Internet Marketing
By Keith E Bryan
There are many people every day jumping into the online world. With more and more people using the internet the floodgates of internet users are opening wider everyday. But how, as a home business owner, can you expect to compete with the big dogs of the internet and dip your cup into the profits as well?
There are a ton of tips and tricks that people will tell you are the best way to advertise your home business. But do them incorrectly or choose the wrong methods and all youll really end up doing is increasing your frustration, not your traffic or your sales.
I remember back when I started my first business (not online) it seemed like almost everyday someone was willing to offer me a great deal to advertise my business. Of course with all these different resources out there some of them had to be more effective than others. The only problem was . HOW Do I Tell Which Ones? I had limited resources and certainly couldnt afford to give them all a try, unless I just wanted to cross my fingers and hope they worked so I wouldnt go out of business!
Thankfully, todays online world provides home business owners with a variety of different marketing techniques, and each can be as profitable as the next. As a business owner you simply have to decide what you are willing to invest in your business, and which will have the best return on your investment
Lets run through a few of the most popular types.
Paid Banner (CPM + CPC) and Paid Text-
Banner ads you can pay for as CPC(cost per click) or CPM(cost per every thousand times banner is displayed) usually placed in a high traffic area on a site that causes visitors of that site to see it and visit your site.
Paid Text advertising is similar only the ad is in the form of a text link usually off to the sides (or at the top in search engines like Yahoo! And Google) If you are going to use this kind of advertising make sure you pick the sites you place your ads on carefully (popular sites will be expensive but you should get more clicks and smaller sites will be cheaper, but often with little or no results)
E-mail lists
Programs or services that will get your link out to many different internet users. These can be good if you have a very widely used type of product. The negative to these lists is that with new e-mail features often these types of messages get marked as spam and are disregarded by the intended recipient.
Free Traffic Generators
Traffic generators like Traffic Swarm can be a great way of just getting people to go to your site. There are some that you can pay for that will guarantee you a certain number of visitors for a set price. Problem is that most of the people that are now visiting your site arent really interested in your product or service. You might get one or two sales from extremely impulsive buyers but the rest only visit to earn credits or something of the sort from the home site. If youre going to rely on this type of advertising make sure your visitor/buyer ratio is already high for your site.
Link Exchange
This is by far the best way of driving quality traffic to your site if you do it right! Before you even THINK about trying to exchange links with other sites theres a few things you should know..
1. Download the Google toolbar This way you will be able to tell the page rank of any pages you want to exchange links with (higher the PR the higher in the search ranking which means more traffic)
2. Exchange links with only pages of PR 4 or higher. It will help your page more by having a few PR4+ pages linking to you than 10000 pages with no page rank.
3. Build your content FIRST! Dont expect E-Bay to display your link just because you asked them nicely! Webmasters want to know they are linking to a quality site with a good amount of substance. Focus on building your site before you ask people to link to it.
4. Try to exchange links with other sites that have the same key words as yours. Ie: Theres no reason to exchange links with a flower web site if you sell telephone service
The only thing this type of advertising will cost you is a little effort. The greatest part of it is that the people that visit your site are people that are actually interested in your product or service, not just people stopping by to earn credits and you dont pay a cent. There are many books and sites on the web that can give you more details on how to effectively exchange links to your benefit.
Hopefully these tips have helped you narrow down the best type of advertising for your site. The one thing that hasnt changed in the transition from regular to internet marketing is that you never really know what will work best for you until you try. Dont be afraid to get your feet wet and see what you like!
GOOD LUCK!
About The Author
Keith Bryan has over 9 years experience in both Internet and other forms of advertising and marketing. For more information, tips, tricks, hot products and articles visit keithbryan@cox.net
The 3 Keys To Building a Successful E-Business
By Eric Garcia
Like you, I am an entrepreneur. To be successful you have to overcome many hardships with hard work, determination, research and creativity. I have decided to write this article to share some the proven techniques that help build a successful online business. With that said, lets get down to business.
Products And Services
You cant have a successful business without the right product. Some people are just so enamored with the idea of owning their own ebusiness that they just throw a bunch of their ideas together, come up with their product, and expect to start making big profits right away. Unfortunately, the path to success is just not that short.
The product or service you provide should be chosen after serious contemplating. Here are a few tips that will help you avoid putting your time and effort into a product that is destined to fail.
- Think of something that you have readily available. Something that you can acquire and reproduce at a very low cost or, even better, for free. If youre a writer, write. If youre a DJ, make mix CDs. Exploit your own talent.
- Make sure your product is easily distributed. Virtual products like software, digital audio files, and e-books like this are great. They can be emailed or uploaded to your website for clients to download. It can be distributed quickly and for free. Try not to sell items that are heavy and expensive to ship. Theyll drive your business expenses and your selling price up. Stick to small items or virtual products for your online business.
- If you plan on offering a bunch of related products or services, begin with just one if possible. Youll be able to focus your energy on perfecting your product. Once you feel you can not improve it anymore, introduce a related product. Offer it with your original product in a bundle or at a discounted price and gradually perfect that item also. Quality over quantity.
Marketing
Fact: 90% of all internet traffic comes from search engines.
Obviously, search engines are the most important form of internet traffice for any online business. Being included in a major search engine can provide free traffic for your online business. Be sure to have your website submitted to and optimized for Google, Yahoo, and MSN. These websites receive over 80% of all internet searches.
Unfortunately, getting a large volume of traffic requires a high search engine ranking. Since this is not a technical how-to, I wont go into how search engines work. However, if youre interested in finding out more about search engine optimization, contact me through 301concepts.com or by email at info@301concepts.com.
The other 10% of internet traffic comes from advertisements and links. Not only do they bring traffic to your website but they can also improve your search ranking. There are several advertising programs on the web that you can join. Some are better than others and some can even starting working for you for as little as $1 per day.
Customer Service
Above all, treat your customers fairly. They are the backbone of your business. Their opinions matter. Listen to them. Keep track of their suggestions, complaints, and questions. Improve your products, services and customer service using this information. The customer's experience is what keeps them coming back and brings you more business through word of mouth
Mastering these 3 areas will bring your online business success.
For more e-business tips and resources, visit 301concepts.com.
Eric C Garcia is an e-Business Consult and Founder of www.301concepts.com. He has a background in Business and Information Technology.
Allowing Yourself To Fail Toward Success
By Anne Marie Baugh
Ever get that tight clutchy feeling inside that says There is no flipping way I can do this! Yes, we all have. This is your personal internal protection monitor that keeps you safe in life. It also keeps you bored and even makes you a bore. Sometimes the protection monitor is a good thing, say when speeding down a highway at 120 miles an hour and its screaming at you to stop this silliness. Very good at those times. However, if your protection monitor is set on high and everything out of the entirely-too-comfortable-for-the-comfort-zone makes you feel squeamish, its time to reset your thermostat and make a go at the real life. Dare to be uncomfortable and you dare to really succeed!
Its really very simple to get started. All you have to do is allow yourself to fail. Cough, sputter, what? Yeah, you heard me, allow yourself to fail. Its when we get all pent up inside that we build walls to new experiences and opportunities that will make our businesses flourish. Sometimes its the fear of making a fool of ourselves. Sometimes its the fear of not looking good enough. Sometimes its just plain fear! And the death of fear is permission to fail. The amazing part of this remedy is how much you wont actually live up to that permission. But yes, there will be a few stumbles as well.
Start by expanding your horizons right now. Make a business list of all the things you wish you could do but think you cant. Now quit thinking and starting devising a plan for just one of those items on the list. Before you start, use a tool many writers implement to get past writers block, tell yourself to begin planning it but do it very, very badly. This is about action, not perfection. Its about changing your internal paradigm so that you can grow toward more opportunity. By accepting failure as the bottom line, you allow yourself to risk toward greater success. You make the expectation comfortable while venturing into something new and uncomfortable.
Lets take a simple example. While teaching my daughter to bake cookies, her perfectionism got in the way of her success. The first batch turned out badly and she cried for hours determined never to bake cookies again. While soothing her ruffled ego, I explained my approach to a new recipe, which is simply as a learning avenue. Realizing that I know nothing about the new recipe I plan botching it up and then improving from there. Now my daughter uses this technique for not only learning to cook, but learning to do anything new and she is finally allowing herself to thrive!
I am not suggesting making a life long habit of doing things badly. Always give it your best shot but at the same time give your poor psyche a break and allow yourself a learning curve. Perfectionism will kill your creativity in marketing, business planning, and life. When you have what is perceived as a failure, turn it into a stepping stone instead of a wall. See your next effort as better than the last and your abilities will soar, as will your confidence. Confidence is built as much on little failures that get better as on big successes that get bigger.
The *average* entrepreneur millionaire leaves in his trail approximately eighteen failures. Failures that taught and strengthened and pushed those achievers forward. Trust me when I say that after 18 failures they decided along the way to allow these failures in order to eventually succeed.
