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One of the biggest fears of online consumers is that they will be
taken advantage of. After all, they don’t know you and they
don’t know if you run a reputable business. Hesitance to buy is
a natural feeling. But, if you want to increase sales at your Web
site try providing a little consumer protection information.
Internet scams are on the rise. Unfortunately, there are a lot of
uneducated consumers that get scammed who don’t even know that
there is consumer protection information available or where to
find it. These scams drastically hurt every upstanding online
businessperson. How? Think about it. Each time a first time
Internet consumer gets taken advantage of they are finished
buying anything online. That means, because of the scam artists –
you and I lose out, too!
The only way to stop the scams and protect our customers and
ourselves is to get actively involved. You and I must help make
the Internet a safer place to do business. By doing so you will
increase your own consumer confidence and increase your sales.
How do we do this? One simple step can start the ball rolling. As
an ethical, online business owner, you can help the consumer get
educated on how to buy safely online, how to look at a Web site
and tell if it is legit or a scam, and how to report unethical
sites in order to put them out of business. In addition, you can
provide the consumer with the information he/she needs to recover
losses if they find themselves being taken advantage of.
Sound like a lot of extra work for you? Not really. If you don’t
think you would have room on your site to post such information,
simply place a link to a consumer advocacy site where your
visitors can easily find it.
This is especially important for those who operate article,
e-book and ezine sites. I personally have visited many of these
sites and was shocked to find they had no categories for consumer
protection or Internet safety. Visitors look to these sites in
order to find the detailed information they need to make wise
buying decisions. While consumer advocates CAN still post their
information, they are forced to place it in such categories as
“nonfiction” and “general”. The poor consumer is then forced to
dig for or accidentally trip over the information in order to
find it.
Here are three sites that do fight the war on unethical business
practices and provide easy to find consumer protection and
Internet safety education information. In my opinion, they
deserve your business.
eBook Palace
http://www.ebookpalace.com/cgi-bin/search/hyperseek.cgi
The International Council of Online Professionals (iCop™)
http://www.i-cop.org/directory/index.htm
eBooks N' Bytes
http://www.ebooksnbytes.com/ebooks.shtml
So by simply adding a consumer protection and Internet safety
information (or a link to a consumer advocacy site) in an
easy-to-find place, you can help fight the war on unethical
business practices. By doing so you increase your own consumer
confidence and sales.
Either we stand up and fight for our consumers, educate them and
enlist their help in the war against unethical business
practices, or continue to loose sales because consumers are
afraid to buy online. The decision is yours.
If you would like a copy of this article, send a blank email to the
address below.
mailto:helpyourcustomers@safeinternetbusiness.com
About the Author
Butch Pujol is an online Consumer Advocate who helps you make the
most of the Internet. Whether you're a business owner or a
consumer, find out more about shopping safely online - and how to
get your money back if you have already been scammed. Go to
http://www.safeinternetbusiness.com/articles/articles-by-butch.htm
for more info on Consumer Protection and Internet Safety.