Can I Be A Success Online? Part 2

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Too many people venture online without understanding which type of Internet business they are best suited to. They either go for the first one they come across that promises early wealth, or, having viewed a few options (without gaing any real insight on what exactly each one will deliver), they hurl themselves at several simply because they can't make a choice.

Both of these strategies is dangerous. The first, because any site that promises pots of cash early with very little work is nothing more than a scam (1000's of people have lost money to these schemes) and the second because if you try running too many ventures too soon you'll spread yourself thin and be unable to devote necessary time to a single opportunity.

There are many legitimate ways to make money online and discovering which one is best for you is an excercise well worth taking some time over.

In part one of this series you posed 4 questions to yourself:

1. How computer literate am I? (not at all - 1, very - 5)
2. How is my self-discipline? (bad - 1, excellent - 5)
3. How positive is my outlook on life? (terrible - 1, bright - 5)
4. How much can I afford to fail? (Can't - 1, Doesn't matter - 5)

And answered each of them with a score of 1 to 5 accordingly.

These four simple questions were carefully worded and directed at understanding not necessarily *which* business you should go for, but whether indeed you should look for an income online at all.
No matter what you're told by all the get-rich-quick sites about how easy it is to make a residual income on the Internet, or how your life will change as soon as you become a member of their program, there will still be the necessity for some input from you. In fact a lot of input from you - a lot more than they ever let on in their sales copy.

Once you are signed up therefore, and you have experienced your first few sessions working on your new 'opportunity', you will then go through a period of disillusionment as it finally dawns on you that alot more work is required than you originally thought, and alot less income is forthcoming than you were promised. Many people give up here, or go and find something else and the whole process starts again.

You can save yourself this heart-break and inconvenience by being honest with yourself at the start. Just take a moment to write down an answer those four questions. (each one should be a number from 1 to 5). Do it now before you read on.

So, lets see whether you should be pursuing an income online after all. If you scored less than 8 then you shouldn't even think about it. With a score this low, you will definately not have any success online and you'll be wasting valuable time if you try. With a score of 9-12 you might be OK but there will be something that will have to change - perhaps you need a backup plan so you can afford to fail a little more, or perhaps you should brush up your computer literacy with a software course. Maybe you marked yourself down on your positive outlook because you were in a bad mood at the time. If that is the case on any of the questions, revise the score to reflect your average outlook over a number of months. (remember, there are no zeros scored here).

With a score of 13-16 you should be good to go, and with anything above 16 you're either lying, or you should be kicking yourself for not starting online sooner!

The Next Step.

Right, so once you know you're OK to continue, your next step is to research and critically assess the full range of options available to you as a budding Internet Marketer.

In the next part of this series, we'll examine each of the money-making opportunities that exist online and identify characteristics of each of them so that you can decide which ones you're best suited to.

Can I Be A Success Online? Part 1

So you want to make your money online now huh? Great. There are plenty of ways to do it. AutoSurfs, MLMs, form-filling/surveys, Affiliate Marketing, HYIP's and the good old fashioned way: Your own product on your own website.

I'll explore each of these ways in the course of this series. So if they sound like gobledy gook to you now, fear not. Its estimated that every day over 250,000 people make the decision to start earning money at home on the Internet. That's a lot of people who don't have a clue what these terms mean either. Everyone's got to start somewhere.

For most people, a reasonable course of action when choosing an online business, is to bring up their favourite search engine (if they've even got one yet) and type the words “work from home”. The number of sites that come up when you enter such a term on Google alone is 1.9 Billion. Compare this with “find a job” (425 million) or “new career” (458 million) and you get an idea of where Internet Marketers are directing their efforts.

OK. So the good news is, if there's plenty of supply you've got plenty of choice. But how do you go about choosing the one thats best for you? How do you know which one of those 1.9 billion work from home ideas gives you the best chance of success? Lets face it, you could live until you're five hundred and you still wouldn't have read them all.

And perhaps you've got your own idea, perhaps you've used The Internet enough to have identified a niche area, a business idea you want to exploit. Either way, you're entering new waters and its best to be prepared. Even if you're convinced by your own idea, it is still adviseable to watch, and even join, one or two of the work-from-home offerings so you can learn about the ways in which business can and can't be done online.

There is a methodology I teach which helps people decide on which way to turn, if indeed they should turn to any of them. It uses a simple set of questions, no more than 5 in each set, and as long as you are honest to your core, your answers will steer you in the right direction.

The first set is 4 quick questions that you should answer without giving too much thought to. Just read them each and give the first answer that comes into your head - give your instinctive answer.

It is important to be instinctive because once you've embarked on your online career, it will be your instinct that will direct you. Don't take time theorising about what you think the right or wrong answer should be, just give the true answer. That's the only way you'll get a useful result.

These four questions should be answered in order with a score between 1 (minimum) and 5 (maximum). No zeros. Write your answers down and keep them safe.

Here they are:

1. How computer literate am I? (Not at all - 1. Exceedingly – 5)
2. How is my self-discipline? (Terrible - 1. Excellent – 5)
3. How positive is my outlook on life? (Miserable - 1. Excellent – 5)
4. How much can I afford to fail? (I can't - 1. It really doesn't matter – 5)

In part II we'll analyse your results and move on to the next stage in the process. In the meantime, enjoy researching and see if you can get a good feel of what's out there.

Search Like A Geek

Friday, November 27, 2009

Some people search the Web like a Neanderthal standing before the Library of Congress steps grunting, “Me want food!” While other, more sophisticated searchers, act more like a person actually entering the Library of Congress, approaching the librarian, and saying, “Pardon me, please lead me to your books on agriculture and growing food, and while you’re at it, please show me your books on fine dining in the Washington D.C. area.”. Who would you rather be?

Back in high school there was the ‘in-crowd’, often populated by the jocks, and then there were the geeks, among other social clicks. Today, many of those ‘geeks’ are wildly successful; while some of those unfortunate others are asking us if we’d like fries with our burgers.

So it’s not so bad being a geek today, especially since so much of our lives and economy are dominated by computers, software and the Internet. It is wise to learn how to use the Internet as best you can. By understanding how search engines and directories work, like many geeks already do, you will find the information you’re looking for more easily, quickly and with a lot less frustration. Knowing how to pinpoint specific bits of information quickly will give you an advantage over most other people who do not have these skills. And this advantage can turn into big money by saving you time in your day to day business. And learning about how to search will help in your search engine optimization efforts if you run your own website too.

So, I invite you to pull up your pants to make high-waters, apply some masking tape to the bridge of your eye glasses, and insert a pocket protector in your front shirt pocket, and join me in learning how to search like a geek.

The more appropriate words you use the better.
Let’s say I want to find tickets to a new Broadway musical show called Wicked next weekend in New York City. If you just type the word ‘tickets’ into Google’s search box, you’ll get 99.6 million results, which is very unwieldy. The first result is ticketmaster.com. It took 4 clicks for me to get to their listing of Wicked tickets, but they were out of inventory up to 6 weeks from now, so it was a dead end since I want to go next weekend.

The next result was Tickets.com, and when I searched for Wicked on their site I found tickets available to Wicked in Toronto only. Another dead end, I need tickets to the NYC production.

The third result only sold airline and cruise tickets, not what I’m looking for either. After clicking on another 4 websites, I still hadn’t found what I was looking for. I was getting frustrated, impatient and was just about ready to toss my PC out my window and give up totally.

If instead, I used a few more appropriate words in my search, my results would have been much better. I tried typing the words ‘new york city broadway wicked musical tickets’ in the Google search box and came up with 230,000 results instead of 99 million, which is slightly more manageable.

The first result was www.musicalschwartz.com which offered ‘Ticket Tips - Wicked on Broadway, Seating info’. So I clicked on that and learned a number of things about purchasing Broadway tickets, NYC travel tips and other information on Wicked the musical.

The next two Google results were http://www.eagletickets.com and http://www.bestshowticketslasvegas.com , and they both offered tickets for the Broadway musical Wicked in New York City on the weekend I wanted. So by carefully choosing appropriate words to search with and using more than one or two words, I found what I was looking for much more easily and quickly than just searching using the word ‘tickets’.

I am not suggesting you use lots and lots of words willy nilly. The best method is to think of very specific words related to what you’re looking for, be a little creative, and watch what order you put the words in. Searching for ‘broadway wicked musical tickets’ and ‘tickets broadway wicked musical’ will give you different results.

Never search using one word. Avoid only using two words. Try to use 3-7 words. This search rule follows the law of diminishing returns however. So searching using 25 words will probably get you little or no results. So there is a “sweet spot” you’ll have to discover for any given search, but it is almost always using more than 1-2 words.