So what are you still sitting here for? Go out and try something scary and new. Break the internal bonds that keep you nice and safe and your paycheck predicable. Let yourself fail toward your success! I dare you .
Anne Marie Baugh is an online publicist to cyber-stars and owner of www.write-promotion.com.
Marketing Your Home-Based Business in the 21st Century
By Jas Smith
Reaching Your Clients of Customers with Business Web Site Builder Software
One of the strongest trends in the business world in the 21st century has been the growth of home based business enterprises. Each and every year an increasing number of men and women are establishing home based business enterprises. Indeed, you may be one of thousands of people each and every month who are starting or expanding a home based business venture. Many of these people are using business web site builder software programs to further their enterprises and ventures.
Owners of home based businesses have learned that the Internet is an invaluable tool through which potential clients or customers can be reached. A significant majority of home based business owners rely almost exclusively on the Internet as the avenue through which they market their products or services. In this regard, if you are such a home business owner who is relying upon or intends to rely upon the Internet and World Wide Web to market your products or services, you likely understand the importance of a solid website to reach consumers.
If you hire a professional website designer you can count on making a significant investment. Having a professional design and build a website is not a cheap process. If you are like many home business owners, you operate your venture on a strict budget. You constantly are on the watch to find ways in which you can save money on your home based business, including ways in which you can save money on marketing your home business enterprise.
There are a number of reliable business web site builder software programs that you will want to consider for your home based business enterprise. There are even business web site builder software programs designed specifically for home based businesses.
There are a number of benefits to business web site builder software programs. First of all, by using these types of website building systems you can save a great deal of money over the costs of a professional website designer, developer and builder.
In addition, with business web site builder software programs you are able to change and adapt your business website as your home based enterprise grows and develops. These business web site builder software programs have multiple templates that you can utilize to design and then redesign as the needs of your home based business changes and evolves over time.
Visit Business Web Site Builder Reviews today to see just how easy it can be to build your own website. While you're there be sure to pick up your free copy of Search Engine Optimization Made Easy ebook.
Traffic Generation Basics - Your Marketing Plan
By Jason DeVelvis
You may already know all of the various traffic generation basics, but still find that your site still isnt getting the amount of traffic that it deserves. This could be happening for a variety of reasons, and it is important to find out what those reasons are and make the necessary corrections.
The first thing to consider is what you are currently doing in terms of marketing. Are you actually using the traffic generation basics to get traffic? Do you even have a marketing plan? Marketing can be very time consuming, but if you want traffic, it is necessary. The days of build it and they will come are over. There are billions of websites in existence, and unless you tell them youve built it, they arent coming! Dont wait for them to come go out and drag them in!
If you do have a marketing plan, and you actually are using the traffic generation basics, and you still arent getting the traffic, take a look at your marketing materials. Your signature files, your short ads, your solo ads, your PPC campaign text, and everything else you use in your traffic generation endeavors should be located in one file. Take a long look at it all. Maybe your words arent working.
Are you allowing enough time to employ your marketing plan each week? 90% of your working hours should be spent marketing your website and generating traffic. Most successful Internet Marketers make sure that they are working enough hours, and putting in the marketing time needed to make the income that they desire. Are you doing this? If not, you need to take a look at your schedule and make some changes.
If you are involved in joint venture deals, and you arent getting traffic, that is a real problem. It is time to take a look at those deals and see if you are in fact benefiting from them. If not, maybe it is time to find new JV partners who can get you the traffic that you need. It may also be a simple question of reworking an existing deal that you have with your current JV partners.
Take a look at your links as well. Do this by looking at your website statistics. Are the sites that are linking to you sending you any traffic? If not, you need to start a new linking campaign that will enable you to find sites that will send you the traffic you need. What about the forums that you are posting in? Are they as active as they once were? Start searching for new communities to hang out in to employ some traffic generation basics.
Take a long hard look at your marketing plan, and note what is working and what is not working. Try to determine what the problem is with the marketing actions that are not working, and do a little research to determine ways that you can improve what is working. If you dont have a written marketing plan, now is the time to make one. You should write down what you are marketing, how you will market it, the marketing materials that you will use, and the amount of time you will spend on each marketing task each day or week.
Traffic is everything. If youve tried everything that you can think of and nothing is working to your satisfaction, maybe it is time to bring in some hired guns for traffic generation basics. Visit http://www.TheIMconnection.com to find more information on getting the help that you need right away! Traffic generation is an ongoing process. There is no end in site. Think about the big sites like Yahoo even Yahoo still uses traffic generation basics!
Jason frequently gives tips like this to the subscribers to his newsletter. Visit JasonDeVelvis.com and subscribe to his newsletter today!
Get Out Of The Work More, Accomplish Less Quandary
By Andy Chiango
In a recent Reuters article, written by Ellen Wulfhorst, and posted on Yahoo on February 23, 2006, it was noted that Americans work more, seem to accomplish less.
The American worker struggles in many ways with the pressures of home and work. They suffer earning constraints, time constraints, and frustration levels that are at an all time high.
The article continues:
Most U.S. workers say they feel rushed on the job, but they are getting less accomplished than a decade ago
"Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it's slowed everything down, paradoxically," said John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
"We never concentrate on one task anymore. You take a little chip out of it, and then you're on to the next thing," Challenger said on Wednesday. "It's harder to feel like you're accomplishing something."
Sixty percent of workers say they always or frequently feel rushed
This feeling of always being rushed and never doing enough is increasing the stress level on the American worker. The reduced productivity is adding to a persons stress level and having a major effect on their satisfaction with their job and career. This frustration and lack of satisfaction are carried home. It can impact family life and potentially have an effect on a persons health.
According to the article:
A decade ago, 40 percent of workers called themselves very or extremely successful, but that number fell to just 28 percent.
Expectations that technology would save time and money largely haven't been borne out in the workplace, said Ronald Downey, professor of psychology who specializes in industrial organization at Kansas State University.
"It just increases the expectations that people have for your production," Downey said.
Even if productivity increases, it's constantly outpaced by those expectations, said Don Grimme of GHR Training Solutions, a workplace training company based in Coral Springs, Florida.
"The irony is the very expectation of getting more done is getting in the way of getting more done," he said. "People are stressed out."
Companies that are flexible with workers' time and give workers the most control over their tasks tend to fare better against the sea of rising expectations, experts said.
This flexibility is the key. There has to be a solution. Perhaps it is time to consider alternatives to the American corporate model and come up with a different approach. This approach need not be totally new, but the key is it must be a departure from the norm.
The article then points out: Businesses that have moved to 24-hour operations, bosses who micro-manage and longer commutes all add to the problem, they said, while downsizing leaves fewer workers doing the work of those who left. Finally, there's a trend among companies to measure job performance like never before, said Challenger. "There's a sense that no matter how much I do, it's never enough," he said.
So where can you keep your current job (until you choose to move on), cultivate a new opportunity, create unlimited income potential, achieve a healthier personal and family lifestyle, minimize the pressure brought on by long hours, long commutes, micro-managing bosses and downsizing?
Lets consider for a moment a network marketing approach, to some known as multi-level-marketing or MLM. It can be done over the phone, Internet, from home, or just about anywhere in the world. Some may be thinking, Amway, the pyramid thing. The answer is No. Network Marketing has changed. Look for the company with the right endorsements, the right tools, the right approach, winning products, and impeccable timing. The company that has all these things will lift a person out of the daily rat race cycle and into a new, happier, healthier life with more free time and unlimited earning potential.
This is not to say that being successful in Network Marketing does not require effort and at time long hours. But, the flexibility in those hours, satisfaction in owning ones own business, no boss, no employees, with very high if not unlimited earning potential can be extremely satisfying. Being happy with ones profession can enhance a persons quality of life alone.
Once established, the effort to maintain an income level with the right network marketing company will diminish drastically, providing for more time with the family and once again an overall healthier more satisfying, less stressful life style.
If you have not considered network marketing as an alternative to the daily routine and the rut the American employee seems to be in. Perhaps you should. The possibilities are endless and the dream is yours to realize.
To see the full Reuters Article please see the following link. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060223/hl_nm/life_work_dc
Lori and Andy Chiango, both business professionals with a young family living in New England, wrote this article. They are now XELR8 distributors. XELR8 is a company providing nutritional products endorsed by over 350 professional athletes and celebrities, is publicly traded and fully funded. Check out http://www.XELR8yourDream.com , request your FREE sample tin and accelerate yourself towards any dream you may have. You will not regret it.
I Hate Writing Articles - Isnt There An Easier Way
By Peter Dobler
Owning, far-off and maintaining an internet based vocation or a site needs articles. Plain besides manageable, every who has a site knows this. Even those who dont have sites but are frequent internet users knows this as well. Articles quench the thirst for whole story and knowledge of the people. Plus, the articles provides many other benefits for the site.
