EASY-SIMPLE SUCCESS GUIDES

Computer expert says : What is a refurbished computer?

2010-10-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

Why buy 'new' computer equipment when you can get the same refurbished computer at up to 80% savings and there is no difference in the quality or warranty? Statistics show that people who have already bought a factory refurbished computer will never buy 'new' computer again! Manufacturers are so sure about there refurbished computer equipment that they offer the original warranties.

Exactly what is considered factory refurbished computer equipment?

A lot of things can be labeled factory refurbished. So frivolous are some that it's silly enough to make you laugh! Consumer laws prevent manufacturers from selling anything considered factory refurbished as new, so the second consumer gets the best deal and its just like a new computer!

For example, most major retail stores offer a 30 day money back guarantee on their computer equipment and some consumers take advantage of this. So when the new computer is returned, the manufacturer inspects the product and repackages it like new. But it can't be sold as new now so you get a great price with the original warranty, now its considerd a refurbished computer. Other reasons may be the box was damaged in shipment and so it was returned, a slight defect, the defective part is replaced by the manufacturer, tested and then repackaged just like new. Maybe a minor cosmetic blemish on the casing that was corrected. Demonstration units are also considerd factory refurbished computers. They are also inspected, tested and repackaged. The box was simply opened or brand new items that have been overstocked are also labeled factory refurbished.

Its hard to tell the history of each and every refurbished computer item but what ever the reason for the refurbished label you can be sure that the computer equipment has been inspected and serviced by the manufacturer then tested and repackaged to meet original product specifications, just like a new computer. And like I said before, all computer equipment merchandise is warranted by the original manufacturer unless otherwise specified.

Why buy a refurbished computer?
Well, to save MONEY! Why not get the best value while getting the exact same computer equipment? Also, you get the original manufacturers warranty and get a much, much lower price on your new computer.

Now with refurbished computer equipment you can afford that item which has been just out of your reach because it cost too much. And you will get the same performance! Actually refurbished items have a much lower defect rate than new ones. Only one in ten units that come back for repair is usually a factory refurb! That is because they are closely tested before they are sold. The only difference you may notice is a little label on the outside of the box or simply a brown box. So think hard before your purchase, are you shopping smart?

the author: Bonnie Archer

Business expert says : Marketing your home business for big profits

2010-10-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

Marketing your home business for big profits takes some due diligence and the right resources.

In 1999 I started a home based business, and I submitted my website to every search engine that would take it from here to the North Pole. I submitted classified ads; I had more links on my website, than Carter has pills.

I bought the submission software’s, the top ads on classified ad sites, the linking programs and so on.

I had about $500 to spend on this venture and I spent it all on marketing.

Yes I got a few hits, and some replies. But after a year of not really getting off the ground, I closed down shop and stuck my tail between my legs and just took the loss and figured this home business stuff was not to done.

Jan 2004 I wanted to try this home business venture again, only this time I was going to some research on home business and how people succeed in it.

I read news articles on the internet, went into forums to see what others were doing, and so on. Found out quickly everyone has an opinion on what works and what doesn’t.

Well I did learn quite a bit, like on my first venture I was linking to every website that would take my link. I found out, it is not the amount of links; it is the quality of websites you link to.

That was one mistake. Found out also that these submission software’s and programs are not all that great either.

After about 6 months of research and reading, I reopened a new home business in July 2004. I applied what I had learned to this business.

To my surprise after about 2 weeks I started getting some affiliates, had a couple sales, and things were off and running.

A little over a month went buy and I was continuing to make progress, and then I stumbled on to what I consider is one of the best business tools out there.

It was an organization that had all the proven tools, resources, experts, materials, books you name it on how to get make big profits on your home business.

Well I signed up, and for once that was the best money I spent, a low monthly fee for all of there resources. Well let’s just say, that in 1 month my profits doubled.

The next month they doubled again! All this buy just having the right resources and tools at my disposal, is what made the difference in 2004, compared to my flop in 1999.

I turn 45 years old in 2005, and have planned on retiring from my full time job in the aerospace industry. My home business as gotten so big and so profitable that I know longer need my other job.

You know what J.O.B. stands for (Just over Broke). Well I know longer need to worry about that, now that I have the financial freedom to support my family for years to come.

The author: Jim Noel

Web expert says :The Internet Marketers Answer to Frontpage and Dreamweaver

2009-02-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

Leading Web site design packages have a serious contender called XSitePro, a new software package geared toward the rapidly expanding world of Internet marketing.

XSitePro is a new web site design package that creates entire web sites, not just individual pages, with ease.

Unlike leading web design programs, XSitePro approaches the whole process of site design from an online marketer's perspective, incorporating easy-to-use features that differentiate XSitePro from other site design software.

