Transmission Wire

What is Money?
The answer to the question is simple. Money is anything widely used for paying debts owed by a person to someone else and also for receiving the payments of debts owing to a person from someone else. A country produces coins and banknotes, (accepted by everyone) for the payment of bills and for the receipt of money owing.

Money is what is known as a “medium of exchange”.
In the “old days” people traded the goods and services they owned (and probably produced) for goods and services owned by others (probably produced by them). The scenario went something like this - “you give me two sacks of your potatoes and I will trade you ten of my fish”.

This method of trading was fine for a while. As society developed, business became more cumbersome and inefficient with this method of trade. Business dealings became stilted and slow and lagged behind the new pace of commerce. There had to be a better way. Some bright spark then came up with the idea of a common “medium of exchange” easier to carry around and better to use.

Money was born.
It wasn’t that simple, because while all sorts of things were used as a medium of exchange, these were all basically called “money” and it wasn’t until coins and paper notes were developed that money as we know it today became the standard accepted as a medium of exchange.

Forms of Money
There are various forms of money - cheques, IOU’s, credit cards, bank drafts or gold. Gold was the standard used in the past because of its scarcity and its qualities. Gold is resistant to corrosion or damage. These unique properties, as well as the scarcity of gold means that even today, wealthy people around the world would rather keep their wealth in gold holdings than in the currencies of countries which are subject to inflation.

In fact, all sorts of things have been used as money throughout the ages. Some include: beads, eggs, salt, pigs, leather, yarn, axes, ivory and jade. Today we have another form of money, which cannot be touched, and yet it as real as the tangible coins we are able to touch. This form of money is electronic money.

The Name “Money”
The word money comes from the Roman goddess - Moneta. Apparently coins were minted in her temples and issued to the world, as the Romans knew it at the time. The Latin word “Moneta”, (meaning mint or coins) came from the old English word “mynet” (meaning coins or money) and from this came the English word “mint”.

Origins of Money
To understand the origins of money we have to go back to a time well before money came on the scene. Money did not suddenly appear - it was introduced gradually in response to the requirements of human needs. As civilization grew and expanded beyond local societies, the need to exchange the products provided by various groups became evident. The hunter needed to exchange with the farmer, the shepherd needed to exchange with the medicine man etc.

The medium of exchange that was necessary to enable the various groups to barter and swap their products was money. It was originally a physical substance like gold or silver. Sometimes it was a substance that was alive such as cattle, which was one of the oldest forms of money.

Today, although much of the money used by individuals in their everyday life is still in the form of notes and coins, its quantity is relatively small compared to the intangible types of money existing as entries in bank records.

Today money exists in the form of digital cash and such things as coins and bank notes will soon become obsolete. When this happens, the change in the nature of money will have a significant effect on our society.

Copyright 2005 StartRunGrow
http://www.startrungrow.com

StartRunGrow (http://www.startrungrow.com) is a global online information organization that specializes in creating, developing and marketing business help information specifically with the aim of “making business easier” for entrepreneurs around the world. The StartRunGrow objective is to become a dominant player in the business help arena providing end to end solutions for the millions of small and medium businesses worldwide who continue to struggle daily with the difficulties of starting, running and growing a successful business.

