Jamie Stewart, Chairman of the UK DSA and Managing Director for Kleeneze Ltd, knows there is so much information available on the Internet today that it can be overwhelming for direct sellers, particularly those new to social [...]]]>

Jamie Stewart, Chairman of the UK DSA and Managing Director for Kleeneze Ltd, knows there is so much information available on the Internet today that it can be overwhelming for direct sellers, particularly those new to social media. That’s why he advises anyone running a direct selling organization to research and stick to trustworthy resources.

One of Stewart’s most trusted resources is the Direct Selling Education Foundation.

DSEF’s social media platforms—including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and the Foundation’s blog—offer valuable content that can help direct sellers build their businesses.

“The Twitter feed from the DSEF is top of my list,” says Stewart. “It’s not only a safe, trusted source, but has quality information that is aimed at supporting your direct sellers. I know many people within our business have put the information to good use—after all, it’s putting great information to use that really makes it valuable.”

Nancy Laichas, Director of Marketing & Communications at DSEF, says the Foundation’s social media platform allows DSEF to reach a whole new audience with the wealth of resources it has developed with partners like the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) and the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). “Tens of the thousands of small business owners, many of whom are direct sellers, now have access to free, credible information on topics like consumer protection, business ethics, personal finance and entrepreneurship skills,” she says.

The DSEF blog features interviews with industry executives, tips on running a business and selling, and guest posts from partner organizations such as CBBB, which initiated a blog post exchange with DSEF. Additionally, CUNA provides links to personal finance articles, and has partnered with the Foundation to produce YouTube videos on a variety of small business topics.

“Blogs like DSEF are valuable to industry veterans and new distributors alike because they provide regular direct sales-specific information” says Dan Macuga, Chief Communications Officer for USANA Health Sciences. “It’s valuable for distributors in that it provides a third-party, non-partisan look at the direct selling industry.”

For companies like USANA that are very active on social media, DSEF’s blog provides third-party content to share with people who are interested in learning about more than just USANA, but the industry in general.

“DSEF’s social media is also a great example of how to create a variety of practical content, such as ‘how-to’ posts packed with interesting facts and useful business-building tips, which even companies that are not as active on social media can easily share,” Macuga says.

One such example would be the “DSA Code of Ethics” videos on the DSEF YouTube channel, which demonstrate how USANA and other direct sellers operate with integrity. “The best-practices employed by DSEF complement what we’re trying to accomplish with USANA’s social media—we want to provide our Associates with entertaining and informative content they can share with their online networks,” Macuga adds.

Mannatech Vice President of Marketing Brett Duncan says that social media has made content more important than ever. “It’s not always easy finding enough content to fill in your editorial calendar for the week,” he says. “We use DSEF’s constant flow of great articles and tips specific to our industry regularly to help fill in those gaps. It’s been a surefire strategy for us, as we can rest easy knowing content is being created with our industry in mind by people who understand the industry. And it’s also given our sales Associates another place to gather with like-minded people even outside of Mannatech and take pride in their profession.”

Sarah Baker Andrus, Director of External Relations and Academic Programs for Vector Marketing Corporation, says she likes to follow the DSEF Facebook page. “Whenever I see posts on that page in my news feed, I always look at them for something of value to our field,” she says. “It’s quite common that the topic they’ve covered or the way they present something is salient enough and relevant enough for our business that we are able repost it and share it on our corporate page on Facebook. The value-add to us is something that we really appreciate. It gives us the chance to share good, generic business information with our field. We like that we are not only always posting information that is Vector or CUTCO specific. I love that DSEF offers information that is really helpful to growing your own business.”

Andrus also appreciates DSEF’s weekly email that explains what the Foundation is focusing on for the week. “My team is able to look at that and say, ‘Hey, here’s something we can piggyback off. There’s something we could add to. Or, that’s a good idea.’ I love the way that they are very proactive, and that they follow an editorial calendar they share with us so we can tie in whenever possible.”

The feedback coming in from the field is both positive and appreciative of the work DSEF does on behalf of those seeking reliable information on the industry.

Says Ally B., an Independent Silpada Designs Representative, “I just want to thank you for all the wonderful articles you post. I read them every day. They are so helpful. They inspire me to do more to promote my business.”

DSEF’s social media can be found at:

	http://www.dsef.org/category/blog-posts
	http://www.facebook.com/TheDSEF
	https://twitter.com/#!/thedsef
	http://pinterest.com/thedsef
	http://www.youtube.com/user/TheDSEF

To receive DSEF’s weekly email outlining the coming week’s social media topics, contact Nancy Laichas.

