BLOG | Exploring the Digital Life with Excelsior

10 Ways to Avoid Falling for Online Shopping Scams and Fake Facebook Ads

Thu, 02 Dec 2021 05:00:16 GMT

Tips to Shop Safely on Ecommerce Sites

Our director Marissa's work will be featured in the Better Business Bureau's new study coming out tomorrow! Marissa works with small businesses to help them prevent and fight back against scams that impersonate them, steal their name, product and copyrighted images – harming their sales and reputation. These scams hurt business too. She also educates consumers all over the globe on how they can shop safely.

Ad scams are all over Facebook. Scams either result in you receiving nothing, or an item that is significantly different from what you were promised. This is called bait and switch fraud, and increasingly, scammers send worthless, low quality copies of what they advertise. You may also have your information or credit card stolen, so it’s best to avoid falling for a scam in the first place.

Here are 10 tips, if you see an ad you’re not sure about, and want to know some scam red flags as well as how to protect yourself:

1. Use a credit card. Fraudsters won’t help you if you are not sent what you ordered! If you are scammed, call the number on the back of your card and speak to the fraud department. You have protections from your card by law and if you are scammed, you can contact them to make things right.

Canadians who are victims of a scam should also file a report with https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm The CAFC and RCMP work with the banks when a dispute/chargeback is filed, to help victims get their money back.

If you use PayPal, do so WITH a credit card.

2. Don’t impulse buy just because you see a flashy ad with a good price. Research before you make a purchase and be skeptical about too good to be true prices. A scam is no deal.

Scammers can make nice looking sites in just minutes these days on ecommerce platforms like Shopify. Look beyond the photos in the ad and on the site.

3. Stick with shopping on reputable sites: local small business you know, trusted platforms like Etsy for art items, manufacturer- authorized sellers of a product, and national brand name retailers.

Look for a blue check mark on Facebook for the real brand page. Scammers like to impersonate brands, too.

4. If you want to make sure the site follows the laws and rules you expect, honors returns and warranties etc., then shop with sites in your own country. Scammers are often based in countries like China. Overseas fraudsters do not care about adhering to our laws, nor do they respect our expectations as shoppers as to how they should behave. Fraudulent sites are usually not real “companies.”

5. Scam websites often have odd, gibberish names and they have thousands of throwaway sites they make to run their fraud.

6. If you don’t recognize the site name, check on Scamadviser.com. They offer a FREE browser extension in partnership with Trend Micro. Trend Micro Check detects and alerts you to known scam sites, when you land on them:

https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/forHome/products/trend-micro-check.html

Also, Google the site name and “scam.”

Canadians and Americans can check the site's Better Business Bureau profile, too. https://www.bbb.org/

7. Even checking reviews, note that there are a lot of fake positive reviews out there. Check negative reviews on the Facebook page, or on third party review sites (you can Google the website name or address and “reviews.”

8. Check that contact info is real and US-based (or Canada, wherever you are). I even call the number posted. Scammers usually post a fake phone number if they have one at all. They don’t put time and effort having real contact info, and a real customer service number or email. Does the site have a real domain-based customer service email like service@ ______.com? Or does it have a random, free email address?

Google the posted address. Is it real and do you see a presence for this business? Real businesses work at establishing their existence and reputation beyond their website.

If there is no address or phone number at all on a website, you should think twice about shopping there.

Bait and switch scammers often use platforms like Shopify that have encryption; a “secure checkout” doesn’t mean that a site is safe from fraud.

9. Scam sites tend to be brand new and don’t stay up long. You can check the age of any website on Whois.com , and the age for any Facebook page by clicking Page Transparency.

10. Is the grammar poor on the site? Read carefully. This can be a big red flag. The About page is often a tell – scammers copy and paste from generic and even nonsensical templates, such as “We love every passion and interest on Earth because it is a reference to your UNIQUENESS…” This scammer favorite has been repeated on thousands of fake ecommerce sites from China.

Also, take the time to read the product page and the terms for shipping, returns etc. However, scammers won’t honor any terms posted! That’s why you’ll have to contact your payment issuer if you fall victim to a non-receipt or bait and switch scam.

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My most basic advice is, if you see a product you like in an ad but you don’t recognize the website, look for the product on a trusted and established site instead.

If you do take the risk, save everything and screenshot the website AND ad you saw, for your records. Don't use the same password you have for other website logins.

Ultimately this responsibility should not all fall on consumers’ shoulders - these advertisements should be vetted. However, we need to protect ourselves.

-Marissa, MBA and Scamfighting admin of facebook.com/groups/stopfraudads

Product or art photos stolen to run a Facebook ad scam?

Sat, 12 Jun 2021 23:50:08 GMT

So, you own a small business or are an artist, and find that your product or artwork images have been stolen by scammers to run bait and switch fraud ads on Facebook?

This is the first article in a series, which will explain how the scam works, and how you can report the ads and get them pulled.

It's the absolute worst feeling.

You own a small business, and are proud of your products or artwork you've created.

Then, you're alerted, perhaps by a fan or a confused Facebook user, that your images and content have been stolen to run Facebook ads.

The nightmare has just begun.