"We are confident that XSitePro offers the alternative to Microsoft's FrontPage and Macromedia's Dreamweaver that Internet marketers and other web designers are looking for," says Paul Smithson, president and CEO, of Intellimon Ltd. "Our customers can create professional Web sites in a fraction of the time it would take them using other web design software."

XSitePro users don't need to know how to write code to create a professional quality web site. Anyone who has word processing skills can create web pages using the built-in "What you see is what you get" page editor.

Users will also find that XSitePro is a great program for keeping their web sites updated after they have been created. Using the page layout feature it is possible to change the whole style of a site in minutes rather than days. You no longer have to settle with existing designs, or be intimidated by the workload of redesigning your sites.

"It is refreshing to see the product designed from the ground up for marketers," says Ed Keay-Smith of AdWords Marketing. "I love the built in automation of affiliate and Google AdWords links…I have now chosen to use XSite Pro over FrontPage as my major money making website builder."

Here are just a few of the great features that this software offers:

-Add Google AdSense ads with just two clicks of the mouse, adding extra income streams with little effort.

-Hide unattractive page urls by creating redirect pages that automatically forward visitors to alternative locations.

-Include navigation menus that automatically update themselves whenever new pages are added.

- Use the 130,000 word built-in spell-checker to guarantee spelling mistakes do not occur on any pages.

-Split long documents into multiple pages that include complete page navigation menus.

-Keep track of all of the essential information regarding web hosting, which means users will never forget any important information such as usernames, passwords, mail server details, etc.

-Export sites into other Web design programs, such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver.

XSitePro also assists users with optimizing their Web sites for the search engines. Users can designate keywords that are automatically added to the meta tags of every new Web site or Web page created. They can also measure if they have used keywords the correct number of times on each page and quickly make corrections so that they maximize the chance of ranking well in search engines.

You don't need to worry about backing up your data either as the software can back-up all your web site work to a single file in just one mouse click.

In my opinion XSitePro is definitely one of the most exciting software packages to have been released in recent years.

About the author:
Michael Jones has been reviewing the latest releases for computer magazines since the early 1980s. His specialties are CAD, web design, and expert systems.

Marketing expert says : Still Seeking Network Marketing Success?

2009-02-10T03:11:00.000-08:00

Network marketing success does come to many people and to many others, it doesn't. Ultimately it depends on you - how well you focus on your target market, how well you choose your program, and how hard you are willing to work. The following are a set of guidelines that you can consult if you wish to be a network marketing success.

To start with, put down your goals and plans on paper. You cannot do many things at once, so you need to prioritize.

Don't wait for the perfect conditions to prevail, they never might! Begin right away, with whatever resources you have.

Expect rejections. Don't get upset by them. Keep in mind that people are not rejecting you, they are rejecting an idea. Instead, build on your successes. Be persistent.

Treat your network marketing business as a serious, full-time business, and it will soon become one.

Follow up. It is as important as the initial contact. Many network marketers say that they got their best people after following up three to five times.

Keep your patience. Expect the hardest work in the first six months and the least compensation. But it will improve. Large incomes don't happen overnight.

Contact your upline or the company for suggestions on how to grow your business.

Ask people what they think honestly of the program. This way you get to hear the objections they might have about your network marketing opportunity, and you can better equip yourself with data, logical argument or other proof to overcome these objections.

Plan your activity weekly and follow it persistently. Network marketing success almost always depends on how well you can stick to your planning.

Assist your downline as much as you can. Let them know that you are there with your support. Teach them to do the same to their downline. Help others become successful, and you will become a network marketing success yourself.

Present yourself and your business in a professional and honest manner. Stick to facts, and don't exaggerate opportunities.

Communicate constantly with your downline. Keep close contact with them. Use voice chat, newsletters, meetings, phone calls, email, voice mail, faxes, postcards, etc.

Read motivational books. Understand the richness of the human intelligence and get prepared to tap your resources. Think positive. Dream big. Keep the people around you motivated constantly. And don't let the negative attitudes of others influence you.

Don't fall into the "perfection paralysis" syndrome. You cannot be perfect all the time. Instead, do your best and move on to the next task at hand. Before you realize it, you will become a network marketing success that others will strive to emulate.

About the author:
Lana Hampton builds her network marketing business online quickly and easily.

Blog expert says : Top 10 Places to Find the Most Popular Blogs

2009-02-09T05:08:00.000-08:00

The easiest way to get acquainted with the conventions of the blog format is to start reading them. The more blogs you read, the more you'll get a feel for the depth and breadth of style and subject matter they have to offer.

