I’ve recently noticed an uptick in hacked email accounts. I’ve received quite a few messages from people I know that are clearly spam.

How Can You Tell It’s Spam?
I typically notice them when I get an email from an address that I recognize, it typically doesn’t have a subject, and if you look at the email it contains only a link (which you should NOT click.) Of course there are other types of spam as well. This type is just the one that seems to be going around right now.

What Should You Do If You Receive One?
Well first, DON’T click the link. Delete the message, and then send your friend an email letting them know what you received, and telling them they’ve most likely been hacked. Advise them to change their password ASAP.

What Should I Do If My Email Has Been Hacked?

1. First, change your email password. Try to use a random combination of letters, numbers, and symbols to make your password hard to guess.
2. Typically everyone in your address book will be affected. Therefore, you need to send an email to all of them right away, letting them know your account  has been hacked, and that they should not click any link in an email they’ve received from you. Yes, this is a time-consuming process, but it’s very important. You don’t want your friends to be negatively impacted.

It would be so nice if people who spend all this time trying to hack our computers used that creative energy for something productive. But until then, be wise and protect both yourself, and your friends. Be safe!

How do you identify spam, and keep your computer safe? Would love to read your thoughts in the comments.

Image credit: pandemia

Here’s why:

• This arrived in my email inbox. That’s an unsolicited business message (aka SPAM).
• I don’t know the person who sent it (at least not well.) We don’t have any kind of personal relationship.
• It’s annoying. Honestly, what a dumb question. It’s not about me. It’s about what you want to sell me.

Your thoughts?

Have you seen this one lately?

What about this one?

Or even this one?

What do they all have in common? They’re all scams floating around Facebook.

This past week there have been a boatload of account hacks. After the spammers get into your account, they proceed to plaster your friends’ walls, inbox, etc with messages like these. Clicking on them compromises your friend’s account too.

So what should you do?

1. If you find that you’ve been hacked, CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD IMMEDIATELY. More advise and tips from Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=1027
2. If you see one of these messages, DO NOT CLICK ON IT. Instead, tell your friend about it so that they can change their password.
3. If these messages land on your wall, DELETE THEM IMMEDIATELY. This means you need to be checking your Facebook profile daily, at least for the time being.

It’s up to all of us to be vigilant in order to prevent the spread of these attacks. Remember, if you think it’s odd for your friend to post something, you’re probably right. Check before you click.

Have you experienced any of these scams? How do you stay safe? Would love to read your thoughts in the comments.

It never ceases to amaze me when I get emails from direct sellers who I don’t know that either:

1. Solicit business
2. Ask for a donation to some cause
3. Are one of those email forwards (photos of our troops, this will give you goosebumps-type email)

Really? You’re filling up my email box with this stuff when you don’t even know if I want it?

And it made me realize that perhaps we’re not all clear on what “unsolicited” email really is, and the rules that you’re bound by.

Now we’ve talked about spam here as it relates to your social networks. And we use that term because most people understand that spam is a message they don’t want. Traditionally it’s related to email. Think about how you feel when your inbox fills up with messages you don’t want. Why would you do that to someone else?

The CAN-SPAM act in the United States, and similar legislation in other countries, makes it a crime to send unsolicited email. These laws exist for the same reason the “Do Not Call” list was invented for telemarketing…people don’t want your messages. And if they don’t want them, how effective could they possibly be?

And here’s another thing to consider. Your company has rules against this type of behavior as well, and you agreed to them when you signed your consultant agreement. They say something along the lines of:

Unsolicited Email Spamming / Mass E-mailing
You are not allowed to transmit mass, unsolicited emails to promote COMPANY, its products or the COMPANY opportunity to people who you do not know, or who have not given you permission to contact them. People who are ‘opt in’ subscribers, who have initiated a request to be included in bulk emailing, newsletter or other standardized communications from you are allowed.

Don’t believe me? Go look. I promise you it’s in there. So when you send this kind of stuff you are breaking the rules of your company too. You could lose your entire business over this.

Bottom line: if someone has not (1) purchased from you, (2) joined your business, or (3) signed up for your newsletter on their own (either through an online form, your order form checkbox, or giving you verbal permission), you can’t email them business stuff. And I would add to this that you shouldn’t send email forwards, fundraising stuff, etc to business contacts if they haven’t met one of those 3 criteria either. When you do, you are annoying people who might otherwise have been interested in your business. Why would you damage your credibility that way?

