I thought this might be of interest to some people as Jimmy D. Brown is a well known, successful marketer

How to Use Incentives to Get Extra Sales

By Jimmy D. Brown of iBusiness Owner

The vast majority of your prospects aren’t all that passionate about your offer.

Truth is, they’re kind of lukewarm. They’re interested, but they’re not taking their credit card out. Instead of making a buying decision, they decide to “think about it.”

Of course you know what happens: They forget about your offer. They don’t return to your store or sales page. Some of them may even make the conscious decision to NOT buy your product.

So what can you do to get your prospects to get excited and take action NOW?

Simple: Offer them an incentive if they order now. Do it right, and you’re virtually guaranteed to make more sales!

Generally, an incentive can take two forms:

1. You offer a discount. One idea is the straightforward discount, such as offering a percent-off. Another ideas is to offer a discount on the overall package, such as by offering free shipping.

Tip: You can even make it a limited-time discount so that your prospects feel a sense of urgency.

2. You offer one or more bonus products. Again, you can even make the bonus offer limited to increase the sense of urgency.

Offering a discount is a pretty straightforward incentive. So let’s talk about how to offer a bonus as a buying incentive.

Here then are the seven keys to offering bonuses that generate extra sales:

• Make sure the bonus is desirable. Point is, if your prospects don’t care about the bonus product, then it won’t help you generate any sales. So make sure it’s something that your prospects already want. Something that gets them excited!

• Create a valuable bonus. Just because you’re giving the product away for free with a purchase doesn’t mean this bonus should be worth little to no money. Quite the contrary – it should have a high perceived value in the prospect’s mind.

• Choose bonuses that are easy to deliver. This is particularly true if you’re selling downloadable products online, such as software or information. Point is, you want to be able to deliver the bonus instantly – right alongside the main product – without you having to manually deliver the bonus.

• Supply an exclusive bonus, whenever possible. If the prospect can get the bonus somewhere else, he might just do that. So try to offer exclusive bonuses to help make the buying decision easy.

• Offer a bonus that compliments the main product. For example, let’s say you’re selling a book about retirement planning. Offering retirement-planning worksheets and software as a bonus would be a great incentive.

• Sell the bonus. If you’re selling via a sales page, don’t just list the bonus. Instead, sell it just the way you’re selling the main product, meaning you should list the benefits of this bonus product or service.

• Remember that you can offer products OR services. Let’s say you’re selling exterior landscaping supplies and information. As a bonus you can offer a free consultation where you provide specific landscaping ideas for buyers. Or if you’re selling a copywriting product, you can offer a sales letter critique.

Conclusion

Offering an incentive is a simple, yet highly effective way to generate more sales and grow your business. To discover still more ways to grow your business, visit this website   – you may just learn strategies you never even knew existed!”

Technorati Tags: affiliate marketers, bloggers, ebook authors, incentives, infoproduct creators, Internet Marketing, membership site owners

3 Free Resources To Skyrocket Your Profit
By Jimmy D. Brown

I read this by Jimmy D Brown and thought perhaps someone else might be interested.

Sound advice indeed ! I hope Jimmy doesn’t mind but this needs sharing.

“Dear iBusiness Owner,

Everywhere you turn you’ll find people offering some kind of magic potion for starting or growing an Internet business.

Fast results. Easy steps. Big money. These are the claims that are made over and over again. Yet the overwhelming majority of people who buy into these potions never see those claims realized.

There must be a reason for that.

What I want to share with you today isn’t a magic potion. It’s not even a lucky horse shoe or a four leaf clover. They are simple three resources that anyone can tap into to see a big spike in profit.

If you’re looking for a genie in a bottle, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for something real, this is for you…

1. MASTERY. The first “resource” that I highly recommend is the “mastery” of a singular method of generating profit. There is amazing productivity and progress when you strip away all of the distractions and focus on one thing that you can become very good at.

One of the problems that trips up most would-be iBusiness Owners is the attempt to do many different things. They dabble at affiliate marketing. Try a little eBay. Then they work with PLR. Or create their own ebooks. Or…

They spread themselves too thin. No one has the time to learn and implement all of of the different components of running an Internet business. In most cases nothing gets done.

I’m a big believer in becoming a “master” at something. Find ONE way to make money online – just ONE model – and become fluent in it. Don’t try this and that. Just try one thing and stick with it until you are world class at it. Resist the urge to chase after the next shiny thing that comes along.

