Nigerian News Mega Corruption – The Case Against James Ibori

Ex-Governor James Ibori of Delta State

If all had worked according to plan, James Ibori, former governor of oil-rich Delta State, would have become one of the most powerful and influential men in Nigeria today. Having generously oiled the wheels of the presidential campaign machinery of Umaru Yar’Adua, Ibori saw himself as a kingmaker who should call some shots in the new government. The former governor, it was gathered, demanded to be made minister in the lucrative petroleum resources ministry. He is also believed, at one point, to have considered being minister of the strategic federal capital territory ministry. But apart from the need to be paid back for his substantial investment in the President’s campaign, Ibori’s desire to be a powerful member of the new administration was also for the simple but strategic reason of self-preservation.
The handsome and fabulously wealthy ex-governor knew that he had been under investigation for corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. For more than two years, the anti-corruption agency had investigated Ibori for allegedly looting Delta State treasury. Becoming a powerful minister in the government would have, at least for some time, secured his freedom from prosecution. So Ibori thought.
However, immediately he learnt of moves by the former governor to become a minister, Nuhu Ribadu, EFCC chairman, put paid to the scheme by placing before President Yar’Adua evidence of Ibori’s monumental looting of his state’s treasury.
Today, Ibori is neither a minister nor is he anywhere near the corridors of power. Rather, he is virtually a fugitive from the law. Ibori and some members of his family and associates are currently being embraced by the long arms of the law not only in Nigeria but also in Britain and the United States, US.
At the time when the EFCC began the clampdown on former governors, Ibori found it convenient to flee to the US. Ordinarily, Britain, where he has investments, houses, luxury cars and fat bank accounts, would have been the natural place to go. But he would most likely have been arrested in that country as the London Metropolitan Police has a strong case of money laundering against him. However, even America, his initial place of succour, has become too hot for him to stay. The magazine has learned that he had to quickly take off from the US and return to Nigeria a few weeks ago after he got wind of the fact that authorities in Florida had also commenced investigations on him in a money laundering case.
As Ibori made his way back home, he was believed to have instructed Theresa, his wife, and former first lady of Delta State, to also return home from Britain where she was staying. However, Theresa was arrested October 1, 2007 as she was waiting to board a plane to Nigeria. Her arrest was in connection with the Metropolitan Police’s money laundering investigations against Ibori. Already, three persons related to and used by Ibori in laundering money have been arrested in London and are currently under restraining orders. These are Adebimpe Pogoson, the ex-governor’s personal assistant, Christine Ibori-Ibie, his sister, and Udoamaka Okoronkwo, a female associate believed to have had a son for him. Theresa, a British citizen, was arrested by men of the Proceeds of Corruption Unit of the Metropolitan Police but was granted bail. However, she is expected to report back to the police in London in January 2008 for further questioning.
The investigations into alleged corruption and money laundering against Ibori have been long drawn, involving security authorities in Nigeria, South Africa and Britain. And the magazine’s own investigations have revealed that the Metropolitan Police has virtually concluded its probe of the former governor. It not only has a watertight case against him, but is in a position to arrest and prosecute him.
A glimpse into the money laundering case against Ibori in London is provided in a witness’ statement supporting an application for a restraining order on Ibori’s investments and assets in Britain and other countries. Written by Paul Gardiner, a financial investigator employed by the Metropolitan Police to unravel the web of the ex-governor’s money laundering schemes, the statement, which was actually presented to the Southwark Crown Court in order to obtain a restraining order on Ibori’s assets, reveals not only persons and companies used by Ibori to launder monies amounting to over N35 billion, but also the circuitous route that the funds were made to pass through to disguise their sources.
Specifically, Ibori, who is being investigated for committing offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act under British law, allegedly criminally stole billions of naira when he was in government and laundered some of same in Britain “thereby committing offences under section 327 and 328 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002″.
Operating like an international crook versed in the art of money laundering, and using the likes of Pogoson, Okoronkwo, Ibori-Ibie and a host of other associates as well as offshore companies and fronts, the former governor allegedly stole funds through the award of often bogus or often inflated contracts, paid monies into the accounts of these people who then transferred the funds into designated accounts abroad. Following a circuitous route, a lot of the monies were then routed to accounts and companies owned or controlled by Ibori. To disguise the sources of the funds, Ibori, through a firm of attorneys in London, also created shell companies in Gibraltar, British Virgin Islands, Switzerland, Mauritius, Panama and other remote parts of the world, to which monies were paid so that they could be legitimised through purchase of properties and other assets. These companies include Haleway Properties Limited, registered in Gibraltar, Teleton Quays Limited (in British Virgin Islands), Erin Aviation Limited (Mauritius), Stanhope Investment Limited (Polynesia), Julex Foundation (Panama) and Parabola International Corp. (Mauritius).
