|
| Marketing
Guidelines |
Even though you "own" your
eCosway business, it's important
to remember that you are just one part in a system.
It is absolutely crucial that you do not jeopardize
our relationships and our reputation by marketing inappropriately. Off-limit
activities are fully outlined in the Advertising & Anti-Spam
Policies.
Please read them now if you have not done so already. It is crucial
that you understand exactly what is allowed and what is not allowed
in your marketing efforts in eCosway.
Here are the most important points:
- You are not allowed to use the eCosway,
Cosway or Berjaya company names or any of our terms
and trademarks, or any derivative of these names
in any manner that has not been pre-approved by
the company. This means that unless you have prior
permission from the company, you can’t register
any website names, email names, blog names, etc.
containing the words eCosway, Cosway, Berjaya,
Mutual Marketing, or any other terms and trademarks
or any derivatives of those names. You also cannot
mention any of those names on any website, group,
forum, blog, etc. that you put up yourself.
- You are not allowed to send any email,
faxes, posts, URLs or instant messages mentioning
eCosway to anyone UNLESS you have obtained (and
can prove that you have obtained) prior permission
from them. In other words, you must use a 2-step
process where you obtain permission to send info
without mentioning our company first. Once you
obtain permission, you can send company specific,
company sanctioned information.
- Most of the photos on the eCosway website
are copyrighted and licensed from photo companies.
You cannot take them use them for your own materials.
|
|
eCosway must have complete control over the manner in which the
company is presented to the public.
This is very important because:
- It protects the eCosway image. (What would happen to the eCosway
image if everyone were allowed to create their own logos, slogans
or pitches and make their own claims?)
- It protects eCosway legally. Although many governments (including
the U.S., Malaysia, Australia and Canada) are willing and able
to prosecute individuals who mislead prospects, in the end,
it is the company that will get hit the hardest legally if independent
business owners make income claims, exaggerate the facts and
make false promises. There are a lot of laws about advertising.
Every Business Owner cannot be expected to know and follow all
international laws, so eCosway must have policies of what is
and is not acceptable.
This does NOT mean that you can't use the name eCosway in your
prospecting efforts. It simply means that YOU CAN ONLY USE
COMPANY DESIGNED OR APPROVED MATERIALS.
This is a standard policy for any company that has independent people
representing it to the public.
eCosway provides you with pre-approved, company-made materials.
If you have other materials or wording you would like to use,
or if you want to manipulate or change the materials given to
you by eCosway you must submit them to the company for approval
before using them.
Using non-approved materials (ads, flyers, business cards, etc.)
with eCosway's name anywhere on them is in VIOLATION of eCosway's
policies and procedures and puts your business ownership in jeopardy.
Photos From the Website
The photos you see on the eCosway website are not owned by eCosway.
They are licensed from photo agencies. The license does not extend
to individual Business Owners (except in the use of company produced
materials). If you take photos off of our website and use them
in your own website or email, you are likely to be sued by a photo
agency and forced to pay royalty fees plus damages. Any photos
you use anywhere in print or on the web must either be owned by
you, used with permission by the owner, or licensed from a photo
agency. If you like a particular photo on our website and would
like to pay the owner for a license to use it, please contact
eCosway for the owner information on that particular photo.
Articles and Text From the Website
All of the text on the eCosway website is copyrighted by eCosway
or outside authors. You cannot take wording from the website and
use it in any way you please. You must use the website as it is
and use the training resources as they are. If you intend to use
and/or modify any text from the eCosway website, you must get
written permission first.
If you think things can be said better, or if you want other
information to be presented, please make suggestions to the corporate
office. Do not simply modify the content that eCosway produces
and then "republish" it with your modifications. We
often have important legal reasons for saying things exactly as
we do.
eCosway's Logo
You cannot make and use your own eCosway logo. Even if you think
your logo is better, you simply cannot use it because it will
cause confusion and inconsistency in the marketplace. Can you
imagine if every McDonald's franchise owner came up with his or
her own logo?
Income Claims, Promises to the Lazy, &
Purchase Requirements
eCosway is NOT a pyramid scheme. (click
here for details) Please don't turn it into one by making
the wrong claims!