The benefits that articles provide are putting a hamlet high in the ranking in search results of keywords again keyword phrases that pertains or are relevant to his or her whereabouts. They also provide attraction to website visitors when they are useful and is linked to your berth from another site or newsletter. Articles provide for the increase of the confidence again trust levels of customers to your site besides company.
Several articles are again beneficial to both company and its traffic. When the readers like the articles, they would broadcast more of their friends, family and peers and recommend your site to them, providing for a larger volume of traffic. You get bigger sales if your traffic trusts and believes fix you. Your achievement or services would be much easier to sell when they comprehend you know what you are doing and talking about.
So ok, we have established that articles are very important to a niche and to business. Articles are crucial and to put ahead pull the merriment, a whereabouts must have an article, it is imperative. There is one worriment though, not sundry people like writing articles.
Many website owners would tolerably spend their time on meaningful added, and unless youre a big time company, you dont have the necessary resources to use on a pool of article writers. Plagiarism or copying of other articles is frowned upon and could soft get you into trouble, worst case scenario; a hefty radiant and jail time.
So what are the other options?
Well, for starters if you hate writing articles and you cant afford to enlist people to write for you then dont. Get free articles. The primeval place to viewing at for free articles is the public domain. Here you wont have problems lock up copyright infringement again the following penalties besides fines if you get intent for plagiarism.
Public domain articles are articles freely given to the public for public use. You can do whatever you want protect it. You incubus place it on your site, name it as yours, put it in a newsletter its you decision. Always remember though that you will have to choose articles that is very relevant to your site.
The downside to public domain articles is that since it is free for everybody, many of your competitors may have access to them as well. Since every site needs to speak for original and unique comparable though you have the same niche, this could be a predicament. You may also have to edit them a agility to place more keywords and keyword phrases to make them finer.
And way to get free articles is to allow other sites which has the same subject or topic as yours to submit articles to your site. This would be apart to augment your existing light or else all your articles would mean leading to other sites since these articles would have resource boxes go underground them that could link or direct the readers to their site. Thats why it is important to have your own articles; you cold use them to link your site to other sites as well.
But, to truly feel the impact of what a good article to you, go for original ones. There are many article writers who do lot juncture and freelance article writing jobs that charges only minimal fees. You can get good articles that have all the keywords and keyword phrases you need and people are looking for.
The bag you made for these articles would symbolize worthwhile because you could use them for all the benefits you could offer. You hold copyrights to them and you will appear as able to use them anyway you want. As your articles relief you in building your business and your site, you will have more articles to write and maybe then you wont equal having succour thoughts about articles.
Peter Dobler is a 20+ year veteran in the IT business. He is an active Real Estate Investor and a successful Internet business owner. Learn more about Article Writing; send a blank email to articlemarketing.articles24x7.com
Small Business Marketing Secret #4: Congratulations on Becoming Brand Manager For Coke(r)
By Jimmy Vee
Woo Hoobring out the champagne and lets toast to your new position. Brand manager for the big cola giant comes with tons of responsibility.
One of them is that you are required to spends tons of dollars on advertising that you arent sure is working. Advertising dollars you cant measure and advertising dollars that you arent sure bring you a return on your investment.
This is called brand advertising. You may have heard it called branding, brand building or most common referred to as getting your name out there advertising.
The reason why youve been given this position is because you have experience doing this type of advertising in your business, just not with the big cola budget.
Im sure you already know that you cant afford to spend the dollars the cola giants spend, so guess what? You cant advertise like them either.
So stop it.
Dont believe anyone that says advertising that just gets your name out there is valuable. Dont get me wrong, it does have some valuebut its not profitable.
Can you make investments on your budget that arent profitable?
If you are like most of the people, you cant.
Were about to let you in on this little secret. The most powerful, amazing two words you will ever hear in regard to your advertising.
The two words you must never forget.
These two words will become your advertising mantra, chanted during late night creative sessions and deep mediation.
Are you ready for the two words?
Are you sure?
Here they are!
Nod your head and read these aloud three times.
DIRECT RESPONSE.
Direct response is the only kind of advertising that you can do. If you do direct response advertising you WILL end up with some residual branding effects.
These residual effects stem from what we call your Natural Gravitational Pull. We call this Brandscending. But you dont pay for that.
It is a side effect of powerful direct response advertising that is tested measured and proven effective. This is a powerful part of Gravitational Marketing.
Effective direct response advertising requires three main components:
1. YOU focused copy
2. Effective metrics for testing and measuring
3. Hooks an offer and a call to action
Remember these? Sound familiar?
They should be your best friends by now.
If you can befriend them, seduce them and love them, they will revolutionize your advertising.
In Jim and Travis' small business marketing secret #5, were going to reveal an easy way to drum up a 20% in your business.
Jim and Travis are the authors of The Ten Tall Tales Of Traditional Advertising That Cost You Tons and their newest release, The Small Business Owners Guide To The Galaxy: Jim & Traviss Super-Stellar, Out Of This World, Step-By-Step Guide To Generating Leads, Attracting Customers and Making Sales. Get FREE small business marketing tips, shortcuts and secrets - RIGHT NOW - at
Article Marketing - Your Resource Box is an Article Marketing Tool
By Carmellita M. Brown
As an online entrepreneur who has been utilizing article marketing strategies since 2003, I have enjoyed its many benefits. These benefits have served me well as a Success and Wellness Coach, Website Publisher, and an owner of an Article Directory. In fact, I have done a lot of promotions and advertising online with Article Marketing and have found it to be a productive marketing strategy.
However, like all forms of marketing and advertising online, there's a way to do it and do it great. Because many Internet Marketing Professionals have learned the advantages of free online articles and monetization with AdSense and other Ad-generating programs, article marketing has become a leading and effective marketing tool on the internet. Not only is adding your articles for free a great resource, the author's resource box is the extra added bonus. Similar to other marketing tools, you have to know how to work it.
Accordingly, the author's resource box differs from an author's bio section. In a bio section, the author gives a brief description of themselves, their projects, their expertise, and what they have accomplished. An author's resource box is much more concise. It is a brief resource for readers to follow for more information, products, or services related to the article. Similar to the author's bio, the resource box is found at the end of the article.
For example, if you were writing an article about hair care products, you would provide a link to a site related to hair care products or cosmetics. Why? You would provide this link because this is a resource for your readers. Ultimately, your resource box content will be related to the article's theme. As such, it is essential that writers to consider these basic marketing and advertising factors when writing content for the resource box.
Now, lets discuss some common mistakes made with the authors resource box:
1. Oversell will be an over-kill
It is a common mistake most article writers make. Of course, you want to write a few sentences to you promote yourself or promote your website but you should never have a long list of every product, website, business opportunity, or item you sell or promote online. Additionally, too many details about your website can be overkill too. View your resource box as a "set-up"--a way to persuade your readers to click and learn more.
2. Be Consistent With the Article's Theme
It is very important to that your resource box remains consistent with the content in your article. It is critical that whatever theme you choose, you continue with it. One article can't sell everything...you, your website, and a particular product all at once. A good method for remaining consistent with the theme of your article is to include content in your resource box related to the article's content. However, a smart technique is personalizing your articles. With online article writing, it is not a requirement to be objective as with other forms of journalism. When you personalize your articles with a little bit of "you," you can theme your resource box to be about "you" and the work you are doing online.
3. Keep Your Resource Box Information Relevant
Do not confuse your readers. Don't include content and information on products that were not mentioned in the article. Your readers want information that is beneficial to them; therefore your resource box should have content about the website or the product you discussed in the article. Again, you can spin this obstacle by personalizing your articles just a bit where the entire article won't be subjective, but still personalized. An example of this strategy can be seen at the beginning of this article.
4. Affiliate Program Links
Affiliate Marketing Professionals have to be especially careful. Affiliate Marketing Professionals have been trained to "pre-sell" with article marketing; however, Affiliate Marketers can do this much more effectively by using another method. The more effective method is to use your resource box to direct your readers to your Website or in your Blog which links to your affiliate through additional content. Editors and publishers of various article directories are quite fickle about you trying to "sell" your affiliate link on their sites.
5. Your Resource Box Should Be Short and Simple
As you get more versed in article marketing, you discover that you want the content in your resource box to be like content in your article, short and to the point. Your resource box should be no longer than 3 to 4 lines, because most article directories give you limited space for your information. The sooner you get to the point and tell readers about a website or product and where to find it... the better.
Again, your author's resource box is a valuable for article marketing, internet marketing, and online advertising. By including unrelated information, off-theme content, and overselling or over pushing your websites and products, you are wasting your time and your readers. Think of it like other forms of advertising...KISP...Keep it simple please.
Carmellita M. Brown, a Success and Wellness Coach, is the instructor for the online class Abundance Training 101 located at http://www.headlinearticles.com
How To Get Top Rankings On Google Without Trying Hard
By Graham Jones
So you want to get to the top of Google? Not so easy is it? Especially if youre competing against several million pages. Theyre already established, indexed and ranked; just how can you squeeze your way in and get to the top?