Documents at the Southwark Crown Court, London, showed that Ibori devised a simple method to launder the money he allegedly stole from Delta State coffers. For example, during his eight-year rule, cash and drafts worth about £2 million were paid to Pogoson from Delta State accounts. Money was paid into her account in Asaba and Lagos, from where it was electronically transferred into the United Kingdom, UK, accounts of MER Engineering, a company owned by the former governor. Ibori was a director in the company before he became governor. However, since 1999, Pogoson has been the sole signatory to the company’s accounts. From MER’s UK account, nearly $1.5 million was then electronically transferred into the account of a front company for the ex-governor, Stanhope Investment, held at Private Bank AG Geneva and other accounts held by him in Switzerland. Police forensic investigators from London discovered that because of the law in Nigeria which barred him from having foreign accounts, Ibori opened the account in the name of Stanhope in Switzerland, and through it, he paid for the purchase of an armour-plated Mercedes MayBach in April 2005. He is known to have several such foreign accounts. Ibori coughed out €406,600 and had the vintage car shipped to his home in South Africa. It was also from this account that the ex-governor paid the initial deposit of $4.7 million for the purchase of a Bombardier Challenger jet, total cost of which is put at $20 million. He transferred the money in June 2005 to the account of Parabola International Corp held in Zurich. The money was then transferred into the accounts of Arlington Shamas, Solicitor, London, Ibori’s representatives, for onward transfer to the aircraft manufacturers.
Pogoson, who resides in London in a house owned by Ibori’s sister, was arrested in April 2006 for money laundering charges but was released. She was further interrogated February this year, accused of holding many accounts in Nigeria with which she helped her boss launder money.
In the same dubious manner, Ibori, in the guise of awarding contracts to some companies, used his sister and Okoronkwo to loot Delta State funds and launder same abroad. Court documents in London and Nigeria show that in February 2005, acting as a purchasing representative to Onovin Nigeria Limited, a Nigerian company owned by Vincent Uduaghan, younger brother to Emmanuel Uduaghan, current governor of Delta State, Ibori-Ibie, the ex-governor’s sister, received over N38 million ostensibly for the procurement of running tracks for stadia in the state from a German firm. A total of £300,000 meant for the purchase of the tracks was transferred into Ibori-Ibie’s account with Barclays Bank, London. However, an inspection of her Barclays account showed that only a total of £123,717.72 was paid to BSW, the German suppliers. The shortfall of £176,182.26 is believed to have been laundered for the former governor.
In the case of Okoronkwo, between May 26, 2005 and June 8, 2005, she received about N105.5 million of Delta State government funds. The monies were then transferred into her HSBC account in London in three tranches – £200,000 on June I, 2005, £150,000 on June 14, 2005 and £200,000 on June 20, 2005. An inspection of the account showed that some of the monies were transferred to Ibori and Terry Waya, a Nigerian businessman currently serving a jail term in Britain for money laundering, while there is also evidence that properties and other assets had been bought for Ibori from funds in Okoronkwo’s HSBC account. For example, on July 20, 2005, Okoronkwo issued a cheque of £311,000 to Arlington Sharmas Solicitors which was used to purchase a house at 42, Great Ground, Shaftsbury, Dorset. The property was registered in the name of Teleton Quays but is used by Ibori and his wife.
It was discovered that Ibori had instructed Bhadresh Gohil, a partner in Arlington Sharmas, who was central to the incorporation of front companies and legitimising laundered funds for the ex-governor, to register Teleton Quays and purchase the property in the company’s name. Okoronkwo is also known to have purchased another house in London at a cost of £388,077.62 for Ibori in the name of Boyd Properties. In all, over £2 million have passed through Okoronkwo’s HSBC account, most of it paid directly into a London Barclays account number 00115916 in the name of James Ibori.
For the role they played in laundering money for Ibori, the trio of Pogoson, Ibori-Ibie and Okoronkwo are currently subject to restraint proceedings in London and, if found guilty of money laundering charges, face jail sentences of many years.
Yet, the British investigations have revealed even more startling discoveries. Ibori, in late 2005, hatched a plot to legitimise some of his allegedly stolen and laundered money through the purchase of a Challenger jet from Bombardier. Since he knew that he could not directly send money to the aircraft manufacturers, as that would have immediately raised questions in many quarters, Ibori got Gohil to register companies to use for the transaction and to make payments for the jet. In December 2005, Gohil, on behalf of Ibori, brokered a purchase deal for the Challenger at the cost of $20 million between Teleton Quays and Bombardier. Gohil also incorporated another company, Erin Aviation, in Mauritius, which later took over as the buyer from Teleton Quays. In July 2005, four payments totalling £4,788,176.92 were made from Ibori’s account held in the name of Stanhope into a Schrader Bank, Zurich account in the name of Edward Shemutete for Parabola International Corp. Shemutete is a known international expert in money laundering and legitimising corruptly gotten funds. He is currently under investigation in Zambia, his home country, for allegedly helping former President Frederick Chiluba launder money abroad.