I run a marketing agency for small business but have also been volunteering my skills as a scamfighter for a few years now. I work with ScamAdviser.com and run a very active Facebook group called Facebook Ad Scambusters , which helps Facebook ad scam victims get their refund (from their bank, credit card or PayPal), and which teaches about the ad scams so people can protect themselves. We warn outside of the group on the scam Facebook ads and pages, and we report the ads. We point out how to do due diligence and spot a scam.

Scammers don't put a lot of effort into making their Facebook pages and websites appear to be legitimate businesses. There are red flags and patterns, as most of these scams come from the same fraud rings over and over. Scammers put more efforts into quantity - cranking out the ads, pages and websites, than they do into quality, with real customer service phone numbers, addresses, proper grammar etc. But that's the issue - they are very prolific. Facebook feeds are now swarming with scam ads, and more and more of them are using images from small businesses that don't hold trademarks, or serialize their products or have a legal team at the ready.

The problem has exploded, especially during the pandemic. The pattern, repeated over and over again, looks like this:

Small business product photos, logos and content stolen by scammers

Your photos, your logo, your product descriptions, even your About Me - it's all lifted in its entirety. A scam ring in China looks for "winning" products that it deems will be great for scam ads on Facebook. The products are often chosen to coincide with a holiday or season. Christmas, Father's Day, spring gardening are just a few examples of the scam cycle. Then, hundreds of fake Facebook pages are created, running ads using your product photos, with a call to action funneling trusting and unsuspecting Facebook users to click. The prices are often too good to be true, and users, trusting Facebook and enticed by the prices, ignore that the Facebook page has odd spelling, or don't check to see that the page was just created yesterday.

Funneling victims from scam ad to scam site

The ads send Facebook users to a scam site - and the scammers own thousands of these fake sites too. They are created with templates, on popular shopping platforms like Shopify. The scam site offerings are full of other small business products and artwork, lifted from websites, or sites like Etsy. Duped shoppers see that PayPal is accepted, the prices seem low, and with a very quick glance, the site looks professional enough.

But with just a little due diligence, one notices some red flags. The About Us is copied, and often has this odd paragraph: "We love every passion and interest on Earth because it is a reference to your UNIQUENESS.” When I spoke with Time Magazine before Christmas last year, I pointed this and other patterns out. The website address (ie URL) usually looks like it was created by a cat walking across a keyboard. There isn't any real contact information, let alone robust customer service options like a working phone number. Nor is there a real social media presence, like a genuine business would have. Perhaps just a random free email address that is a string of letters and numbers. The grammar, when not text lifted entirely from the original creator's site, is odd and often poor. There's no address, it's in China, and/or fake if one were to actually run it.

Shoppers may trust that PayPal is "scam insurance," but they are also in for a nasty surprise. An odd order confirmation may come, or not at all. They wait and wait, and the order never arrives. Or the tracking is fake. Or - because the scammers are often shipping from China, the package can take weeks or even months.

What arrives looks not at all like the photos. The victim has been bait and switched, with a cheap, dollar store version of your product. And this was done on purpose. It's hugely profitable, and it's happening under Facebook, Shopify's, PayPal's etc. noses. All the while they are raking in their fees. Facebook made over $80 billion in ad revenue during the past year, and every single day we see the same ads popping up over and over again from these cloned fake Facebook pages. Even when they are shut down eventually, and we report ad after ad, all we can do is keep reporting them. The sites tend to not last very long, perhaps a few weeks to months. But they do serious damage while they are up, hurting small business by cannibalizing their sales with their own images. And the scams cost consumers millions.

I've been in contact with several small business owners in your position. Here are just a few examples:

With Father's Day coming up, The Saw Lady 's vintage saw artwork creations have been stolen to run hundreds of fake ads daily. Even her photos of her working in her shop, and behind the scenes photos of a film crew were stolen. Here logo, and her WARNING about authenticity were copied wholesale by the scammers. We've been working with her to get the ads pulled, and alert unsuspecting shoppers looking to surprise dad. Unfortunately, what will arrive is a child's toy version, about 11" and mass produced in a Chinese factory. Nothing like the gorgeous pieces that The Saw Lady cuts in her Nebraska-based shop, by hand, from actual rusted vintage saws.

Here's a graphic that our scamfighting colleagues at Sponsored Ads Exposed put together of the scam:

RevenantFX makes unique hand-painted horror gnomes and movie characters like Jason from cement, and epoxy coats them to withstand the outdoors (shown in the scam ad above the intro to this article). The actual Handmade Zombie Gnomes have real heft to them. The scammers discovered RevenantFX's photos and ripped them off, running ad after ad this spring as soon as the weather turned nice and people stepped out into their gardens. What arrives is a tiny resin figurine, more like a cheap child's toy than garden decor. I interviewed with the CBC recently and suggested they speak with the folks at RevenantFX. They keep their chins up but it takes so much of their attention from their work, having to fight back against these scam ads.

Before Christmas, Kristy Pimentel's gorgeous sea glass tree art had been stolen by scammers. Even photos of her proudly holding her finished product ended up in the ads and on scam sites. What arrived for victims? Cheap translucent plastic trees about six inches tall. I saw the same plastic trees at the dollar store. Sea glass isn't cheap, and victims thought they were getting a deal. In the end they overpaid $40, $60, $100 for something I saw piled high at my local dollar store. Kristy's story is featured in the Time article I highlighted above.

