How safe is your computer? by Richard Grady

Hi Folks!

How safe is your computer?

For the first part of this week's newsletter, I am going to 'steal' a topic from my online colleague, Jim Edwards. Jim wrote about this topic last week in his newsletter and I am sure he won't mind me copying him just this once :-)

You may well have heard of spyware. This is software that installs itself on your computer and can automatically send information about your online activities to the originator of the software. Some of the information can be fairly harmless such as what type of websites you like to visit but some can be far more intrusive, for example, keystroke loggers. Keystroke loggers are basically able to send a list of every single key you have pressed since turning your computer on and that could include passwords, credit card details and other personal information that you would not want getting into the wrong hands.

It is actually very easy to end up with spyware on your computer and often it is installed as part of another program that you have downloaded - for example a piece of shareware. This means that even if you have a firewall installed, you may have inadvertently authorised the spyware to operate in the background when you installed the original software.

Fortunately there are a number of programs that you can use to check your computer for spyware and one of them has a free trial so you can check your computer out at no cost. This software is called SpySweeper and you can download it from: http://www.webroot.com

You will also find more information about spyware, how you can end up with it on your computer and what sort of things it can do at the above link.

Your say....

In the last newsletter, I asked you if you had any particular questions regarding Internet marketing or working online that you would like me to try and answer. As I thought might be the case, I received a number of questions so I will be working through these over the coming weeks.

The first email that I received in response to the last newsletter was from Maria and I feel it is only fair to answer her question first :-)

Maria wrote:

'I have noticed that the majority of 'information sellers' have very, very
long introductions to their products, and most won't actually tell you what
the 'product' is until you sign up. I find this off-putting, and quite often
I have neither the time nor inclination to read all the blurb.

Do you think that these very lengthy introductions are really necessary, or is a short, sharp concise intro the key (or one of them) to signups? Thanks.'

Anyone that has spent some time looking at information products (ebooks etc) online will know what Maria is talking about - some of the sales pages do seem to go on forever.

The thing is that long sales pages CAN work but they won't ALWAYS work. I personally think it depends on the copy-writing abilities of the writer. Good copy will grab your attention and make you want to read every last sentence and by the end of the copy you feel you have no option but to reach for your credit card and purchase. Bad copy on the other hand will turn people off before the end of the first paragraph (or much sooner!).

I guess the best way to answer this question fully is to consider what you would do when faced with a long sales page....

The first thing I do is skim through the text and this means that I tend to read only the highlighted areas or bold text. If the writer has done his job properly, this will mean that I get to read about the main features and benefits of the product so that even though I am not reading every line, I will have a good idea by the end of the page as to what the product can do for me (if anything).

Once I have skimmed through the text, I should have a rough idea of whether the product will benefit me. If I still think that it will, I look for the price to see if it is a figure that I think is realistic and good value given my basic understanding of the product.

Assuming that the price is reasonable, I would then go back to the top of the sales page and read it through properly - line by line - so that I understand EXACTLY what I would be getting for my money. Bear in mind that I may leave the website at any time during the above process if the copy didn't 'impress' me sufficiently.

In summary therefore and please bear in mind that this is my opinion only, from a buyers point of view, I like long sales pages as long as the content is meaningful. By that I mean that the long page has been used to explain in detail exactly what the product is or what it will do for me. I don't want to read hype; I want facts and the more the better. The more information I am given, the more informed I am to make an accurate buying decision. If I am not given enough factual information then I may well not buy simply because I don't fully understand what it is I am buying.

That said if you opt for a long sales page, your copy needs to be superb or people won't finish reading. Like most things online, it is a fine balancing act and the only way to truly find out what works best for your site is to test both methods and see which gives the best sales results.

Thank-you for your question Maria - hope that helps to answer it :-)

Until next time....

Richard Grady