Aaronz WebWorkz Weekly Newsletter

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Aaronz WebWorkz Weekly E-Zine
A Weekly Newsletter of Hints, Ideas, and Resources for
Friends and Customers of www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
Issue #121 March 26, 2004
Aaron Turpen, Editor, aaron@aaronzwebworkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of the
Aaronz WebWorkz E-Zine. You are receiving this newsletter
because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instruct-
ions are at the end of this newsletter. Back-issues are
available online at: http://www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS ISSUE
------------------------------------------------------------

=> Feature Article:
Three's Company: How To Move From Unlimited
Liability to Limited Liability
=> From The Webmaster
=> Readers Talk Back!
=> Guest Column:
Breaking Even ... When is enough, enough?
=> How to Be Featured as our Guest Columnist
=> Copyright and Reprint information
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information


------------------------------------------------------------
Three's Company:
How To Move From Unlimited Liability to Limited Liability
Copyright 2003 Wayne M. Davies Inc.
Wayne M. Davies is author of the new eBook,
"Incorporation Tax Secrets Revealed:
The Ultimate Small Business Tax Reduction Strategy"
http://hop.clickbank.net/?aaronicus/wmdctp

Editor's Comments: More great info from our tax expert
Wayne!
------------------------------------------------------------

For the small business owner or self-employed person, both
the Sole Proprietorship and the General Partnership put you
in the world of Unlimited Liability.

All your personal assets are at risk. A business-related
accident or lawsuit could literally wipe you out.

How do you move from the world of Unlimited Liability to
Limited Liability? By forming a "C" Corporation, an "S"
Corporation, or a Limited Liability Company (LLC).

For now, I'm leaving the Limited Partnership out of this
discussion. I'm assuming that you want a say in the
day-to-day management of your business.

If so, then both the General Partnership and the Limited
Partnership are not a good Choice of Entity for you.

Why is that? Because if your business is a General
Partnership, then you automatically have unlimited
liability. And if your business is a Limited Partnership and
you want management control, then you're going to have to be
the General Partner, and again, you'll have unlimited
liability.

There are certainly business situations for which the
Limited Partnership is a "good fit" (for example, if real
estate is involved). But that's beyond the scope of this
article.

So, back to my original question:

How do you move from the world of Unlimited Liability to
Limited Liability? By forming a "C" Corporation, an "S"
Corporation, or a Limited Liability Company.

Having made such a bold statement, let me also say this:
I am a firm believer that when it comes to this Choice of
Entity issue, one size does not fit all!

So let me add a strong disclaimer:

There certainly are situations where a "C" Corporation, an
"S" Corporation, or a LLC is not appropriate.

But generally speaking, for many Small Biz Owners and Self-
Employed People, one of these three entities is often times
the best fit.

If you want the protection of limited liability, you've got
to choose one of these three entities. Remaining a Sole
Proprietor or a General Partnership just doesn't make much
sense -- you are putting yourself, your family, and all your
personally owned assets at risk.

------------------------------------------------------------
From The Webmaster
by Aaron Turpen, Editor
------------------------------------------------------------

Well, here we are again! I vented some of my frustrations
last week about my computer and got a few responses from
some of you. Many wanted to know how I would fix it while
others wanted to know why I was dumb enough to get into the
fix to start with. :)

Well, happily, it's fixed and I didn't have to buy any new
stuff to do it. It boiled down to two problems:
hard drive space (and my lack thereof) and my choice of
Web browser software.

I've cleared a lot of things from my hard drive I didn't
need and freed up a total of 9 gigabytes, thus saving me
from having to get a new one or an additional drive...

In clearing it out, I got rid of a lot of the old stuff that
has kind of just been hanging on...many of them old Windoze
files. Bugger one fixed.

Then I started to reconsider my choice of Web browsers. I
have always had an affinity for the Opera browser, but was
having to "supplement" with Internet Explorer (IE) to do
some of the things that Opera just won't. I finally moved
to Mozilla and removed and reinstalled IE. Amazingly, that
did a world of good for my computer since IE had apparently
been packratting a lot of info that even Norton CleanSweep
didn't know about... There went Bugger #2. :)

I tested the three major browsers against one another again
(most of them have gone through revisions and upgrades since
the last time I did this) and will be publishing an article
about it next week. So stay tuned. :)

------------------------------------------------------------
Readers Talk Back!
------------------------------------------------------------
"Get a Mac!"
--Warren K.

Editor: No... MacInTrash!

Note: this is kind of long, but I think you'll find it
educational - besides, we're short on feedback this week. :)

"I think this is a step up in sophistication from the usual
Nigerian bank email scam -- what do you think -- any sure-
fire giveaways? One of many that I noticed is the reply-to
address.

W.

Begin forwarded message:

From: "MIDLAND CONSULTING LIMITED"
Date: March 25, 2004 6:18:40 AM MST
To: [removed]
Subject: MIDLAND CONSULTING LIMITED (Enquiry)
Reply-To: rhodagibson@codehot.co.uk

My name is Rhoda Gibson, I am a senior partner in the firm
of Midland Consulting Limited: Private Investigators and
Security Consultants. We are conducting a standard process
investigation on behalf of HSBC, the International Banking
Conglomerate.