Use more than one search engine.
When I search on the Web, I use more than one browser and more than one search engine or directory. The difference between the two is that search engines are run automatically while directories are run by humans. Google is a search engine and show search results of websites that no one has actually looked at in advance. Directories on the other hand contain websites that have actually been reviewed by a person. Therefore, the results you get will differ. A good list of directories can be found at http://www.directoryarchives.com.

Open up your browser and click on ‘File’ in the top left of your browser and select ‘New’ > ‘Window’. Do this a couple of times until you have three or more browsers open on your desktop at the same time. Choose your search words carefully, use more than two words and try the same exact phrase in Yahoo, MSN, Google, and a favorite directory using a different browser for each. That way you can compare results to find the best ones. You can also try a new site I found called http://yagoohoogle.com/ which lets you perform a simultaneous search on both Google and Yahoo.

Use modifiers in your searches.
Going back to the tickets example, let’s say I wanted to find airline tickets, but each time I performed a search on tickets, most of the results had to do with sports and theater tickets. I could weed out all those irrelevant results by using the minus (-) sign next to the word ‘theater’.
Bad search: tickets
Better search: tickets to New York
Even better search: airline tickets to New York –theater

So if you are getting a lot of extraneous results in your searches, try adding a minus sign to words you don’t want showing up in your results.

Another good tip is using quotes around your phrases. By doing this you are telling the search engine to find the exact phrase and in the order you are specifying. By adding quotes, you are being much more specific. You’ll get very different results using quotes. If you searched for ‘2005 NBA playoff tickets’ (without quotes) you are asking the search engine to look for sites that have the words 2005, NBA, playoff, and tickets associated with them. So you will probably come up with airline tickets, football playoff information, NBA history and so forth. If you put quotes around your phrase you’ll get much closer to what you want.

Use the ‘Find’ function.
Trust me; this one suggestion is worth the price of admission alone. You will save lots of valuable time if you do this. Ever get to a Web page that has a lot of text on it, and quickly scanning the page doesn’t immediately produce what you’re looking for? In fact, the scanning just makes you dizzy.

Try this: while holding down your ‘Ctrl’ key hit your ‘F’ key (this works on PCs only). A ‘Find’ dialog box should pop up. Simply type the word or phrase you’re looking for in the box and hit ‘Enter’ and it will immediately find each and every instance of it on the Web page you’re on. This will truly save you time if you remember to use it.

One can get lost on the Net. There is so much information, and almost all of it is not applicable to what you want at any given time. If you use the Net for your business, pinpointing appropriate and relevant information quickly will put you ahead of the pack every time. By following these simple suggestions, you will find more accurate results which will reduce your frustration, save you time, and give you an edge over others who are still searching for information like a caveman at the steps of a library.

Paid Surveys – Why You Shouldn’t Pay Anything To Do Surveys For Money?

You have probably discovered by now some sites that offer you the opportunity to earn money by doing paid surveys online. These sites claim you can make significant monthly income and can provide you with a list of market research sites you must join in order to receive surveys and get paid. The only catch is that you must pay some fee (usually 20$ to 30$) in order to lay your hands on their list of “proven” market research companies.

Creating a database of survey sites does take a lot of work, effort and time and it may sound reasonable to set up a price for it and many people agree with this. If you do appreciate this work and wish to buy this list, feel free to do so but at least read this article to know what you should seek on such sites and how to determine if you are on a legitimate site, or not. Use your own judgement. I, for myself, prefer free opportunities.

According to some online resources relating paid surveys, no respectful company would ever ask for any sign-up fee for granting you the opportunity to work for them. Such a company would have no need to conceal their address and telephone number on their website.

As you can see, legitimate membership survey sites should be free and should not conceal their street address and telephone number on their websites. Since most of these sites are not free, they should have a correct contact information and state on their websites or in their terms the requirements for participation and the real possibilities of making money. They should also have a refund policy in case you don’t earn anything and honor it. You’d be surprised as how many refunds are not honored.

That is why you should do a research on your own about a site you wish to purchase a list from. Try to find everything you can about positive and negative experiences and then decide what will be the best thing to do. Especially check if they honor their refund policies. There are a lot of scams out there.

In my opinion I don’t believe you should pay anything to access these lists and here is why. Although it is possible to earn a lot of money and cover your investment “fee”, it is also possible never to earn any money. Why is that?

Paid surveys are not for anyone. They are conducted by a market research companies on behalf of some large company seeking to improve sales and willing to invest certain sum of money in the market research. Since they are spending quite large amounts of money, they can’t afford to waste it, so they will target their research to population which brings them most profit. So if you do not live in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, or some other developed country, you’ll probably never make any money from surveys. Even survey companies that claim to be available worldwide are very often restricted to some countries.

Besides your demographic location on most survey sites you have to fill in your profile based on your age, interests, education, income, etc. The number of surveys you will get will mostly depend on your profile. If your profile fits the required target population you’ll get more surveys and more chances to earn money. It is also possible that your profile will not fit in and you’ll rarely have an opportunity to complete paid surveys.

There are also other reasons why you shouldn’t pay anything to access market research companies:

You will be paying for something you can easily have for FREE! These membership sites are only selling information anyone can get. Sites that conduct market research are not hidden. They need as many possible members as they can find, so they will not ask for any fee. You can join all of them and never pay a dime.

Many market research companies have affiliate programs to help them recruit new members. Therefore if someone introduces you to a survey site, he/she will get paid for it and there is no real justification in asking for any more money from you.

These sites usually don’t have a refund policy, so if you don’t earn anything with surveys, you won’t be able to ask for a refund. It is more likely that they have a refund policy, but do not honor it. This is typical for scam sites and that is why it’s very important to do some researching first.

There are a lot of free lists of survey sites you can join and earn money if you qualify. You can test them out and see if they work for you or not and you won’t have to pay anything. Check below for a free list of paid surveys.

You probably won’t earn enough to quit your daily job with paid surveys, but they can help you get some extra money. And remember - you don't have to pay anything to access these sites.

Paid Internet Surveys – What are they?

Paid internet surveys are very much like any other survey you might fill out. The only difference is that you do it online, while you are getting paid for it, as the name suggests. Just like any normal offline survey, paid internet surveys can be on many different topics and cover a wide range of different questions.

When you are completing paid internet surveys, just answer honestly as this is the whole idea of completing a survey which purpose is to get a true representation of what the consumer actually wants.

What types of paid internet surveys are available? There are many different types of surveys you can choose from, and each one will have its own benefit. For example, some of them are very short; they may take only 15 minutes of your time. You can earn around $20 for just completing that survey. Some paid internet surveys that are over an hour long and pay a lot more, around $60.

Paid internet surveys are not just limited to the standard question and answer format either. Some of them may actually be a focus group, or participating in an online discussion or product feedback discussion. These types can go for between one and two hours but also pay between $100 and $200 for completion.

In addition, there are many types of payments and variations that can be accepted by companies that offer paid internet surveys. The most popular type of payment is PayPal (an online electronic payment facility) which is widely recognized and very stable. It is usually the preferred payment method for people working online and especially for getting money from paid internet survey companies.

Another form of payment is a check. This is the least preferred method as it consumes a lot of resources and costs a bit more to process. E-Gold is also another online electronic payment currency that is very popular but PayPal is more widely recognized.

If you were dedicated to doing a lot of paid internet surveys then my recommendation would be to open a PayPal account as they are very easy to deal with and allow you to have payments instantly.

One thing to remember when looking for paid internet survey companies is to always go with the bigger companies and make sure you do your research before you join any sites.

If you pick the wrong site or go with the wrong company then you may not receive the money you deserve for completing the surveys. So make sure you do your homework and when you find a good company, stick with it. They will usually provide you with many paid internet surveys. Then, hopefully, you can make a nice little income on the side for a long time.

Feel free to visit all of my sites or book mark one Paid Surveys and Surveys

How To Find Cheap Internet Access

Have you ever wondered if what you know about Access Cheap Internet is accurate? Consider the following paragraphs and compare what you know to the latest info on Access Cheap Internet.

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It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of Access Cheap Internet is no exception. Keep reading to get more fresh news about Access Cheap Internet.

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Sometimes it's tough to sort out all the details related to this subject, but I'm positive you'll have no trouble making sense of the information presented above. http://www.access-cheap-internet.com

Blog And Ping - The Basics

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Blogs and ping are the most frequently used words in the IT sector today. These two words are on everyone's lips today. So why are blogs and pinging getting so much importance today? Blogs and pinging can get you very good profits in the wrong run. So what exactly are blogs and pinging?