Sometimes in their zeal to persuade people, Business Owners are
tempted to say things like, "you are guaranteed to make 10,000
per month" or, "your downline will be built for you",
or "no selling required" or "all you have to do
is buy one product per month". But that kind of zeal will
get you and eCosway in a lot of trouble. In many countries these
types of
claims are legal "no nos." If you are interested in
understanding all of the laws surrounding these types of claims,
you can visit our attorney's website at https://www.mlmlaw.com.
The bottom line is this:
- You should never ever claim that a person can make
a certain
amount of money with your program or "guarantee" someone
that they will make money. Income in a legitimate company is
always based only
on consumer sales, which of course, can never be guaranteed.
- If you use one of the income scenario charts that illustrate
the ISO or use an average monthly sales amount for each Business
Owner, you MUST include the following disclaimer with the
chart.
This is a hypothetical example that illustrates the components
and operation of the eCosway Profit Plan. It is not representative
of the income that eCosway Business Owners can or will earn nor
is it a guarantee or projection of your actual earnings or profits.
Any representation or guarantee of earnings, whether made by
eCosway or a Business Owner, would be misleading since earnings
are entirely dependent on the sales volume generated by your
network. Your actual profit will depend on how well you build
your network and generate sales volume.
- You should never show
an income statement, business status page, or bank document
to show that you or other Business Owners are making a specific
amount of money (even if it's true). Government
agencies are very much against this activity because it can
mislead people to believe that anyone can make that same
amount of money. Unless you can prove that the vast majority
of people in your company are earning that amount, you aren't
allowed to talk about it in public.
-
You should never make
eCosway
Business Ownership sound like a simple "investment"-where
all a person has to do is sign up, pay some money, and then
let the profits roll in. eCosway is a legitimate retail business
with a powerful support system. The support system and modern
technology certainly make things easier, but it is very important
that you don't make it sound like people won't have to do
any work at all. The laws surrounding "passive income"
claims are very dangerous and complicated. True businesses
obviously require effort. If an opportunity claims that people
can earn income without any personal effort, it is immediately
considered to be either a pyramid scheme, or an illegal security
by many government agencies.
-
In many other countries any company that requires a purchase
from members is automatically considered a pyramid scheme.
eCosway does not have any purchase requirements
whatsoever. Never tell people that they have to purchase
15eV per month, or that they have to purchase something for the ISO. eCosway
does not require the ISO at all. It is optional. And the
15eV per month is a PERSONAL SALES requirement. The sales
can come from any shopper or combination of shoppers in your
personal branch. Personal purchases can be included in this.
Unsolicited Email or "SPAM"
Many Business Owners have expressed the idea that if they own
their own business, they should be able to promote it however
they choose. But remember…your business is part of a
larger whole. Your actions in this area have the potential
to affect a lot of people.
eCosway has a zero-tolerance policy against questionable or
objectionable marketing methods such as spamming (sending out
unsolicited email), broadcast faxing, mass posting to newsgroups,
forums, bulletin boards, blogs, etc.
This policy is very important because:
-
It protects eCosway's image. (People don't like companies
who do such things and the Internet community moves quickly
to "bad-mouth" any company who violates "netiquette"
(commonly agreed upon rules of behavior on the Internet) consumer
trust, or consumer privacy. It is not in anyone's best interest
to have eCosway seen as a "bad guy" or a "sleazy
company."
- It protects eCosway legally. Many states, countries and jurisdictions
have laws against sending unsolicited advertising especially
regarding telephone, fax machines and email.
- It protects all eCosway Business Owners from losing the opportunity
to promote eCosway in legitimate and acceptable ways (see explanation
below).
The single-most harmful
thing you
can do is to send unsolicited email to a "list" of
people
who did not agree to receive it!
It is quite common for people who are new to the Internet (and
whose e-mailboxes are not yet bombarded with dozens of spam emails
per day) to think that broadcast emailing is a good idea. They
see great potential in being able to reach thousands (if not millions)
of people with the push of a button, and they don't see any harm
in it.
It is very important that you understand how serious the "spamming"
issue is. Please, DO NOT START PROMOTING YOUR ECOSWAY BUSINESS
ONLINE UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND WHY SPAMMING IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!
Spam doesn't work. You probably think that thousands of people
will respond, but there are several reasons why this isn't true.