This investigation involves a client who shares the same
surname with you and also the circumstances surrounding
investments made by this client at HSBC Republic, the
Private Banking arm of HSBC. The HSBC Private Banking client
died intestate and nominated no successor in title over the
investments made with the bank. The essence of this
communication with you is to request you provide us
information/comments on any or all of the four issues:

1-Are you aware of any relative/relation who shares your
same name whose last known contact address was Brussels
Belgium?
2-Are you aware of any investment of considerable value made
by such a person at the Private Banking Division of HSBC
Bank PLC?
3-Born on the 1st of october 1941
4-Can you establish beyond reasonable doubt your eligibility
to assume status of successor in title to the deceased?

It is pertinent that you inform us ASAP whether or not you
are familiar with this personality that we may put an end to
this communication with you and our inquiries surrounding
this personality.

You must appreciate that we are constrained from providing
you with more detailed information at this point. Please
respond to this mail as soon as possible to afford us the
opportunity to close this investigation.

Thank you for accommodating our enquiry.

Rhoda Gibson.
For: Midland Consulting Limited.
25/01/2004"

Aaron's response:
Wow, very clever. The questions they ask aren't too
intrusive, but follow-ups would no doubt lead to a repeat of
the scam.

The indications aren't very obvious. I noticed immediately,
as you pointed out, that it's a UK address. That's not
really unusual, though, considering the circumstances
they're proporting in the mail itself.
[Note: Warren also pointed out that the "from" and "reply-to"
addresses are different...]

The most glaring mistake is the dates listed. The email is
dated by the receiving server at March 25, 2004. The email
itself, at the bottom, though, is dated January 25, 2004...
it's in European style dating, though, which would confuse
many Americans (day/month/year instead of month/day/year).
I don't know about you, but I've never had an email take
longer than global snail mail to get somewhere. :)

The mail itself has an ugly "cut-and-paste" formatting to it
[note that for this newsletter, I've edited it for clarity]
and at least two or three typos/grammatical errors.

Tied in with the final check of the company itself, the
email gives zero contact information for this Rhoda Gibson
and/or Midland Consulting Limited: no phone, physical
address, etc. Just a "reply to" address for the email
itself.

Finally, a check of the online phone director[ies] finds no
easy match for Midland Consulting Limited anywhere in the
UK, though there are half a dozen companies (that I could
find) with similar names.

------------------------------------------------------------
If you would like to send a comment or letter to the editor
for inclusion in this newsletter, please address it to:
mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com?subject=TalkBack!.
All are welcome to give their opinion, criticism, or kudos!

------------------------------------------------------------
Breaking Even
... When is enough, enough?
by Edward B. Toupin
Edward B. Toupin is an author, life-strategy coach,
counselor, technical writer, and PhD Candidate living in
Las Vegas, NV. Among other things, he authors books,
articles, and screenplays on topics ranging from career
success through life organization and fulfillment. For more
information, e-mail Edward at etoupin@toupin.com or visit
his sites at http://www.toupin.com or
http://www.make-life-great.com.

------------------------------------------------------------

I had the most interesting discussion today with a friend of
mine. He and I were chatting about the economy, his job,
families, and life in general. The one point that he kept
raising was that of his "needing to do more" to pay the
bills, be with his family, get promoted at work, fix the hot
water heater, etc. It's always the "need to do more" to
better accommodate more.

I had to stop and think for a minute --- more for more?
That doesn't make sense! If you have to do more, to handle
more, yet there is no more time and energy and your quality
of life decreases with each "more" you acquire --- that
means that somewhere in the prior "mores" was a break-even
point. There must have been some point in there were "more"
was enough and everything was great --- yet we missed the
peak because we were busily looking at something "more".

--- Is less more? ---

I always wondered what that meant --- "less is more".
Actually, you have to have something to begin with to have
less and know what this means. I remember during the fires
in Colorado --- we went from living in a gorgeous, huge
house, on a mountain, to living in a pickup truck and hotel
room for two weeks. We had much less --- but at that time
we had everything we needed: my wife, myself, and the two
dogs. We were safe and realized that nothing else mattered
--- our peak? Perhaps. But, life went on and we rebuilt our
lives around necessities instead of "more". We now have
everything we need, and a few things we want, but we looked
for that break even point and are now happier than ever
before.

--- Where is my break even? ---

This point is different for everyone, but the break even
point, I've found, is when you have everything that
satisfies your core needs in life and you have the
opportunity to take the time and enjoy them all. Everything
beyond that point begins to put stress on your life, love,
and career and the quality of life begins to decrease
because of the amount of energy and time involved in
maintaining the "more".

The best way to determine your break even point on your
quality of life is to examine your basic needs such as
food, water, air, relationships, love, and self-
satisfaction. Once you've satisfied your core requirements
of existence, then you can move forward to attain your
self-realization and achieve those things that you want to
define your life.

Many times, people grasp and grab at anything they can
because they are looking for something to satisfy their
needs and desires. In the process, they acquire a
tremendous amount of unnecessary clutter in their life and
begin to run into time and resource issues. But, they have
all of this "stuff" to find that it was nothing that they
needed or wanted to satisfy their lives.