It’s no secret that the Millennial Generation immerses itself in communication technologies. Gen Yers were raised in a digital world, and everyday life includes the extensive use of social media platforms to research and share [...]]]>

It’s no secret that the Millennial Generation immerses itself in communication technologies. Gen Yers were raised in a digital world, and everyday life includes the extensive use of social media platforms to research and share information.

So as this generation enters the workforce, how do direct selling companies evolve their traditional sales and training methods to appeal to them?

At the upcoming DSA Annual Meeting in June, DSEF will sponsor “AVATAR WORKSHOP: Using Avatars and Virtual Worlds to Captivate Gen Y,” a workshop that will demonstrate a digital approach to captivating a new generation of direct sales distributors and customers.

Attendees will learn about virtual worlds and how to use avatars—online digital personas that allow users to navigate the virtual environment and interact with other participants—for training and marketing to increase sales, educating and motivating distributors, collecting customer insights for new product development and promoting new products to consumers.

“We want attendees to come away with a vision of how they can engage a new generation of customers and distributors,” says Professor Michael Solomon, Director of the Haub School of Business Center for Consumer Reseach at Saint Joseph’s University, who will co-present the session. “These ‘Digital Natives’ increasingly shop and interact on social media like Facebook. The virtual world platforms we will discuss are the next generation of the online marketplace—they combine the immediacy of Facebook with vivid visual capabilities. Virtual worlds will allow DSA businesses to promote their products and ramp up engagement in traditional venues like home parties as well as in new venues like digital house parties.”

According to co-presenter Greg Marshall, Charles Harwood Professor of Marketing & Strategy at Rollins College, the session will be a little avant-garde. “The slide deck we have put together is not a normal slide deck,” he says. “We are showing a lot of examples of avatar-driven communications and where training could be done in a virtual world environment. Hopefully it will open up attendee interest and even understanding of what is possible using a virtual-world approach, whether it is through customer contact, training, branding or messaging—those are the things that are the real opportunities. We’re hoping this session will be a first salvo at raising interest on the part of the direct selling community.”

The basis for the workshop is a research pilot study funded by DSEF and led by Professors Solomon and Marshall in which a virtual world was constructed for the mark® division of Avon. In July 2010 Solomon and Marshall conducted a series of conference calls with mark’s marketing and online teams to create a virtual sales representative training venue. The virtual venue was completed in August 2010, and this past February mark employees were invited to enter the venue and interact as avatars.

Why is this type of academic research so important? Solomon says forward-looking businesspeople understand the value of staying on top of new technologies and business models, but may not have the luxury of exploring these options because of the ongoing demands of running their companies. “This type of research bridges the gap between new possibilities and everyday practice,” he says. “It reflects a model of cooperation where academic and practitioner partners each contribute a unique set of resources, and an innovative match-making organization like DSEF provides the glue that holds them together.”

Making academic research practical for direct sellers is critical because the divide between academic research and traditional market research—or applied research—is getting narrower and narrower, says Marshall. “Professors are really being held more and more accountable to multiple stakeholders. It’s not just about publishing our work in obscure journals any longer, but hopefully being able to add value to the fields that are connected to our research.”

Marshall added that this type of research has important implications for direct sellers who want to get ahead of the game, not the least of which is that the generation they are dealing with now—whether it is the new sales representatives or the new end-user customers or even individuals working at the corporate level. “You are dealing so much more with the millennial group—that’s the apple of all direct sellers’ eyes right now—and that group lives in a different space from Baby Boomers and Gen X types,” he said. “They want to be able to go out and find out things on their own. They are perfectly comfortable in the virtual space. For training purposes, there are so many interesting applications, such as using a virtual-world approach. For the end-user customer, direct sales has a lot of opportunities to bring them into the virtual world to demonstrate products. It is going to be a brave new world out there when it comes to taking product to market.”

The Avatar Workshop will be held on Monday, June 4, from 10:15 A.M. to 11:30 A.M.

As Tom Kelly ends his tenure as Chair of DSEF’s Board of Directors, we take time to acknowledge his leadership and the significant contributions he has made to the Foundation over the past year.

Kelly, who will [...]]]>

As Tom Kelly ends his tenure as Chair of DSEF’s Board of Directors, we take time to acknowledge his leadership and the significant contributions he has made to the Foundation over the past year.