You can add in other options LATER … after you have been successful in your initial, focused pursuit.

Example: If you choose to make money as an “affiliate marketer” then make that your primary pursuit until you have mastered it and are making a sustainable income from it. Then, once that has been established, start creating your own products. Or buy licensing to other people’s products. Or rewrite PLR materials.

The point is to become a master at something before attempting other things. This one shift in your thinking can be extremely impactful upon your business. Oftentimes it is the difference between success and failure.

2. MOMENTUM. Once you have decided a path to pursue, stick to it! I have used the illustration of pushing a car in the past. If a car is parked and you start pushing it, at first it doesn’t budge. Then it moves slightly. Then it ever-so-slowly begins to move. Then it moves a little faster. After a while you are pushing the car at a steady speed. If you quit anytime before it arrives at “steady speed” then things will come to a grinding halt.

The same can be said of your business. There are a lot of “starters” in business, but not a lot of “finishers”. Many people get started pushing but don’t see immediate results, so they stop. They look for another car and push it. Nothing happens, so they stop. They push another car. And they never get MOMENTUM.

Let me assure you of this one thing: if you quit too soon your business will come to a grinding halt. You must commit to continuing on until you have arrived at your successful destination.

The question is … how?

How does one keep pushing when results are not noticeable? How does one keep pushing when another shiny car is set beside them and it looks like it might be easier to push? How does one keep pushing when they aren’t getting results as quickly as they’d like?

Here’s the final resource you need…

3. MOTIVATION. A powerful mechanism for sticking to it is your motivation. Those who successfully lose weight usually do so because they are motivated. Those who stop drinking or smoking usually do so because they are motivated. Those who succeed in business usually do so because they are motivated.

When I say “motivated” I don’t mean that they possess some kind of super powers that mere mortals don’t have. Nothing like that. What they possess is simple: there’s something that drives them to stick with it. There’s something in their lives – or something they want in their lives – that is so strong that it compels them to never give up until they obtain it.

Maybe that’s a desire to be rid of the bondage of debt. It could be a desire to better provide for your family. Perhaps it’s a desire to travel, buy something, free up your time or send your kids to college. It could be anything. As long as it’s a powerful presence in your life.

Ask yourself why you really want to succeed. It might be to benefit others or it might be something completely about you. Whatever it is, let it fuel you to stick to it. Think about how great it will feel to be free of that debt, or what you’l be able to do with your extra time, or what the seats of that new car will smell like or your children getting that college education.

Conclusion

There are a lot of “magic potions” being sold. But there is no magic. Those that succeed in business don’t do so because they have the aid of a genie or elves or a rabbitt’s foot. They succeed because of mastery, momentum and motivation.

If you’ll choose a model for generating profit and stick to it because you are passionate about someone or something, sooner or later you’ll see your profit skyrocket.

God bless,

Jimmy D. Brown”

http://www.imstitute.com/

Technorati Tags: Good Advice, Internet Marketer, make money online, online business

I’m reprinting this post from Associate Programs.com about what  Google wants from publishers. I think that if you are involved in the internet business you need to read this.

“How Affiliate Marketers Can Get Better Results from Google

Last week Google spilled the beans on how you can take advantage of their secret formula to get better rankings. They wrote an important post on their blog that I think all affiliate marketers need to know about.

It discusses what they want from webmasters and content writers and gives you a clear understanding of how they “think”. If you follow the principles behind their questions, you can’t go too wrong when creating a website or content that ranks.

For many years, we have been saying that to get ongoing search engine traffic you need to provide quality original content that is useful to searchers and to your readers. During that time, there have been many Google updates but their goal has never really changed: quality answers to search questions.

In Google’s words, “Our advice for publishers continues to be to focus on delivering the best possible user experience on your websites and not to focus too much on what they think are Google’s current ranking algorithms or signals.”

In simple terms, Google is saying that you should write for people, not for them.

If you’re looking at building long term cash flow from your sites, you need to write for people first. People read your content, they make assumptions about you from it and they decide whether you’re a trusted source BEFORE they even consider buying from your links.

Google says to ask yourself:

• Would you trust the information presented in this article?

• Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?

• Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?

• Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?

• Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?

• Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?

• Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?

• Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?

• How much quality control is done on content?

• Does the article describe both sides of a story?

• Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?

• Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?

• Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?

• For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?

• Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?

• Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?

• Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?

• Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?

• Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?

• Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?

• Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?

• Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?

• Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

Google’s message to affiliate marketers

As you read through that list, you may have noticed one thing that stands out again and again:

“Search is a complicated and evolving art and science, so rather than focusing on specific algorithmic tweaks, we encourage you to focus on delivering the best possible experience for users.”

I suggest you print this post out and put that list of questions next to your computer until they are ingrained in your thinking. Every time you go to add content or plan a new affiliate site, read them again and consider them before you put fingers to keys.

After all, if you can’t take Google’s word on what they want to see, whose word can you take?”

Post by Brad Hauck of Associate Programs.com

John Thornhills One Month Mentor Program

Are you spinning your wheels, wondering if you will ever get your online business up and running? Wondering where to start?

It can seem frightening starting your own business, especially online with so many choices. Many newer marketers can fail quite quickly as it can seem so intimidating and confusing, and they eventually give up all together on their hopes of having their own online business up and running.

In fact if you are feeling like this, it isn’t your fault, most of us have been in the same situation. Yes, even the gurus at one time.

Many newer marketers give up because they get caught up with the constant bombardment of latest and greatest shiny objects, buying numerous products which always promise instant online riches. This means they eventually find themselves suffering from information overload and simply don’t know where to turn next.

One of the most common questions asked in forums, email inboxes, blog comments and so on is ‘How do I get started online and get my business up and running’. Whilst the answer to this question varies for everyone, 99% of the time these newer marketers simply need a mentor – someone to guide them and show them the right way.

A good mentor is someone who has been there, done it all and is successful at internet marketing. This mentor will pass on the benefits of his or her experiences which will save you both time and money.

To use a slightly overworked phrase you need to “stand on the shoulders of giants”.

This short(1.33) video by Tony Robbins today which very briefly sums it up and which is called “Get The Best Tools”.

Having a mentor would allow you to keep focused on one task at a time and once this task is finished move you on to the next task remaining focussed on building your online business.

This mentor will also guide you through the scams, hype-filled products etc.which will prevent you and your online business becoming flooded by the endless flow of information coming at you from the internet.

Further to that, a mentor is someone that you can to make yourself accountable to. By working to a self imposed deadline and being gently kept to that timeline by your mentor means that you will keep moving forward and help you to meet your deadlines.
Meeting deadlines and time keeping is an important skill to learn when first starting out online and also throughout your time on the internet.

However, it is often the case that even some of the better mentors assume that you know the basics already, where the reality is that most people new to this business want a course that starts right at the very beginning and then proceeds to show you, over the shoulder, step by baby step, how it is done!
This needs to be done in such a way that even the computer illiterate person or newbie can understand it.

So, where do I find this mentor that is going to guide me through the maze?

John Thornhill has an enviable reputation as one of the better, honest, straight-up marketers, and I know from personal experience with his Masterclass a few years ago, that he teaches in the step by step, straight forward, over the shoulder way that I mentioned above.

John recently ran a 31 Day Intensive Coaching Program (John Thornhills One Month Mentor Program) which was very successful and as this is finished he is now opening the doors again. This will be limited by the number of people who join as he gives total support and even personal direct contact, both through the duration of the course – and after.

So, if it is what you need to finally get to where you need to go in internet marketing then I thoroughly recommend John Thornhill as a mentor.

You can find out more details about this Coaching Program from here:

John Thornhills One Month Mentor Program

Technorati Tags: john thornhil's one month mentor

Technorati Tags: facebook, facebook fan pages with iframe, facebook pages, fb maxed, FB maxed review, fbmaxed, fbmaxed review, HTML5 framework

I just came across an excellent wordpress tutorial
that Michelle Macphearson posted on her blog last
week.

I think you’ll find it ‘pretty good’!

Lots of great plugins (with download links) and tips for
maximising your blog’s SEO.

Also it’s an excellent to-do list for the next time you create a wp
blog.

Nothing for sale here, just great info…

http://www.michellemacphearson.com/wordpress-tutorial-for-internet-
marketers/

Until next time.

Technorati Tags: Internet Marketing, on page optimization, plugins, SEO, wordpress, wordpress tutorial, WordPress Tutorial For Internet Marketers

I thought I would post this copy of a great email by John Reese now as although I have read it before I find that it is always useful to read it again. Food for thought indeed!

I have a copy displayed where I can re-read it when I start to lose track!

It is a quite long post but well worth reading.

