BACK TO ARCHIVE

Issue: May 10, 2003

"Stop Those Thieves!" - protecting your HTML and affiliate commissions

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If you're reading "Starting Smart" because a friend sent this
issue to you, get your own copy every other week by clicking either of these addresses.

http://www.9mistakes-online.com
http://www.online-newbie.com

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"Starting Smart"
The Ezine for the Online Marketing Newbie

May 10, 2003
Karl Augustine - Publisher

Subscribe link:
http://www.9mistakes-online.com/startingsmartnewsletter.htm

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*Greetings...a quick thought
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Hello,

I hope you have had a fruitful 2 weeks in your online
endeavors. I certainly have been busy with new promotions
and the like. A colleague of mine's home was hit by a
tornado last week but all is ok, just a little scary.

One thing that I keep being reminded of that this business
is really about people, product, information, and
last but not least, relationships.

In order to be successful, you need to communicate
with as many people that you respect as possible.
Pick up the phone and get to know as many folks
as you can...your business will undoubtedly benefit.

Getting used to this idea from the beginning will
pay off ten fold later on...I was reminded of this
just this week.

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy and all the best online,

Karl Augustine
http://www.9mistakes-online.com
http://www.online-newbie.com

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In this edition...
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*Featured Article: Stop Those Thieves
*Ask me?
*Welcome New Subscribers!
*Copyright and Publisher Info
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9 Mistakes Online -Stop Those Theives
(c) 2003 Karl Augustine

Internet theft runs rampant and has been getting worse
in my opinion. Its just too easy to steal these days.
Hackers can get to just about anything, no matter what people
tell you.

Fortunately for you and I, most of the people we are
going to be associated with won't be technically
advanced enough to steal our intellectual property,
images, source code, etc.

On http://www.online-newbie.com, the image at the top was
hand drawn by a professional artist specifically
for this site...why would I want anyone else to
be able to use it?

I wouldn't! I protected it as best I could by using
javascript. When people click "view", then "source"
on the browser bar, they can see where the image is
located but most won't have any idea how
to get to it.

The javascript I used in the Head Tag to protect
the image is:

<SCRIPT>

var message="n(C) Copyright 2003 by Karl Augustine.

All Rights Reserved. nn Online-Newbie.Com is Copyrighted.n";

function click(e) {
if (document.all) {
if (event.button == 2) {
alert(message);
return false;
}
}
if (document.layers) {
if (e.which == 3) {
alert(message);
return false;
}
}
}
if (document.layers) {
document.captureEvents(Event.MOUSEDOWN);
}
document.onmousedown=click;

What this means...when someone tries to right
click to copy and paste the image or do a "save image as",
it won't work for them.

More important than people stealing images is the
theft of affiliate commissions. People can peel back
URL's or insert their own affiliate link in the
space that was meant for your affiliate link.

You have 2 easy options here:
1. Use a re-direct URL
2. Cloak the affiliate link

I've done both but I like the cloaking idea better.

With affiliate link cloaking, the affiliate URL
appears to be part of your website rather than
the long affilliate URL's you normally see.

If you go to http://www.online-newbie.com/BestWebHost.html
you'll se what I mean. This is an affiliate URL of mine
for the web host company "Host4Profit".

The URL appears to be part of my site and the URL
doesn't appear on the bottom toolbar. This page
is actually Host4Profit's web page, not mine.

To do this, I use Jim Edward's "Affiliate Link Cloaker".
It's a very useful product and had an easy to use interface.
You can use it within 5 minutes from purchase.

http://www.online-newbie.com/AffiliateLinkCloaker.html

And, like everything Jim sells, it comes with
detailed easy to use directions and some useful bonuses.

Whatever you do, make sure you protect your work
as best you can. Protect everything...your HTML code,
your affiliate commissions, your images, etc.

I've only touched the surface with security, I suggest
keeping security in mind at all times when working
on anything online.

I am not an expert on security by any means...I
have pulled from various resources to become
"somewhat" educated.

One of those resources I have pulled from
is Bogdan Ravaru, a well know security expert
who has increased many marketing expert's
websites. If you purchase "9 Deadly Mistakes To
Avoid When Starting An Online Business",
you'll receive Bogdan's security report
as a free bonus.

The bottom line is that having good security
saves you time and money, and that's what it's
all about. :)

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*Ask Me?

If you have a question, ask me. I'll do my best to
answer all the questions I receive. I can't guarantee
exactly when, but I'll do my best!

mailto:karl@9mistakes-online.com

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*Welcome New Subscribers!

For those of you just joining, welcome!

Your time is valuable and I'll do my
level best to make this "read" time well spent.

I am just a regular guy, just like many of you
out there...I stuck with it, and now am having
a blast doing what I love to do.

Keep a positive attitude and you can do just
about anything....seems like old news,
but it works and we all can use a little
reminding now and then.

Please feel free to forward this ezine in its
entirity to any friends or colleagues who may
find it useful. Thanks for helping us grow!

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*Copyright and Publisher Info
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"Starting Smart" is copyright 2003 by Karl Augustine.
No part of this publication may be reproduced
without consent from the publisher.

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Karl Augustine
http://www.9mistakes-online.com

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