A blog is a website where members can discuss online their views on a particular topic. There are some blogs that are general in nature where people can discuss anything and there are blogs on which you can discuss only on a particular topic. However it is advisable that when you start a blog it should not be generalized but it should be opened on a particular topic. For example instead of starting a blog on the Information Technology you can start a blog only on Microsoft Technologies. There are a lot of blog softwares that you can use on your server and then run it independently.

Blogs are increasingly used for SEO marketing. Through blogs you can advertise your internet site on the blogs. Blog and ping is a process through which you can post a snippet of information from your site to a blog to increase your SEO. When you post snippets of your website information on the blog, search engine sites like Google and Yahoo will find it more easily. The search engine will be able to track your site more easily due to spidering and indexing. You can blog and ping only very important information from your site and not all information. You can also rent links to your site which makes the work of spidering easier for search engines. There were many aggressive marketers before who used to blog and ping all their web pages and that also repeatedly. As a result the search sites termed the individuals spammers and then banned their websites from ranking.

So how is blog and ping done successfully? The tasks can be easily done with the help of softwares like Wordpress and RSS to Blog. Using these softwares you can submit your links to over 50 blog directories at a click of a button. You can download Wordpress and RSS to Blog and then install them on your computer. Once you have installed the programs on your computer you should them customize them according to your needs. Then you should create a list of links from your site that will use in the blog sites. You can do this automatically using RSS to Blog. You can save these links for future use also so that you don’t have to enter the list of links all over again. You also have the ability to add more data to RSS to Blog from external sources. The list of blog entries are automatically modified when you make more entries.

Hence we see that blog and ping are one of the best methods to make your website more famous in the search engines. You can use them and also modify their configuration according to your needs.

5 Big Mistakes That Bloggers Make...

If you've just entered the world of blogging or if you've been blogginh for a short time and find that things are not working out as you expected, it will be worth your while to spend some time understanding the common mistakes that bloggers make, mistakes that make it hard to enjoy what should be an enjoyable, satisfying experience: Blogging!

The five most common new blogger mistakes are:

Diving in (rather than wading in)

Having unrealistic expectations

Losing focus

Plagiarizing

Ignoring the reader

Diving in! Many bloggers are so anxious to get started that they dive in rather than wading in slowly -- its a mistake in an unfamiliar swimming pool or pond and its a mistake when entering a new arena such as the 'blogosphere.' Consider these things before you start your Blog:

Find a focus for your blog . . . a focus that reflects what you know, what interests you and what you enjoy talking and writing about. No topics are out of bounds: politics, religion, science, sexual orientations, comedy, exercise, diet, diseases, etc., etc..

Take the time to read dozens of different blogs: note the colors, graphics and layouts to get an idea of what appeals to you. Also note that some bloggers are long-winded and others are brief and to the point . . . others are just chatty and entertaining and have no particular point to make . . . this too is a personal style you get to choose.

You need a host for your blog, some are free, some charge a small amount per month for their service, some are simple to use and some require more technical knowledge, some have more features than others; choose carefully, once you've established your blog and have a few regular readers you may not want to change your address (your URL).

You may or may not want to use your real name on your blog, this depends on many factors, not the least of which is your stance on controversial issues and how publicly you want to be identified with your opinions.

Unrealistic expectations! If you come to blogging expecting instant results: a large readership and many complimentary comments, you may be disappointed. There are tens of thousands of blogs online vying for the same audience. Patience and tenacity are essential on your part. If you write well, find a unique niche to fill, have appealing titles for your posts and tirelessly promote your blog the readership and comments (some of which will be complimentary) will come.

Losing focus! When you started your blog you had a particular reason for doing so; it might have been to express your views on a topic or it might have been to just communicate with a close circle of friends about your daily activities. Readers will come to your blog for the first time and either be interested in your subject matter or not, will either like your style or not and, if they like your subject and style they may comment and then come back later. Once you've established a topic and tone for your blog you're free to change it but to do so you're basically starting all over.

Be aware that you can have more than one blog, each one devoted to a particular topic and each one, if you choose, under a different identity.

Plagiarizing! There are some great bloggers out there and as you surf through blogs you might find one who said something really well, something that resonated with you and something you want to put in your blog. DON'T just copy and paste someone's words in your blog without giving them credit, making it look to the world like the words are yours. If you write it, write it in your own words and write it better, adding your own thoughts and feelings and then be gracious, mention where you got the idea and provide a link.

Ignoring the reader! Some of the people who read your blog will leave comments; some readers will agree with you and some readers may even praise your insights but most will pick a point you've made and criticize it. People leave comments on others blogs for the same reason they themselves blog, to exchange ideas and express their points of view. Always respond to your readers comments; thank them for reading and taking the time to comment (even the severe critics) and then respond, as appropriate, to their comment. If you ignore your comments your readers may end up ignoring your blog.

10 Essential Blogging Tools

you finally decided to take the blog leap. You’ve heard all about the marketing and search benefits so you stepped up to the plate and signed up for a TypePad, MovableType or WordPress blog software package and now you’re a blogger.

Okay, now what? Add the ten essential blogging tools listed below and you will also be well on your way to creating and promoting a blog that is a powerful marketing tool. I’ll explain the use of the tool and offer some suggestions, including the tools I use on my own blogs including the DuctTapeMarketing blog.

Feed reader

The best way to learn about blogs and blogging is to read, or at least scan, lots of blogs. One of the wonders of blogs is that you can have every new post from every blog you want to read delivered to your desktop or to online location via RSS, so you can easily read and scan the posts of many blogs in a very short time. Newsgator is a good online choice for feed reading and also has a version that integrates with Outlook. I use a free online service know as Bloglines. http://www.bloglines.com

Subscriber center

You need to make it easy for your blog visitors to subscribe to your blog’s RSS feed – so they can read your blog in their favorite feed reader. The best way to do this is to go to FeedBurner and burn your own RSS feed their and use the tools they provide to set up automatic subscriber links so people who want to use Bloglines, Google Reader, MyYahoo or Pluck, for instance, can click on one button to subscribe. Tech types can figure this out without the buttons but why not make it easy for anyone to figure out.

Side note – subscribe to each of these yourself and you will force some blog spiders to visit your site. http://www.feedburner.com

Email subscription option

A lot of people will never get the whole feed thing, but everyone gets email. Create an option for people to subscribe by giving you their email address – they will simply receive your blog posts like an email message. FeedBurner offers this service for free. FeedBlitz is another option or, if you already have an autoresponder email list service they may offer this service. AWeber offers this and helps me integrate these blog email subscribers into my other mailing lists.

Blog and RSS directories

There are hundreds of blog and RSS directories and getting listed in many can be a good thing. I use a piece of software called RSS Submit, but you can also visit Robin Goode’s frequently updated list and submit your blog and feed by hand.

Hint: subscribe to the RSS feed he offers and you will be notified when new directories are added.

Ping service

Pinging is a term used for letting the various blog and RSS directories know when you have posted new content. Again, FeedBurner offers this as an automatic option called PingShot and you should activate it. PingGoat and Ping O Matic are other options but they require that you visit and update your record each time you post new content.

Bookmark manager

As you surf around the web or hop from blog to blog you may find sites that you want to point out to your readers. Online bookmark managers allow you to bookmark and categorize web and blog pages as you collect them and are a great tool for managing all of the stuff you find on the web. I use del.icio.us but BlinkList does a fine job as well. http://del.icio.us

Blog stats

I like to track a few key stats in real time because it shows what other blogs might be linking to you or posting about your blog. A lot of people just like to track this kind of thing for fun and frequently visit sites like Technorati. I like to track it for networking opportunities. I use a tool called MyBlogLog because it allows me to see where traffic is coming from but also tracks what links on my blog visitors are clicking on. It’s amazing how this data can help you write more effectively. (MyBlogLog also ranks your links so visitors can see which links on your site are the most popular.)

Desktop posting

With most blog software you must go online and post using a set of tools provided by the blog software. Many bloggers like to use a desktop application to create and submit their posts as it gives them some extra tools and allows them to more easily integrate content and files on their computer. http://w.blogger.com

I use w.blogger but also like Performancing, Qumana and ecto (apple folks) (w.blogger also doubles as a really simple HTML editor.)