Investigators say that Shemutete was most likely fronting for Ibori as he was introduced to the bank by Gohil, the same man who acted for the ex-governor in many other businesses. On September 29, 2005, the money was transferred from the Parabola account into a Barclays Bank, London account, which turned out to be a client’s account held by Gohil’s law firm, Arlington Shamas. The firm later made the payment to Bombardier.
But there were more intriguing disclosures from the examination of the Teleton/Bombardier deal. By July 2006, a total of $9,856,685.22 had been paid for the jet. A breakdown of the payment shows that apart from the $4.788 million paid by Stanhope/Parabola, Bombardier also received $599,963.98 from Wings Aviation Limited; $899,805.96 from Erin Aviation; $249,007.72 from Pamaron Oil and Gas Limited; another $899,896.68 from Wings Aviation and a last transfer of $951,178.07 from Erin Aviation. The entry of Wings Aviation makes the jet purchase more intriguing. Wings Aviation is registered in Nigeria as a charter services provider.
Interestingly, investigators found out through a letter written by Gohil that Stanhope Investment and Parabola International Corp, both believed to be owned by Ibori, were principal shareholders in Aviation Development Corporation, the parent company of Wings Aviation. The investigators in London have inferred that Ibori, through his offshore companies, owns Wings Aviation and that he also provided the monies paid by the company for the Bombardier jet. The investigators equally believe that the agreement between Erin Aviation and Bombardier is to be terminated and the purchase price of $20 million returned. The investigators have moved to place a restraining order on the jet or monies returned by the manufacturers and are also asking for a restraining order on houses, cars and accounts believed to be held by Ibori or his proxies.
These include three houses in London and Dorset, four vintage cars (a Bentley Continental GT, Mercedes MayBach, a Chrysler and a Jaguar) as well as several accounts held in his name and those of his front companies such as Stanhope Investments and Teleton Quays.
The London money laundering investigations on Ibori tell only one side of the story of this young man’s mindless looting of the funds kept in his trust when he was governor of Delta State. The investigations actually derived from investigations in Nigeria on Ibori spanning over two years by the EFCC. Although the EFCC had kept its investigations close to its chest, it was forced to come out with its findings after the Delta State government took the commission to court to restrain it, among other things, from arresting or prosecuting Ibori. In an affidavit deposed by Yahaya Bello, the head of the team that investigated the Ibori case, the EFCC finally opened a can of worms on the ex-governor’s looting ways. Many of the EFCC findings better explain some of the missing links in the British authorities’ investigations. The EFCC investigations uncovered several questionable payments to companies, associates and aides of Ibori, running into billions of naira. For example, it was discovered that there were monthly lodgments of Delta State cheques of between five and seven million naira into the accounts of Onovin Nigeria Limited. Vincent Uduaghan, owner of the company, told investigators that the payments which totalled N350 million in five years were for the supply of fuel from Total Nigeria Limited in Benin, Edo State. But Total, which did have a fuel supply contract, denied having any dealings with Onovin Nigeria Limited.
Furthermore, it was discovered that lodgments of up to N400 million were made from state accounts into the accounts of Ede Ogoro, private secretary to Ibori, and Charles Isiayei, chief accountant to Delta State Government House. It was also revealed that these two men also made several cash lodgments running into billions of naira from “security votes” of the state into the accounts of companies controlled by or connected with Ibori. These include Koln Nigeria Limited, Silhouette Travels, Prime Chambers, MER Engineering Limited and Bainenox.
Another interesting discovery was that part of the money paid from Nigeria for the purchase of the Challenger jet was one million dollars by Pamaron Oil and Gas through Fidelity Bank.
The EFCC investigations also showed how Ibori bought into several companies in Nigeria, including recently privatised state ones using proxies to disguise the source of funds. For example, the National Fertiliser Company, NAFCON, was acquired in 2005 by O-Secul Nigeria Limited owned by Mike Orugbo for $152 million. Orugbo was able to raise only $2 million but, curiously, the company was able to raise the balance from Oceanic Bank with which it had no prior relationship. The bank later received a total of $46 million to acquire 39 per cent of NAFCON from Copex Management Service, the same company that paid money to Arlington Sharmas on behalf of Erin Aviation for the purchase of the Bombardier jet. This time, Copex paid the money on behalf of Nortore Mauritius. This company has been found to belong to a group of foreign investors two of who were brought into the deal by Arlington Sharmas, Ibori’s UK solicitor friend.
Oceanic Bank received a further N4.418 billion from Brisbane Limited, owned by Henry Imasekha, a known friend and associate of Ibori, for 13 per cent of the fertiliser company. Probes into the money paid by Brisbane only opened a new vista of Ibori’s thievery. It was discovered that, in 2001, Imasekha had secured a N2.2 billion loan from New Nigeria Bank to buy 10 per cent shares in Econet Nigeria Limited. There was no evidence that he had a relationship with the bank. Curiously, a few weeks later, the Delta State government bought off five per cent of Imasekha’s shares for N2.5 billion. This money was used by the businessman to pay off the bank loan. But he still had N300 million as well as five per cent of Econet shares. The money used in paying for Brisbane’s 13 per cent shares in NAFCON came from the proceeds of the sale of Imasekha’s remaining shares in Econet.