Comments Off

TEAMThis WeekLast WeekRecordComments
Pacers123-03 games into the season, and Artest is technical foul free!
Suns243-0Looking at their schedule, they may not lose at all in November
Mavericks373-0They keep scoring, and Dampier adds enough D to keep giving them the W
Pistons412-1If you watched the first Quarter against the Raptors, you knew that the Pistons are a MUCH better team.
Jazz5133-0Boozer trying to show that he is the real deal. Will maintain top 5 if they can get more boards from their Center spot
Heat693-0Only out of top 5 because Shaq is not playing at 100%. Wade has responded as expected, by provided fantastic numbers.
Timberwolves762-1Only loss was to a Nugget team that is better than their record
Spurs832-1Caught with their pants down against the Sonics.
Raptors9293-0Bottom line, they beat the Pistons. That being said, they are playing so far over their heads that they are bound to drown…and soon.
Rockets1082-2Ming and T-Mac still haven’t figured out how to play together yet. Once they do, they will move up fast
TrailBlazers11172-1So far, only loss to a Raptor team playing terrific ball
Magic12232-1Need to rebound after losing to Charlotte
Wizards13242-1These calls are holding their own with 2 projected starters out of the line up
Lakers14112-2Expect more .500 ball from these guys
Nuggets15101-2′Melo trying to avoid the sophomore jinx
Clippers16192-1Games against the Pistons and Pacers may drop these games further into the bottom half
Kings1750-3After losing to 3 quality teams, they should be ranked higher. But we want them win a little first.
Celtics18141-2Have their found their game after the loopsided victory against New York?
Bucks19201-1Expect the Bucks to maintain average.
76ers20181-2Philly needs more than 1 answer for this test
SuperSonics21262-1Sorry, still don’t believe you.
Grizzlies22120-3Next 4 games should determine what kind of team we have here
Caveliers23210-3Still think Gooden is a better fit than Boozer?
Bobcats24301-1Bobcats beat another perennial expansion team, Orlando!
Knicks25150-2The Celtics destroyed these guys
Nets26281-2When ‘Zo goes, so too will his Kidd.
Bulls27250-2If Hinrich got assists for his turnovers, he would be leading the league right now
Hornets28220-3Great Scott! After leading the Nets to the NBA finals a couple of years ago, Byron just can’t get a break!
Warriors29160-3I thought white guys were supposed to be able to shoot.
Hawks30270-3They have hope for the future…distant…future.

About the Author

Gary Whittaker is the editor of T.E.N Magazine, a social commentary webzine with balls! Check out more articles at http://www.tenwebzine.com

Comments Off

Folic Acid, a much neglected vitamin in most women’s diet, is a naturally occurring vitamin B (also called vitamin B9) that helps a baby’s neural tube, the part of a developing baby that becomes the brain and spinal cord, develop properly. Neural tube defects are defects of the spinal cord and brain. If normal development does not occur, spina bifida and other anomalies can occur. Several studies suggest that women who do not consume enough of the B vitamin folic acid before and during the early weeks of pregnancy are also at increased risk of having a baby with a heart defect.

Your body also needs this nutrient for the production, repair and functioning of the DNA, our genetic map and a basic building block of cells. So getting enough folate is particularly important for the rapid cell growth that occurs during pregnancy. Folate is also required for a complex metabolic process that involves the conversion of one amino acid in your blood (homocysteine) into another amino acid (methionine). If you don’t get enough folate, you can end up with excessive amounts of homocysteine in your blood, which is though to contribute to some birth defects. Finally, folate helps make normal red blood cells, prevents anemia, and produces nervous system chemicals.

The signs of folic acid deficiency are very subtle. You may experience diarrhea, loss of appetite and weight loss as well as weakness, a sore tongue, headaches, heart palpitations and irritability. If you are only mildly deficient, you may not experience these symptoms, but you still won’t be getting the requisite amount needed for your baby’s development. Thus the importance of folic acid for a childbearing woman can’t be stressed enough.

Natural sources of folic acid are broccoli, legumes, asparagus, spinach, peanuts, orange juice, papayas, and romaine lettuce, among others. Folic acid is also found in most multivitamin supplements and as well as a folic acid only supplement. If you, like most people, don’t get the amount of folic acid you need from your diet, you definitely should consider taking a supplement. Research shows that the body actually absorbs the synthetic version of this vitamin (found in supplements and enriched foods) much better that the version that occurs naturally in certain foods.

