Internet Marketing Consultant - Marketing On The Internet

July 26, 2008

Using Forums To Build Backlinks

An important part of generating traffic to your website or blog is to rank highly in the search engine result pages. In addition to having good, relevant content on your site one of the best ways to increase your search ranking is to get high quality backlinks to your site. Backlinks are hyperlinks placed on another website which link to your site. The most powerful backlinks are one-way backlinks. This means that another website has links pointing to your site, but you don't have reciprocal links pointing back to theirs.

Using forums is a great way to get high quality one-way backlinks to your site. These links can generate direct traffic to your site, as people browsing the forum click your links in addition to raising your search engine ranking. But you have to be careful when using forums in this way. Do it wrong and you will be branded a spammer and most likely get your forum account closed. But if done correctly, forums can be a very powerful tool in your traffic generation arsenal.

Step 1: Find relevant forums
The key word here is 'relevant'. You want to be sure to find forums related to your niche - the topic of your website. The easiest way to do this is to go to Google and type in your topic along with the the word 'forum'. Let's say you have a blog on coin collecting. You'd type this into Google:

coin collecting forum

There are two reasons you want to find forums related to your niche. First, the search engines will usually give more weight to links pointing to your site if they come from sites centered around the same niche as your site. Secondly, you'll get much more direct traffic from a forum where the members are interested in your niche.

Step 2: Pick the best forums and join them
Now that you have found some forums you need to check them out and choose which ones to join. Click the links to visit about half a dozen of the top search results. Most forums will allow you to view the content without having to join, it's only when you want to start posting that you have to register. If you land on a forum that won't let you view unless you join, forget it and move on.

When looking for a forum to join you want to find ones that are popular, so look for those with a decent number of members. You also need to make sure those members are active. Go into one of the more popular forums categories and scan down the list of threads to see when the last posting was made. This information is usually in the right hand column of the forum threads table. If you see a lot of posts made in the last 24 hours, you've found a forum with lots of active members. With the content changing this often, the search engines should be all over that forum, which means that your links will get picked up quickly. Search engines tend to love sites with lots of frequently updated, relevant content. This is the type of forum you want to join.

Now there is just one more step before joining. You need to make sure this forum allows you to have a 'signature'. Jump into one of the more popular threads on the forum. Scroll down and look at the posts to see if anyone has a signature showing at the bottom of their post. There will usually be a horizontal line after the body of the post and some text and/or links underneath it. Often people just have a quote or witty saying, but sometimes they will have links as well. Not everyone will have a signature, but try to find some members who do. Signatures are crucial, because this is where you are going to put the links to your site.

When you find a forum that meets the criteria, follow the steps to register and confirm your membership. If you find just three or four forums that's plenty to start with.

Step 3: Set up your signature
After you login to the forum you should see a link to your user profile. Often this will be called 'User CP' or 'User Profile'. In the user profile area you can edit things like your avatar, your bio and preferences. Look for a link that says something like 'Edit signature' and click that. You'll see a text field where you can type in the text you want to appear beneath all your posts. This is where you'll put the backlinks to your site.

Forums use a special kind of code to allow members to format their posts. It's called BBCode and it's quite simple to use once you get the hang of it. Copy the examples below and change the URL and text to your URL and some catchy keyword-rich text. Paste the code into you signature box and save it.

Link to your website or blog with this code:

Learn how to start [url=http://www.mycoinblog.com/]Coin Collecting[/url] the easy way.

You can see in the code above where you need to edit the domain to be your domain. In this example, 'Coin Collecting' will be the anchor text for the link. This is where you want to put your keywords. Almost all forums will allow you to have a link in your signature.

If you want to make your signature bold, just add the bold tags around it like this:

[b]Learn how to start [url=http://www.mycoinblog.com/]Coin Collecting[/url] the easy way.[/b]

Most forums will allow you to bold the text in your signature. If you add the bold code and your signature still doesn't come out in bold then it's you know the bold formatting is not allowed.

Some forums will also allow you to change the color of the text, although the anchor text will come out as the default link color, usually blue. Here's how you change the text color:

[color=red]Learn how to start [url=http://www.mycoinblog.com/]Coin Collecting[/url] the easy way.[/color]

You can also combine formatting. This would make your signature red and bold (except for the link text which will usually be blue bold).

[color=red][b]Learn how to start [url=http://www.mycoinblog.com/]Coin Collecting[/url] the easy way.[/b][/color]

One final tip for creating your signature. Less is more. If you make your signature look spamming people will treat you like a spammer. You don't have to use up all available lines in your signature. Make it short, sweet and to the point. If you post great content and people are interested they will click your link.

Step 4: Participate!
The first three steps were all preparation. Now you get to start creating backlinks to your site! It's simple, just participate in the forum. Post good content, ask questions. Try to help people out by answering questions. Be nice, be helpful.

Every post you make will give you a backlink to your site. The higher the quality of your post, the more powerful your backlink will be, at least in Google. Because Google looks at the text surrounding a link to determine the relevancy of a link having good content in your posts is much more valuable than having a post that says something like, "great post, I agree". If you simply participate in the forum and try to be friendly and helpful chances are your content will take care of itself.

That's it. Have fun. And remember, you can change your signature any time you want. You might changing the text a bit from time to time to find out what generates the most clicks through to your site.

Posted by billenross at 07:27 PM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2008

Smart Ways To Use The Internet

The Internet is an extremely over-hyped area of opportunity but I can suggest several tested, proven, practical and almost universally valuable uses.

To begin, you need to create a website for your business, not so much as a means of acquiring customers via cyberspace, but a customer service, education, and information center. For example, your website could offer answers to all the commonly asked questions, diagrams, etc. accessible free, 24 hours a day. You could even make a portion of your site "access restricted," for customers, clients, subscribers, or "members" only, adding mystique to your marketing, and adding perceived value for your clientele!

This technique would work whether you have a brick and mortar or internet based business. For example, a restaurant could do this with "secret recipes" and special VIP offers; a clothing retailer with etiquette and fashion tips and special offers, and so on. Of course, you'll also want a promotional area on your website designed for new customers and you'll then want to add your website address to video brochures, audio recordings and infomercials for your advertising and marketing materials.

Second, begin collecting and organizing the email addresses of your customers and collecting the email address of visitors to your site.

With the list, you can do virtually free "push button marketing" anytime you like, as often as you like. You can send out an email newsletter to your customers, or other information like tip sheets.

Let's say you have a rather ordinary business; kitchen and bath business, for example. Here are a few of the things you might transmit by email to your customer list:

1. Resources to upgrade your counter tops to granite or marble
2. Cabinet grade tips and suggestions
3. Special offers for new plumbing fixtures
4. Tips on determining the grade of cabinet materials
5. New product information

Keep in mind, regardless of your business or product you can use the above techniques for creating and marketing your website and business.

Third, in seeking publicity from the media, being able to fax, email or mail very brief, provocative news releases that refer the recipients to your website for more information is very useful.

Everybody in the media is online. And, some are lazy, so if they can research a story without leaving their chair, believe me, that's the way they're going to do it. If you go the route of writing articles for publication in your industry journals or article forums, you can even post a whole collection of them on your site, and invite any publication to download and use whatever they like.

In summary of my advice to most business owners about the Internet: do Not be seduced, do Not buy into the hype and expect miracles or invest inordinate amounts of time or money. Do Not let the Internet take away from your commitment to more reliable, predictable, results-measurable advertising and marketing media. But DO get involved. At whatever pace is comfortable for you, begin learning about the Internet, getting your business on the Net, and experimenting with practical applications like those I just described. Proceed calmly, deliberately, strategically.

Above all else, Just Do It!

Posted by billenross at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2008

eMail Marketing

How To Double Promotional Email and Ecommerce Revenue

Most newcomers to email marketing think that they can send a promotional email to a list of subscribers and then sit back and watch the money flow in. If only email marketing was that easy. That said, email marketing does have the potential to generate a lot of revenue from promotional email campaigns and ecommerce, but it requires some ingenuity.

If you want to be successful in ecommerce, you will have to work harder than just shooting off a newsletter. With just a little bit of effort, you can double the revenue generated from an ecommerce website All it takes is some effort, careful analysis, testing different methods, and then refining them. Make sure you concentrate on building your email list, creating outstanding content for your emails, managing your list, dividing your list into categories and testing.

A good home page does not necessarily translate to revenue generation. You should get traffic that converts. You have to get new subscribers who visit your website regularly to check out new products or services. This can be done by list building, which in turn is only possible if you expand your current list. Make sure your website has an opt-in subscription form on practically every webpage.

Your chances of getting new subscribers will increase if you offer some kind of incentive. An incentive can be anything from an offer for free shipping to giving $20 off on the first order. You can easily get a new customer's email address through the shopping cart form. Make sure you add a link to the subscription form in the transaction confirmation email. This opportunity can be also used to get further details like gender, likes and product interests.

A Pay-Per-Click (PPC) program, if used effectively, can generate a lot of traffic. One of the most used methods to look for products is to search for them online, and a PPC program will definitely help you here. However, make sure that you have an easy sign-up process, whether the visitor buys a product or not. In addition, concentrate on search engine optimization to get targeted traffic to your website.

If you have a physical location of your business, then offer sign-up forms to your customers at the cash register. This way you get their subscription while the customers are present and you can then send them in-house promotional offer through email. Whenever you send a newsletter, make sure it has an eye-catching subject line,which will compel readers to open the email.

On your website, products should be divided into categories, so that visitors can find it easy to locate what they want. Give your subscribers enough options to select what is appropriate for them. You should not forget to personalize your emails by using the customer's first name. Adding a "send-to-a-friend" option in all your newsletters will help to generate new subscribers, provided your content is good.

If your email message has a great content and design, you can be sure to get a good open a click-through rate. Finally, keep checking your email program so that you can eliminate any issues before the mail is sent out.

Posted by billenross at 07:30 PM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2008

How To Get Free Website Traffic

An online business is only successful if you have traffic coming into it. In fact, traffic generation could be the most important part of your online business promotion. Without traffic your business is dead in the water. So what are some free and easy ways to get traffic to your website?

The first one is Blogging

Chances are, you probably have a blog or have at least have heard of blogging. But do you know how important it is to develop an informative blog that people are going to follow?

To have a successful blog it should be updated daily and it should have only quality information on it. A great way to keep people coming back to your blog is to frequently give away free stuff that is related to your business. It could be a free e-book that you have written or a free template that will be beneficial to the people that are reading your blog.

The reason that blogs are mentioned first in this article is because search engines love them and they will crawl all over them when new content is added. If you have a blog that is updated on a daily basis the chances of your blog getting ranked high in the search engines is very good. Two of the more popular blogging sites are Blogger.com, which is very user friendly and Wordpress.com, which is a little more advanced. both of these are free to use.

Next are online forums.

This is another free way to get traffic. All you have to do is start posting on forums. Do a quick search in your favorite search engine and find a few active forums that are related to your business topic. Sign up for the forum and then read through a few of the posts to get a feel for the way that things are done. Find out what people are talking about. Find out what questions they're asking. Once you get familiar with how the forum operates then simply start posting.

One important point to remember when posting to online forums is not to spam the forum. It is considered spam when you jump right in and start posting all about your business and products with a bunch of links to your website. In most cases doing this can get you promptly removed from the forum. This is easily avoided by just posting relevant information that will help solve some of the problems that the people on the forum are talking about. Just make sure that each time you post it has value to it and you'll never be accused of spam.

Something to remember with both of these traffic generation methods is that they are all about building up your reputation. If you spend some time and develop a reputation on your blog or an online forum as someone who is an expert and as someone who is willing to help other people with their problems, then people will actively seek out your posts and comments to see what you have to say next.

Then in your signature line or on your about me page, you can insert a link to your website or favorite affiliate program. If you have a good reputation and people value your opinion, they will click on your links almost every time to see what else you may have to offer. Both of these methods of traffic generation are free, easy and have the extra added benefit of getting targeted traffic.

So there you have it, two free ways that you can drive traffic to your Website. There are many more ways, but these two are simple and you can start using them right away.

Posted by billenross at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2008

How To Build A List Of Eager Subscribers

Every online business provides great service to generate satisfaction among their customers. As each and every customer receives satisfaction over their products or the services they get, there is a great chance that they will become a return customer and buy again. Better yet, they will recommend you to other people that could generate more business for you and your site.

As more traffic is driven to your site, you can entice many of them to subscribe to your mailing list or opt-in list. This is a list where in website visitors agree to be sent promotional materials such as newsletters, catalogs and such that could keep them updated about your site or the niche of your site. These promotional materials are sent via e-mail to the members of the list in different time intervals.

When using e-mail as the media of your marketing and advertisements, you eliminate the need for high costs. Email is free and if you can manage to make your own promotional advertisements you can also save a bundle there. With an opt-in subscribers list, you are pretty sure that what you are sending out is received, viewed and read by the subscribers and not simply being deleted. They have signed up for service and have consented in receiving it.

This means that there are constant reminders to your subscribers about all your products, new products and services as well as any promotions and special deals you are having. There is also the chance that they can be forwarded to other potential customers as they tell their friends and families about you and your site.

Of course you should be also aware that a subscriber may unsubscribe when they feel that they are not getting what they want or expected. Make sure that they are satisfied with your opt-in marketing strategies and keep them excited in receiving your newsletters and catalogs. Here are some tips that can help you build a list of eager subscribers.

Make your promotional materials interesting and fun. Try to use a little creativity but not too over artsy. Build around what your product or service is about. For example; if you are selling car parts, put some pictures of what is new in the auto parts world, a new wing door possibly that can fit any car and make it look like a Lamborghini.

Try to research what people are looking for, these way, you stay one step ahead of them all the time and you will be their bearer of new tidings. They will be eager to receive what you are sending them because they new you always have fresh and new things to share with them.

Write good articles that can be very informational but light at the same time. If your subscribers enjoy your articles, they will go to your site by clicking the links that you will be putting on your newsletter to read some more. You can provide articles that can connect to many people. Be diverse in your articles. Put something humorous, then put something informational, then put something that has both.

Are you wary about this because you don’t like writing? No problem, there are many professional and experienced article writers that can do the job for you for minimal fees. They know what they are doing and can provide the need that you have for your newsletters, the money that you pay for your articles are going to be met by the many sign-ups and the potential profit from the sales that you will get.

Create and send an E-book to your customers about anything that is related to your business or site. Use your knowledge and expertise in the field you have chosen to help other people who are similarly interested. Offer this e-book for free. You can write about anything informational and helpful to your subscribers. For example; you can do manuals and guides in so many things. This e-book could be used as a reference for many people.

Share this e-book with everyone, even other sites; just make sure that they don’t change the links in the e-book that will lead people to your site. If you want, you can always get some people to write it for you just like your articles. Your investment once again will be covered by the great marketing this will generate.

Add e-coupons in your newsletters that will help them avail to special discounts. Put a control number in your e-coupon so that they can only be used once. When people get discounts that can be found in your newsletters, they will be eager to receive your newsletter in anticipation of what you are promoting next.

If your subscribers can get benefits from your newsletters, they will be very eager to receive them. Just don’t flood your mailing list with mails so that you don’t annoy your subscribers.

Posted by billenross at 06:55 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

3 Reasons To Buy An Existing Domain Name

When the time comes to set up your own internet business one of your first thoughts is to buy a domain name to establish a web site for your new business. You may spend a lot of time dreaming up possible names and testing their availability but there is another option you should consider -- buying an existing domain name.

Obviously you do not want to buy an existing web site for your new business as you wish to create a web site that accurately reflects your business vision, but there are a number of advantages to buying an existing domain name and if you do not yet have your heart set on a new domain name you will likely find an existing domain name available at a price not much greater than you will pay for a fresh name and an existing domain name brings a number of advantages.

One of the primary advantages of an existing domain name is that it already has traffic flowing toward it. Obviously the amount of traffic will vary greatly depending on what the current owner has done for promotion but any traffic is more than the zero visitors a fresh name will deliver.

Another advantage is from search engine optimization. Many domainers will have at least put in a small amount of time optimizing their domain name portfolio for search engines. Others put in a great deal of time and effort targeting key words and making sure the domain name is listed. It takes time for various domain names to work their way into search engine listings and if someone has already done that work for you then you are ready to capitalize on their groundwork as soon as you take over the name.

A third advantage is that the wild frontier of short, targeted, key word domain names is over. It is not impossible but very difficult to find an unregistered domain name in a short, catchy phrase and even more so if you have a specific key word in mind. However, many of the domainers who registered these domain names did so as an investment rather than a long-term project of their own and so are willing to sell. The only way to acquire many of these great domain names is by purchasing an existing domain name. You will not be able to find one to register fresh.

Choosing the right domain name for your internet business enterprise can be an exciting and challenging time but if you take the time to learn more about the available domain names you can buy then you just might find the bargain of a lifetime and start off your business with a bang.

Posted by billenross at 08:12 AM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2008

Lead Generation

Lead Generation is generally regarded as necessary to run a business. Whether you have a Fortune 500 company or a small home-based operation, people who are interested in what you have to offer are essential if that business is to be viable and you are to make a profit.

Of course, word of mouth benefits all sorts or businesses - and there are ways of stimulating this - but getting started in a small business, or growing an already existing operation, requires more proactive steps.

A common approach is to buy leads. However, very often buyers will simply lose their money doing this, especially if you buy generic leads or those who've shown only a marginal interest in your business.

One of the worst strategies would be buying a list of email addresses for generic leads, especially those sold to multiple users. When someone receives an email and doesn't know who you are, forget about selling to that person. You can send out many thousands of emails and the response will be negligible - except for hostile, abusive replies!

Safer, and more profitable, is developing an automatic lead generation system that is either free or else costs very little to set up and maintain. In particular, you require the exact steps that will put your lead generation on auto-pilot - techniques that come with step-by-step instructions. The yellow brick road will then be paved with gold.

If your business requires phone numbers, this can be taken into account when you set up your free lead generation system. Design it so that your leads are not only pre-qualified but you are able to obtain telephone numbers at this time.

Postal leads are another solution - meaning the snail-mail variety. This is also risky, as well as being expensive. For instance, a common mistake is to mail a full package to unqualified leads. A better, and cheaper, approach is to first send a post card so that you aren't incurring costs on people who simply aren't interested or who may have already joined your program.

However, it isn't easy to even recover costs with postcards. Many find it really hard.

It isn't all just doom and gloom, though. You still need leads and there are methods which enable you to set up an automatic lead generation system, put them into an autoresponder for a series of emails, and send them a postcard later! However, to just buy leads and mail postcards has been a huge money loser for thousands of people.

The secret is to pre-qualify. The essential ingredient in building a lead generation system is to be sure you pre-qualify them for your offer! Fortunately, there are free and low-cost methods for doing this. Some of them will be mentioned briefly here. You should follow-up with a fuller, in-depth study of each.

Method 1. Viral List Builders. Techniques that encourage users to pass the product onto others, such as ebooks, jokes, cartoons, pictures, and important information.

Method 2. Ad Co-Op Publishing. Co-operative ventures with others who agree to place your advertising on their web pages in exchange for you doing the same with their ads.

Method 3. Forum Tricks. There are thousands of forums covering just about every topic. These provide opportunities to become known and to introduce readers to your informal advertising, as with your forum signature.

Method 4. Article Marketing Strategies. Articles are valuable as sources of content and information, as well as providing back links to your web site and pages.

Method 5. Special Bonuses. There are many ways incentives can be used to join your email list and to convert visitors to buyers.

Method 6. Reverse Marketing. Join every offer you can find that is related to your market and contact the person making that offer. They have already demonstrated an interest in your particular niche and are likely to require more quality information.

Method 7. Joint Ventures. Contact others who have shown a similar interest and invite them to JV with you. They provide leads and you just close the sales, offering a discount to their list.

Many of the costly lead generation approaches are costly failures for Internet marketers wanting a profitable online business. However, it is possible to set up a successful low cost system that will automatically capture leads and build a long-term, profitable relationship with them.

Posted by billenross at 07:47 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2008

How To Make Money Online

A Few Tips on How to Make Money Online

The 21st century is a great place to be if you're looking for a way to make money. The Internet is filled with a great many ways for you to earn some cash. All you need to do is be resourceful and be prepared to roll up your sleeves a little. For instance, you can earn money by posting on forums; for each post that you make, you earn commissions. You can also earn money by posting on a blog: you can earn money directly by being paid for each post, or indirectly, through advertisements on your blog. And of course, you can sell products and services online.

Selling products and services can be fulfilling but difficult. Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, where you can interact with your customers and show them actual products, an Internet store will limit you to a few kilobytes of space for pictures and text. You need to make the most of this space, and you can't go beyond a few kilobytes, or people with slow Internet connections will never get to view your website. That said, you may need to put up a website for your online store, and you will need to ask for help regarding security and website content. Aside from that, here are a few more tips on how you can get started with making money online.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Sure, you will earn a lot of money from selling products and services, but that shouldn't stop you from blogging, or putting ads on your website so that people can click on them and give you commissions. In fact, that shouldn't stop you from posting on forums, earning money through other means, and keeping your day job! You need money, but you don't need to have it all from one place, especially if you're just starting out.

Update your website content constantly. Whenever your visitors arrive at your website, they expect just to see photos of your products or services, along with a description and prices. What they don't expect is for you to help them out with their lives and offer them some entertaining and informative content. So why not surprise them? Have articles each month on something related to your products and services. For instance, if you are selling pet foods, have articles on how to take care of your pets, how to choose a pet groomer, how to ask a veterinarian important questions, or even how to decorate your fish tank on a budget. Such articles will help your customers and website visitors, and you can certainly expect them to keep on coming back, bringing their friends along with them.

Don't be afraid to ask for client feedback. You need to constantly make your product and service line better, and you need to have new products and services from time to time. Ask your customers for suggestions, and if you come across good ones, reward your customers with incentives like, discounts on their purchases at your website, or free stuff bearing your company name or logo. That way, whenever they carry that umbrella or bag or pen around, they are acting as your own personal advertising billboards!

Don't keep yourself online. This is especially true for advertising: try brick-and-mortar companies and approach them with solicitation letters. Allow them to advertise on your website for a fee. Sponsor conferences or symposia, or get-togethers, or even speed dating! Get your name out in the brick-and-mortar world. Remember, not everyone spends their entire working day online, so why should you confine yourself there?

Make your website secure and pretty. There are hackers out there who are after information that should be secure and confidential. Ask your web designer or developer to keep your website secure, especially for future purchases. Moreover, have a simple, well-designed website that is easy on the eyes and easy to navigate. This will help your clients go through your website more easily and appreciate your efforts to keep them relaxed and satisfied with their surfing habits.

These are only a few tips that you may want to follow when you are working online and trying to earn a living on the World Wide Web. As long as you are honest and love what you are doing and as long as you take the right steps toward success, you will not go wrong.

Posted by billenross at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2008

Make Money Online Business

More Things You Never Knew About Making Money with Online Businesses

Starting an online business can be a nerve-wracking process, particularly if trade is unfamiliar ground to you. Some people often think that just because they've never sold a thing in their life, they would be in a strange land if they so much as make a sales pitch. Which is really too bad, considering that there are plenty of opportunities that could have provided them with extra income or a way to use their skills and talents, if only they took the chance. These days, though, more and more people make money online with their own businesses and if they've enjoyed some measure of success, why shouldn't you?

So what's it like to make money online?

To show you what it's like to start a business making money online, let's outline the things that you can expect in this type of venture:

Business processes are streamlined.

Believe it or not, starting a money-making business online will allow you to run a retail business all by yourself. It's like manning a shop without any assistants or extra staff. Since many of the resources you'll need are available online, there's no need to purchase or install physical equipment. Inventory can be kept low and communication between buyers and suppliers is faster.

Since feedback from customers is also faster, improving the business is also a lot easier. In the past, customer complaints brought about by a defective product often took weeks or months before they were resolved.

A flatter organization is encouraged.

It's not that there is something wrong with traditional organizational hierarchies but flatter organizations mean that it is easier for someone in the organization to take command responsibility. Jobs are also easily assigned thanks to a simpler business process.

Best of all, customers are more likely to get in direct contact with the business owner. It's like being able to get an appointment with the company CEO without going through four secretaries and three executive assistants.

The turnover of products in exchange for cash is faster.

Given that you have the right business model and products to go with it, a money-making online business can provide you with a means to sell and earn, sometimes literally within a matter of minutes. If you've tried posting an item up for auction on a popular website, for example, you probably have noticed this phenomenon.

You can let competition bother you or improve you.

Make money online businesses are not well-kept secrets. By now, almost anyone who has access to a computer knows that there's cash to be made on the Internet. As such, expect some tough competition out there. In some industries, for example, there's already some serious market saturation, where people may still make money but only in trickles.

However, there's hope. Experienced internet marketers continue to create innovative ways and means to provide other online entrepreneurs a way with which to earn. Expect these new opportunities to emerge in order to meet new demands. One of these opportunities, for example, is Big Ticket to Wealth, a network marketing program that follows the established formula of MLM and yet, effectively came up with a unique way of allowing its members to earn more with its matching override scheme. Through this scheme, sponsors are able to earn more commissions from businesses brought in by their members. It's programs like this that you should watch out for, where efforts are well rewarded.

Sometimes, it truly is about you.

Sometimes, all it takes to make money with an online business is a skill or a talent, literally. Since all the traditional requirements often needed to run a business offline is no longer required online, anyone with the right set of skills or marketable talents can use these qualities and turn them into a saleable product or service.

Think about it: if you're a graphic designer, for example, all you truly need in order to turn your skill and experience into a money-making online business are a computer, software for graphics creation and editing, an Internet connection and a website from which to advertise your skills and attract clients. Plus, it's a one-man operation; you offer your own services and get to pocket every penny you earn. No need to pay the middleman, your manager or your staff. When you can run an online business that lets you make money you can claim as 100% yours, what could be better than that?

Posted by billenross at 11:39 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2008

Earn Cash Make Money Online

Why Should You Earn Cash and Make Money Online?

Despite all the bad things leveled against it, believe it or not, the World Wide Web is not an entirely dangerous place. True, there may be scammers and thieves hiding in the corners of the Internet, but thanks to the web savvy of computer technicians, the Internet can actually be a good place to be if you want to meet people, learn new things, and even make money. Yes, the Internet can be your cash cow if you know how to manage it. But the question is why? Why should you even try to earn cash and make money online?

There are many different reasons why you should try to earn cash but one thing that you should not do (at least not yet) is to leave your day job. Internet-based businesses may earn a lot in the long run, but now that a lot of people are making money online, it might be difficult for you to break into the market and earn your gazillions immediately. In any case, here are a few reasons why you should start thinking about making that mouse work and getting yourself some bucks online.

It can be easy, and it oftentimes requires no big effort from you. There are many ways that you can make money online, and not all of them require you to be chained to a desk, writing down everything on a sheet of paper, or marking out graphs and curves with a highlighter. Take, for instance, affiliate marketing. In affiliate marketing, people online who have blogs or websites ally themselves with marketers. These blogs and websites need money to survive and these blogs and websites have an audience that can buy things online. So what do affiliate marketers do? They post advertisements on their clients blogs and websites. Every time a visitor clicks on an advertisement, money goes to the blog or website owner. In fact, if this same visitor buys something on the new website, the blog or website owner gets commissions.

As you can see, the effort will be on the part of the website visitor to click; and once the click is made, a few cents go into the blog or website owners account. Of course, the payment is only a few cents, but those cents pile up eventually into dollars; and those dollars become hundreds; and those hundreds can be thousands. So what does a website or blog owner have to do to earn more? Make the website better and better every time, of course! All that the website or blog owner needs to do is to constantly provide content, and to update content and make it fresh for new visitors. This brings us to the next point.

Earning money online can allow you to help people get jobs. But wait, how do you earn money by giving it away? Simple: you don't write your website content yourself. You hire people to do it for you. If you balance your payments for your writers with your own profits from the advertisement clickings of your frequent visitors and if you constantly advertise your site on popular sites, mailing lists, or forums, then you will have visitors flocking to your site constantly. And if you have a great site, your own customers and visitors will do your advertising for you!

Earning money online can be easy! There are many programs out there that allow you to create a dummy site so that you can get started on your earnings journey. If you want to put up a blog, then there are many websites out there that have ready-made blog software for you to use, and all you need is a bit of practice. Of course, the bit of practice might take longer if you aren't comfortable with computers, but at least you have full control of your would-be business at the onset.

There are many options for you to earn money online. There are actually money-earning programs available where you can consult with experts on how to set up your business. There are even profit sharing schemes where you can advertise popular blogs or websites on your site in return for commissions. There are even residual income sources that you can use for more income, such as answering surveys online, participating in forum discussions for a fee, and even writing reviews!

These are only a few reasons why you should earn money online. But the main reason might simply be this: you need money for a better tomorrow, a good education for your children, a good retirement fund, a source of investment, and a way to enjoy your weekends. Your reasons will be different, but we all need money, and if the World Wide Web can give you a chance to earn money honestly, then why not take the chance?

Posted by billenross at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2008

Creating eBooks To Make Money Online

How to Make Money Online By Creating E-books

If you have the talent of writing, without a doubt, you can earn legitimate money online by selling your own e-books. Nowadays, people read e-books because they are easy to find and much cheaper than the books sold in bookstores. You can take advantage of this trend too. Creating an e-book should be easy for you especially if you are used to posting good content for your website. However, writing an e-book does not restrict anyone. As long as you enjoy writing and providing people with information, an e-book business may well work for you. Whether your e-books focus on different subject areas or provide information on a specific line of subject, you generate money if people purchase them. Selling your e-books online requires minimum effort and is very affordable too. Here are effective ways to sell your e-books:

Selling your e-books on eBay

EBay is a very popular site. A lot of people use eBay to look for items unavailable to where they currently reside. Auction your e-books and be sure to follow the sites policies. When someone matches their search on any of your e-books, you'll evidently be generating your sales in the days to come.

Offer you e-books on your website

This applies if you've got your own website. Offer your customers with e-books at discounted prices or make them absolutely free when they purchase other products and/or services advertised on your site. When a certain customer purchases your promoted product, you can provide him/her with the e-books and then he/she can freely download any of them at any time. Provide your customers with a brief description for each e-book so they won't have a hard time picking out their choice of topic.

Protecting your e-books

If there are people who are interested in reading your e-books, some might download them without you knowing what's happening. To protect your e-books from being stolen by the others, you should name the files so only you should know or that the others can't simply decipher immediately.

Create e-books on a regular basis

Majority of the people who use the Internet look for information on several topics. To cater to their needs, add new batches of useful and informative e-books on a regular basis. Always keep updated with the latest searches on the Internet and write about them. Note that the Internet is a widely used tool for providing information. Aside from being able to generate sales out of selling your e-books, you can also help those who need your knowledge on certain things.

How To Make Big Money Online

Posted by billenross at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)

April 06, 2008

Creating And Selling A Product

From Product Creation to Selling: How to Take an Idea and Turn It Into Tangible Merchandise

If you take a look at every product you've ever used or heard about, you're actually looking at the manifestation of an idea. Once upon a time, it was an idea that spawned its creation from mobile phones to video games to sneakers, even the food we eat and the movies we watch. Some of the biggest and most respected companies today began their business by creating and then selling an idea that later became a product. That little seed of genius that floats around in your head may just be your ticket to fortune, fame and a dream come true. Here's how:

Creating the product

There are several ways you can create a product. One is to create it from an original idea, another to rehash an idea that's already there and modify it and still another is to find the market first and then create an idea that will either meet a need or create one.

Design your product

You could keep your product as an idea in your head but it's best if you put it down on paper. This will help give you a different perspective on how you want it to be. Ask yourself questions: What will your product be? What will be its purpose or value? What will it look like? Will its design compete with what's already out on the market or will it affect its marketability?

Don't underestimate design. According to Apple's Steve Jobs, it's so much more than just veneer; it's actually interior decor. That means it is integral to the identity and function of the product itself. For the latest iMac model, for example, Jobs fought not to have a fan installed on the equipment. This resulted to a more intensive engineering design but a far more superior machine in terms of thermal management.

Research the market

Having a product is one thing while having a market to sell it to is another. Determine who will buy your product. Is there a real market for it out there? Will it sell easily or will it have to rely heavily on a lot of promotions and advertising?

If you don't have a clear idea what your product will be, it will help if you look at the industry you're interested in and see if there is a need that you can fill.

Selling the product

The very first thing you should consider when selling your product is strategy. There is so much more to selling a product you have created than just pushing it at someone. Look at your product from all angles and determine how it will compete.

Decide on your product sales route

How and where you will sell your product will affect your pricing and even its production and handling. Will you be selling it exclusively online or offline as well? Will you be using an affiliate program or direct retail? If you use an affiliate program, will your pricing cover for the commissions? If you will be selling in bulk, can you give discounts off the original price? Can the selling method sustain your business and help it grow?

Set your pricing

The next concern you should have when selling your product is pricing. Pricing has been the downfall of many would-be entrepreneurs and even more established ones, so if you're not careful, it could ruin your chances of success.

Make pricing part of your strategy. Determine the cost of production including overhead expenses and then put a reasonable markup on the product. Pricing should cover everything from the creation of the product to its sales. It should also be priced in a way that makes it attractive and yet promote its value at the same time.

Supply and demand

Another consideration is supply and demand. How long you will be selling your product will depend on how long you can continue producing it. Where will the materials be sourced and are there factors that will affect how the product will be produced in the future? Is there real demand for the product or do you have to create it?

If your product has been created as a result of another product or to accessorize and supplement it, do you foresee any modifications that might adversely affect your product sales? If you sell customized leather casings for iPods, for example, you could face some serious production concerns once it changes its size or design in a major way.

Your competitors

When selling your product, you need to keep your eye on your competitors. What they sell, how they sell it, to whom they sell it and for how much will greatly impact your business.

Ready to learn how to make money online?

Posted by billenross at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2008

Buying And Selling Domains

Buying and Selling Domains: How the Business of Names Can Help You Earn Profits

Who would have thought that money could be made from names? With the advent of the Internet, industry regulars slowly realized the gold mine sitting literally under their fingertips in the form of domain names. These days, buying and selling domains has become a real business, with some highly sought-after names selling for five-digit figures. The domain name ClearDay.com, for example, reportedly sold for $60,000 while Mercury.com made a lot more -- $700,000. Think there's a market out there for your domain name? Here's how you, too, can make money from a name:

Find domains that you can sell later on.

Generally, people who buy or 'grab' domain names don't really have industry-specific monikers in mind. If you like jewelry, for example, you don't have to stick to buying domains such as PreciousGems4U.com or SparklingJewelries.net. You can pretty much pick any name that strikes your fancy and then buy it.

However, paying for names that won't sell later will considerably drill a hole in your pocket if you're not careful. You could buy dozens of names for a small fee but if you're not going to use them or can't sell them later, what's the point of grabbing them, right?

Do a search on domains that have a potential or those that have shown some sort of following in the past few months. Use the Alexa toolbar to find out which domains or sites are these. Look for names that have registered a minimum of 1,500 to 2,000 hits 30 to 60 days prior to your search. If you're willing to pay more, look for domains that have registered five-figure hits because that's an assurance that these domains already have a strong following. You can either sell the domains back to their former owners or have interested parties bid on them. Either way, you'll profit from your efforts.

Automatically bid on domains.

You can't always spend hours online searching for domains to buy. Try online grabbing systems that let you automatically bid on domains you're interested in. Sites such as Pool.com and Snapnames.com are just two of these sites. You'll pay them a fee if they successfully grab the name on your behalf.