Email spam is unwanted. Don’t do it.

Your thoughts?

image credit: cogdogblog

No matter what the flavor, it's still spam

You hear me talk about spam a lot on this blog, and how you should avoid it for your direct sales or network marketing business. Yet I sometimes get questions about what actually constitutes “spam.” I do actually extend the concept of spam beyond the legal definition as it relates to your business. So here’s some clarification.

Let’s start with the legal definition of spam:

• Wikipedia defines spam as “the use of electronic messaging systems (including most broadcast media, digital delivery systems) to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately.” This means that you send messages about your business to groups of people without their permission (thus the “unsolicited” part.)
• In recent times, many governments have passed legislation prohibiting spam emails. When people who send these messages are caught, there are legal repercussions. There’s a very good, clear overview of the US CAN-SPAM requirements here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN-SPAM_Act_of_2003#The_mechanics_of_CAN-SPAM

So that’s all well and good. You won’t send bulk emails to people who haven’t given permission. Done, right?

Not exactly.

Just because this particular method of sending unsolicited business messages is prohibited under law, it doesn’t mean that other forms of sending these messages is OK. There’s a reason these laws were created. People don’t want this type of message. And sending them anyway does nothing positive for your business.

When you think about spam as it relates to your business, here are some other ways you could be spamming your contacts:

• Sending out business messages via a general status update to all your friends through a profile. This can take the form of “join my team” and “buy my stuff” posts: product highlights, telling people why they should join your company, sending out a general bid for people to host a party, etc. It’s essential that you save this type of message for an “opt-in” area, such as an opt-in newsletter or a Facebook Page that someone needs to “Like.”
• Sending private messages about your business through your social networks to people you don’t know. These might be people you’ve found on a friend’s social networking profile, or seen in a public online forum. It’s not appropriate to send messages about your business to people you don’t know, period. First, it is much more likely to annoy people than do your business any good. But it also makes the industry as a whole look bad. “Oh, there’s another one of those MLM pitches. I hate that kind of company. They’re always sending things like that.” We don’t want people to say that. Don’t be the cause of it.
• Posting your business or link in public places, such as someone else’s Facebook Page or blog comments without permission. If it’s someone else’s space, don’t self-promote! It’s bad manners. Someone else has worked very hard to build a following there. If you try to hijack that audience, you make yourself look bad, and also alienate the person who owns the space. If you want to promote to an audience, build your own!

The main thing to keep in mind is that all this spamming is ineffective. I hear it time and time again…”I used to do that stuff and it never worked.” There is no shortcut to building the relationships in social media that actually lead to business. If you think it’s going to be quick, think again. It doesn’t work that way.

What spamming behavior by direct sellers drives you crazy? What would you add to my list? Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

image credit: pandemia

Success with social media doesn’t happen overnight.

Yet far too often we see business owners try to circumvent the process by sending out mass communications through social tools that amount to little more than spam.

I had this happen to me this weekend. I received a mass email through Facebook from someone I don’t know personally. Since I opened it first on my phone, I saw that there was a whole list of other people it was sent to (nothing makes you feel all warm and fuzzy like bulk email). Here’s how the message started:

To All My Friends and Family,

Very rarely do I take the time to ensure that everyone I know is aware of what I have been up to, but this is just one of those unique moments that deserves the few moments to read what I have taken the time to write. (From Jennifer: Notice the “I” that’s used 4 times in the opening sentence alone. This isn’t about me. It’s about you.)

Before you come to conclusions, let me make sure you know this isn’t a chain email nor am I trying to sell you anything. I just want you to know what I know and then you can do with it what you will.

The message goes on from here. But here’s the thing: starting this email this way makes it obviously untrue, and invalidates everything else the person is trying to say.

1. It IS a chain email (or at least a bulk email.) It was sent to a lot of people. Not just me.
2. I guess we are loosely “friends” since we’re connected on Facebook. But I wouldn’t classify myself as “friends and family” since we’ve never actually had a conversation.
3. You actually ARE trying to sell something. You wouldn’t be sharing your business otherwise. Telling us you’re not is patently untrue, and immediately invites skepticism for what follows.

Messages like this are not effective, and are more likely to alienate than build the relationships needed to have success with social media marketing messages. If you want to use social media tools, you MUST invest the time necessary to build relationships. This means dealing with family and friends as individuals, not a mass target.

If you want to use mass tools, pay for them. This includes Facebook ads, list building/autoresponder messages, etc. Social networks are for building relationships with individuals.