So what can your small business do to fight back against this theft of your intellectual property?

There's a much larger fight here with the enablers allowing the scam ads to run, hosting the domain names and ecommerce sites. But that's going to be the long haul.

Here is what you do when you encounter a SCAM AD, SCAM POST or SCAM PAGE on Facebook that has stolen your product or artwork images for profit:

It's a bit confusing, but Facebook pages can have offending ADS or POSTS. The reporting processes look similar, but the options are different and I'll walk you through how to report in either scenario.

When you report a scam POST (or STORY), you will see Community Standards violations options.

You can report a scam post as a Community Standards violation "Fraud or Scam," using the following steps. I'm showing Facebook's mobile app here, but the steps will be the same for the browser on your computer:

Click the three dots at the top right hand corner of the scam post
Select "Find support or report post"
Select "Something Else"
Select "Fraud or Scam." You can also select "Intellectual Property". NB: this will not suffice as a copyright report or takedown notice, however, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). There will be more on DMCA takedowns for Facebook and ecommerce platforms in the next article - for now, here is the Facebook Help article with link to the form to report copyright infringement . We don't have enough data on whether selecting "Intellectual Property" gets the post removed more often or more quickly than reporting as "Fraud or Scam." Respecting intellectual property IS a Facebook Community Standard . People helping you report the scam posts can also select these same reporting options; since we as scamfighters are not the copyright holders ourselves, we generally choose "Fraud or Scam." Reporting seems to be a numbers game and after a few hours or days, we do find targeted posts removed with our reporting campaigns.

5. Here's what your Community Standards "Fraud or Scam" violation report will look like - select Submit.

6. Then you'll get acknowledgement for submitting your report (below, left and middle screenshots).

Submitting as an "Intellectual Property" Community Standards violation (directly above the "Fraud or Scam" option) will also result in a simple acknowledgement. There will be a link to Facebook's Help Center for the Intellectual Property reporting process for copyright and trademark infringements (below, right screenshot).

The screenshot on the left was also taken from the mobile app, and the middle and right ones were taken from Facebook on a computer browser.

Reporting a scam AD

Reporting a scam Sponsored ad allows you to label it as "Misleading or Scam." There is no "Intellectual Property" option in the menu.

To report a scammer's Sponsored Ad that appears in your feed,

Tap the three dots that appear in the top right hand corner of the ad
Select "Misleading or Scam"
Click Submit
You'll get an acknowledgement of your report

This process will be the same whether from Facebook mobile app (shown), or Facebook's computer browser.

Ad Libraries

Unfortunately, where there is one scam ad, there are likely more. However, Facebook has made it easier to find all the ad campaigns and creatives a scam page is currently running. I'll show you how to find a Facebook page's Ad Library next:

Click the scam page's name, or search for it and select it. Now you'll be looking at the scammer's Facebook page.
Scroll down the page's Home (main) tab on the app until you see Page Transparency. On desktop, Page Transparency will be on the main tab, on the left hand side. Click Page Transparency.
Besides seeing the date the page was created (scam pages are often new), and the countries where the page managers live, you'll see Ads From This Page at the very bottom, and if the page is currently running ads, click Go to Ad Library.
You'll see a list of current ad campaigns the scammer is running. Facebook will group each campaign by creative text, and you will need to report each campaign.

Report each ad campaign using the same process of clicking the three dots, choose Report Ad, and then "Misleading or Scam" and Submit.

You can now also search the Ad Library by keyword, to find other scam pages using your product or artwork photos. Look at the very top of the Ad Library, at the search bar on either the app (left), or browser (right).

You'll see other current ad campaigns being run by even more scam pages, often clones run by the same scam rings. You can report those ad campaigns too.

Recent Ad Activity

Before we move on from reporting scammers' ads, I'll cover the Recent Ad Activity feature. Viewing Recent Ad Activity will show any ad that has previously appeared in your personal Facebook feed.

Let's say a fan of yours happened to see a scam ad using your product or artwork images in their feed a few minutes ago, or a few days ago, and wants to retrieve it to show it to you. But - the ad has already vanished from their feed (it happens even within seconds if the app refreshes!). No worries - the offending ad can still be found again at a later date, by selecting and then sharing via Recent Ad Activity. I can see ads going back at least 90 days this way.

To view Recent Ad Activity on the browser version of Facebook (left screenshot), look on the shortcuts on the left hand side menu.

On the app version of Facebook (right screenshot), I have found the Recent Ad Activity moved to Menu - Settings & Privacy.

Scam Facebook Pages - Strategies for fighting back and warning unsuspecting shoppers

Now, back on the subject of scam Facebook pages. Once you're done with reporting the "scampaigns" in the Ad Library, you can also leave some warnings for Facebook users about what this scam page is up to. And you can report the scam page itself as a violator of Facebook's Community Standards.

Leave negative reviews

You can report their posts using your images as well, and leave negative reviews to warn people (left screenshot). Even if the scam page blocks you for commenting, which many do - they won't be able to delete your review. Don't put links in your review, however.

The Like reaction "emoji bomb"

Mad "Like" reaction emojis on the posts (right screenshot), and sad emojis as reactions to comments from unsuspecting shoppers can certainly get attention.