Here are a few sources:

Blog Monitors

- Blogdex (http://blogdex.com/)
- Daypop (http://daypop.com/)
- Technorati (http://technorati.com/)

These three sites monitor millions of blogs every minute of every day, searching for the top key words being mentioned in blog posts or in the most popular links and sites. It's like being in a huge convention hall eavesdropping on billions of conversations at the same time. This is a fantastic way to do market research and to see what everybody is buzzing about. The collective 'hive' of blogs is often called the blogosphere. Often, links and news bubble up in the blogosphere first, even before they reach your evening television news program.

Blog Search Engines and Directories

- Blogarama (http://blogarama.com/)
- Globe of Blogs (http://globeofblogs.com/)
- The Open Directory (http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Weblogs/)

Just like web sites, there are also directories and search engines devoted to cataloging the ever-growing global network of blogs. Try searching by topic or geographic location.

Search Engines

- Google (http://google.com/)
- Yahoo! (http://yahoo.com/)
- A9 (http://a9.com/)

As usual, Google and friends to the rescue! These are the more traditional and widely known search engines. Type in some topic and the word 'blogs' and see what results come up. The more specific keywords, the more likely you are to find bloggers talking about what you're interested in.

Blogrolls

And number ten is the blogroll. Most blogs have a blogroll, which is a list of a blogger's favorite blogs and websites. If you find a blog you like, try checking out the other sites that the blogger likes. You might find other valuable sites and blogs to read. The more your read blogs, the more you'll catch the nuances and conventions that have made them the fastest, easiest, cheapest way to publish online.

About Andy: Andy Wibbels is a blogging evangelist and creator of the Easy Bake Weblogs seminar that has helped hundreds of small businesses all over the world leverage blogs and RSS news feeds to increase profits and save time.

Googling expert says : Google Patent Application - Highlights

2009-02-07T01:46:00.000-08:00

The recent patent application filed by Google details
numerous items the search engine uses to rank web pages. The specific application is summarized as:

"A method for scoring a document, comprising: identifying a
document; obtaining one or more types of history data
associated with the document; and generating a score for the
document based on the one or more types of history data."

The patent application sheds significant light for those
pursuing search engine optimization with Google. Patent
applications can be difficult to understand, so following
are highlights that you should consider for your SEO
efforts.

Update Your Site

Updating your site is important when it comes to maximizing
your rankings on Google. In addition to the manipulation of
keyword density and meta tags, the patent application
reveals that Google places significant value on how often
your content is updated. The more often you update, the
timely and relevant your site will appear to Google. In
turn, this leads to higher rankings.

To appease mighty Google, consider the following plan of
action:

1. Update pages frequently,
2. Add new pages to your site,
3. Interlink the new pages with others on your site, and
4. Add new pages on a weekly basis instead of all at once.

When Google returns to the site, you want to make sure that
there is new content. The high rankings of blog sites are
evidence of this approach.

Google s Looking at Your Domain

In a new twist, Google claims that it analyzes the number of
years of domain registration as part of the ranking process.
The application suggests that domains that are registered
for longer periods of time are given more value because such
a commitment shows the site is not a fly-by-night jump page.
It is recommended that you extend all domain registrations
for as long as possible as part of your search engine
optimization efforts. It is difficult to tell how much the
registration process impacts the ranking process, but every
little bit helps.

Google claims that it also digs deeper into domain names to
evaluate the legitimacy of the site. Factors in the
evaluation include the web host and the who is
information. According to the patent application, Google
maintains a database of hosts that facilitate spamming of
the Google search engine. While such hosts are not detailed
in the application, pray to God that you are not using one.
You should evaluate your host if your optimization efforts
are not producing results.

If your search engine optimization efforts for Google are
failing, the patent application may provide answers. Talk
about a perfect E-book!

About the author:
Halstatt Pires is an Internet marketing and advertising company
comprised of a search engine optimization specialist
providing meta tag optimization services

Business expert says : We Do Eat Our Young: The Story of a Successful Home Business

2009-02-06T03:25:00.000-08:00

I grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way (grammatical corrections accepted).

We Do Eat Our Young: The Story of a Successful Home Business

Whether it is in the world animals, recovering drug addicts, or business if the truth were told we do eat our young. As when I was young I would watch Wild Kingdom every Sunday night, sure enough there it was a big strong fast Cat would be chasing down and eating some young antelope.

As a social worker I work with clients with addiction problems and have noticed they display a similar trait as the cats. Once a person gets in recovery for just a short while they tend to be the least tolerant of the new people struggling to get into recovery. In the market of Home Business I have noticed a similar occurrence with the people that have struggled and found they way to having a profitable Home Business.