Jack Smith writes about various topics. This article is free to re-print as long as nothing is changed, all links remained intact, the bio remains in full and the rel=”nofollow” tag is not added to any of the links. Thank-you - Please visit the-vitamin-guide.info

Comments Off

We have been trying out Cragar car care detail products for our team. We have looked at the Premium FX Series. We tried the Speed Brite - Total Wheel Cleaner and the Tire Black on an NASCAR Truck and Trailer, both worked out fine and they kept up with other similar retail off the shelf products and could be considered very good second tier products for professional detailers and first tier for off the shelf automotive cleaning and detailing products for Do It Yourself car owners.

The Speed Brite total wheel cleaner worked as good as Auto Magic Brand’s EZ White whitewall cleaner on the alloy and chrome wheels, but we do not recommend it for polished aluminum Alcoa or specialty rims or on Plastic Coated wheel logo caps or wheels. By the way all these products can be further reviewed at

http://www.cragarcarcare.com .

Cragar Spray Gloss Super Shine sounds fancy and can hold it’s own against the Meguiars brand they sell at Wal-Mart, but did not do as good against the Boat and Marine Spray Wax from Meguiars Marine Catalog. We used some on the hood of the Blitzmobile;

http://www.carwashguys.com/blitz.html

as well as on the hood of a passer bye who wondered who are those guys and what are they doing in that parking lot at the CES Show between seminars? We believe in Cragar’s motto for their Premium FX Series Products and that is “Superior Engineering Superior Results” and so we put their newest product the Brake Dust Barrier - Wheel Surface Protectant to work. The product worked great but we did not see the need for two products and we prefer one to do both jobs, for instance able to get into the spider web style BMW rims like on the 2002 BMW or the 3.18 BMW and remove and neutralize and clean off brake dust. Also using a pressure washer the product is not necessary for our team as the current products we use are fine. But the stuff did work well. We enjoyed it as we are moving away completely from any kind of acid to clean rims, for environmental reasons of the EPA and NPDES Permitting, but also due to possible lawsuits from workers and OSHA Standards mandated by some bureaucracy chief somewhere under some rock?

http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0703/0000004b.htm .

We really enjoyed the Rain Repel - Glass Treatment and found it to be nearly as good as a Hydrophobic window treatment or a coat of Rain-X although it lasted almost as long as Rain-X it is also half the price.

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks Retail Product test and Automotive Detailing Product Review for Cragar Premium FX Series Car Care Products, because it is expensive for us to go buy this stuff off the shelf at retail to bring this data to our Do It Yourself clientele.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Comments Off

People spend large sums of money to improve their homes, some even taking out expensive home equity and refinancing loans. While it’s true that putting in new floors or cabinets can cost a bundle, there are plenty of things you can do to improve your home for much less. There are 3 key areas to focus on where small improvements will make the most difference - the foyer, bathrooms and kitchen. These projects below cost under $100.00 to do and just one of the projects below can make a huge difference, but why not do all 3?

Foyer

It’s true that you only get one chance to make a first impression and the first impression people get of your home is your foyer. Has your welcome mat lost its welcome appeal? It’s time to spice up your entrance so what you hear are “oohs” and “ahhs” when people cross your threshold. If you have a spacious porch, a potted plant in a metal planter can create a pleasant atmosphere. Contemporary planters are about $10.

If you’re really adventurous, a coat of brightly-colored paint on your front door can create a splash. If you take on this challenge, it’s a good idea to make sure that the paint complements your home. For example, if your home is mostly red brick, a red door would make a dynamic look. A gallon of interior/exterior gloss enamel in red or any other bright color will set you back no more than $20.

Kitchen

When you look in your kitchen, what catches your eye first? Probably all those nifty cabinets that discreetly tuck away your dishes, right? After a number of years you might crave a different look. For starters, you might want to give them a good cleaning. This one step alone can make a difference. You would be surprised the amount of dust and grease that can accumulate on cabinets. Depending on the material that your cabinets are made of, simply removing the cabinets from their hinges and wiping them down with the damp cloth is sufficient. There are chemicals on the market, but you need to make sure that the chemicals are made for your cabinet material.