Here is John’s post:

—————————————————————————————————————–

“In light of my upcoming 40th birthday, I want to share 12 valuable mini-lessons that I’ve learned so far as an entrepreneur…

These range from mistakes to avoid, to making strategic decisions, of how to get cash flow to come in the fastest, etc.

They are in no particular order…

1. ALWAYS DO MORE THAN IS EXPECTED OF YOU

I learned this at an early age from my Dad. He had a very successful career as a business executive and engineer, and this the core principle that created his success.

You can apply this to your business in many ways… over-delivering to your customers, giving unexpected bonuses to your employees or outsourced workers, and more.

Most people do just the bare minimum. Do more than is expected of you and it will do amazing things for your business.

2. STOP DREAMING AND START DOING

Too many entrepreneurs get caught up in the big dreams of how they will one day be rich and how their life will be amazing…

…but they never end up doing anything.

They buy courses, read all they can, jot down little notes and ideas in a notebook, but nothing ever actually gets created.

A web site doesn’t get made. Advertising isn’t run. Markets aren’t tested. Nothing.

If you want to make a lot of money the only way that happens is getting stuff done. Period.

3. DON’T LET LEARNING DELAY ACTIVITY

Most people that have studied Internet Marketing much already have the basic skills that are needed to build a million-dollar business.

That’s worth REPEATING…

Most people that have studied IM much ALREADY HAVE the basic skills that are needed to build a million-dollar business.

You can get stuck learning new stuff FOREVER. There will always be new methods and techniques that get discovered. The Internet changes on a DAILY BASIS. This is a given.

Don’t get caught in the trap of “I’m going to start building my business right after I go through this next course…”

You can start building your business TODAY while you are studying and learning new things that you can easily apply TOMORROW.

Things will NEVER perfectly align for you and your business. There’s no such thing. So don’t wait. Get started NOW and take action. Get some stuff going and go from there.

4. MULTIPLE IDEAS CAN BE THE KISS OF DEATH

It’s okay to work on multiple projects and ideas. It’s almost impossible to stop entrepreneurs from having tons of new ideas at the same time.

BUT…

No new money comes in the door until you get ONE project launched and making money.

Something has to be launched FIRST.

5. MAKE JUST ONE DOLLAR FIRST

No one has ever made a million dollars in sales without generating $1 first.

ALL successful businesses start with that first sale and then grow from there.

It doesn’t matter what your income goals are. The faster you make your first dollar, the faster you will reach your goals. PERIOD.

6. DO THE IMMEDIATE CASH PROJECT FIRST

What should you work on next? Whatever will bring in cash the fastest for your business — and of course, I mean that in a moral/legal/ethical way.

If you analyze all the great ideas you are probably sitting on, I bet you can realistically prioritize them in the order of which ones would actually make money come in the fastest (if it succeeds.)

THAT is the project you need to focus on.

Cash is the lifeblood of your business (and your life.)

Save some of those “big” ideas for the future. Focus on the ones that stand the best chance of getting new money to come in right away. Once you have some stable ongoing cash flow in your business, then you can take a chance on that project that may take longer to pay off.

7. EMAIL MARKETING KICKS THE CRAP OUT OF EVERYTHING ELSE

When it comes to growing a business online, nothing generates long-term cash flow like an email list of engaged subscribers & customers.

Email marketing is the best way to generate traffic. It’s the best way to ‘recycle’ the same visitors again and again to any of your projects. It’s also the best way to convert prospects into buyers.

RSS, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, BLAH BLAH BLAH

Yes, those methods can generate leads. Yes, those methods can generate some sales. But time and time again little old email marketing kicks their butts — by a long shot.

So make building a list, and a solid relationship with it, a top priority in your business.

8. RUN A LEAN OVERHEAD MACHINE

I can’t stress this one enough.

When you start growing a successful business it’s really easy for your overhead to get out of hand. It’s easy to start hiring a bunch of people and committing to a bunch of expenses.

Take it from me, when you have months where your fixed expenses (doesn’t include advertising, etc.) are well over $100,000/MONTH (and growing) it can put you in a tough position to make healthy profits.

I used to have fixed overhead that high but never again. I realized there were smarter ways to do things.

What you need to realize is that REVENUE doesn’t mean jack squat. It’s your profit (income) that matters.

So while running a $10,000,000/year business (sales) is impressive, I know people running a $1,000,000/year business that nets MORE than the person that owns the $10MM/year business.

It all comes down to your expenses.