When I was hunting for a legitimate home business to start up, (which is no small task) I found what appeared to be a real business. The definition of a real business is a business that does not make any claim to be fool proof takes real effort, takes at least six months to start making any profit, and one that requires an investment of my own money.

Now when you read that definition you may feel confused, however if you stop and think about what has made anything you have ever done successful and real it would include all of the above criteria. Now back to eating our young, just how does this pertain to people in the home business? When I was starting out I knew very little about the home business and nothing at all about how to be a successful marketer in the Internet business on a meager budget.

I thought if I want to know how to do these things then I need to ask the people that are already doing it and having some success. Seemed reasonable, however what I found was that most if not all of the people running a successful internet business from home where not only not open but more than glad to sell me all kinds of programs that were to be the root of all my success.

Sadly what I found was that these people were making money off of me and not wanting to help me what so ever. I felt very frustrated with not being able to find anyone that was willing to share with me or help me repeat what they had been able to do in their home business. Yes they were eating their young.

I finally happened across a group of people that thought like I did. This group believed to be successful them selves they had to pass along all they had been taught by others. This was it, I began to get real marketing ideas that cost very little and took a lot of work. I do not mind the work and the great thing is that with the help of successful work at home business owners I soon become successful in my home business.

Of course the only way I can continue my success is to pass on what I have been taught and as long as I do that I will be successful. My success is your success and when you learn the method you pass it on to others. It all seems so simple and the idea is simple the work is hard and it is not free so if you are looking for this type of success, a real home business drop in and let me tell you how I did it.

Author: Joe Saddoris

Computer expert says : Is Spyware Slowing Your Computer Down To A Crawl?

2009-02-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

Everyday more and more computers are becoming infected with Spyware and Adware (advertising tracking). No matter where you go on the web, someone is trying to sneak something on your computer. From honest web sites placing simple logon cookies, to paid advertising tracking your movements on the web, to malicious software that is designed to record your keystrokes and discover your passwords, Spyware and Adware have together become the web’s number one problem.

Many of these programs are down right dangerous and seriously threaten your online privacy and identity. But even the simple and supposedly benign Adware programs can cause you serious problems.

Spyware is any program that installs itself onto your computer with the intent to spy on your activity. This can be recording your online searching habits, or whatever you type on your keyboard. Adware is not much better. It is designed to watch what you do online, where you go, which terms you search for and then report this to the ad agency that runs the adware program.

Adware programs may be designed with the best intentions in mind, but even these can cause your computer serious problems.

Here is what happens. Many, if not most, advertisers on the internet will try and place a cookie or other small program on your computer. Many will add code that will track that cookie as it hits different pages. The code may be designed simply to gather anonymous data, or it may be trying to send ads to your browser that the advertising company thinks you will be more likely to respond to.

Whatever the case, the Adware or Spyware is using your computer to do its tracking. This means that part of your computer’s power and CPU cycles are being diverted away from the activity you are trying to perform. Your computer is being used by someone else instead to track your movements. Now, when we multiply this behavior by tens or hundreds of Adware or Spyware programs all trying to use your computer for their work you can begin to see the problem.

These programs can literally slow your computer down to a crawl, or make it crash altogether. They can fill your computer up with trash files, open unwanted popup windows, use up the space in your internet cache and generally just make working on your computer a nightmare.

Luckily there are several easy solutions to the problem. But first let me make one distinction, Spyware and Adware are not the same thing as a computer virus. Although a computer virus can install spyware on a computer, you will need different tools to remove a computer virus and to keep your system clean from Spyware and Adware. You should be using both a high quality commercial anti-virus program and one or more good quality programs for handling the spyware/adware problem.

There are several good Spyware/adware programs on the market. I use two different programs on my network, Ad-aware from Lavasoft and Spy Sweeper from Webroot Software although there are several others. You can easily find both of these by doing an internet search for Ad-aware and Spy Sweeper. Or simply do a search for spyware. Both of these programs will scan your hard drives and registry and present you with a list of spyware/adware programs hiding on your system. You can then quarantine or remove the offending programs. I use both of these programs since neither one seems to catch everything. Plus I will run them 2 or more times in a row, the nastier spyware will not be completely removed on the first pass.

The process is very easy and I recommend running these programs at least once a week and every time you have been doing some extended web surfing. You will be surprised at how many of these spyware/adware programs will sneak onto your system. I run a very clean network and I have yet to scan my system and not come up with at least a few of these hiding on my hard drive.

So be aware of the problem, take reasonable precautions, scan your system frequently, and the spyware/adware curse can be broken.

About the author:
George Peirson is a successful Entrepreneur, Internet Trainer and author of over 30 multimedia based tutorial training titles.

Marketing expert says : Is Telemarketing Effective?