To achieve your break even, you have to analyze what you
want in life and only acquire those things, material and
spiritual, that are of benefit to your ultimate Vision and
goals. Realize that, if it doesn't drive your life forward,
then it isn't necessary! Perhaps you want family, career,
and financial stability so that you can enhance your quality
of life. Indeed, a valiant goal, but what is keeping your
from achieving this goal?

--- What's next? ---

I am not saying that you should live in squalor! I am
saying, live a life that is full and rich, but do so in such
a way that is beneficial to your Vision and does not
diminish your quality of life. Establish a Vision, define
your Mission, and streamline your life to achieve your
goals. Don't meander through life and grab at just anything
to fill voids and dreams. Take hold of those things that
mean something and truly fulfill your dreams!

------------------------------------------------------------
If you wish to send your own articles to be reviewed for
inclusion in this publication, please send them to:
mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com.
------------------------------------------------------------
Except where noted, this publication and all of its
contents are copyright (C)2004 by Aaronz WebWorkz, all
rights are reserved. To reprint an article, send an email
to mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com for permission.
------------------------------------------------------------
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back issues of this publication, please go online to:
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questions to the editor
(mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com).

------------------------------------------------------------
Aaronz WebWorkz Weekly E-Zine
A Weekly Newsletter of Hints, Ideas, and Resources for
Friends and Customers of www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
Issue #120 March 19, 2004
Aaron Turpen, Editor, aaron@aaronzwebworkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of the
Aaronz WebWorkz E-Zine. You are receiving this newsletter
because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instruct-
ions are at the end of this newsletter. Back-issues are
available online at: http://www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS ISSUE
------------------------------------------------------------

=> Feature Article:
Work At Home, But Don't Become A Slave To Your
Business
=> From The Webmaster
=> Readers Talk Back!
=> Guest Column:
How Serious is Online Fraud?
=> How to Be Featured as our Guest Columnist
=> Copyright and Reprint information
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information


------------------------------------------------------------
Work At Home, But Don't Become A Slave To Your Business
Kirk Bannerman operates a successful home based business and
resides in California. For more details, visit his website
at http://business-at-home.us

Editor's Comments: This is an article about my own problems,
apparently. :) Just ask my wife!
------------------------------------------------------------

Although the expressed reasons for wanting to work from home
are many and varied, most home based business owners cite
the ability to set their own hours as a major factor in
their decision to work at home. However, many people that
have work at home businesses often fall into a trap that
flies directly in the face of their stated desire for time
flexibility.

The strong growth in home based business activity continues
and, according to the Small Business Administration's Office
of Advocacy, fifty-two percent of ALL small businesses are
home-based.

Some home based business owners have been known to become
"workaholics" because their office is so accessible. Don't
become a slave to your business...get out of your home
office regularly to renew and revitalize yourself.

Close the door to your office or otherwise remove yourself
from your designated "work area" and go into your "home"
area to live your personal life. If your business involves
the use of the telephone and you find it difficult to ignore
a ringing phone in the office, simply turn the ringer off
and turn the volume on the answering machine way down. If
your business is internet based, just turn off your computer
(or at least get away from the monitor and keyboard).

As a work at home business entrepreneur, you certainly
aren't required to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week just because your business is located in your home.
After all, your office or workspace is just an area in your
home...its not your home itself!

Working and living under the same roof has a host of
advantages, but it can present some challenges (in addition
to the workaholic syndrome mentioned, above) and stress
factors.


Here are four ways to create a less stressful home business
environment:

-Remember why you wanted to become involved with a home-
based business (i.e. more time for family, work schedule
flexibility, etc.)

-Have discussions with your family members and get their
input about the working arrangements and the amount of time
they want with you.

-Use good time management techniques. Keep a list of tasks
by order of importance. There are many low cost and
effective "day planners" or "organizers" readily available
today.

-ALWAYS take a little time to "smell the roses".

While not experiencing the negatives common to a corporate
office working environment, the home-based business owner
may occasionally experience stresses and frustrations that
are unique to working at home.

Networking with other home-based and small business owners
provides an opportunity to connect with others who may be
experiencing the same stresses/frustrations that you are.
Sharing stressful and/or frustrating issues with someone
else in the same situation can relieve your stress and may
bring you good advice from a different point of view.

As a final note, remember to observe Home-Based Business
Week (it is always the week of October that includes the
second Tuesday).

------------------------------------------------------------
From The Webmaster
by Aaron Turpen, Editor
------------------------------------------------------------

Well, here we are again! This has been a rough week for me.
I went out of town and took several things with me that came
up missing later (mostly inconsequential things like
clothing, my favorite toothbrush, etc.: I think they were
left in the motel room).

I lost all of my changes to the website update for
AaronzWebWorkz.com (I was nearly halfway done) thanks to a
mis-placed file folder...I think it got deleted along with
some things I actually WANTED deleted), so I lost several
hours of work.

Now my computer has started acting up again, so I'll
probably have to reformat the hard drive to get rid of all
the junk Windoze likes to collect. If I could get away with
just running Linux on this machine, I'd do it.