Imasekha is believed to be a front for Ibori. The EFCC also alleged that Ibori used several companies to divert N5 billion from Delta State coffers into the purchase of shares from Afribank. The commission claims that the entire money had been recovered and returned to the state government. Ibori is also alleged to have similarly invested in high net worth portfolios, including Wilbros Nigeria Limited, among others.
The accusations against Ibori are, indeed, grave. They constitute the most brazen and monumental case of looting by any former state chief executive. And there is not one of these allegations that the ex-governor is unaware of. There is proof obtained from some of his arrested associates that he has actually made efforts to suppress potentially incriminating evidence. Beyond this, Ibori has also played a game of survival by using his understanding of the nation’s political system to escape the law. Many believe he has an ally in Michael Aondoakaa, the attorney-general and minister of justice. Aondoakaa’s attitude towards the fight against corruption is, perhaps, better understood against the background of his having crossed the path of the commission in the past. As one of the counsel to the Benue State government in its action against the EFCC, the state government was asking the court to declare the commission an illegal body and that it had no right to investigate corruption cases against any official of the state. That case was recently decided in favour of the EFCC. Ibori’s first strategy was to buy time from prosecution by orchestrating the removal of Ribadu.
The magazine learnt that as soon as Yar A’dua came into office, Ibori and others recruited by him put pressure on the President to remove the EFCC boss. Their story was that Ribadu had thoroughly messed up and lost respect among Nigerians for allowing former President Olusegun Obasanjo to use him for political battles. If he is to be taken seriously about fighting corruption, then Ribadu would have to go, the President was told.
Having failed in this mission, Ibori and others who were afraid of Ribadu reportedly banded with Aondoakaa whom they knew had a grouse against the EFCC and its helmsman. To incapacitate the commission, a plot was hatched to remove its prosecutorial powers. Aondoakaa briefed Yar’Adua and soon presented a formal letter requesting to direct all prosecutions by the EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.
It was curious that the attorney-general was interested in only these three agencies connected with the prosecution of corrupt governors. However, the fallacy of his action was soon exposed when the President reportedly got superior legal advice from respected legal icons. Aondoakaa was forced by a thoroughly embarrassed President to reverse a decision he had announced to the whole world.
But Aondoakaa has not stopped acting on behalf of the same people that his office should be willing to prosecute if there is a case against them. The attorney-general forcefully took over the prosecution of the EFCC’s case against Orji Kalu, former governor of Abia State, based on a purported restraining order on the EFCC. However, Femi Falana, a Lagos-based lawyer, speaking to TELL in Lagos last week, said there was no such court order. Aondoakaa has also incurred the wrath of many Nigerians, particularly lawyers, for attempting to extricate Ibori from the restraint proceedings in a London court. The Southwark Crown Court in London had on August 2, 2007 frozen Ibori’s assets around the world estimated at about $35 million. But the freeze order was lifted on October 2, 2007 after Speechly Bircham, Ibori’s lawyer, presented to the court a letter written by Aondoakaa stating that the former governor was under no investigation in Nigeria. It was gathered that Bircham had written to the attorney-general to inquire if Ibori was under investigation. Without reference to the EFCC, ICPC, CCB or any other investigating agency in the country, Aondoakaa wrote back to the lawyer saying Ibori was not under any investigation. Significantly, as pointed out by a lawyer, Aondoakaa also said in his letter that as attorney-general, he had not requested for assistance in investigating Ibori as required under the mutual legal assistance programme between Nigeria and Britain. This, more than any other factor, let Ibori off the hook. But that victory was only temporary for the former governor as another court has reinstated the freeze order on his assets. Aondoakaa was said to have initially denied writing any letter to Ibori’s lawyer until the controversial letter was published on the Internet.
Perhaps, embarrassed by the seeming tardiness with which his government is prosecuting the war against corruption, President Yar’Adua directed the attorney-general to cooperate with the British investigating authority. Again, curiously, at a lawyers’ conference in Singapore, he announced the setting up of a special anti-corruption unit in his office.
In a related development, Aondoakaa, the magazine learnt, has also been putting pressure on the CCB to withdraw from his office about 18 case files submitted in relation to corruption cases against former governors. Many Nigerians have blamed President Yar’Adua for attempting to protect Ibori and other former governors from prosecution. But the President’s attitude to his former colleagues is said to be that he did not tell anybody to steal state funds to fund his campaign and that, in any case, he personally received no money from any of them; so there are no entanglements for him. Even sources in the anti-corruption agencies confirm that the President has never interfered with their investigations of the former state chief executives. What has happened, it is said, is that some people have exploited the President’s natural disposition to do things by the book – to follow due process – to sell the new mantra of “rule of law” to him in order to slow down the momentum of the anti-corruption campaign.
As it is now, none of these strategies has worked for Ibori who is now on the run from the law in Britain and America. Soon, with the setting aside of the restraining order on the EFCC to do its job, Ibori’s days as a free man may be numbered.

