Sample Content Preview

WHAT IS SPYWARE?

I t is normal to see pop-up ads while surfing the net, right? What a lot of people don’t realize is that those ads could have made their way onto their computers through spyware. By the time that you figure out what is behind the ads, the spyware pop-ups may have gotten so bad that your only choice is to completely reconfigure your computer and just hope that the pop-ups don’t come back. And, if your only mechanism to fight against the spyware is hope, the pop-up ads will return.

WHAT IS SPYWARE EXACTLY?

Spyware is a type of software which gets onto your computer and is generally used to gather your personal information and then send advertisements to you, normally in the form of a pop-up ad. Spyware software can also change your computer configuration as well as many other potentially harmful things. Even though the term spyware may suggest that the software is simply monitoring action in a secretive way, the purpose of spyware usually goes well beyond this. The party responsible for creating and distributing the spyware are often profiting greatly through targeted advertising or selling off your personal information.

When spyware software is on a computer, it generally is hidden from the user. In 2005, a study carried out by AOL and the National Cyber-Security Alliance showed that 61% of user’s computers were infected with spyware. Of all of these users, 92% of them were not aware that their computers were even infected. 91% of the users claimed that they had not granted permission for the spyware soft-ware to be installed. Since then, spyware has become increasingly sophisticated and is often impossible to detect on a user’s computer. Even worse, once detected, some spyware is impossible to remove.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPYWARE and Adware

The terms spyware and adware are often used interchangeably. Both of these terms are used to describe software which can display advertisements. However, there is one major difference between these two: spyware gets onto the user’s computer through illicit means.

With adware, the user agrees to have the adware program installed in exchange for something else. For example, the program Eudora will allow users access to shareware for free but they must agree to receive advertisements. The key word here is “agree.” Adware will not attempt to mislead users and is offered in exchange for a service.

An example of adware includes the file sharing program Eudora. Rather than asking users to pay a registration fee, it asks them to agree to receive advertisements. On the other hand, Gator software is a type of spyware. When users visit certain websites, spyware is installed on the users’ computer through some sort of deceptive manner. The company behind Gator as well as the website where the spyware was installed will both receive revenue.

HOW IS SPYWARE DIFFERENT FROM VIRUSES & WORMS?

Today, there are an incalculable number of “health” problems that a computer can be at risk for. Generally, these risks can be broken down into spyware, viruses and
worms. It is easy to confuse these different types of computer prob-lems because they have many similarities.

Spyware, viruses and worms all get onto a user’s computer with permission or by using deceptive means. Once on the computer, they cause harm to the computer and impair functions. Spyware, viruses and worms are all designed to be difficult, if not impossible, to detect. They often are designed in a certain way that prohibits them from being removed in normal manners. Recently, there have been many viruses and worms which have been, as spyware is, created for profit.

Compared to viruses and worms, spyware is a relatively new problem. Viruses have been around since the 1980s and worms almost as long. Spyware didn’t become a major issue until 2000.

The major difference between spyware and viruses and worms is that spyware doesn’t seek to replicate once on your computer. It also doesn’t seek to infect other computers. Both viruses and worms, on the other hand, actively replicate themselves and can spread to other computers through means such as email.

4 STANLEY JACKSON

Another big difference between spyware, viruses and worms is objective. Spyware is always used for some form of monetary gain such as through advertisements. Modern viruses and worms can also be used for monetary gain. However, viruses and worms are often created in an attempt to gain fame.

Some virus and worm creators have claimed their motivation was to show how far virus creation has advanced. Other creators desire to “outdo” the creators of anti-virus and anti-worm software. As in the case with the Bagel and Netsky viruses, the creators of the viruses wanted to outdo each other.

Additionally, viruses and worms are often created specifically to do damage to a computer through a type of web espionage. An example of this is the Conflicker worm which spread in 2008. It made its way into the defense systems of France and Britain as well as about 15 million computers around the world and creating severe damage to the computers’ health. Spyware, however, does not want to cause severe damage to the computer. That is because it relies on the computer’s health in order to send advertisements to users.

IS THERE A SPY-VIR-ORM HYBRID?

It is getting increasingly difficult to distinguish between spyware, viruses and worms. As all three of these computer health issues become increasingly sophisticated, they have taken on properties of one another and often rely upon one another for functioning.

There are many instances when spyware is spread through a virus or visa versa. There are also many instances of spyware, worms or viruses creating openings for other types of harm to enter a user’s computer. Because of this crossover between the spyware, viruses and worms, it is important that countermeasures are taken against all forms of computer infections.

CAN I JUST IGNORE SPYWARE?

Because spyware doesn’t progressively destroy a computer’s functioning like viruses and worms do, it may be possible to simply ignore the fact that your computer is infected. Many people figure that it is better to simply keep closing all those annoying pop-up ads rather than bother with antispyware software, some of which can be very expensive. Ignoring the fact you have spyware is a temporary solution but it can end up costing you in the long run.

