The web provides a wealth of business information, that's no secret. But the information isn't always good for you; for example, fraud schemes that want your money and in exchange offer no value and / or sometimes nothing at all. In order to find good, positive useful information especially for your business, here are some tips:

1) Search the information to find free tidbits. Then see if these make sense and actually work. Today's online sellers most often share some type of information in articles posted on their blogs, websites or in article directories.

2) Shop safely online. Look for more than just a sales page. Look for client testimonials, product / service / work samples, a smaller amount purchase before you jump into large purchases to allow time for building trust with the seller and deciding if you can work well together (check for compatible customer service communications and compatible program fit for your projects). Also look for complete contact info, not just a P.O. Box with Support Desk or freebie email address like from a Yahoo account.

3) Buy smart with a credit card for the best protection via Paypal or other 3rd party processor.

As time and technology move forward, the web evolves. Results are what used to work well may not any longer. You may need to revise what once worked or toss it out completely, finding new avenues that work for your business.

Here's a short list to get you started. Your comments about what works for you and what doesn't are most welcome to help all of us grow our businesses today!

What Doesn't Work

- Just publishing your website used to be enough back when there was hardly anyone online to compete with you. But this won't work any longer. Visitors will no longer continue to come if you don't actively promote your site somehow, and monitor it regularly to keep up with technological changes on the web and with web marketing.

- Email spamming used to be acceptable, at least by web hosts and email service providers. But this, thank goodness, is no longer acceptable. You must follow the rules and regulations of emailing others provided by your ISPs (internet service providers).

What Works

- Online classified ads if you follow the rules and regulation of the site. For example, Craigslist.com ads can work fine if you set up one account, as they tell you to, and place an appropriate ad that again, follows their guidelines, and do not spam it all over the place.

- Free Social Networking and Social Marketing sites like MySpace.com and Squidoo.com work fine if you follow their guidelines, too, and promote your sites.

Discover plenty of excellent business ideas in Business Magazine - for projects that are online and off.

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