists using a auto-responder
One of the major causes of bandwidth clogging is due to
marketers subscribing to Optin/Safe/Ezine lists using
autoresponders and vacation replies on their email
accounts. Why? This is because it causes massive amounts
of email bouncing where the Optin/Safe/Ezine lists are
hosted. This causes email loops and if prolonged may
fry the host servers. Again it is not wise to send your
message to people who have not expressed any interest in
what you are promoting.
Harvesting email addresses and subscribing people to their
ezine without permission
This is a very annoying menace that is a major cause of
bandwidth clogging. Just because some one posts a
advertisement to an online classified website, FFA website,
website directory, ezine, etc ..., does not give ezine
editors the right to harvest email addresses to subscribe
to their publication. This also applies to editors who
harvest email addresses to bulk add to their
auto-responders, or send out invitations to subscribe to
their publication. These editors give us ethical editors a
bad name.
Send Unsolicited Commercial Email claiming that the recipient
filled out an online form for the information or that the
recipient posted to their FFA website.
These are just outright lies as excuses to spam who ever
they want. They usually alter the headers of the email
like the bulk mailers do to avoid accountability. I would
like to see all email software have to the ability to
reject all email with altered headers. I feel that bulk
mail/extractor software should be illegalized with
official legislation.
I feel that the above Legal Techniques of the Spammers
need to be dealt with before these spammers choke and clog
our ethical internet. We all need to take a stand, not only
report these spammers to spamcop.com, spam.abuse.net,
cauce.org, or spam.com. Send your complaints to your local
government representative to force these spammers to market
with morals, ethics and commonsense.
You can read my free recruiting tutorial by sending a
blank email to:
mailto:masterrecruiter-subscribe@topica.com
Best Regards
Michael Grant
ASTI Traffic Infozene
http://astitrafficinfozene.cjb.net
Copyright © 2003 MICHAEL GRANT- All Rights Reserved
Free Advertising in ASTI Traffic Infozene for four issues,
archived and indexed in the major search engines for joining
my free downline club at
http://www.joinmyfreedownline.com/mdagran
t Email your id and five line ad to mailto:mdagrant@hotmail.com
______________________________________________________________
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