Online Pharmacy Watch: DEA Does Spring Cleaning Of Illegal Internet Pharmacies
Since early 2004, it has become more apparent every day that the online pharmacy industry is being destroyed. Who is doing such damage to bring the industry crashing down, you ask? So far, the people responsible are savvy businessmen who are using their skills to create temporary safety nets for black-hat operations using loopholes in international security. Many pharmacy businesses were just shut down, and 20 people arrested during a DEA operation to stop the illegal sale and importation of controlled substances into the United States. I’d rather call these businesses drug rings than online pharmacies because many offered these medications of questionable quality without a prescription.Few online pharmacies are in good standing as far as I’m concerned. They include Health Solutions Network (previously known as MPLLC), IntegraRx, Shoppe.MD, DrugStore.com, various Canadaian pharmacies, and other pharmacies which do not sell controlled medications without prescriptions.The real problem still exists: We need to improve the doctor-patient relationship that is the most important part of selling prescription medications online. Most websites, including most of those listed above, require patients to fill out an online consultation form with their current health statistics and medical history. This is very convenient for patients, but becomes unsatisfactory when potentially harmful or addictive medications are involved. A perfect example of this issue is the huge mass of pleas for help on the Drugs.com forums by people who are addicted to Vicodin, Hydrocodone, and other painkillers.If you are interested in improving the online pharmacy industry, and believe you can contribute something in any shape or form, please contact Ian Mason by email at [email protected]
Online Advertising – Is it For Me? Three Steps to Deciphering Online Advertising Opportunities!
Do you sometimes feel like you’re on the road to nowhere trying to decipher online advertising opportunities? Well, you’re not alone. With all of the social media marketing, banner ads, article sites, ad words, blogs, podcasts, gaming, etc. it can be quite a daunting task to sort through the maze of available online advertising opportunities. So, here is some information to help you get started in this fascinating online world.Definition of Online AdvertisingWhat exactly is online advertising? Examples of online advertising include contextual ads on search engine results pages, banner ads, rich media ads, social network ads, online classified advertising, advertising networks, and e-mail marketing, including e-newsletters.With all of these choices which ones should your company dive into? Well, if you’re a novice in the online world, perhaps you should start small and send e-announcements to your customer database. This is a good way to stay in touch with your existing customers. If you want to enlarge your circle of prospects, then it’s very easy to offer an e-newsletter with an opt-in subscription. If you don’t have the staff in-house to accomplish this there are several companies that can help you develop your e-mail template. They also will maintain your database of subscribers and provide you a report of new and opted-out subscribers. They even provide you the HTML code so that you can place a sign-up box on your website.Competitive Advantage of Online Advertising vs. Traditional Print AdvertisingUnlike print advertising where your prospects have to wait for the magazine or journal to hit the streets before they see your ad, online advertising is instantaneous. So, it is a good way to promote special seminars that your company may be sponsoring, highlight a new product launch, or even provide personnel announcements. It is also much easier to track who is clicking on your ad. However, be wary because you really want to count clickthroughs rather than just clicks. You also pay for CPM (Cost per Thousand) rather than a frequency rate for a particular sized ad like you do in print advertising.Interactive ad expenditures are forecast to increase dramatically in 2010. Whether you are comfortable or not with online advertising, you will definitely need to budget some of your marketing dollars for this type of media. Social media marketing is still in the development stage. No one is really quite sure how to make money using these tools. Right now it is a good way to get prospects to follow your company and to direct them to your website.Does Online Advertising Work?Some of you may be skeptics but online advertising does work. Statistics show that 77% of Internet users employ search engines more frequently than any other online advertising media. 84% of Internet users are online four or more hours per day. 55% of Internet users are more likely to purchase online after seeing a search listing. Only 9% are more likely to purchase after seeing banner ads. But that doesn’t mean that banner advertising is dead. Instead of using a static banner, try integrating rich media such as video or gaming to the mix. For an attention-grabber, some companies get viewers to interact with their banner ads. Promoting some sort of contest or game does the trick. In fact, in-game advertising is expected to see a 9% growth in 2009 and up to 28% growth in 2010. In-game advertising is a good way to engage the visitor.Another form of online advertising is known as contextual advertising. These are graphical or text-only ads that correspond to keywords of an Internet search. They can also correspond to the content of the page on which the ad is shown. For example, if you type in a search for “flowers” you might get an advertisement for a florist’s website. A newer technique involves embedding keyword hyperlinks throughout an article, which is sponsored by an advertiser. When the user follows the links, they are sent to the sponsor’s website.There are many ways to advertise online. So, take the plunge and get started with this new and exciting media.