Well, it is possible and quickly. But to achieve this you have to think like Google. This multibillion dollar search engine survives only because it delivers what people want. If it serves up rubbish, people will leave Google in their droves and their multibillion dollar income will take a nosedive. So everything Google does is centred on one thing delivering at the top of the search results the pages most closely connected with the keywords you type in.
Various tests Ive conducted prove that the single most important thing that Google uses to judge a page is the title tag. Thats the white text that sits in the dark border at the very top of the screen, above the menu bar in your browser window. Many people ignore this lots of web sites simply say something like home page. In tests its apparent that Google places considerable weight on the title tag. This tag is inserted into the code of the web page in the behind the scenes section known as the header. What you need to put in this area are the keywords you want to be found for. But crucially, those keywords need to be right at the start. The nearer the front of the title tag, the more important the page is viewed by Google. That means if you have several keywords you are targeting and you will probably have hundreds you need separate pages with individual title tags that are specific to each keyword.
But Googles attempts to deliver good material to its users dont stop with the title tag. One thing that research continues to find about search engine users is the fact that they want fresh content. They dont want to be faced with a web site that was last updated in 1997. Nor do they want to see the same, tired old list they saw last time they searched on a keyword. Consequently, Google is always on the lookout for new content for a keyword. And in the past few years it has stumbled upon a fantastically easy way of doing that blogs.
Blogs contain the date within the text of the page and that makes it easy for Google to see if the material is new. Moreover, each blog entry has a different title tag the headline you type in when you make a posting. That means its dead easy for Google to work out what should be top of their list for a particular keyword. Its the most recent blog entry for the keyword. Tests with various blogs have shown this to be the case with blog postings appearing within the top five of a search for a keyword within an hour or two of the posting being made. If blogging had been around when Google began they probably wouldnt have had to spend gazillions on developing their famed algorithm.
So heres a strategy for ensuring that you get to the top of the search engines for the keywords you are targeting. Firstly, get your list of keywords organised use Wordtracker at www.wordtracker.com if you havent yet worked out what words to target. Once you have your words, create a blog using www.blogger.com and get writing. Make sure that the keywords you are targeting are as near the front of your headline (the subject in Blogger) as possible. Thats it. Keep publishing as many blog entries as possible using your keywords in the subject. You will then be creating fresh pages with your keywords automatically set as the title tag by Blogger. You will then find your pages are indexed quickly and rise to high place rankings within Google often higher than established web sites that have been in the Google index for years.
Graham Jones is a psychologist who has investigated the way people use the Internet. His own blog is at http://www.grahamjones.co.uk
Social Bookmarking... Confused? Youre Not Alone
By Theresa Cahill
The word is out that social bookmarking is the thing, that special flavor of the month (or year or decade?), but only by taking it in small steps have I been able to figure out some of its ins and outs.
The long and short of social booking is, it is a way to save your Favorites folder (or portions thereof) online. This means no matter where in the world you happen to be, as long as you've got a connection to the internet, you just log into your social bookmarking account and voila! at your fingertips are all of the important urls you might find yourself needing - but without access to - since your computer is sitting home and you're not.
Now that is a good idea! Saves uploading a bunch of urls to your domain, or remembering to send them to your Aunt Sally before you visit, on the off chance you'll need to remember that special something while you're away.
(By the by, it's also a quick way to actually use your home computer. I don't know about you, but my Favorites folder is virtually useless at this point.)
But, there's even more to social bookmarking then easy access. You can also share this information with others. Your friends, family, co-workers, subscribers, whoever, can easily see what you've been uncovering on the web and decide, at that point, if it's something so useful and/or interesting that they, too, would like to access it easily through their own social bookmarking account.
The logical step from there (since I'm assuming that you are reading this because you, too, are interested in new ways to market on the net) is to find a way to tie bookmarking to your service and/or website.
If this is all new to you, too, head here: http://del.icio.us/ This is a very popular social bookmarking service.
You'll see numerous urls listed on their main page, and since we're just getting the hang of this (assuming you don't already have an account and are way ahead of my learning curve level), let's practice :)
Beside each of these web page entries are the faint words "save this."
Put your mouse over the "save this" and click. If you have an existing del.icio.us account, it will take you to the log in page for your account (for you smart ones!). If you don't have an account yet, you'll be given the opportunity to create one now.
After creating your account and logging in, you'll see an area on your screen where the url you've chosen to bookmark is awaiting your description and/or notes and/or tags.
For our purpose, initially bookmarking our first entry, you need not worry about this too much at this time. Give it a description and/or tag that will make sense to you. You can delete it later.
Hit the save button and voila! You've got the beginnings of your social bookmarking!
At this point, under your "settings" area (upper right hand of screen in del.icio.us) you can do any number of things. Importing your current Favorites folder (or portions thereof) is available. Explore!
Now that you're on the road to social bookmarking comes the fun part... telling others what you're doing.
If you have a website, you can easily add (assuming you do your own webmastering or know the rudiments of copying and pasting) a "save this page" to any and all of your important webpages within your site. Use the "help" link, then read "For Publishers" under the Feeds and Tools section. That's where you'll find the code.
In addition, you'll want to share you're newly found method of communication with others. Get your family, friends, subscribers, mailing list involved in bookmarking your small chunk (del.icio.us listing) of the social bookmarking web.
Then, make use of it! Don't just load it up with junk. If you're a writer and find interesting writer's resources add them to your account. If you're a news junkie and track particular newsworthy items, post those!
As you get more and more familiar with social bookmarking, you'll understand the importance of "tagging" your information correctly. According to del.icio.us, your page goes on the front page (I've yet to see any of mine though) and also is filed away under sub-indexing using those all-important tags.
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A LAYMAN'S EXPLANATION OF TAGS:
If you're just bookmarking stuff online for yourself, no worries, but tags are critical to your marketing social bookmarking success.
Tags are sort of like mini meta desciptions. Tags cannot be inserted into a regular html page (don't bother trying to put them on your website, they won't do anything but take up space).
Tags are basically equal to metas and content. However, tags are used in blogs and rss feeds. They are the trigger words for online feeds to categorize (more or less) what it is you're writing about and posting. Obviously tying your words to popular tags will be very important.
http://del.icio.us/tag/ is a huge list of popular and not so popular currently used tags. My advice would be to be sure you've got the Google toolbar installed. As you click on some tags, check the page ranking (little green bar) on your Google toolbar. That will help you see how popular (or not) that particular "tag" is... and remember you don't have to "follow the crowd." You can choose tags "not so popular." Then, when others pick up on those tags, you're already ahead of the game :)
In the future, give your tags some very serious thought! Your tags will brand your own posted entries.
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I'll admit, I've only just scratched the surface so far. I don't claim to be an expert (that's obvious), but I do know that with further education and implementation, social bookmarking as a marketing tool is definitely worth the effort.
And... like all new things takes a bit of fumbling around before we get it right.
So ahead! Get started! See where it leads you - the next brainstorm idea is only a few minutes (okay maybe hours or days) away! :)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Theresa Cahill is the owner of My Wizard Ads. Her job is to make your online advertising experience as effective and effortless as possible. My Del.icio.us
Reference: social booking
by Theresa Cahill Copyright 2006 - All Rights Reserved
Adsense Cash: Google in the Right Direction
By Mark Robinson
Adsense is the lesser understood advertising medium offered by google.. It still seems that adwords gets most of the attention? Basically adwords allows you to display targeted advertising on google and its network of partners..A very powerful thing indeed. Adsense on the other hand allows you to make a cut of the money that google make from these advertisers by hosting the ads on you site...The clever thing about adsense is that it uses google's technology to decided on the most relevant ads for your site's content.. As usual with google relevance is the cornerstone of their success and mission in cyberspace!
To implement adsense and start making money, you need a website and you need to sign up for adsense www.google.com/adsense. When you apply, your website will be assessed by one of googles team.. basically they are checking for decent content. It doesn't need to be anything special, just not riddled with blue material, dodgy downloads, missing links etc.. not that I would think any of you guys would do such things ;o)
So, lets say you've now been accepted for adsense and are ready to add some adverts to your website. Adsense makes this very easy indeed through a setup screen on the adsense site.. You can build an advert column in various sizes and colour configurations to fit with your site design.. This is a very important aspect. Your adverts should look totally integrated with your site.. It makes them less easy to scan past but your readers and invariably gets more attention and looks more professional.. I advise actually wrapping the ads with text from you site..
So how do you make cash out of this.. Well, when ever your site traffic clicks on an ad, you get paid.. Simple as that.. The more traffic your site gets and the better presented the ad, the more click throughs you will get and the more money you will make. There are things you can do to optimise this.. Google uses your body text, keywords and titles (h1 and h2) amongst other things to decide which ads to display in your ad box.. This is done dynamically each time your page is loaded..The secret is to help yourself by using keywords and phrases that you know are good money makers, but still highly relevant to your site..You can find these by using a good keyword tool, check the bio link for suggestions in this area.. There are some corkers available.. Alternatively a simple google search using the possible keywords will give an indication..count how many sponsored ads are displayed for your keywords.. The more ads, the more competition and more money people are likely to be paying therefore if google is displaying the same results on you page, you will be making a cut of the cash from these more competitive ads..simple!