Kelly, who will step down as Board Chair at the upcoming DSA Annual Meeting in June, has been a tireless advocate for DSEF and brought his trademark energy and creativity to the Foundation’s fundraising efforts. Charlie Orr, DSEF Executive Director, believes Kelly will continue to be a vocal supporter of the Foundation in the years ahead. “Tom has been our FUND-raiser-in-chief,” Orr says. “It’s where he has spent a lot of his efforts this past year. And he has also been FUN to work with. His energy level, his enthusiasm and his sense for what’s right are very contagious. He brought savvy direct selling experience to his leadership role, and he’s going to take that same level of energy and expertise to Silpada.”

That savvy experience comes from more than 30 years at Avon Products and now serves him well as President and COO of Silpada Designs, which Avon acquired in 2010. As he leaves DSEF, Kelly reflects on the critical work the Foundation does on behalf of the direct selling industry, as well as the challenges it faces in securing financial support to fund its programs.

“DSEF plays a really important role in supporting initiatives beyond the lobbying efforts of the DSA,” Kelly says. “This Foundation is good for our business, and we should take advantage of it.”

However, Kelly acknowledges that while DSEF has a committed Board of Directors, what DSEF does not have is the involvement and commitment of all direct selling companies.

“The reason the DSEF was founded was that the public’s perception of the industry was really bad,” says Kelly. “At that time, DSA executives founded the Foundation. Fast-forward to today and I think we are in a bit of a calm period. Right now people realize that direct selling companies are very legitimate.”

That new perception is in part due to DSEF’s partnerships with consumer advocates, educators and students, public policy officials, and members of the small business and entrepreneurship communities.  The programs DSEF develops with these respected organizations and academic institutions create a better business climate for the industry.

“There is a risk that people don’t see DSEF as relevant today,” Kelly says. “If DSEF didn’t exist, you’d want to invent it because you’d want to influence academics, and you’d want to partner with consumer agencies. These are things that the DSA can’t do on its own; it’s really a lobbying group that works on government regulations. What the Foundation does is find partnerships through academics, organizations such as the Council for Better Business Bureaus and other groups that create this warm environment.”

Kelly’s hope is that the incoming DSEF Chair will continue to tap into the strong resources and talent of the DSEF Board. “My advice would be to continue to focus on programs that reach out to the academic world and support direct selling,” he said. “Continue to look at expanding DSEF’s reach. Right now we don’t have the participation we should. I think it is up to the incoming chair and Charlie to motivate and ensure that all direct selling companies and all direct selling executives don’t take the Foundation for granted—that they contribute to it and get involved in it to help companies grow.”

If you are experiencing a lag in sales, the first thing to do is use your direct sales method to your advantage.  Because your business model relies on person-to-person interaction, emphasize your genuine concern for customer satisfaction [...]]]>

If you are experiencing a lag in sales, the first thing to do is use your direct sales method to your advantage.  Because your business model relies on person-to-person interaction, emphasize your genuine concern for customer satisfaction and the relationships you have built to generate sales.  No matter what product or service you offer, here are some tips to increase your sales in everything from health food to handbags.

• Refocus on what people are buying.  Consumers’ needs are always changing.  Consider the explosion of smartphones purchased in the last five years.  Once the major manufacturers created a product so convenient and affordable, it became nearly impossible to live without.  It’s important to always pay attention to the trends in consumer interest.  As a direct sales representative, you may not have control over the product, but you do have control over how you market that product.  For example, there is a big need right now for people to be able to add more fresh produce into their diets.  When marketing your cookware, highlight those pieces that make recipes such as summer squash casserole and broccoli rabe salad easier and more fun to make.
• Sell the benefits of your product instead of the product itself.  Once you’ve identified what customers are buying, center your attention on marketing the benefits.  This will help them understand why it is they want the product.  For example, instead of just focusing on the aesthetics of long necklace, demonstrate that its various colors make it a versatile complement to any wardrobe; display all the different ways in which it can be worn for any occasion.  When a customer understands the benefits of a product, they will place greater value in it, and therefore want to own it.
• Offer something free.  This is your opportunity to get creative.  Offering something free with a purchase can come in many forms: a free gift on the spot, a free sample of a brand-new product, a voucher for a gift with a future purchase, etc.  Again, the focus should be on what the customer wants.  Don’t be afraid to experiment with different offers and promotions until you find the one that works best for your product and customers’ needs.
• Minimize risk.  Everyone can be hesitant before making a purchase, no matter how big or small.  Alleviate that fear by minimizing the buying risk.  Your company most likely has some sort of guarantee in place, but in certain cases, you can go above and beyond that if possible.  For example, say your company offers a lifetime replacement guarantee on any handbag found to have a manufacturing defect. A customer asks you about this guarantee but is disappointed to hear that she would still have to pay shipping costs to return the defective item.  Offer to foot the bill for the shipping or offer a complimentary pickup service to save her the hassle of a trip to the post office.  The less risk there is in making a purchase, the more likely the customer will be to try it out.