Sample Content Preview

Introduction

Weirdly, if you were to search for “social media marketing” on your favorite search engine, you will likely receive results from the same couple of websites, as well as an assortment of targeted ads. This is a prime example of social media marketing in action. Search ranking, recognition, and branding are essential elements of your future marketing strategy, Throughout this book we will be referring to the concept of brand loyalty; it is an appropriate goal of many businesses, and with it will come sales and engagement. To reach brand loyalty: you must first have brand awareness and recognition: this is where social media marketing comes in.

Social media marketing involves consistently using appropriate strategies to engage your audience and raise awareness of your brand. Simply posting is not enough. Your posts need to be relevant and strategic.

This eBook will make social media marketing simple. The concept of social media marketing can seem challenging and convoluted. And, with a haphazard attempt towards it, social media marketing can be. You will need to have a clear strategy, that will help you reach your clearly defined goals.

When it comes to the results of marketing, ignorance is not bliss. You would never implement a traditional marketing campaign without first clearly planning it and outlining several specific goals; so why would you do it online? One of the biggest mistakes people make in implementing social media marketing is not acknowledging the stark difference between regular marketing and online marketing. Many of the foundational principles are the same, yet new skills and elements exist and will be necessary to comprehend.

Before beginning, it is important to note that this eBook not directed towards one specific business type, it is for everyone who is using social media to market. The eBook may include phrases like “your product”, “your service” or “your business.” What is meant, is whatever you have to offer! Use the elements that apply to your business, do not falsify a business to fit with anything other than your goals.

We will begin by discussing what social media marketing is. It is important to have a complete understanding first so that you can do a better job of working through the remainder of the book. It may be prudent to answer all the rhetorical questions posed within the coming pages to truly outline your overall business goals and how you can use social media marketing to achieve them.

The eBook will then go on to discussing the key elements of social media marketing; this section will provide you with a list of ideas and questions that you can include in a strategy. It is important to remember that not every part of social media marketing will be relevant to you and your business. You need to find and focus on the elements that are most applicable to you and your goals, while also taking into account your audience and their media usage. We will then go on to discuss how you can implement a media marketing strategy; it will provide you some tips and hints of the top things that you should be considering in creating a strategy and provide you with ideas for some goals that you could set. The book will then discuss branding which is in itself a kind of marketing. Having a brand would be a central aspect of building a loyal audience.

This eBook will then run through the importance of analytics. Tracking analytics and data is some of the most essential skills for someone who is trying to run a business online to have. Without them, you will not be able to tell your progress, nor will you know if your marketing is effective. We will discuss how you can use tools to do so as well as simple metrics to track. Following this, this book will discuss the benefits of some of the different social media platforms. However, it will not go into detail into which demographics use which platform. It simply will provide an overview of the types of content that will be created on them.

Throughout all this, however, it is important to remember that each business and each audience is different; for this reason, there is not a one size fits all approach to marketing. Rather than giving you a strategy, this book will give you the tools and understanding that you need in order to produce your own. This will allow you to build a tailored strategy to your goals, skills, and abilities in order to make the most out of your strategy.

The Beginning: What Is Social Media Marketing?

You may be asking, is it not enough to simply have active profiles on social media? Unfortunately, no, it is not.

In this day and age, almost every person, and, even, many pets(!) are on social media. For this reason, there is an undeniable need for the existence of an enhanced and consistent social media presence to be able to run a business on social media. There is an abundance of content that you will need to compete with, so, above all, you need to try to have a high-quality brand.

But, people do not only use social media to be social with their friends and family—as it was originally intended. Social media is used to build connections and make business decisions and, of course, learn about new and exciting products.

Social media was designed with the intention of keeping us on our phones and to constantly refresh our feeds to see what new and exciting content is available for us. And it certainly worked. Social media usage is constantly increasing, with platforms finding new ways to keep us posting and most importantly buying.

When social media was first introduced, it was ad-less and free. But, as sites grew, so did the ability of it to be used for marketing. Now, in amongst pictures of our family and friends, are sponsored posts and ads that the algorithms think that we might enjoy. The videos we watch are often paused momentarily to make way for a quick ad. Advertising has been seamlessly integrated into our feeds; but how do you compete with all that content? The answer comes in creating a social media marketing strategy.

In essence, social media marketing is defined as efforts made on social media to connect with audiences and achieve business goals, such as increased sales, increased followers, more traffic, and building a brand. Through social media marketing, you will want your audience to develop brand awareness, then brand recognition, and finally, brand loyalty. We will discuss “branding” more specifically later, but it is important to keep in mind that as branding is how your audience perceives you, you want them to have a good impression.