Tell a friend script

My blog software (pMachine) has a feature that allows a reader to click a link and send the post to a friend. This tactic brings me lots of readers. You might try looking here for some simple scripts that do that same
http://www.javascriptkit.com/script/script2/tellafriend.shtml
http://www.stadtaus.com/en/php_scripts/tell_a_friend_script/

Republish your feed headlines

The ability to republish your blog posts on other web pages, sites you own or sites of strategic partners is a great way to expose folks to you blog content. One more time we turn to FeedBurner for a painless way to republish your blog post to any web page you choose with something they call BuzzBoost

7 Tips to Building Your Blog's Readership

Attracting traffic to a blog or a web site is challenging enough. So from the very beginning, when you start to see visitors coming to read your blog, be sure that they feel comfortable to stick around. And there are a number of ways you can help them to do just that.

Here are seven vital ingredients for building a successful blog with a loyal following.

1. Publish Regularly.

As your readers become familiar with the frequency of your posts, it will influence their visiting behavior. If your readers know that you post fresh content every day, they will probably come every day to read it. If they know you post on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, that's when they will come.

2. Stay on Topic.

Stick to your niche. If your blog doesn't have a niche, give it one. Readers like blog's that are focused on a particular theme or topic. If you have no theme and just post about anything, then readers are less likely to become passionate about your blog and will probably move on to somewhere else.

3. Use Meaningful Titles in Posts.

This not only announces clearly what the post is about, but it will help people navigate your blog and also influence your ranking with search engines.

4. Interact With Your Readers.

Think of your blog like a conversation. You post. Readers comment. Be active and be positive as you interact and converse with your readers.

5. Highlight Your Best Posts.

Don't let your best posts get lost in your archives. It’s always a good idea to link to your best posts from a ‘best posts’ category on the main page.

6. Provide Good Navigation to Popular Pages

If you help people find the key pages within your blog, their visit will be a much more enjoyable experience.

7. Avoid Not Posting for Extended Periods.

If someone visits your blog and discovers that the last post was three weeks ago, they will probably be disappointed. If you don't post, people may give you the benefit of the doubt and come back on a few days to check, but you better believe they will lose interest quickly if you fall out of your regular schedule and stop posting.

There you have it. Seven little tips that will make a big difference to your blog's readership. It's not rocket science. It's just using some common sense when posting and interacting with your readers.

Watch your mouth!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Internet users are very autonomous and self-directed people. With this in mind, you will have to echo those character traits and use the right tone of voice to fit with them. You should also be very careful and really watch your mouth while talking with them, since they are just one click away to your competitors.

There is no correct tone of voice and approach towards interacting with website visitors. There are millions of them, and each of them is right for a certain type of website and business. What you can have in mind in all the cases is:


• To master the right tone, try to think about what your potential customer really likes, what is he interested in and what can catch his attention;

• Always be clear and direct while talking with your website visitors (your clients have enormous choice);

• Be fast with providing response. It is better to give partial information immediately than the whole information and be late. Remember: Internet is all about immediacy and people are sick of WWWait - language;

• Filter everything to its core, but be sure to keep the tone that fits with your corporate identity;

• Throw away the dictatorial tone and use more pleasurable and persuasive voice;

• Try to avoid incomprehensible and offensive words;

• Write active sentences and engage visitors - do not use passive sentences. E.g. "You will be informed upon this issue" can be "We will inform you about the prices"

• Strive not to use superlatives and claim that your products are incredible or astonishing. People have had enough of the everyday sales hype;

• In any case: try not to be very persistent and try to oversell - they will surely notice it and they hate talking to sales people.

• Give your website visitors their space and they will be grateful. Dante Alighieri once wrote: "Liberty is the prevention of control by others".

Web Business Overview – Have a Plan

So you've decided you'd like to go into business on the web, eh? This article will give an overview of options that are available for your web business and will help to give you an idea of what goals should be set for your project.

After deciding to be a web entrepreneur, the next step is to create a business plan. Business plans are as essential to a web entrepreneur as blueprints are to a construction worker. To build a business most efficiently, you must first be an architect and plan how you would like your business to look, what it will do and how your goals will be accomplished.

There are many ways a person can go about making money with the Internet. Options include selling products as a wholesaler or retailer, selling services, promoting products or services as an affiliate partner, selling advertising, selling email or demographic information, selling subscriptions to sites and any number of other ways and combinations of money making ideas.

A good business plan will include details on the service or products you will be offering, growth goals for your new business, projected expenses and losses, employee projections, and any other information you will need to clearly outline your successful business. Though there are many approaches to the actual construction of a business plan, a month by month or quarter by quarter analysis is common.

For example, if your online business will be selling widgets, you may want to go through, month by month and estimate the total number of widgets you will sell, the cost of selling these widgets, expenditures on marketing, hosting and overhead, and any other foreseeable factors you can think of. If within six months you want to begin selling skyhooks as well as widgets, this should also be accounted for in your business plan.

Before moving on to our next topic, it is important to remember that business plans are constantly changing. Some of your projections will be difficult to make accurately, so do the best you can with the information at hand. As more data becomes available through research and experience you will be able to make revisions to your business plan. I am of the belief that it is generally a good idea to make profit projections on the low end to start with. If you believe you can sell between 10 and 100 widgets your first month, it is better to plan to sell only 10, and be pleasantly surprised when you sell 55, rather than to plan for 100 and fall short of goals that have become unrealistic yet necessary for the survival of your business.

After you have a good plan for your business, the next step will be to research your business. But that’s a subject for the next article.

Website Buying Guide Checklist

Can you really get a website even without knowing anything about code, and without paying a fortune? Find out.

The days when websites were primarily distinguished by their code are long gone. Nowadays, the web is a true publishing medium that favors well thought-out ideas. You can get a professional-looking website online in minutes with many website building services and software. But what should you look for? What are the features you really need and which are just clutter?

Content Editing

Some website authoring software packages only allow you to entire plain, unformatted text. Some of them allow you to entire HTML tags. Others provide a WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") interface with options for font, links, and image insertion much like a word processor's. Some will allow you to use more than one, or even all of these options so you have a choice on how you want to format your text.

Template Designs

Every website builder ever invented came with at least one or two templates for creating the graphical look of a website, so you don't have to design the look of the site yourself. But some packages have very large libraries of templates, some have only a few. Some will let you mix and match elements of the design templates, while others will lock you in to one setup.

Ecommerce Functions

Many ready-to-go websites created by website builder software feature built-in shopping carts. Some even come with credit card processing. This is of course necessary if you're going to be selling stuff direct online. But if you're not going to be selling anything, ecommerce functionalities may just complicate the administration of the site and pad the price for the software or service.

Blogging Functions

Blogs are "web logs," but blogging software involves more than just a simple online journal. Blogging technology allows you to send your new posts directly to subscribers via RSS, without them having to visit your site or receive an email from you. Still, unless you plan on updating your site regularly (at least once a month), your website's blog will just gather cobwebs.

Email

Some hosted web authoring systems provide email accounts at no additional charge, while others do charge separately. Some web builder systems even come with modules for creating email newsletters.

Support

It is very likely that you will encounter a technical difficulty at some point while owning your website. Make sure you know in advance of paying whether the company provides only paid support, and if any included support is over email, a web ticketing system, or the telephone.

Photo and Image Management

For many, if not most, people who want personal websites, displaying pictures online is a primary motivation, if not the only motivation. If you want to display pictures on your website, make sure to choose a website builder system that makes it easy to upload and publish images.

Renting vs. Owning

You can buy website authoring software upfront for a flat fee, or you can "rent;" i.e., pay a company every month to use a hosted service. The choice is up to you, but remember that the hosted service will likely charge you much more in the end: averaging around $20/month, hosted the typical hosted website builder will cost you $240/year--far more than most desktop software.

In short, you don't need to know how a website is coded to make one, any more than a book author needs to know about printing ink. Don't burden yourself with learning how to do web design. Having fun with your website starts with choosing a website builder software that will make it fun.

Website Statistics with Cpanel

If you own one or more websites, it is vitally important to know how many people are visiting your site and where these visitors originate from. Analyzing website statistics should become a regular habit for every webmaster who wishes to improve website traffic over time. You'll be able to test and track the popularity of your updated site content and even see how visitors find your site in the search engines.

There are many web statistics programs on the market, each one unique in price and features, but did you know that some of the best website statistic programs already come free with most web hosting plans?

If you have a hosting account for your website that includes cpanel, then you probably have a whole bunch of web statistic programs built in. Cpanel is by far the most popular control panel for web hosting accounts today. It is extremely easy to learn and use for regular website administration.

There are usually 3 different types of statistics you will find inside cpanel. These are known as Analog, Webalizer and Awstats.