Get your domain name listed.

Before you can sell your domain, you have to be registered. That's how you can be 'legally' recognized. Getting the name registered also bestows upon you the right to claim it and if you so wish, sell it later.

Registering a domain name may be done for a limited period of time, usually as short as 12 months to as long as 10 years. Beyond the chosen period, the registration expires and you can choose to renew it and continue to claim ownership over it. Or, you can choose not to; at which point the domain name will be made available to another buyer. This is where you can sell the domain.

Register a potentially valuable domain.

Many people scour popular shows and events to try to find out which personalities, events or gadgets are developing a following. If you've been watching shows such as American Idol, for example, and you check out sites that register domains, you'll find a few that are familiar. This is because some people will try to register a name of some rising star who will potentially become famous enough to want to build his own website someday. Since his name is already registered, he will want to buy it back and thus earn the investor a nice profit.

If you don't mind speculating, this may be a good route to take. Just remember, though that it can go either way in which the domain name gets sold or it gets ignored.

Build traffic to your domain.

If you want to take this route and build your domain from scratch, prepare to work. If you have a domain name that you created by yourself or bought, you need to make it valuable to potential investors. Offer high quality content, build a reputation, link up with quality sites, allow your visitors to interact using your website. Once you start appearing on major search engines' radar and gain a good following, you raise the value of your website and your domain. When the time is ripe, you can then sell that domain for a nice, fat profit.

Want to make big money online?

Posted by billenross at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2008

5 Easy Ways To Make Money Online

Five Great and Easy Ways to Make Extra Money Online

Everyone wants to make some extra cash. Perhaps you want to buy new set of clothes, a new pair of shoes or the latest gizmos available on the market or simply, your current job isn't enough to satisfy your financial expenses. If one or more of the mentioned reasons apply to you, then you're not alone. People who ventured to making money online have these reasons too. Here are five easy ways to make extra income using the Internet.

1. Become a member of an affiliate program

By joining an affiliate program, you make commissions when you generate sales through the affiliate link. To do this, you promote other peoples products and/or services on your web site. When customers purchase any of these products through your link, then that's how you earn money. Most affiliate programs are free therefore, you don't need a big investment for this type of business.

2. Start blogging

Blogs nowadays are one of the most popular ways to generate money online. To start your own blog, select a particular subject to discuss and provide people with useful information and encourage them to comment on your posts. This is how you drive traffic to your blog site. Keep your site updated by adding new articles on a regular basis.

3. Make use of Google AdSense

Another easy way of making money is to rely on the use of Google AdSense. Provided that you keep a regular flow of traffic on your web site, a percentage of visitors would likely click on the ads that interest them. Just be sure never to break any of the rules the Google has implemented upon using Adsense.

4. Join Internet auction sites

There are things that are no longer useful to you yet they may be a treasure to other people. Sites such as eBay allows you to sell your items by posting your items condition, price, etc. You can just imagine the number of people who visit these sites when they are looking for items unavailable to where they reside. Lots of people have made great success by simply selling their used products.

5. Provide people with product reviews

There are sites on the Internet who pay you for every product review you send. Note that prospective customers would like to be given feedback before they purchase an item. The Internet is the most widely used tool when it comes to information. Aside from earning money, you provide people with information that may be very helpful to them.

Ready to learn how to make money online?

Posted by billenross at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2008

Internet Income Solution

If you want to achieve financial independence then the Internet is the best place to make it happen. You just need to know how the Internet can give you financial independence.

A lot of people are getting online every day looking for a home business that they can do because they want to achieve financial independence that they have heard others have accomplished. Anyone can use the Internet to make themselves financially independent. However there are some things that you will have to have if you want to be a success online no matter what Internet business you start.

When it comes to how the Internet can give you financial independence, too many people think that all they have to do is start their business and wait for the money to come to them. This is not how it works at all. You have to do certain things if the Internet is going to make you financially free.

One: It is very important that you have the motivation needed for your home business. If you don't work your business every day then you will not see results right away. You have to do a little something every day on your business because if you don't then you will never have financial independence.

Two: You have to want financial independence more than anything in the world. You are the only one that can make it happen; but how bad do you want it? It will not be easy to make your business a success. So you have to be prepared to do what ever it takes to make it a success. You also have to be willing to put in the time and effort to build your business because no matter what you have heard, it will take time and lots of patience. Adopt the attitude, I will not quit no matter what until I have achieved my financial goals.

Three: Multiple streams of income. You can sell only one or a couple products online but when you do you will have a very hard time achieving financial success. You will need to have over time, multiple streams of income every month. Everyone that is a success with their home business has multiple income streams.

These are not all of the things that you will have to do in order to achieve financial independence. However, they are the most important ones and the ones that you don't hear about all on the Internet. There is a lot more involved when it comes to how to make money online but the above ones are imperative because without even one of those, you will never have the financial success that you desire.

Posted by billenross at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2008

Ways To Make Money Online

Social sites have become the latest craze on the Internet. Social Marketing can also be seen as the next wave of Internet marketing. Everyone has heard about social sites and benefits from such sites. Social sites provide a lot of freedom and interactivity to the user. Such sites are powered by the latest technologies like AJAX and allow users to personalize page backgrounds,style,post their music, post videos, store documents, share their favorites and connect with people. Users can also post their pictures, share them with friends and even invite or search for new friends.

But how exactly do these sites help your site and its rankings? By sending huge amounts of traffic and getting you a good ranking on search engines.

There are two types of social sites. One is social networking and the other type is social bookmarking. Social networking sites provide you an easy way to connect with people who share similar interests like you. Sites like MySpace, Orkut, Bebo, Facebook, Hi5, Friendster are popular among users. These sites have a huge user base and provide an excellent opportunity for advertising your site. There are also specialized social networking sites like 43Things, MomJunction, Mothersclick which cater to specific interests.

Some social networking sites group people with common interests, but some sites are "traditional networking sites" and allow you to search for friends based on your interests. In any case you will always have a larger audience for showcasing your site. Sites like Facebook and MySpace allow you to post your advertisements and promote your products, provided you are not spamming. If you have a really good site, you will surely find a large visitor base just by showcasing your site on your profile.

Social bookmarking sites provide you easy way to store, organize, manage your bookmarks as well as share them with your friends. You can bookmark any URL or page you liked and even mark them for public or private viewing. Social bookmarking sites also provide you with the option of tagging your bookmarks. Some of the bookmarking sites link directly to your URL’s thus helping your site in getting valuable back links and quick indexing. Sites like Stumbleupon, Digg, Delicious are known to send huge traffic to your site. If you manage to get on the front page of these sites, you should be prepared to handle a huge number of visitors to your site.

Search engines spiders love social sites and usually follow links on these sites. This means if you have your site link on social networking and bookmarking sites, your site will be indexed quickly.

If you happen to be using Wordpress for your blog, you should use some good plugins like Socialmarker, Socializer and Addthis. These plugins provide your site visitors a quick option to bookmark your site. Getting bookmarked from different users and different bookmarking sites will definitely help your site rank better on search engines. Some plugins like Onlywire automatically bookmark your post to 20 different bookmarking sites as soon as you publish your post.

It is a known fact that the video and photo sharing sites like Youtube and Flickr are visited by millions of people everyday. If you think out of the box and use your creativity, your published video will get your site the traffic you've always wanted. Some video sharing sites like Metacafe also pay you a part of their revenue just for publishing your video.

Like it or not, social sites have become an integral part of the internet. You need to help you make money online.

Posted by billenross at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)

How To Make Money Online

If you want to achieve financial independence then the Internet is the best place to make it happen. You just need to know how the Internet can give you financial independence.

A lot of people are getting online every day looking for a home business that they can do because they want to achieve financial independence that they have heard others have accomplished. Anyone can use the internet to make themselves financially independent. However there are some things that you will have to have if you want to be a success online no matter what internet business you start.

When it comes to how making money online can give you financial independence, too many people think that all they have to do is start their business and wait for the money to come to them. This is not how it works at all. You have to do certain things if the Internet is going to make you financially free.

One: It is very important that you have the motivation needed for your home business. If you don't work your business every day then you will not see results right away. You have to do a little something every day on your business because if you don't then you will never have financial independence.

Two: You have to want financial independence more than anything in the world. You are the only one that can make it happen; but how bad do you want it? It will not be easy to make your business a success. So you have to be prepared to do what ever it takes to make it a success. You also have to be willing to put in the time and effort to build your business because no matter what you have heard, it will take time and lots of patience. Adopt the attitude, I will not quit no matter what until I have achieved my financial goals.

Three: Multiple streams of income. You can sell only one or a couple products online but when you do you will have a very hard time achieving financial success. You will need to have over time, multiple streams of income every month. Everyone that is a success with their home business has multiple income streams.

These are not all of the things that you will have to do in order to achieve financial independence. However, they are the most important ones and the ones that you don't hear about all on the Internet. There is a lot more involved when it comes to how the Internet can give you financial independence but the above ones are imperative because without even one of those, you will never have the financial success that you desire.

Posted by billenross at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2008

Your Fight Against Spam

Spam e-mails are known to be the modern day version of junk mails. Usually e-mails from individuals or companies advertising their product or services, they are relatively harmless. However, the increasing use of networks have made spammers smarter. With losses of about $20 billion in productivity and expenses, several IT companies saw the increasing demand for spam solutions.

Here are some of the features that could be helpful in choosing the “ideal” spam filtering subscription.

There are two important things to look for in evaluating a particular spam filtering subscription. This would be - accuracy and false-positive rating. Accuracy refers to the percentage of legitimate e-mails that make it to the user’s inbox after being filtered. The accuracy of several spam filtering subscriptions are tested by “passing through” thousands of e-mails. Some of these e-mails are legitimate while some are spam. The satisfactory rating for accuracy is 80% though some subscriptions have ratings as high as 98%.

False-positive rating refers to the percentage of legitimate e-mails that have been wrongly identified as spam. The satisfactory rating for a false-positive is 1%.

Usually, spam filter providers use quarantine features in order to avoid important e-mails from being disposed. The user may then sort the important e-mails from the spam. Different computer publications such as PCWorld and PCMagazine offers reports on the accuracy and false-positive ratings of different spam filtering subscriptions.

Most internet service providers (ISP) and e-mail programs such as MSN Hotmail, Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo! Mail provide a certain type of spam solution. If looking for a separate spam filter, try to know first if it works with several e-mail programs. A particular spam filter may work with Microsoft Outlook but not with Mozilla’s Thunderbird.

The cost of spam-filtering subscriptions has to be guaged with the services it provides. A certain subscription may be expensive but may be worth paying for with its features, speed and control. Sometimes choosing a lower cost provider may mean paying more due to lost time and frustration from poor output performance.

A good spam filter should fit the specific needs of the subscriber. It should allow a great deal of control by offering a wide range of flexibility in configuration according to his/her policies. It would also be helpful if it provides automatic updates.

These are the main things to consider in fighting spam. Depending on the complexity of your situation more time could be spent in evaluating and comparing your options.

Posted by billenross at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2008

Dare to be Different Online

There are plenty of people offering their "secrets" to help you make more money online. The only problem is that as you trawl around the web searching out these secrets you soon discover they aren't secrets after all.

What you will learn is good, old-fashioned business common sense. These "secrets" will teach that some kind of a promotion is necessary to attract people to your web site. Once attracted, you need to entice people further with more offerings in exchange for their contact information (email address). As the saying goes, the money is in the list. You cannot run any kind of business online, or offline unless you have a list of potential customers.

So, the "secrets" that you are searching for online have been there ever since business began. Find something people want, entice them to connect with you, get their details and sell, sell, sell to them over a period of time to convert them from interested parties to confirmed customers.

But the one secret that is often missing from much of the information online has been around offline for centuries as well - be different. Don't try to be the same as your competitors. Stand out from the crowd. Do something different that gets you remembered.

For example, take the cab driver who gets the name and address of every passenger. Each Christmas they get a card from him. And guess what, people remember him and recommend him. He gets most of his fares from referral business, rather than having to wait around. Have you ever met a cab driver who sends all his passengers cards at Christmas?

Yet online, everyone seems to be the same. New online businesses follow the "rules" set by the experts and gurus. The result is that almost all web sites trying to sell something are starting to look the same. They all do the same thing - have a great offer and a box to fill in your details. Many of them even use the same templates. If you follow the "rules" that are part of the "secrets" you will end up following the pack and you won't be noticed. If you truly want to make it online, you have to be different.

So stand out from the crowd by being different - not just visually, but in the way you approach your readers. Do whacky things perhaps. You will be noticed and remembered - and online that's nine tenths of the battle.

Posted by billenross at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2008

eMail Marketing

We all like to look at our email stats, especially when we have good open rates and our list size is increasing. What should be done, then, if you notice that your list is growing smaller or your open rates have gone down? It's time to get some answers and do something about it.

When subscribers to your list don't open your emails anymore it's known as list fatigue. They're not exactly unsubscribing and yet they're not opening your emails. Why is this happening? Without taking into account the bounces, here are some probable causes:

1. Perhaps they are no longer interested in the subject of your emails. They may have new interests, and there's not a whole lot you can do about that.

2. Are the spam filters catching your emails? Make sure you're not using words that the filters think are spam. Do a search for the current list of spam words and find other ways to say the same thing.

3. Sometimes subscribers opt-in with an email address that they don't check very often, if at all. What you need to do from the beginning is encourage them to sign up with their primary email address.

4. You might be sending them too many emails and they're getting tired of you. If this is happening, slow yourself down and don't send so many, especially the promotional kind.

5. You've given them helpful information in the past and they stay on hoping you'll send them something else they need. So far, your email subject lines have been boring. Take a good look at the content of your emails. Are you sending valuable information or just promotions? Also look hard at your email subject lines. They need to be intriguing and catchy. Start a swipe file of your favorite lines.

The best bet is to try to prevent inactive subscribers before they happen. Here are some ways to engage your subscribers:

1. Give high quality content. People will rush to open your emails if you always over-deliver.

2. Survey your list and find out what information they want from you. This shows you care about them and their needs. It also gets your emails opened.

3. Hold a contest that's relevant to your niche and get your readers to respond.

4. Give people a call to action and be specific. Ask them to respond to an email you sent or leave a comment on your blog. Ask them about their successes or ask them what their opinion is on such-and-such product.

5. Drop tantalizing hints about what the next email is going to be about. Leave them wondering and wanting to read your next email.

List fatigue happens, but you can take active measures to minimize it. Always remember that you're writing your email to real people and when you have something good to say, they'll want to read it.

Posted by billenross at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2008

Article Marketing for Affiliate Profits

If you have a small advertising budget, but you want a proven way to spread the word about your affiliate products or services, article marketing is the perfect solution. By offering informative, easy-to-read content that appeals to the search engines, you can drive significant traffic to your web pages for affiliate profits.

The key to effective article marketing is to offer useful and interesting content that is optimized for the search engines.

To start the article, choose a topic that pertains to your affiliate offerings and find the best keywords related to the topic. You can use a free resource such as Keyword Playground to research the popularity of certain words and use Google to research the competitiveness of the keywords.

Informative, well-written content with a keyword density of three to five percent is a good step to getting your article ranked in the search engines. Do not, however, overuse keywords or else your articles will be ranked lower due to the spam flag.

Make sure to research the topic you are writing about through Google searches, encyclopedias and/or library research so you offer meaningful content.

Choose an attention-grabbing title to raise interest, such as posing a question or a challenge to your readers. As you write the article, check your spelling and grammar so your writing has a professional appearance.

If you find the process difficult, you may choose to invest in a program such as Fat Content that guides you through SEO writing step-by-step and includes an optimized search engine browser for outstanding research.

Unique articles providing outstanding information will bring the most traffic to your affiliate pages. Once you prepare an original, well-written article, proofread your work or ask someone else to read your article so you know it makes sense.

Once the article is perfect, it's time to submit it to article directories such as Ezine Articles, Article City and Go Articles. You can also feature your article on blogs, forums and newsletters. Make sure, however, that your bio box includes the link to your affiliate website before you submit to the directories.

Although it can be time-consuming, writing great articles is an affordable way to boost your affiliate profits even if you have a small advertising budget. And if you're able to to write an over-the-top article that goes viral, you'll be amazed at the traffic it will bring you.

Posted by billenross at 03:20 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2008

Autoresponders Can Be Harmful To Your Wealth

It is an indisputable fact that the hard working autoresponder has been and most likely will remain an integral tool in any marketer’s toolbox. However, just as with any "power tool," this one needs to be used with caution. This is especially true in today's Spam conscious marketplace.

Autoresponders exist in a number of different forms with various levels of product options. In it's most basic form it can be found in the cPanel. Here it really only performs the basic function of responding to a received email. One can easily set it to respond, or send a return message automatically to any incoming email. Even in this most basic form this can be a very useful tool.

More complex versions can be found in what are referred to as paid third party autoresponder companies. These companies provide very complex systems that perform many more functions than just responding. They are able to store data to compile extensive mailing lists. Provide form code software to allow the placement of opt in forms on websites. Allow the choice of single or double opt in registration to various lists.

They offer the ability to send any number of delayed follow up messages to an entire list or to portions of any given list in either text or html or both. Allow a given list to be achieved or activated at will. All these and many more features are available today with any good autoresponder company.

A third version of autoresponders is in the form of various software programs that can be purchased outright and installed on a domain. With this system one can operate a fully owned and controlled autoresponder.

The last form of autoresponder is a type that is provided by some hosting companies as a part of their hosting packages. These have traditionally been full-featured autoresponders capable of performing very advanced functions.

It is in the latter two types of autoresponders where the most potential of harm to your wealth as mentioned in the article title lies. It is not necessary to go into the major problems that have arisen in the past several years because of Spam issues. You are most likely aware that a single flame or Spam complaint against you can get your ISP, (internet service provider), or your hosting account instantly cancelled. You are guilty until proven innocent and in most cases the burden of proof lies with the individual.

Hosting companies and ISPs have zero tolerance for Spam complaints. This is necessary from a business standpoint for these companies because a complaint to an individual automatically affects many others. How can this be?

The general public is not aware that at these companies these accounts are hosted on servers. Servers are the computers that "serve" up the websites that you "browse" for from your computer or laptop. There are normally many hundreds of accounts on any given server. These servers have a dedicated IP address. A single complaint from any one account can block the IP for that server thereby effectively shutting down the server and blocking all associated accounts.

When this occurs it becomes the burden of the company to have their staff contact the proper authorities and assure them that the offending account has been removed so that the server IP can then be unblocked. This can be a time consuming and expensive activity.

In addition, unknown to the general public, many ISPs will block any emails coming from companies with IP addresses suspected of sending out large amounts of email. If your autoresponder account is on one of these IP addresses you may think your emails are being delivered when in fact they are simply bouncing. This is a tremendous loss to your business.

However the third party paid autoresponder companies mentioned above exist solely to provide a consistent and trouble free environment for your email lists. Their staff is highly trained to quickly and professionally respond to complaints and get them cleared as fast as possible. Because their only purpose is providing autoresponder services they are very good at making sure that your emails are delivered on time and with the highest rate of successful delivery.

When using these services, if the worse case scenario were to occur and you were to receive a complaint of a nature where your account would be suspended, then you would only lose your autoresponder account and not your more valuable ISP or hosting account.

The moral here is to give consideration to the loss of revenue caused to your business by using the wrong tools. In most cases if you will do the math you will come to the conclusion that the peace of mind, low monthly cost and increased delivery of your email will cause you to investigate the available paid autoresponder services.

Posted by billenross at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2007

Internet Marketing Focus

Internet marketing is a complicated business. There is so much to learn. Building websites, learning search engine optimization, emails, autoresponders and that is just some of it. Then you have to find your niche, research your market, dream up your product and on and on it goes. Then just as you think you have figured out your blueprint along comes another indispensable tool or system. So you make a few adjustments and read another 150 pages of instructions and watch another 20 hours of high powered video. Phew! You take a deep breath and rewrite your blueprint. You turn on the computer and check your emails. There are 65 emails all heralding the latest and greatest in internet marketing. Spy on your opposition, buy these private label rights and do not forget to listen in to the latest over hyped teleconference with two or three self proclaimed gurus thinly disguising mutual backslapping for selling some over priced "how to" book which is probably just another rehash of what you learned two or three months ago.

Have you ever wondered if this is a cleverly orchestrated plan by the successful operators to confuse the would be marketers out there. Maybe not but it does sow the seeds of utter confusion into the minds of the unfocused.

The fact is your email inbox is a major distraction to actually getting on and achieving success in Internet marketing.The answer here is to limit severely the amount of email you read. Go through the list of emails you receive and unsubscribe from most of them. Be thoroughly ruthless and just retain one or two of your very best newsletters. It is probably going to be painful because you enjoy receiving them and will spend hours reading them and the things they promote. But that is the point, they have actually distracted you and robbed hours of your time.

Now it is time to focus and select that aspect of Internet marketing that you enjoy. Go for one thing and get it going properly and then expand into the next thing in a natural progression that will best compliment your first interest. Follow your prepared blueprint and focus on that. Do not be totally deaf to what is going on in the internet marketing world but limit the destructively distracting nature of so much of it.

So concentrate and focus on achieving your goals and making some money. Join a good mentoring program if you really need to but stop hopping from one thing to the other. Be single minded and maintain that focus. When you have achieved your initial goals and have things running on some sort of auto pilot then you can look around for ways to improve and fine tune your business.

Posted by billenross at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)

November 05, 2007

Internet Business Reality Check

The siren call of starting a business on the Internet is hard to resist. Work when you want, do it from home, make lots of money (even when you're asleep) - what's not to like, right? You'd be a fool not to jump in and start building that website or writing a blog!

Not so fast. There are more Internet millionaire "wanna-bes" than you might think. And many have spent more than a few years and more than a few thousand dollars in a vain effort to start a profitable Internet business.

It may seem that "everybody" is making money online, but that's simply not the case. And not many people will admit their frustration, partly because no one hates admitting failure but also because perception is everything online. If you are perceived as a failure, no one will buy from you, which makes you fail even faster.

So what are the disadvantages and roadblocks that potential Internet entrepreneurs encounter?

The first is the learning curve - it's steeper than you might think, and there's no single "how-to" process to follow.

Succeeding at an online business requires mastery of several key abilities, not all of which directly correlate to doing business offline. For example, you not only have to build a user-friendly and relevant website or blog, you have to drive traffic to it, all without making any mistakes that cause you to lose credibility in your prospect's mind and cause them to click away from your site.

Not easy!

And though there are countless experts, books, and how-to courses on how to start a business online, it's hard for a beginner to know who to believe, and there are multiple online business models to choose from as well.

The second issue, which was mentioned above but which warrants more attention, is the problem of driving traffic to your website. Novice Internet marketers know they want their site to be found in the search engines, but often vastly underestimate the amount of competition they have for the keywords and search phrases they desire.

The Internet reality is that top-ten rankings for most popular keywords is extraordinarily difficult to achieve - which means that the novice "Interpreneur" will need to master the art of advertising online, which can become quite costly.

The third and final obstacle mentioned here is that it's very easy to become distracted when building an Internet business.

If you subscribe to Internet ezines or visit Internet discussion forums, which are recommended methods to build knowledge and connect with potential customers or partners, you're bombarded almost daily with new ways to make money. New advertising strategies to try. New top-secret, never-before-revealed-to-the-public ways to get more targeted website visitors than you've ever imagined. And so on.

And while some of these strategies may be an excellent fit for a particular online business, many will not. Since inexperienced Internet marketers find it difficult to make that distinction, they waste time and money delving into new income models before mastering the income method they're using now.

Hopefully, if you're considering starting an Internet business, this article will serve as a "reality check" for you. It's certainly possible to make a substantial secondary or primary income online - but it's much more likely if you have a good grasp of the obstacles you'll probably encounter along the way.

Posted by billenross at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2007

VoIP Explained

Who would ever imagine that Graham Bell's invention would one day be on computers networked all over the world. VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol as the name suggests, uses the Internet to call anyone of your friends in any part of the world.

What makes this technology appealing is the cost. VoIP is a cheap alternative to complex phone systems that you have never really fully understood. How many times have you looked at your phone bill and just shrugged off the number of calls charged to you. VoIP is a good alternative for small businesses and offices that want the most out of one kind of savings.

So what do you need to look out for when applying for a VoIP service especially for those who are not technologically savvy? Here are some helpful tips that you can consider when looking for a provider that offers a cheap but reliable service.

Compare the price range from various providers first. There is nothing like doing your preliminary homework. Make sure that you are choosing from trustworthy and tested providers.

Always look carefully into the inclusion of hidden charges and if there is a payment for termination of service and/or activation of service.

Ask if they offer e911 emergency service and find out how you can apply for the service.

Do not sign up for a provider that requires you to have an entirely new phone system. The reason for getting VoIP in the first place is to save some money.

Check online about the VoIP company background and business tenure. Check if they’ve had complaints about their service.

Try using service providers that have already established a mass appeal.

You should look closely at what you need for yourself and your family. If you are the kind of person that makes a lot of calls to other countries, then you should look for a package that offers really cheap international rates. If you get the bulk of your personal calls from just one city, look for a package that will provide you with your own phone number that people can call you with also at local rates.

When you have finished making your checklist and have looked into all the factors, you will suddenly realize that you managed to find the cheapest and most appropriate VoIP provider who can offer you the maximum number of services at the minimum rates that you want.

Posted by billenross at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2007

Bad Spelling Makes Money

Remember back in school when you learned how to spell? It almost went hand in hand with the "Don't color outside of the lines!" attitude. It was something you were expected to do - color within the lines and spell correctly.

You lost points for bad grammar, incorrect spelling, and oh yes, coloring outside the line.

If you consider words as a business commodity, correct spelling is usually put up for sale and purchased by those of us who are eager to devour it through magazines, novels, books, newspapers, membership sites, and all kinds of downloadable online content. To name but a few outlets.

So, what happens to all the incorrect spelling? Where does it go?

You would think that most of it gets stomped upon and eradicated in the classroom, or by the magazine or book editor, or even the newspaper editor. And, for the most part this ib, oops, is true.

Yet, with the dawn of text messaging, instant chat rooms, email, and a host of other "who cares how I spell" applications, incurrect speling is becuming the informal norm.

So, who cares if you spell incorrectly?

Well, despite what your teacher told you, there are people who actually want you to misspell - in fact, they're counting on it!

Entrepreneurs like Kevin Ham from Vancouver get excited when you absent-mindedly type in prpsi.com instead of pepsi.com. Try it. The 'r' key is so close to the 'e' key on the keyboard that people mistakenly type the 'r' key instead.

So, how much money can you make from spelling errors?

According to the June 2007 issue of Business 2.0 magazine, Ham's business is worth over $300million, with much of it coming from owning misspelled domain names that people type directly into their Internet browser address windows.

In 2004, Yun Ye sold his portfolio of 100,000 domain names for $164million.

Mark Schilling owns over 320,000 domain names and still works out of his home in the Cayman Islands.

In 2006 Ham hashed out a deal with the government of Cameroon in Africa - who have the '.cm' country code (U.S.A. has .us, Canada has .ca, and the U.K. has .uk). Why? Many people who intend to type ".com" as part of a web address end up missing the 'o' of com and type .cm instead.

Surfers who make this mistake end up on the Cameroon servers where the name is checked to see if it is registered there. If not, the surfer is redirected to agoga.com, which Ham claims to have upwards of 8 million unique hits per month.

So, how is the money made?

For the most part, these sites contain simple "park" pages containing money-generating pay-per-click ad links that relate somewhat to the keywords used by the searcher. Each time the visitor to the page clicks on a link, the site owner makes money from that click (pay per click).

Other ways these "domainers" make money is from buying popular names like greeting.com and adding a park page to it.

Other than joining this bandwagon, one way you can profit from this with your site is to consider different, or even incorrect spellings people would use to access your site. Then figure what the most common mistakes would be and register those sites, and have those sites redirect to you main site.

So, next time someone corrects your spelling you can tell them about Kevin Ham.

Happy domain naming!

Posted by billenross at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2007

Podcasting Basics and Benefits

The top word for the year 2005 was "podcasting," as selected by the New Oxford American Dictionary. According to one dictionary, podcasting is "the web-based broadcast which works with software that automatically detects new files and is accessed by subscription."

There are two explanations of the etymology of the word, "podcasting." One explanation is that it is a combination of the words "iPod" and "broadcasting," because early listeners generally downloaded audio broadcasts to their Apple iPod mp3 devices. The other explanation is that the root of the word comes from the acronym for "personal on demand," which would be pod. Personal on demand broadcasting becomes podcasting.

Podcasting began as a means to distribute music files, but soon website owners realized that podcasting the spoken word was an important way to increase the amount of useful content on their website. For example, all of the major news agencies which distribute countless pages of written information now also offer their subscribers portable audio content as well.

Podcasting is produced from two separate actions. The first action is to design, create, and record an audio show that is to be broadcast later. An audio file is created and is made available on the podcaster's website in order for listeners to download the file directly to their listening device or to listen to the file as it streams from the website. Additionally, the smart podcaster will make the audio file available through a subscription based feed. The subscrition is generally free, but some podcasters charge a small fee for the subscription. The web feed stores the audio file so that a listener can have access to the file at any time they choose.

The second action is for the listener to periodically check for new content from their favorite shows. The listener can either search for new content and download it to their digital audio device or they can enlist the help of a podcatcher or feedreader. The feedreader will search for new content from the listener's favorite shows and notify the listener when new content is available. The obvious advantage to this system is that the listener will receive new content without ever having to search for it themselves.

Audio podcasting is an important way for a website owner to distribute their content to their audience. Many people would rather listen to audio content than to read the same content. With the use of portable audio devices, the website content can be enjoyed at a time and place that is convenient to the listener. The website owner will be able to increase the amount of visitors to their website by being able to offer podcasts as an additional source of information.

Posted by billenross at 08:46 AM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2007

Don't Fall into the Pixel or Wiki Page Trap

The million dollar homepage was a novel idea. Advertisers flocked to purchase pixels and the creator collected more than a million dollar. Now there is a gold rush to buy wiki pages. However, today the Alexa ranking of million dollar homepage stands at 48,000. It will continue to decline. The same fate awaits the paid wiki pages.

These type of web sites lack in sustained traffic for a long time. Why do you visit a web site? You go to a web site for getting information or accomplishing some tasks, interacting with your online network or sharing your feelings, having some fun or making a purchase. You do not visit a web site to stare at a page full of pixel ads or read a random wiki page.

The Wikipedia has more than two million english language articles. It is full of comprehensive information on any imaginable topics. It is the largest information repository known to human race.

Ask a 12 year old kid her favorite information source and her answer will be Wikipedia. There are niche wikis on "how to", travel, politics, space, etc. There is no reason for a web surfer to visit a paid wiki site for anything.

The paid wiki sites are not even wikis. A wiki is a collaborative tool for adding, editing, and sharing information by a large number of people in a single space. Similar topics are linked together for easy navigation. The crowd intelligence makes it possible to record information accurately and completely.

However, credit goes to the paid wiki developers for portraying free Geocities, not even MySpace, type pages as wiki pages. Advertisers fall into the trap and moron reporters tout it the greatest invention since sliced bread.

Look at a paid wiki page. It is full of logos, banners, menus, color scheme, etc. of the site it resides on. Even MySpace allows you to customize your pages.

A better option for advertisers is to start creating Squiddo lenses or pages on any topic for free. Squiddo provides you all the free pages you need to create contents on any topics you wish. You can also make money from Squiddo if your lenses are popular.

Another option is to get a 10 year lease on a domain and redirect Google Blogger pages to the domain. You collect money using AdSense.

If you pay for website pages, evaluate the system based on the following four criteria.

1. Customization: You should be able to fully customize your pages, removing all logos, banners, menus, and color scheme of the site.

2. Traffic Model: The site should have a web model to attract visitors for a long time.

3. Page Promotion: You should have complete control of when and how your pages are linked on the homepage of the site. It should not be random.

4. The site should not monetize by placing ads on any pages.

Use these four filters to evaluate a site that sells you pages for traffic and fun.

Posted by billenross at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2007

Understanding Home Broadband Bandwidth

Your home broadband, typically ADSL or cable modem access, usually has a different speed for downloading and uploading respectively. Typically you will have a downlink speed in the range of 512 kbit/s up to 8 Mbit/s and an uplink speed substantially lower than that, often 128 kbit/s to 1 Mbit/s. However, even when downloading things from the Internet, traffic flows in both directions, because the protocol that is used to transfer the data uses acknowledgments to make sure that the data has been transferred properly. Since your download speed is substantially higher than your upload speed, in a lot of cases you will not be able to use your full download speed if you are uploading data at the same time.

Your Internet service provider will often quote the speed of your home broadband as being "up to" a certain speed. There is a reason for that. Let's say you have a home broadband connection of up to 2 Mbit/s in download speed and up to 512 kbit/s in upload speed. Does this mean that you are always guaranteed to get that bandwidth for your transfers?

Definitely not! In fact, all Internet service providers sell much more bandwidth than they can actually deliver. If all the customers of a service provider would try to use their connection to download at the same time, the average bandwidth would be much lower than the maximum value given. In fact, it is not uncommon to sell 50 times more bandwidth than they can actually deliver.

Does this mean that they are tricking you? It certainly sounds so, but this is a practice that has been used a long time, even in telephony networks or cell phone networks. If everyone in the world tried to use their telephone at the same time, it simply would not work. But that just doesn't happen, most people only use the telephone occasionally.

The same thing applies to your home broadband. Most customers in your service providers network only use their home broadband occasionally. Some users fill up their broadband all the time, and there are those that rarely use it at all. But on average, the usage is quite low compared to the maximum possible. For instance, when you're surfing on a web site, you spend most of the time reading the pages. Also, most people only spend a fraction of their day in front of their computer at home.

If the service provider was going to guarantee that you could always get your maximum bandwidth, your home broadband would be much more expensive. The service provider would have to make sure that you had dedicated bandwidth for your usage only. This would be a waste, and cost much more than most people are willing to pay.

Instead, service providers carefully monitor the bandwidth usage in a network, to make sure that connections are not overloaded. Some low quality service providers will overload their connections more, and give you a lower average bandwidth.

Service providers also use the same over provisioning for business customers, but the "over provisioning factor" tends to be much lower. This is not surprising, because a business connection is used by many people so on average these connections will be more utilized than a home broadband connection. Furthermore, a business customer generally pays more for the same bandwidth, so the service provider can afford to give a higher quality to these customers.

Posted by billenross at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2007

Keep Your Computer Virus-free!

Somewhere out there in cyberspace are malicious vandals hard at work dreaming up new computer viruses. Eugene Kaspersky, (of Kaspersky Lab Virus Research), in a November 23, 2005 article posted in Security News, said, "The number of new viruses and Trojans is now increasing every day by a few hundred. (Our) virus lab receives between 200 and 300 new samples a day." That is Not a misprint. He said 200-300 per DAY!

The worst ones we hear about. The large majority are quiet and anonymous like termites, often doing much damage before they are detected. Like human viruses, their effects run the spectrum from mostly benign to potentially fatal to their unwilling and unwitting hosts. Also as in human viruses, there are two different approaches to dealing with them: Prevention and Cure.

Preventing virus infection begins with guarding the portals of contact. Do not open suspicious e-mails or attachments without scanning them first. Most anti-virus programs have a right-click option to scan a selected file for viruses, which makes scanning easy. Similarly, when you download software, eBooks or whatever, always save to a file, then scan the file before opening. If you bring in data or software by floppy disk, CD or other portable media, the same rule applies; scan it first!