Sometimes it certainly DOES take heavy expenses in order to make a lot of money. But that’s not my point…

My point is, your overhead can really get away from you. If your sales experience some dips, and it’s almost guaranteed they will at some point, then you can LOSE YOUR BUTT very quickly.

So add to your overhead as a last resort.

9. MAKE ACCOUNTING A PRIORITY

This is a big mistake that most entrepreneurs make — and I’ve been guilty of it as well.

Keeping the books and doing accounting work is the LAST thing that most entrepreneurs want to mess with. We have more fun by coming up with new ideas and trying to make them grow — not spending hours of our time inputting receipts and figures into QuickBooks.

If you don’t like accounting, immediately pay someone a few bucks to handle it for you. Just make sure your accounting is always up to date. It’s very important.

As an extension of this, make paying your taxes a priority — even if you pay them in advance.

I have paid a small fortune in tax penalties because of being lazy and filing late. And it’s too easy to let one delay turn into another and for the problem to get worse. So make it a priority.

Don’t “rob Peter to pay Paul.” This is a trap most entrepreneurs fall into — again, I’ve been guilty of it in the past myself.

It’s easy to start making a bunch of money and think “I’ll just use this money to make more money instead of paying my taxes on it now and I’ll just pay the taxes later after I’ve made even more money.”

Or the same thinking is applied towards delaying payments to a vendor, or some other expense that needs to get paid.

This is probably the #1 mistake entrepreneurs make that can create problems and a lot of wasted money in paying penalties and interest. So make sure your accounting is taken care of and your taxes get paid on-time for you.

10. DON’T LEASE OFFICE SPACE

(If possible.)

As tempting as this might become if your business starts to grow, avoid it at all costs.

If you’re like me, what will happen is that you will eventually stop going to the office and just work from home where you always were more comfortable anyway. And/or you will end up realizing you really didn’t need it.

Having an “office” is not required to have a successful business. We live in a Digital World now and it’s just not important anymore.

Even if your business grows and you need employees, you still don’t necessarily need an office. There are people out there running $20MM+/year businesses with no office; the employees all just work virtually. This is becoming more and more common.

* There certainly are exceptions to this. My team in the Philippines works out of an office I leased. But they are collaborating on software projects and NEED to work in the same location. And, of course, it’s also very inexpensive.

Most office leases are thousands of dollars per month and usually don’t turn out to be a good use of cash.

11. ALMOST EVERYTHING TAKES LONGER

When creating new projects, or having some software made for you, or having an ebook ghostwritten, or anything else, know that things almost always take more time than originally expected.

This is the #1 reason why you need to act TODAY to start putting things in motion to grow your business. The longer you wait, the more into the future you push your potential of getting money to come in the door.

12. THE MONEY IS IN THE MARKETING

Don’t get caught up in trying to make Web pages and learn HTML, or studying how to create javascript, or learning to master Linux so you can administer your own server, or how to use Photoshop to create little logos, etc.

You can certainly do that stuff if you want, but know that it will most likely just be a HOBBY.

It’s no surprise that some of the most successful entrepreneurs I know are also some of the LEAST TECHNICAL people I know. The main thing they do right is to simply pay others to do all the “nuts & bolts” stuff that makes online business work.

It allows them to spend all their time on the marketing — which is where the money comes from.

*** BONUS LESSON ***

* See how I’m over-delivering as mentioned in the first lesson?

SPENDING TIME ONLINE ISN’T NECESSARILY WORKING ON YOUR BUSINESS

Just because you spend hours a day online doesn’t mean you’re working on your business.

You can do ‘research’ forever and never make a cent.

You need to be spending most of your time on:

# Generating Traffic
# Communicating With Your Customers (i.e. blog, list, etc.)
# Creating Content

Don’t fall into the trap of reading blogs & forums, chatting on Facebook or Twitter, checking stats, reading news, etc. for hours upon hours.

Just know that almost all of that stuff (with rare exception) is LOSING YOU MONEY more than making you money.

————

I hope you enjoyed these mini-lessons. Hopefully, you can apply them to your business and be a lot more successful!

Yours For Online Profits,

John Reese ”

I hope you find this worth the long read!

Technorati Tags: advice for internet marketers, Internet Marketing, internet marketing lessons, John Reese

Here is another free resource I use when writing content to make it
more powerful

http://www.aminstitute.com/headline/

You can input sentences and get scores back showing you how compelling
and persuasive they are.

This tool works really well when doing your calls to action.