The direct sales industry is all about meeting your customers’ needs.  Once you can get in touch with what those are, use your strengths in customer service and your creativity in marketing to increase your sales.  Happy customers will gladly share their positive shopping experiences with their friends and family, so satisfaction certainly goes a long way.

Save Money Through Energy Efficient Products…by Double Checking the Claims

By Jason McGlone

Gas and electric costs are rising, and they’re not showing any signs of slowing down.  This has many consumers looking for a way to [...]]]>

Save Money Through Energy Efficient Products…by Double Checking the Claims

By Jason McGlone

Gas and electric costs are rising, and they’re not showing any signs of slowing down.  This has many consumers looking for a way to save.  Numerous home improvement businesses promise increased efficiency and ultimately huge savings on your energy bills for anything from doors to furnaces to windows.  Thing is, the savings they advertise isn’t usually the amount that you or most others will come close to saving.

In fact, the Federal Trade Commission recently settled with several replacement window businesses over ads claiming more savings than they could deliver.  For the record, the ads claimed anywhere from a 35%-50% savings.  The FTC found that the window companies couldn’t show this kind of savings—the ultimate result of this were significant fines, as well as being prohibited from making similar claims in future advertisements.

BBB urges consumers to exercise caution when shopping for home improvement products and services.  Specifically, if a business is claiming energy bill savings, it’s a very good idea to examine how much they’re claiming and to think about whether or not that amount is feasible.  Can you expect to save some cash if you’re getting new windows or a new furnace?  Sure.  How much?  Putting an exact figure on it can be difficult to nail down.

There can be many aspects involved in ensuring your home is energy efficient.  Are your doors drafty?  How old is your furnace?  Moreover, what kind of heating and cooling system do you have?  Do you keep electronic items plugged in?  This is by no means an exhaustive list, but the point remains: no single upgrade will save you “half” on your energy bills.

So, when you’re in the market for any home improvement upgrade, it’s worth paying attention to energy efficient products—they can save you money.  But when you see claims that seem too good to be true, it’s time to start asking questions.

For more information on energy efficiency labels, visitwww.bbb.org/blog/2012/04/energy-efficient-windows-are-clearly-better-but-how-do-you-compare.

DSEF and Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) fosters honest and responsive relationships between businesses and consumers—instilling consumer confidence and advancing a trustworthy marketplace for all.

About the Better Business Bureaus
As the leader in advancing marketplace trust, Better Business Bureau is an unbiased non-profit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. Every year, more than 87 million consumers rely on BBB Business Reviews® and BBB Wise Giving Reports® to help them find trustworthy businesses and charities across North America. Visitwww.bbb.org/us for more information.

As a kid, you probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  As a working adult, you most likely now realize how true that statement is!  Just as eating a healthy breakfast gets [...]]]>

As a kid, you probably heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  As a working adult, you most likely now realize how true that statement is!  Just as eating a healthy breakfast gets your metabolism off to a great start, there are other things you can do to give your mind and body the head start they need for a productive day.  Try to set up a morning routine for yourself that includes some or all of the following suggestions.