A good firewall can help somewhat in keeping viruses at bay, but there are too many ways to hide them in regular data or software transfers for a firewall to catch them all. A firewall (like chicken soup for human flu) can help, but don't rely on that alone.

As Benjamin Franklin said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." However, sooner or later, some viruses are going to get through your defenses somehow, and you will need to turn to cures.

If you should get hit by a really bad virus, you could lose most of your files before you know that there is a problem! The first step to enable cures is to prepare well in advance, positioning and backing up your files for easy recovery. Set up your computer with a small hard drive (4-10giga) for your C: drive and a much larger hard drive for all your data. Use your C: drive for programs only. Keep copies of your software purchase receipts, registration and activation codes and setup info in a file on your data drive. You can always download them again, if you can give the seller your purchase info to show that you already bought.

Almost all virus infections will be in the program section of the C: drive, so scan it daily. This won't take much time since you have arranged for it to be relatively small. Then scan your (larger)data drive once or twice a month.

You should still back up your data files frequently. If you cannot backup everything, at least backup the crucial information that would be difficult or impossible to replace. CD and DVD burners are a good way to do this backup, as are removable hard drives.

Finally, you will need good anti-virus programs to go after the viruses and either quarantine or (preferably) destroy them. There are many anti-virus solutions being touted and hyped out there. Some are good, most are not. Here is how to find the good ones:

1. Look for programs that offer both active and passive protection. Active protection means that part of the program remains memory-resident, actively watching for potential incoming viruses. When they detect a virus they can sound an alarm and give you a series of options for dealing with it. Passive or on-demand protection will let you ask for a scan of specified areas when you want it, but it waits for you to ask.

2. Select your anti-virus software based on the recommendations of independent testing agencies. Checkmark (by westcoastlabs.org), AV-test.org and PC World magazine are among the most respected independent testers of anti-virus software. For ratings of anti-trojan software, check with Anti-trojan - Forum. Use more than one anti-virus and anti-trojan program. Very few detect all problems, but what one program misses, another may find and defeat.

3. Keep your anti-virus programs up to date. There is a running gun battle going on between virus writer-disseminators and virus catch-and-destroy experts. New viruses are found; new anti-virus program patches to find and destroy them are usually ready within hours or days. Until your software is updated, you are still vulnerable to the new viruses.

In addition to using anti-virus software on your personal computer, consider using an Internet Service Provider or e-mail service that includes server-side anti-virus and spam e-mail filtering as a third layer of protection.

In summary, be careful, get good software, run it often and update it frequently... and stay alert to new developments! This struggle between new viruses and better anti-virus software is ongoing, and developing rapidly.

Posted by billenross at 08:43 AM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2007

How To Avoid Online Mistakes

It's amazing and unfortunate that many website owners inadvertently put up barriers that discourage site visitors from actually doing business with them. This is especially true for people with brick-and-mortar businesses who are trying to build an online presence and who do not yet understand the differences between online and offline marketing.

If someone walks into your local storefront, especially if they've had to drive to get to it and drop a few coins in the parking meter, they're at least partly committed to spending some time in the store. Either they want something specifically, in which case you're nearly guaranteed to make a sale, or they think your store probably offers what they want, so they're willing to spend the time to look around.

In either case, your friendly staff, attractive promotional displays and compelling sale prices can influence someone to make a purchase, even if it wasn't what they originally came for.

This seldom happens online. Your nearest competitor is only a quick Google search away, a new website visitor may have little or no solid reason to look around your site, and it often happens that you lose a would-be customer in the click of a mouse.

That's why it's important for website owners to remember that you need to put the most important, most compelling, most commonly-requested information right up front, preferably on the home page.

This is the exact opposite of a physical storefront, where you can put your sale items in the back of the store and count on people walking past the new merchandise to get to the clearance racks. Online, a visitor to your website will not spend any time looking around unless they can tell immediately that you probably have what they're looking for, whether that's information or designer handbags.

You must also consider the fact that website visitors need more overt assurance as to your company's legitimacy and trustworthiness than visitors to a physical storefront.

Someone who walks into a local store is subtly and sub-consciously bombarded with all sorts of sensory and intellectual cues that reassure them (or not) that it's safe to do business with this particular merchant. A store that is clean, well-lit, intelligently laid out, with merchandise that fits the price being asked and helpful salespeople is more likely to be profitable than one which is not.

These factors are less visible online. Most would-be website owners realize that a site with blinking fonts and inconsistent navigation is a visitor turn-off, but still miss the mark by failing to reassure potential buyers. They neglect to include information on shipping, returns, privacy, guarantees and other store policies in a prominent location, which makes the customer uneasy and less likely to make a purchase.

One last tip for the storefront-owner-turned-website-owner, and that's to remember where and when site visitors come to your website. Many of your site visitors log on from work, or late at night, or when the kids are napping - and their first panicked impulse is to click away from your site if they're immediately greeting by loud music or an audio message from the company president. Those site add-ons can add value, but should be optional.

These differences between online and offline storefronts are among the most ignored. Paying attention to them right from the start can help make sure your website is as profitable as you dreamed it could be.

Posted by billenross at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2007

Squeeze Pages

Squeeze pages should be an integral part of your on line business! It's a technique that works to build your 'opt-in' list. A squeeze page is really a 'trading' page - you are trading something of value to your visitor and they in turn give you information about themselves.

No matter how great your site is people get distracted and your visitor can be gone before you know it. Not only that, if they become distracted they may not remember what site they were on or why they had navigated there in the first place.

I have book marked many a site then forgot about it for one reason or another.

Now had the visited site used, or been, a squeeze page not only would they capture the visitors information but their follow up email(s) would remind the visitor of the site and the purpose of their visit.

This is why using a squeeze page and getting permission to follow up with your visitors can be so powerful. Caution: you want to make sure the visitor understand how you plan to use the information they give you.

What goes into creating a good squeeze page? Not a great deal is really needed.

Layout:

Keep the layout simple and to the point. Capture only the minimum amount of information needed for the follow up - name; email address is all you really need. Asking for state, country or phone should only be done if it is important to the follow up.

People are often reluctant to give up a phone number - especially on the first contact. They fear being put on lists or being called at all hours of the day or night. It is important the visitor understand his/her information will be kept confidential.

Remember that you can, and should, acquire more information as you develop the relationship between you and your customer.

Make a template with your HTML editor, which you can use over again just by making minor changes to the information, depending on your present offer.

There are also a number of places on the Internet where you can find ready-made templates - both for free and at no cost.

Graphics:

Graphics can project the image you want to have. Do you want to display only the product? Do you want to display the product and your logo for branding purposes? Though squeeze pages aren't really used for branding - that should be an objective of your main site(s).

The offer:

You need a quality offer to entice the visitor to hand over her/his information. Preferably, this will be something of a free nature and should be something that solves a problem for the visitor. Free reports are great items for squeeze pages. And these items need not be your product but can be products for which you are an affiliate.

Remember that by using a squeeze page of your own, you acquire the customer information rather than the affiliate site capturing them first.

And that is the goal of your squeeze page - to help you build your customer list!

Posted by billenross at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2007

List Building

If you are into Internet marketing most people say you don't even have a business if you don't have a list. By building a list you have a sustainable business model not dependent on outside sources for traffic or income.

Building a list is collecting email addresses of people who want to be contacted by you. The benefit of building a large list is you have contact with hundreds to thousands of people whenever you have a message to get out.

If you don't collect names from people who are visiting your website you are missing out on repeat traffic. Odds are most people who visit your website only do so once. By collecting email addresses you are recycling the traffic you worked so hard to get in the first place.

Also, by building a list you might even be able to afford to pay for traffic since each visitor becomes more valuable. Each visitor can be contacted repeatedly with your message to buy your products or services.

The easiest way to build a list is to put newsletter sign up forms on your most visited pages. It is important to put it near the top of the page so people can see it. Giving away a free e-book is another great incentive for people to sign up to your list.

Pop up forms are also a good device many Internet marketers use to collect names. The good thing about this is you don't have to change any of your pages to include a pop up form because this goes over your page.

These days with the amount of spam people receive it is best to have a double opt-in list. What double opt-in means is that people who enter their contact information into your sign-up form is that they must then also confirm they want to be a part of your list by confirming this with a reply email as well. This way if someone goes around entering someone else’s email address they can easily opt out of receiving any more messages from you.

By building a quality double-opt in list you will have a more responsive list to your offers. A lot of people find that building a double-opt in list harder to build, but in the end it saves everyone a lot of hassle. You are not sending spam to people who don't want your emails, and people who are receiving your emails will be more likely to respond to them.

Posted by billenross at 08:15 AM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2007

Listing Your Website In a Web Directory

When looking to start or grow an existing Internet business or even offline business there is one fact you cannot get away from. That simple fact is without traffic your business is going nowhere. This simple truth is universal to all Internet businesses and is tantamount to building a Wal-Mart on the moon it could be the biggest and best-stocked store ever but if no one can get there it is dead before it starts.

One of the best ways of promoting an online business and enhancing an offline business is with the use of web business directories. There are a few key benefits to this for your online and offline business and in this article we will look at some of those key benefits. Among these is the main lifeblood of business and that is traffic, directories can help generate this in a few key ways.

The first benefit to both on and offline businesses are web business directories. These are among some of the highest trafficked websites on the Internet with some of the highest Alexa rankings there are. The largest of these directories and probably the best known would be Yahoo.com another large directory would be DMOZ (The Open Directory Project).

Alexa is a division of Amazon.com and it runs a web traffic rating service that ranks a website's traffic with the ideal ranking being number one. Some of the websites with high (actually the lower the number the better) traffic rankings are Yahoo #1, Ebay, MySpace, YouTube and Google.

The reason this number is important to potential web business directories you are looking at is traffic, these sites get lots of it. This is good for you as many people look to directories to find what they are looking for over search engines for the key difference between them. Based on human editors almost no web directory databases use robots as where search engines employ robots called bots, which use mathematical algorithms to index websites.

Many people consider the human element of a web directory to equate to a higher quality of listing as a human can notice simple subtleties that a computer just cannot notice. This human factor is what also gives the sites a higher authority ranking expressed through the high Page Ranks most established web business directories enjoy. Why is this Page Rank factor important to you and your business? Simply put Google gives greater credibility to sites through higher Page Ranks expressed on a scale of PR0 to PR10 with ten being the highest you can achieve.

When you list your site in a directory with a high PR some of that Page Rank passes on to your site and in essence it boosts your Page Rank which helps improve your results in the SERP's (search engine results page). This brings it all full circle as the higher your score in the SERP's the more traffic your website will get. The number of incoming links you have to your site (back links) directly relates to your position in the SERP’s. Simply put the more one-way links you have the better your websites traffic will be.

What benefit is this to your offline business you may ask? Simple. As the world embraces the technology of the Internet and more and more people turn to it for solutions to problems the more your business presence on the web becomes increasingly crucial. Many people use web business directories as the modern day Yellow Pages. These directories can have advanced listings capabilities which can be anything from a few lines to extremely detailed business information such as business phone, address, product listings, photos of the business, etc.

This is an affordable way for an offline business of getting an online presence without actually having to build their own website. It can give the offline business a quick and simple way to join the modern way of doing business to a generation that is as comfortable doing business online as their parents were with a telephone.

They use the Internet as a way of gathering information to save time and make more informed decisions when they do chose to spend their hard earned money. In the end it boils down to this, web business directories are a way of connecting businesses and customers together in a more efficient way and to a larger, more informed audience.

Posted by billenross at 05:26 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2007

Free Ebook

You know by now that you should be building an opt-in list. It's one of the best ways to earn money on the Internet.

When you have a list, you can send members a newsletter with one or more interesting articles along with ads for products related to the topic of your list. The larger your list, the greater the positive response will be to your ads. And, the more money you will make.

Creating and managing an opt-in list involves a number of tasks, including:

- Defining an appropriate topic for your newsletter
- Implementing software or subscribing to an external opt-in list service
- Attracting potential list subscribers
- Preparing articles and ads to send to your list

In this article we'll discuss an aspect of attracting subscribers by offering a free article or ebook.

Today, nearly everyone expects an incentive in return for giving you their name and email address. It's not enough merely to receive your periodic newsletter. After all, they don't know the quality or content of your newsletter. So they expect something of value up front.

The typical product you can offer as an incentive is a free ebook or article.

To successfully get new opt-in subscribers you'll need to offer an ebook or article that provides immediate benefits. That is, your product must solve some problems or answer some nagging questions of your target audience.

You can offer an ebook or article you have resale rights to or you can create your own. Most existing ebooks with resale rights have been marketed for some time. Often these products have been marketed by people with more resources and experience than someone just creating their first list. So, the information in these ebooks is often familiar to many people.

You'll often find that if your product has unique content you can corner the market for your particular set of solutions. This offers an advantage because your target market can only get these solutions from you.

How to Develop Ideas for Your Ebook

As you gain experience with your topical area you'll probably be able to identify some of your target audience's problems or concerns. And, knowing their concerns or problems, you'll likely be able to offer a few solutions.

Once you have identified some solutions, you can expand your thoughts to a few paragraphs. To explain them clearly and give examples, each solution may be become a chapter of several hundred or even thousands of words.

You can often research your topic and look for additional solutions by using the search engines or by searching various article sites. Once you locate material that describes solutions you can express those solutions in your own words. You can add your own examples to make your expression of the solutions unique and more personal.

While copyright protection applies to the expression of ideas, it does not prevent you from expressing those same ideas in your own words. There are many books and ebooks that express the same concepts in different words. So, your expression of the solutions you choose to present will not conflict with the rights of others.

Preparing and Publishing Your Ebook

Most people use a product like Microsoft Word to prepare their ebook or article. With it you can check spelling and grammar, create chapters, headings, bulleted lists and a table of contents. You can also add photos and clip art to help explain and illustrate your ideas.

You may already have access to a commercial clip art package. Many packages are available at your local computer store. And, even though I own several clip art packages, I've found that I'm usually satisfied with Microsoft's free library of clip art.

Microsoft allows you to download and use any of over 150,000 images and sounds from their online library. To search and download art from Microsoft using Microsoft Word, select Insert -> Picture -> Clip Art. Then select the Clips Online tab. You'll then be able to search photos, clip art and sounds for just the right images to illustrate your ideas. As long as your purpose is to enhance your own product, you can freely include Microsoft's images.

Once your ebook or article is complete you'll want to create a PDF file. This is the most popular format for downloadable ebooks and articles. People using both Windows-based PCs and Macintoshes can view documents in PDF format.

You can "print" your document to a PDF file using any of several free conversion applications. Newer PCs often come with this conversion software preloaded. If your PC does not have this software you can get it free from several sources. Three free products that create PDF files from virtually any Windows applications are:

- PrimoPDF (http://www.primopdf.com/)
- PDFCreator (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/)
- doPDF (http://www.dopdf.com/)

After creating your PDF file you can then upload the PDF to your server. You'll need to upload it in BINARY format rather than ASCII format. To make sure you did everything correct you should download your PDF and test it to make sure it is viewable.

You'll also need to create a web page that promotes the benefits of your ebook or article, describes your newsletter, and includes a subscription form. In addition, you'll need a "Thank You" page that has a link to your ebook's PDF file so subscribers can download your product.

With unique content that offers an immediate benefit to potential subscribers, you're sure to have a successful list building experience.

Posted by billenross at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2007

Building Backlinks

Building backlinks to your website is highly recommended in the Internet marketing community these days. This practice is especially helpful for the purpose of drawing organic (read "free") traffic to your website. And, if you don't have traffic to your site, you don't have much if earning money is your goal.

By building backlink to your website, you benefit in a number of ways. First, your placement in the search engines can improve, since the number of backlinks pointing to a website appears to have considerable impact on search engine ranking (love). Second, you may also attract traffic, as visitors on the other sites see your link and click over to see what you're offering.

The rest of this article will focus on several backlink building methods that are great for beginners and experienced marketers alike.

Social Bookmarking

There are now literally thousands of social bookmarking sites. These sites offer an opportunity to bookmark all of the websites (including yours) that you find interesting and want to keep track of. Bookmarking your site often means you're creating a backlink too.

Website Directories

These also are in great supply. These sites are storehouses for information about all sorts of websites, sorted by topic. Many allow you to submit your website for inclusion for free and create a backlink if your website is accepted.

Link Exchanges

These are also known as reciprocal links. You allow me to put my link on your website and I allow you to include your link on my site. Reciprocal links are considered more valuable if they are placed on a website whose theme is relevant to yours.

Blog Comments

Many blog owners welcome readers' comments in reaction to their posts. The reader can generally include a website link along with their comment, creating a backlink. Just watch out for blogs that include the "no follow" tag because then the backlink won't count.

Press Releases

Submitting a press release entails writing up a short news story about your website or some of its content. It's a who, what, when, where, and how of something likely to be of interest to the media. As with many of these methods, there are free and paid options. Of course you include a link to your site in your content.

Article Marketing

Some say article marketing is the best method to draw free traffic and ultimately lots of backlinks. The webmaster writes an article on a topic relevant to their site and submits it to one or more article directories with a resource box incorporating links pointing back to the website.

Link Networks

These are typically private networks of blogs or websites on which members can post content which includes a link to their website. Often the blogs that are available in these networks have a fairly high page rank, say PR5-PR7, which is an attractive feature. The value of a backlink can increase if it is placed on a webpage with a higher page rank

Using all of these methods at the same time to create backlinks might lead to being scattered and ineffective. If you're interested in building links to your website, start with one method, complete it thoroughly and then move to another.

Of course some of the techniques, like article marketing, are never complete. There is always room for more, so intersperse this with other link building methods. With some concerted effort you will be able to create hundreds or thousands of backlinks to your website and really feel the search engine love.

Posted by billenross at 05:36 PM | Comments (0)

August 10, 2007

Using Social Media to Get Free Stuff

You need a free banner? How about a free button for your Website? You can search for free stuff using Google or your favorite search engines but often times it is very brutal. You will find that most sites that show up in search engine results have a few crappy free offerings. They are selling their good stuff for a premium.

It is not fair that you want a few free buttons, backgrounds, or icons and Google dumps a crap load of useless results when you use the word free in search key phrases. There are plenty of sites with good quality free designs but they do not rank high in Google search results.

What do you do? Use Google but restrict your search results to social media sites only.

User submitted contents found in social media sites like Digg, RedDot, etc. are some of the best contents from all around the Web. These social media sites let users rank contents based on the quality.

You get the double bonus. Not only thousands of users have scouted the Web to find the best freebies but also they have ranked those submissions based on their merits. You are able to leverage the crowd wisdom for free to get the free stuff. How sweet it is.

May be the results are crappy but Google is a very powerful search engine. To get the good stuff from the social media sites, instruct Google to return results from contents published in those sites.

Let's say you are looking for some icons. In Google search box type site:Digg.com "free icons" and hit enter. Google will return all results for "free icons" from Digg, a social media site.

The above technique may not land you directly on the source because many blog authors compile links to high quality free stuff from the Web and then publish the list on these social media sites. Though you don't go to the source directly but you get the right direction.

Here is a list of popular social media and blog sites that you can use using the site: operator in Google search.

dig.com
del.icio.us
slashdot.com
RedDot.com
stumbleupon.com
blogmarks.com
technorati.com
bloglines.com
mybloglog.com
giveawayproject.com

Social media and crowd wisdom are new Web 2.0 paradigm. The collective intelligence of thousands of people from all around the Globe are channeled through these new Web tools called social media. These sites offer new opportunities for information search and retrieval. Learn how to use them and leverage them for your benefits.

Posted by billenross at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

August 09, 2007

List Building Secrets for Internet Marketers

Read and implement these seven very effective ways to build your opt-in list for all your Internet marketing.

1. Offer a free newsletter: This is very common and very effective. It is used by virtually everyone who builds an opt-in list of potential buyers of an Internet marketer's product. The reason everyone uses it is because it is effective. Have your free newsletter prominently seen on your web page.

2. Make your free newsletter easy to get: You must have a "you'd be a fool not to get this newsletter" sentence telling people why and how your newsletter will help them. Make subscribing to it quick and easy.

3. Quality content in your web site: The better the content, the better your ranking in the search engines and therefore the more visitors will come to your website. There is a good chance that many of the visitors of your web page will sign up for your free newsletter.

4. Join forums: Search for and join any forum that is related to your business. Most of these forums allow you to add a signature line directly under your post where you can put a link that goes to your newsletter subscription information.

5. Write articles: You need to establish yourself as an expert in your particular field. And how do you do that? write articles. Your articles will contain useful information and the byline will contain a link to your newsletter subscription.

6. Write an eBook: This will establish you as an expert similar to writing articles. An additional bonus to this technique is many Internet marketers are often looking for freebies they can give to visitors of their website. Your eBook can be one of those freebies. Inside you will have various links back to your site and your free newsletter. Your eBook does not need to win any prizes for literary content nor does it need to be long; just write solid, useful information.

7. Use Co-registration. I saved the best for last. The top marketing experts on the Internet use this secret today. This will build your list rapidly in a short amount of time. What is co-registration you ask? It refers to the practice of referring subscriptions or leads for memberships with another registration process. There are several ways of doing this.

When a visitor signs up for a free subscription or other service, give them the chance on the "thank-you" page to opt-in to another offer. Another way is give the visitors to a website the opportunity to sign up for another opt-in list. These do not need to be your "thank-you" pages or websites. You need to partner up with another web marketer.

The goal here is to find other website owners who you can joint venture with to offer your newsletter along with theirs. Do a search via your favorite search engine and directories for similar offers and contact the people to set up your joint venture.

Here are two additional secrets to this co-registration process. First, make sure you offer more value than the other party involved in your joint venture. Second, offer your leads you get from this process more value than you usually offer by giving them a huge giveaway only available to them.

Posted by billenross at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2007

Social Marketing Must Be A Part Of Your Business

If you are trying to sell things on the Internet and you do not have a blog you are putting yourself at a disadvantage. Would you go to play golf without a putter?

Your competition is blogging and they are beating your pants off every day with ease. A part of blogging is submitting your articles to social directories.

Here are 3 reasons social marketing must be a part of your Internet business.

1. Social marketing is a popular way to get information. Directories like Digg and Netscape are quickly becoming the choice of people all over the world as a way to keep up to date on what is going on.

If you are not blogging and submitting to relevant social directories you are missing out on this easy form of traffic.

2. Social marketing is easy to do. Here's what you need. You should get a WordPress blog and set it up so that you can quickly bookmark the top directories. Then you should post in your blog everyday. If you can talk and type you can blog.

3. Social marketing is an interactive way to develop relationships with your readers. This has become know as Web 2.0 and it is important to the future of your business.

People still like to deal with people. This is an age-old sales trick that sometimes gets lost on the Internet. By making yourself and your blog interactive you become a real person. This will help increase your chances for sales and repeat sales.

4. Search engines love social marketing. You are making their life easy when you blog around keyword rich topics that a person researching can find. When you master the techniques of social marketing you will find you can get on page one of Google and other search engines very quickly.

The reason for this is search engines are spidering Digg, Reddit, Newsvine, and many more non-stop looking for fresh relevant content to put online. This may as well be you as opposed to your competition.

If all of this seems confusing it really shouldn't be. Read "The Authority Black Book" by Jack Humphrey. It is a free ebook you can get online. In it you will learn everything you ever wanted to know on social marketing and how to use it to increase your business.

Don't wait until tomorrow to get started. Do it today and your Internet business will thank you.

Posted by billenross at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)

August 03, 2007

Going Viral To Promote Your Business

As an online business owner one of the many tasks you are required to undertake is that of business promoter.

With several thousand new web sites being started every day the typical site owner has to be aware of the many different avenues that are available to promote their site.

Some are more traditional than others such as search engine optimization and submitting your site to directories related to your particular niche.

Others take a little more imagination to implement.

One such tactic is creating a viral report or ebook.

This has nothing to do with passing a virus to the computers of unwary surfers.

Going viral simply means that the report or ebook is given for free with the encouragement to the reader to pass it along to others who may be interested in the subject matter, which is covered in the text.

This can usually be accomplished by offering an incentive to the reader through a gift, bonus item or monetary reward.

In most cases the viral concept works in conjunction with an affiliate program where an affiliate link is embedded into the report itself or through an email from an autoresponder.

When used with an autoresponder it is usually with what is called a “tell a friend” script.

These are basically scripts that automatically place a piece of code into a link in an outgoing email. The reader is rewarded when entering the name and email address of three or more friends. When the recipient clicks the link that click is credited to the person who referred the respondent.

Another method used is with what is referred to as branding software.

In this scenario the report or ebook is written with one or more clickable links that lead to either a sales page or a squeeze page.

Squeeze pages are simply pre sales pages that are set up with an autoresponder form on them so that visitors will leave their name and email address.

This is an incredibly useful tool that puts interested prospects into a sales funnel and allows the site owner to contact them with follow up messages at set intervals.

However some links will simply lead prospects directly to the sales page that then adds a cookie to their computer for tracking purposes.

When a sale is made the affiliate who sent the prospect then gets credited with the sale and gets the commission.

Rebranding software is a great tool because it can be used with PDF documents that are widely used on both PC and MAC platforms and are hailed for their security. This means that you are reaching a bigger audience than if you were to use software designed for an EXE application.

By writing good informative reports and short ebooks with brandable links and encouraging or rewarding readers to pass them along, you too can build a large viral marketing system that can bring prospects for months and possibly years to come.

Posted by billenross at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2007

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of determining which keyword phrases will describe your website's products and/or services and are actually used in web searches. It is insight into the needs of your customers or clients. Bottom line it is finding out what Internet surfers are actually searching for.

Choosing keywords or keyword phrases can be very confusing for new site owners. If you don't have keyword or keyword phrases optimized on your web site, you will not get the traffic you want and individuals will not stay on your site, read your information or buy you service or product.

Keyword research can be broken down into a three step process. The first step is the discovery phase. In this step you want to focus on identifying as many keywords or phrases as possible.

Initially you need to sit down and brainstorm a list of keyword/keyword phrases that address the topic of your web site. Have a dictionary and thesaurus handy. At this point include every word or phrase that you can think of.

There are several keyword tools that are available to help you generate a keyword list. Some of these tools are free (www.goodkeywords.com and Google Adwords Tool) while others (www.wordtracker.com) are fee based. With these tools you will be able to generate hundreds of keyword phrases.

The second step in the analyzing phase. This step involves analyzing the popularity and competition for the keyword phrases. The quickest way to perform the analysis is to use one of the fee based keyword tools like Wordtracker.

Wordtracker is able to quickly take your list of keyword phases and give you the number of searches in the past 30 days and the number of competitive web sites for each phrase. Wordtracker also supplies a numerical value called a Keyword Effectiveness Index(KEI) that helps determine the competitiveness of a keyword phrase. A keyword phrase with a high KEI means it is less competitive.

From Wordtracker you are able to export your keyword list along with the KEI, search and competitive site data. This information can then be entered into Excel spreadsheets. This will allow you to make comparisons between various keyword phrases and do away with any unrelated or undesireable keyword phrases.

The third step is the selection of keyword phrases. From your analysis phase, you should be able to identify a number of high quality keyword phases that can accurately describe the qualities of your website.

In your final selection of keyword phases you need to look for phrases that have a high level of search activity, while the level of competitiveness is relatively low. For making your final selection of 15-20 keyword phrases you will want to do a Google search on the keyword phrases and view the top web sites listed for each phrase. Are the sites professionally designed? Can you design a web page that can move up into the top ratings for this keyword phrase? These are all important questions to ask.

When starting a new web site it's highly recommended to target only one unique keyword phrase per page. With your newly researched keyword list you can write your content with a balanced use of unique phrases that will help generate traffic to your web pages.

Posted by billenross at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2007

Niche Marketing

Niche marketing is being used allot by businesses to help them succeed in the over crowded internet marketplace. The Internet has allowed for business start up to be easy and makes running an online business almost automatic. This means there is even more competition than ever for customers.

Niche marketing solves that problem. It is a way to focus your attention on a single group of customers that is most likely to buy your product or service. This group is going to be the most loyal and they will make up your biggest profit base.

Once you have done your research and defined your target niche market you have to learn how to use it to your advantage to make your business successful. Here are four ways you can use niche marketing to boost your earning potential.

1. Advertise where your niche market is most likely to look. A niche market is going to be people with similar backgrounds, ideas and interests. It shouldn't be too hard to define some places where your niche market is most likely to frequent.

2. Say the right thing. You have to talk to your niche market the way that they talk. For example, if your niche market is teenager's, then use some teenage lingo and speak to them in a way that they will understand. Do not talk down to your niche market, but rather go to them on the same level and communicate with them. If you need help find someone in your target niche and ask them for their opinion.

3. Make sure you are addressing a unique need. You want to stand out from your competition and address a need that nobody else is addressing. You may have to do a little market research to find out what people want that they are not getting from the current products or services that are already available to them. But it will be well worth your time.

4. Make sure the price is right. The whole point of finding your niche market is so that you can cater to their needs. One of the most important things you can do is to make sure that the price you set for your product is one that your niche can afford. If you are selling something to a niche market that is in a medium income bracket then you don't want to price your product for those that are in a higher income bracket or you will lose sales.

Making the most of your niche marketing efforts is essential. There is no point in using niche marketing if you are not going to take all the necessary steps to ensure you are using it right. Niche marketing can be very successful if you do everything you can to ensure you are taking full advantage of it. Once you find a hungry niche market you will discover that it was well worth all of your time and efforts.

Posted by billenross at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2007

Get On The Internet

The Internet is proving to be a substantial venue for promoting products. If you have a retail outlet having a web site can be an extension of your store. With our busy lifestyles and dual income families, it can be easier for many people to simply go on line and make their purchases. This saves time and gas. If you have a store it would be prudent of you to have a web presence.

When customers come into your store capture their email address. You could have a form they fill out with a check box that they check off permitting you to send them a newsletter or sale notification. A large database of clients can be built by doing just this one thing. By having a web site and regularly sending out newsletters you keep your name in front of the client at all times. When they need a product you sell, they will most likely think of your store, as you are always reminding them of your presence.

Offer your database a special discount now and then for email subscribers only. Write an article of interest you think your clientele would be interested in, ie; if you sell golf clubs research and write an article on how to improve their golf swing, or if you have a dress shop write an article on what the next seasons colors will be. This will keep your site sticky (people will want to come back often as they get good information when visiting your site).

If you feel you have no writing skills you can go to elance.com and very reasonably hire a writer who can write small articles for you. Your return on investment would be worth it. Always update your site with new articles, new products and sales on a regular basis. Fresh content added often will keep your site high up on the search engines.

You can easily find software today that makes it easy for you to create a web site. Just visit your local software retailer and you will find many ideas for web site creation software. It is quite inexpensive as well. HTML knowledge is not a prerequisite for creating a web site. You can find software now that lets you simply follow a template in a WYSIWYG editor. This stands for "what you see is what you get". If this is intimidating you can hire a web site designer. They are relatively inexpensive, depending on what type and how extensive your site is.

Make sure when you choose a domain name you give this a lot of thought. It is better to have the keyword that describes your product in your domain name, rather than something totally unrelated. The search engines will find you easier.

Once you have your site, it needs to be indexed by the search engines or directories. This process can be helped along by submitting your website to a 'paid' directory like Yahoo!.

It is better to get a web site hosted by a company that you pay a monthly fee for rather than use a free one, as they can have a lot of advertising on your site, which doesn't look professional. Just Google hosting companies and you will find a large number available.

There are a many excellent books in book stores that teach you all about marketing on the web. It is worth the read as it is very competitive out there. Knowledge is a definite plus! Good Luck!

Posted by billenross at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2007

Web Hosting

Web hosting has changed a lot in the last few years. Gone are the days of paying through the nose to have a website on the World Wide Web. Nor must you be a technological genius to set up a website. There are literally hundreds of choices when it comes to web hosts these days.

So, how do you choose the right one for you? In some respects, it may depend on what type of website you are looking to host. Do you just need to host a simple brochure type site? Do you plan to write a blog? Or, will you need tons of bandwidth for photo galleries or audio-visual media? Knowing the answers to questions such as those is your first task. (Update - here's a great resource for web hosting information).

However, there are a few essential features that every good web host should have. This article will outline these features, in no particular order.

1. A reasonable price. Unless you have very special needs, you should never have to pay more than $10 to $15 a month for dependable, full-featured web hosting. You can often save money by paying for a full year in advance, but at any rate, there are many cost-effective web-hosting solutions available today.

2. A cPanel interface. All of the best web hosts offer "cPanel", which is a web-based control panel that allows you to manage your domain through a web interface. It's an industry standard that enables site configuration and management, including setting up email, database administration, file management, FTP, and installation of scripts. Cpanel also generally comes with Fantastico, which is an easy-as-pie installer for the WordPress blog platform, bulletin board software, and more.

3. 100% reliability. Your web host should be able to guarantee 100% (or at least 99.9%) uptime. That means you can count on your site being live virtually all of the time and that you will have access to it, cPanel, and your email. Being able to guarantee that type of reliability will generally require that the host have back up server capability. If you're not sure, check before you commit.

4. Easily accessible customer support. Look for both web-based and telephone support. One or the other should be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Web solutions may include both email (or an email-based support ticket system) and live chat. You'll also want the support to be intelligent, reliable, and friendly. In addition, it will be helpful if they offer help files you can download or access online.

5. Multiple domain hosting. If you never plan to create more than one website, this feature may not be important to you. But for most Web entrepreneurs, this is an important consideration when choosing a web host. Most web hosts today offer cost-effective options for hosting more than one domain on an account. Some even offer unlimited domains for one low monthly (or quarterly) rate.

6. Large amounts of storage space and bandwidth allowed. You want to plan for future growth of your site, both in terms of the size of the site itself, and in the amount of traffic it attracts. Ideally, you'll sign up with a web host that won't penalize you for your growth, at least not for a long time. 25MB is a good minimum, and if necessary you should be able to easily upgrade your space without having to switch hosts.

7. Number of POP3 email accounts allowed. Unlimited email accounts is best. That gives you the flexibility to add unique email addresses for different functions on your website, such as sales@yourdomain.com, webmaster@yourdomain.com, support@yourdomain.com, etc. If you can't get unlimited email, then at least look for multiple email account capability.

8. Access to logs and statistics. You'll want to evaluate your site's performance over time, once it gets going. So having access to free statistics software and web logs will help with that analysis.

9. Ability to use FTP or online file management. File Transfer Protocol (FTP for short) is a tool where you can upload large numbers of files quickly. You'll want to be able to use FTP, at least some of the time. But online file management (especially through cPanel--see #2 above) is great when you only want to upload a file or two, or when you want to be able to administer your site when you're not at your own computer.

10. Backups. There should be some sort of plan for backups with your web host. Ideally, they'll include it in your price, but you may have to pay extra. All companies, though, should be doing some sort of backing up as a routine security measure. Find out, too, what is backed up, e.g., files, databases, server settings, etc.

So, there you have it--a rundown of the top features to expect from the best web hosting companies. By the way, free web hosting IS still available, but the old adage, "You get what you pay for" was never more true than in relation to web hosting, especially if you want to host a business web site. Be willing to pay for quality, reliability, and a full set of features.

Posted by billenross at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2007

Podcasts for Online Marketing

Podcasts are short radio-style audio programs that users of online audio, mobile audio and iPods (or other portable digital audio players) can download and listen to whenever and wherever they like. The Podcast medium is still in its infancy as a marketing medium.