Social media marketing is the combination of all your online activities that aim to drive user engagement and overall sales.

As with regular marketing, it can be proactive or reactive. Preferably of course you want proactive marketing to head off anything bad—ideally, you want your marketing strategy to seem effortless, not staged PR.

While it can seem like a challenge, the ideal social media marketing strategy does not seem like one at all to the audience. It should come across as natural, organic content.

Key Elements Of Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is not the same as traditional marketing. Depending on one's industry and business goals, it may require traditional marketing as well as social media marketing to grow their business. There are elements of social media marketing that are inspired by traditional marketing, but one would be foolish not to have a solid understanding of social media marketing specifically to maximize the possible gains from it.

Whether you, yourself, are your brand or you are trying to run a business from social media you will still need to use social media marketing. Basically, you will not succeed on social media, irrespective of your endeavor, without a good social media marketing strategy.

If you have already started your business, it could be helpful for you to conduct an audit of the kinds of posts you have been doing and the success of these posts. Doing so will also help you learn the skills that we are discussing throughout this book. The sooner you learn to apply the skills, the better; so if you can do an audit of any content currently, it would be an advantage.

Sample Content Preview

To successfully make money from webinars you have to know what works and what doesn’t. A lot of marketers make big mistakes with their webinars and do not get the results that they want. This guide will explain which methods to create the most successful webinars.

We have worked hard to provide you with everything that you need to know about planning, promoting and running successful webinars. You will find it an easy and engaging read and we encourage you to read it from start to finish and then start to implement the tips and advice you find here.

You will learn what other successful webinar marketers do to make a lot of money. What they have done is not rocket science and you can replicate their success easily. Engagement with your audience is essential and this guide will show you how to achieve that.

Why should you use webinars as part of your marketing strategy? There are a number of reasons. Over the last few years webinars have gone “mainstream” and people are familiar with them a lot more than they used to be. People know that if they attend a webinar they will receive some value and there is likely to be a pitch at the end.

This is good for you. When people attend your webinars they are very likely to have this expectation. It will not be a shock to them when you make a pitch for one of your products or services at the end.

Deliver Value with Webinars

All of your webinars must provide value to your attendees. This is the main reason that people will attend. They have a problem in your niche and they believe that the webinar will solve that problem for them.

A high value webinar can keep an audience engaged for a long time. It is not uncommon for webinars to last between 1 hour and 2 hours. No other marketing tool has the power to do this. Videos are not interactive like webinars so they will not have the same impact and people are likely to stop watching after a few minutes.

Attendees know that they will be able to participate. The main way of doing this is to ask you questions and get the answers in real time. You are able to ask your audience questions as well and you can ask them to participate regularly in micro actions such as polls, quizzes and so on.

When you get your audience to perform micro actions throughout the webinar you are warming them up to taking the final action that you want – purchasing your product or service.

Not all webinars have sales pitches at the end of them. Some businesses use webinars to just provide value by explaining how to solve a problem and how using their products and services make things a lot easier. This increases brand awareness and trust which will make the attendees more likely to become customers in the future.

Expert Status

If you are running a webinar then your audience will perceive you as an expert. Even if some of the attendees have never heard of you before they will assume that you are an expert in your niche because you are running the webinar.

Being perceived as an expert is exactly what you want. People trust experts and are much more likely to buy from them. It takes effort for attendees to register for a webinar and they have to spend their precious time attending. They wouldn’t do this if they didn’t believe that they are going to learn something valuable from you.

No Hard Sell

If you setup and run your webinar in the right way then you will not require a hard sell for your products or services. We will cover this later on in this guide. You will be able to present your offer to your audience and some of them will just go for it because you have impressed them so much throughout the webinar.

Your webinar needs to discuss a problem that your audience is having and provide a solution. It needs to deliver value and overcome any objections. You need to persuade the attendees that they have a specific “WANT” and your product or service is that WANT. By the time you come around to the pitch your audience will be ready to buy without a hard sell.

A Large Global Audience

One of the really great things about webinars is that you can provide your presentation to hundreds (possibly thousands) of attendees from all over the world. You can sit at home controlling everything. It doesn’t get much better than that!

OK it is not as effective as a one to one meeting with a prospect but it is the next best thing. Your audience wants to hear what you have to say and how you will solve their problems. They are a captive audience. Can you imagine the logistics and the cost of gathering hundreds of people from around the world to a physical venue?

Webinars have High Engagement Levels

Live webinars are special because your attendees know that if they show up late they are going to miss part of your presentation. If you don’t plan to provide a replay (or at least announce that you are going to do this) then they will miss out on everything if they do not attend.

This is why people from around the world are willing to attend a webinar in the middle of the night. They will do this because they want the information that you are going to share. It is one of the best scarcity tactics available. Show up or miss out and stay until the end or you may miss something important!