• Avoid the rush.  This may be especially relevant if you work outside the home.  If you find yourself rushing around in the morning for whatever reason, consider waking up earlier.  Even 10 extra minutes can make a world of difference.  Usually when we are pressed for time, our bodies respond physically: increased heart rate, perspiration, headache, etc.  Set your alarm for a few minutes earlier than usual, and try it for at least a week.  Once you get an idea of how much better it is for you, you won’t want to go back to sleeping in.
• Get inspired by the words of others.  Motivational quotes are quick and easy ways to get an inspirational pick-me-up in the morning.  Sometimes we get so bogged down in our own responsibilities that we forget to be thankful for what is good in our lives.  Take a few seconds in the morning to read an inspirational quote; if you have a smartphone, there are several apps on the Apple, Android, and Blackberry platforms that provide one a day.  However, if you’re more conventional, get yourself a mini desk-calendar with a motivational quote for each day of the month.
• Use “positivity Post-Its.”  The invention of the sticky note has allowed all kind of people to find creative uses for them in all aspects of their daily lives.  Try taking out a stack and jotting down a few positive words or phrases that will motivate you, help you handle stress, and remind you of what you feel is important in your job or your life.  For example, one man who took a part-time job so his wife could stay home with their two daughters put sticky notes around his home, car, and office that said three simple words: for my girls!  Reading those words repeatedly throughout the work week motivated him to continue and reminded him of what was the most important thing to him.  Find your positive thoughts in words and phrases and place them in plain sight so that you will come across them throughout your day.
• Just breathe.  Sounds easy, right?  Of course, you’re breathing all the time and not noticing it.  However, sometimes our obligations get the better of us and we just go through the motions of our day without taking any time for ourselves.  When you first sit up in bed in the morning, try a 2-3 minute deep breathing exercise.  Such an exercise can relax your muscles and focus your mind.  The internet is full of descriptions of different techniques, and YouTube has a great deal of videos demonstrating these techniques, such as Quick Calm seen here.  Give it a try tomorrow morning; you’ll notice the effects right away!

Starting your day off on the right foot will increase your productivity and improve your state of mind.  How do you get a jump on your day?  Please share your ideas with us below!

7 Ways That Consumers are Wasting Money

By Ryan Gillis

Wasting money doesn’t actually mean you are bad with money, it just means that like millions of other Americans, you spend too much money on things that [...]]]>

7 Ways That Consumers are Wasting Money

By Ryan Gillis

Wasting money doesn’t actually mean you are bad with money, it just means that like millions of other Americans, you spend too much money on things that can be easily made less expensive, reports MSN.com.  MSN outlines the 7 most common budgetary mistakes:

1. Investing in expensive mutual funds 

Mutual funds that charge high fees take large percentages of your returns, so it would be wise to look for mutual funds that charge a low fee rates annually.  Any mutual fund that charges less than 0.5% in fees annually is a good number to look for.

2. Ignoring your credit score

A low credit score means less money in your pocket.  In many cases, the lower your credit score the more money you will pay on interest rates, and other expenses such as auto insurance premiums.  A low credit score can even effect whether or not you get job as some employers take credit score into consideration when hiring.

3. Failing to lower your rates

Many consumers just accept the interest rates that are paying when in reality if they only asked for a lower rate, especially on credit cards, it may actually be effective.  In the case of mortgages, car loans and student loans refinancing is the best option for lowering rates.

4. Overpaying for car insurance

Reducing car insurance premiums is not very difficult with a little bit of effort.  Auto insurance companies offer a lot discounts, and comparing rates of insurance companies online takes just a few minutes.

5. Buying brand name products

Once consumers get past all of the slogans and fancy commercials, the product that brand name companies put is basically the exact same same as off brand ones.  Off brand labels can also save the company a great deal of money, and offer similar quality.

6. Buying too much life insurance

The key to buying life insurance is to only buy the coverage you need at the cheapest price.  For this reason term life insurance insurance is more popular than a whole life policy.  As lifestyle conditions change, it , may helpful to alter your coverage or even eliminate it all together.

7. Failing to take the company 401k match

Many companies have programs in place where they will match employees 401k contributions to a certain extent.  In order to take full advantage of these contributions, it is necessary that the employee contribute a certain amount.  By not taking advantage of these programs, employees lose out on free money.

For more information, visit http://finances.msn.com/saving-money-tips/6930544.

I Know Your Password
by Jim Stickley

When my son was three years old he liked to play a game with me that he called “What’s the password?” This game consisted of him standing in a [...]]]>

I Know Your Password
by Jim Stickley

When my son was three years old he liked to play a game with me that he called “What’s the password?” This game consisted of him standing in a doorway with his arms stretched out to block access. He then asked me for the password and if I guessed correctly, I was allowed to pass. I am, of course, expected to want to go through this same door dozens of times in a row, each time being forced to answer the challenge. Strangely, there was only one correct response that he would accept to open the gate. That word was “Password.”

At first I found this funny and played along. However, it went on for a couple of months and quite honestly, I started to get concerned. What if my son ends up to be one of those kinds of people–you know, the people who use “qwerty,” “asdfgh,” and “password” as their password. What if instead of creating strong passwords, his password is simply his name backwards, or “admin” for the admin account, or his name for his online account?

Over the past several years I have run across these passwords, or others just as bad, at customer sites. Sometimes I discovered them by taking a stab in the dark, even without a password-cracking tool. And now it seemed my son was on this same destructive path. You can tell your kids not to smoke or do drugs. But how do you tell your three-year-old son he’s on the verge of becoming a password degenerate?