Finally, my dog has a funky rash on his face which the vet
says is allergies, so he has to have medicine for that...
if you don't have pets, you won't understand, but we already
have the daily task of giving pills to two cats and now a
dog...none of which like it at all. If you could see me,
you'd see the scratches on my arms thanks to this. :)

So I didn't come up with anything for our contest/giveaway
this week like I promised I would.

In lieu of that, my Web store is starting it's Spring sale
today. So here's what I've got for you: if you purchase
anything between now and April 1, 2004, I will refund 5% of
your total order! That's right! I'll refund 5% of your
total order if you just mention this newsletter. This is
no April Fool's joke, so get going! ALL orders (even if you
make several) made before April 1 are eligible, so go to
town - empty my store, I won't mind! :)

http://www.AWWStore.com

------------------------------------------------------------
Readers Talk Back!
------------------------------------------------------------
> Editor: Yeah, I know. It's hard to be humble when you're
> this good... ;)

"Reminds me of an old, old USMC slogan: When you're the
finest, it's hard to be humble. USMC."
--Warren K.

Editor: Exactomundo, Warren! :)

"Does Weird Al Yankovic have a new album?"
--Seed Email

Editor: Yep, he does! It ROCKS! It's titled "Poodle Hat"
and features some great stuff, including a song about eBay!

Interestingly, I also found a bluegrass album of Metallica
cover songs. This band, Iron Horse, has a couple of these
tribute albums: one to Ozzy Osbourne, one to Metallica, and
apparently they've got another in the works for Kiss. The
album I got is the Metallica tribute titled "Fade to
Bluegrass." GREAT!

------------------------------------------------------------
If you would like to send a comment or letter to the editor
for inclusion in this newsletter, please address it to:
mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com?subject=TalkBack!.
All are welcome to give their opinion, criticism, or kudos!

------------------------------------------------------------
How Serious is Online Fraud?
Copyright © 2004 Pamela Heywood
Start your own online business the right way with our free
home business newsletter and original fast-track online
business course ... you can't get this anywhere else!
Send a blank email to; mailto:allgoodthings@aweber.com
Or visit: http://www.pamela-heywood.com

------------------------------------------------------------

Every day you hear about some purported online scam which is
supposedly ripping thousands off innocent buyers. There are
whole sites set up to inform and report on these matters,
which is great, but it tends to paint a one-sided picture.

Without wishing to sound unsympathetic, in a very large
majority of cases, it is because buyers fail to see warning
signs (like lack of contact information on the sites they
purchased from), didn't check them out to see if they were
members of agencies that could verify their integrity, or
simply because they wanted to believe the impossible, i.e.
that they'd get rich overnight for a $29.95 "investment".

Identity theft and major fraud get plenty of press, but
what seldom makes the headlines is the amount of petty
fraud perpetrated by the general public upon small online
merchants. Particularly in respect to instantly downloadable
digital goods: i.e. software, eBooks, etc.

Fraud committed by your visitors is a far more prevalent
problem than you might imagine and, I believe the simple
reason for this is that it's far too easy to carry out.

Oh, forgive me if I don't explain EXACTLY how! :-)

On the one hand, merchants & website owners don't concern
themselves with the details and pretty much put their heads
in the sand. Maybe they even imagine that security products;
scripts, information, etc., are just another way of trying
to squeeze a buck out of them, by using scare tactics to
pretend to solve a problem they don't know they've got.

Well, too right, they don't know they've got the problem if
they aren't tracking or doing something to protect their
sites and downloads ... that would show up where thefts are
being made. If they were, they'd know that this is a very
real problem that is growing at an alarming rate.

Someone who wouldn't dare steal from a traditional store,
but who understands the very basics of HTML can, and will,
take the goodies and run. They wouldn't have the guts to do
so face to face, but they imagine they can get away with it,
with the anonymity they think they have online.

It isn't quite that simple to be invisible. If you capture
the IP address and the exact time of any fraudulent access,
the amateur perp can often be caught. A quick note to their
ISP -- who will know which of their customers were attached
to that IP address at that time -- will ferret them out.

Just to see for myself, I recently carried out an experiment
using a low-ticket item. Normal payment links were in place
and I set up some rudimentary tracking that would let me see
where the payment process was bypassed, but I deliberately
didn't implement any special security to prevent it.

I sent out my advertising and certainly didn't have to
wait long for *takers* -- in all senses of the word.

Almost the moment my solo ad hit my subscribers' inboxes,
emails for payment receipt transactions and notifications
that the product had been downloaded began to arrive.

And the numbers didn't match!

It was a small sample, but one in five, 20% had downloaded
without paying. No, I can't say if this percentage would
translate to a larger sample, because, quite frankly, I'd
rather not find out thanks, but clearly it does go on.

Whatever the percentage, it's serious enough and taking some
measures to prevent fraud will increase your profit by at
least that amount. Every percentage point helps these days.

If the ticket price and volume are sufficient, this could be
a very significant slice of your profit that's currently
leaking right out of your hands. And I know whose hands
I'd rather have it in, if it were mine!