Webalizer is a statistic program that shows you in a graph form how many visitors have visited your site month by month. This type of statistics is very basic and only takes a quick glance to receive your web site information. If you want more detailed information you will probably need to check out the other two statistic programs.

Analog and Awstats each offer different presentation styles. All the essential visitor information you probably wish to see is listed on Analog, but most people have difficulty finding it as it is primarily text based and requires close attention.

Awstats on the other hand, is usually the favorite web site statistic program on cpanel. Not only does it give you plenty of visitor information, from number of hits per day and month, it also tells you where they originate from, how long visitors stayed at your site, the country from which they are viewing your site, what browser they are using and much more. Basic colored graphs and simple to read layout make it a quick and easy task to find the information that you are looking for.

So if you have a website and would like to know more about your visitors check out your cpanel statistic programs inside your website hosting account. They can be extremely helpful in analyzing your site and drawing more traffic to it.

Part Time Income

Friday, September 18, 2009

Many people love the idea of having some extra part time income and are able to enjoy time with my family and friends. Some work part time and are involved in a variety of loose-ended jobs: delivering newspapers, selling encyclopedias door to door and even selling a little insurance. Although these experiences teach the basics of sales techniques and perseverance, they rarely offer any significant amount of income. Some even try the infamous MLM opportunities and, as many, are thoroughly disappointed.

Some of these so-called “home based businesses” promise a lot of people of achieving great wealth. They prey on unsuspecting folks with the idea of utilizing their families and friends and then having them recruit their friends, as well, for the purpose of generating sales. Some even require big start up costs for the purchase of their products and then a sacrifice of the first couple of sales to a “sponsor” or “mentor” before any income is reflected. Lastly, money back guarantees are rarely offered.

Scams are everywhere: illegal pyramids, ponzi, chain letters and gifting schemes. The owners of these companies love the idea of taking advantage of the individuals recruited performing all of the sales for them while they are banking the money. What is worse is that these people had to spend practically an arm and a leg to even get access to these programs. They offer absolutely no support and never respond to any email inquiries or telephone calls. A complete waste of time!!! As the old saying goes, if it looks to good to be true than it probably is.

What ever happened to good old fashion instruction on how you can build your part time home based business - establishing sound fundamentals with little or no-start up costs. People want to find a particular income vehicle that they can operate out of the comfort of their own home. The Internet has provided this as a reality for many in the form of Internet Marketing. Remember making money part time does not have to be laborious in nature. If you have a skill to offer or hobbies that you enjoy, these also can be made into income producing revenue. There are a many available resources online that can teach you on how to get it started. Instruction is the key so become a student of the Internet and you too will see your part time income soar.

3 Steps To Getting Hundreds Of Backlinks To Your Website Absolutely FREE

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Link Popularity as you know plays a BIG part in your websites ranking within the Search Engines.

So, the basic breakdown is, the more links pointing to your website, the higher up the search engines will rank your website.

More importantly though is getting those High PR websites linking back to yours.

The question at hand is... "How can I get those High PR links without having to buy High PR links and/or spend countless hours surfing the web for link partners with the possible potential of being denied?"

And as webmasters, we can not afford to waste time, especially if your starting out on a part time basis.

We must utilize every minute we can to getting the most out of our efforts.

So with that being said, I'm going to reveal to you the 'Back Door' strategy I use for getting those High PR links to your website Absolutely FREE and have them begging you to come back.

And the cool thing is this can be done following these 3 steps I'm about to mention so pay attention because if you do just this, you will not only get hundreds of backlinks to your website, you'll also get hundreds, if not thousands of Targeted visitors to your website at the same time...

...all for FREE!

Are you ready?

Good, because I am.


Step #1. First you must write an Article.

The first step is to write an related article about your Product or Service that draws the reader in and gets them to click through to your website once they finish reading it to find out more about you and your Product or Service.

Now, your probably wondering why you have to write an article.

Well, it's real simple actually because what do you get to put at the end of your article?

Your 'Resource Box' with your website information and most important of all... your URL pointing back to your website.

So when someone chooses to publish your article in their newsletter or on their website, blog or article directory, they MUST add your 'Resource Box' with your website information and URL.

I know some of you are saying... "I don't know how to write an article" ... well, your not alone.

Here are a few resources I've put together for you so you can get the basic idea of How-To structure your articles with ease or get someone else to write them for you.

The first is an article I wrote called... THE 7 Step Formula For Writing POWERFUL Articles In Less Than An Hour.

It will show you How-To structure your articles for easy writing. http://www.internetwondersezine.com/article_11.html

The second resource is Elance.com - http://www.elance.com - which is basically a place where you can go and submit a project by category and freelance writers, etc. will then bid on your project. You pick the winner and you set the budget.

This will get you started in the right direction.

Remember, your article is the Nuts and Bolts of this 'Back Linking' strategy, so make sure you put some effort into it to get it as much exposure as possible.


Step #2. Submit your article to Article Directories.

This is the next step and an important one at that because this is where your article or articles are going to get picked up by website owners and/or ezine publishers who are in constant need of fresh, quality information to feed their audiences hunger for information.

There are literally hundreds of Article Directories out there and thousands of ezine publishers looking for quality content on a daily basis. And if they choose your article for publication, they must include your 'Resource Box' with your websites information and URL.

It's all about the numbers. The more Article Directories and websites you submit your articles to, the more potential Backlinks you'll get to your website.

And since Article Directories have recently adopted RSS(Real Simple Syndication) technology into the mix your articles will even get More mileage without you lifting a finger, creating even more Backlinks to your website.

More on RSS in a minute.

Are you starting to see the Power behind writing your own articles.

I hope so.


Step #3. Create your own RSS Feed for your articles.

This last step is a very Powerful step as well.

What you need to do is set up your own RSS Feed for your articles.

Now, if you don't know what RSS is here's the basic definition...

RSS is by definition - an acronym for 'Real Simple Syndication' or 'Rich Site Summary', and the .XML extension is the format used for distributing your news headlines via the Web, which is known as 'Syndication.

'Syndication' is where the TRUE power of RSS is unleashed, getting your message or information across the web in an INSTANT to websites, subscribers and/or readers who subscribed to your RSS Feed.


The easiest way for you to do this is to set up your own Blog either through...

Wordpress.org - http://www.wordpress.org

Or through...

Blogger.com - http://www.blogger.com

Wordpress is a little more advanced so I recommend if you don't have alot of experience with Blogs or installing scripts that you go set up a Blogger blog which will only take you less than 5 minutes to do.

I'm just giving you some options, that's all.

Once you've set up your Blog the only thing left for you to do is add you articles.

TIP: Make sure you hyperlink your URL and use Anchor Text with your most targeted keywords. By doing this the Search Engine spiders will rank your website higher under that keyword term you specify in your Anchor Text.

After you've added your articles all you have to do now is submit your new RSS Feed to RSS Directories and RSS Search Engines.

Here's a few resources for you to get started with.

Ping-O-Matic - http://pingomatic.com

RSS Top 55 - http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55


That's it.

Now I know I dumped alot of information on you within this article so just take it Step-By-Step because once you implement it properly it will benefit you for years to come with Backlinks to your website and FREE targeted traffic via the Search Engines, Website Owners and eZine Publishers.

3 Key Off-Page Search Engine Optimization Methods

On-page search engine optimization is definitely one of the key methods if a website owner would like to improve the results for his or her website's searchability. However, on-page SEO often entails technical skills. Why? Not a lot of people are HTML enthusiasts. This is often what needs to be tweaked to do an excellent job in optimizing web pages.

What if a geek friend already did the on-page optimization and now you want to know how you can contribute to the "search engine goodness" of your website? Off-page optimization is the next step. And the results you will have to pine for are one-way backlinks. Why? This is how many of the major search engines such Google, Yahoo! and MSN rank websites. The more backlinks from relevant sites with good page rank, the merrier.

So how exactly do you gather backlinks? It's not an easy task but it's definitely less nerve-wracking than HTML if you are not the techie type. Here are some off-page SEO tips:

1. Article Marketing

Quality content has been discovered to be real king. Everyone is hungry for fresh and quality info and providing it will make backlinks go pouring in. It helps a lot to be a keen writer to be successful on this endeavor. Also, practise the proper way of using a resource box. It should only include a website that contains information relevant to the article you submit to article directories.

2. Forum Participation

Look for forums that are relevant to your website's content and keep on sharing information that will be indispensable for the members of the forums. Your signature or that tag-along message at the last part of each of your posts is what will work for your off-page SEO campaign. Keep it simple and make sure that it conveys something about your website. Learn how to hyperlink to make it easy for the people who want to visit your site.