The most effective use in these early days of marketing with Podcasts involves subjects that appeal to tech-savvy listeners. Obviously, that includes topics in computing, multimedia, and high technology.

Another smart approach is to match Podcast marketing with the lifestyle of the target audience. For example: skiers. The target market for a typical ski resort includes young professionals in the 20s and 30s, with an adventure-loving attitude to recreation, and plenty of disposable income so that they can afford the sport. That's right on target for the core market that buys iPods and other high-tech gadgets.

Marketing Sherpa reports that New England ski area Killington Ski Resorts recently tapped into this useful convergence of market niches to create a Podcast-driven marketing campaign.

The challenge was to reach the ideal demographic of young urban professionals, who are typically hard to get at through traditional ski industry marketing media such as radio, TV and magazines. Their lives are cluttered with a blizzard of conflicting media, their attention fragmented and hard to hold.

Killington Resorts communications manager Tom Horrocks recognized that one unifying factor of this demographic is their almost cultish love of iPods and portable digital audio. He decided that Podcasts would be an ideal way to connect with them on their own terms.

Here's how he put the campaign together:

1) Bought software and digital microphones that his team could use right in the office to create Podcasts.

2) Hired a "snow reporter / media writer" to act as a personable and enthusiastic character, to become identified as the Podcast voice of the resort.

3) Developed and produced 3 separate Podcasts: a 3-minute "Snowcast" of daily weather and snow condition reports; a 12-minute weekly "Driftcast" that delivered interviews, tips and stories from the mountain; and a 3-hour weekly music production, more like and FM radio segment, with music appealing to the target demographic.

4) Delivered the Podcasts regularly, on schedule, through popular distribution services including Apple's iTunes online music service, Podcast Alley, and Yahoo!, as well as through the Resorts' own Web site.

The results were impressive. Over a period of 2 months at the beginning of 2006, the Podcasts were downloaded nearly 30,000 times. The downside of Podcast marketing is that it is hard to track results. Once the audio is downloaded, there's no built-in way to measure how the listener responds or takes action.

However, Tom Horrocks is sure the Podcasts delivered a good return on investment. He credits the campaign's success to the flair of the resort's Podcast personality, known as Anna of the Mountain. "She epitomizes Killington: young, passionate, crazy about skiing."

Posted by billenross at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2007

Make a Lens on Squidoo

Squidoo has been part of the new Web 2.0 category of Internet marketing tools since 2005. Squidoo allows an author to create a lens, a one page website, which focuses on any subject for free. A particular lens can draw information from numerous sources and place it all on one page for easy viewing and reading.

A lens maker can create numerous lenses on a subject, focusing attention on a different aspect of the subject with each lens. On the other had, a lens maker can make numerous lenses that cover many different topics, reflecting the lens makers' different interests and expertise.

Internet Marketing

One of the many good uses for Squidoo lenses is to use the lens as part of an overall Internet marketing strategy. One or more good lenses can help to bring attention, traffic, and credibility to a product or business by providing valuable information and resources. Additionally, the lens can help to establish the author as an expert in their field and a person whose advice should be taken seriously.

The single page websites that Squidoo allows an author to create are called lenses because the finished website focuses on a single subject or idea. This focused attention on a subject is very attractive to users of the Internet who are constantly searching for answers to questions or problems. The Internet search engines whose job it is to find good, focused websites that will answer the questions or problems are attracted to the lenses.

Therefore, the use of Squidoo lenses has become a valuable Internet resource for building and marketing a business.

Basic Modules

There are numerous tools available on Squidoo to build a lens. Most of these tools are called modules. The modules create separate sections on the overall web page. Other tools available on Squidoo include the author's biographical area, a keyword list called tags, the lens title or headline, a lensroll, and RSS subscription for readers.

One of the basic modules allows the author to write short articles about various aspects of the lens's subject. Another basic module makes it easy to list and describe appropriate links to offsite information that complements the subject of the lens. For Internet marketing purposes the author can use these basic modules to link to their own websites, thereby driving traffic to their own business.

Other basic modules provide links to commercial Internet resources such as eBay, Amazon, Starbucks, CompUSA, and many other businesses where the reader can be directed to the author's own merchandise offerings or to merchandise and information that supports the author's own business. These modules can also provide some income, as the lens maker earns a small percentage of the sales of merchandise on these commercial websites.

Interactive Modules

Many modules are interactive in nature, which is why Squidoo is considered to be part of the new Web 2.0 category of interactive websites. Readers can respond to many of the modules, adding their own favorites to certain categories. For example, readers can add their favorite YouTube videos to the list of videos on the lens or add their favorite pictures to the lens's list. Additionally, readers can add their favorite links to a list of links that the author has provided on the lens, or they can add their comments or responses to questions asked by the lens's author. One of the favorite interactive modules is the voting module where readers can vote on a question by the lens's author or vote on a listing of favorite resources.

All of the interactive modules have the effect of creating new content for the lens. The benefit to the lens maker is that the new lens content makes their lens more searchable by the many internet search engines. This is an obvious boost to the lens maker's overall internet marketing strategy.

Syndicated Content Modules

Another category of modules is that of syndicated content that is drawn from other websites. For example, if the lens maker has a blog on the same subject as his lens, he can have the blog posts automatically directed to the lens each time he creates a new blog post. Other types of syndicated content include articles from magazines and newspapers. The lens maker can automatically draw content related to the subject of the lens each time a new article appears in the specified periodicals. Similar to reader interactivity, this constantly changing syndicated content refreshes the lens on a regular basis, making it more attractive to the internet search engines and giving a boost to the lens maker's internet marketing efforts.

Creating a Squidoo lens can be fun as well as wise. It is fun because the tools produce a lens with a wide range of variety and creativity. And it is wise because the lens will help the lens maker market their business more successfully.

Posted by billenross at 08:40 AM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2007

10 Ways to Grab a Skimmer's Attention

People don't have much time to read your sales letters and would rather skim them. They will scan your letter and read only those that catch their eye.

Is the solution to have a short one? No, it's not. Generally, long sales letters convert better. You will have more time to present the features and benefits of your product and convince your readers to buy.

If a short sales letter is not the solution, how, then, do you grab the attention of a skimmer so he can read all the important aspects of your sales letter? The following are ways that can help you make them read further:

1. Create a good first impression. Your ad copy should look professional. It should make the reader feel that your letter is worth reading. A misspelled word in your heading can turn off a potential customer. Why would one buy from you if you don't take care of details? What should your customer expect from your products, or even your support to the product later on?

2. Use a lot of headlines and sub-headlines to easily catch your visitors' attention. Expand on the benefits and features of your product. Have a sub-headline on each benefit. Your readers may want to read further if they find your headlines and sub-headlines interesting.

3. Use pictures or graphics that show your product and bonuses. They will make your product more concrete to your visitors. Pictures and graphics also easily attract eyeballs.

4. Be sure your graphics load fast and correctly. People don't want to wait. This is true especially if your graphic is at the top of your sales letter, and your whole web site will only be shown after downloading that picture.

5. Use short sentences or sentence fragments. It is easier to read and understand short sentences than long ones. By just looking at the length of your sentences, the visitor will know the degree of difficulty in reading your sales letter.

6. Use color, bold, italics, underlining to highlight important words and phrases. However, use them sparingly. Too much of them may look like you are hysterical and will turn away potential buyers.

Use highlighting near the area where you want to have your visitors read more. You may want them to read the features or benefits of your product.

7. Pick the three most powerful and appealing benefits of your product and repeat them in various parts of your sales letter. This will help your visitors easily remember these benefits. Just be sure to rewrite them, so it won't appear that you just copied and pasted them in your ad copy.

8. Use bullets to list the features and benefits of your product. Bullets make reading easier making your visitor read more.

9. Use a postscript (P.S.) at the end. This is some of the most read sections of a sales letter. You may repeat the strong point of your product, remind the bonuses included, or emphasize the urgency for the prospect to take action.

10. With a long sales letter, place buy buttons at different places of the letter. Your prospect may have been convinced to buy, so provide them with the opportunity to do so.

People are in a hurry to quickly get over reading a sales letter. Unless something catches their eyes, they would just skim over the letter and go on to the next site. They might miss the important points, and you lose them as customers. However, with the optimal use of eye-catching techniques, you may be able to have them read more, and convince them to click on that buy button.

Posted by billenross at 07:27 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2007

Article Marketing

Whether you run a business totally online, or you operate a brick-and-mortar business and have a supplemental website, you need to implement article marketing. If you aren't marketing your business with articles, you're missing a huge chunk of the marketing pie. Let me give you a few reasons why.

Reason #1: Article marketing is free. Every business owner knows that advertising isn't cheap. Every newspaper or magazine ad you run costs you dearly. By spending just a little extra time writing and submitting several articles each month, you'll save quite a bit of money. Best yet, article marketing doesn't cost you a dime--just a few hours every week.

Reason #2: Article marketing brands your business. Have you ever wondered how some businesses seem to become so well known in such a short amount of time? They're getting their name out there. They're giving away something of value for free to their potential customers. Your articles will brand your business and make it a well-known name.

Reason #3: Article marketing makes you an expert. If you write articles about the subjects you know well, you'll quickly become known as an expert in your field. Do you run a website on bird watching? Writing and submitting fifty articles on bird watching will show people that you know what you're talking about.

Reason #4: Article marketing teaches you how to relate to people. You can't write a bunch of articles without learning how to communicate effectively. The more you write, the more you'll learn how to get your message across in a friendly, personal tone.

Reason #5: Article marketing creates back links to your website. Without getting into the technical details of this, back links to your website are good and you'll want lots of them. Back links help boost your rankings in the search engines, thus gaining more exposure for your website.

The web owners always try to get that domain names which are very familiar to the web surfers. But, web owners prefer to get cheapest domain name for their web sites. After getting domain, web site design is considered as next step and any wrong selection of design leads towards heavy losses. After designing, the selection of hosting company is very critical step but dedicated hosting is most preferable all over the world. The next step is to promote websites by pay per click method because it is considered as cheapest way of advertising. But, affiliate sharing is the way by which web owners can generate revenue. The internet marketing guide provides the complete information to web owners for successfully launching websites.

Remember that article marketing isn't the cure-all answer to advertising your business; it's one piece of the pie. You also can't submit a handful of articles one time and expect to see results.

Article marketing requires persistence and patience. You should plan to spend a certain number of hours each week writing and submitting articles to promote your business. Pencil in this time faithfully and stick to it. Within a few months (maybe even a few short weeks!), you'll begin to see the results of your hard work pay off.

Posted by billenross at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2007

7 Viral Ways for Exapanded Online Reach

What would happen if one of your friends tells about your newest blog to her five friends and they, in turn, tell their friends and it goes on like this? Pretty soon you will have all the traffic you need for a comfortable income from your new-found writing careers. Is it possible to to achieve this kind of success using the virality of the social web, or does it sound like a pyramid scheme?

The emergence of social web provides opportunities for viral marketing that never existed before. Face to face talk or talk over the phone has its limitations in reaching your audience. The Web 1.0 offered forums for a limited viral marketing opportunity. The social web has opened up avenues manyfolds expanded online reach. This article describes seven techniques for using the social web to achieve virality.

1. Before jumping to social websites to launch your viral adventure, make your site social web friendly. Provide a link on your site for users to invite their friends. When someone joins your site through an invitation, reward points to the inviter. Announce a contest on your site and reward the top inviter with e-books or a t-shirt with your site logo.

2. Spend sometime at Digg. This is a community based news popularity web site. If your blog article hits the front page of Digg, you will get thousands of visitors and some of them will eventually become your regulars. Study the types of articles that end up on the front page of Digg. Write your blog articles targeted to Digg users.

3. MySpace is the ultimate social website because of its sheer size in terms of visitors. If you have lots of friends who have their MySpace pages, create a niche network community in MySpace with common interests. Post teasers of your interesting blog articles in your MySpace page with links to your full article. Ask your friends to write comments on your blog postings.

4. Take a look at Delicious. Google Delicious to get the url because it is not a dot-com domain. It is a social bookmarking site to store your bookmarks online. You should build a network of friends at this site and study their bookmarkings to assess the type of articles they prefer to bookmark. Tailor your blog articles to mimic the article style your network appreciates.

5. Visit a site called Squidoo. At Squidoo you create "lenses" (a Web page) about any topic. You can create as many lenses as you want and you can embed external links in your lenses. Squidoo lenses also have a good search engine credibility. So, your sites will get some good external in-bound links for free.

6. LinkedIn is an online community of experienced professionals. Create your account at LinkedIn and network with professionals in your fields. Offer some free services for other professionals in your network and solicit their recommendations. All recommendations appear in your profile. LinkedIn provides great opportunity for someone to find your business or services.

7. YourElevatorPitch provides a free online spot to announce your business and services. User rates your ad pitches. This site also allows you to link back to your site.

The domain name registration is considered as first step for launching any website. There are many companies which are providing services of website development. These online companies are providing web design to their customers at very nominal rates. But, any one can design the websites by knowing web design basics. After these steps, web owners go for cheap web hosting for minimizing their costs. These web owners need very high dsl connections. So, many companies are striving for providing better and reliable speed up dsl connections.

Other sites worth exploring for viral opportunities are Flickr and YouTube. Both the sides accept multimedia (photos for Flickr and videos for YouTube) contents. These sites are good for establishing your brand by regular posting of theme oriented humorous contents.

Posted by billenross at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2007

5 Easy Steps for Writing an Article that Gets Top Results

You may not know it, but you have an easy way to bring targeted traffic to your site. You can write articles for publication in ezines that will continue to bring you traffic to your site long after they appear online. Just think of this as an unstoppable traffic generator for your online business.

You do not have to be a Hemingway to be a great article writer. There are some basic rules to follow though. Here are 5 steps to writing a good article that will attract attention and result in more traffic and sales for your business.

ACTION STEP 1 - Create A Hot Title

You must grab the attention of the reader first. People scan everything before they commit to reading it. Let them know what the article is about in a way that makes them want to dig into it for more information. Two classic ways to make a good title are to use a "How to" format, such as, "How To Get A Base Hit 7 Times Out Of Ten", and the "Tips" format, which might go something like this: "5 Super Easy Tips To Relieve Stress".

ACTION STEP 2 - Get Your Reader's Attention With An Interesting Opening Sentence

The next most important part of writing your article is to grab the reader with a powerful first sentence. This will keep them interested and wanting more information. Two of the best ways to hook your reader is to ask a question or to state a fact.

A question should make the reader curious to find out the answer by finishing the article. If you state a fact, you must make it the basis for the rest of your article.

ACTION STEP 3 - Discuss The Main Points In The Body Of The Article

Here is where you provide the content of your article, and the solutions to the problem that you are solving for the reader. Your purpose here is to educate and inform. Address each problem and follow it with the solution. Or if you are giving tips to your reader, you can list each tip in the order that best solves their problem.

ACTION STEP 4 - Summary and Ask Your Reader To Take Action

Always include a brief summary for maximum results. Then tell your reader why it is important for them to take action now. Give a benefit or two as an incentive for them to respond now. This can be a link to your website or newsletter. After all, this was the primary purpose of your article.

ACTION STEP 5 - Include A Powerful Resource Box After Your Article

You absolutely need to make a resource box promoting your website, eBook, eCourse or affiliate program. The resource box gives the reader another way to get more information. This will spur the traffic to your promotion as more people read your article. Create a resource box that tells who you are and what you are offering to the reader. This should take no more than 3-6 lines of text.

These 5 steps will ensure that you have an article that people will want to read and then visit your website. Just use this easy 5-step format and simply fill in the details with your own information. Then distribute your articles to ezine and newsletter publishers in your business niche. The result will be more targeted traffic and increased visibility for your business.

Posted by billenross at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2007

10 Quick Rules for Better Search Engine Ranking

If you are setting up a website, follow these simple rules to improve search engine rankings of your site. You can also follow these techniques if your website is not ranked high in search engines for certain keywords. Concentrate on the home page of your site and once you learn the techniques, you will be able to apply them to the other pages of your site that will have multiple high ranking pages.

1. Find keywords (or key phrases) relevant to your website. Go to the overture keyword selector tool (type key phrase overture inventory in Google) and check the popularity of the keywords you want to use. Avoid highly popular keywords. Highly popular keywords are very competitive and the least popular keywords are search engine traffic starved.

Select a dozen keywords and key phrases from the middle of the list. This is a very important exercise and you should spend at least a couple of hours, if not more, researching different keywords. While you are researching your keywords, check your competitors by doing a search in a couple of popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc., using those keywords. Keep a record of your competitors' urls and other information because you don't want to waste your time doing the same search again in the near future.

2. Use the keywords you selected into the meta tags of your home page. Meta tags are located in the head section of a web page. Go to one of your competitor's website and select View and then Source from your web browser's menu to view the html source of the web page. You will see the meta elements.

The two important meta tags are keywords and description meta tags. Don't leave them blank. You can list your keywords, separated by comma, in the keywords meta tag. Construct a catchy description using your keywords for the description meta tag.

3. Use the keywords in your title tag. The text you use in the title tag appears in the title bar of the web browser. The title tag should be less than 64 characters long. Again, the key is to use a meaningful title using the keywords. Don't just make a laundry list of your keywords for the title tag.

The title tag and your meta description may end up in many search engine listings. So, spend sometime to make these two elements interesting, meaningful, and relevant to your site.

4. Use the keywords in top heading (h1) tags of your page. Use one keyword (or a key phrase) for each h1 tag. Use these h1 tags for the headings of your contents.

5. In the home page content, use bold, using the strong html element, to highlight some of your keywords.

6. Italicize some of the keywords in your page.

7. Use the keywords in alt tags of images. You should always use the alt tag for all images.

8. Encourage others to use the keywords for text anchors when they link back to your site. Better yet, publish your own short link text with keyword anchors, bold and italicized key phrases and give it away for link exchanges.

9. If possible, use the keywords in your domain name. Try different arrangements of the keywords to come up with an available domain name that you can register.

10. If you are using php or asp or any other web programming language for your dynamic website, make your url search engine friendly using url rewrite techniques. Search the phrase url rewrite in Google to know more about url rewrite.

Keep in mind these simple rules every time you want to launch a website. Spending a few days upfront in the preparation of your site will pay off in the long run with better search engine rankings.

Posted by billenross at 08:37 AM | Comments (0)

April 02, 2007

Effective Communication on the Internet

What is communication? In simple terms it can be defined as the process whereby person A sends a message to person B, on whom it has an effect. H. D. Lasswell in 'The Structure and Function of Communication in Society' (1948) suggested this model of communication: " Who says what by what means to whom and with what effect." In practice it is more complicated than that as there is an interaction among all parties involved in the communication, involving negotiation and exchange of meaning. This interaction takes place in a cultural setting that will also have a direct bearing on the communication process.

Structuralists take a different approach, focusing on the relationship of the actual elements that are necessary for meaning to occur. These are first the text (the actual message that has a physical existence of its own, independent of either the originator, sender, or receiver) this may be the written word or could equally be a photograph or video!

The text would be made up of signs or codes, thus gestures and expressions are an important part of the process. Secondly are the 'readers' the people who take the text and within their cultural and social setting form meaning from the text, signs and codes. Finally there is an awareness of an 'external reality' to which both text and people refer. The interaction among these three elements is how meaning is produced.

Communication theory takes all these issues and tries to find a rational explanation of the processes involved and thus the success or failure (or degrees in between) of any message. Some fifty plus years since the early attempts at understanding the communication process, the Internet has opened up a completely new communication medium that is evolving at almost a daily rate.

From originally a text based medium it has evolved to have pictures (graphics) sound and audio, animation, video streaming and video instant messaging. It is so very much part of our lives that it is taken for granted, just like all the communication messages that bombard us, day in, day out as we go about our everyday lives. What must not be forgotten is that the messages that are sent and received are constructed to achieve meaning, a result.

When communicating on the Web, it is important to remember the basics of communication, that a message is being exchanged for meaning and understanding to occur. The sender encodes a message, transmits it (publishes on the Web, sends an email etc.) where upon it is received, decoded at its destination causing an effect. The problem is that because the Web is Worldwide, cultural and social factors (leaving out technological factors) can cause the message to be received in a way not intended by the sender.

The solution to creating effective communication on the Internet is to resist in blanket coverage, trying to create a message that will have the same effect everywhere but rather use targeted communication. This involves the sender in researching the audience, understanding who is receiving the message, and thus when the communication is constructed the text and all its signs and codes relate to the recipient ensuring that the message is received and understood as the sender expected.

The use of video can help with this targeted communication delivery as it can be edited and refined for delivery to many divergent audiences across the Web. The added bonus is that each version helps deliver the visual, specific clues that cultures and societies use to enhance communication.

Posted by billenross at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2007

Split Testing to Improve Your Website

Most people change their website's pages whenever they get a new idea. They think that each change is going to improve their site and make them more successful.

Of course, there are basic improvements you can make as you are writing the content for your site. And for the first few weeks you may notice some shortcomings that need to be remedied.

But, after a few days or weeks your site becomes stable. You don't find any more errors in spelling or grammar. The graphics look like they belong on the site. And your order link or opt-in form performs correctly.

You're now ready for split testing. This is a slow, incremental improvement of your site through ongoing testing.

Split testing involves making an experimental change to one of your pages, measuring the effects of that change, and analyzing the significance of differences in measured results. In other words, a split test attempts to determine how a change to your site affects some measurable response.

There are several decisions you must make to conduct a split test.

First, you need to determine what change you want to make. Typically you will change a headline, a sentence or two in your sales copy, the price of your product, the wording of your guarantee, change an image, or alter some other single feature of your page.

You will use two (or more) nearly identical pages. The difference being that one page has the "original" material while the other "experimental" page has the change applied.

Second, you must decide what "success event" to measure. For many people, it will be sales of a product or clicks of the order link. Some will want to measure the number of opt-ins. Others will measure the clicks to a pay-per-click service like AdSense.

To measure successfully, you must know how to distinguish successful responses from your "original" and "experimental" pages.

For example, many affiliate programs allow you to include a campaign ID in your link. By placing one campaign ID in the order links on the "original" page and another campaign ID on the "experimental" page you can determine the number of clicks and the number of orders coming from your pages.

Other people use a redirect script that keeps statistics on each redirect request. Redirect scripts typically use a keyword to select the URL for redirection. You can use keywords like "original" and "experimental" and have both redirected to your affiliate program's order page. Then you can use the admin function of the redirect script to look at the number of clicks to the order page from both your "original" and "experimental" pages.

Next, you'll need a script to randomly deliver your original or experimental pages to your site's visitors. It would be helpful for this script to place a cookie on the visitor’s computer so the same page is delivered when the visitor returns.

Finally, you'll need to analyze the results. The Chi Square statistic is often used to determine the significance of experiments similar to this. While differences in results often seem satisfyingly clear, they often are not statistically significant.

For example, consider two pages that are each displayed 500 times. One page resulted in 20 sales while the other page resulted in 30 sales. "WOW", you say. "One page caused 50% more sales than the other page. That's got to be meaningful."

In this case we had a total of 50 sales, all things being equal, we would expect 25 sales from each page. The difference for both of your pages was only 5 sales. One page made 5 more sales than expected while the other made 5 fewer sales than expected. This could easily be the result of random variation rather than being caused by differences in your pages.

To help you understand, consider this story. Two random people are each given 500 pennies and each is placed 30 feet from a small can. They toss their pennies at the can. One person gets 30 pennies in the can while the other gets only 20 in the can. Can you conclude that the person who got 30 pennies in was significantly more skilled at tossing pennies than the other person?

No. In fact, if this penny tossing experiment was repeated 100 times, it is likely that 15 of those results would differ by as much or more than our example. That's too close to simple random variation to believe that there is a real difference in skill levels between the people tossing the pennies.

For many experiments, a "statistically significant" result means that the differences we seen in our result would occur 5 or fewer times if a similar random experiment was repeated 100 times.

So, we should not conclude that there is a significant difference in the ability of our pages to deliver the "success event."

There are now two things we can do. One is to conclude that the change we made to our "experimental" page is not statistically significant. In this case we can move on to the next split test experiment.

Or, we can continue this split test and hope that the ratio of sales remains the same. If we carried on the split test longer and found the same ratio of results, the differences could be significant. Consider doubling the number of exposures of your pages. If the ratio held, and we now have 60 sales compared to only 40 sales, that result would be statistically significant.

In 100 truly random experiments, successes having differences similar to 60 and 40 would occur fewer than 5 times. This is a good indication that the observed differences were not caused simply by random chance. Rather, we can conclude that there was a real cause for the observed differences.

The Chi Square statistic can be found on many spreadsheets, including Excel. With this statistic you compare the expected success values with the actual success values. When the statistic has a value of 0.05 or less you can conclude that there was a real reason for the differences.

Don't expect every split test experiment to yield important results. Perhaps a third of your split test experiments will show the experimental page significantly improved sales. A third of the time there will be no significant difference. And a third of the time, the experimental page will cause a decrease in sales.

But, keep testing because that's the sure way to improve your sales.

Posted by billenross at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2007

How to Make Money Online - Some Basic Guidelines

Is it still possible to make a good income with Google Adsense? After all, there was a report circulating this past fall that said Adsense was dead.

Adsense took a beating a short time ago when Google made some changes. But it is still possible to make some extra money with a Web site or two. It is even possible to make a good living with it.

What You Need

You need a domain name, a hosting account, and a niche topic. Preferably the niche is one that you know something about. That makes it easier to fill it with content.

If you want to make a good income with one or two Web sites then good content is a must. Your goal is to create a site that attracts people and keeps them coming back.

There are sites on the Internet, created by people just like you that are getting thousands of visitors a day. The content is written by the site owner who cares about the subject. They are passionate about the topic and write from their heart.

These sites have grown in popularity simply by word-of-mouth and maybe some simple search engine optimization tactics. Good content will get noticed, although optimizing for the search engines helps.

Getting Traffic to Your New Site

Before your site can become popular through word-of-mouth you need to get the first visitors to your site. How do you let people know about your site?

Free tactics include posting in forums or blogs and putting your URL in the signature, posting on Answers.Yahoo.com and again putting your URL in the signature, and writing articles and submitting them to article directories. These are all free, and they work very well.

Here's a hint: Write an article each week for each site. Do that consistently and you can't help but get traffic. It's a great way to get backlinks, too, which is very important in getting ranked high in the search engines.

For further education (and for examples) visit StevePavlina.com and JackHumphrey.com/fridaytrafficreport. These are two sites that get thousands of visitors a day. They are using the blogging software put out by WordPress, which is free.

Blogs are a simple way to build a Web site. Anyone can start one, and then tweak it as they become more experienced. Jack's site didn't start out looking that cool. He's done some major changes to it in the last year.

Steve's site looks very plain, but that doesn't bother the millions of people who regularly visit his site. They are coming for the content.

That simple-looking site is earning Steve several thousand dollars a day in Adsense, affiliate products and donations. Yes, people actually donate to sites that offer them good content for free. Steve uses a WordPress plug in for collecting donations from visitors who want to give him money as a way of saying "thank you."

A free forum that can provide a great education on the topic of Internet marketing for any newbie is available at Forum.DigitalPoint.com. Be prepared to spend hours there searching through all the posts that give good tips on how to make money online. You can also sign up for free and post questions.

The basics of how to make money online have been described here, along with some examples to study and a forum to learn from. Now it is up to you to get started.

Whatever you do, don't put it off. You can't earn money online by just reading about it. You have to take action.

Posted by billenross at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

February 08, 2007

Information Publishing

Posted by billenross at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2007

5 Great Ways to Raise Funds On the Internet for Your Group

If you're a member of a non-profit group of any kind and are need to raise funds for your events or activities, here are 10 ways to do so online that you may not be aware of.

1) Run your own online auction.

Ever bought or sold anything on eBay? Most people don't realize that they allow you to sell items for your non-profit group too. Look for the link in the seller resources under 3rd party services. It's called eBay Giving Works - click there and read all about how it works.

2) You can run your own "A-Thon".

Does your group like to do "A-Thons", but you don't like all the work involved with running one? With www.choose-a-thon.com, you can select any of the following to do as a fundraising event: walk-a-thon, bike-a-thon, read-a-thon, bowl-a-thon, march-a-thon or life-a-thon. There are no up-front fees and they'll collect your donations for you too.

3) Use a Krymus website.

A website through www.krymus.com offers a cash-back reward for using the site to shop at over 300 national chain stores. There's a fundraising option where they'll build a free shopping mall website for you and you promote it to your supporters. For every sale made at this store, your group gets paid a commission. Some of the stores included in this are Wal-Mart, Sharper Image,Barnes & Noble, Target and Best Buy. Your group does no selling, collecting money or delivering products - just promote your website and cash the checks.

4) If you have an emergency need for your group, a pittance portal might be the way to go.

Pittance Portals (www.pittanceportal.com) are websites you can set up for free and send supporters to so they can make a donation via Paypal. You have control of the content and can update it as needed. They also offer additional marketing and search engine services for a fee.

5) You can sell internet service as a fundraiser.

That's right, www.cyberlynk.net will give you up to 50% of every sale for internet service you make for your group. The internet service is dial up (which might be a disadvantage) but the price is good - $12.99 a month. Your group doesn't have to do any sales, collection of money or distribution of the product....it's all handled online. Your group only has to promote it.

The best part of all of these fundraisers is that the selling, money collection and distribution of the products or services is mostly handled for your group by the online service. This will give your volunteers more time to concentrate on promoting the fundraiser and is certainly a lot less work and stress for those involved. All of these are extremely easy to run - so if you need more funds and don't have much time to do the legwork, let the internet help.

Posted by billenross at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2007

MySpace - A Social Networking Site

MySpace is a social networking website where people tell others about themselves and their interests, and interact with other members. This service has now become the most popular online community and the website is among the top ten most visited sites. The membership to this service is free and its 100 millionth account was created on August 9, 2006. Registration can be done from the home page:

www.myspace.com

There are reportedly 230,000 registrations every day. The present owner of the website Rupert Murdhoch's News Corporation created a stir in the corporate world by purchasing MySpace for US$580 million in July 2005.

People use MySpace for a variety of reasons - establishing identity, making friends, socializing, joining and creating interest groups, expressing their views, promoting themselves, promoting their business - to name just a few. Though MySpace is not a commercial organization people use it to expand their business. However, business promotion should not appear as spamming. Any objectionable behavior by a member can even result in cancellation of the membership.

Creating Your Profile

There are many features available to the members of MySpace for expressing themselves and for communicating with others. The member first creates his/her profile for which many different formats are available. There is lots of flexibility to what a member can add to his/her profile - personal details, text, links to other web pages, photographs, audio clips, videos, graphics and so on. The member can design his/her profile to make it attractive, reflect his/her personality and convey message to others. The profile can be modified periodically to maintain freshness and change the content.

Any business promotion should be done in a subtle way so that it doesn't appear as advertisement. For example, while explaining about his/her interests the member can make reference to the business. It will be helpful to add keywords in the profile in a natural way because MySpace has its own search engine and the member's profile can come up in the search when someone is looking for those keywords.

Making Friends

MySpace is "a place for friends". You can browse profiles of other members to select your friends. The search engine of MySpace can be used for locating other members by criteria such as age group, location, interests etc. Once you locate a person you would like as your friend, you open his/her profile and click on the link "Add to Friends". A message will go to him/her with your MySpace link. He/she can see your profile and accept or reject your request. If your request is accepted which is mostly the case, you become friends. Otherwise there is no need to feel bad; you simply look for other friends. You can also get requests for friendship from other members that you can approve or reject.

Making friends in this way is a slow process. To speed up the process software programs are available. Many members use software that can add hundreds of friends by click of a button. These members may be interested in promoting their business. Although MySpace doesn't approve of such software, it is possible to restrict the number of friends made every day to a low level and avoid getting into trouble. There are other programs for adding friends quickly that are generally accepted such as MySpace trains.

Communicating With Other Members

MySpace offers several ways by which members can interact with one another.

E-mails: Members can exchange personal messages with any of their friends from their member's area by email facility provided by the system.

Bulletin: Members can send one-way messages to all their friends by way of bulletins. When you are sending a message to all your friends it will be in your interest to make the message helpful and interesting to others. This is a great way of projecting and establishing yourself in the community.

Groups: There are hundreds of groups available in MySpace and each group consists of members interested in a particular area. The groups are segregated by categories that make it easy to locate groups active in your area of interest. You can send a request to join any groups of your choice. Let us say you are interested in joining groups dedicated to a particular niche. Chances are that you will find groups that are interested in your niche, or in a closely related niche. Once you join those groups you get a highly targeted audience. By your conduct within the group you can find customers, subscribers or other like-minded people. Each group will have its own set of rules and it is expected that you will follow them when you join the group. You can also start your own groups that will be under your control.

Forums: Click on the forum button on MySpace web pages and you will find forums arranged category-wise. Forums provide opportunities to learn from others and establish yourself as an expert in your field. Your forum post are linked to your profile page and you can attract visitors by posting in forums.

Blogs: You can set up your own blog and make your posts. This is a powerful medium for sharing information. By regular and relevant posts you can increase traffic to your blog and to your profile page. Also, more content on your blog will improve its searchability by MySpace and other search engines.

Classified: You can put your ads free of cost to MySpace classified. The ads in the classified section are arranged city-wise and category-wise. But you can post to classified only if you have an account for at least 7 days. This is a way of fighting spamming. The classified section has a user-driven flagging system and you should ensure that other members do not consider your ads as spam.

These are just some of the options available with MySpace. There is tremendous scope for members to use MySpace to their best advantage. It is a good idea to explore the site thoroughly and learn from profiles of other members to derive full benefits from this service.

The Internet is constantly evolving and a trend is clearly visible - interactive sites are gaining in popularity. And MySpace is as interactive as you can make it. In fact, MySpace is setting the trend for others.

Be sure to review these MySpace Techniques

Posted by billenross at 12:22 AM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2007

How to List Your Business in Google and Yahoo Local Search

Even if your business is done completely online, you may benefit from getting listed in Google Local or Yahoo's local listings. People often feel more comfortable doing business with someone who is local; and potential customers may stumble across your business while searching for other things. Submission to Local Search at both Google and Yahoo are free, and may bring you more business than you expect.

Here are the URLs for the signup forms below, but before you get started you should have the following information ready at hand:

1. The first thing they will ask for is the physical location of your business. If your business is in your home, that is no problem, just use your home address. You shouldn't, however, use a post office box, as Google doesn't accept them.

2. The telephone number(s) of your business - If you use your home phone number for your business, be sure you have an appropriate answering machine message, and that your phone is answered in a professional manner.

It is best to get a separate telephone number for your business, even if it and your budget are very small. Check with your phone company and the VOIP companies, you may be pleasantly surprised at how cheaply you can get a second number. Many people use VOIP for their business, and pay just $25 per month for unlimited local and long distance through their broadband internet connection. If you have a fax number, have that ready also.

3. A business email address - Use an email account at your business domain. If you don't have a website for your business, buy a domain for your site from a registrar such as registerfly.com who gives website space with a domain purchase, or at least put up a "one page business card" website on the free space Yahoo offers to local listers. In any event, don't use an America Online address or a "freebie" email service such as Hotmail or Yahoo for your business. This is considered very unprofessional.

4. Your business website address - Get a site if you honestly mean to have an internet business. Yes, a website is not strictly required in order to earn online, but to anyone with online business experience you will appear as a rank amateur without one.