Fortunately my son was young and I had many years left to twist his mind into the paranoid realm I embrace with warm affection. For others, it might be too late. Passwords have always been the strong and weak point of security for both business and personal accounts. Strong passwords generally indicate stronger security, while weak passwords lead to compromise. So why do passwords fail to protect so many users and organizations? To answer that, you have to look at a much bigger picture.

Poorly Designed Passwords

When a password is created without the help of an automated tool, most people choose easy-to-remember passwords. Sometimes it’s the first letter of several words. Or, people use anniversary or birth dates. Although these can be used to create a strong password, more times than not they are done wrong. A person’s name with a date at the end, like Jim1970, will be found by most password crackers. January1970 is equally bad. Sometimes people get creative and change letters such as ‘O’ with the number zero, or letter ‘I’ with the number 1. Although minor changes add a little extra security, they are not recommended and still considered weak.

Strong passwords require a minimum of eight characters, with both upper and lower case letters, at least one or more numbers and, most importantly, at least one unique character such as ! or @. If you follow these simple guidelines, you can be certain your password will be secure. However, just because it’s easy to create a unique strong password doesn’t mean it will be easy to remember. Even worse, if you have several online accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, each account should have its own unique password. Now you’re stuck trying to remember all these crazy characters for all these different passwords assigned to all these different accounts. Like everyone else, you come up with one good password and use that for every account. Although it’s easier, it puts all your accounts at risk. Let’s say that a hacker discovers the password for one of your accounts. Since most people use the same password for all accounts, the hacker takes the login credentials stolen from the first account and tries them at every other online account he can think of. If your password is the same everywhere, each one of your accounts will be hacked in short order.

Simple Solution

Here’s a trick to create a strong unique password for each online account without having to be a Mensa member to remember them. First, come up with your base password, consisting of seven characters that are both upper and lower case, numbers, and at least one unique character. Ours will be: Jw75T!z. Next go to one of your online accounts—let’s say www.facebook.com. To make your password unique and still be able to remember it, take a portion of the website domain name and add it to your password. For example, take the first three letters of facebook.com and add them to the end of your password. So your password becomes “Jw75T!zfac”. We could also put the domain letters at the beginning of the password: “fac Jw75T!z”. To make it even more unique, reverse those first three letters so “fac” would become “caf” and add those to the end of our password: “Jw75T!zcaf”. Of course you don’t have to use my specific example of the first three characters; you might choose to use the last two or maybe the first and last letter of the domain. Whatever you come up with, use that same criteria for each online account.

Security doesn’t have to be difficult. By following this simple tip, you can ensure that your base password is strong, and you’ll have unique passwords for each online account. Just as important, you can rest easy knowing you’re one of the few who escaped the label of password degenerate.

_________________________________

Jim Stickley is the CTO and Vice President of Strategy & Solutions for TraceSecurity Inc. and is a cyber-security expert with more than 20 years in the industry.. He has been featured in magazines and newspapers including Time magazine, Business Week, Fortune magazine, New York Times and hundreds of other publications. He has also been showcased on numerous television shows including NBC’s Nightly News, CNN’s NewsNight, and is a frequent guest on NBC’s Today Show. He is the author of The Truth about Identity Theft and a co-author of Beautiful Security.

Warning! Stay Away from Work-At-Home Scams – Search Profit System & Money Mastery

By America Monge

The BBB cautions consumers to be wary of work at home scams and their too good to be true deals, according [...]]]>

Warning! Stay Away from Work-At-Home Scams – Search Profit System & Money Mastery

By America Monge

The BBB cautions consumers to be wary of work at home scams and their too good to be true deals, according to Puget Sound Business Journal.

Two companies in question, Search Profit System and Money Mastery are bad news. Money Mastery promises to pay customers $186 a day, working from home. The other company, Search Profit System claims you can make money using search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN and Bing. What really happens is that once you sign up, consumers are charged almost $50 in monthly membership fees and canceling the service is very difficult.

DSEF and Council on Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) fosters honest and responsive relationships between businesses and consumers—instilling consumer confidence and advancing a trustworthy marketplace for all.

About the Better Business Bureaus
As the leader in advancing marketplace trust, Better Business Bureau is an unbiased non-profit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. Every year, more than 87 million consumers rely on BBB Business Reviews® and BBB Wise Giving Reports® to help them find trustworthy businesses and charities across North America. Visitwww.bbb.org/us for more information.