3. Blogging

Blogs or web logs are now the most popular weapons of SEO experts. Aside from being easy-to-update, they don't require a too formal tone, which is what many readers are into. Informal dialog which can be accomplished through readers leaving comments and the blog author replying to the comments is what also keeps blogs fresh and search engine friendly. Maintaining a blog that's again relevant to your website's content will keep the search engines in touch with your site. Don't forget to have a link on your main website from your blog.

The secret to be successful in carrying out these off-page SEO methods is to be consistent. Submitting quality articles to websites at least two to three times a week and regularly producing content for your personalized blog is a surefire way to make your website stand out. Forum participation should also be something done more frequently since it will not only help you up your website's popularity with the search engines but also make you learn new stuff from other forum members' participation. Also, if you discover that you don't enjoy these stuff, there's always a plan B - hire someone to do them for you!

Note: This article may be freely reproduced as long as the AUTHOR'S resource box at the bottom of this article is included and all links must be Active/Linkable with no syntax changes.

7 Free Search Engine Optimization and Writing Tools

Traffic. Everyone wants free traffic, and what better way to get it than optimizing your site?

There are some very simple things that you can do to optimize your site. If you want to get more from your website, then implement these strategies, use these tools, and make your website spider food for the search engines.

Below are some of the best sites I have found for optimizing my sites.

1. Check your site.
Before you start tweaking your site, you need to make sure that it's either in Google or not banned by Google.

The truth is, you want to optimize your site for Google, which is now the number one search engine in the world.

It won't do you any good to optimize your site if Google won't accept it.

Use this tool to check your site.

Google Banned - http://www.googlebanned.com

2. Toolkits
If you can find the tools you need in a collection, this will save you a lot of time, as well as frustration because you will know exactly what you need to do to properly optimize your site.

You'll want to check different aspects of your site like page rank, metatag information, and links. Nothing will drive your potential customers away faster than broken links.

This site, in addition to offering a forum on search engine optimization, also offers a nice collection of tools for helping you optimize your site.

SEO Chat - http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools

These two sites also offer search engine optimization tools. It's really a matter of preference, as well as what tools you need to optimize your site.

Add Me - http://www.addme.com
Evrsoft - http://www.evrsoft.com

3. SEO Software
You can also use software to help you optimize your site. Where software will help you the most is to actually help you optimize your site for the keywords you are trying to target. It's a waste of time to optimize your site if you haven't optimized for the right keywords.

This is the software I use, and it's free. It works for both MAC and PC, and it has some of the best documentation I've ever seen on search engine optimization because it's written for the average person. It also includes a basic search engine optimization training course, a 50 page manual, and excellent, step by step directions for preparing your website for the search engines.

Web CEO - http://www.webceo.com

4. ROR Generator/Robots Text Generator
A what?

ROR is similar to a robots.txt file in that it gives information about your site. The difference is that an ROR file is in XML format.

You can use this generator to create an ROR file for your site, and then paste a button to the main page of your website. When the search engines spider your site, they'll spider this file and have a better description of what your site is about.

I would also recommend that you create a robots.txt file because this will tell the search engines what not to spider on your site. If you own a members' area, or you sell anything, you don't want the search engines spidering your download pages.

ROR Generator - http://www.rorweb.com/rorgenerator.php

Robots Text Generator - http://www.searchenginepromotionhelp.com/m/robots-text-creator/simple-robots-creator.php

5. Site Map
A site map is not only a great tool for letting your customers know where everything is located on your site, it can also help you with the search engines.

By creating a site map, you will have an index of all the pages on your website. When the search engines spider your site, they'll find all of the pages. This will help you with your rankings.

Creating a site map, especially if you have hundreds, or even thousands of pages on your site, can be very time consuming. This generator will speed up the process.

Spider Map Creator - http://www.searchenginepromotionhelp.com/m/spider-map/creator.php

6. XML Site Generator
Google is now offering webmasters a chance to submit an XML site map.

An XML sitemap is a search engine friendly sitemap of your site. This isn't written for your visitors though. It's written for the search engines so that they can find all of the pages on your website.

Even if you include a sitemap on your site for your visitors, I would still recommend that you use an XML sitemap. This can speed the process of getting your site indexed by Google. This is an easy way to make sure that all of your pages get indexed.

Creating a sitemap is easy. You can use the generator listed below. Once you've created your sitemap, submit it to Google.

XML Site Maps - http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/index.php

Submit your sitemap to Google - https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/login

7. Linking
There's been a lot of talk about linking because linking is one of the most important strategies for getting high ranking in the search engines.

The more links you have pointing back to your site, the higher the page rank you will get, as well as creating a way for others to find you. You can use this strategy to get referrals from other sites, which is free traffic. It's targeted, and you are being recommended by another site.

Before building your linking strategy though, you should check your popularity. See who you are linked to first.

Link Popularity Checker - http://www.marketleap.com/siteindex/default.htm

Once you have checked your link popularity, begin by building links back to your site. Below are two sites that offer directories you can submit your site to.

Directory Manager - http://www.123promotion.co.uk/directorymanager/

Free directories that don't require a link back - http://www.directoriezsubmission.com/free-web-directories.htm

Linking can drive a lot of traffic to your site. The more backlinks you have pointing back to your site, the more popular it will be. You'll also get a lot more traffic.

Before you start to market, complete your site. Optimize it for the search engines, and use these tools to help you get higher rankings.

Finding Internet Business Info

When you are looking to start an online business, or if you already have one, you know just how important information can be. If you cannot find any information on your business venture you may want to consider a different route; this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can definitely slow down your development. When you are searching for internet business info there is a few different places that you can look.

1. A simple internet search will usually turn up hundreds of resources for any area of your business that you could possibly need information on. If you are searching for information on something like internet marketing, you will have plenty of resources to choose from. On a similar note, if you are searching for products to sell, you will again be in luck. Finding information on wholesalers, and companies of the like is very easy to do online. Overall, you can find internet business info in large quantities by simply using a search engine.

2. If you need more specific information than what you can find online, you should seek out the advice of a professional in your field. A lot of people overlook this option of obtaining internet business info because they are embarrassed. But by asking somebody that is already a success for help, you will be able to get top notch tips. When doing this, remember to be courteous and explain your situation. Believe it or not, most people are glad to help you out in any way that they can.

3. Finding internet business info in books has never been easier. Since the online industry is booming, there are many books available on this subject. More than likely you will be able to find a book that meets your needs. There are plenty of them out there ranging from how to sell on eBay to how to market your products online. When you are searching for a book to buy, you will want to make sure that it is written by a reputable author. In other words, if you want to learn how to sell products on eBay, you will want to buy a book that is authored by somebody who has been successful. This way you are ensured of getting top quality information that will be useful.

Overall, finding internet business info does not have to be difficult. There is information available all over the place that can be very useful when trying to take your business to the next level. The main thing to keep in mind is that you do not want to fall into the trap of thinking that you know everything. Knowledge is power, and nobody knows everything!

Decreasing Web Traffic

The process of controlling web traffic can be at times complex and sometimes even impossible to manage. If a site is to be successful then it is necessary that the owner knows how to not only interpret the web traffic their site receives but also restrict or encourage it. Through interpretation of the traffic one can determine which parts of their site are the most popular and which parts require a little work. If the site receives too little traffic then it is likely that the website will become extinct. On the other hand if a website receives too much web traffic then it may have to temporarily shut down. This temporary shut down can consequently cause the website owner to lose out on a substantial amount of potential profit. As such, the monitoring and controlling of web traffic is essential.

While a shortage of web traffic can be fixed with relative ease and in a number of ways, an abundance of traffic presents a slightly more complicated problem. There is certainly a great deal of methods through which one can limit access to their site yet none of which is overly simple. Protecting various sections of your website via a password is one means of limiting access and restricting viewing to merely those with passwords. This method is not exceedingly complicated yet it does involve a little work when it comes to implementation and supervision. For sites that are bound to receive a wealth of traffic this method is of particular effectiveness and value. Along with this, a site administrator can also choose to restrict access to their site geographically. That is, limiting access to those within a specific geographic region, such as your host country. This is a particularly useful means of limitation if your website has sustained attacks from users outside your country.