5. A description of the services or products you sell. This should be a short 1 to 3 sentence summary such as:

"Your Business Name provides widgets to all widget users, with special emphasis on blue widgets for widgeteers. We also offer widget payment plans."

Don't make it a blatant advertisement, just an explanation of services.

6. Categories your business falls under - You'll be able to choose up to 5 categories for your listing.

7. What types of payment can you accept? (Cash, credit card types, etcetera)

8. Your business operating hours and days at your location.

9. Contact Name - likely yours.

Google users will need to setup an Account. Fear not...if you have Gmail, Google Sitemaps or any other Google service requiring an email address you are already registered.

When you have your information ready, go to http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter.

Sign into your Google account and follow the onscreen instructions. Once you have finished, Google will telephone or send you a postcard (your choice) with a confirmation number. When you receive the pin number in the mail or by phone, you will then need to go back to your account and enter that pin number before your entry can be activated.

After that, just wait for the phone calls from new customers.

For Yahoo, the information needed is nearly the same, and they will give you a free 5-page website for your business to boot!

Sign up at Yahoo here: http://listings.local.yahoo.com/

Get going and boost your business into areas you might not have thought of trying.

Posted by billenross at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2007

New Strategy For Inbound Links

In this article I am coming back to the oldest Web marketing strategy - inbound links. The importance of inbound links to your Web site never diminishes. Search engines still value quality inbound links to a Web site for higher rankings. However, the emphasize is now on the quality, not the quantity of links. A dozen quality links to your site from useful sites are more valuable to a search engine than 700 links obtained through a link exchange program.

Before I discuss how to obtain quality inbound links to your site, I would like to mention some don'ts of inbound link strategy. Never participate in an automated or manual link exchange program. These programs are useless; they don't benefit you and sometimes the search engines may even penalize your site for such links. Also, stop soliciting link exchange from other sites where your links will be placed in a link farm on a page along with hundreds of other links. The two don'ts are - link exchange program and link farms.

Now I will talk about the new strategy. The number one strategy is to write articles with your resource box attached. Your resource box should mention your expertise in the subject and only one link to your site's home page. I know you have already started frowning on the idea of writing articles to promote your site. You are telling yourself that it is not a new strategy and it has been going for the past few years.

You know that thousands of articles are written everyday and distributed through article directories and submission services. You can still continue promoting your site using article directories and submission services. However, I will mention a few new twists to the old article publishing idea to distinguish you from the pack.

Write original articles. If you buy private level rights to an article, rewrite it to make it unique. You don't have to buy the rights to private level articles to create original article. Using the Internet, find good quality articles on the subject that interests you and read those articles. It requires a few hours of time commitment every week.

On the weekend, take an additional few hours and write in your own words what you have read in the preceding week. Voila, you have a good quality original article. Remember, you can always write in your own words the ideas that you have read in other articles. You cannot simply copy verbatim from other articles. That will be copyright violation.

If you are good at writing humorously, do exploit that skill while writing on any subject. Humor is very powerful and it attracts more readers. People love a bellyful of laughs. If possible, say something bold or controversial without being a hate monger. This will also attract others' attention.

Once you have your original article written, find a few quality content rich site (not article directories) and offer them your article for free with your resource box attached. You are not asking for any link exchange, you are just giving away your high quality articles for free to a few selected sites.

Once you have a few good articles on the same subject, compile them into an e-book. Write a short bio(less than 300 characters) with your Web site link and ask a few selected site owners to distribute your e-book for free to their visitors. You can also ask other site owners to include your e-book as a free bonus in some of their prime selling products. Ask the site owners to distribute the e-book from their sites with courtesy notes and links back to your site.

If your Web site has a forum, offer other sites to use it from their sites. Setup your forum so that it has almost seamless integration from other sites. Ask other sites to directly link to your forum from their main menu. In return, tell them that you will write nice reviews of their sites and their offerings and publish those reviews in your site.

Develop a tips and tricks section on the subject of your Web site and update it regularly. Allow other sites to publish your tips and tricks for free with courtesy links to your site. Make the process automated (using RSS other techniques) so that when you update your tips and tricks page, all sites publishing your tips and tricks are also updated.

Whenever you get an opportunity, use your cell phone to shoot short videos and take pictures. You need to get a good cell phone with a camera. Give your pictures and videos to other sites for free. Ask them to put links back to your site below every video and picture they publish in their sites.

Join a few social networking sites like MySapce, etc. Create your Web pages on those sites with videos and pictures. Provide links back to your site from those pages. Update your Web pages in social networking sites periodically with fresh videos and pictures.

Publish link to your articles in community based popularity sites like digg. A well "dugg" story can generate thousands of hits to your site. If you have a controversial or humorous story, the chances are even better for "digging" your articles from these type of sites.

Write reviews of products and services, related to your site's subject, that you have used and publish those reviews on different review sites with a clever way to put links back to your site. Some creativity is required to achieve this feat. You cannot simply spam these review sites. Be genuine and at the same time marketing savvy.

Network and build good rapport with a dozen or so good site owners. Help each other in site promotion, idea and content exchanges. For all content exchanges, don't forget to include resource boxes with links back to your site.

Posted by billenross at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2007

Giving Your Online Business Powerful Domain Presence

What's the one make-it-or-break-it item that your online business needs to stand out from the crowd and become a huge success?

The right domain name!

The domain name is what people type in when they want to get to your site the part that comes after the http:// or the www. It's your virtual real estate address. Having something they can remember without looking it up each time or keeping it in their bookmarks to be lost among the others is the best thing you can do to get repeat visitors and word-of-mouth free traffic.

People say that all the good names are gone, but that's about as far from the truth as you can get. Here are some simple guidelines that will make your domain name -- and your business -- popular and memorable web destinations.

1. Choose a Dot-Com

The number one rule is, go for the dot-com ending, which is typed as .com. This is the Main St. of the virtual real estate world, and the one that most people will type in regardless of what your domain extension actually is. While .net and .org were popular for awhile, and then .us, .biz and .name took the stage, people always revert back to .com -- no matter how many fancy country code top level domains are launched into the mainstream, like .cc, .ws, .to, .cn and others.

2. Choose something memorable

You want your business name to be your domain name too, if possible. So if your flower shop is called Suzette's Flowers, you want to get suzettesflowers.com, assuming it's available. If not, try adding a dash, like suzettes-flowers.com or a secondary descriptive word like suzettesflowersonline.com or prettysuzettesflowers.com. If you're creative, you'll definitely be able to come up with something that works with your business name and is memorable for your customer.

Keep in mind that if you use a dash in your domain name, which some Search Engine Optimization experts say attracts more free traffic to your site, you have to say the dashes if you use your domain name in an audio product or commercial; so it would be "suzettes dash flowers dot com".

Most people typing in your domain name later will not type the dashes.

3. Get another variation

If you're lucky enough to grab a great domain name without the dashes, then you might want to get the same name with dashes between the words as well. You can put both of them up on your server as mirror sites to get the benefits of SEO as well as the ease of typing without the dashes.

You may also want to consider getting the .net or .org or even another extension to use as a sister site for your main dot com site... perhaps you put your forum on the .net, or use your .com for your main product and .net for your business background information site.

Even if you're looking for a domain name that you don't really think will be available, using your creativity and trying a variety of combinations should allow you to lock down a memorable domain name that will attract people to your website.

Posted by billenross at 09:15 AM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2006

How to Avoid Internet Marketing Ad Overload

You have come up with an idea for a way to make money on the net or you have decided which program you would like to promote online. You have built a terrific website that is informative and entertaining. Do you know what will be the biggest obstacle to your online success? It happens every day to millions of marketers online and no one is saying anything about how detrimental this problem can be to your marketing efforts.

Has this happened to you? You've joined a program or built a site and you know that your most important task every day is to drive traffic to that site. Even though you know that you must drive traffic to that site, that the very survival of your enterprise depends on that traffic; you waste countless hours every week opening the offers that flood your inbox every day instead of promoting your own site or program. Come on admit it. Everyone does it, but the really successful marketers are able to focus their energy like a laser on their single most important marketing task.

It's hard to not look at all the offers that you receive every day. After all, marketers everywhere continue to use email to get their message out and some of them are very creative people. The subject lines in your inbox are screaming, "Open Me" as loud as possible. As an intelligent person you are naturally curious to find out what's inside that message. Don't do it!

As enticing as those subject lines are, don't waste your time opening them up. You have already built your site or chosen your program. You need to be promoting only that site or program. The time that you waste looking at someone else's offer can never be recovered. Each of us only gets 24 hours per day. You need to spend as many of those 24 hours promoting your site or chosen program. Until your site ranks high enough to get natural traffic from the search engines, your primary task is to drive traffic to your site - nothing else.

One way to stay focused on your online enterprise is to protect the email addresses that are linked to your offer. Never use these addresses to join lists or subscribe to newsletters. If you do, in no time the mailboxes will be filled with offers instead of messages pertinent to your enterprise. For example, use sales@yourdomain.com, support@yourdomain.com and info@yourdomain.com for the payment, customer support and general information requirements of your site and never use them for anything else. That way you can get through your daily email chores quickly and have more time for traffic generation.

Posted by billenross at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)

December 21, 2006

Giving Your Online Business Powerful Domain Presence

What's the one make-it-or-break-it item that your online business needs to stand out from the crowd and become a huge success?

The right domain name!

The domain name is what people type in when they want to get to your site the part that comes after the http:// or the www. It's your virtual real estate address. Having something they can remember without looking it up each time or keeping it in their bookmarks to be lost among the others is the best thing you can do to get repeat visitors and word-of-mouth free traffic.

People say that all the good names are gone, but that's about as far from the truth as you can get. Here are some simple guidelines that will make your domain name -- and your business -- popular and memorable web destinations.

1. Choose a Dot-Com

The number one rule is, go for the dot-com ending, which is typed as .com. This is the Main St. of the virtual real estate world, and the one that most people will type in regardless of what your domain extension actually is. While .net and .org were popular for awhile, and then .us, .biz and .name took the stage, people always revert back to .com -- no matter how many fancy country code top level domains are launched into the mainstream, like .cc, .ws, .to, .cn and others.

2. Choose something memorable

You want your business name to be your domain name too, if possible. So if your flower shop is called Suzette's Flowers, you want to get suzettesflowers.com, assuming it's available. If not, try adding a dash, like suzettes-flowers.com or a secondary descriptive word like suzettesflowersonline.com or prettysuzettesflowers.com. If you're creative, you'll definitely be able to come up with something that works with your business name and is memorable for your customer.

Keep in mind that if you use a dash in your domain name, which some Search Engine Optimization experts say attracts more free traffic to your site, you have to say the dashes if you use your domain name in an audio product or commercial; so it would be "suzettes dash flowers dot com".

Most people typing in your domain name later will not type the dashes.

3. Get another variation

If you're lucky enough to grab a great domain name without the dashes, then you might want to get the same name with dashes between the words as well. You can put both of them up on your server as mirror sites to get the benefits of SEO as well as the ease of typing without the dashes.

You may also want to consider getting the .net or .org or even another extension to use as a sister site for your main dot com site... perhaps you put your forum on the .net, or use your .com for your main product and .net for your business background information site.

Even if you're looking for a domain name that you don't really think will be available, using your creativity and trying a variety of combinations should allow you to lock down a memorable domain name that will attract people to your website.

Posted by billenross at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2006

Suffering from Information Overload?

The age that we live in is called the information age. And it's said that the Internet is the information superhighway.

If you're an e-business owner, it's possible that you've been run over on the information superhighway. Unfortunately, the traffic is so heavy that it's difficult to get up! The information just keeps coming and coming and coming.

What can be done about all of the information coming at us all at once? What strategies can be used to manage the flow of information so that you only have to deal with the important stuff?

First, let's look at what information you've got coming at you:

If you're online all day long, there's a good chance that a lot of it is from browsing around the Internet, looking for information that you can use to build your business. Perhaps you get emails from people (as well as spam)...including vendors, customers, and partners. You probably get reports from your advertising efforts, like Google Adwords, and there may be times (like when you own several websites) that you have to manage such information as domain registrars.

The first thing you want to do is deal with the flow coming in:

Before reading any information, give it a quick glance and decide if it is critical to your business efforts or not and if it is, save it. If it isn't, delete it.

- Resist the urge to review everything with a fine-tooth comb and resist the urge to respond to emails as soon as they come in.

- Decide whether you need to spend two hours gathering marketing information or only one hour.

- Prioritize information coming in so that you only deal with the most important information and can simply glance at and correctly file the less important information.

Review and prioritize to first reduce the flow.

The second thing you want to do is manage the flow that you're allowing through:

To do this, you'll want to create systems and use databases so you can keep track of everything. Not everything needs all of your attention right away. You can use information managers and task managers to help you manage the flow of information coming in to you.

What's the end result? You'll have less information to deal with...so you'll have more time to spend on critical business activities like marketing...so you'll generate more customers...so you'll generate more sales...so you'll generate more profit!

Posted by billenross at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)

December 16, 2006

Long Tail Marketing... What Does it Mean?

Recently there is a huge stir around the phrase “long tail marketing.” It primarily deals with retailing online and makes some real interesting points you should consider. The concept is by Chris Anderson and you can get his book at Amazon.

But what does it all mean? It means get busy with keywords and content to get all the searches possible to your site. People do search differently so you must consider all keywords that relate to you.

An example is a hobby site. Imagine the "length of the tail" in how many keywords that could be. Everything from backyards to zebras. It's the length of the tail when all of those keywords are connected that can bring you more business. Think about a big tail on a huge animal, it covers a lot of ground and gets your attention when connected to an alligator!

So to coin a phrase, "get your tail moving" and leave no rocks unturned. Some search for refrigerators and for some it is an ice box or the fridge. Think about what people name things in other parts of the world that are the same thing in your world.

In keyword research it is easy to spot and grow niches. Low search counts at the top 3 search engines can mean business for you when there is no competition. Use Wordtracker to find out what these less used search engine searches can do for you. So what if there are only 6 searches a month for an item; if you happen to sell that item and no one else does, you want that business.

The long tail of search phrases will build traffic. You can not count on 80% of your traffic coming from 20% of your top used keywords based on readings at Google. Because competition for highly used words is so big, long tail marketing makes perfect sense.

If you are an Adsense publisher, imagine how many more relative ads you could display on all of those new low competition keyword pages. It is the total searches from all of those less used words that make using them worthwhile.

Create your content with a broader base of keywords to see the effect. Watch your site stats and be amazed at all of the new search terms you'll be found with. Many will tell you more content or more products would be easy to market.

With search engines today it is all about content and keywords, and Google flat out says so in their webmaster guidelines. Long tail marketing is real easy with search engines. All you have to do is know the words people use.

Posted by billenross at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2006

Who is Behind that Website? Ask Whois!

Who, exactly, stands behind that website on your screen? Does that web page really belong to the company it claims to represent?

A handy little applet, known as a "Whois", can tell you who is behind a web page before you make that final click or download that free offer.

What is a Whois?

A Whois is a software utility, or applet, that looks up information about individual websites. A Whois will reveal whatever information is currently available for any website.

A Whois will find the Domain Name and the IP Address so you will at least know the identity of the registered owner of the domain (website).

The exception is when an owner of a website lists it as "private". In that case, the only information available is whether the website really exists.

How much, or how little, information available for a Whois query depends on what the owner of the Domain Name decides to make public. Thankfully, most serious businesses provide ample information.

Companies usually want to make it easy for customers to get in touch; they list every possible way to reach them. They list telephone and fax numbers, physical (street) and postal addresses, and of course email contacts, in order to attract prospective customers.

A personal website owner, though, might be wiser to list only the minimum required data, or even register as "private". That way, she could avoid attracting unwanted sales pitches, spammers, or perhaps even worse.

Someone with a day job would not be at home during office hours, anyway. As well, who needs strangers from distant time zones phoning in the middle of the night? So he may not list his phone number.

How does a Whois work?

Not all Whois applications search ALL domains. Each Domain Registrar is responsible for maintaining a Whois over those domains (websites) registered with him. When the internet was in its infancy, each Whois was designated to search only one type of domain; there was one Whois for ".COM", another for ".ORG", and so on.

Even today, many Whois utilities are still dedicated to one domain type or to one Registrar (the agency where you have registered your Domain Name). To facilitate searching, we now have publicly accessible Whois software that can search all Domain Registrars plus all Hosting Servers for any type of domain.

We will consider two categories of Whois software:
a) Free Whois software
b) Affordable, commercial Whois software that you pay to use

Which type Whois is best for me?

Naturally, that depends on how you are going to use a Whois, something you will only know after having tried a few different Whois services.

While learning how to use a Whois, the free ones are easy on your pocketbook and deliver results that are just as accurate as any other model. They all search the same data bases, after all!

When using a free, no-frills, Whois you may have to Cut-and-Paste the URL (web address) from your browser address bar to the Whois search box manually.

The free Whois will then probably present the information in a more primitive format -- that is, in a long text-based list of line after line of data. This requires more work, as it is more difficult to glean the information that you need.

For infrequent use, a free Whois will do. It makes sense to start with free software until you know enough to decide whether to spend money on an easier program. It is quite likely that you may never need to buy a Whois program at all.

If you decide to buy faster, easier commercial Whois software, it can be had for $25 or so.

Any commercial program should install an icon in your browser toolbar so all you need do is click on the icon. Then the application reads the URL of the website currently in your browser window and looks it up automatically. No Cut-and-Paste contortions.

Finally, it should open a new, graphical "results" window where it displays the information in a neat, perceptible manner. You get all the data without the clutter of a text-based display.

What can a Whois tell you about a website?

Suppose you are searching the internet and you find an appealing site: "HONEST-SITE.COM". First, you want to see who they really are. A Whois search usually tells you:

i) The true Domain Name, hopefully, HONEST-SITE.COM in this instance.

ii) The IP Address of the website, e.g., 123.45.0.234 (four groups of numbers from 0-255, separated from one another by periods (dots). Try typing those numbers into your browser address bar -- it should bring up the same website again.

iii) Any other contact information available.
As well, you can expect to find information about who hosts the website (supplies the Web Server):

iv) The name of the Hosting Company (Domain Name Server or Web Server), e.g., "WORLDSBESTDOMAINSHOP.COM"

v) The IP Address of that Web Server, including contact email addresses and phone numbers

vi) The email addresses for their Administrator (ADMIN) and Webmaster (TECH).

A Whois reveals whatever information is available for any website, so you can see who stands behind it. And yes, as you have guessed by now, a Whois is a quick and ideal way to unmask faked (phishing) websites.

Posted by billenross at 09:11 AM | Comments (0)

December 07, 2006

Using 'Guarantees' in Your Sales Letters to Increase Sales

Imagine that you're someone who has just purchased a product or service after reading a well-written and persuasive sales letter. You pay the price of the product or service and eagerly await the product's arrival or to speak with a representative about using the service. Finally, the product arrives, or you're used up your service hours and you have not reaped any of the benefits touted in the flashy sales letter. Even worse, the product you purchased was broken or not satisfactory when it arrived and now it's going to be a hassle to replace it or get a refund. If this were you, how would you feel?

Potential customers are often wary about purchasing a product or service based only on a sales letter because there are no implied guarantees. The product can be damaged upon arrival, the service can provide little help, or the product or service is just not worth the price the customer might pay. There is one trick you can use to reduce these fears on the part of the potential customer. Use a guarantee in your sales letters that allows customers to shed the risk they would normally assume when making such a purchase.

A guarantee can be in several forms. You can guarantee free replacement if a product is defective, additional free services if a client is unsatisfied with the service you have provided, or even offer to refund the entire purchase price of the product or service if the customer is not completely satisfied. When you offer a guarantee, you are creating goodwill and confidence in your product or service. Many potential customers think, "Why would they guarantee their product or service if it didn't work as well as advertised?"

When you offer a guarantee in your sales letters, make sure the guarantee is risk-free. This means that you should not attach any strings to the guarantee. Some companies require that a product be returned unopened or in its original packaging in order to receive a full refund. If you've had the product for a month or two, and you've already thrown out the packaging, this can present a problem. Then you're stuck with a shoddy product and an emptier wallet. Making your guarantee risk-free means that you don't require customers to meet any conditions in order to receive the refund, replacement, or free services.

This is a marketing tactic that can create quite a lot of goodwill from customers. People are more likely to buy from businesses that stand behind their products and services than from businesses that are hard to deal with and inflexible if a product is damaged or a service has not benefited the customer. By offering a risk-free guarantee, you are telling your customers that you care about their experience with your company. You are also giving customers an easy way to solve problems, rather than making them go through a difficult process. This can even create repeat business from satisfied customers.

Once you've mastered the art of using risk-free guarantees in your sales letters, you may see an increase in the number of inquiries generated by a particular sales letter or even in the number of sales that result from a direct mail campaign. If you see results, it only makes sense to keep this tip in the front of your mind as you develop sales letters in the future.

Posted by billenross at 05:55 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2006

12 Ways to Build Your Opt-in List

Building your opt-in list starts with having a website that will persuade visitors to spend some time there. By doing that they will be more apt to sign up to your newsletter or offer.

Here are 7 steps that will help accomplish this.

1. Use original material. If they see that you are displaying the same content as similar sites. They aren't going to stay around for very long.

2. Start out with a headline and introduction that captures their attention. Let them know what is going to be found on your website. It doesn't take long for today's surfers to decide if this page is going to be worth further attention.

3. Make sure your visitors know just what they will find on your website. They are looking for information on a certain subject and they need to know that you have their possible answers. Therefore be sure to use the keywords that best fit your web page because when your visitor clicks on a keyword with his browser he wants to find the corresponding content.

4. Be sure you have numerous cross links to various pages on your site so the visitor can browse through it. If he finds it helpful and pertinent he will be more inclined to bookmark your site and come back again. Be sure your links are well designed to catch the reader's eye.

5. Design your site so your pages can load quickly. Don't load it up with too many pictures and long blocks of text. Leave enough "white space" so one's eyes can be drawn down the page. Articles should be broken up into short paragraphs and adjust your text so it is easy to read--not too small nor too light. Difficult in reading the content will discourage a visitor from continuing.

6. Proofread your pages so you don't make grammatical and spelling mistakes. You need to appear a professional. If you are not sure of the effect the page is presenting let someone else take a look. Forums are a good area to ask members to view your site or particular page. (You will probably receive all kinds of opinions!) But you should definitely get some valuable help.

7. Offer your visitors freebies--ebooks, software, articles etc. that they can download from your site. Ask them if they would fill out a survey which could help you find out for what type of information they are looking, or ask if they would like to sign up for your newsletter. If a visitor does nothing else than to become one of your subscribers and be put on your opt-in email list you have won the first battle.

Now that you have a means to add to your opt-in list by way of your website, you also need to build your list in other ways, especially if you don't yet have too many hits on your site. That takes time but by building your list you will increase them.

Here are 5 more possibilities outside your website.

1. Advertise a free ebook. You can have it downloaded from your site as mentioned before or you could have the visitor send you an email and you could attach the ebook to an answering one. This ebook doesn't have to be more than 7-10 pages.

Advertise your newsletter and send responders to your list via your autoresponder, which will take care of the opting in, and startup of your emails. Be sure any email, whether yours or your autoresponders has an opt-out feature.

Use email signatures, which you can add to the bottom of your emails. In 3-6 lines you put your name, short description and appropriate link to your site or offer.

4. Send an email to an individual email address and ask the recipient if they would like to sign-up for your mailing list or offer the option to decline from any future mailings. Be careful here because anyone receiving your email could consider it to be spam. To me this is the least desirable method.

5. If you have a newsletter in which you have just about exhausted your material and want to start another newsletter on a different area you could send a broadcast and invite anyone nearing the end of your letters to change to the new newsletter. You may be able to keep some of those who are ready to make a change. You won't gain any new subscribers really but you may be able to keep some of those you might otherwise lose. Let them know that you are proficient in different areas.

As you can see building your opt-in list need not be difficult. Use your imagination and I am sure that you can find many other means to get results.

Posted by billenross at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2006

Low Budget Online Marketing for Small Businesses

The pressure is on those small local business owners who have been holding out, hoping against hope that the Internet would go away. It's become fairly obvious that that's not going to happen.

As a matter of fact, the Kelsey Group says that "70% of U.S. households now use the Internet as an information source when shopping locally for products and services." It's become obvious that small business owners who don't have an Internet presence are at a serious disadvantage, and are losing more ground every day to their competitors.

But where to start? Many small business owners want to get online but the idea of it becomes overwhelming. One of the things many people are concerned about is the cost. Having a professional website created can be expensive, as can the online marketing needed to promote the site. Fortunately with a little work, there are some great low budget online marketing solutions for small businesses.

First, don't immediately buy web space or register your domain name with the first site that pops up in Google. Web space can be pricey or fairly cheap; it all depends on what company you go with. There are some sites that offer free hosting, but those sites usually force you to include banners or pop-up ads on your site. If you want to be taken seriously, you definitely do not want to host your business on a free hosting site.

There are places on the web that offer a good amount of storage for less than $100/yr, which is not bad. You can also find sites that will register your domain name for less than $10/year, such as the popular GoDaddy.com.

Once you have your website set up, how do you get people to visit? One of the best ways is to take advantage of social networking sites like Squidoo.com and MySpace.com. MySpace.com is a huge site designed to let people keep in touch with others. However a lot of businesses set up MySpace profiles and send out "friend" invitations to clients and prospects. Retail store owners, service providers, authors, bands, magazines and even tourism companies do MySpace marketing. Same thing with Squidoo. This form of marketing is becoming even more powerful than reciprocal linking.

Don't forget message boards, chat rooms and link exchanges either. They are great ways to get your word out. When you first began your low budget online marketing campaign, you'll probably spend anywhere from 5 to 10 hours a week promoting your site, or you can train an employee, intern or your resident teenager to do it.

The simplest way of marketing your small business is to include your website address in your signature in emails and posts to message boards, even if they aren't related to your business. While this doesn't market directly to your targeted audience, it does make people aware of your website. Who knows, maybe they'll know someone who needs your services.

It's very easy to do low budget online marketing for small business because so many things on the Internet are free -- message boards, networking sites like Squidoo and MySpace, and of course, email. The main thing it will cost is time, but even that can be "bought" at budget prices on sites such as rentacoder.com and getafreelancer.com. So there's no reason for even the busiest small business owner not to get their business online, even if they're on a tight budget.

Posted by billenross at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)

October 03, 2006

Success on the Internet

There are at least 3 important steps to a successful plan when working on the internet. These 3 steps can be applied to just about any plan, and when coupled with the right amount of determination and perseverance, will result in success! But remember, you must persevere through the dry spells and difficult times. Everyone has hard times and this is just a fact of life. The key is to keep working toward your goal and never give up.

Three Important Steps

1) Develop the Right Philosophy

The first point is to develop the right philosophy. How you approach your business (and life) will determine your success or failure. Try to always be growing and expanding your horizons in some way. You might want to think about continuing your education or contributing to your local community in some way. (Make sure to set-aside enough money for personal development.)

Most successful people do not blindly follow someone else. They learn, evaluate, and make the necessary adjustments in their approach to career and life. Excellence is the goal, and continuous training and instruction are a very important part of the process.

As you continue to grow and develop, be sure to find other individuals who can help in the process. Good mentors are hard to come by, but indispensible when it comes to personal growth.

2) Decide What You 'Really' Want

Determine your true inner desire and then do it! If you don't really desire to accomplish what it is you are currently doing, when the difficult times arrive you will simply quit. It's a fact of life! Thousands of dollars are lost by people who invest in ill-suited programs which they soon quit. The inner desire and "real" interest were not there in the first place.

Always remember...to be successful you must first determine your true inner desire. Identify what it is that you really want in your career and life. The answers to these questions will lead you to success.

3) Take Action

Do your homework, but by all means step out and do something. Not just anything, mind you...you can actually be busy and not accomplish anything.

Consistent action in the right direction will produce results. It is the law of sowing and reaping. You reap what you sow. In other words, you get what you deserve, not what you need. Plant enough seeds and you will find growth. Ask enough people and someone will join or buy what you are offering.

Posted by billenross at 05:42 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2006

Integrity Before Success!

If you are going to be successful on the internet or any home business as far as that is concerned, then, integrity must come before your financial success. Many people are financially successful on the internet, but some have forgotten the meaning of true success.

As Jim Rohn (One of the all time favorite motivational speakers) says, quite often, it is far more important of who you are becoming, then, what you are earning. Jim even goes so far as to say that you should work toward becoming a millionaire, not for the money, but because of who you will become in achieving the goal.

The stress is on becoming a better person. A person who has integrity. Integrity is being able to be counted on, to be depended upon, if you say that you are going to provide a service or product for a certain amount of money, then you do it. You are looking out for your customers, as well as yourself.

In most cases your reputation will precede you! You may think that no one is discovering your flawed business manners, but actually, the word is spreading and on the net, it spreads quite rapidly.

One of the universal laws of success is that financial success follows hard work with honesty. In other words, "help enough people get what they want and you will find that you receive what you want." However, if you are just looking out for you, you are only hurting yourself in the long run. Wouldn't the internet be so much better if we were all watching out for each other?

One important lesson I have learned when it comes to making a sale is that people buy from those whom they trust. If they trust you they will buy from you. If your integrity is guiding you as you make your presentation to others it will come across to your potential buyer. You are more likely to make that sell with your integrity guiding you, then, any other aspect in your presentation.

It does not matter how well you intellectually present your service or product, if they detect flaws in your character you might as well close up your brief case and go home.

Perhaps, even of a greater reward for being a man or women of integrity is that you will sleep better at night just knowing you did your best to sincerely help others achieve their dreams. What can be more rewarding, then, to help others reach their goals?

If you have children, perhaps, that would be the ultimate reason to permit integrity to lead you. Your children will have someone that they can be proud of and more importantly someone whom they can trust!

Posted by billenross at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)

June 11, 2006

404 Error Message

A 404 error message is a type of Internet web server error message. Many times this web service error can be frustrating as generally there is not an error with your computer but rather an error with the Web server. A 404 error message means that your server is not able to find the file that you requested. The file you are looking for may be moved or deleted altogether and if either of these is the case than a 404 error message appears on your computer screen.

When you are communicating by using HTTP the server responds to your request with different numeric response code. Every single response code has associated with it a string of English text that must be present. The response code for a 404 message error is “Not Found”. Generally when web servers send a 404 message error a short HTML document which mentions both the numeric code and the associated string is included. There are many web browsers that do not show this message to the person trying to find the page. Some browsers have a friendlier and sometimes humorous 404 message error.

Many times people type in the file quickly and it is misspelled. If this is the case a 404 error message will appear. Try spelling it the correct way and if the file is still not found it means it has probably been moved or deleted. You can also try to backtrack by deleting information in the URL between each backlash. You can do this until you get the correct page and no error message comes up on your screen. By correcting these things you might be able to find what Web page you are trying to locate.

When using Microsoft Outlook Web Access there are several different types of 404 error messages which can appear. The error can say file not found, not found, object not found, page cannot be found, and the page cannot be found.

One of these error messages can be caused by things such as DNS name resolution, proxy server configuration, exchange virtual directory configuration, Uniform Resource Locator (URL) creation, the URL Scan component of the Internet Information Server (IIS) lockdown tool, or the port assignment on the OWA Web site.

Whatever the problem is there is a solution to finding the page if in fact it does exist. A 404 message error is just telling you that there is a problem directing the server to that page.

Posted by billenross at 11:42 PM | Comments (0)

June 05, 2006

Internet Marketing Course

It's not often that I am surprised by something I see online. And it's even more rare that I stumble upon a book or resource that causes me to literally stop what I am doing and write a letter to everyone I know.

But I just discovered that Howard L Moreland -- probably one of the best-known and most well-respected experts on the subject of web-building and Internet marketing -- has just released all the details & secret source tools that allow him to make as much as $500,000 a year from a single website -- "automatically" -- and how he's able to create such sites starting from scratch, and all within just a few short hours!

>> *Often building 10 to 15 such sites in just weeks – making Howard $*millions*$!

The truth is, I still can't figure out exactly WHY Howard has made this information available, since it gives everyone -- including his competitors -- the chance to steal the secrets he's spent the last several years perfecting -- particularly the last 2 most of all!

He shows you everything from growing a super-profitable web-empire as quickly as possible, to generating the highest possible revenue from having several sites working for you "automatically" at once, to how to explode your business virtually overnight -- all with mostly free (yet very effective) tools and resources -- and even FREE ads, both online and off! ...

He also provides you over 200 million places to advertise profitably for FREE, and for any site you create!! -- All instantly accessible to you with instant online links which makes placing all your ads for free "easy & fun"...

His years of testing are going to completely eliminate all of YOUR guesswork!

The thing is, the Internet industry HAS changed dramatically over the past few years. And while company after company has gone out of business just trying to keep up with all these changes, Howard has continued to generate over $3.7 million every year with what he's just giving away to you now for next to nothing!

And this book and super-resource shows you step-by-step what Howard has already done and continues to do, and precisely how he does it so you can take his strategies and model them to create your own super-online success.

Plus, with over 200 million places to promote your site, and an additional 15,000+ instant links, I was especially impressed by the way Howard's book is unlike any other as you can use it to start making money off the Internet literally within just 5 short minutes of having opened it up -- and tested -- all the resources and links for your very own instant use, and your own business.

I still think that Howard's going to regret giving all this information away, so I would advise you to grab this book while you can! It really does provide you everything you need to do in order to grow your business successfully and explosively with the Internet – plus over 200 million free ads instantly.

Find out how to make money online here!
All the best...

Bill Enross

Posted by billenross at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)

June 02, 2006

Autoresponders - Your Number One Marketing Tool

One of the key tools for anyone wanting to do business on the World Wide Web is an autoresponder. It also is one of the most misunderstood tools among those new to the effort – and sometimes even for those who have been online for many years.

In its simplest form, autoresponders allow you to create a fixed message that will go back to anyone who e-mails a specific address. The most common use for this is the “I’m away from my office until 29 May and will not be checking my e-mail until I return” type of message. Messages of this type can be created within the control panel of most ISP e-mail servers.

Autoresponders are far more versatile, however. Even the basic autoresponder that comes with your e-mail account can be set up to send a document or photo, even an audio or video file to anyone contacting that address. This is the most basic form of using an autoresponder for delivering a product, but it is not recommended for products you are selling because of the lack of control. Basically, whatever you are selling will be delivered to anyone sending an e-mail to that address – whether they paid for it or not.

Third party autoresponders provide the kind of control needed for a marketing or sales application. The good news is there are a number of excellent autoresponders that can be used at no charge. Those that do have a fee – whether a one-time purchase fee for a system you set up on your own server or a monthly/yearly fee for one you access online – typically are well within the budgets of nearly anyone trying to do business online.

Perhaps even better news is that autoresponders are not difficult to set up, even those that offer several levels of capability across a broad range of possible applications. The largest and most popular autoresponders often come with tutorials – some of them video – that walk you through the set-up process step-by-step. Many also have user forums or support systems that will help you if you get stuck.

The possible uses for an autoresponder at this level are legion. For example, you can set one up to send out a newsletter to your mailing list on a regular basis, another to send e-mails advising your list of special sales, upgrades, new releases or other such information. Still another autoresponder can deliver your digital product, along with future patches or upgrades.

These different tasks actually can be set up using a single autoresponder, even a single account, depending on the capabilities of the system you have selected. Many of the free autoresponders allow you to upgrade to a fee-based version, with far more capabilities, without losing anything you already have created.