Gifs and comments

Leaving gifs can avoid keyword alerts set for the virtual assistants managing (and watching) the ad posts. Get creative with your spelling, even. Know that if you comment and warn "SCAM," you may find yourself blocked and unable to comment soon enough. So I leave the review first.

Be on the lookout for shill accounts posting false testimonials in the comments, and you can report those as fake accounts too.

Reporting the scammers' Facebook pages

You may be asking, well what about just reporting the scammer's page(s)? You certainly can, and Facebook has laid out instructions for doing that (left). You can report the page for violating Community Standards, including "Poor Purchase Experience," "Scams and Fake Pages" and "Intellectual Property."

We do report scam pages; however, we find that Facebook is slower to pull them than they are to pull scam ads and posts. The pages are much more likely to be abandoned when victims start receiving their bait and switch packages, and flood the page to complain. We do absolutely see some pages closed (whether Facebook or the scammer does so), but we tend to get feedback about better success rates with reporting the ads versus reporting the pages.

Identifying more "clone" scam pages using Facebook's search tool

You can also use Facebook's search tool to find more clone pages belonging to the scammers. You can search by name, email address, phone number etc. They often use numbering systems with their names, and recycle the same fake contact information:

We spoke to a company whose product images were ripped off by a scam ring, with about 20 pages all using the same stolen content. They contacted Facebook Business Support and were upset to find out that they had to report each imposter account individually, using the Page Community Standards violation process above.

Scammers keep making new pages, and buying more ads. It's frustrating, and we can't eliminate them but we can make it harder for them to make money. These scam rings are rewarded when their ads run and dupe more victims. Pulled ads mean more time they spend making more. If they can't make money, they move on to the next scam. So, you can interfere with their profiting off of your hard work as small business and at least minimize the harm they are doing.

When an initial ad campaign is successful, even more will be churned out, and the resulting bait and switch scam products will appear on even more ecommerce sites.

Having to report all these scam posts, ads and pages using your images is a huge time sink and takes your focus on what makes you money. BUT, if you do not work at pulling the ads, they will continue to multiply and cannibalize your sales by undercutting your prices, even on the same ecommerce platforms you are using. The disappointing bait and switch products that arrive at victims' homes, and abysmal "customer service" from the scam Facebook pages and ecommerce sites can also hurt your own business's reputation if victims are confused about where and from whom they made the purchase.

Small victories for small business

Report the ads, and hopefully soon you'll see them removed like this example (left screenshot).

After a coordinated group of scambusters reported the Ad Libraries of a number of scam pages using The Saw Lady's artwork, all campaigns were removed (right screenshot):

In the next article, I'll discuss what to do about search engine results, websites and platforms where you see your intellectual property such as your works and photos, which you own the copyright for, appearing on scam sites. As the copyright owner, you can file DMCA takedown requests.

Kill Your Job with Local Lead Gen Rank & Rent Websites

Mon, 24 May 2021 05:36:58 GMT

The Job Killing Local Lead Generation Business Model

It's been quite the year for all of us and though life and tech's changes, many of us are looking for a fresh start and new opportunities, and many of us have been forced into them through the loss of a job or income.

Perhaps you like being able to work from home and are wondering about real opportunities?

It is kind of nice to make money while you're lounging on your bed in sweatpants, on your own time, or even while you're off having fun.

But how do you do this?

What are the legit opportunities out there?

What's a recession-proof and pandemic-proof business model?

How can you get rid of your boss and not have to work for one again?

Passive Income

You've heard grandiose claims no doubt about getting rich quick. If you've looked at dropshipping, or affiliate marketing, or been roped into a friend's network marketing company posts - this business model I found is not any of those.

It generates passive income. Wouldn't it be nice to have your income stream disconnected from your labor?

I discovered passive income when I was a teenager. I figured out how to build websites that paid me even when I finished them and didn't even work on them again. I did very well. I paid for my schooling and did my business degree, and moved on to become a project manager in the corporate world.

Fast forward a few years later, and still very young - a serious health incident cost me being able to work those long hours my career required. And I did recover, but like you, was at a crossroads.

I didn't have a beat up car, but I felt beat up by life.

I was always looking for the next opportunity to make money online - and did so here and there, but nothing presented that was a paradigm shift. Just gigs here and there, or work that soon dried up.

Opportunity Knocks

Late one night, killing time searching - I don't even remember what - I came across a website. I was intrigued enough to click. And it was like deja-vu.

That passive income model that made so much sense to me and I'd forgotten about?

There it was, in the form of Job Killing. I'd somehow stumbled upon a site by Ippei Kanehara. I didn't know it at the time, but here he was introducing me to the Job Killing training and coaching program, and opening up a door I didn't know existed for making money online.

Job Killing was exactly what I'd been looking for all this time since I'd forgotten about the lucrative passive income model.

And it made so much sense. Here is a program, and they teach, train and support you - to rank and rent lead generation websites for small business. Small business has gone through so much the past year too. This Job Killing program has been around for several years now and is needed now more than ever.

How does it work?

I mentioned passive income. There's misconceptions about what that term means, but is a tremendous opportunity. Passive income isn't getting paid for doing nothing; it's earning an ongoing stream of cash, and it means unlinking your labor from your income stream.