Simple Tips to Overcome Overeating

Overeating has rapidly become one of the most alarming concerns in today's society. A lot of people are getting bigger and unhealthier each day without understanding that it is caused emotionally. When people experience something that pushes them into a state of depression they turn to something that distracts them from the unsavoury feelings. They often turn to food. They then develop an eating disorder that can lead to a lot of complications. That is why people should know how to overcome overeating.
For those people who want to overcome overeating, they have to understand the psychological aspect of this disorder. It is the key to changing the eating patterns of a compulsive eater. Once you realize that this overeating is caused by self-esteem problems and the inability to cope with depression, you will be able to do something about it to overcome overeating like going to a psychologist.
There are several ways to overcome overeating. You can use these strategies during a meal and this will help you stop eating sooner. One of the strategies is to take smaller bites during your meals. This will make you eat your meals slower so that your body will be able to understand or notice the cue that you are actually full. The normal time frame for a person's brain to start recognizing that you are satisfied is around 20 minutes. Once it recognizes that you are indeed full, you can then stop eating.
It is also said that using a smaller plate when you are eating can actually help you cut down on food and overcome overeating. Usually when one uses a large plate for your food there will be empty spots that your brain processes as you "not getting enough food". This tends to make you eat more than what you really need. If you try reducing the size of the plate you are using, you will be able to reduce this thought in your brain.
Most health experts will advise you to eat more often. This might go against trying to overcome overeating but eating very small meals every 2 to 3 hours will prevent you from binging. It will also speed up your metabolism so this makes your body burn more calories efficiently. Also, try planning your meals in advance so that you can take time to eat and in turn influence your brain that you indeed do not need any more food.

Use Offline Marketing to Get Growth in Online Business

You may think it is a weird statement that online presence needs offline existence too, but it is a fact. You may not believe that you can use offline marketing to grow your online business. Things have really changed and marketing methods have also altered. Several offline marketing modes can be very helpful in boosting your online business and making it a great deal. You shouldn't forget that several online businesses that there were many businesses having offline existence primarily and then the business owners gave it an online trend.
You will also need to keep in mind that these businesses were able to flourish in their offline existence. It means that they might have used some offline marketing ways to facilitate them to grow their offline businesses. You can employ these offline marketing methodologies to grow your online business a great deal. There are some obvious offline strategies that you can use for growing your Internet based business.
One of the important strategies you can use in growing your online business is mouth to mouth publicity. It is like your friend takes some product from a company and praises it in front of you. This will prompt you to take product from that company. There is a great possibility of your friend having interest in the things you sell online and this curiosity may lead to some purchasing. If you can increase the number of acquaintances for your online business, it will be possible to increase the number of visits to your website and augment the company's sales for their online products or services.
It is useful to print hand bills. It gives a personalized impact on the customers. You can try to distribute the hand bills or newsletters to your customers. This may look rather demeaning, but it will be better for you to just allow yourself to condescend to this level. The sales you are able to make from this effort will convince you with the efforts you are applying for the services. You can well understand that it is a great way to use offline marketing to grow your online business.
There is a better way of doing the marketing. You can liaise with a newspaper distribution agent to help you in distribution of newspapers. It will ensure that anyone who purchases those newspapers will be informed about your website and the businesses being offered through your website. You can make use of these advertisements for specifically your local services. It will ensure a wider reach for your online business.
I am sure that you have been informed about the fact that offline services do impact online businesses. It is important to use all the important sources of marketing to flourish your business. If you allow the information to get in front of the probable customers, it will surely lead to you to succeed in your online business. You need to be a successful and organized marketer to get your products or services amongst the best choices of the people.

The Benefits of Using Offline Marketing

 

Offline Promotion is key to increasing online sales
Press releases - Press releases are fantastic for for offline marketing and promotion. Press releases or news releases as they're sometimes known are newsworthy stories about your organisation that you send to various sections of the media. These sections of the media must be related to your market sector for you to have any chance of success. Newsworthy stories are stories your target audience might be interested in. If the journalist reads it and likes it they may publish it or some of its contents in his or her publication, if this happens you're on to a winner because the public in general are much more responsive to a news story than a plain old hyped up advertisement. So they might enquire about or even purchase your products or services. Using press releases for offline marketing of your website uses the same principals, if it's newsworthy release it. Newsworthy events for websites include website launches, website re launches and new online services among other items. Also don't forget online press releases!
Freebies & Giveaways - This easy way is a personal favorite of mine. It involves buying and sending out promtotional material such as pencils, pens, t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, calendars, key-chains, bumper stickers, Cuddly Toys and the like. All these promtotional material will have your URL, Logo, or Email address located somewhere on them assisting with market offline and draw visitors to your website.
Offline Marketing will increase revenue from your website
Newspapers, classifieds and related magazines - Printed matter which includes newspapers, periodicals and magazines is another avenue where your can have your company website revealed for everyone to see. It's best first to start promoting your products, services and company website in the local rag and then if it works out well continue onto regional and national publications. If you can't afford the common graphical advertisement as seen throughout newspapers and periodicals related to your market sector don't worry as most print media have classified ad sections. Classified ads assist you to reach a targeted audience very cheaply with a simple short message and of course your company website is included prominently too again a great source of offline marketing for your business!
Word of Mouth - simplest and a very viral form of offline marketing, your satisfied customers and friends just pass it on!
Beating your competitors at Internet Marketing will allow you to become a market leader
Pool Vehicles - We all see vans with company names and telephone numbers on them driving our roads and motorways. This is a excellent idea as it gives potential customers the chance while out and about to learn about the company and also learn about how to contact them should they need the service or item for sale they offer at some stage in the future. I often wonder why more websites aren't promoted in this way by simply adding the company website URL also, you definitely should do this as part of your Offline Marketing!
Web stickers - are a new, inexpensive and sensible way to use offline marketing and attract traffic to your website. the public always adore them, and they are very simple to use. Web stickers are made of hard wearing vinyl and printed with state of the art digital equipment. Display your company website and contact details in bold colour letters. the public stick them everywhere. In your car windows, store, premises and home windows, any place with glass!