A large percentage of the mail sent to those lists will be undeliverable
because the addresses either don't exist, or have been turned
off because of too much spam. Most of the names on those lists
were either:
-
"Harvested" off the Internet
(from people who didn't give any permission) using "spy"
software that grabs addresses from forums, classified ad sections,
etc.
- Made up by computers (using popular names and every possible
alphanumeric combination in front of all popular email endings,
like Mary@yahoo.com, Mary1@yahoo.com, ABC123@yahoo.com etc.
- Stolen from other lists (which means the people on those lists
have been spammed a lot already)
In all of these cases, your mail is
not going to be "welcomed" by the recipient. Most ISPs
routinely filter out anything that looks like spam, and even if
it gets though, most people are tired of being pitched, and are
afraid of catching electronic viruses, so they delete any email
from an unknown sender even before opening it.
Spam costs other people money. Some people even consider it
"stealing."
Unlike regular mail or advertising, sending email costs the sender
very little, but can cost the recipient time and money. People who
pay for their internet connections in time increments or who check
their email while travelling, get very frustrated when their "inboxes"
are filled with unsolicited email that has to be downloaded and
sorted before they can read important business and personal email.
It also costs ISPs (Internet Service Providers) money to send, receive,
and "bounce" unwanted email. Therefore many ISPs actively
seek to not only block, but to punish "spammers."
Spam can get you in a lot of trouble.
When mail is undeliverable, it "bounces back" to the original
server. The minute you start sending out bulk mail, the server is
already bogged down because of the outgoing load. It gets further
bogged down when the undeliverables start bouncing back (it only
takes a few seconds). Even if your list contains millions of names,
it's not likely your email server will get through even 50,000 of
them before your ISP (Internet Service Provider) shuts down your
account and comes after you for violating your agreement with them.
You might think, "oh well, 50,000 is still a good number-it's
worth the risk"…. But remember that once your email account
is shut down you won't be able to receive any replies anyway. You
would be exceptionally lucky if you received even a handful of positive
replies, and you can be sure that you'll make hundreds if not thousands
of people REALLY ANGRY AT YOU! (Not a good way to start a business!)
The people who hate being spammed (and believe me there will be
plenty of these on your list) will start reporting you to your
ISP,
to their own ISP, to anti-spam cops, etc. It will only be a matter
of hours (or perhaps days) before you are in a heap of trouble.
This is trouble that we cannot allow you to bring on eCosway!
Email marketing may seem like a "goldmine," but it is
actually full of landmines and you have to make sure you do it
correctly.
Here's what happens when someone sends a spam email:
- Someone who receives the email gets upset because they hate
spam
- They complain to (and send a copy of the spam email to) to
their own ISP. Then either the recipient of the email, or the
ISP sends a copy of the email to the spammers ISP and to one
or more "anti-spam" organizations who will take action to track
down all responsible parties and to do everything possible to
punish the spammer.
- The "punishment" can include legal
action, the sender's email account being terminated, and
any domains
owned by the sender being shut down by his or her web host
(even if the domain isn't on the same server that sent the
email.)
- Then, the worst happens. Anti-spam organizations "black
list" all parties who are "behind" the spam.
Even if a spammer uses false headers, relays the email from
an unsuspecting domain, and doesn't use a real return address
(which are all illegal by the way) -it is still possible to
track down who sent the email-- because the sender has to give
prospects a way to take action!
- Anti-spam organizations figure that not only is the spammer
guilty, but so is any company benefiting from the solicitation.
The company that makes the product or service being
pitched is blacklisted along with the person who sent the email. Anti-spam
organizations figure that a company has the power to regulate
its promoters. If the company allows or doesn't stop people
from spamming to promote its products or services, then the
company is considered guilty.
Spam has the potential to hurt
the company and all of your fellow business owners because
major email providers (Yahoo, Hotmail,
Gmail, AOL, AT&T, MSN, etc.) want to protect their users from
receiving unsolicited email. They use "intelligent search
agents" to screen all incoming mail before delivering it
to the end-user. If they suspect that your email is spam, they
send
it to the spam cops and blacklists. These blacklists are shared
by all major email providers and used to block email from offenders.
Once a company gets "blacklisted," It
is very difficult to get off those blacklists.