------------------------------------------------------------
If you wish to send your own articles to be reviewed for
inclusion in this publication, please send them to:
mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com.
------------------------------------------------------------
Except where noted, this publication and all of its
contents are copyright (C)2004 by Aaronz WebWorkz, all
rights are reserved. To reprint an article, send an email
to mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com for permission.
------------------------------------------------------------
List Maintenance:
To subscribe
[http://aww.aaronzwebworkz.com/contact/index.shtml?newsletter]

To unsubscribe
[{UNSUBSCRIBE_LINK}]

This newsletter is produced by Aaronz WebWorkz, a complete
online services provider. To view information or to see
back issues of this publication, please go online to:
www.AaronzWebWorkz.com. Please direct all comments or
questions to the editor
(mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com).

------------------------------------------------------------
Aaronz WebWorkz Weekly E-Zine
A Weekly Newsletter of Hints, Ideas, and Resources for
Friends and Customers of www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
Issue #119 March 12, 2004
Aaron Turpen, Editor, aaron@aaronzwebworkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of the
Aaronz WebWorkz E-Zine. You are receiving this newsletter
because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instruct-
ions are at the end of this newsletter. Back-issues are
available online at: http://www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS ISSUE
------------------------------------------------------------

=> Feature Article:
How To Avoid Double The Trouble:
Why A Partnership Can Be Twice As Dangerous
=> From The Webmaster
=> Readers Talk Back!
=> Guest Column:
Are You A Bill Clinton Webmaster?
Post-Florida Google Pulls Back the Fig Leaf
=> How to Be Featured as our Guest Columnist
=> Copyright and Reprint information
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information


------------------------------------------------------------
How To Avoid Double The Trouble:
Why A Partnership Can Be Twice As Dangerous
Copyright 2003 Wayne M. Davies Inc.

Wayne M. Davies is author of the new eBook,
"Incorporation Tax Secrets Revealed:
The Ultimate Small Business Tax Reduction Strategy"
http://hop.clickbank.net/?aaronicus/wmdctp

Editor's Comments: Our tax expert is back with more great
information (two articles in one, if you follow the link)!
------------------------------------------------------------

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a series of articles
on Choice of Entity. The first article, "It Could Happen
To You: Why Any Sole Proprietorship Is A Risky Business",
is at http://www.YouSaveOnTaxes.com/happen-to-you.txt

Let me introduce you to another client of mine, let's call
him Tony.

Tony is a computer programmer who always wanted to be
"on his own." One of his co-workers, Kevin, felt the same
way. On their lunch breaks they often talked of the day when
they'd be calling the shots and making all the money.

Before long, they got the guts to tell their employer they
were quitting to start their own business. They didn't know
much about paperwork, but Tony's brother-in-law, Kyle, who
worked for an insurance company, always seemed to know a
lot about "how things worked" in the business world.

Kyle told Tony that the business didn't need to do anything
fancy to operate as a business. They could just run things
as an informal partnership -- they each contributed 50%
of the start-up funds and they agreed to share equally
in the profits.

When it came to bookkeeping, Kevin's wife Jennifer agreed
to take care of things. She was a bookkeeper at her regular
day job and so that was fine with Tony.

The business took off and within a couple years Tony
and Kevin were making more money than they ever made
as employees. In fact, the partnership had to hire
several employees to handle all the work.

Tony thought things were going fine until Kevin showed
up at a job one day drunk as a skunk. A few weeks later,
Kevin literally disappeared, never to be heard from again.

Turns out that Kevin, with his wife's help, had been robbing
the business blind. Kevin had a drinking problem that he
was able to hide from Tony. He was also able to hide that
fact that the money he was stealing should have been used
for payroll taxes. The partnership was now $18,000 behind
in payroll tax payments.

Kevin and Jennifer were nowhere to be found.

And Tony was stuck with the bill from the IRS for $18,000
in unpaid payroll taxes.

How could this be? Because in a General Partnership,
both partners are liable for the debts of the partnership,
regardless of who might be originally responsible for
binding the Partnership.

Each partner is personally liable for the debts of the
Partnership, and each partner can be held responsible
for the business-related actions of all other partners.

It doesn't matter that Kevin was handling the books and
the payroll tax payments. It doesn't matter that Kevin was
stealing from the Partnership.

Kevin was gone. And Tony was left holding the bag.

The IRS went after Tony even though he had nothing to do
with Kevin's wrongdoing. Because he was a partner, he was
liable for the debts of the Partnership and had to pay the
payroll taxes out of his own pocket.

Tony had to cash in his retirement plan to pay off the IRS.

So, from a liability standpoint, the General Partnership is
identical to the Sole Proprietorship: the owners have
unlimited liability, and all their personal assets are
at risk.

From a liability standpoint, in a 2-person Partnership,
you could say that a General Partnership is at least two
times more dangerous than a Sole Proprietorship. In a
3-person General Partnership, your liability exposure
is three times greater than a Sole Proprietorship.

If you are a partner in a Partnership, do you realize
how much risk you are assuming?

Bottom Line:

If your business is a General Partnership, you need to
incorporate because all your personal assets are at risk,
and your personal assets are at risk not only for your
own actions, but also for the actions of all your
co-partners, whether you like it or not.

Make the move from the world of Unlimited Liability to
Limited Liability.

------------------------------------------------------------
From The Webmaster
by Aaron Turpen, Editor
------------------------------------------------------------

Things have been busy! Even busier than usual! :)

I know I promised a new contest/giveaway this week, but I
just haven't had time to put anything together. We'll catch
up next week, though!

