The Brabec Bulletin Sampler

Use Discretion when Forwarding Email Messages
Be Aware of Employment Scams on the Web
Dyslexics Make Good Entrepreneurs
Increase Adsense Income by Eliminating Unprofitable Ads
How to Remove Google Maps to Your Front Door
Never Too Old for Love and Music
Reviewing the Situation and Reevaluating Your Life
My Big Vitamin D/Swine Flu Surprise

Use Discretion When Forwarding
Email Messages

I'VE OFTEN ASKED my readers to NOT send me any "FW" messages, but I still get them from time to time. First, I don't have time for this kind of nonsense; second, I'm a very savvy gal who stays up on what's going on in the world. I don't need FW messages telling me how to protect myself, avoid con artists and identity theft, and keep my computer safe from viruses. I appreciate that people are concerned about me, but I do not want my email address included on ANY email message that is being sent to other people unless it's from a family member or close business friend.

Apparently some people still do not know that many FW messages were created for the express purpose of getting something from the recipient, or causing them harm. If someone isn't trying to plant a virus on your computer, steal your personal identity, or get money from you by playing on your sympathy, often the purpose of a FW message is to fish for email addresses for a spammer's mailing list.

Any time you get an email that tells you to forward the message to everyone in your address book, it may have an email tracker program attached (that you can't see) that grabs the email addresses of those folks you forward to. In short, whoever created the original message is going to get a copy each time it gets forwarded and that's one way they capture all the active email addresses for their use in loading our Inboxes with their junk ads, phishing emails, and often vulgar messages.

And please . . . do NOT fall for the message that says, "I have checked this on Snopes (or some other supposedly authentic source), and it's true." Anyone can make that statement in a message, but unless you know the sender personally, always go to Snopes.com yourself to verify the authenticity of the info in the message. Even if it's true, consider that you're probably passing on old news that no one wants to see in their inbox again.

Use the BLIND CC Option: When you do feel you must forward a message to your friends, at least respect their privacy by learning how to use the BLIND copy area of your email client so if someone else's address is on that message, it can't be seen. To do this in Outlook, simply click CC to open a window that reveals your address book with the BCC line where you can add addresses. (If this doesn't work for you, check the HELP button in your email client.) To remove the addresses of others in a message you feel you absolutely must forward to someone, click EDIT and then delete the email addresses and any other information in that message that isn't relevant to your purpose in forwarding it. Your friends and family members will thank you for it.

To be REALLY helpful to people you care about, when you find information on the Web that you believe is relative to their business needs or personal interests, copy the URL of that page and drop it into an email, indicating that you've personally read this Web page and want to share it with them. I'm always happy to receive this kind of information from my business friends, provided the message is sent solely to me, or to a group of business people whose email addresses are part of an "undisclosed list" of recipients.

For more information about the importance of NOT showing email addresses in the CC area of your messages, and why you get so much junk mail, read this article by Leo Notenboom. He offers a free weekly newsletter in which he answers all kinds of computer-related questions from readers.

Be Aware of Employment Scams on the Web

If you've lost a job, or are concerned about a family member who has, you may be looking for ways to make money on the Web. Since job security has long been a thing of the past, I have long recommended having something extra going on the Web even to those who are employed. (Think of it as not putting all your eggs in one basket.)

There are many ways to earn extra income or a full-time living on the Web, but the problem now is that the number of scams going on the Web is astronomical. Thus you need to be concerned not only with identity theft, but fraudulent business opportunities. "Be careful out there," says the PromoDiva® in this post at PromoDiva.com. Here she discusses two current employment scams, offers tips when searching for employment opportunities, and provides links to other posts on the site that offer additional information. A search on the web for related keywords will also turn up a lot of other good advice on this topic.

Dyslexics Make Good Entrepreneurs

For years, I've had a tendency to wake up around 4 a.m. and have often gotten some great brainstorms at this hour, including titles for my books. Lately, on awakening at this time, I've been tuning in to the Wall Street Journal This Morning before jotting some notes on my bedside pad and going back to sleep for another couple of hours. I love their interesting and personable roundup of news, which is probably why my subconscious mind keeps waking me up early every morning.

