Are They Wearing White Hats ?

by Larry Johnson

Time was when you could tell the good guys from
the bad just by taking note of the color of the hat that
they wore. A white one always meant that they
were good and could be trusted to do the right, and
honorable thing.

Those who were in black hats were the bad guys and
were to be avoided like the plague. They could not
be trusted. They were always the ones who did the
bad things.

You can't really tell the good guys from the bad online
today by just viewing a website or reading an email.

If you do business with them, you are unlikely to know
that there is a problem until it is too late.

Fortunately, I have had very few negative experiences
online which kind of reinforces my personal philosophy
that most people online or off are going to do the right
thing and can be trusted.

Still, we all need to keep our guard up when surfing
around the internet.

How can you identify the good guys and bad guys these
days ? Well here are a few suggestions that may help
you avoid some problems.

1) Have you done business with them before ?

2) Do they have a virtual domain name or a freebie ?

3) How long have they been online ?

A quick check at: http://www.netsol.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois
Can provide you with lots of information the holder of the
domain name including how long it has been registered.

4) Do they provide good, complete contact information?

A phone number email address is a minimum here.

This is certainly not a complete list of things to check
out about a business site online, but it will give you a
good starting place.

Hopefully, it will save you some problems when trying to
determine which ones are wearing the white hats?

Larry Johnson, author

(This article may be reprinted in your publication or posted
to your site by including the resource box below)

=============================================
POWERFUL TIPS AND ORIGINAL ARTICLES are yours each week
in the BIZ SITE BIZ E-ZINE. Come on down and join us as we
discover better ways to do business online. We are always coming
up some new twist. We will give you a heads-up on the latest news,
links and ideas. What's holding you back ?
Subscribe: http://www.BizSiteBiz.com/Subscribeform.html
http://www.BizSiteBiz.com/
=============================================

About the Author

Larry Johnson is a webmaster of several sites as well as publisher of the Biz Site Biz Ezine. He has
been nationally published in such magazines as Home Business Magazine. With a background in
advertising including radio and TV he began work on the internet more than 8 years ago.