Anyone who thinks they may someday want to have a mailing list or sell any kind of product – especially digital, such as downloadable software or e-books – should make investigating autoresponders one of their first and most important tasks. The more you know about them in advance, the more prepared you will be to quickly and efficiently get your business online.

Posted by billenross at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2006

If I Had Only Known Then What I Know Now!

Hindsight, we all know only too well, is a wonderful thing. For example, if we had only known that the ceiling on membership at a popular site was going to be subscribed so quickly - we would have joined up the minute we heard about it.

If we had only known that niche marketing was going to be so wildly popular we would have focused on that instead of MLM.

If we had only known that Google was going to change its algorithm and the rules of AdWords were going to change we would have...

Stop.

Stop, stop, stop.

In the world of Internet marketing, you can safely bet that the only constant is the rate of change! There's always news of the latest product dropping into your email inbox. There's always another promise of quick and easy money. Google will keep changing its algorithm, and new search engines are quite likely to pop up to challenge Google.

What can you do about this? Four main things:

(1) Continue To Educate Yourself.

Understand that those who rise to the top of any field - whether it's internet marketing or something else - are good at what they do. This means that they never stop learning. There are always new materials, new techniques and probably new 'experts' showing the way.

Most of us learn in three main ways: (a) from experts who specialize in a certain niche related to our field; (b) from others who are following the same path as we are, and (c) by trial and error, from our own results.

You will find that the more you immerse yourself in the world of internet marketing, the more you will be able to analyze which products, services and opportunities are right for you.

(2) Focus. Pick One System And Give It A Fair Go.

Countless people who start out on the internet with high hopes follow the same pattern. They get excited about a new product or system. They throw themselves into it and invest long hours (and potentially quite a bit of money) in getting it up and running. It might be e-books sold from mini-sites; it might be setting up an eBay business; it might be directory-type sites with text manipulators; it might be AdWords or content sites optimized for AdSense.

Then one day they get wind of another new system (probably one created by someone who claims "the gurus are angry with me for giving away all their secrets..."). Discouraged by the lack of results with the first "opportunity", they decide to let it rest for a while and try the new one. Back they go into the cycle of try-the-new-product, get-discouraged, discard-it-and-try-the-next-thing.

And so it goes on. Months pass. Perhaps years pass. They struggle to pay the credit card bills mounting from buying into every new system that comes along... with very little money coming in to offset their 'investment'. As they look back, they start muttering "If I had only known then what I know now..."

If you can recognize yourself in this scenario, the good news is this: Now you DO know better. You don't know what the next new product will be that's going to set the internet world abuzz, but you do know enough to choose a system that's right for you and stick to it.

(3) Take The Time to Plan.

Give yourself from two to four weeks to regroup. Go through all the products you have on your shelves or on your computer. Make a list. Decide which products you now know (so wise with hindsight!) to be worth keeping. Then analyze the 'keepers' and pick on the best system for YOU to use at this time. (This will depend upon your level of knowledge and which one you would enjoy most. Work with your strengths.)

Finally, devise a game plan. You are going to focus on this ONE method and devise a practical time-line to achieve results. Don't be in a rush. Make sure you give yourself enough time to see it 'take hold' so the money starts flowing in. That will give you the motivation to continue.

Clear the decks, physically as well as mentally. Put all the products that don't fit in with your plan in boxes or on disk for safekeeping. You may return to them one day, but if you've chosen the system that's right for you, you probably won't.

4. Don't Get Distracted by New Products.

Resolve to buy ONLY products or services that will save you time or money in implementing the system you have chosen. Never buy anything on impulse. Print out the sales letter, read it through, then put it aside. Read it through again the next day. Does it still seem so appealing? Check out a few forums to listen to the buzz. If a product doesn't deliver, you'll soon hear about it. If it is exceptional value, you'll hear about that, too.

Some questions to ask: "Will this help me to streamline the business I have chosen? Is it worth the money? Will it make a significant difference?" And above all, "Do I need this, or is it just another distraction?"

Resolve to make this the year you will succeed. No more pocket change. No more "If I had only known..."

You DO know.

So make it work.

Internet Income Solution

Posted by billenross at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2006

Myths and Misconceptions About Starting an Online Business

Are you trying to start an online business? Are you overwhelmed with the many online business programs available or concerned that you'll lose money by investing in them? While many offers sound too good to be true, there are some very good ones available - but how can you be sure? Learning to read 'between the lines' will better prepare you for what's really involved.

Here are some common phrases used to promote online businesses and what they really mean:

#1 - Simple & Easy

Simple and easy depends on who's speaking. A doctor may tell you it's only a 'simple procedure' but that doesn't mean that you should attempt it yourself.

Many online businesses ARE simple to operate. If you understand how it works you will be amazed at the simplicity - but getting to that point will require time and experience. You may just need to try a few to get a 'feel' for the business before deciding which one is easiest for you.

Those who have learned from experience can look back and see how simple it COULD have been if they'd known what to do all along. Finding a trustworthy guide can be a great assistance to your business efforts.

#2 - Anyone Can Do This

Sorry - starting a business of any kind is stressful and requires a learning curve. If you are attempting an online business out of desperation or the belief you will make easy money you will face enormous obstacles. On the other hand, if you are truly seeking a business you can learn, work at and make a living from, you will find something online that fits your needs.

Studies of successful business people concur that those who make it have common qualities of persistence, patience and desire. These qualities are essential when trying to start an online business - do you have them?

#3 - Turnkey

The term 'turnkey' use to mean that a business was set up and ready to go. You will find the term in business classifieds where the new owner can just step in and start running the business. Unfortunately some marketers use the term to suggest a business is fully automated - that there is no work involved.

There is always work involved. If the business really is turnkey than you will begin work right away because it has already been set to go. If you want an automated business you will have to do the work to make it automated. Either way, nobody is going to give you an automated, turnkey business that makes money - they had to do the work, so why would they share it?

#4 - It Won't Cost Anything

You absolutely CAN set up an online business with no money, but be prepared that a combination of no money and lack of experience will stifle your efforts immensely.

Most individuals who start or run a business with no money have learned how to make use of the best free techniques through experience. They have paid their dues by trying businesses that cost money. They have spent time in and around their industry or market and they've been able to see where they can cut costs.

If you are prepared to spend a LOT of time researching before starting your business you may be one of the few who does it right the first time. For most people though, expect to pay something towards your online business education before seeing results - you just can't buy experience.

Online business obviously has its share of work involved, but finding the right one has enormous payoffs many people are willing to sacrifice time and money to achieve. Running your own business is satisfying and can give you more time to do what you really want to do in life.

Creating a successful online business is within the grasp of nearly everyone who is prepared to stick to it. Face the task of starting your business with realistic expectations while continuing to dream big and you may just surprise yourself!

Bill Enross

Posted by billenross at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2006

Seminars - The Real Deal

Do you want to know the quickest way to fast-track your way to success? Do you want to shorten your learning curve by years? The answer is simple. Attend a seminar.

Seminars provide the opportunity to learn from the best. Those who put on a seminar are there for a reason, they are very good at what they do. They offer their expertise willingly to anyone wishing to listen to it, for a price of course.

Let's look at four solid reasons why seminars pack the most punch for your learning dollar.

1. You will learn more in a day than you will in a month. Seminars are designed to give you the maximum amount of information into a predetermined period of time. Seminars can range from a couple of hours to a full week retreat.

2. As mentioned before, you get to learn from the best. You get to sit in the same room with an expert and listen to them share their wisdom and knowledge. It's a shame that many people cannot see the opportunity in this. An expert knows what information to provide to achieve maximum results in the least amount of time.

3. You are right there in the room with no outside distractions. No phones, no television, no kids yelling. We learn best from direct experiences. What better way is there to absorb information quickly than being a part of the action? Why do people go to the movies? Maybe it’s because they want to watch the movie in a room without any outside distractions. A movie theater provides them the environment to focus and absorb what is being presented to them.

4. Seminars provide tools of the trade. It may be a workbook or a physical product like a software CD. It may be included in the cost of the seminar or it may be offered for sale after the conclusion. Many people underestimate the value of these tools. These products were designed to help you continue and re-enforce what you have learned from the seminar. Why spend the money to attend if you are not planning to put the information learned to good use? If the seminar provided value to you it should be a sure bet that the book, workbook, audio or video series should also have value.

Take the time to attend at least one seminar this year. Whether you are looking to improve your life, make more money, plan for your retirement or even learning how to tie fishing flies. Someone is out there willing to help you achieve your goals with the tools in hand to get you there as quickly as possible.

Bill Enross

Posted by billenross at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2006

How on earth do you choose?

Just a quick note to let you know about a marvelous new free
online tool.

It helps you make really tough decisions surprisingly quickly and
easily.

I really like it...

Let's say, for example, you want to expand your Internet
business. You can't decide which project to do next from among
the following:

- Write an ebook
- Write a special report
- Build multiple AdSense sites
- Create autoresponder courses
- Build a large website
- Start a forum
- Learn PPC arbitrage
- Start a blog
- Build multiple blogs
- Outsource a project

You can go round and round in circles weighing these things up.

It could take you ages to make a decision - especially if you're
a perfectionist and worried you might make the "wrong" decision.

This new software comes to the rescue.

You simply use the problem solver, the decision maker.

There's no trickery. It doesn't force-feed you answers. You make
your own decisions, based entirely on the information you type
into the software.

Here's how.

- Go Here

- Type in the choices you're trying to sort out in your mind.

- Enter your own factors, weighting them according to your own
situation.

- Score how well each choice meets each factor. (It's easier to
do this than it sounds.)

This new software works like magic.

It can take an incredibly complex question and reduce the answer
to a simple bar graph, showing you which course of action to
take.

People are using it to solve all sorts of business and personal
problems.

Want to decide...

- Where to go for a vacation?
- Which web host?
- Which topic for your new website?
- Which career for your child?
- Which woman/man to wed?
- Which employee to hire?
- ...and almost any other decision you need to make

Try the decision maker for yourself.

What's really amazing is that it doesn't cost anything.

Try it NOW!

You'll love it...

Bill Enross

Posted by billenross at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2006

How to Write an Effective Newsletter

Printed newsletters are a really easy way to contact your prospective and current customers. They can even increase your sales while reducing advertising costs. Research shows newsletters get four times the readership of adverts or brochures, and customers are seven times more likely to buy from you than an average member of the public. A good newsletter can improve name recognition and brand awareness, establish your authority in your field, and differentiate your business from the competition.

Make the layout of your newsletter inviting. If it looks too packed with information it may seem hard work to read. Break up the copy with plenty of space and keep articles short. Use intriguing titles or ones that suggest the article provides quick and easy shortcuts. Also use photographs or cartoons on the cover to draw people's attention.

Choose your articles carefully so that each one promotes the correct image of your business. Decide whether the article is to reflect your expertise, customer care or some other aspect of your business. If you are not sure which areas are important and of interest to your customers slip a survey into your newsletter.

You should start the article writing process by deciding what specific results you want from the article. It may be to introduce a new product or service, or to counteract what a competitor is claiming, or to highlight why a customer might be interested in a special offer you have.

A good newsletter will have a longer shelf life than adverts and are more likely to be passed around to prospective customers. Get a balance between generic articles that would be of interest to your wider client base and those specifically about your products and services. Do not waste effort and space producing articles that are unrelated to your field. Also check that the views expressed in articles are unlikely to offend your customer base.

Try to keep copy simple and as jargon free as possible. Use short sentences. Involve the reader by asking questions. How could your business benefit from this advice?

A profile of a customer can show how your product or service is used, the results that it can produce, why someone would purchase from you, and what they are planning to do in the future with your assistance. If they are prestigious clients the article will give a positive reflection of your business as well as providing them with some useful and free PR.

Generate new leads by offering a free subscription to your newsletter on your business's marketing materials. Emphasize the news content and useful advice, and how it could benefit your prospective customer. Only a few of those who sign up for the newsletter will be time wasters. It is possible that as many as 80% could be converted to customers within six months. Without the constant contact that the newsletter offers they could drift into the arms of a competitor.

Bill Enross

Posted by billenross at 08:03 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2006

The Secret of Doing Without Doing

Of all the self help books, tapes, and CD's I've purchased in my lifetime, there has only been one that had a profound effect on both my personal life (how I feel on the inside), and my finances (which sometimes has a very big effect on how I feel on the inside!).

Dr. Robert Anthony's 6 week audio course changed my life for the better, and it did it quickly. Here is an excerpt; it will give you a small, but clear peek into the mind of an amazing human being.

One of the mistaken certainties or misconceptions most people operate under is that you get what you want in life by what you DO, or through the actions you take. Most people believe that the DOING or action part is what makes things happen. However, this causes you to create in reverse. 

Let me explain. The reason we put a lot of emphasis on action is because we do not understand the power of our thought. 
If you analyze it, 90% of most people's actions are spent trying to compensate for inappropriate thought. The Chinese philosopher Lao-tsu said that, "In the practice of the Way, every day something is dropped. Less and less do you need to force things until finally you arrive at *non action* When nothing is done, nothing is left undone". 

What he is talking about is *doing without doing* The problem is that most of us are preoccupied with "doing". Unfortunately most of our doing usually involves struggle. In the western world we are conditioned to be action oriented, so we place a tremendous value on doing. We are so busy doing that we do not realize that all this "doingness" causes us to create in a reverse fashion. 

Most of our actions are out of fear, worry or doubt because we believe nothing will get done unless we DO something. 

In other words, we are trying to force our desire into manifestation through action. If your decision to DO is dominant, then you will not focus on what you want to BE in the present moment. This causes you to miscreate because BEING is the first and most important step in the creative process. 

Here is the secret. It is not your action that makes things happen, it is your intent. You can reduce the need for action to a very minimum by allowing yourself to focus on what you desire until you feel the positive energy begin to move within you. This energy is not based on doubt, fear, anxiety, worry or need. If you focus on what you want instead of what you don't want, you will know when it is time to take action. And when you do, it will be effortless. Doors open and the entire universe will conspire to assist you in your desire. 

Put simply, you should take no action on anything until you have visualized your desire and made it real enough in your mind that your next action (step), whatever it is, seems like the most logical step. How can you know the next logical step? Here is the test that you can give to yourself before taking any action. If you focus on what you desire and still feel overwhelmed or anxious, then you are not ready for any action. You know you are ready when it feels like the next logical step is effortless. There is no effort, no strain, and no pain. What we want to do is to use the leverage of energy, the same leverage of energy that creates everything in the universe. 

However, we are so caught up in the reality of WHAT IS, that we feel we must create everything through mental effort and physical activity. Have you ever seen people who seem to have all the wonderful things in their life without much effort? It almost seems like they have an advantage over everyone else. Then you see the people who work the hardest usually have the least. That doesn't seem fair does it? But that's the way the universe works. 

Unfortunately, those who work the hardest usually have the least because they haven't learned the leverage of aligning their energy. They are going about creating their lives the hard way. They are trying to use their actions to create what they want. We have also been programmed that in order to have what we desire we must work hard. How many times have you heard - "No pain, no gain." The implication is that if you want to make something of yourself, you must work hard. The message is clear - if you are not hurting or struggling, you are not moving forward. 

But here is the truth - anytime you are struggling you are miscreating. Anytime you feel pain or struggle, your magnetic point of attraction is directed to that which you do not want, rather than to that which you desire. Read it again! Actions are necessary, but they are the last component of the creation processes. Actions cannot be used effectively to initiate results, because initiation is the function of BEING, then thought, then action. 

Remember, the creation of anything is through your vibration. Everything vibrates, and it is by that vibration that we harmonize and attract experiences to ourselves. So before you act or do anything, first ask yourself, how am I vibrating? How do you tell?

You tell by how you FEEL. Your feelings show you your vibration. How you feel determines what you attract. When you use the process of creating by only focusing on what you want instead of what you don't want, you will see that the universe will provide a different set of circumstances for you that requires much less action. This puts you in a state of "doing without doing" or action without effort.

Copyright © 2004-2006 Dr. Robert Anthony. All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Robert Anthony - Know How To Be Rich

Bill Enross

Posted by billenross at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2006

How Much is Your Time Worth?

How much is your time worth? Not sure?

Ask any part-time employee and they will tell you: $9.50/hour (or whatever their wage is). Hourly workers know the value of their time. Successful salespeople who work on commission know the value of their time. Some salaried workers, particularly the successful ones, know the value of their time.

But what about you? It's a different story for the online business owner! You probably work more than eight hours during the day (or night) and then think about your business even when you are not sitting at your computer working on it. And, if it's a passion of yours (and many online entrepreneurs turn their hobbies and passions into a business), then you've got an even greater challenge in figuring out the value of your time.

Maybe you don't know the value of their time. Many people don't, so you are not alone. But it's a calculation that will help you manage your time, so it's worth the five minutes that you will spend trying to figure it out.

The best thing to do is just do a basic calculation: income divided into total hours worked. No, it's not a perfect calculation because it doesn't account for the hours that you spend thinking and it doesn't account for your expenses...but you are also busy enough that a rule-of-thumb idea from a quick calculation is just as effective and takes less time.

It's probably a good idea to make this calculation for a week's worth of time or even a month's worth of time. That way, you will help to smooth out the fluctuations that occur in your schedule and in your customer's buying patterns. This calculation might require you to actually monitor your time for a week. It's a good exercise to do anyway, regardless of whether or not you end up trying to discover the value of your time.

For most entrepreneurs who are just starting out, the value of their time is just a few dollars at best. Don't feel badly if that is the case with you.

Once you have that number, you have a baseline. Now what?

Now you have something to work for. Now you have a goal to shoot for. Currently earning 25 cents an hour? (Don't laugh. Many entrepreneurs earn that when they just start out. It will get better!) If you are earning that much, make it a goal to earn 50 cents an hour, then a dollar, then five dollars. Keep track of your current "hourly worth" in your business planner and use it to constantly remind yourself to build it up over time. That is the American Dream! And you are living it!

Posted by billenross at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

April 06, 2006

Three Steps to Internet Success

There are just three steps you need to take to ensure your web site succeeds. If you follow these three steps your web site will get visitors who come back time and time again. Plus you'll get noticed by the search engines - and you'll be able to earn money from your web site.

One constant theme that emerges from the most successful businesses and organizations is simplicity. Keep things simple and you will succeed. Try to do too much, or complicate things and you'll more than likely fail. So, the three step process for Internet success is simple, making it much more likely that you will succeed.

STEP ONE
Focus. Decide precisely what your web site will be about. For instance, say your interest is in cars. If you produce a web site about cars, you'll be competing against millions of others and you'll not get noticed. Narrow down your focus to something specific - perhaps something like "the history of the design of Italian cars". The more specific your theme, the better. Don't try to do too much - a single narrow theme is what you need for success. If you want to cover a broad subject, break it down into several narrow themes for separate web sites.

STEP TWO
Content. Fill your site with content. The information you provide needs to be focused directly on your theme. You may need to write the main pages yourself, but there will be articles you can use from ezine directories and from private label sites that will help you fill out your web site. The more content you add, the better. Plus, be sure to add articles and information to your site every week. That will get people coming back to your site and it will also make sure the search engines notice you.

STEP THREE
Links. Get links from other sites, but don't try to get links from just anyone. Instead, get links from relevant sites. In our example this would be other car sites, or sites on aspects of Italian history. A link from a friend's site on another subject is of no value. So, search the web for web sites that are relevant to your interest and then ask the webmasters to link to your site, in return for providing a link to them on your site.

With these three steps you are assured of online success. That's because these are the key steps taken by all of the most successful sites you encounter.

One other thing, by adding in Google AdSense elements to your pages your web site will generate cash for you. The more content rich and highly focused your site, the better the response you'll get to the adverts you carry. And that means more money paid to you by Google.

Posted by billenross at 02:04 AM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2006

Networking Your Way to Online Success

Forums, groups, boards, and loops; they’re all synonymous for online locations facilitating online networking. Some are entirely public, where everyone and anyone can click to the URL, read the messages and if they have no interest in contributing, they can just lurk. Some require active participation and others require registration before members can participate. These online forums, groups, boards or loops are different from paid membership sites in that there is no cost to network at these websites.

Some are active, some are sleepy. Some are strictly for business related topics; some allow more OT (Off Topics) and social interaction. There are forums for every imaginable topic: Entrepreneurs, International business, Health related fields, Technology, Copywriters, Web Designers, Work at Home Moms, Programmers, Finance, Ebay, Job Seekers, Internet Marketing, Writers, Inventors and Virtual Assistants, just to barely scratch the surface of what’s out there on the World Wide Web.

Time management skills need to be paramount when participating in online forums. You can very easily get swallowed up and spend hours and hours online networking with others who have online businesses, yet you miss real opportunities to get some productive work done!

From a business standpoint, there are two areas you should consider before participating in a loop. It’s always good to have a network of like-minded business people. If you’re a web designer, hang out with other designers. You can help and support each other. If you’re just starting out, you can learn from the pros.

Don’t get stuck though, just hanging out with your own kind. You’re not going to be very successful trying to promote your design services to other designers. This is where balance comes in. Pop into the boards, check new posts of interest, ask or answer questions, then get out. Then move onto groups who need your services or products. Who is your target market and where do they hang out? Go there. Word of caution: Do not go to these forums with the sole purpose of SPAMMING the group. You’ll be tossed out on your ear quicker than you can blink if that is your sole purpose. People like to do business with people they know and trust – or at the very minimum have at least heard of.

If you’re trying to sell your curriculum to a group of home school parents and you just pop in, spew your sales rap all over the boards then expect any sort of return, you’re missing the point of online networking. It’s networking – not advertising. You need to build a rapport with your other “loopies”. Then if a need arises and they know one of their own fellow networkers has that special skill or product, guess who they’ll call first? You hope it’s YOU.

For starters check MSN, Google, Yahoo, AOL, and Ryze. Inside there are literally hundreds and thousands of groups just waiting for you. Start networking your way to success today!

Posted by billenross at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2006

Can Your Business Survive?

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door."

But when you're starting your own business, there's no guarantee that your "mousetrap" is going to survive, especially in today's fast-paced business world.

Nearly half of all small businesses fail within the first two years of operation. The number one reason for business failure is inadequate planning. The second reason is under-capitalization.

So before you mortgage your house, or go into debt financing your business, you need to know if your business is going to do more than survive -- you want to know if it's good enough to thrive! Here are three things successful businesses that have stayed in business for five years or longer have in common:

1. The idea. A successful business start-up always starts with an idea. Something that makes your business stand out from all the rest. So how do you know if you've got a good idea?

You've probably got a good idea if you can answer yes to any of the following questions: Does your idea provide the solution to a significant problem for your target market? Does it satisfy a need or want? Does it create an opportunity?

The most successful businesses either fix problems (either real or perceived), or they increase your customer's pleasure. They create a repeat need for a product or service among the target market.

2. The market. Your chances of survival are better if you can answer the following questions with a yes: Is there already a market for your product or service? (It's much easier to fill a need than trying to create an entirely new market.) Can your target market afford to buy your products or services? (If they can't afford it, it doesn't matter how great it is, you won't sell any!) Will your target market perceive your product or service as valuable? (If they want it, but don't think it's worth what you're selling it for, you won't make any sales.)

3. Your ability. Do you have the people, the resources and the knowledge to be able to consistently provide your products or services to your target market? Can you maintain a competitive advantage? Do you have enough manpower? Can you purchase the supplies and materials you need over the long run?

Your first step always is to create a solid business plan. Your business plan is more than an essay on "Why I deserve to get funding for my idea" however. Don't spend all the time creating a business plan and then toss it in the bottom drawer of your desk. Your business plan should be a living, breathing roadmap that helps you make sure you're on course and reaching the goals that you set for your business.

The second step to business survival is getting enough financing. Although the term "bootstrap entrepreneur" describes most small business owners, having enough capital to be able to keep your business afloat is vital to your survival.

When you're creating your financial analysis of your business, make sure you're being realistic about costs and expenditures, so that you give yourself the cushion you need to succeed.

If finding financing is a problem, either because you don't have enough credit or equity, or there are other problems, take the time to look into the resources that are available in your community. There are a wide variety of grants and loans (including microloans) for entrepreneurs, if you know where to look.

Some great resources will be:
-The Small Business Administration
-Local Small Business Development Centers
-Women's Organizations
-Local University or Community College
-Chamber of Commerce
-SCORE (The Association for Retired Executives)
-Nonprofit organizations that work on economic development in your area

Use other successful business models as a guide. When you're getting started, look around. What businesses are successful? Why? What is it they're doing that is working? What attributes do you admire, and why? You stand a better chance of succeeding if you're modeling someone who is already successful.

Find a mentor. Most entrepreneurs have great skills and abilities, but no one does everything well. You probably already know what your strengths and weaknesses are. (If not, there are many resources and tools that can help you figure it out!) Rather than ignoring your weaknesses, find a mentor who can help you either build your skills in your weaker areas, or offer advice for getting what you need.

If you take the time to plan to succeed, you could be creating a legacy that will be enjoyed by future generations, and that other entrepreneurs will look at as a model for building their own businesses.

Bill Enross is a marketing consultant specializing in helping Independent Auto Repair Professionials increase their profits. You can reach him at AutoRepairProfits.com

Posted by billenross at 09:47 PM | Comments (0)

April 02, 2006

How a Major Ski Resort Uses Podcasts for Online Marketing

Podcasts are short radio-style audio programs that users of online audio, mobile audio and iPods (or other portable digital audio players) can download and listen to whenever and wherever they like. The Podcast medium is still in its infancy as a marketing medium.

The most effective use in these early days of marketing with Podcasts involves subjects that appeal to tech-savvy listeners. Obviously, that includes topics in computing, multimedia, and high technology.

Another smart approach is to match Podcast marketing with the lifestyle of the target audience. For example: skiers. The target market for a typical ski resort includes young professionals in the 20s and 30s, with an adventure-loving attitude to recreation, and plenty of disposable income so that they can afford the sport. That's right on target for the core market that buys iPods and other high-tech gadgets.

Marketing Sherpa reports that New England ski area Killington Ski Resorts recently tapped into this useful convergence of market niches to create a Podcast-driven marketing campaign.

The challenge was to reach the ideal demographic of young urban professionals, who are typically hard to get at through traditional ski industry marketing media such as radio, TV and magazines. Their lives are cluttered with a blizzard of conflicting media, their attention fragmented and hard to hold.

Killington Resorts communications manager Tom Horrocks recognized that one unifying factor of this demographic is their almost cultish love of iPods and portable digital audio. He decided that Podcasts would be an ideal way to connect with them on their own terms.

Here's how he put the campaign together:

1) Bought software and digital microphones that his team could use right in the office to create Podcasts.

2) Hired a "snow reporter / media writer" to act as a personable and enthusiastic character, to become identified as the Podcast voice of the resort.

3) Developed and produced 3 separate Podcasts: a 3-minute "Snowcast" of daily weather and snow condition reports; a 12-minute weekly "Driftcast" that delivered interviews, tips and stories from the mountain; and a 3-hour weekly music production, more like and FM radio segment, with music appealing to the target demographic.

4) Delivered the Podcasts regularly, on schedule, through popular distribution services including Apple's iTunes online music service, Podcast Alley, and Yahoo!, as well as through the Resorts' own Web site.

The results were impressive. Over a period of 2 months at the beginning of 2006, the Podcasts were downloaded nearly 30,000 times. The downside of Podcast marketing is that it is hard to track results. Once the audio is downloaded, there's no built-in way to measure how the listener responds or takes action.

However, Tom Horrocks is sure the Podcasts delivered a good return on investment. He credits the campaign's success to the flair of the resort's Podcast personality, known as Anna of the Mountain. "She epitomizes Killington: young, passionate, crazy about skiing."

Posted by billenross at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2006

10 Ways to Save and Make More Money in Business

Don’t you just love Paul Simon? The lyrics to his songs are not only pleasing to the ears, but can be inspirational. Imagine yourself enjoying the warm autumn sunlight while listening to Paul's song, “50 Ways to Leave your Lover”. Now, stretch your imagination just a bit and think about how many "Ways" you can come up with for saving and/or making more money in business...

“The problem is all inside your head
She said to me
The answer is easy
If you take it logically”

So, let’s look at the problem logically for a minute. Here are four basic ways you can increase your profits:

1. You can charge more for your products or services.
2. You can sell more of your products or services to your existing clients.
3. You can find additional clients.
4. You can find ways to cut back on your business expenses.

"Slip Out the Back, Jack" (Simple ways to save money):

So, if you’re on a shoestring budget (and who isn’t these days?), then obviously you need to do everything you can to save as much money as possible, and make as much money as possible, as quickly and easily as possible. Here are 10 simple ideas you can use:

1. Know your target market. Who are your “ideal” customers?
Where do they shop? What do they read? What solutions are they looking for that your business provides? The more you know about your customers, the better you’ll be able to target your promotions towards them, which will increase your bottom line two ways – it will save you spending money on advertising that doesn’t work, and it will increase your sales, because you’re offering your customers what they really want.

2. Get double duty out of any contact with your customers. If you sell products, put your contact information on everything –products, bags, invoices sales receipts. Make it easy for everyone to find you. Give away something free. If you have a Website (and if you don’t, then get one), give your customers something for giving you their contact information. Free Ebooks, reports, or software are all good choices (just make sure it’s relevant to your customers). Anytime you send your customers anything – a product, a newsletter, an invoice –include a coupon or information about your latest products or services. To save money on postage, if you have a brick and mortar store, put a copy of your latest newsletter or an informational flyer in your customer’s bag after each sale.

3. Reward your customers. Set up a reward program. Offer them a reward for anyone they refer who becomes a customer. Or give your customers a free gift when they spend $50 (or whatever amount makes sense in your business). When they’re eligible for the free gift, offer them an upgrade to something bigger or better for a few dollars more. Start a customer loyalty program. Provide “customer only” sales, or promotions. Let your customers earn points, or “magic money” that they can use to redeem your products or services.

4. Get ready for your close-up. When you’re brainstorming about creating a promotion or advertising campaign, don’t forget about your local cable TV channel. You may be pleasantly surprised by how low their rates actually are. Create your own television commercial or infomercial. Although you may not be ready for prime time, you can still target your ad to reach your customers.

5. Get involved in your community. Find a nonprofit organization that is doing work you believe in, and either publicly support their program, or be one of their sponsors for an upcoming event or fundraiser. Use the advertising spot to let people know about the fundraiser (and, incidentally, your business). You could put together an inexpensive ad campaign that will help those in need, increase your visibility and let your potential customers know that you're supportive and aware of the needs of the community.

“Make a new plan, Stan” (Business Planning Basics):

6. Beef up your business plan. If you don’t have a business plan, make writing one a priority. Your business plan is more than just a way to interest investors. It’s a road map that will help you get from where you are now to where you want to be. That old saying, “If you fail to plan then you’re planning to fail” really is true when it comes to business.

"No need to be coy, Roy" (Ask your customers):

7. Get testimonials from your satisfied clients. But don’t stop there. What about creating your own television commercial that you can run in your store? (With a video camera and a little ingenuity, you could even create your own infomercial that shows customers how to use or get the most out of your products or services. If you’ve got a Website, put an audio testimonial on there. (And don’t forget to include pictures).

8. Speak up. Again, keeping in mind who your ultimate ideal customers are and what their most pressing problems are, write an article, offer a free seminar, or offer to be a speaker at local chamber of commerce or other organization or community meetings. Being perceived as an “expert” is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to get the word out about your business, and bring in more customers.

"Just hop on the bus, Gus" (Expand your business potential)

9. Create joint ventures. Even if your primary business is a brick and mortar one, you can still create a joint venture that will help you save money by sharing the costs for advertising. What about creating a special “sidewalk sale” with other business owners on your street or in your neighborhood? Or finding businesses with complementary products or services to yours, and creating a “package deal”? If your business is only online, look for ways you can partner with other businesses – maybe you could create solo ads and promote each other’s products or services in your mailing lists. There are a lot of ways you can save money and increase your client base if you’re willing to get creative.

"Just drop off the key, Lee" (Provide the key solutions)

10. Let your customers know you know what their problems are. It's sad but true that your customers don't care how good your products or services are. They only want to know two things: do you understand what their problems are; and can you solve them. Give your customers the "key" to their problems, and you'll have evangelistic customers who come back again and again.

Posted by billenross at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2006

Protecting Your Intellectual Property

If you are a small business owner with an idea, an invention or a new product, you need to decide whether or not to create a proactive intellectual property strategy.

What is Intellectual Property? It is any creation of the mind and includes literary and artistic work, inventions as well as symbols, names and images. It also includes any designs you use in conducting your business.

There are two categories of Intellectual Property. The first, Industrial Property, includes industrial designs (and geographic source designations), inventions (patents) and trademarks.

The types of Trademarks are: Trademark, Service Mark, Collective Mark, Collective Membership Mark, and Certification Mark.

The second category is Copyright which includes literary and artistic works. Copyright protects the authors of novels, poetry, films and plays and composers of musical works. However, copyright also protects artists of paintings or drawings, photographers, even sculptors or architects who have designed specific buildings. Protection of Copyright is also extended to performing artists regarding their performances and producers of television and radio programs.

When Should You Think About Protecting Your IP Rights?

Intellectual Property has become big business -- and protecting yours can add considerable value to your company somewhere down the road.

You should think about applying for the appropriate protections if...

*you're even considering going global at some point

*if you will be manufacturing your products in another country

*if your business name, tagline, logo or other work is a key component of your business, your brand or your operational strategy

*if your product is something that is easily pirated and could be manufactured in countries that are known for pirating

Many business owners think they should wait until their business is established and they know that it's going to succeed before deciding to go ahead with IP protection. However, according to the top IP attorneys, that's a mistake that can be more costly in the long run. It's easier and cheaper to protect your rights in the beginning than it is to be involved in a lengthy and expensive court case, trying to reclaim what is yours, or defend against an infringement claim.

Another reason many business owners wait is because international IP laws are often unclear, and the laws themselves change often. And there are differences in trademark systems in the U.S. and other countries. In the U.S., the system is based on use, not registration, but many other countries have registration-based systems.

However, thanks to the Madrid Protocol, the process of protecting trademarks has been streamlined and can save you up to 65% of the filing costs.

Before the Madrid Protocol, you were required to file separate applications for each country. Now, you can file for many with one application.

Another problem faced by entrepreneurs is that there is a time limit -- 12 months in fact, to file for international IP rights after applying for a trademark or patent in the U.S.

If you want to protect your Intellectual Property, and increase the long-term value of your business, consult a reputable IP attorney now. Don't wait until it's too late.

Posted by billenross at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2006

How Running an Event Can Increase Your Income

Why on earth would you want to run an event for your business? Events take a lot of organizing and publicity, not to mention the time you might not have and, depending on what you want to do, they can also cost quite a bit of money.

So is it really worth all that effort?

In a word, yes!

An event is a fantastic way to get a whole lot of your clients and potential clients together so you can present to them all at once, saving you huge amounts of time and effort trying to reach them all individually – and even better, as the speaker, you come across as an expert in your field. Give your clients valuable information and they will talk about you and recommend you to others. Having an event is also a great way to encourage your clients to network with each other and see how they can help each other – and of course, it’s you they’ll thank for that opportunity.

Having your name on an event can be very good publicity for you and your business. If you pick a hot topic for your industry you could find yourself interviewed by the local press, on the radio, or even on television, all of which increase your chances of being seen as an expert by potential clients.

You may even make money directly from your event – either by charging admission, finding sponsorship or by having products to sell at the event. Regular events could produce a nice stream of new income.