Passive income is about owning your own assets.

You could buy a home for example, and rent it out. Paying the mortgage, taxes and upkeep doesn't leave as much as you'd like, and hopefully the market has gone up quite a bit while you're paying all that mortgage interest.

The Rank and Rent Website Model for Local Lead Generation

It costs very little, however to build a website that YOU will own. You put the time into it to rank it so leads start coming in, and you rent it out to grateful business owners. There's no mortgage and the upkeep just doesn't compare. It's more time than cost, and you can get others to do that work for you as you scale.

Lead generation is a fabulous business model for earning passive income. You're in control because you set up the process and then close the deal when someone decides to buy from you. Job Killing offers training so you can learn how to create leads without having any previous experience or technical skills needed.

Learning Website Design, SEO and Online Marketing

You don't need to be a website designer. You don't need to be a digital marketing expert. You'll learn the skills necessary for internet marketing and you'll be given the tools, like Snapps website builder and hosting - fast and secure, it's made especially for lead generation and small business websites.

You'll learn how to pick service niches and locations where you can rank your site, and how Google My Business (GMB) also fits in to getting leads.

You'll learn how to rank lead generation websites on search, with search engine optimization. You'll learn how to optimize it all for better visibility to get those leads coming in.

And you'll learn how to rent your sites to business owners hungry for those leads. You'll get tons of support from others in the Facebook group who succeed at this business model. You learn all about digital marketing and strategies for prospecting, like competitor keyword research.

Here's a screenshot of one of the first sites I built, using the Snapps website builder and hosting platform, which we discussed in our last blog:

Due Diligence - Picking Low Hanging Fruit by Niche and Location

Due diligence is key, and Dan Klein, the creator of this Job Killing new business model, walks you through the process in the training. And he and the other coaches are available in the private Facebook group to answer questions as you learn and practice your analysis.

Within days I was doing my first analyzes of niches and locations. When I found opportunities, "Low Hanging Fruit" Dan calls then, it was like the heavens opened up. I got it! I continued doing my due diligence to be sure but within just weeks I was already building websites. I had learned HTML years before but with the training, would have been fine without that experience. It really is thorough, and has inspired me to continue training.

Being a business analyst, I learned to do due diligence anyway. It's a great life skill, and we really get the tools and experience we need to perform it in Job Killing.

As Dan observes, "success leaves clues." I can look at what competitors are doing to rank, model that, and apply what I have learned. I truly am seeing success in getting leads to my sites. The model works, and when it comes to the next step, contacting and getting those leads to a business owner, I have leveraged the experience of the Job Killing course and network, too

Learning to Market Yourself through Prospecting

The thing is, you'll learn how to market yourself. I'm learning every day and growing in confidence, from the course materials, all the new learnings that we're presented with, and from the Job Killing network and we help each other.

Even if you're naturally introverted, shy or you don't feel confident - that's totally normal. It's human in fact. And you'll have help getting past these doubts and obstacles. Every day we work on ourselves, and our businesses.

Within months I have progressed enough and ranked and rented enough sites that I am now helping others in the FB group.

The Job Killing Network - a 6000 strong group on social media, that feels like a family

Many of those FB group members have become friends, and are a great network to lean on for questions or best practices. It's a wonderful culture of helping. A rising tide lifts all boats. We have so much to learn from one another. We all have our own stories and come from all walks of life and many parts of the globe. Even so, with over 6000 in the program, I have found a number near me.

6000 you say? It's probably closer to 7000 now.

So Many Opportunities

If you're thinking the market is saturated, it's not. There are millions of businesses out there. A few thousand of us couldn't nearly cover even a percent of all of them. There are Job Killers who own dozens and even hundreds of sites, and yet it's not often that I even come across a fellow student's lead gen site. They are doing the exact same thing in terms of the same program and trusting the process, but they are in all different niches an areas all over the world.

You'll have the freedom of being on your own as a full time internet entrepreneur and business owner, but you're in a 6000 strong network and community.

The network is so helpful and supportive because that's what has been modeled for us - the coaching program is superb. New faces join us every day at JK, and we're even working in coaching teams now.

Support and Coaching

There are twice-weekly live training calls an d lots of resources. Guest appearances, coaching, and topics are featured to give you more tools for success.

These lead gen properties become your own digital assets that YOU own. So unlike a website you build and sell once, renting out that lead generation site means you keep getting paid. And business owners will be grateful for the steady flow of qualified sales leads coming in.

This proven lead generation blueprint is life-changing, for you and for small businesses.

If you've done search engine optimization (SEO) - that is working to make a website so it is more visible to people searching - you know ranking takes time for an seo client, just like it will for your own assets generating leads. Our Job Killers can buy ads, like Google AdWords or Facebook ads to get those local leads until the phone calls come in.

And because you'll have done careful analysis and execution of your local lead generation sites, the phone calls will come. And the emails. And the texts.

I like to start giving free leads to potential lead gen clients. Local businesses love those steady leads coming in, and many have grown with us, experiencing financial success even as the economy is slow.

Yes, there's Fast Cash too

The training is thorough enough that you'll be able to build websites for fast money too while you wait for your sites to start generating leads. I have even taken on a few SEO clients. The thing is though, SEO clients don't always stick around, because you've helped them and accomplished what you were paid to do.