Internet Marketing Reality Check - It Will Get Easier The More You Try

If you are somebody who has been struggling to find success online is an Internet marketer, rest assured it will get easier the more you try. The reason why this is true is because the more you try the more experience you develop. In fact, if you are somebody who is carefully measuring and tracking whatever it is you are testing, you can significantly improve your chances of making more money because you can modify whatever it is you are doing to give yourself a strategic advantage every time you try something.
As you probably already realize, the most important thing to focus on is making money. That is more important than anything else. It is critically important that all of your efforts be geared towards generating revenue. Far too many people instead choose to focus on learning new tactics and strategies. While there is nothing inherently wrong with learning new things, you need to make sure that the majority of your time is spent actually doing things.
Regardless of your level of success, you can definitely improve everything that you do. You will notice that it does get easier the more you try because you will be doing things differently every single time. It is called incremental improvement. It is a concept that is very powerful in practice.
Here's the bottom line: if you are struggling to make money online is an Internet marketer, rest assured that the process will get significantly easier the more you try. That is a fact.

Internet Marketing Knowledge - Always Think Three Steps Ahead

If you are somebody who is just getting started with Internet marketing, it is important to always think three steps ahead. Far too many people who get involved in this business are very shortsighted. In other words, they make decisions based on information that is staring them right in the face. They never bother to think ahead to figure out whether a decision they are making today will have negative consequences in the future. This is something you need to begin to do if you want to be successful in this business.
As you can imagine, there are many people who quit in frustration as a result of the fact that they are unable to make money in this business. Most of these people could have been successful Internet marketers had they bothered to look into the future and tried to figure out what they need to do differently to be successful. So the moral of the story is that you always need to think three steps ahead. Keep a journal. Write down whatever your thoughts are. This can be incredibly helpful. Not to mention, you will sometimes discover new ideas based on your notes.
In the final analysis, success or failure as an Internet marketer comes down to being able to look ahead and spot trends before they develop and become obvious to everybody. Therefore, devote a portion of your day doing this type of research. You will be happy that you did. Not to mention, the profits you generate as a result of doing this will be staggering.

The Easy Way To Make A Lot Of Money With eBooks

If you are somebody who's interested in making a lot of money with e-books, then you should seriously consider giving people what they are looking for. In other words, you're probably better off simply looking to find where people are already spending money and creating e-book titles that address the interests of those people.
Far too many people who get involved with the book publishing business have a tendency to jump around from one thing to another without really ever been sure what they should be focusing on. What you need to do is have a clearly defined goal of what you hope to accomplish and a day-to-day schedule that will help you reach those goals in the shortest amount of time possible.
Many experts recommend you look around and see where people are spending money. For example, if there is a particular topic that appears to be especially popular, it is in your best interest to create an e-book title that addresses that particular topic. The reason why this makes sense is because you are taking a lot of guesswork out of the process. Instead of trying to figure out what may or may not be a popular product, you are instead simply giving people what they already appear to have an interest in.
In the final analysis, it is critically important that you seek out the easiest way possible to make money as an e-book publisher. To that end, you should seriously consider investing in a step-by-step guidebook that can show you exactly what you need to know so that you can effectively cut out a lot of needless trial and error.

What is Information Marketing?