To take this to a more advanced level, imagine a website that you have built with lots if good info on various topics.. say a gardening site full of 1 page articles on various gardening dilemas and tips.. Firstly lets get some traffic so do a few link requests and forum entries around the web promoting your articles and tips..If your content is OK, you will start to get a few links and build some passive traffic from the bigger sites.. now start to flavour a few of the pages with some highly competitive keywords for your topic and ad your adsense code.. These free links and traffic will start to make you money.. keep adding info, pages and get more incoming links and before you know it you can be making a decent bit of extra pocket money, or offsetting your google adwords spend considerably. Other techniques which can make massive amounts of cash include buying cheap traffic from cheaper Pay per click providers like miva.com and then adding your highly profitable keywords and adsense code to you pages.. This way you are not reliant on free traffic to make money.. Over several hundred pages, this method can be used to generate buckets of cash.
Mark Robinson used this technique to make money online every day.. Mark also suggests you check out the following page for a list of essential adsense resources, primarily http://www.adsense-videos.com - "easily the best beginer/ intermediate guide on the web for making money quickly with adsense using a wide range of techniques"- Mark Robinson
How to Find Time For Marketing
By Bernadette Doyle
A big challenge for every small business owner is the need to 'find time' for marketing.
I can relate. None of us are full time marketers. We're all providing services to clients. And when you're serving clients too, it's hard to fit in sales calls and marketing activity. It's hard to maintain momentum.
One thing is for sure, whatever shape our business is in right now, we all have the same 365 days in 2006.
Will you use that time to create a structure that supports you and brings in clients automatically, or will you still be complaining about 'lack of time' when 2007 rolls around?
Despite being one of the most disorganised people on the planet, and someone who was earning all my income from selling my time just 18 months ago, I have managed to create an 'autopilot' marketing machine, generate passive streams of income, and I now earn more than I ever have, whilst working less hours. I truly believe that you can do the same, so in this article I want to share with you a few ideas that may help if you've been having trouble 'finding time'.
1. If you don't enjoy it, you'll never 'find the time'
If the idea of marketing and selling your services leaves you with a yucky feeling in the pit of your stomach, then let me assure you, you'll never 'find time'. As long as you feel like this, there will always be a more attractive activity pulling your attention. Even if your fairy godmother gifted you with two whole weeks, you'd still find ways to avoid marketing and selling. It's called 'Creative Avoidance'. Is your problem is really a 'lack of time' or are you creatively avoiding marketing and selling?
2. If your business isn't structured properly, you'll never find the time
If meeting your revenue goals is dependent upon you working with clients 4-5 days a week, then it's going to be really hard to find time for marketing. You may need to take a closer look at your pricing structures and put together a business plan that includes time for marketing, administration, rest, and time to reinvest in yourself. E-Myth author Michael Gerber calls this working 'on' the business, not just 'in' the business. My own experience was that I had to simultaneously increase my prices whilst slashing overheads to create a situation where I did have time to work on my business.
If you're working flat out just to keep afloat, then you definitely need to take a closer look at what you are charging.
3. If your only way of generating income is by selling your time, then you'll never 'find the time for marketing.'
Somehow you need to break this catch 22, and the way to do that is by 'productising' your services. Sharing your expertise through a book, an audio package.
I know, I know! You're too busy working with clients to have the time to create products. The good news is, there is a way to create revenue producing products that does not have to take hours of your time.
The first product I ever created was simply a recording of a day long seminar that I ran. That product brought in 7,000 additional profit over the next 12 months, with no extra work on my part. Be creative. Is it possible to package material and information that you already have in a way that creates value for your clients and customers? A little bit of effort right now could be repaying you over and over for the next twelve months.
4. If you aren't clear on what the next action is, you'll never 'find the time for marketing'.
Think about an area of your marketing that you're struggling to find time for. I'm willing to bet that you're thinking of it as a project as opposed to a single action: 'Sorting out my website', 'rewriting my sales letter', 'building my opt-in list'. These are projects, the success of which depends on a series of actions plus knowledge. It's hard to move projects along when you think of them in this way. It's your thinking that needs to change, not time!
I learned this technique from time management guru David Allen. He says 'often the simplest things are stuck because we haven't made a final decision yet about the next action.' What can happen is we think about the project and some part of us thinks, 'I don't have all the pieces between here and there'. We know something is missing, but we're not sure what it is exactly, so we quit. Or rather we don't quit, but we leave the project stuck on our psychological radar, for us to feel a little bit worse about every time we think of it.
Take an area of your marketing where you feel a bit stuck and ask yourself 'What's the next action?' So 'I need to sort out my website' may become 'I need to create a website which attracts visitors and converts them into customers' which may become 'I need to find 3 role models of successful business producing websites in my industry' may become 'I need to spend 30 minutes online researching websites'. It's much easier to find 30 minutes to take the next action than it is to find time to 'sort out your website'.
In summary, you deserve to have a successful business and I promise you that whatever myths you've been fed, you can create that business without struggle, sacrifice or hours of extra work. If 'finding time' has been a problem for you, maybe it's your thinking that needs to change rather than your 'time management.'
(c) Bernadette Doyle, 2006. Reprint rights granted to all venues so long as the article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links made live.
Bernadette Doyle is dedicated to helping self-employed and small businesses become Client Magnets. Get her FREE report "7 Secrets of Becoming A Client Magnet and Attracting All the Clients You Want" by visiting http://www.clientmagnets.com
Building a Content Rich Website - Part 2
By Byron Stuart
Lots of quality content is the key to lots of traffic. What does this mean and why is it so?
Derek Gehl (from http://www.marketingtips.com/) says that the vast majority of people surfing the net are are looking for information. This also means that they are not looking to buy. It then follows in most cases that if they click through to a site that is obviously trying to make a sale they are unlikely to stay on that site.
So how do you provide visitors to your site with the sort of content they're looking for? Firstly you need to find out the sort of questions that your target market is asking. Once you know those sort of questions you can set about finding the answers either yourself or paying someone to do it for you.
It is worthwhile at this point to check that you actually know your target market well because if you don't know what you're aiming at then how are you going to hit the target? You should also be careful not to target too broad a market because then you will have a lot of competition, potentially limiting your ability to make money. Do some keyword research (a good place to start is http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/) to help you find out if you should narrow your target market.
How can you find out the sort of questions your target market is looking to find answers for? There are several ways you can do this. One of the easiest ways is to spend time in user forums specific to your target market. In those forums you can easily read the sort of questions people are asking.
If the answers are readily available (web, library etc) then you can simply reproduce those answers (being careful not to infringe copywrite) on your site. If the answers are hard to find then this signals a great opportunity for you to get the answers, possibly even a potential product you could create!
Another way to research your target market is to set up a survey on your site and do some targeted advertising requesting people to help you with some market research. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how many people who are struggling to find answers will be willing to do this. It is best to be upfront about your intentions for collecting the market research. Why not just tell them that you are going to answer their questions once you've determined the issues that are of the most importance to the target audience. The reward for those who are generous enough to fill out your survey is they will be glad for the new content you provide and you could even give them a free copy of your new product if you create one. If you do have a product this also gives you a potential source for obtaining the all important testimonials you need for your sales copy when you officially launch it.
An alternative way to research your target market is to try and do a joint venture with someone who already has an established audience in a similar niche/topic. Of course if you do it this way you need to be very careful that you frame it such a way that it is a win-win for you both. Also you need to ensure that you don't give them the opportunity to steal your product idea before you have formally made any binding arrangements. If you are able to negotiate through these initial hurdles then you will have the captive audience that you can ask questions of.
So once you have clearly identified the target market and established through careful research (not by guesswork) what sort of content they would appreciate you are then ready to go ahead and create that content! This is easy to do even if you're not a writer and will be the subject of my next article.
Byron is an internet marketer, author and software developer. To find out how to build content rich profitable websites quickly and easily see http://www.ultimatecontentcreator.com
Marketing Is About Relevance
By Phil Grisolia
A marketing message without relevance is useless. It�s a waste of your time and money. But more important than that, it�s a wasted opportunity, a wasted chance to communicate effectively with would-be or present buyers of your Stuff, your products or services.
Let�s take a look at the three primary areas of relevance. For a marketing effort to be effective, your message � the point you�re trying to communicate � has to be relevant to your audience � the people who see or hear that message � and, at the same time, relevant to your product/service � whatever Stuff you�re trying to sell.
It may be easier for you to understand the importance of relevance if I share with you some examples. We can do that by taking a look at a few ads you�ve almost certainly seen on TV. I�ll be discrete and not mention the advertisers by name. But I�m sure you�ll recognize them.