What should this person be doing?

1. Read the individual messages from her Facebook contacts, to see who might be sharing information that indicates they are a good prospect.
2. Reach out to those individuals one by one, providing a customized message about your business based on your relationship with them, and your knowledge of what’s going on in their lives.

Sounds like too much work? Then maybe you’re not ready to make the investment that social networking requires, and should focus on advertising instead.

You see, an investment is required to market your business. It can be a cash investment for advertising. Or it can be a time investment for social media marketing. But nothing is free. You have to choose.

Being lazy by mass-spamming your social networking contacts is more likely to alienate contacts than help your business.

Don’t be a lazy social media marketer.

Your thoughts? Share them in the comments.

image credit: Piez

Last week I received a message in my inbox with a subject line that said it was from Facebook, and that my password had been changed.  The message invited me to click on the attached zip file to get my new password.

Now I knew immediately that this was spam, and I posted a warning to my Facebook community to watch out for the same message.  But I heard that others were taken in and their Facebook accounts were hacked.  And it can easily happen.  I remember once receiving an email from what looked like my payment processing company, saying I had just been charged hundreds of dollars for something I did not purchase.  I was understandably upset, and clicked the link and entered my user name and password before realizing my mistake.  I had to go and change my password immediately.

So today I wanted to share with you what to look for, and how to identify whether a message is legitimate, or just spam.

1. Are there spelling or grammar mistakes? This is a big indication it’s probably spam.  Messages from a big company are proofread before they’re sent.
2. Are you asked to open an attachment to get more information? Also a marker that the message is probably spam.  Particularly if that attachment is an .exe or .zip file.  Again, big companies will not send you an email with an attachment most of the time.
3. Are you being asked to click a link to verify a password? Unless you are just signing up for a service, and need to verify your subscription, this is rarely legitimate.  And if you do click the link and then need to enter your user name and password, again, the warning bells should go off.  Never click a link in an email to a site (especially if it’s a site with financial information) and then enter your login information.  Always type the URL for the site directly into your browser, and then log in.
4. Have you received more than one message? Typically you’ll get a batch of emails with the same subject line when it’s spam.  We saw this with the Facebook scam, the shipping company scam (it said you had a package with UPS or FedEx that couldn’t be delivered), the tax payment scam, etc.
5. Are you being told your password has been changed? These sites will not change your password without your knowledge.  If you’re being told you have to click somewhere and enter your old password, it’s most likely a scam.
6. If you DO click a link and get taken to a site where you have to enter your username and password, check the URL of that site very carefully before entering your information. This is what happened to me in my example above.  The site looked EXACTLY like the financial services provider’s website.  But the URL was different.  Since I didn’t check first, I got taken in.

Fortunately, spammers all use similar tactics.  By being aware of what to look for, you can avoid getting taken in.  Please share this post with others, so that no one gets taken in by these tactics.

What do you look for when determining whether or not an email is legitimate?  Have you ever been taken in?  What advice would you give?  Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

I’ve written about this topic before.  But clearly the holiday sales enthusiasm has caused some folks to forget, so here it is again:

DO NOT SEND FACEBOOK EVENT INVITES TO PEOPLE THAT YOUR EVENT DOESN’T APPLY TO.

Recently I’ve received a slew of events to holiday shopping events all over the country. I live in New Jersey.  There is no way I’m going to be able to come to the American Legion Hall in Nebraska for your multi-vendor shopping event.  So why did you invite me?

Oh right, you invited me because you don’t care.

You don’t care that you’re wasting my time with events that don’t apply to me.

You don’t care enough to figure out who on your friend list is local to your event.

All you care about is saving YOURSELF time by inviting everyone on your friend list, regardless of where they live.

This, my friends, is not good business.

Want to save yourself time in the future by inviting ONLY people in your area?  Create a “Local” friend list now on Facebook.  Only add people to it from your friend list who actually live in your area. Not sure where people live?  Ask them.

To set up a Friend List, go to Account/Edit Friends/Create a List.

Then, type a name for your list, click the pictures of the friends that you want included in your list, and click the Create List button.

Then, when you set up your event and get to the inviting part, click the “Filter Friends” link, and choose your Local list.  You’ll only see the people on that list, and you can limit your invites to them.

Sure it takes a little bit of time to set it up once, but you can always use it.

And you avoid wasting the time of everyone else.