You could generate yet another income stream just from one event by creating one or more products – you could video it, record it, transcribe it, turn the learning materials into an ebook or online course and sell it - the possibilities are endless.

So once you've decided to go ahead - how do you pick a good topic? You'll need to look at what your industry is discussing right now and what they really want to know. There are lots of ways to find this out:

- Run an online survey - www.surveymonkey.com has a free option you can use to create some very useful surveys
- Ring several trusted clients and find out what they’d like to learn more about
- Go to online forums on your subject and see what everyone is talking about
- Post on online forums and ask people what they might be interested in
- Look at the bestsellers on Amazon, Barns & Noble and Clickbank
- Look at the most popular keywords using a word tracker tool
- Go to your trade association and ask what their members are interested in
- Look at competitor’s ezines and see what they are discussing at the moment.

Once you have your topic you’ll need to pick a date and an event format. What kind of event should you offer? Look at where your potential clients are based:

- If most people are in a particular area of the country, you should consider having a face to face meeting – this is always the best option if possible as you have much more chance to impress and to deal on the spot with any objections and questions, as well as providing that all important networking opportunity for your clients.

If your clients are scattered across the country or even across the world, you’ll need to look at running a teleclass or web based event:

- With a web based event using a facility such as www.hotconference.com, you have the option of using the whiteboard, showing a PowerPoint presentation, directing people to view a website and seeing the attendees online via webcam – this is a great way to give a presentation but make sure you are practiced at using all the features of the software first and consider whether your clients are technically-minded enough to be comfortable with this, and likely to have equipment such as webcams and microphones.

- If this is your first time running an event, the easiest option is to run a teleclass, where you set a date and time and participants simply dial in and listen to you. Many companies, such as www.freeconference.com, offer this service and a quick Google search should bring up a long list of companies you could use.

If you choose a live event you’ll need to find a good venue. Look at cost, position - find somewhere central with good transport links and parking. Make sure you see the room you’ll be using before the event so you can see the space you have available and plan your layout. Check maximum numbers the room can hold for fire regulations, find out where the fire exits and fire alarm are and make sure there is disabled access.

You’ll need to market your event very well to get good numbers:

- Use your own ezine, local press and radio, the chamber of commerce and online forums.
- Write articles on your subject and submit them to article directories and other ezines.
- Tell your trade association and use online event listings.
- Go to networking events and take leaflets with you to advertise what you are doing.
- Ask each client to bring one potential client to get a free place
- Offer to speak at other events on the run up to yours with a taster of what people will get on the day.
- Find another non-competing company who are aiming for the same market and do a joint event

Don’t just rely on one way to get publicity – think of as many different ways as you can and use the best ones for your event.

You'll need to be very organized and plan well ahead. Make sure you order any equipment you might need in plenty of time. Make up an event checklist and build yourself a kit with plenty of spares - pens, training materials, extension cables, flip chart paper, gaffer tape, scissors, etc. Check with the venue that everything’s ready for you the day before the event.

The more value you provide, the more likely you are to be seen as an expert in your area and the more business you will get from your event and from word of mouth after the event as a result, so don’t deliver a sales pitch – your content has to be high quality, entertaining and informative or people will feel cheated, particularly if they paid to attend.

Once the event is over make sure you follow up and ask for feedback – it’s the best way to find out if the event was what your clients wanted, to get ideas for future events, and also a great to chance to chat to prospective clients to see if they’re interested in working with you. You can also collect testimonials which will help you if you plan to run events on a regular basis, and which you can also use to promote any products you develop from your event content.

In short, pick a great topic, plan everything carefully, publicize what you are doing as much as you can, and check everything is in place the day before the event. On the day, don’t forget to relax and enjoy yourself – if you are having fun, the audience will too. Lastly and by no means least, whatever you do, don’t forget to follow up.

Just by following these guidelines you could find yourself with any amount of new clients, lots of publicity and several new income streams.

Worth it? Definitely!

Posted by billenross at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2006

How To Conduct A Market Analysis For Your Business

The term "market analysis" is often confusing to entrepreneurs, especially for people who focus on a specific niche or market segment.

In fact, many small business owners don't understand the process or complain that conducting a market analysis is too complicated or too expensive and wonder why or if it is necessary.

What is market analysis?

In the most basic terms, a market analysis is an assessment of:
- A particular problem or opportunity in a market.
- The needs of the target market relating to the problem or opportunity.
- Ideas for marketing a particular product or service that fills the needs of the target market.

When should you conduct a market analysis?

- When you are starting a business.
- When you are entering a new market.
- When you are considering a new product or service.

Why should you conduct a market analysis?

- To minimize business risks.
- To understand the problems and opportunities.
- To identify sales opportunities.
- To plan your marketing/sales approach.

The process of conducting a market analysis can be divided into three parts:

Part 1 - Understanding Market Conditions

This gives you basic information about your entire market -- the size, the competition, the customers.

Part 2 - Identifying Market Opportunities

This gives you more targeted information about potential problems or opportunities in the potential market, and includes information about growth, current and future trends, outside factors and more information about specific competitors.

Part 3 - Developing Market-Driven Strategies

Here is where we get into what market research does for you. It helps you to pinpoint opportunities to grow your business. By understanding the market and knowing what opportunities are available you can create a marketing strategy that leaves your competitors in the dust!

Here are 10 questions that can help you get started:

1. What is the market I want to reach?

- Who are they? (Basic Demographics)
- What is their biggest problem in relation to this market?
- Are their needs being met by the products or services provided in this market?

2. Who is my competition in this market?

- Are they successful in this market?
- Are they marketing a similar product or service?
- What is the market share of the three biggest competitors in this market?

3. Is there room for growth in this market?

4. What is the size of this market?

- Is there room for growth?
- Is the industry growing? Stable? Saturated? Volatile? Declining?

5. How is my product or service different from the competition?

6. How can I reach this market?

- How is my competition currently reaching this market?
- Is it the most effective way?
- What are the alternative ways of reaching this market?

7. What are the business models of my competition in this market?
- Are they effective?

- Is there a way to do it differently or better?

8. What do customers expect from this type of product or service?

- What are the core competencies of this product or service?
- What would make the product "new" "different" or "better" for the customer?

9. How much are customers willing to pay for this product or service?

10. What is our competitive advantage in this market?

Knowing the answers to these questions will not only help you figure out if there is a need for your product or service, it will help you figure out the best ways to reach your customers, price your products or service and ultimately make more sales!

Posted by billenross at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2006

Press Release Secrets

Does the thought of trying to get publicity for your business seem like something that you can't do yourself, and would have to hire a professional for? Do you think that writing a press release is totally outside your ability to do? Does the thought of talking to the media about your business make your mouth go dry and your stomach clench? If so, take heart, because you're about to learn how you can take care of your own publicity, simply and easily.

Getting publicity for your business can seem like an impossible task -- something that only happens for "big" companies that can afford to hire publicists.

The reality is, getting free publicity for your business isn't that difficult. Welcome to "Media Training 101 -- The Secrets of Writing a Good Press Release". By the time you finish reading this article, you'll not only understand the basics, you'll know what goes into the process, and what you have to do to get started writing your own press release.

First of all, let's go over some basic terminology you need to be familiar with.

Press Release: A statement with useful and relevant information that is written for distribution to the media.

Hook: The information or larger story that you can use to attach your press release to. Using the right "hook" in the right way can help you to get more publicity for your business.

Spin: Telling your story your way.

The good news about learning to write a Press Release is that there is an established format that you need to follow. And once you've learned the basics, writing a press release is a kind of "cookie cutter" process. Here are some basic ideas to keep in mind:

Make your news "newsworthy". A press release is not a sales advertisement. A good press release answers all of the "W" questions (who, what, where, when and why), and sometimes "how." Your purpose in writing it is twofold: to provide the media with useful and relevant information about your organization, product, service or event and to get your name out to your target market.

Begin with a strong headline. Your headline and first paragraph need to grab the reader’s attention. Without being flowery or overly dramatic, you have only the first few seconds to grab your reader’s attention and get them to read your story, and decide if it’s worth running. So don’t blow it by being vague or weak. The rest of your press release can give them the nitty-gritty details.

Tailor your story to your Primary audience – the media. Your secondary audience is your target market, but if the media doesn't decide that your story is newsworthy and runs it, your potential customers will never know about it!

Pay attention to your writing. Sometimes, especially in rural areas and online, the media will run your press release in their publications with little or no modification, so make sure you’ve used your spelling and grammar check before sending it, and keep to the facts. Most of the time, journalists will use your press release as a stepping off place for a larger feature story, especially if you can show larger relevance to other current events. Always develop your story as you want to have it told – put YOUR spin on it. Even if your story is not reprinted verbatim, always remember what YOUR purpose is in writing it – to provide exposure for you, and to help brand you as an expert in your field.

Not everything is news. Just because you are excited that you made your first big sale, or started a new product line, or wrote your first article, doesn’t necessarily mean that the press are going to think you have a newsworthy story. From the time you start your first draft, keep your audience in mind. Who will find your story interesting? Why are they going to find it interesting? How is it relevant to something else that’s going on right now?

Identify a problem, and show how you’re solving it. Use real life examples about how your company or organization solved or is solving a problem. Give examples of how your service or product fulfills needs or satisfies desires. What benefits can be expected? Use real life examples to powerfully communicate the benefits of using your product or service.

Stick to the facts. Always. Tell. The. Truth. Avoid fluff, embellishments and exaggerations. It is part of a journalist’s job to be skeptical. If you want to use publicity effectively, then you're not looking for a one night stand. You want to gain the trust of the media, establish your credibility, and build an on-going relationship with your local media, so that you become a resource for them within your industry.

Find your “hook”. Try to make your press release timely. Keep informed about what’s going on in your community, in your state, region, the country or the world. Is there a local, regional or national news story that somehow ties in to your industry or your business? If you can hook your press release to current events or social issues, you increase your chances of having it picked up. If not, then make sure your story is relevant to the needs, wants or problems of your community or target audience.

Use an active, not passive, voice. Use strong verbs that will bring your press release to life. If there is controversy, describe it. There is an old adage in the news business: “If it cries it flies, and if it bleeds, it leads.” (Not very nice, but it’s often true.) So, while you may not be crying or bleeding, make what you’re writing about stand out. Use active verbs. Write “partnered” rather than "entered into a partnership" or “engaged” rather than “interested”, etc. Writing in this manner will help guarantee that your press release will be read.

Use only enough words to tell your story. Avoid using unnecessary adjectives, flowery language, or redundant expressions such as "added bonus" or "first time ever". Paint a strong, vivid picture in the minds of your audience by making each word count.

Use jargon sparingly. There are times that some jargon is required if your goal is to optimize your news release for online search engines, but whenever possible, speak plainly, using everyday language. Avoid words like "capacity planning techniques" and "extrapolate”.

Avoid hype. The exclamation point (!) is your enemy. You will destroy your credibility by using hype. If you must use an exclamation point, use one. Never do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get Permission. Most people and companies are very protective about their reputations. Be sure that you have written permission before including information or quotes from employees or affiliates of other companies or organizations. If there is a hint of a dispute in this area, chances are your press release will be tossed aside, and never used. And you will lose your credibility.

If you follow those simple rules, you'll be able to put together a newsworthy story that will help you achieve your goals of getting the word out about your business.

Posted by billenross at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2006

Success - Why Action Achieves Results

Success in any entrepreneurial endeavor is contingent on a simple truth: Learning does not always require thinking.

Actually, thinking often hinders learning. Hinders learning? That flies in the face of most of what we know, doesn't it? As children we were often reproached when we made mistakes: "You just weren't thinking! Don't you ever think about what you're doing?"

Then there's the most successful personal development book of all time telling us to do what? ...That's right, "Think and Grow Rich". True it is a fantastic book and a must read for success minded people. But many of us get so tangled in thoughts that we can't get out of our "heads" and take the action required for success.

Socrates, one of the greatest "thinkers" of all time, said, "Action equals knowledge." Action, not thinking, is how we achieve results. Take playing the piano for instance. We could think about playing the piano but we will never become better until we start pecking away at the keys. If you were to ask an accomplished pianist to think about what they are playing in the middle of a rapturous concert, the music would probably fall apart into a series of painfully disconnected notes.

Same is true with typing. Ask a person who flawlessly types over 70 words a minute to think about the key strokes, and you could probably watch the mistakes pile up. Thinking hinders execution. Thinking can hinder success. The fact of the matter is we can intellectualize all we want, but until we take action we will never accomplish anything.

There is a mantra in the martial arts that says "Ready, Fire, Aim". Simply put, this means take action and correct that action as you go. It is quite probable that many businesses never get out of the starting gate because of over-thinking and over analyzing. Most people want all their ducks to be lined up in a row before they begin. This will never happen. The time will never be perfect. The key is to get started and then "keep on keeping on."

In the martial arts, students practice moves over and over and over again. They train their bodies to transcend thought and take action in the moment. Imagine a trained martial artist getting attacked on the street thinking, "Hmm, okay I'm being attacked. Should I turn my body this way or should it be the other way? Okay, now I have to trap the assailments arms, tighten my fists, pull back, and strike."

Of course this is not what happens in the martial arts. The key teaching in the martial arts is to ACT. NOW! ...In spite of the mind's tenancy to analyze the situation.

The worst kind of thinking is fear of failure. The "What if" disease. "What if I fail? What if people laugh at me? What if I lose all my money? What if, what if, what if?

Fear is paralyzing. It stops the movement necessary for success. Fear weakens our resolve, cripples our creativity, and ultimately stagnates our successes. Conversely, movement overcomes fear. When struck by fear, move. Do something!

So, don't wait to explore your entrepreneurial spirit; take action now. When those pesky thoughts creep up, and they will, scare them away with the mantra, "Don't think, don't think, don't think, don't think..." and watch your dreams and goals cascade toward you.

What is the bottom line? "Don't think and grow rich."

Posted by billenross at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2006

11 Practical Uses for RSS in Business

Are you wondering what you can use RSS for right now? Here are some practical examples of RSS at work.

Use Your Own Content

Almost ANY web based content can be transformed into an RSS feed. The only real requirement is that the information changes regularly.

News Headlines

Typically, the main use of RSS is to present headlines and a short introduction to "newsy" stories. Create an RSS feed on your site featuring your company press releases, site updates, etc.

Upcoming Events

RSS is a great way to let people know of events and activities that may be happening soon. It's easy to turn an "events" page into an RSS feed.

Thoughts/Commentary

You've probably heard of the term "blog" or "weblog". It's a page that displays (in chronological order) a series of writings on whatever the author wants to write about. While a normal blog also allows others to add their comments to yours, you don't have to offer that functionality.

Set up a page where you regularly add your thoughts on all sorts of issues - or just one issue - with the most recent post at the top of the page. Include these items in an RSS feed, and you've got a whole new audience for your pearls of wisdom.

Articles

Share your knowledge. This is a more "formal" type of writing, where you write a series of articles on a specific topic. Add a new article on that topic every week or so. Set up several topics and you've got several new RSS feeds to attract even more interest in what you know.

Don't forget to include a resource box in the article which allows others to reproduce your article on their site, with an obvious link back to you.

New Products

Got an online store with new inventory added regularly? Add details about your newly added items to an RSS feed to let people know what's just come in.

Weekly/Monthly Specials

Do you regularly make special offers on different products in your inventory? Again, RSS is a great way to tell people what's on special this week... or this month.

Newsletters

If you regularly produce an email newsletter, then consider converting it to RSS format as well as continuing to email it. After all, your newsletters ARE also shown on your web site... aren't they?

New Links

If you have a links directory, considering creating an RSS feed of the new links added to your directory in the last week or so. If you have a category structure within that directory, with links added often, you can create a feed for each category.

New Members

Do you run a public membership site? Recently joined members could be listed in an RSS feed with links direct to their profiles. What a great way to welcome new members!

Ticker RSS Feeds

Do you have timely information, e.g. important stock figures, to communicate to your customers? Automate the process with software and RSS can feed new critical information on an hourly basis (or more frequently if needed).

Note: Aim to have up to 15-20 items in each feed if possible. You can have more items if you want. Just remember that most feed reading software will NOT display all the items. Many may only show the first 5 or 10.

Once you've got your feed going... remember to submit your feed URLs to the various RSS Feed Directories.

Using Content From OTHER Web Sites

If a site offers an RSS feed for people to subscribe to, you can possibly use that feed on your site. Just check the terms and conditions on the site FIRST to see if you can reproduce the feed. If in doubt - send an email or phone them to ask permission.

What you are aiming for is to build many extra pages of useful content on topics of value to your visitors. Don't worry that the links in the feed take people off site (make that happen in a new window). The content is what is needed for search engines and people to devour!

Posted by billenross at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2006

Should Your "Company Ethics" Be Used as a Marketing Tool?

Ethical Marketing. For some companies that phrase may seem like an oxymoron similar to “government intelligence.” For others however, it’s a core operating value.

What exactly is “Ethical marketing”? According to a recently released white paper on that subject, ethical marketing is a model of ethical interactivity between businesses and consumers that includes seven practices – notice, choice, access, contact, security, horizon and intrusiveness.

Every day there are exciting new technologies being created that open up endless possibilities for Internet Marketers. As a small business owner, your email box is probably already flooded with offers every day, telling you about the “next big thing” that will help you sell more of your products or services to scores of hungry buyers.

Right now, when a customer visits your Website, you’ve got the potential to track what pages they visit, how long they stay, what links they follow. To help make buying from you even easier, your customers have the option of letting you “remember” their personal information – everything from physical address to preferences and previous purchases to their credit card information.

You can even get their personal information – such as IP and email addresses, without them having to type a single word, or lift a finger to click a mouse.

Technology, by itself, isn’t inherently good or bad. What makes the difference is your intent and how you use it.

Here are five issues when it comes to addressing privacy issues that you should be thinking about, to ensure that your company is participating in “ethical marketing” practices.

Gathering Information – Addressing Consumer Privacy Issues

NOTICE: Do you tell consumers what information you’re collecting, how it will be used, whether it will be disclosed to anyone else, and whether or not you’re using cookies?

CHOICE: Do you give visitors to your Website the choice to agree with how you gather information and use it?

ACCESS: Do visitors to your Website have access to the information you collect about them? Do they have the ability to review and make changes to that information?

SECURITY: Do you let your customers know that you understand their concerns about the protection of their private information, and use best practices when transferring or storing their information?

CONTACT: Do your visitors and know how to contact you, and have the name of someone in your company to ask questions or register complaints about privacy concerns or complaints? And are those concerns or complaints handled in a professional manner immediately?

Being ethical and honest in all business dealings has always been considered good business practice. Doing business the way it has “always been done” just doesn’t work with savvy consumers any longer. In the wake of scandals like Enron and Arthur Anderson and others, consumers have become more cautious and skeptical and want to know more about the companies they’re doing business with. Because of their concerns over privacy and safety issues, many consumers are still hesitant about making purchases on the Web.

So can your company’s core operating values – its ethics – become an effective marketing tool?

Some experts say yes.

Here are some of the top ways small businesses can attract new customers and maintain strong support and loyalty from current ones:

1. Include words about your company’s integrity, commitment to excellence and high standards in all your marketing, advertising and on your Webpages. When you’re thinking about what you want to say, think about these questions: How long has your company been committed to excellence? Do you believe in integrity? How do you handle customer service?

2. Offer concrete examples of how you’re committed to excellence, integrity and honesty in all your dealings. Instead of just saying “Our service department is committed to excellence” explain why. What procedure do they follow? How are your employees involved in ensuring customer satisfaction? What guarantees do you offer your customers?

3. Get feedback from your customers. Even if you’re the only employee in your business, you can benefit from one of the secrets used by the Fortune 500 companies – it’s called “primary market research” but what it boils down to is asking your customers questions. Find out what they liked about doing business with you. But also ask what they DIDN’T like, and then take steps to solve any problems right away! Don’t make excuses, and don’t make it tough for your customers to fix something they consider to be a problem. Figure out a guarantee, and then stand behind it.

4. If you own a brick and mortar store, you can run quarterly promotions and in-house contests. For example, one inexpensive idea is to run a contest that rewards the employee who provides the best customer service during a specific time period. Or give your employees buttons that say “Ask about our 100 percent guarantee” etc. You can get really creative and make it fun for your customers and your employees, with the end result that everyone knows about your companies ethics and core operating values.

5. Add tag lines under your company name that talk about your company’s values. Include the same tag line on all marketing materials. Just remember to use statements that your company will be able to stand behind for a long time, because once that’s what you become known for, the image will stick.

Just remember that if you're going to use your company's ethics as a marketing tool, you need to adhere to them completely, with a "no tolerance" policy for any unethical practices. If you don't, this marketing tool could backfire, and you'll end up losing your credibility and your customers.

Posted by billenross at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2006

How to Double Your Sales with "Punch Line" Headlines

The headline of your sales messages, whether on-line or in the local newspaper, is responsible for 70% to 80% of the response from your sales message. The success or failure of any marketing effort rests, to a large degree, on the power of your headline.

David Ogilvy is one of the most respected modern day marketing authorities. He revealed that, with the average headline, only 200 people out of 1000 will go on to read your ad. And that is where your profit is sitting. Capture another 200 customers with a punch line headline and you will double your sales. Lose 100 readers with a poor headline and you lose half your sales.

Headlines are just that important. Even poorly written ads have been very successful because of the overwhelming power of punch line headlines.

Your prospects will decide whether to read your sales message in only two or three seconds. That is all the time they will give you to scan your headline. Really, you and I are no different. We do not READ a newspaper, we SCAN the headlines - article headlines and ad headlines. We are looking for only what interests us at the moment.

A headline comprises the first words at the top of a newspaper ad. It is the title of your article, the subject line of an email, or the top of your web page.

Here are four critical tips for writing those "double your sales" punch line headlines.

1. Make Sure Your Headline Is The First Word Group Your Prospect Sees.

I know this may seem a "no-brainer" but I see this mistake time and again, particularly in local newspaper advertising. And, even more amazing, the ads the newspaper "experts" use to promote themselves seldom follow this rule. Take a look through your newspaper. Notice how many businesses start out their ad with their store name and location right at the top. This is such a terrible waste of their prime "real estate". It is an ego thing really, and can easily cost them 25% to 50% of their potential sales. Always keep in mind - the public does not give a hoot about you. If they are shopping for you, they will look in the yellow pages. They are only interested in themselves and fulfilling their current desires. Put your store name at the bottom. If the headline draws them in to read your ad, and you convince them to want it, they will find your business name, no matter how small.

2. Make Sure Your Headline Delivers The Punch Line.

The "punch line" is the unique and powerful part of your sales message. You aren't telling a joke here. Do not save the best part of your offer until last. Determine the most compelling part of your offer and put it right at the top of your ad in big, bold print. Virtually shout it out. And make the wording active, not passive. For example, "Save 50% on Recliners" is passive. "Take Home A Recliner for 50 Cents on the Dollar" is an active headline.

3. Use Words Your Prospect Is Searching For

Here is another costly mistake you will see every day. Do not try to get everybody to read your ad by being vague or cute. "Everybody" is not your potential customer. Your prospects are only those who want today what you have for sale today. By trying to capture everybody, you will actually lose many of your most important prospects - the ones that want to give you money. Your headline should sort out the buyers. Be specific. If you are selling recliners, then say "recliners", not "furniture". Do not say "Storewide Furniture Sale". Say "Dining Rooms, Living Rooms, Bedrooms - As Little As 50 Cents On The Dollar". The more focused your headline, and your sales message, the better the response.

4. Your Headline Should Be Short And Sweet

The headline should be as few words as possible, yet long enough to tell them what you are selling and why they should read your sales message. Usually ten words or less is a good target. The consumer will read longer headlines if the first four words grab their attention. If you need more words, start with a large, short headline leading to a smaller type, longer worded sub-headline.

Here are some very easy and fun ways to find profitable headline ideas.

1. Look through your newspaper every day. Watch for headlines on articles and ads that really grab your interest. Think about why those headlines worked on you.

2. While waiting to check out at the supermarket, read the headlines on the gossip tabloids. Those headlines are the main reason, if not the only reason, millions of people buy them every week. Supermarket tabloids have the high paid experts on staff who do nothing but write compelling and extremely profitable headlines. And these headlines are always good for a "laugh out loud" event.

3. Your junk mail is a virtual goldmine of great headlines and sub-headlines. Save the ones you like for future use. Mix, match and adapt these headlines to suit your business. If you see a headline used over and over again, it's because it is making a lot of money for that company. You do not have to re-invent the wheel. Somebody paid $1000's to write that headline, and $1000's more to test it - and you get to use it free.

4. Practice writing good headlines in the subject line of your emails. It is fun practice and your recipients will enjoy it too. "RE: This Weekend" is passive and boring. "RE: Let's Do It This Weekend" is active and compelling.

5. Buy a good book on marketing. One excellent book, if still available, is "Tested Advertising Methods" by the legendary expert John Caples (with a foreword by David Ogilvy). John devoted four full chapters just to the subject of headlines because he learned early on how important they are.

If you follow these tips, you will become an expert in no time - smarter than 90% of your competitors and 80% of newspaper advertising consultants. And when you experience the flood of sales that your headlines will create, others will want to know your secret to writing profitable punch line headlines.

Posted by billenross at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2006

Desire Trumps Ability Every Time

Ok, today we're going to dispense with the "Internet" stuff, and learn about something much more important. Here it is, brought to you through the power of Internet Video and the wizards at Google; Teen Hoop Dreams.

Posted by billenross at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2006

Blogs, Vlogs, Wikis and iPods

Perhaps you've heard about blogs - the hottest communication story of last year. Commentators from Newsweek to the Wall Street Journal, from CNN to PBS have devoted time to the phenomenon. Blogs are just one of the new technologies that are changing the way politicians communicate with voters and businesses communicate with customers.

For marketers, these changes mean more direct interaction with customers and potential customers. By speaking and listening directly with the customer marketers are able to reduce the expense for public relations and advertising. Of course, these developments are worrying some in the pr and advertising industries, as well as the news media.

Many things about marketing communication won't change, of course: you still need to have something to say. And the best way to apply all these technologies is still within a business niche. With that said, here are some of the other ways communication is changing:

1. Podcasting is the hottest idea on the internet. Starting in 2004, people began downloading homebrewed radio shows to their iPods. So instead of "broadcasts" they're "podcasts". Unlike streaming audio, podcasts require the file to be downloaded. The advantage of podcasts versus streaming is that you can take it with you when you're not on the net. The disadvantage is that streaming audio is much easier for a customer to play at his or her computer. The solution is to do both - create an audio file for streaming, and an mp3 for podcasting. The same recording can be used for both.

2. A vlog is a video blog. Unlike podcasting, vlogging can refer to either streaming video or downloadable shows. Combined with the rapid development of internet video delivery, vlogging seems poised to take off. As with audio, you can prepare your video file in both streaming and downloadable formats. Also like audio, you can begin with very low-cost tools and work your way up to full blown professional equipment. Remember that people like good production quality, but they like watching something interesting even more.

3. Wikis are websites that are editable by the site users. Content becomes part of a dialogue among the users, instead of something fixed. This interaction can build strong communities, and produce large sites with enormous information. Up until recently, wikis have been difficult to use, and limited to techs. New approaches to wikis are making them easier to use, and reinforcing the next trend:

4. Social software. Community sites that encourage sharing and conversation are springing up in many areas. Photography and music have been drivers of this trend, in addition to political activism. Interaction builds community, and community is where the market is.

5. Almost all of these tools involve RSS, a technology for feeding information to people who want it. Unlike email, which is "pushed" by the sender, rss feeds have to be "pulled" by the user. While still not completely mainstream, rss is a rapidly growing delivery system.

For the small marketer, the price of reaching customers directly has dropped. Large corporations, though, are picking up on these technologies rapidly. To truly gain an edge, the small business person needs to develop a strategy for these channels before the big companies figure them out.

Posted by billenross at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2006

Why Blogging is Essential to Your Business

In the 'good old days' - about three years ago - you used to keep in-touch with your customers using phone calls, email messages and face to face meetings. Nowadays the world has changed. People expect even more frequent updates, yet it's nearly impossible to meet with every business contact on a regular basis.

Thankfully, blogging has come to the rescue. Setting up a blog on your web site - and having an associated RSS feed - means you can keep in constant touch with your clients and potential customers. Plus you don't have to email them and they can get your latest news without having to visit your web site.

So how does this all work? A blog is really a fancy name for a web page that gets updated regularly. It's nothing special. There are several methods of writing 'blogs', but they are nothing more than computer programs which allow you to easily update a web page. Far and away the easiest way to start a blog is with a website called blogger.com.

However, for keeping in touch with your customers, RSS is the key. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. What this means is that your blog can be automatically delivered to people who want to read it - you don't have to send it to them and neither do they have to come and collect it. All they need is the address of your RSS Feed and their RSS Newsreader can do the job for them. There are several RSS readers available and new web browsers incorporate the ability to read RSS feeds and keep them updated.

Whenever you add new content to your blog, the RSS Feed automatically gets updated in everyone's Reader program or web browser. That means you are guaranteed to be able to keep in touch with clients and prospects. You don't have to do anything other than produce the content. Equally, you don't face the problems of email filters and anti-spam programs blocking your email. Furthermore, people tend to read RSS Feeds because they have subscribed to them whereas they tend to ignore non urgent emails.

As you can see, there are several advantages to Blogs and RSS Feeds. But it doesn't stop there. Search engines love them. That's because blogs provide fresh and new content - precisely what searchers are looking for. Hence the search engines are actively pushing blogs higher up the search engine ranking. This means if you don't have a blog for your business, you are seriously reducing your chances of a high search engine ranking. You need a blog nowadays to get noticed by the search engines.

So, blogging is essential. Not only does it improve your web presence, it also means you can keep in touch with clients and prospects more easily. And all the marketing research you can find will tell you that keeping in regular touch with your customers is an important component in gaining new business. So get blogging!

Posted by billenross at 06:36 PM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2006

Avoiding Legal Problems in Your Internet Business

If you own and/or operate an Internet business, you are required by law to comply with established laws, codes, and regulations. Being unaware of any of these laws is not considered a satisfactory alibi. In the eyes of the government, just because you didn't purposely break any laws doesn't mean you are innocent.

You should place links to your business and legal notices on every one of your web pages. You business notices would be comprised of your Contact Information and About Us data. You may also wish to include a link to a FAQ page and another to your Affiliate Program if you have one. Your legal notices should consist of your Copyright information, your Privacy Policy, your Terms of Service, your Disclaimer, and if applicable, an Earnings Disclaimer.

To get an idea of how to word these notices, look over the legal data on several of your competitor's websites. Do not copy any of these verbatim as this would be considered copyright infringement. You may want to purchase a software package that will generate the required notices. Also available are free online generators for some of these notices.

Business Notices

ABOUT US: Create a page about you and/ or your company. Include your name, the name of your company, your picture, and a short biography. If you have any partners, add the same for each of them. If appropriate, include a likeness of your company's building. This could be a drawing or a photograph.

CONTACT US: You need to include a page with your contact information. The minimum data this should have is a contact email address. If your business is physically located somewhere other than your home, include the address and your business phone number. If you work out of you home, you may not want to include your physical address or personal phone number for safety reasons.

FAQ: Include a link to a FAQ page. You may be able to lower the number of emails sent to you if you have a FAQ page readily accessible. Encourage your visitors to check your FAQs before sending you an email.

AFFILIATE: If you have an affiliate program, include a page where potential partners can get more information. Describe your program, state what an affiliate can expect in terms of support, explain your payment terms and include any other relative details. Your affiliate page should also state your Anti-Spam policy and what actions you will take if this policy is violated.

Legal Notices

COPYRIGHT: Include your copyright information at the bottom of each page of your website. Your copyright statement should include the word Copyright as well as the copyright symbol. You should also include the clause: All Right Reserved. If you sell products or services worldwide, use the clause: All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

DISCLAIMER: A disclaimer should state the extent to which individuals may use the data on your website. It should state your lack of liability for any damages sustained by a visitor using or downloading any data on your website. Include a cautionary statement concerning potential viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, etc. that may be present in any material downloaded from the Internet. You might also want to state that your visitor should consult an attorney, accountant and/ or a medical authority before using any information on or downloaded from your site.

EARNINGS DISCLAIMER: If you've included statements about potential earnings achievable by using the information on your website, include an earnings disclaimer. This should say something to the effect that you can't guarantee results, that the statements made were used primarily as examples, and that not everyone will get the same results. NEVER state that a person WILL make X amount of dollars in X amount of time as you may encounter legal problems if you do so.

PRIVACY POLICY: Include a privacy policy if you gather any information from your visitor even if it's only your visitor's name and email address for a newsletter subscription. This policy should spell out exactly why you are gathering certain information and how you will use that information. Always tell your visitor if the information will be shared with a third party or not.

TERMS OF SERVICE: A Terms of Service notice should advise your visitor of the terms for using your site and state who is legally allowed to use your site. You should always include an age statement. In the US, anyone under 13 years of age needs parental consent to use any website while in other countries, the minimum age is 18. If you include any adult information and/ or images be sure to state so and also state the the site is not usable by anyone under the age of 18 no matter what country they reside in.

In order to protect your business and all the effort you've put into building it, you need to be aware of the rules and regulations that control advertising. If you conduct any Internet business in the US, go to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/dotcom/index.html for FTC (Federal Trade Commission) requirements. Failure to follow these requirements may result in fines and/ or incarceration.

If you use email marketing in your Internet business, in every email you send out you must include your physical address as well as some way for your subscriber to opt out of your list. You can find links to rules and acts as well as press releases and public comments about spam at: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/rules.htm.

If you would like an overview of the Can-Spam Act and the requirements for commercial emailers, go to: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/spam/business.htm. You will find information and requirements concerning unsubscribe options on the same page.

To help prevent legal problems, include the required legal notices on your website, don't make any dishonest, deceitful or false statements about your product or service and follow the Can-Spam Act. While there is no guarantee that you'll never have any legal problems, incorporating these in your Internet marketing will significantly reduce your chances of ever encountering any.

Posted by billenross at 02:49 PM | Comments (0)

March 08, 2006

Could Your Email Compromise Your Safety?

Hackers, phishers, viruses, worms…simply having your computer online can expose your data and personal information to all kinds of malicious and worrisome problems. If you’re somewhat new to the 'net' or to computers in general, these four tips could help protect you from identity theft, credit card fraud, or a complete computer takeover – all of which can happen without you even knowing about it!

1. What’s in Your Inbox? – If your e-mail program allows you to preview the entire message before or while it is being downloaded, turn this setting off. Some e-mails can contain dangerous code that could unknowingly compromise your computer and leave you vulnerable to viruses, worms or worse! Check the options in your e-mail program for a way to disable the message preview pane.

2. Scrutinize Your Messages – Don’t ever respond to messages claiming to be from your bank, credit card company, or other financial institution, which ask for personally identifiable information such as card or account numbers, passwords, or other private information – even if the e-mail looks to have come from the actual company. It may be a hoax designed to get you to unknowingly part with crucial financial or private contact information, leaving you vulnerable to credit card fraud, identity theft or credit card theft. Contact the institution or company that claims to be sending the e-mail and verify the contents of the message with them. Chances are – they never sent it. Only use the number on your statement though, and not the number that appears in the e-mail message. It may direct you right to the scammer, who will do everything they can to assure you that nothing is wrong!