I was still half asleep the morning I heard a reference to "dyslexic entrepreneurs"—a topic I had never turned up before. Since I once had a dyslexic client who occasionally needed my editing help, I Googled the phrase and was surprised by what I found. There are several articles and discussions on the Web about a UK study in 2004 that found 35 percent of UK entrepreneurs to be dyslexic. Now, new research in the U.S. is showing that dyslexia is more common among small-business owners than even the experts had thought.

While dyslexic individuals may need an editor to help them with written documents, they have no trouble with verbal communication or the overall management of their business. In fact, the latest research on this topic reveals that dyslexic entrepreneurs may excel in business because they have developed compensatory skills and know the importance of delegating authority. They are twice as likely to own two or more businesses and are more resourceful than the non-dyslexic individual, and may be extraordinarily creative about maneuvering their way around problems.

If you're a dyslexic business owner or would-be entrepreneur, this should be encouraging news for you. If you have a dyslexic business friend, please link them to this message. See this Web page for a list of famous people with "the gift of Dyslexia." (A search for "dyslexic entrepreneurs" will turn up other pages on this topic.)

Increase Your Google Adsense Income
by Eliminating Unprofitable Ads

A lot of unprofitable cost-per-click Google ads are showing up on our websites, which can dramatically cut our Google Adsense profits. I've always known that I could block the ads of competitors or other ads I didn't like, but I've never had time to constantly look at ads to see which ones are showing up on my pages that I don't like. But now there's a free service to help accomplish this goal.

You can set up a free account at Ads Blacklist and then generate a list of 200 ads that are either undesirable or have a very low payout. After doing this, I went into my Google Adsense account and dropped those names into the appropriate box. Voila! In a few days all those undesirable ads disappeared from my Web pages.

Some of the URLs showing up on my list included websites my visitors are never likely to click over to, such as bikini and swimsuit ads, botox and liposuction ads, all kinds of undesirable financial sites, and dozens of other sites that have absolutely nothing to do with the content of my website and blog, but which advertisers may target anyway. A closer check of just some of the ads now showing up on my personal domain proves this was a good move for me. I’m sure it will be for you, too.

For how-to instructions for this process, see this article by Traci Hayner Vanover, "Increase Adsense Revenue & Weed Out the Riff-Raff." And here's a tip you won't find in this article. After setting up my account at Ads Blacklist, I created a list of keywords for each of my websites and pulled the two lists the site compiled for me. But when I got over to Google, I realized there was only ONE area in which to list all the ads I wanted to block on both sites, and when I dropped both of the compiled lists into that one block, I found there were many duplicates. Google won't accept the list until all duplicates have been removed, so if you have Google ads on more than one website or blog, you need to speed up this process by first alphabetizing the list in your word processor so you can weed out the duplicates before pasting the list into Google's box.

How to Remove Google Maps
to Your Front Door

Do you know that Google may be directing strangers to your front door with a handy map tied to your home phone number? I was stunned to learn that if we type our home telephone number into Google’s search box, it will reveal not only our name and residential address, but offer a friendly map link that will take people right to our front door. I love Google, but this is a gigantic invasion of privacy as far as I’m concerned. We may want people to find our retail business by doing a search for our telephone number, but anyone who works at home doesn't want this kind of visibility.

Privacy is a thing of the past, of course, because many search sites on the Web (called "information brokers") have personal information on all of us (including our Social Security number and mother’s maiden name). Only those with a financial reason for tracking us are likely to pay to get this information, but if you happen to be dodging a bill collector or have a judgment against you, you can see how easy it is for you to be found, even if you have an unlisted telephone number.

Google doesn't make it easy to find the page on its site where you can get this information removed, but a diligent Internet search yielded the link to Google's removal page for a residential telephone number. Upon completion of the form, your number should vanish from Google’s database within 24 hours.

When you've completed the form, go back and click all the other links Google has provided because these places will have your home phone number, too. This removal process takes a little time, but it's easy to do.

NOTE: On the Anywho.com site you need to click HELP to get to the removal page, which in turn instructs you to call a telephone number (from the number you want removed). This removal process is instant. Switchboard.com sends an email with a link you must click to complete the removal process.

I found ReversePhoneDirectory.com particularly interesting. There is a charge for listings here, but after checking for my home phone number, I also did a search on my name. Turned up eleven other Barbara Brabecs across the country. (I've always known there were other Barbara Brabecs out there—just not that many. How glad I am that a friend pushed me to register my name as a domain name several years ago.)

(Last two articles are on page 2 . . . Click here  ===>

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