First, there�s the TV spot for a luxury car maker that starts out showing water flowing into an overhead trough. The camera pans a little wider and you see a car enter your screen from the right. The water from the trough splashes over the car, then the car quickly exits left. But, remarkably, the falling water retains the outline of the car. Off camera a deep, dramatic, male voice says, �A line has been drawn.�
Where�s the relevance? What�s so outstanding about the car that this spot makes you want to buy it? The fact that the car can get splashing water to retain its outline? What�s the spot�s CTA � it�s call to action � what the advertiser wants you to do? Can you even remember the name the car? But you know for sure that ��a line has been drawn.�
Then there�s the soup-slurping boob who can�t seem to pry a soup container away from his mouth. With head tilted back, stumbling blindly around an office while making all sorts of ugly sounds, he bumps into walls, partitions and people. Ultimately he ends up in a cubicle that�s not his, and plops down on the lap of a fellow employee.
Where�s the relevance? Did the advertiser even mention taste? Nourishment? Price? Variety? Or do they mean that if you drink their brand of soup you, too, will be struck dumb and act like an idiot? As for the spot�s CTA, does it make you want you to run right out and buy their soup? They sure didn�t say that. They barely implied it.
Don�t waste time implying. If you�ve got something you want people to do, tell �em! Nicely, of course, but spell it out for them in words they can understand.
Then there�s the commercial featuring father and son sitting side by side in a sports car, the son behind the wheel. Son guns engine, tires leave 50 feet of rubber on pavement, father sits grinning proudly at son, asks son if he wants to repeat the behavior.
The theme of the spot is one word, �BOLD.� In fact, that�s been an ongoing theme of a number of similarly senseless spots lately by this same �nobody-is-buying-our-cars-any-more� car/truck maker.
Where�s the relevance? When was the last time you sat calmly in your car while your son or daughter did a burn out? And of course you encouraged him or her to do it again, right? OK, so they�re selling a particular brand of sports car, but to whom? To parents who are idiots? To teenagers who can�t afford the 25 grand price tag?
The spot obviously says the car is fast � well, at least quick. But does it saying anything about style, engineering, quality, service, price, warranty, any of those things � beside fast, that is � to make you want to buy that car? No, the voice-over talks about �BOLD.�
There�s nothing bold about that spot, or any other spot in the series, actually. While the story lines differ from spot to spot, the lack of relevance is obvious in them all. You have to wonder if the lack of relevance might be one of the things responsible for the company being in its present �nobody-is-buying-our-cars-any-more� position.
Anyway, that�s relevance. Actually, the lack of it. But you get the idea. Whatever your marketing efforts may include, make it a point to check them for relevance � what you�re saying, to whom, about whatever Stuff it is you�re selling.
ฉ 2006, Philip A. Grisolia, CBC
Phil Grisolia is an accredited Certified Business Communicator (CBC), author, educator, business coach, and an award-winning copywriter. His latest book, a 137-page how-to ThinkBook� is titled �101 Questions You MUST Answer BEFORE You Start A Business.� To learn more about Phil and the help he provides for his clients, visit him at http://PhilGrisolia.com . While there, sign up for his free his best-in-class newsletter, Making Sense of Marketing�.
Best Places to Market Your Book
By Bette Daoust, Ph.D.
If you have ever dreamed of writing that best seller so that you can sit back and let the money roll in, think again - there are over 170,000 new book titles published each year and the number is growing. So how can you make sure your book is always on the shelf? That depends on what you do to market your book and yourself.
Some authors I have met do not like author tours as they think they are a waste of time. I somewhat agree but if you take a look at these tours from another angle, they may be just what you want. Before you begin a tour, make a decision on how much time and money you want to spend on your tour. Yes, tour will cost you money, especially if they are away from where you live. Plan your tour to include more than just bookstores. If you have written a book about pets, then include pet stores in the area as well. Have the stores buy several books before your appearance and let them know that you will sign all of the copies for other customers that could not attend the book signing. Nice way to sell a case of books rather than just one or two.
If you are a speaker, there is always the opportunity to sell books at the back of the room. If you are not a speaker, then find one that would love to sell your book at the back of their room. Split the profits and you will both be happy.
Take your books with you where ever you go, that means, car, train, plane, boat. Always have a book. I had the privilege of selling 6 cases of books to a corporation because I sat beside someone in a plane that was looking for a book on promoting their company through networking.
Be relentless and shameless when it comes to marketing your book. People will buy if you are excited about the book.
Bette Daoust, Ph.D. is a speaker, author (over 170 books, articles, and publications), and consultant. She has provided marketing, sales, business development and training expertise for companies such as Peet's Coffee & Tea, Varian Medical Systems, Accenture, Avaya, Cisco Systems to name a few. Dr. Daoust has also done extensive work with small businesses in developing their marketing, training, and operational plans. You may contact Dr. Daoust at http://theNationalNetworker.com
Youve Got Mail
By Bill Platt
For the last 30 years, the most popular computer application on the Internet has been email. 30 Years? Yes. The first email application was built in 1971 and upgraded in 1972. With the upgrade, email became a widely used and really popular computer application. But, 30 years? Yes indeed. Don't take my word for it, check out "Hobbes' Internet Timeline - the Definitive ARPAnet and Internet History" at:
http://www.zakon.org/robert/Internet/timeline/
Granted, most of us had never heard much if anything at all about the Internet until the mid 1990's. The world's first Internet "browser" was released in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee for the scientific (physics) community. In 1993, Mosaic was unleashed and it took the Internet by storm.
Until the release of Mosaic, the net was strictly for nerds, government employees, scientists and university's. The net was restricted pretty much to command line use of email, document storage and databases. With the release of Tim Berners-Lee's browser, and then Mosaic, the web finally had a visual interface.
1993 was year that the flood gates began to open. With Mosaic coming online, the White House finally got its own domain at:
http://www.WhiteHouse.gov
and Bill Clinton became the first U.S. President ever to have his own email address: president@whitehouse.gov
Though the technology and speed of the Internet has constantly changed throughout the last 30 years, one thing has not changed, the popularity of email.
"Email is one of the 'Killer Apps' of the computer world. Email is the most successful communications technology since the television, and in a few years will even surpass that. There are currently more than 891 million email accounts in use Worldwide and 440 million in the U.S. alone - with an average of more than 4 email accounts per person." (Messaging Today - 2000 Electronic Mailbox Report - Feb. 21, 2001)
The top providers for email service in the world today are Hotmail (with 86 million users), Yahoo (with 53 million users) and AOL (with 30 million users).
Email has become so popular that in 1998, Hollywood made a movie about two people who used email to get to know one another and fall in love. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan starred in the hit movie "You've Got Mail," named for the most cherished voice message on the AOL service.
http://youvegotmail.warnerbros.com/
Statistics show that the majority of people check their email first before they do anything else. In fact, people spend the vast majority of their time online reading and answering emails.
While managing multiple email accounts might seem like the biggest challenge facing Internet users today, it is not. The biggest challenge is having one computer and a household full of people who want to check their email. I run a business online, but if I do not give the computer up to my wife once in awhile, I would not want to live in my house anymore.
Remember when AOL decided to give their customers seven accounts so that everyone in the family could have their own email address and profile? At first it seemed like a good idea... Then it started... Now you have four people standing behind you begging to check their email! And the joy of AOL, you have to log off of one account to check email from another account. What a bear.
The good news is that as with the progression of the Internet over the last 30 years, new technological breakthroughs are always improving our lives. In the last few years, email notification systems have come into being. Email Notification software enables you to check multiple email accounts through one handy little application.
In the early days of email notification software, the interfaces were clumsy and difficult to use. This may explain why less than one half of one percent of the net population has ever downloaded one of these applications. If you were to total up number of downloads for email notification software on CNET, ZDNet, and TUCOWS combined, it would not be surprising if the total did not exceed 500,000 downloads in the last five years.
Most people do not even realize that applications like this exist. What is more, people who have heard about them often assume that only a computer guru would be knowledgeable enough to set it up. Maybe that was the case... in the old days, but certainly not today.
Today, we have available to us a program called ePrompter (http://www.eprompter.com?ep2) which is a Free email retrieval and notification utility that automatically checks up to eight password protected email accounts for AOL, AltaVista, Earthlink, Email.com, Hotmail, Juno, Lycos, Mail.com, Mindspring, Netscape, POP3, Rediffmail, USA, Yahoo, ZDNetOneBox and hundreds of other email domains --- all at the same time.
ePrompter is great. I do not have to let my wife or the kids have the computer to check their email anymore. I can keep my ePrompter open and show them that there is nothing there for them to check. I do not even have to log off of my primary AOL account to check the email inside of another AOL account. ePrompter painlessly handles the details for me.