Check The Internet Forecast Before You Go Online

According to a recent survey conducted by the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), more computer users are becoming increasingly insecure about using the Internet. Forty-eight percent of those surveyed avoid making purchases on the Internet because they are afraid their financial information might be stolen. Fewer than one in five of the 1,150 U.S. adults surveyed believed that existing laws can protect them from fraud, identity theft and other crimes on the Internet. More than two-thirds (70 percent) want Congress to pass stronger data- protection legislation.

Consumers have clearly taken notice of Internet threats and scams, but there have been few resources they can use to understand what the immediate risks are and what they can do to more safely participate in their favorite online activities. Consumers want to be informed of the risk levels associated with common online activities and the precautions they can take to protect themselves. One such tool is The Symantec Internet Threat Meter, which helps computer users become aware of the most recent Internet threats and educates them about the steps they can take to safeguard their computers and personal data while online.

While high-profile computer worms and other online attacks are not as visible as they have been in the past, Internet threats have changed shape and present even more risks to consumers. Today's threats spread in many ways-through Web sites, instant messaging and e-mail-but use more silent, targeted methods than before. Many attacks are launched with criminal intent to steal users' personal data or to take over computers in order to launch targeted attacks that result in financial gain for cybercriminals.

The Symantec Internet Threat Meter helps consumers better understand the Internet landscape by taking an activities-based approach. The index rates the four main online activities-e-mail, Web activities, instant messaging and file sharing--on a low-, medium- or high-risk level based on triggers related to malware, spyware, phishing/online fraud, vulnerabilities, online attacks and spam.

Consumers want to feel more confident about their security when they are online, whether they are communicating via e-mail, conducting financial transactions on the Internet, chatting over instant messaging or sharing files. Just as prepared travelers check the weather forecast for their destination city, consumers who are online now have a tool they can use to help them prepare for a safe and productive experience on the Internet.

Buying From a Spy Shop

When you are ready to purchase some surveillance equipment, it is a good idea to go to a spy shop and see what is available. Just like when you buy anything else, it is a good idea to shop around and compare prices. Additionally, you might try a spy shop on the Internet if there is not one in town, or if you can get better prices. But no matter where you go to get your spy gear, it is a good idea to make sure that what you are buying is f good quality.

One of the advantages of going into a physical spy shop is that you can see the items that you wish to purchase, and sometimes even try them out before you buy. Additionally, if you are an amateur who is just starting out in surveillance, it is nice to have someone to speak with about your options and to offer advice and help as you figure out how to properly set up and use your equipment. But the biggest drawback is often prices. Most “real” shops have higher prices coupled with a smaller selection. This is because they have to charge more money to help cover their overhead costs.

An online spy shop, however, usually has the advantage in the price and selection arena. These shops offer a wide selection of equipment, often lower prices. Additionally, many offer Internet-only specials that can help you save even more money. And there is usually a smaller charge for special orders than at stores in the physical world. Unfortunately, you might lose a little something in customer service and support. The good news, though, is that many online spy shops are beginning to offer help either through live chat, fast-response emailing, or even phone support. The key is to by from an online spy shop that offers these services, and that will give you some sort of return policy.

You can get good service from and online spy shop. You just need to carefully choose where to buy. The great thing about shopping for anything online, including spy stuff, is that you can do it anytime of the day or night, and you do not even have to get dressed. So, before you tug on shoes to visit a retailer across town, head to the computer and check out an online spy shop.

10 Steps to Make the Most of Autoresponders

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

So you've worked hard in creating your website, regularly adding content to it, and building links and increasing search engine placements. The next step, that many overlook, is to capture your visitors by using an autoresponder.

Here's a scenario for you to consider. A visitor finds your site through one of the many ways that you have been carrying out to generate traffic, and finds just what they are looking for and is about to make a purchase. They are distracted while at their computer and leave the site.

Although the example above is hypothetical, the reality is that visitors may leave your site for a number of reasons without you making the most of your opportunity. That is unless you are using an autoresponder.

Capturing the email address of this visitor would have allowed you to contact them at a later date to potentially make the sale that you originally missed out on. Autoresponders are remarkable, flexible programs that do much more than just automatically answer your emails. I'll outline below a number of ideas that you can use to creatively and productively use your autoresponder to transform the casual visitor into a profitable customer.

1) Publish a newsletter.

High quality autoresponders will manage subscriptions and follow-up with those interested prospects that have signed up. This allows you to keep your autoresponder list updated about your products or services, and also build your reputation as an expert in your chosen business area.

2) Contact affiliates.

If you have an affiliate program you can easily contact your affiliates to inform them of any offers you may be running, or to provide them with promotional material that they can use to increase their commissions and your sales. You could provide any tips and advice that you feel would benefit your affiliates.

3) Promote advertising opportunities.

You may provide, or plan on providing advertising on your website, ezine or newsletter. You could setup your autoresponder to send out information about the cost of advertising, and how to find out more information. Of course you could also notify your list of any advertising discounts or offers that you may have.

4) Write reviews.

Write reviews on products and services that you found to be useful. Send this review out with your autoresponder along with your affiliate link to the product.

5) Provide email courses.

Provide valuable information in the form of email courses. These can be setup to send out each lesson at certain intervals. It is important not to solely provide a sales pitch but to provide quality content. You can then provide a paragraph at the end of the email course to entice the prospect to make a purchase of your product.

6) Distribute free reports.

Give your visitors a taste of the information that you provide, and the quality of your product and service. Again, do not make these out to be sales letters, or you stand to lose customers instead of gain.

7) Product tasters.

Provide your prospects samples of your product, whether it be an ebook, software, course, membership, etc. You can capture email addresses from your website this way, and follow-up to make the complete sale.

8) Provide hidden links to pages.

In exchange for a visitors email address, you could provide a link to an affiliate page containing promotional material. You can then gather a list of visitors that are interested in becoming your affiliates.

9) Order page autoresponder.

Provide a form on your order pages that allows visitors to be kept notified of special offers or discounts. This offers a great opportunity to create a mailing list that contains the names of people who are already your customers, and who are interested in any future products.

10) Distribute articles.

Allow visitors to sign up to your autoresponder in order to receive articles. There are many ezine publishers and webmasters looking for content, and this allows you to provide this content whilst including your bio and description of your service or product in a resource box.

Here I've provided ten examples of how autoresponders can be used creatively, but there are many more. Autoresponders are valuable to all internet marketers, and you should seriously consider using one if you do not already.

4 Miscellaneous Email Marketing Advices

Email is one of the most personal advertising medium ever invented. Here are four of the many ways you can improve your email marketing results.

Spread the Word
Get others to sign up for your mailing lists with their consent. Spread the word about your mailing list through word of mouth. The beauty in this is that the list of emails will be self-screened and the database will only contain the people who are interested in your offers. Make sure you have their consent beforehand. You don’t want to risk losing reputation or SPAM penalties.

Persistence
Before the internet, they used to say it takes around 7.3 impacts to make an impression with an ad. Today I would guess it to be over twice as high with the internet present. Make sure you are reaching out to your clients at least once a month in emails or other medium. Just because you emailed a list of people and had little or no response does not necessarily mean your audience isn’t interested in your product. Experiment with different emails, get to know which email strategy works best, and keep using it to reach out to your audience.

They Want Useful Information
Emails should contain something that the customer wants. It shouldn’t be just a summary of your company or your resume. Focus on giving more than just what you sell. Specific content, messages, and other targeted information that interests your customers are good to include. For example, if you were selling makeup, you may want to include advice on how to apply the makeup or any makeup in general.

Make Sure Your Audience Reads Your Emails
Graphics, Flash animations, logos are often blocked by email filters. Although they look impressive on an email, they will often lower your impression statistics. I recommend using flat text with hyperlinks to your site. Once they get to your site, you can show them as many graphics as you want. Although some businesses have both a plain and a rich text edition of their email, for starters, stick to the plain text.

3 Reasons Why You Should Love Unsubscribes

If you are like most new marketers you just dread logging into your autoresponder and seeing that you have lost list members due to them unsubscribing. Well I am here to tell you three good reasons to look forward to getting unsubscribes.

The first is that you are actually using your list. The only way that I have ever seen to not get an unsubscribe is to never send an email. If you are not going to use the list why go to the time and effort to build it. So congratulate your self when you get the unsubscribe because you are actually using your list.

The second thing is that someone is opening your email. To unsubscribe they had to at least open the email and click the unsubscribe link. The good thing is that your headline worked and got them to open your email. Now if you are using dishonest headlines, (You have won, your account status, and other headlines along those lines) this is not a good thing and you are reaping what you have sown. If you are using a solid headline that matches your email and it gets opened this is a good thing. Your headline is doing its job.