Once your cabinets are shining again, you can then add or replace knobs. Knobs range from simple unfinished versions that cost as little as $.50 to decorative insert pulls that costs around $3. With the average kitchen containing about 12 cabinets, your cost won’t go over $36.

Bathroom

Guest bathrooms are usually confined to a small space. Why not give this room a lift? You undoubtedly have a nice set of guest towels and matching accessories. These items are not necessarily cheap so unless you want to go over your $100 spending limit, you can leave those items as they are. What you can add are wallpaper trim, artwork, and color. There are numerous styles of wallpaper trim that you can choose a new look for your bathroom. You can go as conservative and as creative as you want. To complement the wallpaper trim, you can add artwork. You don’t have to go out and purchase expensive artwork. You can use your imagination to come up with some ideas. For example, a few seashells, colorful fabric, and an empty picture frame are all you need to become your own favorite artist.

If you have any leftover paint from your door, you can use this to paint a wall in your bathroom, as long as the color doesn’t clash with the other elements of your bathroom.

Lee Dobbins writes for A Kitchen Decorating Idea Guide where you can find
hundreds of articles on frugal kitchen decorating.

Comments Off

Across the Globe, nutritional and fitness experts are baffled at the results of a study, conducted by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Dr. Alan R. Kristal, the lead researcher of this study, remarked, “I was very surprised with the results. Considering that people gain about a pound a year during this time, this is pretty substantial.”

Shortly afterward, from nutritional and fitness experts in New England, the first question I heard right away was, “How can Yoga burn that many calories?” Soon to be followed by comments from many fitness experts, across the United States, were remarks like, “Most Yoga students don’t practice vigorous styles of Yoga.”

While this is debatable, my questions to them were as follows, “How many of you practice Yoga?” Have you ever heard of Kundalini Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Hot Yoga, Power Yoga, Bikram Yoga, and more vigorous Hatha Yoga styles?

To make a small comparison, I can’t really comment on the game of Cricket, just because I am familiar with baseball. I can appreciate the similarity and skill, but never had the experience of playing the game. Also, just like Yoga, Cricket requires time, practice, and patience, in order to acquire skill.

Now, instead of jumping to conclusions about Yoga from the sidelines, my first suggestion is to join a Yoga class. This would allow the top nutrition and fitness experts to experience the many benefits that Yoga has to offer.

However, this will not be the case with all the experts. The lack of male presence in a typical American Yoga class is visibly apparent and worthy of a study in male insecurity. This is a subject that I promise to address in a future article, but let’s get back to the point.

So, female fitness, nutrition, and medical experts will confirm what most of them already know. Yoga is a complete health maintenance system and has been for around 5,000 years.

When a Yoga student becomes serious about practicing on a regular basis, this is a lifestyle change. Burning over 200 calories per hour in a gentle or Restorative Yoga class is not the foundation of weight control. Most Yoga students engage in some form of cross training.

Many of them walk, take other fitness classes, and are conscious of what they eat. Being mindful of what you eat is a point that the masses have lost. Eating nutritionally dense food, in moderation, and being mindful at the dinner table is a recipe for a lifetime of weight control.

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

Comments Off

This is the time of year when everyone’s mailbox is flooded with holiday greetings and holiday offers. In all this clutter, it is entirely too easy for insignificant voices to get lost.

Instead of sending out a December greeting card along with dozens or hundreds others in your customers’ mailboxes, look for times when you would not be drowned in the flood.

Birthdays and wedding anniversaries are obvious times to commemorate. So are milestones such as children’s sports achievements, graduations, and of course, holidays like Halloween, Valentine’s, Independence Day, the day of the All-Star game, among others.