2009-02-03T01:29:00.000-08:00

Telemarketing is one of the most controversial elements of advertising and sales that has ever been. With a turn towards avoiding this means of marketing, business are looking elsewhere. But, can an effectively run telemarketing campaign still pay off? Is your business the right type to take on the telemarketing world? There is little doubt that telemarketing has been successful, but with so many worries about legal action, it is necessary to do several things to ensure your telemarketing campaign is successful.

For example, with many new laws in place regulating the use of telemarketing to specific time frames as well as to only individuals who have not said they do not want to be called, it is necessary to insure that the company that is used to market is of the most highest of standards. If you consider your business not at risk, think again. The image alone that the customer has when they are ‘bothered” is not one you will want to tarnish your business’s name. But, with the use of regulated services that really do pay attention to detail, you can benefit from telemarketing.

Telemarketing is necessary to many businesses. It can be done quite successfully. If you are considering the use of telemarketing to promote your service or company, insure that you use a company that screens employees, hires and trains employees effectively and that has a successful rating. With these things kept in mind, just about any need that you have in telemarketing can be fulfilled successfully.

There are also many information portals now devoted to the subject and we recommend reading about it at one of these. Try googling for “telemarketing” and you will be surprised by the abundance of information on the subject. Alternatively you may try looking on Yahoo, MSN or even a decent directory site, all are good sources of this information.

Author : Matthew Noel

Web expert says : Choosing A Web Designer: A Plan To Guide You Through The Minefield

2009-02-02T01:56:00.000-08:00

Choosing a web designer can seem like a daunting task. They come in all shapes and sizes – from freelancers working at home to glossy new media agencies, and there is as much variation in prices and service as there is in size.

So how do you choose the right one for your business?

Select Your Marketplace

Firstly, decide what market your would like to select from: local , national or overseas.

If you would feel more comfortable meeting your designer, and running through your project face to face (maybe it’s the kind of project that needs to “evolve”) ,and your ethos is “quality of service” rather than “Pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap” then a local web designer is for you. They can usually provide better back up, and be able to meet face to face to discuss your project and iron out any problems should they occur.

If you are a bit more budget conscious, then it makes sense to select from a “wider pool”. Getting quotes from designers across your country will usually obtain a more competitive quote. What you lose in face-to-face service is made up for in cost savings, and all but the largest web projects can usually be sorted out via telephone and email these days.

For the extremely cost conscious and value for money orientated (some would even say “brave”!) there is the overseas market. If you know exactly what you are looking for and can explain your project thoroughly and clearly in writing, then there are huge savings to be made. But what you save in price is invariably countered by having to do a little more work on your side – particularly when it comes to communication!

Finding Web Designers

To find a list of local web designers consult your Yellow Pages (or equivalent) or do a web search for “web designer “ “your area”. Looking further a field, you can do a web search or check out directories such as www.recommended-web-designers.co.uk . For overseas designers, go to web sites such as www.elance.com or www.rentacoder.com, the latter offering the benefit of escrow and arbitration services.

Draw up a shortlist

Draw up a shortlist of 3 or 4 designers to speak to. You can do this by visiting their websites, getting a feel for the type and size of business they are and looking at their online portfolio. Then call them – ask them questions about the type of clients they work for, timeframes and any other technical questions you have. Get a feel for how they communicate – whether they are on the same wavelength as you.

If you opted to go overseas, the websites already mentioned have ratings systems which can help you decide, and you can also send and receive private messages to ask questions.

Get Quotes

Once you have your shortlist, you can get quotes. For a straightforward website this can be a simple fixed price – for a more complicated project that is likely to evolve, you may just want to get a budget price at this stage, and then pin down details and a fixed price with your preferred bidder later. Always specify your expected timeframe for completion when obtaining quotes as this can affect prices.

Get References

Once you have your preferred bidder, get references. Any established web designer will be able to provide details of satisfied clients. Email them and ask if they were happy with the service received, if the job was completed on time, how unforeseen problems were dealt with etc.

Remember to trust your instincts: If you are not entirely happy with the references you obtain, walk away and select another designer.

Appoint your web designer

You now have a fixed price, references, and confirmed timescale for your project. Now appoint your designer!

Most have standard agreements –read them carefully, and if in doubt get your legal adviser to look them over. Make sure timescales and project milestones are specified, as well as payment terms. Find out how alterations to your project are dealt with – in terms of cost and delays – and how disputes if they arise would be settled.

Finally, when you are completely happy, sign on the dotted line and look forward to a productive working relationship with your web designer!

About the author:
Robin Porter has been CEO of of London based web designer Arpey Internet.