We do have some bonuses for those of you who are hosting
websites with us, though! You may not realize that you have
access to web log analysis in real-time on the server!
That's right, no more asking me to do it for you! These
statistics are updated daily and are available via the Web.
Just go to your website and put "/stats/" after the URL.
So, for example, the stats for my Web store are located at
http://www.awwstore.com/stats/. You will need your primary
(aka "king") account username and password to log in and see
your site's statistics.

Very soon, we will have web-based email account access for
ALL hosted email accounts here too! That means you can
access your email from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Both of these services are FREE as part of your hosting with
us and are thanks to the new RAQ server technology!

The website update for AaronzWebWorkz.com is coming along
nicely. I finished editing several informational documents
for the site last night and the design is already complete.

I decided to make it simpler for faster loading and will be
dispensing with most of the database back-end I had before.
This should speed up page loads and access times as well as
faciliate better search engine rankings.

The graphics have been simplified and some of our services
are changing while new ones are being added. I'll have more
information on this next week and the site should be up and
online by then. The newsletter archives will be posted then
or very soon after as well.

See you next week!

------------------------------------------------------------
Readers Talk Back!
------------------------------------------------------------
"Thanks for the contest last week! I can't believe I won!"
--Larry U.

Editor: Thanks, Larry, and you're very welcome! I see you've
already found something to spend your $10 certificate on at
the store! Cool!

"How do I get you to write a great ezine like this for me to
use for marketing?"
--Anonymous

Editor: Just go to http://www.eZine4hire.com and check out
my services! Easy!

"You are a marketing and computer genius!"
--Aaron T.

Editor: Yeah, I know. It's hard to be humble when you're
this good... ;)

------------------------------------------------------------
If you would like to send a comment or letter to the editor
for inclusion in this newsletter, please address it to:
mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com?subject=TalkBack!.
All are welcome to give their opinion, criticism, or kudos!

------------------------------------------------------------
Are You A Bill Clinton Webmaster?
Post-Florida Google Pulls Back the Fig Leaf
David Leonhardt is a freelance writer, and an online and
offline publicity specialist. Contact him at:
mailto:info@thehappyguy.com
or visit his website at:
http://www.thehappyguy.com
For a copy of Don't Get Banned By The Search Engines:
http://www.thehappyguy.com/SEO.html
For a copy of Get In The News:
http://thehappyguy.com/publicity-self-promotion-report.html

Editor's Comments: This is a great article explaining the
recent changes made at Google.
------------------------------------------------------------

One of the most frequent questions I get asked about my
ebook, Don't Get Banned BY The Search Engines, is whether I
amended it to include post-Florida Google. "Florida" is the
code name that search engine optimizer wizards gave to a
November, 2003, shakeup at Google that left many webmasters
covering themselves up with makeshift fig leaves while
dangling upside down above the proverbial crocodile moat.

I am tempted to explain that, "No, I did not amend it,
because nothing has really changed." But just try telling
the world that Bill Clinton did not have "sex" with Monica
Lewinski. Yeah, right.

So I take the lazy way out and I just say, "Yes."

But the guilt has been creeping up on me, grasping at my
skin, gnawing away at my bones, chewing on my heart, mauling
my conscience, and spitting out my toenails one by one. So
this is confession time. Don't Get Banned By The Search
Engine has not been amended to include post-Florida Google.

Is this because I am peddling stale goods? Am I leading
people astray? Do I have a clue what's going on? "No",
"I hope so", and "Maybe".

In fact, nothing really has changed at Google, and web-
masters who have been following Google's guidelines can just
keep doing what they have always been doing, just as
Presidents who follow public decency guidelines can keep
doing what they are doing (until we vote them out of office
for other reasons, of course).

"But I followed the guidelines, and I still took bullets in
several vital organs," I hear many webmasters say. In fact,
very few webmasters have been following Google's guidelines.
Most have been following the Clinton what-can-I-get-away-
with fig leaf guidelines.

Remember that Bill Clinton never had "sex" with Monica
Lewinski. Technically. Honest, he did nothing wrong. He
followed the rules by not having "sex" with Monica Lewinski.
In fact, he was seen in public not having sex with Monica
Lewinski on several occasions.

And webmasters follow the rules by not linking to "link
farms" or "overoptimizing". Sure, they will link to sites
that have nothing to do with their site's topic, but not to
a "link farm". And they will "exchange links", but surely
that does not violate Google's" uniquely democratic nature
of the web" principle. As long as you are not actually
caught publicly stuffing the ballot box, how could Google
possibly suggest that you are doing so?

So here are my post-Florida rules:

You only link to relevant sites, because that's what you
know Google and your visitors want. Keep doing that.

You don't exchange links, because that would be stuffing
Google's ballot box - and that is NOT something Google
wants. Keep not doing that.

Your link does not appear on many useless "links" pages,
where it has to share PageRank with dozens of other web
sites. Keep not doing that.

You accept links only from relevant web pages, because you
know that's the only meaningful traffic ... and that's what
Google wants. Keep doing that.