Lead Generation sites just keep on paying.

Having a few thousand dollars coming in already has paid for the Job Killing cost of the course. I'm already paid off, and I now have an online business that gets clients while my passive income is starting to roll in from my online lead generation business.

When it comes to the value you can offer local business owners, it doesn't just stop with the local lead generation sites generating organic traffic from clicks in Google search results.

Just below paid traffic in Google search results (Google AdWords) is the Google Map pack, with a list of featured local businesses, called Google my Business (GMB).

Google My Business

GMB sites are a key source of free traffic as well for the lead generation model. Since GMBs are at the very top of Google search results over organic (non-paid) search, they have very high visibility as people are looking for services from local businesses. The Job Killing program teaches you how to take advantage of GMBs - verifying them, optimizing them, and using them to the max for more free traffic you can convert to local lead generation for the small business owners renting your lead gen sites.

I was surprised to find out that many small business owners haven't even claimed their GMBs yet. This is an extremely valuable online asset that I can not only offer as part of the lead generation package, but it's also another service I can offer local businesses. Dan has showed us exactly how to leverage GMBs. And trusting the process, I see once again he is right.

Here's Excelsior 's new GMB, already ranked #1 in the website designer category, using the JK process:

Changing Lives and Trusting the Process

I'm several months in now and have experienced t he feelings of accomplishment in getting those lead gen websites up. I've felt the thrill of those phone calls coming in. I've honed my craft in speaking to business owners. Even having business experience, I've benefited so much from this coaching program, private Facebook group and business model.

It felt like a big leap and at the same time my confidence has grown so much.

And I know I am making a difference, in my own life and for my family's future, and for small businesses too.

The only change I'd make? I wish I could go back in time and join Job Killing sooner. I would have loved to start this years ago after Dan started it in 2014.

Making the Decision

The best time would have been years ago, yes.

The next best time is now. And joining Job Killing when I did was the best decision I have made, in a long time if not ever. I invested in myself and it was high time I did.

I'm doing what I always loved to do but had gotten away from - building websites. I enjoy doing analysis and honing my craft, trying to crack the code of finding those ideal lead gen opportunities and then getting them to rank on Google search. It feels like I have been at this so much longer - my life before and after Job Killing. It has really become a way of life and of looking at the world, and all the opportunities out there.

That's coming from someone who was pretty down after a devastating health issue. We tie so much of who we are to what we do. "What do you do?" everyone asked me. I was ashamed of my answer, not being able to work. For a boss who paid me by the hour. And now I am my own boss, making money online.

I have to work at this, don't get me wrong. Every day I am putting hours in. But it's paying off and getting results for me, and for my clients, local businesses. My cash flow is trending up, and life in general has been trending up as I have taken control.

All because I was mindlessly searching online one hot August night. The opportunity presented itself, I recognized it and made the commitment. I trusted the process and it works.

When the opportunity arises for you, what will you do?

Here it is.

The start to YOUR financial freedom.

This link below will take you to Ippei Kanehara 's site. He is one of the master coaches in the Job Killing program. Dan took him under his wing years before I joined, and wow is Ippei successful. He's modeling everything I want to do in the program. He's incredibly knowledgeable and I have him to thank for introducing me to Job Killing.

You'll get to know Dan Klein and so many other coaches. I enjoy helping in the group, just plain having fun sharing knowledge and ideas, an d laughs. You'll meet me, too.

I hope to see you there.

The Life-Changing Link

There's a short video hosted by Ippei, introducing you to local lead generation. There are lots of testimonial clips in the video and posted on the page, of how this business model has changed lives. Then, follow the instructions to enter your name and email, and you'll learn in even more detail about the process from the coaches and group members - about how it works, and what expectations to have.

It's the same video that caught my attention, and I joined up after watching:

http://invite.ippei.com/l/197531882/

Why we use Snapps website builder instead of Wordpress

Tue, 11 May 2021 05:58:05 GMT

At Excelsior Digital Solutions, we choose Snapps for our website design and hosting. Here's why.

There are a number of choices out there for web design. Some of the most popular platforms to choose from are Wix, Weebly and Wordpress; we've built sites on them all. We use Snapps, which is built on the Duda platform, with a custom interface. Why Snapps? Snapps offers many benefits over the other website builders, and we’ll talk specifically about those benefits over Wordpress today.

Better Security

WordPress is great for blog posts and corporate websites, but also requires a number of plugins for the functionality that small business websites need. There is a learning curve, however, and unstable WordPress updates can "break" plugins, causing sites using them not to function properly. Security can also be an issue with WordPress, and it's not uncommon to see hacked WordPress sites - especially those ranked well in Google search results - taken over by spammers and scammers. WordPress sites must be patched properly. When a site is not working properly or is compromised, there can be serious consequences for small business.

The Snapps platform utilizes AWS (Amazon Web Services) for hosting. With servers all over the globe and cloud-based hosting, there's a monthly uptime rate of 99.99%. AWS is the leader in security, reliability and performance. Your business and customer data is kept safe from hackers. No worrying about your site going down or loading slowly. These faster load times make for a better user experience too, which this blog will discuss more about below.