One spammer can ruin it
for everyone! If you sent out spam which contained an eCosway
domain and
that email got turned over to the anti-spammers… it wouldn't
take long before all of the major ISPs started bouncing all
email containing any ecosway.com addresses!
In other words, if ecosway.com were blacklisted, then even when
innocent Business Owners tried to send legitimate email (to friends
and to prospects who requested more information) the email might
not be delivered because it contained an ecosway.com URL!
We would have to fight to get off of the blacklist. In order to
do that we would have to prove that we immediately terminated any
Business Owner who was caught spamming. Ignorance is not an excuse.
We will have no choice but to terminate your business ownership
and we are likely to hold you financially responsible for any disruption
of our business if you cause these kinds of problems.
Personal Websites
Some Business Owners complain about the part of the policy that
says that they cannot link to eCosway from a private website. They
claim that their own websites should not be regulated by eCosway.
Some have also argued that even if a person were spammed to get
them to the private site, once they clicked on a link to eCosway
they are "giving permission" to be pitched and therefore
eCosway cannot be accused of spamming. Unfortunately, that's not
the way the anti-spammers see it.
It's true that a webmaster's own site should be considered his or
her own private property, but if the private website is linked to
eCosway and then promoted using tactics such as spamming or broadcasting
to forums and discussion groups, the risk to eCosway is still high
and therefore eCosway certainly has the right to ban such a link.
If a website owner is caught spamming, anti-spam organizations will
not only blacklist the private website address, but also any websites
that are promoted by that website. Even if a spammer were to set
up several intermediary websites, the risk to eCosway is not eliminated.
The problem doesn't come from people who click on an eCosway link
by choice. The problem comes from the people who are spammed by
email or through a broadcast posting to a discussion group and
may
never even visit the private website. Once the email (that leads
to the private website, that leads to eCosway…) gets turned
over to the spam cops, they can easily follow the trail to eCosway.
Since eCosway is one of the intended beneficiaries of the spam,
it is highly likely that it will be blacklisted along with the
private
website.
The easiest way to avoid all these problems is
not to spam!
Our SPAM policy does not say that you can't ever link to eCosway
from a private site. It says that you cannot link to eCosway from
a private site if the private site has content which has not been
pre-approved by eCosway, or if that site is promoted in any manner
that violates our spam policy. If your site content has been given
corporate approval and you don't do any objectionable promoting
of that site, you are welcome to link to eCosway.
There are plenty of ways to promote your private website without
spamming. If you’re going to send emails or business presentations,
just make sure you have first been given "explicit permission
to pitch" – meaning that the prospect has asked you
to talk about your products or your business or has otherwise given
you permission to use "persuasive talk or advertising" with
them by email, mail, phone or fax.
In the event of a "spam complaint" lodged against you,
you will need to have "proof" that you obtained this
permission
before you solicited the person who is complaining about you. Therefore
it is really important that you do the following:
- Don't send ANY unsolicited emails, faxes, phone calls, etc.
(If you don't send them, nobody can ever produce evidence that
you did. Your ownership and your email accounts will not be
terminated based on verbal accusations. Complainers will have
to produce some proof that you spammed them such as a copy of
an email, a fax, or telephone logs.)
- Keep a copy of all requests for information you receive so
that you can produce them if you ever need to. Make back-up
copies or print out hard copies to make sure you are fully protected
against any false spam complaints.
- If you set up autoresponders or create an "opt-in"
mailing system, make sure you keep records that prove that someone
actually entered any email address that you mailed to. In fact,
the safest thing to do is called "double opt-in."
When a person initially signs up for something, the system should
immediately send an email making sure the entry was authorized
by the owner of the email address.
For example, if you offer some kind of a newsletter, your first
message should read something like this:
Welcome to (name of your newsletter)!
Just now, you, or someone else requested that this email
address be added to the list to receive (name of your newsletter)
once a month.
We use a "double opt-in" system to prevent you
from
Being signed up without your permission. Please click
on the link below to verify that it was indeed you who signed
up.
Just click below and your first issue will be on its way!
https://www.name of list.com./?someverifyingcodegoeshere
(Note: If the above link isn't highlighted, copy it and
paste
it into a browser window.)
If you do NOT wish to receive (name of your newsletter),
DO NOTHING. You will not be added to the list (unless you
click
on the link) and you will receive no further emails from
me.