Your links look different on different web pages around the
Internet, because that's how a democratic process would
create your links. Keep doing that.

You keep adding relevant content to your web site, because
that's what you know Google and your visitors want. Keep
doing that.

See? No change. And if there is a change, it simply means
that you were not following Google's guidelines in the past.
Oh sure, technically you might have been following Google's
guidelines, but technically Bill Clinton didn't have sex
with Monika Lewinski. Another round of fig leaves, anyone?

Google implemented "stemming" along with the Florida update,
or more likely a few weeks earlier. Since your inbound
links are varied and often unique, you probably already are
taking advantage of stemming, so it won't bother you. And
since you write meaningful copy for your visitors, you
probably already have all the stemming you need right in
your copy. You are ready to really excel in Post-Florida
Google.

Google is also implementing a "communities" factor. Since
your inbound links all come from relevant web pages, you are
already part of the community. You are already well placed
to succeed in Post-Florida Google, right?

Google has implemented "penalties" for some typically
overoptimized terms. Actually, I think penalties is
probably the wrong word, but that is what most SEOs are
using. Since you write quality content, meaningful headers,
and don't cut and paste the same phrase over and over in
every possible place, you are ready to conquer Mount Google.

In other words, if you were following Google's guidelines,
not the Bill Clinton fig leaf guidelines, just keep doing
what you are doing. For the rest of you, isn't it time you
dropped the fig leaf and wrapped yourself up in something a
little more substantial that will weather the high winds of
Google's next big storm?

And, "No." I did not amend Don't Get Banned BY The Search
Engines to include post-Florida Google - because I never
advised people to follow the Bill Clinton fig leaf
guidelines in the original edition.

------------------------------------------------------------
If you wish to send your own articles to be reviewed for
inclusion in this publication, please send them to:
mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com.
------------------------------------------------------------
Except where noted, this publication and all of its
contents are copyright (C)2004 by Aaronz WebWorkz, all
rights are reserved. To reprint an article, send an email
to mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com for permission.
------------------------------------------------------------
List Maintenance:
To subscribe
[http://aww.aaronzwebworkz.com/contact/index.shtml?newsletter]

To unsubscribe
[{UNSUBSCRIBE_LINK}]

This newsletter is produced by Aaronz WebWorkz, a complete
online services provider. To view information or to see
back issues of this publication, please go online to:
www.AaronzWebWorkz.com. Please direct all comments or
questions to the editor
(mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com).

------------------------------------------------------------
Aaronz WebWorkz Weekly E-Zine
A Weekly Newsletter of Hints, Ideas, and Resources for
Friends and Customers of www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
Issue #118 March 05, 2004
Aaron Turpen, Editor, aaron@aaronzwebworkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
By subscription only! Welcome to your next issue of the
Aaronz WebWorkz E-Zine. You are receiving this newsletter
because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instruct-
ions are at the end of this newsletter. Back-issues are
available online at: http://www.AaronzWebWorkz.com
------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS ISSUE
------------------------------------------------------------

=> Feature Article:
Search Wars: The Patent Menace
=> From The Webmaster
=> Readers Talk Back!
=> Guest Column:
Does Your Submit Button Say Submit?
=> How to Be Featured as our Guest Columnist
=> Copyright and Reprint information
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information


------------------------------------------------------------
Search Wars: The Patent Menace
by Aaron Turpen of Aaronz WebWorkz

------------------------------------------------------------

Weird Al Yankovic was only slightly off when he sang "It's
all about the Pentiums, baby!" In reality, it's all about
the patents.

Ever since Yahoo!'s acquisition of the Overture pay-per-
click engine, it's been rumored that Yahoo! planned to drop
long-time partner Google in favor of its own, internal
algorithm. This finally happened last month when Yahoo!
announced it will no longer be using Google as its back-end
provider and instead has debuted "Yahoo! Search Technology"
(YST).

In a press release on February 18, Yahoo! made this
announcement and has since been changing and updating their
site with new search options and changes. These include
XML/RSS syndication links and other relevant technologies.

Well, now battle lines have been drawn in the search engine
patent battle. A new "search engine arms race," as one
insider put it, pits the largest of the search engines
(Google and Yahoo specifically) against one another in a war
to see who will control the technology that is one of the
Web's largest assets - and promises to be important for the
foreseeable future.

For months now, Yahoo! and Google have been quietly fighting
over ownership and viability of a patent covering search-
related advertising - something both companies base a large
portion of their incomes on. Yahoo, for instance, showed an
earnings growth of 84% last year due in large part to this.

Yahoo! owns patents from several recent acquisitions as well
as their own: including those held by recently-absorbed
Inktomi and Overture. Overture, before the purchase by
Yahoo!, also received some of the oldest patents on the Web,
gained by their acquisition of AltaVista.

Google is no slacker either, holding patents in such obscure
(and important) things as methods for information extraction
from a database and for detecting duplicate files. Google
also holds a patent, via its founder Larry Page, for
PageRank, which is a formula for calculating the importance
of pages based on the number of other pages which link to it…

Not to be left behind, Microsoft, IBM, and even Amazon.com
hold patents relevant to search engine advertising and
rankings.

Some of these claims have already gone to court, most
notably Overture in its aggressive protection of its patents
on pay-per-click advertising.