3. If it’s From a Friend, it must be Safe, Right? – It’s logical to assume that a message from your friend or colleague is safe, but that isn’t always the case! If you receive an email from a friend or colleague which contains an attachment (could be a media clip, a screensaver, a picture or anything else), call them up to check and see if they really did send it. Many viruses and worms can hijack your computer and blast out a virus-ridden email to everyone in your address book, making it appear that it came from you and therefore, making it appear trustworthy.

4. Read Your Messages in Plain Text – Some e-mails written in HTML (the coding language that makes up many web pages) can be harmless. Others can contain malicious code that can hijack your e-mail program, browser, or your entire computer – and send your personal and financial information out to a hacker or scammer without you even knowing about it! Stay safe by setting your e-mail program to only show messages in plain text format (often in the options or settings section of the software). This will prevent threatening code from installing itself and compromising your system and private information.

Possibly one of the best ways to protect your e-mail is simply by exercising common sense. The Internet is a lot like a crowded plaza. Would your banker or credit card lender walk out into the middle of the throng of people and shout out to you to ask for your account information? Would you tell him where everyone could hear? Definitely not! The same caution should be exercised when checking your e-mail. These tips can help you stop scammers dead in their tracks while keeping you from becoming another victim of fraud or theft.

Posted by billenross at 07:59 AM | Comments (0)

March 04, 2006

What Is Blogging?

What Is Blogging?

Blogging is a method of sharing information over the internet for work, pleasure or both. 'Blogs' are often described as an online diary, with dated posts displayed chronologically. 'Blogging' is the action of posting a message on a blog. A 'blogger' is the person posting the message. Many blogs also allow you to post pictures and receive comments from readers.

Blogs can be about anything. They are usually based on a particular topic or an individual's personal thoughts and opinions. They often contain links to other related sites and are commonly free to operate. They require little knowledge to set up and are simple to update.

Who Uses A Blog?

Who DOESN'T use a blog? Teenagers have blogs, celebrity clubs have blogs, news agencies have blogs, businesses have blogs - even your aunt Sophie could have a blog.

The wonderful thing about blogs is that there are virtually no restraints on what it could be used for. This means that while it's an easy way to share news among family members and post the latest baby pictures, it's equally well suited for a business to post updates and data to inform the public, employees or other interested parties.

Is A Blog Good For My Business?

If you want to develop a rapport with your customers, make regular postings about your business and gain interest from other media outlets or potential customers you would certainly benefit from starting a blog.

Because blogs by nature are considered a source of information rather than a commercial advertisement it makes perfect sense for a business to use blogs as a means of establishing a reputation in their market.

Posting information about their industry or field will create a sense of community involvement that potential customers will appreciate. Using links to your business page will create traffic from search engines and blog readers. You can even add a subscription form to your blog so that interested readers can immediately be emailed when you make a post.

How Do I Start A Blog?

You can create a blog for free. There are many free blog hosting sites you can locate by searching for 'blog' in the search engine. Blogger.com is a popular one.

Blogs are the simplest form of creating an online presence. You do not need any experience in website design as most blog hosts will provide you with pre-made templates. They also provide easy to understand instructions for creating your posts along with options such as allowing comments from readers or uploading photos.

Whether you want to post your personal thoughts on a world crisis, share your poems with appreciative readers or start an online business, your blog could be set up and people could be hearing what you have to say - today.

Posted by billenross at 01:10 PM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2006

Marketing Offline Like The Pros

Marketing offline is a great way to compliment your online campaigns. It helps target people who otherwise might not spot your online presence. Plus it helps you target people who have Internet access and email when you include your URL or web site address in all of your ads. To help you make the most of your offline marketing, here are a few tips from the pros:

1. INSERTS – Ask for media kits from print publications that target your industry readers. Find out their rates for inserts. And have their advertising department help you create a marketing insert for your products and services that targets Internet users and includes your URL and email address. Do include a phone number (toll-free, if possible) for those who have technical difficulties or prefer to call.

2. TEACH - Hold affordable (or free) offline classes at a local community center or other educational facility. Share your knowledge in your area of expertise with attendees. And make sure to distribute handouts with complete contact information, including your website and email address.
Be pro-active and post-active by announcing your classes in a press release to the local media; radio, television, print publications. And follow up by inviting students to enter feedback and referrals in your website form after the class if over. Capture their contact information, enter it into your database, and follow up regularly – sending them your ezine and product / service announcements, both via email and regular postal mail.

3. ORGANIZATIONS - Target your offline marketing to groups of people who will actually be interested in your product or service; i.e. local associations and organizations. Check your Yellow Pages for groups near you and find out when their meetings are. Call ahead to make sure guests are welcome. Then go and network at an easy pace, not fast. Slowly work your way into the group and make sure it would be a good fit for you; you’ll want to give at first, then you’ll receive later on (maybe after your first year, even).

Gradually distribute your business cards – with your website and email address on them. Volunteer to teach about your area of expertise if the chance arises, of course distributing your marketing materials with our website and email address on them, too.

Use caution, before rushing to join during or after the first meeting. Take your time to make sure the group would be a good fit for you and your business operations. Sometimes group operations are lacking or suffer due to board member turnover, the economy, new industry laws, etc. So you might benefit from waiting to join for several months down the road, or trying a different group all together.

So reach out and advertise offline to compliment your online strategy. And remember to include your website and email address on all of your marketing tools.

Posted by billenross at 07:07 PM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2006

10 Costly Search Engine Mistakes to Avoid

If you have a website then you already know the importance of traffic. Traffic is to Internet marketing as location is to real estate. It's the only thing that really matters. If you cannot generate targeted visitors to your site, you will not make any sales.

Usually the owner or designer of the website is the person designated to drive traffic to the site. The chief ingredient in generating traffic is the search engine. Of coarse, you can use advertising, but it's going to cost you. Using the search engines to generate targeted (interested in your product) traffic is the least expensive method known.

Unfortunately, many website owners do not understand the importance of search engine visibility, which leads to traffic. They place more importance on producing a "pretty" website. Not that this is bad, but it is really secondary to search engine placement. Hopefully, the following list of common mistakes, made by many website owners, will help you generate more targeted traffic to your site...after all, isn't that what you want.

1. Not using keywords effectively.
This is probably one of the most critical area of site design. Choose the right keywords and potential customers will find your site. Use the wrong ones and your site will see little, if any, traffic.

2. Repeating the same keywords.
When you use the same keywords over and over again (called keyword stacking) the search engines may downgrade (or skip) the page or site.

3. Robbing pages from other websites.
How many times have you heard or read that "this is the Internet and it's ok" to steal icons and text from websites to use on your site. Don't do it. Its one thing to learn from others who have been there and another to outright copy their work. The search engines are very smart and usually detect page duplication. They may even prevent you from ever being listed by them.

4. Using keywords that are not related to your website.
Many unethical website owners try to gain search engine visibility by using keywords that have nothing at all to do with their website. They place unrelated keywords in a page (such as "sex", the name of a known celebrity, the hot search topic of the day, etc.) inside a meta tag for a page. The keyword doesn't have anything to do with the page topic. However, since the keyword is popular, they think this will boost their visibility. This technique is considered spam by the search engines and may cause the page (or sometimes the whole site) to be removed from the search engine listing.

5. Keyword stuffing.
Somewhat like keyword stacking listed above, this means to assign multiple keywords to the description of a graphic or layer that appears on your website by using the "alt=" HTML parameter. If the search engines find that this text does not really describe the graphic or layer it will be considered spam.

6. Relying on hidden text.
You might be inclined to think that if you cannot see it, it doesn't hurt. Wrong.... Do not try to hide your keywords or keyword phrases by making them invisible. For example, some unethical designers my set the keywords to the same color as the background of the web page; thereby, making it invisible.

7. Relying on tiny text.
This is another version of the item above (relying on hidden text). Do not try to hide your keywords or keyword phrases by making them tiny. Setting the text size of the keywords so small that it can barely be seen does this.

8. Assuming all search engines are the same.
Many people assume that each search engine plays by the same rules. This is not so. Each has their own rule base and is subject to change anytime they so desire. Make it a point to learn what each major search engine requires for high visibility.

9. Using free web hosting.
Do not use free web hosting if you are really serious about increasing site traffic via search engine visibility. Many times the search engines will eliminate content from these free hosts.

10. Forgetting to check for missing web page elements.
Make sure to check every page in your website for completeness, like missing links, graphics, etc. There are sites on the web that will do this for free.

This is just a few of the methods and techniques that you should avoid. Do not give in to the temptation that these methods will work for you. They will do more harm than good for your website.

Not only will you spend weeks of wasted effort, you may have your site banned from the search engines forever. Invest a little time to learn the proper techniques for increasing search engine visibility and your net traffic will increase.

Posted by billenross at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2006

Internet Marketing in a Nutshell

The internet is a place where people often throw darts into the darkness hoping that someday, somehow they'll hit a bulls eye. Most people nurture a mistaken notion that huge amount of traffic can eventuate good business without paying any attention to what sort of people are coming to the website. This is the worst sort of Internet Marketing.

No matter how revolutionary your product or service is, unless it is backed by a well-thought-out Internet Marketing strategy, it is as good as being non-existent. You have got to be as sure as any of the conventional brick and mortar businesses.

Breaking the great wall of non-presence is the biggest challenge one faces while trying to set up an online business. When you set up your online shop, you don't know them and they don't know you. You need to make your presence felt; you need to set up an identity for yourself that tells your visitors that you are not an unemployed weirdo trying to dupe visitors from your dark and unheated basement. Your website should seem to represent a genuine business that can really deliver. How can you do that?

Have A Well Designed Website

A good website is quintessential to your online presence. It is your online office; people come there and draw an impression. Even the first glance can make or break a great business transaction. Your website should be neat and clean. It should be accessible to people of all abilities and it should have a well-structured navigation system. There should be no broken links and all the essential pages should be there.

Content, Content, Content...

If having a decent website is important, then so is having the right kind of content on your pages. As mentioned above, your website represents you amidst the din of the World Wide Web. Since you are not there to directly talk to your visitors, your website accomplishes that task. Make your content -- whether graphic or textual -- as convincing as you can. Utmost care should be given to the language and the tone to make sure your visitors get all the right information they need to take their visit to the next level.

Stay In Touch!

Establishing an identity takes time, and this is not just unique to the internet. Companies invest millions of dollars on establishing their brands. On the Internet, you need to establish your identity, you need your name to sound familiar, and you need to be there almost all the time. You should be accessible to your present and future customers and clients; you should always be in a constant conversation. A good way to carry out a regular conversation is publishing a regular newsletter (ezine) or blog where you post regular updates about your business.

Finally, although there are numerous "killer" methods being sold as the ubiquitous reports that claim to make you millions, there is no substitute for a thing called good old hard work. As in any form of business, hard work is need to build trust, to initiate a two-way communication, to render a countenance to your online presence your customers can relate to, and to deliver goods and services that set you on a path of long-term profitability.

Posted by billenross at 09:04 AM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2006

How to get Targeted Traffic to Your Website

Everyone who has a website knows that to have sales you must have traffic, but not just any traffic it has to be targeted traffic.

What is Targeted traffic? It is simply visitors to your website that are interested in what your website is about. For example, people interested in buying jewellery will find jewellery websites interesting.

How do I get targeted traffic I hear you ask? The following are tried and tested methods:

Forums: Subscribe to forums that discuss your topic. Answer questions and join in the debates there. Become an expert in the field. Then with each article reply you write have a discreet link to your website in the signature file. What can be placed in your signature is often determined by the forum moderators. Do not spam the forum or you will be stopped from posting. This is one of the most productive ways of getting free traffic as those who click your link have already read and liked your style.

Linking from/to other websites: Contact website owners that have similar but not competitive websites to yours, ask them for a reciprocal link from their website to yours. Be sure to select your link partner to match closely your customer profile. Software programs such as Arelis are very helpful in this process.

E-Zines: Contact e-zine owners that have your target readership and buy advertisements from them. Be sure to have a test run to see that the return on investment is sufficient to cover the costs involved. If you are buying an extended run of advertisements haggle with the e-zine owner over price. You may save a considerable amount.

Newsletters: When people visit your website offer them something of value for free if they sign up to your newsletter (like an e-Book). Your newsletter should be written tightly geared towards your topic. It should be published regularly at weekly intervals.

E-Books: Often used, these are usually free informational books for your clients and for others to give away free if they leave your links in the book itself. You can place links back to your website in the books you sell or give to your clients.

Joint Ventures: Contact online marketers looking for new products to sell. They often have large mailing lists with eager to buy customers. Normally they are willing to email their list for a cut of the sale price. This works particularly well with informational products. It has several advantages. It can give a very sizeable boost to both your sales and mailing list within a very short period.

Buy Traffic: This is probably the cheapest in terms of time and most expensive money wise. It gives a traffic boost normally within 30 days. What are you buying? You are buying traffic from expired domain names which the company selling the traffic has bought. They are domain names still registered on the search engines which get a considerable amount of traffic. The previous domain name owners have either lost interest in the name or simply forgot to renew the registration. This means that the traffic from the expired domain name is simply redirected to your website. This is usually high quality traffic as only websites with traffic such as you want is redirected to you. As always, a test run to see if this traffic is suitable should be undertaken.

When you combine these techniques and apply them consistently over time you will find a rich source of targeted traffic coming to your website. This, combined with quality products will ensure the success of your online business.

Posted by billenross at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2006

Market Your Storefront with a Website

Many people think that the Internet offers a tremendous marketplace, while others will question the extra effort and money to purchase and design a website. Some of the money-making values of having a website are summarized in the following paragraphs for your consideration.

1. If you have a local group of customers and want to expand to the neighboring areas, states or even, countries, without spending massive amounts of costly advertising money or even leasing more company space, then the Internet can work very well for you. Niche markets (small groups of customers scattered about that are interested in a very specific item or service) also work very well on the Internet.

2. As a business owner, you need to provide a map and directions to your store for your customers and enable them to look up specials, discounts, limited merchandise, or varieties and prices of each item you market. For instance, let's say you sell cheesecakes and you would like to spend less time on the phone explaining the different varieties, how many people the different varieties will serve, prices, and availability. Here's how this could work online for you. You would provide a secure, encrypted order form thereby collecting the person's credit information as well as their address, phone, and email information. They would list their preferences as to varieties and sizes of cheesecakes. This form would be sent directly to your email or to your fax so that you would have the items ready for the customer to pick up that day or the day they designate. You would have the cheesecakes shipped for those that cannot make it to your store. When a customer returns to order another product from your website, they would not have to fill out most of the form as it would already be in your database.

3. You build their confidence when you show customers that you have their best interest and shopping convenience in mind when you open a website and properly maintain that website with new and updated information. Customers will appreciate being able to read about the owners, the store's policies, the service after the sale, and any other items you think would develop a rapport to allow them to do more business with you. Having a website allows your company to develop its style and branding and develops a sense of security for the customers in doing business with your firm.

4. A small operation can look just as important as a large corporation. A website builds confidence and value into your products and services and allows you to receive orders you may have missed without being on the Internet.

5. If you do advertising on the radio or TV, newspapers or direct mail, having a website gives the customer a place to review what you tell them in the ads in much more detail. Every ad should reference your website so customers can view the details at a time and place that is convenient 24 hours a day seven days a week. You can quickly change and update information on a website without the expense of printed materials.

6. You can do any promotion online that you can do offline and much cheaper. Coupons, money-off sales, discounts, employee recognition, limited merchandise you want to move, all these can be marketed on your website. Keeping the website up-to-date can be provided by your webmaster at a very nominal fee.

I hope that you can see from some of the above points that having your own website is necessary in today's marketplace for any small or medium-sized business as well as any at-home business. Customers are out there looking for you and you need to take advantage of where they are looking and, right now, that is the INTERNET! Since your competitors have a website, they are perceived as being more up-to-date. The ease, convenience, special online savings, information about your company's mission, your services, your ability to communicate with customers are all important reasons for having a dynamic online website. Online marketing will only continue to grow...WILL YOUR CUSTOMERS FIND YOU ONLINE?

Posted by billenross at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2006

Forget Dial-Up - Switch To Broadband

In our modern, fast-paced environment we have come to expect instant gratification. That also pertains to how we access the Internet. For years, the only option was a dialup connection. Believe it or not, there still are places in the United States that do not have access to other alternatives.

If you are fortunate enough to live and work in an area where another alternative is available by all means make the switch. If you need to have a little bit more information before shelling out the extra bucks each month, then let’s take a look at some of the options that may be available in your locale. Before we do that, however, we need to explore the technology a little further and take a look at some terminology

What is Broadband? Broadband refers collectively to technology that allows data transfer through your phone lines at a much higher rate than standard dialup.

What is DSL (Direct Subscriber Link)? DSL allows you to connect to the Internet at the same time you are using your phone without any interruption. It does this by putting digital “bits” that are not heard into the frequency of your phone line.

What is Bandwidth? Bandwidth is the size and speed of the connection. You need the fastest speed and reliability where the connection has a higher priority, i.e. FROM the internet TO your home or office, while a smaller bandwidth is used in the opposite scenario FROM your home or office TO the internet.

The bottom line is that DSL is faster, more efficient and more reliable than standard dialup. If you have ever tried downloading large files on a dialup connection, you know how long it takes. When it comes to listening to music, watching any kind of videos or playing games, it is virtually an exercise in futility on a dialup connection.

DSL is relatively inexpensive for what you get:

You can enjoy streaming live audio and video, watch movies online, listen to radio stations and live news and that’s just for starters! If you like to play computer games, you can do that while online and still not miss any important phone calls! Broadband Cable modem Internet subscribers are typically charged for service on their cable bill, rather than paying the ISP directly. The service is usually marketed under names like Road Runner, but the cable company and ISP have distinct responsibilities.

Your local cable company is responsible for installing the cable modem and managing the quality of your service over the local cable network. At the cable company's main network office -- commonly called the "headend" -- you're connected to the cable ISP's national backbone. It, in turn, is plugged into the Internet. The ISP actually provides the Internet connectivity, while your cable company will provide basic technical support. Who do you talk to when there's a problem? Chances are that your cable company will direct you to your ISP.

Cable modem Internet service is typically priced from $30 to $50 a month, which covers the cable modem rental fee; unlimited Internet access; and Internet application software, such as a Web browser and e-mail applications. Cable modem service installation fees, which usually run from $50 to $150, cover cable wiring, an Ethernet card for your computer, and software configuration.

Downloading data, sound or video files can be accomplished in almost the blink of an eye. What used to take a half hour or more to download will be done in minutes or in some cases even in seconds! And all of those photographs that you’ve taken with your digital camera to send to the grandparents? No need to wait for developing. In seconds you can send the photos!

If you are lucky enough to live in an area where DSL or cable is available, by all means jump on the bandwagon and bring your surfing experience into the 21st century!

Posted by billenross at 05:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 25, 2006

Internet Searching the Google way

The Internet today is an ever growing database of knowledge. But as with almost anything in life there are some negative things attached to this aspect of Internet.

First, the Internet is not an ordinary encyclopedia, i.e., an organized knowledge database. The Internet is more like a disorganized database to which everyone can contribute. Because of the diverse and widespread information input and the requirement to find specific information when one needs it, there is a need to bring some sort of organization to the Internet community. Today there are web directories and search engines as two of the most useful mechanisms responsible for bringing order to the Internet.

Web directories organize links to many places on the Internet where information about a specific topic can be found. Web directories can have a general or topic specific focus and are usually organized into several categories based on the topic. Web directories are good sources of information if they are well-maintained with regular updates. They are usually maintained better by human actions than by automated software. Computers still cannot determine the relevancy of certain text as effectively as humans. A good example of a human edited directory is dmoz - Open Directory Project. It is the largest and most comprehensive human-edited directory on the Internet, maintained by thousands of volunteer editors.

Search engines are yet another tool that helps you find information on the Internet. There are many search engines on the Internet but the biggest and the most popular are Google, AOL/Netscape, Lycos and MSN. Some of them also have their own web directories, which are often comprised of dmoz data combined with their own data.

Search engines, however, are different from web directories. They do not categorize links to web places like web directories do but they allow users to "search the internet" using specific search terms. However, it should be noted that what is really being searched at the moment you submit your inquiry (in the form of a search term) is, in fact, a database. These databases are constantly updated and upgraded with so called 'search engine spiders' which search the Internet all the time looking for new and recently updated websites.

So what search engines can help you do is to find which pages contain, and are the most relevant to, the search term you have used. For determining the relevancy of a page to the search term, they use complex algorithms which are not completely revealed to the public. The reason for this is that these algorithms, once known to public, could then be used to adjust a site's ranking, ignoring the fact that the content of the website must be relevant to what people are searching for. Search engines want visitors to return to their websites and thus need to provide quality. This quality is relevant results for a visitor's search inquiry.

With the basic operation of web directories and search engines now explained, what are effective ways to use them to obtain relevant information?

Here are a few simple tricks that many people do not know when searching the Internet for information using various search engines. Let us look at Google, since at the moment Google is the most popular, and thought by many the most comprehensive, search engine.

When you search for something on Google you may get a variety of results, some more and some less relevant to the original search inquiry. For example, you may end with results from various newspaper articles that merely mention the search term, but the content may be totally unrelated to the search inquiry. A good technique to minimize those unrelated results are to place "intitle:" or "allintitle:" before your search terms.

The "intitle:" option is used when you search for a single word search term and anything you write after that word will not be affected by the intitle option. So if you want a phrase to be affected by the intitle option you will use "allintitle:" instead. E.g. "intitle:cars" but "allintitle:used cars" (without the quotation marks). Note that there should be no space between the colon and your search term.

A similar effect can be accomplished with the options "inurl:" and "allinurl:" but here Google will restrict the results to show only those results where the URLs contain the word or phrase you have searched for.

If you are searching for a definition of a term, Google offers help here too. You have to type "define:" (without the quotation marks) followed by the word or words you want defined. If Google has come up with that definition on the Internet it will be displayed for you at the top of the search results. Please note that if you enter more words after "define:" Google will see those words as a phrase.

When you have a URL of a website that interests you (e.g. www.example-url.com) you can find all the websites that link to that site, all the websites related (similar) to that site and check what info Google has on that particular site.

You will use "link:" followed by the URL of your choice (e.g. "link:www.example-url.com" - without the quotation marks) when you want to find all websites that link to that site. The prefixes "related:" and "info:" are used in the same way.

Should you wish to search only a certain website, not the whole Internet, you can use "site:" following with the URL of the website you wish to search. But note that the search term here comes BEFORE the "site:" which is followed by the URL of the website. E.g., "download linux site:www.linux.org".

The only time the quotation marks are used in searching is when you are searching for a phrase and not combined with any of the above mentioned prefixes. For example, "searching the internet" with quotation marks will search for the exact phrase and "searching the internet" without quotation marks will search for the places where the words "searching", "the" and "internet" appear not strictly in that order. Logically by using quotation marks when searching you will get fewer results but more relevant ones while without the use of the quotation marks you will get more but usually less relevant results.

This explanation and these little tricks should help you use the Internet more efficiently in the search for information and should improve the quality and relevance of your search results.

Posted by billenross at 06:56 PM | Comments (0)

February 24, 2006

How To Get Your Website Noticed

Many people will tell you that to get your web site noticed you need to 'optimize' your site for the search engines. You are then led up a path where you have to keep changing your web site as the search engines change their ways of listing things. As fast as you 'optimize' your site, Google and the others have moved the goalposts, meaning you have to keep optimizing over and over again.

Now consider some facts. Most people in the world are not users of the Internet. Let's repeat that. The vast majority of people who you want to reach don't use the Internet. It doesn't matter how well you optimize your web site, they simply will never find it.

Here's another fact. Some of the best Internet marketers make most of their sales 'offline'. They sell their books, CD-ROMs and so on at seminars, workshops and conferences. Indeed, for many 'Internet marketers' these 'offline' sales represent the bulk of their income.

So what do these facts tell us? They show us that 'offline' promotion is more important than online promotion. You may be able to optimize your web site to get high rankings in a search engine. But that doesn't mean you'll reach the vast majority of people who could buy your product or use your information.

This was confirmed recently by one study that showed most people go to an Internet address (URL) after having read it in a newspaper or magazine, been given it by a friend or colleague, or having heard it being mentioned by someone speaking at a meeting or on TV. In other words, it seems that significant numbers of people who get to your web site will do so having heard the URL somewhere outside the Internet.

You can get many people visiting your web site, even if you are not ranked highly by the search engines. You can do this in two main ways:

1. Write articles for use in regular publications - newspapers, magazines and so on. Always include your URL in the article and you'll get millions of people to notice your web site address.

2. Speak at every opportunity. Make presentations to business clubs, chambers of commerce, local societies - you name it, you should speak at it. Every time you speak, announce or your web site address.

Although these are the two principal ways of gaining offline publicity for your web site, don't neglect your business stationery, posters, car stickers and so on. The more your web site address is visible outside the web, the more visitors you will get regardless of how kind the search engines are to you.

Here is my #1 way to promote my business

Posted by billenross at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)

How To Get Your Website Noticed

Many people will tell you that to get your web site noticed you need to 'optimize' your site for the search engines. You are then led up a path where you have to keep changing your web site as the search engines change their ways of listing things. As fast as you 'optimize' your site, Google and the others have moved the goalposts, meaning you have to keep optimizing over and over again.

Now consider some facts. Most people in the world are not users of the Internet. Let's repeat that. The vast majority of people who you want to reach don't use the Internet. It doesn't matter how well you optimize your web site, they simply will never find it.

Here's another fact. Some of the best Internet marketers make most of their sales 'offline'. They sell their books, CD-ROMs and so on at seminars, workshops and conferences. Indeed, for many 'Internet marketers' these 'offline' sales represent the bulk of their income.

So what do these facts tell us? They show us that 'offline' promotion is more important than online promotion. You may be able to optimize your web site to get high rankings in a search engine. But that doesn't mean you'll reach the vast majority of people who could buy your product or use your information.

This was confirmed recently by one study that showed most people go to an Internet address (URL) after having read it in a newspaper or magazine, been given it by a friend or colleague, or having heard it being mentioned by someone speaking at a meeting or on TV. In other words, it seems that significant numbers of people who get to your web site will do so having heard the URL somewhere outside the Internet.

You can get many people visiting your web site, even if you are not ranked highly by the search engines. You can do this in two main ways:

1. Write articles for use in regular publications - newspapers, magazines and so on. Always include your URL in the article and you'll get millions of people to notice your web site address.

2. Speak at every opportunity. Make presentations to business clubs, chambers of commerce, local societies - you name it, you should speak at it. Every time you speak, announce or your web site address.

Although these are the two principal ways of gaining offline publicity for your web site, don't neglect your business stationery, posters, car stickers and so on. The more your web site address is visible outside the web, the more visitors you will get regardless of how kind the search engines are to you.

Here is my #1 way to promote my business

Posted by billenross at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2006

Using Google Adwords To Drive Laser Targeted Traffic

The biggest well known secret in generating wealth in the Internet based business or e-commerce is Traffic. Everybody knows it; every site wants it and every site needs it. The point of websites is to be visited and viewed. Many elaborate designs, money and countless hours of developing a site to make them beautiful and attractive are utilized.

Without traffic, it is for naught.

With traffic comes a potential customer which basically means sales which in turn means profit. While many sites have collapsed in the past with the downturn of many Internet based business, many smaller sites have generated good money by concentrating on a certain niche and some subniches.

This is a reason why e-commerce site laser target certain groups of people and drive them to their site to showcase their sites and products. Precision marketing is essential so that you could count on all the traffic on your site as potential customers.

Using Money to Make Money

It’s a common business notion that if you want to make money, you have to spend money. One good way of spending money for business gain is through advertising. Advertising brings in the people because through advertising, they know that there is such a company or product in existence. With the right type of advertising, you can see the spurt of traffic growth to your site. With a high volume of traffic, even if only a small portion or percentage turns out to be buying customers it is still a good average of profit generating income.

Right now, there is no other advertising technique that would be worth every cent, except Google Adwords. The surge in popularity of Google Adwords is very evident as you can see so many sites showing the now familiar text boxes.

In using Google Adwords, you pay a certain fee depending on the number of keywords your ad is keyword sensitive to. Each time a person does a search in Google, the keyword or keywords use generate ads in the side of Google which are generated by the keywords they have assigned for their ads.

This method laser targets the traffic a site wants for their site. This also ensures that you are readily visible in the first page of a search result. Paying Google for this ad ensures that your target group of people sees your ads. You drive your laser targeted traffic to your site which provides for their needs and wants. You can also be sure that you can meet their demands and needs.

Aside from Google, you can also be featured in their other search networks, these includes sites like, AskJeeves, AOL Search and Netscape. These sites also show Adwords ads that react to searches done by visitors. There are also content networks, non-search engine sites that feature Google Adwords, which will also carry your ads. But this is subjected to the niche the site features. Your chosen keywords will determine which content network shall feature your ad. The frequency of your ad shall also be determined by your allowed budget.

Laser Targeting your Traffic

To get a good number or estimate of the traffic to buying customer ratio it is good to laser target your traffic. Knowing that your traffic are all potential customers and are interested in your products and company provides you with a more accurate statistics. This will show you how effective your utilizing of Google Adwords is.

Drive laser targeted traffic to your site by using keywords or keyword phrases for your Goggle Adwords that pertains to your company and to your products. There are many online internet tools that can help you in choosing keywords and keyword phrases that are currently in demand that could help drive laser targeted traffic to your site.

With your Google Adwords ad, you are ensured that every click to your ad is a potential customer that is precisely looking pr interested in what you have to offer. Make sure that your Google Adwords ad has the right keywords so that you can drive you're laser targeted traffic to your site.

Using Google Adwords to help boost the drive to increase laser targeted traffic will prove to be very beneficial as many other companies can attest to. The benefits are high with the cost relatively justifiable.

Posted by billenross at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)

February 22, 2006

Search Engine Marketing

Anyone who owns a website knows the importance of Internet marketing tools. You may have a terrific idea for a website with an excellent product or service, superb design, content and functionality but if you do not use the right tactics, your site may not attract the all important highly targeted traffic. Getting a lot of traffic into a site has very little to do with the site itself but with how the webmaster or site owner advertises it. With hundreds of competing sites, you must employ the most effective internet marketing tools that will truly deliver results.

There are different Internet marketing tools that you can use. All these techniques and methods aim at increasing your website traffic. You must find a way for web surfers to find your site. To do this, you must put yourself in the shoes of your prospective visitors and future clients and see the internet through their eyes.

Where do they usually go whenever they are looking up something on the web? The answer is the search engine; in fact, the two most popular websites on the web today are both search engines and portals. Thus, you should focus your internet marketing efforts on the search engine.

People will usually search for something using a search engine and click on the top results that these engines give. Therefore, you must use the right Internet marketing tools to get a high search engine ranking. To gain a high ranking in search results, you can use several internet marketing tools.

Search engine optimization is a set of methods that are aimed at improving the visibility of your site in search engine results. Since a search engine indexes sites by looking at its keyword density, your site's content must have favorable keyword density that is search engine friendly.

Content is one of the most important Internet marketing tools itself. If you have excellent content that is geared towards achieving a high search engine ranking as well as provide information then you can expect a high search engine ranking. However, this is not as easy as it sounds. Countless other sites may be using the same internet marketing tools as you do. Thus, you must continuously find new ways of attracting more traffic.

Aside from the traditional marketing techniques such as print ads, billboards, brochures, testimonials, flyers etc. you must use other more effective Internet marketing tools to gain more traffic. One of the most popular Internet marketing tools today is the use of Pay per Click advertising. In this method, you will bid for a particular keyword in a specific search engine.

If you have the highest bid then your sites link will be the top result. This Internet marketing tool is now being used by thousands of sites. It is also gaining popularity because of its relatively high success rate in attracting high traffic.

For more information from the undisputed "King" of Google Adwords, you need to listen to what Perry Marshall has to say.

Posted by billenross at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

February 21, 2006

5 Ways to Avoid the 1998 Look

If you've looked around at a few websites, you might have noticed that many of them look absolutely terrible. In many cases, this is because they were produced in the early days of the web's mainstream popularity, but they haven't been maintained or updated since. The chances are that their creators have never even looked at them in a modern browser, and don't realise just how bad they look now. These websites have an affliction I like to call the '1998 look' – but, unfortunately for you, even new sites aren't altogether immune to it. Here, then, are five ways to avoid becoming a victim.

1. Don't Use Animated GIFs.

The animated GIF is dead. It was a charming idea, once, letting us include animations on our pages as easily as normal graphics. Now, though, it looks extremely dated thanks to the small number of colors used, not to mention jarring and out-of-place. It's even worse if you use one of those early-web 'stock animations', like that spinning @ symbol to represent sending email – there are very few things that look more amateurish.

If you don't want to look like you don't know what you're doing, stay away from animated GIFs.

2. Text in Graphics.

Unless it's your logo or possibly a heading, don't type text in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, save it as an image, and then put it on your site. It's very foolish, and gives you no benefit whatsoever – not only does it make the text take much longer to download, but it also stops people from selecting it or doing anything else they might want to do with it. Not to mention that text created this way is usually aligned badly and compressed so that it looks even worse than it would usually.

Keep your text as plain text, and use graphics for pictures. Text as a graphic is almost always bad.

3. Bad Backgrounds.

It's amazing that people still do it, but there are plenty of websites out there still with absolutely disastrous backgrounds. Either they'll have a color that doesn't provide enough contrast with the text, making the text unreadable, or, even worse, they'll have a small pattern, tiled to fill the entire background. Wallpaper-style patterns are one of the most 1998 things in existence, and instantly make your website look like a joke, not to mention often making it entirely unusable.

So what should you use as a background color? In almost all cases, the answer to the question is white – but, if you really want a colour, make sure it's a restrained background color that people can still read your text over. If you're using a pattern, don't repeat it more than once.

4. System Requirements.

Listing system requirements on your website is no longer fashionable, and thank goodness for that. In the bad old days, sites would write things like "best viewed at 800x600 using Internet Explorer 4". Did they really think people were going to switch, just to view their website? It acted like a disclaimer, saying they couldn't be bothered to make the site look good for everyone, and anyone using something unusual had no right to complain.

The end of the Internet Explorer/Netscape war thankfully consigned these messages to history, for the most part, but there are still some sites that have them. Don't let your site be one – it does nothing but make you look hopelessly out of touch.

5. Open in New Window.

Finally, there's this one, back from the days when graphic designers were just starting to get to grips with the web and wanted exact control over everything, including the size of the web browser. Going to a site would give you a message like 'click here to launch', and the site would then try to open a new window automatically, with none of the browser's toolbars.

This technique has always been bad (it takes away too much control from the user), but it's even worse now that so many users have pop-up blockers thanks to the abuse of pop-ups for advertising. If you design your site this way, many people will have trouble seeing it, including people with the latest version of Internet Explorer. Don't do it.

Posted by billenross at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2006

Video Search Results On Google

Are you ready for this?

Think Internet video is not HOT? Go to Google and search for
"olympics", and check out the beginning of "Video Search Results"

Posted by billenross at 12:44 AM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2006

think Internet

Ok, first entry here. Since I'm already running five other (revenue generating) weblogs, I thought it was time to create a weblog with my personal views on what I consider to be the most exciting medium ever - the Internet.

Since my first exposure in 1998, I've been nothing short of facinated (and sometimes obsessed) with the new abilities this wonder provides for us. It changes our world almost minute to minute.

Sometimes it's even quite funny; if you're a marketer you'll get a kick out of this.

Posted by billenross at 07:34 PM | Comments (0)