With Snapps, encryption is also free. Your site SSL certificate will generate within minutes of going live, and renew automatically. There are no extra fees. Compare to WordPress, where you'll need to pay for manual installation, and do security updates as well. It's very common to see expired certificates on WordPress sites, and we're blocked from even visiting them by our security software. That translates to lost business, when people can't use or even view your site.

Update, 11/24/21:

Here are just two recent examples of major Word Press site issues in the news.

1) Google de-indexed Siteground hosted Word Press sites

2) GoDaddy WordPress sites were hacked and 1.2 million passwords were exposed

WordPress hosting may be cheaper than Snapps on the front end, but on the back end you'll pay more for management and development (code) to customize, and keep your site both updated & secure. When we're consulting with clients who want to manage their own sites, we insist on building with Snapps. Sure, Snapps is easier as a page builder if the client wants to do their own updates, such as writing blog articles. But the main concern is we don't want our clients to have their business put at risk in a hack. WordPress hosting may save you a little (we get asked about monthly fees a lot!), but with the aforementioned certificate concerns and plugin vulnerabilities - there are huge costs to a business if their WordPress site gets hacked. Sites get hacked to steal information, and to spew out spam and scams. A hack can mean harm to a business's reputation, lost revenue, and serious time and money to clean up after the hack.

It's not worth the savings of a few dollars a month.

Better SEO - Speed to Rank

Snapps is faster than Wordpress. If you’re optimizing your site for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes and need a lot of content quickly, it will be more difficult to do so with Wordpress. The Wordpress user interface often slows down when many plugins are added to the system. With SEO-friendly Snapps, everything loads lightning fast without any issues. Snapps' architecture improves SEO automatically, no SEO plugins needed, saving time. It's aligned with Google Lighthouse, which measures a site's performance on their Core Web Vitals. Basically, Google grades site performance on metrics like speed for users, especially for mobile versions. These metrics are now important as website ranking factors - where your company site appears on search results for given keywords. Sites rank better and more quickly on Google when they meet Google's requirements. And that's what SEO's all about - getting ranking results.

On page SEO like optimizing title and meta description, headers are also straightforward with Snapps. Snapps also makes it easy to use Schema - which is important for SEO too and can boost your site's ranking. Local Business Schema tells the search engine what your important business information is and how these "snippets" should be presented meaningfully in search results - logo, business name, phone number, email and business hours for example. Search engines want to deliver more useful, relevant content to visitors, after all. Schema can now be used for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) . So, you can use a Snapps widget designed for FAQs to answer questions people searching on Google may have - using a smart looking question and answer format.

Better Performance - Speed to Load

Our sites are designed to load faster and score higher on Google's Page Speed test. There aren't numerous unused codes that can slow site speed down like there can be for the average WordPress user. If you're a developer - you can optimize your WordPress site, sure. But for those using a WordPress template trying to be all things to all users, it's going to get bloated.

Snapps optimizes uploaded images automatically for example, for desktop, tablet or mobile browsing. Visitors on your website using a mobile device on cellular data will see a version of your site designed to adapt to the smaller screen and load times. Snapps has responsive website design and elements but is also adaptive - making for better performance on mobile. The same elements will all be there, but they will be automatically formatted and optimized for the user's device - and how they use it. For example, the mobile version is designed for touch screens and will have a click to call phone number. A simple tap and your visitors can call you.

Better User Experience and Personalization

With a better user experience, Snapps sites have higher user conversion rates than the industry average. With better SEO comes more visibility and website traffic, but the key metric is that these visits turn into more clicks and contact - calls, quote request forms filled out etc.

Snapps can be personalized for your visitors. Perhaps you want a certain message for first time site visitors. Or you want to have an alert for visitors during a certain time period, such as due to Covid safety precautions. Or, maybe you want to have an announcement for site visitors that are physically nearby (in proximity to) your business. A coupon or special offer, perhaps, during lunch hour? However you'd like to personalize for user experience, you can customize the rules in Snapps' settings.

Faster Build Times, Terrific Templates and Wonderful Widgets

Snapps has lots of fabulous looking templates for small business. Whether you have a service-based business, a non-profit, want to show off your portfolio or have an e-commerce site, Snapps has a solution . We can build using one of the existing Snapps themes, and customize anything. Faster site builds means reduced costs; we can publish a site in a fraction of the time it would take on WordPress.

If you take over your site, the site building software is drag and drop with widgets. Snapps makes it easy to publish new content - with dynamic pages, or blog mode for example. If you need to add code, you can do that too. The site builder is WYSIWYG, What You See Is What You Get. You don't need to be a web developer or know code.

Snapps templates mean you get a great looking site with tons of features, without having to spend hours doing it all yourself. And as you keep creating new content and adding images, Snapps automatically optimizes those pages for whatever devices your visitors are using, including mobile!

Better Control

Since Snapps is designed for building and hosting your site, it makes for seamless transfer to the client. If you want us to manage the site after it's built, you can even still do your own updates with your own login. We can collaborate with you. However, if you would like the "keys" handed over, transfer to you as the owner is simple. There's no worrying about control; Snapps provides the hosting as well, too.