Most in the industry believe that these fights are just the
beginning as the various "Big Boys of the 'Net" jostle for
position and superiority. We shall see where this leads.

------------------------------------------------------------
From The Webmaster
by Aaron Turpen, Editor
------------------------------------------------------------

Here we go with another big week! I hope things have gone
well for all of you. My week has been on-again, off-again,
though mainly due to the end of the month hoo-has. :) Lots
of stupid paperwork to get through! I also got a nice (HA)
little note from the Utah State Tax Commission reminding me
that I hadn't filed my quarterly sales tax forms. DOH!

I also got a renewal notice for my business license... that
means that, come April, Aaronz WebWorkz will be three! Wow!
Ironically, for those of you who aren't in the know, my
business was founded on April 16, the day after "Tax Day."

Anyway, back to the work at hand. It seems we had a little
contest last week. Didn't we? :) We have FIVE prizes to
give away, all listed here:
http://www.AaronzWebWorkz.com/contest/

Our winners are... (Oscar-style drum roll...)
Jean - Short Order HTML
Tim - Looking Good Online
John - HTML Publishing on the Internet
Alena - HTML Visual Quick Reference
Larry - $10 AWWStore.com Gift Certificate

Congratulations to our winners! You've been notified via
email and will receive your items as soon as I have shipping
addresses for you.

Now for the rest of you, don't despair! We still have some
great stuff coming up soon. If you wanted any (or all) of
the above books, just log into the contest page and order
them from Amazon.com!

I'm not sure what to do next week, but we'll have some kind
of St. Patty's Day theme, I bet. ;)

See you then!

------------------------------------------------------------
Readers Talk Back!
------------------------------------------------------------
"Thanks so much. I enjoy your contests and your newsletter
plus the OAA newsletter. I always get good information from
both!"
--Jean M. ( One of our winners this week. )

Editor: Thanks, Jean! You're very welcome!

"Dear user, the management of Aaronzwebworkz.com mailing
system wants to let you know that,
Your e-mail account has been temporary disabled because of
unauthorized access.
For details see the attach.
The Management,
The Aaronzwebworkz.com team"
--Email Worm

Editor: Watch for these coming to anyone who owns a domain.
They're sending them to (apparently) user accounts on random
domains - I got one from five of them, including my
Earthlink account!

"I take time every week to read you letter real good. I
especially thought that you comments about telling a story
was good. I am retired from the busy world of Insurance
Adjusting and Claims. I always took time to tell the
clients a little story before getting down to the claim
settlement. It sure worked good for me twenty years ago."
--Herschel M.

------------------------------------------------------------
If you would like to send a comment or letter to the editor
for inclusion in this newsletter, please address it to:
mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com?subject=TalkBack!.
All are welcome to give their opinion, criticism, or kudos!

------------------------------------------------------------
Does Your Submit Button Say Submit?

Gary Huynh is the author of Rebrand Profits, a FR~~ ebook
showing you how to use 100% free advertising that is even
more effective than pay advertising. Download his ebook and
read all his articles at http://www.rebrandprofits.com

Editor's Comments: I found this article a great insight! I
think I'll start changing my buttons around to match. What
a great idea!
------------------------------------------------------------

I've gotten 50 to 100 percent higher click through and
response rates simply by changing the wording on my submit
button.

It's amazing what you can find out by testing eh?

I've discovered that people need a stronger call to action
than simply "submit". The word doesn't invoke any
motivation for me to click on it.

"Subscribe me" is a little better but not much.

You need a stronger call to action. I use "Load my pockets
with cash Gary". It's more dynamic, lively, and enticing.
It makes people feel like they're talking directly to me.

It's simply different. It makes them feel like they're not
at a website. When you see a submit button, it
automatically signals "I'm at a website" because most
websites use that word. Don't use "Load my pockets with
cash [your name]" unless you're offering some advice about
making money.

Don't use a long sentence either. Just hit them with a
short, quick and powerful call to action.

Make them want to fill out the form and give you their
email.

If you're giving out a free report then use

"Send me my FREE report,[your name]"

To them it seems like you're standing right in front of
them and they're talking to you. The more personable you
make their web experience, the better your response.

Also, with the above call to action, I make it sound like
they have ownership of the report already by using the word
"me and my".

Use call to actions in ALL of your buttons and links.
Always remember, does the button or link by itself, give
the visitor any motivation to click?

------------------------------------------------------------
If you wish to send your own articles to be reviewed for
inclusion in this publication, please send them to:
mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com.
------------------------------------------------------------
Except where noted, this publication and all of its
contents are copyright (C)2004 by Aaronz WebWorkz, all
rights are reserved. To reprint an article, send an email
to mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com for permission.
------------------------------------------------------------
List Maintenance:
To subscribe
[http://aww.aaronzwebworkz.com/contact/index.shtml?newsletter]

To unsubscribe
[{UNSUBSCRIBE_LINK}]

This newsletter is produced by Aaronz WebWorkz, a complete
online services provider. To view information or to see
back issues of this publication, please go online to:
www.AaronzWebWorkz.com. Please direct all comments or
questions to the editor
(mailto:newsletter@aaronzwebworkz.com).