This may sound foreign to most people, but simply put...Information marketing is the marketing of information. I know you were probably expecting some long drawn out definition, but really it's not that complicated. There are numerous products to consider when discussing the Information Industry that many people may not know about or maybe even forgotten like audio programs, videos or DVD's made available through a catalog or online, traditional books, newsletters, magazines, membership sites, home-study courses, E-books, webinars, tele-seminars, tele-coaching, seminars and conferences in some form or another. As you can see from the large list above, information marketing covers a lot arenas. You may be like me, and prefer to have something tangible (ie..in hand) when learning new information or you may prefer to view this information via the Internet or attend seminars. Really, the possibilities with information marketing are endless because everyone has their own preference, and therefore your audience/target market will vary depending on the medium you decide to choose to get your information distributed. Let's discuss a few different methods of Information Marketing: 1.Newsletter. You can choose to deliver your content to subscribers on a weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. You don't want to make the dreaded mistake of sending a boring newsletter to your prospects so please, and I say again, please take careful consideration when putting together content. Make sure that the content is something that your prospects will actually use in their lives and at the very least will find interesting. If you can't do that, then you might as well not waste your time, nor theirs for that matter, with dull, boring, unwanted information. 2. Audio Files/MP3s & Video. Audio Video Marketing is being used to deliver content to customers & prospects quite a bit these days. As people become more savvy with Internet use they are also becoming more comfortable with using the Internet as their information portal. Audio Video Marketing allows you to capture the attention of customers and prospects by providing them information in a way that is interesting. 3. E-books. An E-book is an electronic book that is used to sell information. Majority of the time it is delivered to you via a PDF file (Adobe PDF). To view the E-book you would download it, and read it on your computer or print it for portability. 4. Membership Sites. Membership sites provide members access to information that is password protected. People either pay a one-time fee, that allows them to receive lifetime access. Or, they pay a fee on a monthly basis. Typically, valuable information like articles, E-books, software, an even advice is often what is provided so that exclusivity can be marketed. There are tons of different mediums to Information Marketing and I only discussed a few. The possible topics are countless. People are buying information on any imaginable topic, from how to achieve better sex, to how to take care of a dog, to how to invest in Real Estate, to how to run a business, to how to make money online. The potential is unlimited for anyone with the thought of marketing information. I believe that everyone has something that they are proficient in, and would provide great insight to the next person if they would just be willing to share their knowledge. If Information Marketing is something that you would like to do, then I highly suggest you identify a market (make sure you do your research), get your information products and services together to fit/fulfill that market, and figure out how you will sell and deliver the information. It won't get any simpler than that. If you can think of it I am sure that someone has packaged and sold information about it already, you just make sure you aim to do it better! When it boils down to it... there is always going to be a market for Information Marketing! Knowledge is Power!

Information Marketing For the New Information Economy

What is information marketing? Have you ever bought a how-to book or a self-help book? Then you've bought information. Ever paid for the right to access a website? Again, you've paid for information. Information marketing is the business of marketing, promoting, and selling information.
What is the information economy? Look around you. On the train the other day, I saw people sending and receiving email, and surfing websites, from their phones. I saw a man writing a report on a laptop. Two people talking about a commercial they saw online. That's the information economy. More and more people are buying, selling, and consuming information than ever before. To a large degree, this has been made possible by the internet.
So what is information marketing for the information economy? Quite simply, it's about taking full advantage of the infrastructure of the information economy (electronic communication, the web, portable devices, and so forth) in conducting the business of information marketing. Another, simpler, way of putting this is, it's using the web to sell information.
Here are just a few examples of how people and companies are already doing this: Look at Amazon. This company sells mostly books and music (information), and it sells these things entirely online. Have you heard of Clickbank? Clickbank is a web based business that is the world's largest marketplace for downloadable digital products. Someone, somewhere in the world, buys a digital product at Clickbank every 3 seconds. Clickbank has paid out more than a billion dollars to its vendors.
One big difference between Amazon and Clickbank is that most of Amazon's sales are of physical products (in Amazon's case, physical information products), like books and cds, while Clickbank sells only downloadable digital products like e-books and software. Because there is no cost to make a copy of a digital product, the profit margin on digital products is much higher than that for physical products. Digital information product marketing is one of the most profitable business models of the new economy.
How can you get a piece of the online information marketing business? What kind of skills, programs, and strategies does it take to succeed at information marketing in this new economy? Is this something that only big businesses like Amazon and Clickbank can do, or is it a business that can be done on a smaller scale for the individual entrepreneur?
The great news is that the information infrastructure has made it possible for small businesses and individuals to create their own online information marketing businesses with very low startup costs and, potentially, very high returns. All you need a computer, a connection to the internet, and an idea. It helps if you also know a few things about promotion strategies, and it really help if you know something about search engine optimization, but these are things you can learn from online tutorials.
If you want to start your own online information marketing business and get yourself a piece of this multibillion dollar pie, where should you start. One way is to browse the Clickbank Marketplace and look for information products that teach how to start an online information marketing business. Easy IM Profits, a new product scheduled for release in early 2010, is one of the most complete and up to date products teaching online information products, but there are many other such products available on Clickbank. You could be running your own online information marketing business by this time next year!

2 Advantages Virtually Nobody Focuses on to Being Involved With the EBook Business

EBooks are the books of tomorrow. The high technology and the cyber world have made it easier for one to create books. An eBook publishing business is one of the hottest businesses that you should seriously consider. If you are not yet familiar with what eBooks are all about, you might wonder how it is possible for you to earn and profit from this business. An eBook publishing business can give several benefits you. Two of those benefits you can find here in this article.
First, what is so terrific about an eBook business is that you get to work from home. You do not have to rush every morning to a work place across the city just to work on it. Since you can do the work in the comforts of your very own home, you can considerably save on costs. You only have to use your computer and a reliable and steady internet connection and you are good to go.
Furthermore, you can get started on an eBook business right away, with very little money to worry about. This business does not require a big capital, thus you can really maximize the profits you get from your eBooks. Unlike other business venture where you need a considerable amount of money and wait for weeks, months and even years to get started, In your eBook creating and publishing business, you can get started on it immediately as soon as you decide that this is the business of your choice.