NOTE: Most mail list provider and mailing software programs
have the capability of setting up this type of automated
link for you. Having a system that won't sign anyone up
unless they "opt in" twice is your best protection
against spam complaints.
If you use autoresponders to send out information, the first
email you send should have a notice that reads something
like this:
This
email is being sent to you because you requested information
from (name the website where the prospect entered the
address, or the ad that had an email address the prospect
mailed a request for info from)
If you did NOT request this information, and you have
received this email in error, please accept our apologies
and click on the link at the bottom. You will be promptly
removed from the system and you will not receive any further
emails from me.
|
NOTE: Your autoresponder system should have the capability of automatically
removing an address from the system when a link is clicked. NEVER
send another email to an address that has been removed!
This is actually more of an "opt-out" system and a person
might not bother to read the email, much less to click on the "remove"
link, so you could still be reported for spamming. Make sure you still
keep a record of the initial request made by your prospects.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PROMOTE YOUR ECOSWAY BUSINESS
- Tell all of your friends and relatives about eCosway in person
or by phone.
- Bring people to eCenters or Sales Centers.
- Place GENERIC (not mentioning or linking to eCosway) classified
ads (online and offline) using an email address, your own private
website address (NOT linked to eCosway except as allowed), or
an autoresponder address.
- Send GENERIC (not mentioning or linking to eCosway) email to
your friends and relatives asking for permission to send them
information.
- Set up a GENERIC (not mentioning or linking to eCosway) website
that asks people to trigger an autoresponder or to email you for
more information and submit it to the search engines.
- Once you have used generic email, websites or autoresponders
to gain explicit permission to pitch, you can send an email that
links to your eCosway website.
- Use any materials, presentations, etc. about eCosway provided
by or pre-approved by eCosway. (But not through spamming or inappropriate
advertising.)
- Use any GENERIC materials, presentations, etc. not pre-approved
by eCosway, (which do not refer to or link to eCosway), that
serve to get leads and permission to introduce a business opportunity
or product. (Please note that even though you are not mentioning
eCosway at this time, if your efforts are on behalf of eCosway,
you must make sure that your statements are honest, accurate,
ethical and well presented. Do not promote a "get rich quick
scheme" or make income claims!)
- Start meeting people (both online and offline). When they ask
you for more information, send them to your eCosway site.
Always Use Two Steps
Always think in terms of a TWO-STEP PROCESS.
First get "permission to pitch" from a prospect
Then (and only then) talk to them about or link to eCosway
This accomplishes two things: It protects eCosway from spam complaints
and it makes sure that eCosway is only seen by prospects in a manner
that eCosway has approved of.
The only exception to the two step rule concerns
- signature files (sig files)
- and classified ads
You must NEVER use the name eCosway or your ecosway website address
in a signature file or classified ad
You can however, use a generic website of your own in a signature
file to intrigue people, and then later guide them to eCosway.
General Marketing Ethnics
Be honest.
eCosway is "in it for the long haul." Unlike fly by night
companies that can say anything they want and then simply change addresses,
domains, policies etc. when regulators come knocking, eCosway has
taken the high road legally and ethically. eCosway's business vision
is based on the "long view." It is very important that
our
Business Owners act as ambassadors of that vision. Please represent
eCosway in a straightforward, honest manner. Don't mislead people
and don't use false promises, fake names, disguised headers or
fake domains, etc. in any of your marketing efforts for eCosway.
Be Realistic and Straightforward.
eCosway is a legitimate business ownership opportunity. The "real
deal" is exciting enough on its own, please don't embellish
the
facts!
Be a Team Player (Together Everyone Achieves More)
Even though
each Business Owner or Shopper can only have one introducer, all
happy Business Owners and Shoppers are assets to eCosway and give
the company a good reputation. Please be kind, helpful and businesslike
to all Business Owners, Shoppers, and prospects.
- Don't solicit Business Owners of other people's eCosway global
networks. You wouldn't want someone to do it to you.
- Don't say negative things about other Business Owners to try
to get prospects into your network instead of theirs.
- If a Business Owner of someone else's network asks you for assistance,
don't say no just because they aren't in your group. While you
certainly aren't obligated to take in "strays," it doesn't
hurt to help wherever and whenever you can.
|