Please stop sending Event invites to people to whom they don’t apply.  It’s rude, and no one is going to want to do business with you if you so clearly demonstrate that you don’t care about them or their time.

Have you received invites that don’t apply?  Do you use friend lists to help with invitations?  Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

Photo Credit: Piez

Ever get that comment on your blog or social networking profile that made your stomach feel a little funny?  Maybe it was critical of something you said.  Maybe it bashed another commenter on your wall.  Maybe it was completely irrelevant to the discussion at hand.  What do you do about that?

We talk a lot in social media circles about the need for authenticity and transparency.  Deleting what other people have said is considered a last resort, and several major brands have been slammed quite publicly for deleting critical comments on their online presences.  It’s a tough quandary.  After all, it’s important for us to represent our brand in a positive way.  But at the same time, if the online conversation isn’t real, and we don’t take the opportunity to fix things that are broken instead of trying to hide them, people will call us out on them.

So how does that impact you?  How do you decide which comments to let stand, and which to remove on your own presences?  Here are few thoughts:

1. If the comment is critical of the person or brand being discussed, yet respectful, let it stand, and simply provide a thoughtful response.  That response could correct a misconception, apologize for a problem, or assure the person that you’re looking into it.
2. If the post criticizes another commenter, I delete it, typically.  Disagreement on issues is fine.  But when it comes to pointing fingers at others, or bullying, I don’t think that’s appropriate.  I want my presences to be a safe place for everyone to discuss issues without fear of personal attacks.
3. If the comment has curse words, that’s an automatic deletion.  Same goes for mean-spirited posts that are simply designed to cause trouble.
4. If the post is self-promoting, and has nothing to do with the topic at hand, feel free to delete it.  It brings no value to the discussion.  (Sometimes, if something is borderline, and it’s a place I can edit the comment, I will simply remove or disable a link that is included.)

It’s important to remember that you never want to try to hide things in social media.  It will almost always come back to bite you.  Better to allow the conversation to happen in a place where you can provide your perspective.  But at the same time, it IS your presence, and you have the right to set the ground rules about what is appropriate…thus my rules about bullying, cursing, etc.

Some organizations have even gone so far as to create a posted comments policy.  Your company’s Facebook Page might have one.  It states quite simply what is allowed, and what isn’t.  This creates an environment that is comfortable for all participants.

So what are your thoughts on this issue?  How do you handle uncomfortable comments and posts?  Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

No one likes to think of themselves as a spammer.  Those are icky people that live in their mom’s basement and have nothing better to do than hack into our email accounts and send our friends messages about buying “male medication” from Canada, right?

Think again.

A large majority of direct sellers are joining the ranks of spammers every day.  They may not mean to.  But unfortunately, their behaviors online are falling right into the category of “spammer.”  Are you one of them?

If you have done any of the following activities online, you are, indeed, a spammer.

1. You’ve sent a status update to everyone on Facebook, telling them about a new product or special.
2. You’ve sent a message to the inboxes of people on your friend list, inviting them to an event that has nothing to do with them (not in their geographic area, they have no interest and have not asked for business communications from you, etc.)
3. You’ve used Facebook Events to ask for a vote for something.
4. You’ve posted a birthday message or other communication on a friend’s wall, without being asked, which offers a discount if they shop with you.
5. You’ve sent out a general status update asking people to book parties.
6. You’re jumping on posts by people you’ve never talked to before that seem relevant to your product line or opportunity, and immediately pitching your product or opportunity (either in public or via a private message.)
7. You post Twitter status updates about your opportunity, with a link to the “join” page on your personal website.
8. You post your contact information or a link to your personal website on the company Facebook Page.
9. You send out general status updates about your opportunity, asking if people want to make income, etc (you know, all those things we should talk about face to face or in person once we understand people’s needs.)
10. You send game invites or other game-related junk to people who have never expressed any remote interest in your games.

If any of these sound remotely familiar, put down your mouse and step away from the computer!  It IS possible to use social media to share your business in a way that isn’t spam.  But you must invest the time to provide value and build relationships.  You know the phrase: people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  This is similar…people don’t care what you have to offer until they know that you care about THEM.  So stop trying to jump to the sale without doing the necessary preliminaries.  You’ll only annoy people, and make the industry as a whole look bad.

Instead, focus on value and relationships.  Only then will you experience success using social media for your business.

Have you been guilty of any of these?  Do you have something to add to the list?  Would love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

Image Credit: sdminor81