Technorati Tags: headline content, headline content analysis, headlines

This is a tip I came across recently which I liked a lot. It is a possible timesaver when you are researching your keywords for competition….

http://www.google.se/search?q=Traffic+Dashboard&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&client=firefox-a&rlz=1R1GGLL_en___SE374#q=Traffic+Dashboard&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=PEM&rlz=1R1GGLL_en___SE374&prmd=ivns&ei=BqU-TfrAHJDGswb_263XBA&start=10&sa=N&fp=de8b3f178a30af3a

Technorati Tags: competition, google search, keyword analysis, keywords

Recently, on another of my blogs I was unable to log in, and as I was trying to, a pop-up appeared saying “You have been hacked!”  – and then something about Kurdistan.

Hmm.

Every time I tried again the same thing happened.

How Did It Happen?

What did I do wrong?

Was it on the server? Was it the WordPress software? Was it in my computer?

As a non-techie, I have no idea!

I now had two things I needed to do as soon as possible, and that was first to find out how to access my blog and second to advise the hosting company so they could make whatever server changes they needed to make.

Both could be achieved by contacting the hosting company which in this case was D9 Hosting.

Having dealt with them for some time I was completely confident that I would get a fast response and fast action.

I was not disappointed!

I thought I might give you some ideas that were suggested to me by D9 Hosting

Why am I telling you this?

I don’t want your site hacked so I will tell you how I got my blog back.

Could you get hacked? Probably, at some time.

You will want to get your site cleaned and up and running again as soon as possible.

However, in the meantime you can minimize the chances of that happening – and if it does happen, to have a complete backup.

How can I backup my WP site?

First: You will need to have a complete backup of all your files and folders PLUS the WordPress Database.

I use:

WP-DB-Backup plugin. You can check it out here at WordPress.org

WP-DB-Backup http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-db-backup/

I set it to backup daily.

Second: If you run WordPress, make sure its updated to the latest version, if you see that an update is available, backup your files and database and upgrade it that same day.

Keeping these up to date will keep the hackers from using known vulnerabilities to gain access.Latest versions usually deal with these known vulnerabilities.

Don’t wait for more convenient time, do it right away, it takes only 10 minutes to do all that.

Third: The following is an overview of the instructions that I received from D9 Hosting on how to get my site back :

1. Change your cPanel/FTP username and password or get your hosting company to do it for you.

D9 Hosting did this for me

2. Update all scripts that you run on your account to the latest stable versions, and remove any that are inactive. The vast majority of breaches occur due to out of date scripts running on your account, it only takes 1 line of badly written PHP code for an attacker to gain access.

(D9 Hosting “If you are unsure if any of your scripts are out of date, please let us know and we will be happy to take a look at them for you” so no need to panic.)

D9 Hosting took care of this

3. Run a full anti-virus, malware and spyware scan on your computer. It’s possible that your local machine has been infected, and this is how the hackers gained access to your account details, please run full scans on your computer before re-entering your account. Some popular free tools can be found below:

I use Norton and CCleaner for this.

============
Anti Virus
============

http://free.avg.com/ Has very good write-ups.

http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/

============
Anti Malware
============

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

============
Anti Spyware
============

www.safer-networking.org

============
Anti Crap!
============

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner As mentioned above, I use and recommend this

4. When connecting to your webspace via FTP, it would be a lot more secure if you were to use SFTP. (Secure File Transfer Protocol)

SFTP encrypts data that is transmitted, whereas FTP sends all data between your machine and the server in plain text format, making it easy for packet sniffers to intercept.

All major FTP clients now support SFTP, so all you need to do to enable it, is to change the protocol in your FTP client from “FTP” to “SFTP”. You will also need to specify the secure port on the server, you can find the SFTP port by logging into your cPanel, and clicking on “FTP Accounts” and then “Configure FTP Client”.

This was news to me but I enabled SFTP on Filezilla – no problem.

Taking these steps should help minimize the risk of future attacks, so please do take action.
To sum up, I followed the advice and got my site back straight away, and so far (a few weeks) – no further problems.

If you don’t follow any of these precautionary steps then do it today! It’s not a nice feeling to lose a site/blog.!!

If you are quite new to all this you can also get more information here:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4503871_prevent-computer-being-hacked.html

There are more ways of making life difficult for these people but you do need a degree of technical expertise, so if that is for you I can only recommend Youtube or searching for “being hacked” or something similar.

Technorati Tags: how to prevent your computer being hacked, WordPress backup, WordPress Blog