Writing Your First E-book

You don't have to be brilliant or hard-working to make it as an author. Sometimes all it takes is a little bit of effort, and simply knowing where it is you want to go.
The best way to get started is by putting out an e-book. There are plenty of topics on which you can write an ebook. The benefits of writing your own ebook, self publishing and selling it on the web are many.
There are a couple of different ways to publish an e-book. Either in PDF format or as an easily downloadable.exe-file. Although there are no hard-and-fast rules in terms of page counts, it is a hassle to print out an ebook, particularly a long one.
A lot successful writers got to where they are today by publishing in the e-book format. The first and often most neglected step to success is doing market research. This is so important as to be obvious.
Readers just need a PDF reader, which is easy to find and freely-available. If a publisher's submission guidelines say that they don't accept unsolicited manuscripts. That isn't obvious to some people, but it may be to you.
Of course, if your dream is to put out a "real" book, you can still do that the old-fashioned way. You will need to consider the best or most optimal location for you to write. It might be your kitchen table, or the local coffee shop, or a home office.
Putting out a book is also a great way to advertise your business, whatever it may be. New online print-on-demand services will design, print, and even market your book.
Whatever it is you want to do, there is no better time to get something written and get it published. It really costs almost nothing and the rewards are almost endless.

How To Make Millions Of Dollars Selling Product Information

Now I know this might sound strange to people who are looking for ways on how to make money online. This article will give you hints on how to make money selling product information, what I mean making money on the Internet I mean making millions from selling product information. A good number of people have been affiliates for years and we all know what it means to be an affiliate, making commissions from selling other peoples product. In this issue, if you are an affiliate marketer, then I think you should have a second taught and look the other way round.
Please don't quote me; there is nothing wrong with becoming an affiliate marketer for as an affiliate, it is possible to be making 6 or even 7 figure profits yearly no doubt but there are some marvellous advantages attached on being a product owner. Becoming a product owner is not a space technology as most people think rather what you might need is just a tactical information that will see you through. Let me give you some of the major advantages that are attached becoming a product owner. As a product owner, affiliates will be jostling to promote your product with all pleasure to make commission through various ways like registering domain names with your product name, huge mailing lists, pay per click (PPC), social media network and other means of promoting internet marketing products.
You should ask your self this question, why be one affiliate among thousands while you can have thousands of affiliates promoting for you. Here are three reasons why you should be a product creator
Reason #1. As the product creator, affiliates will hammer your sales with traffic that you can't even handle and bring in sales on autopilot, which is obviously better than you being 1 out of a thousand affiliates trying to hammer another product owners sales page with traffic
Reason # 2. As a product creator, affiliates build you a nice buyer list instead of the prospect list you build when you are an affiliate and that is why product owners make the best affiliates, because they take their buyer's list and send them to other affiliate offers.
Reason #3. Affiliates will tell their affiliate friends about your offer and now you have multiplied your traffic and earnings and have built a valuable buyer list with no additional work.
To make things clearer, there are affiliates that will go extra miles through pay per click advertising by spending hundreds of dollars just to make some dollars promoting your sales page and as result, you tend to make hundreds of dollars daily without spending a dime. On other hand we have affiliates with huge targeted e-mail list some with 1000 hits, some with 2000 hits and the biggest list builders will storm your page with 9,000 to 10,000 visitors to your site in a single day. Lets do the maths, maybe at 9000 clicks or even at 10,000 clicks, if your product is a $97 product and it converts at 2% and you are paying out a commission of 50% to affiliates then what it just means is that you have just made $8,730 in a day and you have also gotten a buyer list of 180 people who have bought your product and are ready to buy whatever you offer in future so think about this and have a second taught about becoming a product owner.
Here are some few tips on how you can start building up your own product:
1. Before thinking of becoming a successful product owner, you must have the trust needed to start up because without TRUST, you don't stand a chance. One of the major ways of creating trust among people is by getting free content from PLR and then adjust it to your standard and then try and build a list of 5000 subscribers and then give it out to them for free may be for 6 months or more. You will then find out that by doing this, you are building the trust that is required.
NOTE: while creating free reports, make a 30-50 page PDF on Internet marketing of your choice like AdWords, Facebook, ppv and affiliate strategies
2. Another strategy is this, always promote launches by other marketers may be between 8- 12 products thus making some money.
3. The question you might be asking is this, where do you get those information needed to make such impact on people who are really in need of solutions to their problem? Okay this where the real thing starts but it will be covered elsewhere.
These tips that I have just given to you is just the little things you just need in order to start creating your own product information. On the whole deal about creating your own product and making millions of dollars, it is not a space technology rather what you need to do is to be tactical and take the right steps.

how do i make legal money online?

Some people are still doubtful of making money online. They cant still believe it but of course u can!