The third good reason to be glad to get unsubscribes has to do with personality. Now here is a shocker (said with sarcasm dripping from the keyboard) Not everyone is going to like you or your writing style. Those that don't will unsubscribe. The good thing though is that if they don't care for your style you will never build a relationship with them. If you can't build a relationship with them they will most likely never buy from you. So each unsubscribe will make your list more targeted to people who actually like your style and are more likely to respond favorably to your offers that meet their needs.

So now you have three good reasons to no longer dread seeing that people have decided to unsubscribe from your list. Rejoice in the fact that you are actually making your list stronger and more profitable for you in the longer run.

Why Use Anonymous Proxy Servers?

With expansion of internet, many websites promote themselves by sending you spam junk mails, advertisings and even spy wares. These things not only publicize your personal information, but also enable hackers and crackers to infiltrate your system. Anonymous proxy servers act as a wall between your data and internet, thereby providing security to your system and data.

Before we move on to the deeper concept of anonymous proxy servers, let us understand the concept of a proxy server. A proxy server acts as a buffer between your system and the internet resources you are trying to access. The proxy servers gather and store files which are commonly requested by internet users in a unique database known as cache. These proxy servers increase the speed of your browsing by providing you immediate information from their cache. The overall performance of internet becomes very high. However these proxy servers do not hide your Internet Protocol (I.P) address.

The anonymous proxy servers are the proxy servers which hide your I.P address thereby securing you from the susceptibilities attached to it. By hiding your I.P address these anonymous proxy servers secure you from any unauthorized or illegitimate access to your computer. These servers completely hide the details of your activities on the internet. Besides that, they even hide the fact that you are using a proxy server. These servers can be used for almost all web related purposes like, chatting, file transfer, emails and much more.

With exorbitant expansion of internet, its risks have also evolved. One of the major risks which you face while surfing the net is viruses. Another major risk you face during the browsing is lack of privacy. As you access different web resources, these resources gather your personal information through your unique Internet Protocol Address. These resources spy upon your browsing habits and can even inhibit you from accessing information from the net. You even become an easy target for various advertising agencies and marketers. These gather information about your I.P address, your email and your surfing interests on the net. Then they send their junk emails and spam on to your system and your email addresses.

Without an anonymous proxy server a website can even utilize security loops in your system with the help of hacking programs. These programs can make your system hang, make it perform in a bizarre manner and can even access and modify the content on your hard disk. They just need to gain your I.P address and it’s all done. Anonymous proxy servers help you in a great way by hiding your I.P address and protecting you from all these threats. Anonymous proxy servers hinder every chance of leak and misuse of your I.P address.

After you have discovered the benefits of having an anonymous proxy server, you would probably like to buy it. You can download or buy it from the internet. There are numerous sites, which provide you with the best variety of anonymous proxy servers available on internet. You can view the detailed features of various servers and even compare prices. Next you can place your order, and it would be delivered to you. Enjoy the experience of complete risk free surfing through anonymous proxy servers.

Why Your Website Needs Inbound Links

Most web-savvy people quickly learn why they need "links" from other sites pointing at theirs. Your inbound links are one of the most important ways of getting yourself known in your field, generating traffic to your website, and influencing the search engines to notice your site.

"Traffic" is what linking is all about. Without traffic your website is useless as a tool for selling your products or communicating your ideas. Getting links from other websites is not the only way to generate traffic, but it is probably the most important one.

But how do links generate traffic?

**Direct traffic from links**

First, links generate direct traffic. Links from sites that share your target audience will be an important source of traffic to your site. A visitor to the other web site sees the link to yours, clicks on it, and becomes your visitor. Some estimates put the percentage of internet traffic resulting from this kind of link as high as 21% of total traffic.

Why do people click on these links? One reason is they may view a link to an outside source as an endorsement. They assume the webmaster is saying "Here is a source you will find interesting or helpful". They are looking for the kind of service you provide, so they click on the link to check you out.

But just as important is simple curiosity. Someone sees a text link with intriguing wording like "Powerful Cheap Advertising" or "Win a Free iPod" or "See Pamela Anderson Video" and, depending on their interests, a certain number of people are likely to click on it.

This suggests at least three things about your links. First, you should get as many links as possible on pages your target audience is likely to be visiting. The more people see your links, the more traffic you are likely to get.

Second, your anchor text (the words that are linked) should be intriguing. It should be short and sweet, and suggest a benefit -- a reason for people to click on it.

Third, your links should be on pages that people actually look at. Having hundreds of links on pages that nobody ever looks at will not result in traffic -- at least not direct traffic. Putting your link on a link exchange page containing hundreds of services similar to yours is not likely to generate very many clicks. This is why exchanging links with link directories is such a questionable waste of time. Web visitors rarely look at these directories.

Finding good pages where you can place your link is not always easy. One method is to systematically do searches for your most important keywords -- the search phrases people are likely to use when looking for your kind of product or service. Many of the results will be competitors of yours. But one or two may be secondary sources such as directories or reference pages. Getting your link on some of these secondary sources is almost guaranteed to result in traffic, so it is worth the effort -- and sometimes the cost -- of getting listed in the resources that score high for your keywords.

**Traffic from Search Engines**

The second reason for getting inbound links is to impress the search engines. Most search engines use the quantity and quality of your inbound links to evaluate the importance and relevance of your site to specific keywords. For instance, if you sell a product like "Full Color Vinyl Banners", or you are a Real Estate agent servicing "Kitchener Real Estate", one of your objectives is to rank high for searches done on your primary search phrase (and other similar ones).

This will result in traffic because when people search for your important keywords your site is more likely to show up in the search results. The more inbound links you have that relate your site to full color vinyl banners or web promotion services, or "fill in your keyword here", the higher your site is likely to rank for these terms, and the more search engine traffic you are likely to receive as a result.

**Using Articles to get traffic and impress the search engines**

Embedding your links in articles is one of the best methods of rapidly increasing your inbound links. Many times a well-written article will show up in hundreds of places on the web. And if it has your link embedded in it, that will obviously increase your inbound links. Webmasters pick up these articles because they want content to enhance the value of their sites.

Articles will also generate direct traffic because people who read them are already interested in your subject matter, and are therefore more likely to click on your link.

This suggests that the most valuable place to publish your article is in a themed or categorized article resource. For instance, if your product is "health" related, having it published on health-oriented sites will be more valuable than having it published on generic sites.

You can even take this a step further. If your article is about something more specific like "mesothelioma advice", then getting it published on sites that focus on "mesothelioma" will get more "reads", and have a greater influence on the search engines.

Second, when embedding your link, try to use anchor text that contains one of your important keywords, not just your URL or web address. Remember that search engines are dumb. One of your objectives is to have them relate your website to specific search terms (keywords or key phrases). And the best way to do that is to use them as your anchor text.

Keep In Touch With People - Search Zaba

If you want to track down a person’s where about, you can do it easily with people search zaba. You can have a quick search of just about anyone you want and the good thing is that it is free of charge.

People search zaba is probably the best free people search engine on the web. It is the fastest way to search for people at no cost. You can get comprehensive information with some mouse clicks.
Right now you may not be interested in this kind of service, but there always comes a time when you are desperately looking for someone. And then you will be happy that there is a service helping you to find the person you are looking for.

To some people, this kind of search may be advantageous and some may not like it. A lot of people would like to have important information including their whereabouts to be kept private so that other people will not find them. But there are still no restrictions forbidding private information to be published on the internet. Indeed, it can be dangerous, and you may not feel safe once you find out that someone is tracking down your whereabouts for an unidentified purpose.

On the good side of it, your long lost friend may be able to trace you and you may not know it at all. Sometimes in our busy lives, we lose contact with important persons and the only way we can find them is through the web. Imagine, you could locate your old girlfriends and boyfriends or childhood friends with just some mouse clicks.

Others claim that it is an invasion of a person’s privacy and it is not right that you use money to get important information about a single person, not unless the person gives the permission to be tracked.

Most people use zaba, because it is the fastest way to search and get in contact to other people they know but have been long gone. This is not mainly a threat for a person’s privacy but it is a way to keep in touch with other people and make connections.

People who don’t want to be tracked down can remove their information from the company’s database simply by e-mailing some information including the name, address, birth date and phone number to zaba’s e-mail address which can be found on their website.

At this time, people search zaba is continuously growing and is used by a lot of people. No matter if some people think that it is not a good idea to search for a person’s whereabouts, they will be needing it soon either for reference or business matters.

Therefore, if you want to make a smart quick search, people search zaba is just a click away and you will discover that it is more than just searching but keeping in touch with friends.