Think outside the box. For instance, think how thrilled, will your customer be when you send a letter marking the 100th day since he or she started doing business with you. Consider some personalized cards or a 10% off coupon?

Do you think the customer might have some positive things to say about you to family and friends? Yet the principle is sound. Recognize special events in your customers’ lives.

Also consider that even on lesser days, you will still have plenty of competition for your customer’s attention. You may not want to get involved in requesting and tracking this sometimes-sensitive information.

Here are some tips on how to go about choosing the customers you will be sending special occasion cards to?

Try to identify the top 20% of your customers who probably account for 60-80% of your revenue. Send them a series of special mailings, maybe even a newsletter. Offer them special deals or extra services. Provide incentives for them to refer their friends.

Identify five serious prospects that have expressed significant interest but have not bought yet. Ask for five minutes of their time. By telephone, find out exactly what they need form you in order to buy. Provide an incentive for answering the survey such as a free gift with their first order.

Identify and take note of special times that means a lot to your customers. Surely this task would not be taking all of your time. Besides you get to advertise yourself by doing this. The possibility of your customers showing off to others is very much likely.

There are events in life that needed to be celebrated even in the most simple way. Nothing can beat the feeling of having someone that is not even related to you giving you something for that day. A simple card can mean a lot.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.colorprintingwholesale.com

Comments Off

Phentermine pills can now be bought inexpensively online. Some online pharmacies sell them cheap by not charging the processing fee, recurring charges or memberships. These pharmacies usually provide the U.S Pharmacy and FDA approved drugs for safe weight loss.

Herbal phentermine pills are a cheaper brand of phentermine that can be bought online along with a specific guaranteed free online weight loss program. A number of pharmacies are U.S.-based licensed pharmacies and do not charge for shipping. They provide free overnight FedEx. The service is highly secure and discrete.

All the approved Canadian drugs must be manufactured according to the GMP or Good Manufacturing Practices. They must meet all Canadian legal standards and must be compulsorily be licensed companies and so the standards for Canadian drugs are among the best in the world. Canadian pharmacies are able to provide guaranteed high quality, affordable, and safe prescription drugs, and can be ordered online.

Anyone can order pills online from Canada and pay in that country’s currency. When a customer orders phentermine pills online, a licensed nurse must review the health profile provided online. Only licensed pharmacists would fill the prescription after the review by the nurse.

Before ordering online, it’s good idea to comparison shop for lower prices. Some websites provide a comparison list to save time. E-pharmacies have become the latest trend in buying cheap phentermine pills online with no additional cost of shipping and handling. Also, all the patient’s records are confidential and are always verified by a physician before a prescription is filled.

Phentermine Pills provides detailed information about phentermine pills, cheap phentermine pills, how does phentermine work, ordering phentermine diet pills and more. Phentermine Pills is the sister site of Hoodia Diet Pills.

Comments Off

It is known that Egyptians used senna tea to relieve constipation. This tea is used for medium and chronic conditions of constipation. It is the chemicals anthraquinones that provide its strong action on your colon walls. Senna is the second best herb to use for chronic constipation because it creates strong peristalic action. It is readily available in health food stores or on the Internet.

Only use senna for a short time, 1- 1 week. It is not healthy to use it for a long time, since its action moves fecal matter through your colon quickly. This quick action prevents absorption of nutrients by your colon depriving you of necessary minerals and vitamins.

Use senna only in amounts that produce the required bowel movement and stool softness to relieve your constipation. Start with small amounts and increase your amount slowly.

Senna is sold Over-the-Counter under the name Correctol®, ExLax®, Senokot®, and Smooth Move. Senokot also contain docusate sodium - a stool softener - an added benefit when hard, dry stools may cause discomfort.

Senna Tea with Potato peels

You can also prepare senna tea as follows:

Buy some senna tea at a health food. Place a tea bag into 1 cups of distilled water and steep. Then, add the peel of a whole red potato. Also, add a couple slices of potato meat. Add to this, a teaspoon of wheat or oat bran and flax seed.