Better Support

We offer results-focused training in Snapps, and Snapps has great white glove support too should you have questions or issues. We've worked with the developers since Beta. The Snapps developers saw a need for an easier website builder and hosting platform for small business. They are constantly adding new features such as custom widgets to help you increase conversion rates.

Accurate hyperlocal proximity search results for Local SEO and GMB

Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:24:09 GMT

Took a trip to Arizona and didn't even need to pack sunscreen.

Welcome to our INAUGURAL BLOG!

Marissa at Excelsior Digital Solutions, here. In the course of my digital marketing work, I have to conduct local searches on Google. A lot of them. Google wants to give its users relevant local results, which is helpful - except when it's not.

My default local search results will show information, products and services in relation to my physical location - here near beautiful Vancouver, BC, Canada. But what if I want to check out local results in another city? Another province or state? Another country?

It's not as simple as just typing in the search term + city. The algorithm that gives results factors in MY current distance from that locale, the device I'm using, and the time it would take me to get there. So, if I'm here in Vancouver and I search for fencing contractors in Goodyear, Arizona, the results I get in the Map Pack (with the Google My Business listings) and the organic rankings (non-paid), will look different than they will for someone right now in the desert, doing the exact same search.

To simulate a search from another location, I’d been using I Search From .

A few problems:

It uses the Google Ads API and does not allow clicking beyond a right click / open new tab on the websites in the Map pack.

You can’t click anything in organic so it’s a bit of a pain when trying to do due diligence and open the organic ranked websites, especially ones that rank a subfolder URL.

Also – where exactly is this simulated search being located from? The center of the city/town, per Google?

Well, many cities are massive. Where I live it can take an hour just to go from north to south in my city. This is pretty common in the west: in Canada where what are now subdivisions were just farmland when the boundaries were drawn decades ago; and in the US, in the desert for example. These cities are among the fastest growing on the continent. I’m a data geek and what if I know of or identify specific areas in a city where new subdivisions are going in, and want to drum up some business for fencing contractors or other new-home related niches?

I’d want new home owners and even builders searching from job sites at those exact locations to be able to find my fencing installation website.

I Search From does have some suburbs/hamlets/named areas within a city listed under More Options - City. I can find Cloverdale, Surrey, BC, Canada, but not the more densely populated Guildford, Surrey, BC, area - which is also not the "center" of town. Simply entering Surrey, I get the Whalley area in results - maybe 15 minutes by car.

There had to be a better way. I thought of two. Here is one method, and it’s easier to follow than the other but involves installing a Chrome extension.

It will help you pinpoint your search location ANYWHERE and give Google local search results as though you were standing there where "X marks the spot." You can even get the exact GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude) for it.

I'm on Windows 10, and we’ll be using the Chrome Extension called Location Guard for this walkthrough. The link goes to the official Chrome Web Store so you can view, download and install the extension.

It allows you to drop a pin anywhere on the map and lock the location via the extension. Then, you go to your Google search and voilà - the results are as if you are where you dropped that pin.

Here are step-by-step instructions for setting a fixed location Google search using this extension, changing the location to a new fixed location, and then back again to your real location:

1) Install the extension. The icon for it is a little ninja and maps pin.

2) Open a tab for your Google search

3) Click the Location Guard extension icon.

4) Click on Options . The Options settings panel will now be open in a new tab.

5) On the left side menu, click Options again.

6) Now, click Use Fixed Location.

7) Next, just below Options in the menu on the left, click Fixed Location . See the map?

8) Zoom out and now you’ll be changing the map to where you want to go.

9) Drag and drop the pin in the desired spot where you want to be conducting your new location search in Google. We’re still in the extension map here, not the Google one yet. Need to set the pin here first.

10) Next, go back to the Google search tab.

11) Scroll down to the bottom of the page. See Update Location? Click that.

12) Refresh (F5 in Windows) It will now show your new Fixed Location with an updated city and zip/postal code.

Apologies for the terrible squiggly line - that was supposed to be straight!

13) Now search for your niche, and click the map.

You’ll see the Map pack for the new location and the matching organic rankings too!

14) To change the location again just go back to your Location Guard tab and drop the pin in the next area, following the same process as above.

15) To go back to search relevant to your real location , select Location Guard Options – Use Real Location.

16) Then go back to your Search tab, scroll down again and click Use Precise Location so it now says Update Location.

17) Refresh if needed.

"I just flew in from Arizona... and boy are my arms tired."

You should see your current location and results again.

You can also Pause the extension.

If you examine the longggg Map Pack URL, you’ll see the latitude and longitude GPS coordinates you’ve generated- in my Arizona example it’s 33.623035 and -112.243088.

To sum it up : Select the Use Fixed Location setting in the extension, set the Map pin in the extension options, then go back to your open Google Search tab. Click Update Location at the bottom of the page. Refresh and the Search Location will update. To go back to your REAL Location, choose Use Real Location in the extension, go back to the Search, click Update Location again and Refresh.

I’ve checked and this works! I can drill down to neighborhoods in the north and south ends of cities away from the city center. When I move the pin around in the extension and follow these steps, the Google results change along with the pin drop.

I actually figured out how to do this entire fixed location override manually, without the Chrome extension. Perhaps a subject for another day...

BOOM! Happy hyper-local search!

Marissa, Excelsior Digital Solutions