When conducting a business on line, one has to decide where to find their market. On the internet many can be found in social communities. Through the process of chat you learn about each other and share business ideas. Each community is unique in scope, tools to use, different interest groups, management and difficulty of use.
There is the potential for great danger alongside of a good place to build your business. Here are some statements to assist you in realizing that on the internet much can be deceiving. These statements are made from on line experience and gleaned from some members of communities.
1. Communities are international, do not expect people with English as second language to always fully understand. Mis-understandings happen easily as words and sentence structure cause friction.
2. Not everyone is who they present themselves to be. It is easy to create a profile with false information. Watch for contradictions in profile information and actions in the community.
3. Give out your telephone number, and e-mail cautiously. Skype or message centers are easier to handle as one deletes so no further communication can take place.
4. Hype and exaggeration are as real in communities as on sites. Posts may be made of copied and pasted statements of making big money when the truth is, they just joined the program. Do your homework on programmes and promoters. Again watch for inconsistencies.
5. Spammers are real, and you are not asked to accommodate them. The delete button with an explanation will suffice or use the situation to YOUR advantage.
6. Disagreements can be handled by removing ones self from the friends list and or forums. Banning and Blocking are options but may cause retaliation.
7. Feedback options on some communities is for rating a person and their business, not a place to retaliate from some grievance.
8. Forums are for discussion, advertising and gathering information. They are not a place for grievances.
9. Discussion forums are for interaction, you post, I post and we discuss. Be prepared for someone to disagree. Remember much of the world values freedom of speech. Right or wrong respect for another’s opinion will make for good discussion.
10. Forums designated for advertising deserve your kind use. Respect for the invitation is appreciated. Hogging the forum with repeated posting of the same ad is selfishness.
11. Personal mail is open to any legitimate information, either conversation, ads, and invitations (TOS). However, altho not a Term of Service, some people will be furious. You send ads, be prepared for the consequences.
12. Changing the topic in someone forum is not respectful of the forum owner. Start your own forum.
13. Using affiliations to imply trust may cloud your thinking, i.e. religion, organizations, memberships, association with others. Someone with a big friends list means just that, they gathered many friends. It does not mean they are wiser.
14. Begging for money. Do your homework. Give generously to those you wish to help. This is not a common worry as most can see if business is so great then they would not be asking. Give to registered charities who can be trusted to deliver the donation not to individuals.
15. Expect respect/disrespect disputes. What is acceptable to one is not acceptable to another. The written word can be mis-interpreted. How many ways do you understand the word “please”.
16. Monitor all forums you post on. The original post can be changed in many communities. click on the appropriate box to be notified when someone answers your post or a forum you posted in.
17. Monitor your friends list. All the profile information can be changed to something with which you wish not have association.
18. The word friend means different things to different people. Some sites use the word contacts. Protect your business by knowing who you are hanging out with whom you are hanging out. Relationships take time so watch for inconsistencies.
19. The social community itself may be presenting itself less than accuratly. For example they may boast of 35,000 members when actually they have had 35,000 people visit and fill out a registration. Perhaps there are 85 current active people. Hype from the social community site i also prevalent. They may claim that the will help you sell more, they will do all the work, etc. Remember the word, WORK? Their promises may be just that, a hyped up promise. TOS (Terms of Service) may be stated but not enforced.
Join some communities, make your presence but keep your eyes and ears open. Be a wise participant knowing that somewhere in the community scoundrels are lurking.
Panda Pics this subject based on personal experience of 3 years using Social Communities. Senior Citizens are easy targets for the garus, on line preditors building huge on line businesses. First we are computer and internet illiterate. We tend to treat people on the net as we would our friends and family. Hype may not be familar to us as we came from occupations which sheltered us from that very idea. Retirees enter the internet business venture world in large numbers to suplement their retirement income. Sometimes our desperation shows, so we would believe anything we see and hear. After all we have no experience and these people must know what they are talking about. Look how they live, yachts, fancy cars, and mansions.
Identity Theft
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Diane