Simmer this combination, strain it and drink the liquid. This will give constipation relief for some of the more difficult cases of constipation. Remember the longer you simmer this combination the stronger the tea will be. Start with a 5-10 minutes and then work up to 15-20 minutes but you need to experiment with the time.

When you drink senna tea, drink only 2-3 oz. at a time and drink it only after it has cooled down. It has less of a cramping action when you drink it cool.

Senna Tea with Peppermint

Here is another senna tea you can prepare.

1 teaspoon of senna tea leaves
teaspoon of peppermint leaves.

Boil 8 oz of distilled water, turn the heat off, stir in the herbs. Turn the heat off and cover the glass container. Let tea simmer for 3-10 minutes.

Add honey to improve taste and some powered vitamin C if you have it.

Look for formulas that have a small amount, 1/10 of a part, of fennel, anise, or ginger to reduce any cramping that might occur with senna.

Do not drink seena tea or capsule if you have any type of colon disease, stomach pain, diarrhea, or are pregnant.

Senna Pod Tea with Prunes.

Senna Pods are milder than the leaves since the do not contain the resin. It is the resin in the senna leaves that causes griping in your colon.

If available, use around 8 pods. Heat some distilled water. Place the pods into the water for 5-10 minutes. Strain the tea and add 3-4 dried prunes or chopped prunes. Let cool and eat the prunes during the day or drink and eat a few prunes just before you go to bed. Drink only a couple ounces of the senna liquid at one time. If cramping or griping occurs, reduce the amount of tea you drink.

There you have it. You can get constipation relief with senna herb by using it in different ways.

Rudy Silva has a degree in Physics and is a Natural Nutritionist. He is the author of Constipation, Acne, Hemorrhoid, and Fatty Acid e-books. He writes a newsletter called natural-remedies-thatwork.com and his information on other topics can be seen at http://www.stop-constipation.com or at http://www.constipation-remedies.for–you.info

Comments Off

A Privacy Policy can be defined as the policy under which a company or organization operating a web site handles the personal information collected about visitors to the site. For most of us consumers, privacy involves protecting our integrity and our right to disclose or not our personal information to third parties, without letting anybody bother us with unsolicited communications if we do not want to be contacted.

Why has privacy become such a big deal for consumers over the last few years? The answer is that customers need reassurance before giving out their personal information to someone they do not know. They might really like your web site and even visit it often, but as soon as you ask for their name, they get suspicious. Moreover, if you also ask for their address, phone number, credit card number, bank names, account numbers, health history, or current job information, they start worrying about what you are going to do with all that information. Can you blame them? Of course you cannot. What you have to do is ensure you address some basic but critical aspects of their concern, through a clear and efficient Privacy Policy.

Below are some important issues you should take into consideration when writing your company’s Privacy Policy:

1) Explain what types of information you collect and how you use it

Provide reassurance. Clearly explain what types of information you ask from your visitors for and what you are going to do with such information. Besides personal information, what other information do you keep track of? Do you collect information from children? How do you verify parental consent for information about their children? Remember that information is power and although about two thirds of Internet users might be willing to accept a guarantee that you will not abuse their privacy, the other quarter feels extremely nervous about the way their personal information might be used. Therefore, if your web site mines raw transaction data to identify visitors, to come up with new offers, or to sell their names to merchandisers, you will need to explain how you share that information within your own family of companies and outside, or else you will very likely face serious legal problems.

2) Explain why your server and online operations are secure

Now you have already told people what information you ask for and what you do with it, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Next you will have to explain what makes your server and online operations secure. You probably do not want to be caught with no answer when confronted with questions such as, ‘How do you make sure nobody steals my credit card information?’ or ‘How do you protect the privacy of my emails to your customer support team?’ Point out how your consumers can tell if they are really on a secure server, i.e. the change in the URL, the icons that show up on the status bar, etc. You may even take a shot at explaining encryption, and the Secure Sockets Layer. Most importantly, concentrate on the benefits to the consumer, for in the end, most of them will not care less about all the security measures you take and all the money you spend to make your website secure, unless that translates into some specific benefits to them.