Blog expert says : The Future Of Next Generation Weblogs

2009-01-30T23:56:00.000-08:00

In the earlier days having a blog was an instant hit. People who embraced writing web logs from the beginning, did get a lot of extra exposure. Now the mass is jumping on a train which already left the station some time ago.

The success of the first blogs explained

The first blogs on the web were non commercial and that was the first ingredient for their success. Second, web logs are quality content and can be made really easy. As we all know search engines like Google really love good content. The first blogs could be on top of search results in mayor search engines like Google in a matter of days, where other (big) websites struggled to get the same result in years. This could happen because web logs contain loads of text which is related to quality content. Other traditional websites tweaked their sites with tricks that did not compete with the awesome power of blogs: honest quality content.

These days loads of people have their own blog and I must say 90% is not even worth reading. Because the amount of people having a blog is exploding, search engines which finally were able to find some good content related websites, now have to struggle with the millions of blogs with absolutely no good content at all. Many blogs are not updated on a regular basis, they are often made to sell products or used for marketing the thousands “get rich quick schemes” around on the internet. They really lack the power a good blog can have.

Next generation blogs

But there are really good blogs around and web logs will definitely stay around for a while. Beside that there is a new generation blogs on their way. Blog techniques are changing fast, many people start to put photos and pictures on their blogs. This caused a very interesting phenomenon. The first pictures of the London bombings where spread by blogs so fast, that they did beat the big television networks and news agencies. People actually submitted their pictures made from the scene with their mobile phones on their blogs. Other blogs picked up the news with the photo material in minutes and spread them around with lighting speed. I think this is the evidence that blog are really powerful things and earned their place on the internet. With the implementation of video on blogs their importance and popularity is even growing. This makes us consumers of news and multimedia much more independent from big commercial TV and news agencies. Those guys have other interests to consider then provide us with objective news, quality TV and radio programs.These advertisers and investors want everything to be a commercial success, rather then not so commercial quality content.

If you want to start your blog then here are some tips.

These days you can’t make any money from having a blog. You are way too late to do that at this stage. Use web logs for their own purpose e.g. provide quality content. This is the only way to attract people to you web log.

Pick a quality blog hosting provider on the internet where to host your blog. There are free providers like blogger.com and Bloxster.net, both of them are free and provide features for your blog you really need. There is no reason why you should go for a paid service. The bigger the blog community not always means this is the best choice, because the servers of these providers often can’t handle the hughe amount of traffic and need to be shut down for maintenance very often. So bloxster.net would be a good pick

Post pictures with your articles to enhance your blog. If you have a startup band or you want to be the new rising pop star on the block, place a link to your demo (make one in mp3 format), and place it on your blog. This is called pod casting. While traveling submit travel stories and photo’s to inform people at home or fellow travelers about your adventures. You can even stream video on you blog!

Most important write and provide quality content and update your weblog on a regular basis. Also take the time to promote your blog and rss feed to web blog directories because the competition of other blogs is fierce!

About The Author
Bolger Redet is webmaster at http://www.bloxster.net a free quality weblog hosting service

Googling expert says : Chris Carpenter's Google Cash - An Ebook Review

2009-01-30T01:56:00.000-08:00

It is rare to find a brand new blueprint for making cash on the internet. The continuous churning of rehashed and ripped off regurgitated pablum has plagued the internet guru market for the last few years. But ever so often with some persistent digging you find a gem. Google Cash is that shining diamond on the coal-heap of get-rich-on-the-internet promotion.

With the pending IPO of Google and all the hype surrounding it, it's easy to overlook the hidden fundamentals that make Google such a marketing miracle. The Google Adwords program allows savvy marketers to reach highly desirable eyeballs at a predictable cost. Google Cash is a startlingly frank analysis of this fast-paced direct response medium.

You sell hand-made knitted scarves. You can place your ad directly in the path of people searching for one. With some elbow grease and a sharp pencil you can figure out to the penny what you can afford to pay for that ad. And you can target the world or Little Rock Arkansas with that ad thanks to the awesome interface and techno-wizardry of Google Adwords. What used to take 3 months in the "old days" of marketing back in the nineties takes 3 hours today!

Chris Carpenter lays out a step-by-step blueprint for generating extra income on the web using Google Adwords. He pulls back the curtain and reveals his own successful campaigns and even some of his stumbles in this marketing arena. He demystifies the mathematics and explains the entire process at a Grade 10 comprehension level.

If I had a teenage son or daughter, I would get them to stop working at McDonalds and get them investing their free time in building an online auction business. I used to hate cleaning the garage. Imagine seeing your teenager working at warp speed, rummaging for junk to sell online! It's possible thanks to Google Cash.