Tips On Finding The Top Paid Surveys
Finding the top paid surveys isn’t as straight forward as many would believe. What one person may suggests as the top paid surveys company may in fact turn out to be completely useless for you, on the other hand a company that is labeled rubbish by someone who’s made nothing from the company could be absolutely fantastic for you.The reason for the different results from person to person when looking for the top paid surveys is because you are rated by the companies on your personal profile. For example if the company was market researching mini skirts it would be pointless asking both men and women over 55 to take part in that survey, they would most likely look for women of a certain age group for there research, and lets face it that would make sense.Some people feel they can make there way onto almost any survey by both lying and by making multiple accounts with companies as both a man and a woman but the market research companies aren’t stupid and those that are found to be dishonest will simply be kicked off the list, bye bye money making opportunity.The reason market research companies will remove people from there list for lying is easy to understand. There job is to use consumers opinions and buying trends to make there product more popular, if those opinions aren’t honest then their research is pointless. So even if it means missing out on the top paid surveys be sure to stay honest.The best tip to help people find the top paid surveys is simply to join up with as many research companies as possible because the results will be two fold-1. You will have a greater chance of finding the top paid surveys for your profile.2. Until you find the top paid surveys for you, you will still be making a little money from the other companies you have signed up with. Some companies may only provide one or two surveys a month but if you sign up with 50 of these types of companies that’s 100 surveys a month, I’m sure you’d make some money from this.I’d recommend getting a list from either a free paid survey directory or, even better, a paid membership survey directory as this will save you a lot of time and effort it would take looking for these companies yourself.The free legitimate paid survey directories are o.k to start of with as they provide around 50 companies but to make some serious money and have a better chance of finding the top paid surveys you will eventually need to sign up with a paid membership survey directory as these have in excess of 400 companies on there list.Finding the top paid surveys companies for you can take a while but as long as you are constantly signing up with other companies you will make money even whilst you are continuing your search, and even when you have found the companies that are the top paid surveys company for you don’t give up on the other companies as in market research things can change in the blink of an eye.
Why Google Places Works for Your Business Advertising
Deciding how to advertise your business on the Internet is not an easy decision, especially when you’re on a budget. There are so many different advertising platforms in existence that gain you traffic in exchange for the majority of your advertising budget. With so many options available and some very expensive, it’s difficult to know whom to trust. Enlighten yourself to a new technologically savvy way of marketing and promoting your business that your competition may be unaware of. Google Places is very beneficial to many businesses and this is why:Google Places is free. This means that if you decide to advertise your business using this service, your advertising budget remains untouched. Most online advertising costs money i.e. Pay-Per-Click (PPC), which can cleverly eat into your advertising budget if you’re not careful. Additionally, there is much to be learned before you likely see any success and many people do not realize this.Google Places is obviously owned by Google; think of the benefits to you since this is the case. Google is the most popular and frequently used search engine in the world as millions of people use their search engine daily. Additionally, Google is constantly changing and testing their algorithms to ensure they are giving people the exact information they are searching for.Now, imagine consistently being on the first page of Google’s search engine and how that could benefit you and your business. Increased visibility on Google equals potentially massive exposure. The exposure will surely send highly targeted traffic to your Google Places listing.A huge advantage to using Google Places is that it is very easy to get set up, and you’re visible almost immediately. If you know how to type and operate a mouse, then you’re all ready to set up a basic listing. Everything is labeled step-by-step. There are also strategies to utilize to ensure you are gaining the maximum amount of exposure possible with this service. Just make sure you read on these strategies so you are getting the most of this free service.The great thing to know about Google Places is that your competition will most likely not be savvy enough to claim their free listing here. If you know that it’s such a simple process to list your business there, then all you need to do now is to take action and verify your listing. Don’t let this simple process go without taking advantage of it. Either have your webmaster claim your Google Places listing or do it yourself correctly.