3) Let customers out

When people read your Privacy Policy for the first time, they will want to know how they can start or stop receiving email from you. Giving customers an opt-in and opt-out option is a great way to build trust and lower their personal barriers. However, you must be aware that people’s needs, desires and interests might change over time and despite the fact that no one likes to lose a customer, you must let them go if they state that they are no longer interested in receiving your emails. In order to protect your customers’ privacy, you must give them access to their personal profile or account, and let them delete themselves. Since one of the biggest invasions of privacy is spam, one of the organizations created to fight spam called The Anti SPAM League considers that it is a good idea to allow people to opt into your e-mail newsletter twice - once by clicking the checkbox and Submit button, and again by responding to the e-mail notification that they can subscribe if they reply -. Double opt-in makes it more likely that people know what they are doing when they volunteer for the email. Remember to include an ‘unsubscribe’ option at the bottom of each newsletter you email to your customer base. Of course, if most of your customers request to be removed from your mailing list then you will have a much more serious problem because your business will be in danger. But still, you must always give your customers a way out.

4) Let customers view and edit their personal information

If you give people the opportunity to view and edit their information, chances are they will provide even more. The reasoning under this is pretty basic: almost no one destroys his or her own data. Therefore, whenever you display customers’ personal information, place clear and visible labels indicating how they can edit it. Be clear about how they can view and edit their information, i.e. ‘You can access all your personally identifiable information that we collect online by logging in and clicking the ‘Change User Info’ link in the box on the right-hand side of every page’. Also, answer questions that might be of extreme importance to some customers such as, ‘Can I review information you have about my child?’.

5) Inform customers about policy changes

Most businesses revise their Privacy Policies from time to time. If you are among these businesses, inform your customers how they can have access to those changes and revisions. For example, include a sentence in your Privacy Policy such as, ‘New versions will be posted on this web site, so please check back periodically for updates’.

6) Tell your customers who to contact in case they have questions about privacy

Sometimes people might have some specific questions that are not explicitly covered in your Privacy Policy. For example, where they can learn more about their right to privacy or who they can talk to if they have a question about their privacy. Always include one or more ways in which customers can contact you regarding privacy issues. This contributes a lot in terms of reassurance.

7) Write a privacy policy that people can understand

Last, but not least, this issue can make the whole difference between a trusted business and one that may look OK, but deep inside you feel you cannot trust. Unfortunately, most Privacy Policies are written by lawyers and consequently, contain way too many technicalities. We do not question the value of legal terminology, but we greatly emphasize the fact that a Privacy Policy does not need to sound too serious or elegant. It just needs to be clear and simple, so that any average consumer can understand it without much effort. If you use industry or in-house jargon without explanation you make readers suspect that you are trying to pull the wool over their eyes and the final result debilitates the whole purpose of the policy, which is to build trust. Sure you will have to talk about your security precautions, but refer to them in plain English before you mention tech words that most people do not understand.

Our advice regarding how to write an efficient Privacy Policy can be summed up in just two sentences: ‘Keep it simple’, and ‘Do not lie to your customers’. If you want to learn more about this and other related topics, check out www.Anti-Spam-League.org. This organization offers free membership and the chance to access a wide amount of relevant information on privacy, spam, email abuse, Internet fraud, responsible marketing and several other topics.

About The Author

The purpose of the Anti SPAM League is to help consumers and business owners reduce the amount of SPAM they receive. In addition, our Anti SPAM organization believes that educating site owners in the area of SPAM prevention and ways to successfully and responsibly market their sites, is key in making a difference.

mike@anti-spam-league.org

Comments Off