What is more, I can watch the rotating tray icon down by my clock, which keeps me appraised of how many emails are in each account by their individual color coded icons. The icon rotates every few seconds telling me how many emails sit in each account I have programmed into my system. ePrompter even has a screen saver that keeps tabs on my email accounts with the color coded images that tell me how many emails are waiting for me to view them in each account. Now I can sit in front of the television and watch my favorite show and glance at the screen saver to see if that important mail I have been waiting for has arrived.
ePrompter even has its very own notification sound which is the equivalent of "You've Got Mail."
Copyright Bill Platt - All Rights Reserved
Bill Platt is the owner of http://www.LinksAndTraffic.com
- When you are tired of the struggle of the link building process, it might be time to consider our "Links And Traffic" services.
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Affiliate Niche Marketing Explained
By James Bacon
The biggest mistake newcomers make is targeting keywords that have millions of competition. They think that since the more competition a keyword has, that must mean that keyword is making a profit, right? Yes, that�s correct. The problem with this thinking is, unless you�re a big expert at SEO (search engine optimization)� it�s almost impossible to rank high for a keyword that has millions of competition. That�s where Affiliate Niche Marketing comes in.
The little guys like us needs to target low-competition keywords, but with a high enough search volume to make us a profit. It sounds hard, but it�s quite easy. For example, the keyword �crab� has over 18,000 searches per month according to overture, but it has over 25 million competitions according to Google. Instead of building a website around the keyword �crab�, we should target more detailed keywords such as �cake crab recipe�. There are a high enough search volume to make a profit (over 8,000 searches per month) and less than 4,000 competitions according to Google. With only 4,000 competitions, it�s almost a guarantee that you can get into the top 10 listing in Google with a little SEO (search engine optimization).
Niche marketing is a must for newcomers in the game. Do not try to fool yourself by targeting high-competition keywords. A niche can make you rich if you can find an undiscovered gem that no one has found yet. Believe it or not, I�ve made up to $800/day from a niche that wasn�t discovered yet. It�s not luck either, it�s hard work. Also, the traffic was free (Google). Since niches come with almost zero competition, it�s very easy to get into the top 10 listing of any search engines with a little knowledge of SEO (search engine optimization).
So instead of trying to compete with top companies who target those hard volume searched keywords, we should target low volume searched keywords called niches which increases our chance of having no competition.
James Bacon is an Expert at Niche Marketing and Owns Affiliate Internet Marketing
It Isnt Creative Unless It Sells
By Roy MacNaughton
Are your advertisements �creative�? By the term �creative�, I mean do they really stand out on the page or in the listener�s ear? Are they noticeable, memorable, and impression-making? In order for your ads to be productive for your business, they have to be first noticed, then understood, then accepted as valid or valuable, then acted upon. They eventually should result in making sales of your product or service. Do you remember all those dot.com television ads on the Super Bowl a few years ago? Each of those thirty second spots cost more than $ 2 million to air. Granted, this was the largest audience in the world, so the advertisers� reach was the farthest possible. But who were they reaching? How much of that money was wasted because only 40% of their target group was watching or couldn�t buy? Our focus here today, though, is with the creative aspect of the ad. On the day after the telecast, who remembered the ads? I only remembered the �dog puppet� driv ing in a truck. It might have been the most creative spot; but who was the sponsor? [I know that it was Pets.com, but most people tested after the telecast, couldn�t recall what the sock puppet was about. Where is Pets.com today? Go ahead, click on it and check it out.] It�s not enough to have an ad that is noticed and even remembered, if you don�t link it up with the company paying for the ad. This sock puppet ad wanted us to remember this funny, creative ad in direct connection with Pets.com�a place to buy everything for your pet. They probably succeeded better than all the other dotcoms who spent huge sums to get some attention.
When you are planning your ads either with the media representative or your own advisors (such as an ad agency or creative house), give them explicit marching orders and directions as to what you want to accomplish with your ad. Be precise in terms of how many and what goals you want to reach. Remember that most ads are not capable of accomplishing all your goals in one ad. Some ads may be designed just to get attention and link you as the sponsor. Others may be part of an ongoing �campaign� building on each other to continue actions on the part of the prospective consumer. Still others are produced to elicit a very specific response: immediate sales. Some call this �retail� advertising. This is supposed to stimulate immediate action on the part of the customer to buy something...now. An example would be a special sale that has a definite beginning and end. �One day only. Derf�s is offering all shoes in their Main Street store at 70% off regular price s. This is truly a gate-crasher�s special. Remember, the sale ends precisely at 6 p.m. tomorrow!� This is obviously designed to produce the immediate sales of shoes.
Sometimes it�s wise to have a brand-building ad in front of your audience every week, so they know you are still a pillar of the community; how to reach you; what you stand for; where you�re located. This type of advertising is usually only suggested when you have a long-established brand name that you�ve developed over years. You can then afford to simply �announce� your continued presence. Don�t try brand image advertising if you�re a start-up, or you have not yet built a strong reputation in the marketplace. Use announcement and informational ads to establish your identity and advantages. This can be where a great web site comes in handy. Use your print, radio or television ad to direct visitors to your web site. It should go without saying, that in every ad you produce from now on, always include your web site address.
Creativity is an important part of producing ads that work.However, being toocreative can be a trap; being not creative enough relegates you to the garbage can. Finding the best recipe can be tricky; but extremely rewarding. ฉCopyright, Roy MacNaughton, 2007
Roy MacNaughton is a niche marketing coach and business writer. He�s a seasoned marketer, with more than 30 years of international marketing and franchising experience, including nine years online. His soon-to-be-published e-book, (Marketing Yours), teaches solo practitioners, entrepreneurs and professionals how to market their most important product. Learn more at his blog: http://www.UmarketingU.com
The Entrepreneurial Dynamics of Marketing to a Group
By Chris King
Consider the advantages of making a helpful presentation to a group. This is a super way to get the word out about you, your business and expertise.
Chambers of Commerce, many companies and all kinds of associations are always searching for interesting speakers. Once you feel comfortable with your presentation skills, offer to give a luncheon, dinner or brown-bag lunch speech about some aspect of what you do and know to their group. You will probably perform this service for free or a meal (some speakers call this the "rubber chicken" circuit), but it can pay off big time with contacts and prospective clients.
Use the presentation skills of top-notch speakers. Professional speakers have a passion for their topics. Let the group you are presenting to know how passionate you are about what you do. If you aren't passionate about it, you will find it impossible to sell to others. Take time to look everyone in the eye (for at least three seconds is the recommended amount of time). Most people equate this with credibility, integrity and self confidence.
Take your time when you ask and answer questions, avoiding those fill-ins like "ah," "um," and "you know." A well-placed pause shows that you are thoughtful and calm. We tend to talk fast when we are nervous and nervousness will worry a prospective client. Speak clearly and articulately. If you feel that you could use some work on your speaking, join a Toastmasters group. This is an international organization with clubs everywhere that generally meet weekly to help members improve their presentation skills.
Beware the person who thinks he or she knows more than you do. When making a presentation to a group, we must discern who the people are who are interested in our services and those who are skeptical. It is often the skeptical know-it-all who needs most of your attention. Give him or her credit for what they do know, saying, "That's a good point, but I have found �" or "What a great question! This is how I see it." Think to yourself, "If I can win this person's approval, he or she will become one of my greatest allies."
If someone asks a question or broaches a problem where you are not sure of the answer, don't be afraid to say, "I am not positive about that. Give me your number or e-mail address, and I will have the answer for you before �" (And, of course, be true to your word.) Along that same line, remember that honesty is the best policy.
Just remember, leave intimidation at home. Once you have presented to several groups and in different situations, you will find that the group interaction is exciting and exhilarating and can also provide you with hours and dollars worth of work.
Chris King is a free agent, professional speaker, storyteller, writer, website creator / designer, and fitness instructor. Chris has what she calls a �Portfolio Career� --many careers at the same time. If you wonder if you could handle and love having a �Portfolio Career� you will find a free assessment to take at http://www.creativekeys.biz
What You Need to Start a Home Business
By Gerry Lewis
If you are interested in starting a homes business you are not alone. Every year thousands of people start their own home business, and thousands more think about doing it in the near future. Starting a homes business can be a very profitable venture in more ways than one. First off, you will be able to control your own destiny. All of the money that your home business makes comes directly to you. Gone are the days when you are working to make money for your boss who is sitting on a mound of cash. At the same time, you are going to gain personal freedom as well.
When you own your own home business you do not have to answer to anybody but yourself. If you want to take a day off because you are tired, you can do so. If you want to watch the kids, there will be no problem with that either. But before you can take advantage of all of the freedom and profits of a home business, you will first need to take a couple of very important steps.
First off, you cannot have a successful home business without an idea first. You will want to choose a business venture that really excites you. Remember, you are going to be dealing with your home business day in and day out so you will want to do something that truly interests you. After you come up with a home business idea, you will then need to determine where you are going to work.