Can anything and everything be sold online through Google Adwords? Frankly, the astounding answer is yes! If a human wants it, you can put it in front of them. The Google Adwords interface is the single most powerful direct-response medium currently on the planet. With 300 million daily searches, with a little bit of imagination and creativity you can find a target niche for your product.

Think of Google Cash as a starting point rather than a be-all-end-all solution. For the price, it delivers great value. But you have to take action with this guide. Even though it lays out the step-by-step path to follow, you'll still have to invest the hours building your keyword campaigns and creating your Google projects. Even though there is real brain work involved, the potential rewards of developing your own online cash machine with Google outweighs the short term sweat equity. I think you'll enjoy Google Cash.

About the author:
David Ledoux is an online entrepreneur, freelance writer and author.

Marketing expert says : Network Marketing Internet Business Basics

2009-01-29T02:13:00.000-08:00

A network marketing Internet business is what millions of ordinary people are making extraordinary money from. You can too, but only if you put your mind to it. Come to think of it, a network marketing Internet business is no different from any other online business. The fundamentals are the same. What changes are the parameters. So what's keeping you from running your own successful network marketing Internet business? Nothing! Just find a legit core opportunity and get going.

Going by definitions, a network marketing Internet business program, also known as "network" or "matrix" marketing, is a way of selling goods or services online through distributors. These programs typically promise that if you sign up as a distributor, you will receive commissions â€“ for both your sales of the program's goods or services and those of other people you recruit to join the distributors. Network marketing Internet business programs usually promise to pay commissions through two or more levels of recruits, known as the distributor's "downline."

Technology is rapidly changing the corporate world today, and network marketing businesses are no exception. Many network marketing Internet business companies make use of their web presence to enhance and accelerate the growth potential of their distributors.

Overwhelmed by the details of your new network marketing Internet business? Still struggling with them? Today there are so many companies, so many products, so much information and so many opportunities, it's easy to get lost in the maze. Don't panic. Just take them step by step.

The first, and most important thing, is picking the right company with the right product and the right system that suits your personal style, interest and skills. Take the time to understand and manage your sales tools, marketing systems and compensation plans. The next step is getting ready for all the hard work and sheer perseverence. Accept that you are not going to get rich overnight. No one does. Growing your network marketing Internet business knowledge and earning that subsequent success is a lifelong process.

Choose a product that you feel good about, and select one or two methods from your sales training manual. Utilize the power of the Internet. You can build distributor networks on a national or even a global level right from your home computer. Now isn't that quite something?

Make it a point to keep the plan as simple as possible but no simpler. In other words, don't be unprepared, but don't also do too much. Just keep on working consistently and stay committed to your goal. Take it one step at a time and you'll get there.

About the author:
Lana Hampton builds her network marketing business online quickly and easily. To discover how to build your own successful online business

Business expert says : Starting Out With Affiliate Programs

2009-01-29T02:01:00.000-08:00

Let’s start with an important fact. Though you can earn from affiliate marketing even without the benefit of having your own website, it is still a much better option that you get one. A website is the anchor of your work at home business. It will be easier to promote your business and products or affiliate products if you have your own pages in cyber space.

We have previously discussed the basics of creating your own website and optimizing the same for the search engines.

In this article, we’re going to tackle some initial steps you should take in securing an enrollment to an affiliate program and in ensuring that it will be a profitable enterprise. Study these steps carefully.

* Choose the right affiliate program as covered in last weeks article.

* Enroll for the said program. Keep in mind that before you can be a part of this work at home business, you must first opt-in, or verify your application, through your email.

* Once enrolled, you will be given access to a website where you must log in. Do not forget your login details.

* You will see the list of the affiliate merchant’s products inside. You will be given the option to choose a product for which a campaign will be launched. Once a product is chosen, you will be furnished an affiliate link. Do not lose this affiliate link!

With your affiliate link at hand, it’s time to move to the next level!

Your affiliate link is what will tell the affiliate program’s system that a purchaser was referred by you. Your pre-sells that end up becoming successful sales are actually coursed through your affiliate links, thus informing the affiliate program that commissions are due to you.

It is quite evident then that affiliate marketing as a work at home business is all about persuading a potential customer to at least check out the affiliate merchant’s products through your affiliate link. The reason why affiliate marketing is called, well, marketing is because you need some promotional strategies to induce a person to become a purchaser.

We will discuss these marketing strategies in the next article.

The success of an enrollment with an affiliate program as a work at home business depends on the amount of commitment and effort you invest in the same. Being an affiliate, you must remember, is an online job, but a job nonetheless. You cannot just sit down and let this home business earn for you, at least, not initially.

Eventually however, you should be able to automate most of the process by installing some tools for a self-sufficient system of your own. We will cover this thoroughly in subsequent articles.

