What you need to know about Mail Order Fraud

When the mails are used to intentionally
misrepresent a product or service it constitutes
Mail Fraud. The Royal Mail Postal Inspection
Service is charged with investigating violations
of law, usually in response to consumer
complaints.


The best way to protect yourself from Mail Fraud
is to recognise that it is fraud and not becoe
involved. This is not easy to do because of the
attractive wording in the deceptive ads. Anything
that sounds too good to believe is suspect.
Medical formulas and gadgets that make insane
promises are probably insane and you should stay
away from them. Especially be cautious regarding
some of the thousands of different weight loss
products and overnight cures.


Never purchase land through a mailorder ad unless
you or your personal representitive has seen the
land, to determine if it is as represented and
that the value is there. If the sales person has
shown you the property report you can cancel your
purchase agreement within seven days. If no
report was shown to you before signing an
agreement you have the right to cancel out within
two years.


There are a number of insurance frauds floating
through the mails. Requests to sign blank
insurance forms, last chance bargain offers,
payments in advance and cash payment requirements
could indicate a con artist at work.

Of course, most everyone has received chain
letters sometime in their lifetime and if you are
in the mailorder business you should get several
every day as a minimum. Chain letters are illegal
and do not work anyway. Need we say more?

We've all seen the ads offering job placement and
job opportunities. Most of them are legitimate but
some are 100% non existent or complete
misrepresentations. Do not spend your money for the
required fee until you have checked with your local
Citizen Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office.

Then there are those who promise huge profits
without risk in commodities, stocks, oil, gold,
silver or coins, through the mail or over the
telephone.


There are hundreds of very fine investment
opportunities offered but you can't risk your
hard earned cash, or in some cases people have
lost their life savings to mail order or
telephone swindlers.

Several of the larger, well recognized firms have
gone bankrupt through internal fraud and
management manipulations carrying their client's
investments right down the drain with them. Always
use caution and investigate the company thoroughly
before you put up one penny.

Another favourite of the crooks is home
improvements. Quite often you never see them
after you sign a contract and pay them a deposit
to do the work. If they sees you brochures through
the post and the work they perform is not as
represented by the information it could
constitute mail fraud. Get estimates from local
service companies to determine if the price of
the mailorder offering is reasonable and in line.
Check the references of the organisation.


The laws, regulations and paperwork involved in
setting up franchise operations are horrendous.
Various large distributorships are equally
difficult to establish but generally do not have
to conform to near as many controls and
regulations.


On the other hand, some mail order
distributorships and wholesale outlets require
very little effort and the home company has
little control over their activities. If profits
promised are unrealistic or if the product or
service is secondary to selling the franchise or
distributorship, proceed with caution.

How to Develop Money Making Ideas

It isn't the billions of ideas, that pop up in
the minds of humans around the globe that make
money. Very few ideas are worth the time it took
for the thought. Most ideas are fleeting 'sparks'
that go no place and are forgotten before the
next day. Of the ideas that are very good, very
few are followed up and ever end up as a
worthwhile development in the market place. Most
people are just not oriented to do anything about
their ideas, while others believe it would take
too much of their time or leave them open to
others taking advantage of their original idea
and benifiting themselvs. The situation is wide
open for the person who can'create' profitable
ideas, and then invest some time and money in
following through the idea to completion.

There are three major formats you can use to
create profitable ideas:

1. Find something that already exists, the
presence of which has never been known before.

2. Invent something. Most inventions are merely
new arrangements of things that have already been
invented.

3. Alter or improve in any number of different
ways something that already exists.

As you create ideas, write them down. What you
dream up can be your key to great wealth. Keep
your mind open as you go through each day. What
did you notice in the department store that would
reduce costs, save money or increase sales if
some simple procedure were added or something
changed?

Ideas for improvements are one of the most
valuable things you can contribute to society and
at the same time add to your bank account. To
create ideas for improvements, consider every
possibility and alternative for the things you want to improve.

Learn to create ideas by evaluating all the different
aspects of the products, method or concept you are
interested in. Put your imagination and subconscious
to work and write down your thoughts pertaining to
each of the things you expect to improve. Use the
New Wealth, 'Idea Format' that follows as your guide
for creating Money-Making improvements.