Many people do not have a spare room that they can turn into an office, so there are only a couple of options available to them. First off, you can turn an existing room into your office space. This can be easily done by converting half of your bedroom to an office. If you still don�t have enough space, you may want to consider building onto your existing home. If you can afford this option you will be able to get exactly what you want, and have your own space to work in. After the office space comes all of the supplies that you are going to need in order to run a successful home business.
First off, you are definitely going to need a computer. There are very few businesses in today�s day and age that can be run without the help of a computer. To go along with your computer you will also need to purchase a printer, and probably a fax machine. Both of these will come in handy as your home business grows. Don�t forget about paper, pens, and anything else that you will need for your desk. Overall, a homes business can be very profitable. Just make sure that you plan everything out before getting started.
About the author:
To find the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit: http://www.MakeItBigForLife.com
Re-evaluating The Purpose Of An E-Zine
By Dan J. Fry
With all of the push these days to publish an E-Zine as an online marketer, deciding whether to accept articles and paid advertising is becoming nothing more than a quick second thought. As E-Zines are increasingly turning into mere tools to generating sales, people are turning more to pre-written content. Are E- Zines loosing their aire of freshness as an outlet for true discussion?
I personally subscribe to numerous E-Zines just to see what others are writing about. Most simply circulate the same articles written by a chosen few without writing any original content themselves. Coming up with clean fresh ideas truly takes work, but don't you owe it to your subscribers?
Times are busy and life is rushing by. People simply do not have the time to sit and read every article, commentary, or advertisement that passes their eyes. As the commercial marketplace becomes increasingly saturated with hype after hype, people are developing a keen sense about worthwhile
I like to think of my weekly E-Zine issue as a get together with your closest friends over coffee, wine, a beer, or whatever they wish to entertain. Would you repeat the identical conversation week after week?
When just starting out with your E-Zine, your relationship with your subscribers is analogous to a first date. It is the same for authors who publish in other E-Zines or for inclusion of outside ads in your publication. Subscribers just don't know anything about you.
Why not build a relationship with your subscribers? They came to you wanting information. Don't simply give them "cut and paste". Give them you. Add freshness. Add your insight. Your humor. Your perspective. If you honestly talk to them they will listen. Your friends would. Wouldn't they?
I don't pretend for one minute that building this relationship will be easy, only fruitful. There are a few guidelines that will maximize the strength of our subcriber relationship.
- Be honest and let it come across in your writing sent to your subscribers.
- Send your online publication on a periodic basis at the same time and on the same day. This is the begining of trust. People want to know when to expect receiving correspondence from you.
- Give weekly updates as to what they can expect in the future issues. No surprises builds trust. Moreover if you focus on content and write captivating articles your readers will sit in anticipation of the next discussion. Tell them that the list is tentative to leave yourself a bit of flexibility.
- Refrain from advertisements or sales copy when building your list.
After you take time to put yourself into your E-Zine, then decide if you want to let anyone else in. Don't be tempted by the quickness of using someone else's content and profits from paid advertising. Develop first a high content electronic publication. Self satisfaction, praise, and the esteem of others will result.
About The Author
Dan J. Fry is an independent researcher and owner of e-kinetic@GetResponse.com or by visiting his Home Based Business site.
comp@e-kinetic.com
Online Advertising and Marketing Can Boost Your Business
By Eldonna Lendor
By all measures, the success of the local small business sector in maintaining its share of the market lies in online advertising and marketing strategies. Already, large businesses in the more developed member states in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) are using interactive computer technologies to compete for customers in the region and to expand into overseas markets.
These businesses have realised that strengthening their relationship with their existing and prospective customers and seizing opportunities for low cost expansion into other markets is essential for their survival, in what has become an increasingly competitive environment.
Customer relationship building, quick feedback and product customisation analogous to customer portfolio management in traditional advertising and marketing has become even more important in the present day business environment. New technologies and innovations in web based advertising; marketing and Internet promotion readily facilitate the kind of customer portfolio management and market expansion initiatives that this new economic environment demands of a small business.
More and more, the phenomenal impact of interactive computer technologies on low cost market expansion and its revolutionising of one on one customer management strategies, is pushing businesses to pursue online advertising and marketing. Consequently, integrating technology into their operations using web based customer relations strategies is now at the centre of the market expansion initiatives of many Trinidadian and Barbadian businesses.
Web based strategies are quickly becoming "the rage" since they readily facilitate online branding and sales force automation, and can drive sales and profits up even in the absence of a storefront, unlike the traditional advertising and marketing strategies.
What accounts for this trend? Specifically what has driven businesses in Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, and Barbados, for example, to increasingly undertake web based advertising and marketing campaigns? The answer lies firstly in the fact that the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market has given rise to a more competitive business environment and has precipitated the need for them to actively seek out opportunities for market entrenchment and penetration.
Secondly, interactive computer technologies that support online advertising and marketing offer competitive advantages over traditional advertising and marketing mediums. Innovations in online advertising and marketing strategies afford many businesses an advantage over their competitors since they lend effective support to businesses seeking:
- Superior customer portfolio management through the use of databases that enable enhanced customer contact;
- Mass customisation of products to allow for delivery of uniquely configured products in response to the unique interactions, needs and specifications of each customer;
- Targeting more customers while also reducing relative operating costs since these online strategies enable significant market expansion while maintaining relatively low overheads;
- Cost effective penetration of overseas markets without incurring the exorbitant cost associated with establishing a storefront or advertising and marketing through the traditional media in each new target market;
- More efficient implementation of Client Acquisition Strategies and Account Development Strategies using modern software applications;
- Affordable Internet marketing strategies that can readily enable a small business to cultivate and maintain strong relationships with the end users of its product, without having to expend significant resources; and
- Improving business performance by generating greater sales and profits while also achieving improved budgetary control.
In a quest to out do their competitors in the less developed regions of the CSME and to seize a competitive advantage over their main competitors, Barbadian businesses are aggressively pursuing online advertising and marketing campaigns to target customers in overseas markets while also entrenching brand loyalty among their local customers. These businesses have recognised that the future of the Caribbean business sector lies in online advertising and marketing strategies and are using this knowledge to impact their business performance.
Failure to devise appropriate customer relationship strategies and to position their businesses for expansion into emerging markets is predicted to be the key factors leading to the demise of many small businesses, particularly within the less developed CARICOM member states. Unfortunately, many small businesses have either failed to come to this realisation or have ignored this reality completely.
The introduction of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy and greater efforts by American and European companies to invest in emerging Caribbean and African markets have made the current business environment more dynamic and competitive. Already some small businesses have begun to fold under competition from larger firms pursuing aggressive advertising and marketing campaigns. Financial constraints often hinder the ability of small businesses under threat to generate an adequate response to the competition. This current trend means that small businesses must continuously adjust their advertising and marketing strategies and explore low cost product enhancement and market expansion opportunities to stay in line with or get ahead of the competition.
Larger businesses from the more developed CARICOM member states, China, America, and the European Union are quickly making inroads into the CARICOM market through the use of interactive computer technologies. Caribbean small businesses will need to capitalise on innovations in technology and marketing if they too are to enjoy a competitive edge. They must actively seek out opportunities to progressively leverage both current and prospective customer relationships.
The entry of larger businesses from foreign markets into the local business landscape makes it imperative for small businesses to aggressively undertake web based advertising and marketing strategies, in order to maintain customer loyalty and retain or expand their market share. In short, to survive the present economic environment, small businesses must begin to think way out of the box and to explore the advantages that online advertising and marketing can afford them. This is the only way that these small businesses can survive the onslaught of competition.
Unfortunately, under pressure to maintain low operating cost, almost crippling resource constraints and their lack of information on the affordability and opportunities that online advertising and marketing present to their businesses, these small businesses often ignore the potential for integrating technology into their sales and profit drives. Instead, they continue to undertake advertising and marketing campaigns through the traditional media, often at high cost, or to ignore the functions of advertising and marketing altogether.
What about you? Have you also fallen into this trap? What kind of customer relationship strategies is your business engaged in? Have financial constraints forced you to ignore advertising and marketing altogether? Are you stuck in the dark ages of outdated, traditional advertising and marketing campaigns while your competitors continue to make inroads into your market share? Do you wish you could integrate new technologies into your business and keep a cut above the rest?
Many small business managers want to embrace change and incorporate new advances in technology into their operations. They want to undertake more modern and innovative advertising and marketing strategies but are often constrained by finances or simply do not have sufficient knowledge of the ways in which online advertising and marketing can profit their business? Often, small businesses are unaware of affordable online advertising and marketing options while those fortunate enough to discover its benefits keep it a much-guarded secret.
There are many possibilities that online advertising and marketing offer for increasing sales and profits, penetrating new markets, better managing customer relationships and reducing operational costs. You will be pleasantly surprised to learn that enhanced customer relationship management using affordable new technologies is now an advantage that your small business can share.
Eldonna Lendor is a Corporate Attorney and Business Strategist. She is the CEO of Caribbean Vacation Resorts and publisher of eXplosion! an ezine which provides advice to small business entrepreneurs.
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