Idea Format: list the things you want to improve:

Why should it be improved?
Who will benefit from the improvement?
What is wrong with it at the present time?
Did someone else cause a problem with it?
How do you propose to improve it?
Do you have the facilities to do the work?
Do you have the ability to do the work to improve?
Exactly what part needs to be improved?
Should it be smaller or larger?
Should the colour be different?
Would more activity help make it better?
Could it be combined with something else to make
it more practical?
Would a different basic material work better?
Is it too complicated, could it be simplified?
Would a substitute be more meaningful?
Is it priced too high?
Would a change in personnel help the situation?
Can the shape be changed to advantage?
Can a new marketing plan make the difference?
Is it safe?
Can it be mass produced to cut unit cost?
Should the appearance be changed - streamlined?
Is there an adequate guarantee?
What can make it appeal to a bigger audience?
Would new packaging or trade name enhance it?
Can it be made heavier, lighter, higher, lower?
Can it be franchised?
Is there a good maintenance program to back it?
Can financing be simplified?
List ways to increase production.
List ways to increase sales.
List ways to reduce costs.
List ways to increase efficiency.
List ways to improve quality and increase profits
What can be done with it to satisfy more people?

This new wealth idea format will start the ideas
sparking and as related ideas come to mind write
them down in every variation you can think of. Do
not judge the good or bad points of the ideas as
they materialise to you, just write them down and
judge them afterwards. You will stop the flow of
ideas if you are critical of your thoughts before
you put them down on paper. When you have
answered everything you can about the product or
concept and know how it fits in with your plans,
sit down and evaluate all the details you have
written.

After you have found or created a good idea,
follow it up with questions on what should be
your next move in order to do something about it,
then act. Get it moving. Expose it to the world
with sufficient tests to determine the value.

Come up with ideas that are still in the
processing stage rather than get stuck on several
vague points that may be worked out later as your
subconscious goes to work. If your idea fails, so
what; you are just that much closer to finalising
another one, then another, until a useful more
valuable idea is born. Every manufacturing plant,
retailer, attorney, accountant, every business
person large or small cannot continue to operate
in the competitive world of today without someone
in the organisation constantly coming up with new
and better ideas.

Old ideas drop by the wayside as new ideas take
their place. Old companies without new ideas fade
away. Those who learn and know how to create
ideas and anticipate the changes needed, as the
future evolves, have the opportunity to be a
great success with big money-making potential.

Another tool you can use to help dream up that
million œ idea, is to spend several minutes each
evening, relaxed with your eyes closed. Pick any
object that comes to mind and try to change it in
your mind's eye. Change it in every manner you
can think of to improve it.

The following evening pick another subject or
object and repeat the process. Soon you will be
using 20% of your brain power instaed of the 10%
normally used by the average person. As your
knowledge and brain power increase so will your
bank account.

Just think what we could accomplish if we could
get the other 80% of our brain power working. On
second thoughts, let's not try to get 100%
efficiency out of your human computer: we would
probably blow up the world for sure.

Protecting your idea.

When you have come up with a good idea, write a
full description of it and make a sketch if
necesary. Place the written information, the
sketch and any other pertinent facts or documents
in an envelope with a date stamp over the flap,
then send it to yourself by registered mail. Keep
the envelope, unopened, in the event you need to
prove ownership. Of course if your product has a
properly registered trade mark, has been
copyrighted, or you have a patent you are
protected from infringement.

A few idea sparks.

When you come up with an idea, program or product
that is so superior in style or performance that
it is unbelievable you may need a notarised
statement to assure your customer you are
offering an honest deal.

Make a habit of examining each piece of
correspondence you receive, taking care of it
right at the time, do what is necessary right
then. Never put it aside to be handled a second
time if at all practical. This can save more time
than anything else for an executive who handles a
large amount of correspondence and mail. You can
also save many more hours each week bt doing
several of the most important things that need to
be done each day before you take up other, time
consuming important details.

Another good way to spark ideas is to go through
the classified and wanted ads in the newspapers.
Also the yellow pages of your telephone
directory. As you read, think of something that
would be of value to the company or person, or
enhance the item you are reading about.

In summary, learn to develop ideas from observing
everyday things and details. Think of what could
make something better. Dwell on things that have
a large marketing audience, something that
everyone needs and wants. Write your idea down.
Put a pencil and pad on your bedside table. When
you remember a good dream, don't just lay there,
by morning you will forget it; jot it down on the
pad. You will be surprised what you can dream up.
Maybe the million pound idea will magically
appear on your pad tomorrow morning.