About the author:
Mal Keenan can show you step-by step how to set up and run a successful online home business.

Googling expert says : The Work From Home Internet Business Is booming On The Net

2009-01-27T01:16:00.000-08:00

The work from home revolution on the Internet is in full swing. There has never been a better time or opportunity to make money online working at home in front of your computer. The number of money making opportunities is endless.

With today’s technology it is quite possible to run your entire business online from anywhere in the world using your laptop computer. You no longer need to leave your house to make a living for your family. It can be done from the comfort of your own home. No commute required. No travel time with reduced fuel consumption and maintenance on your vehicles. Best of all you are your own boss.

The amount of people using the internet worldwide continues to increase almost monthly. This bodes well for internet business entrepreneurs and anyone wishing to take advantage of the internet work from home business industry. Global Internet Statistics shows over 800 million people worldwide are now using the internet.

Just do a search for internet business opportunities on Google or your favorite search engine. You’ll find websites such as http://www.kawarthapublishing.com & http://www.bigmoolla.com promoting several top Internet home based business products and services from paid surveys online to network marketing and MLM businesses. If you already have your own website you can even sign up with Google ad sense and make money displaying Google ad words ads on your site. In fact everywhere you look on the net almost every single site you go to is making money from some form of advertising or work from home business opportunity.

The internet is forever changing the global job scene and the world economy with new internet opportunities arriving on the internet every day even as you read this. We can only hope that this will make the world cleaner and a better place to live with less pollution from automobiles and reduced pollution from factories. This in turn could create a backlash on the economy but it has yet to be seen. We all know the reasons behind why we are still using oil and gas rather than clean energy. (It would kill the global economy). Internet business could be just as threatening as electric cars and cars running on fuel cells.

We are indeed in a revolution. The last revolution was called the industrial revolution. This one is called the information revolution. Or what I like to think of it, the work from home revolution.

About the author:
Tom Worsley is a successful work from home Internet marketer and independent representative for Strong Future International (SFI)

Computer expert says : Computer Network Installation

2009-01-22T20:32:00.000-08:00

Has become an essential prerequisite for any efficient modern-day business as it allows employees to truly work as a team by sharing information, accessing the same database and staying in touch constantly. For a computer network to give the best results, a lot of detailed planning and foresight is required before installation.

Firstly, an organisation needs to clearly define its requirements – how many people would use the network, how many would use it locally (within the office) and how many might require remote access (from a different location), how many computers and other devices (servers, printers, scanners) would be connected to the network, what are the needs of the various departments and who would be in charge of running/managing the network. It also helps if one can anticipate the direction the company would take in the near future so potential growth can be factored in during computer network installation.

The technology issues should also be ironed out in advance – hardware, software, servers, switches, back-up devices, cables and network operating systems. Make sure you have the required licenses to run the software on all your machines before installing a computer network. Alongside computer network installation should proceed the building of a dedicated technical support staff, either within your own organisation or outside consultants. Delegate responsibility clearly for network management. Before installing the network, you also need to choose the security mechanism to protect corporate data and keep viruses at bay.

The transition to a new or upgraded computer network can bring some teething problems. To minimise chances of confusion, the company might need to train its staff to make them familiar with the new system. Careful planning will to a large extent prevent crises like system downtime and network crashes.

Author: Adrian Griffiths

Web expert says : Disappointing Designs

2009-01-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

Fred Showker catches a line from a Pete Seeger classic, “Where have all the flowers gone?” His flowers are the web designers that he thinks are going extinct. He laments on the seeming “decay” in the art of web designing and says gone are the designers who made a difference in the making of web designs and who provided quality sites for the people to visit.

Showker argues that he has seen a decline in the quality of web sites basing from reviews he made of several sites. From his statements, I can see that he is well-versed in making analyses of web sites and is a credible source of information. Many sites came under his meticulous scrutiny and not one was spared.

Some of the sites that he revisited were dead and others that are still up failed to meet the expected standards. The changes he saw came as a shock since he did not expect many of them to go down the drain.

Riddler.com was one site that Showker said proved to be a disappointment as it took out of consideration the reading pleasure of the reader and instead took on a much commercialized look. Webshaker.com is similar as well.

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was another site that was axe by Showker. Indeed, I was surprise to see a content in the site about the Black History month with Martin Luther King Jr.’s picture in it. I have to agree with Fred on this one as I see no relevance of the content in promoting B&J’s ice cream. Perhaps there is an underlying purpose for that but I honestly don’t see its bearing here.

Of course there are web sites that met Showker’s scrutiny like Hallmark, Camobell Soups and Smuckers. These sites provided a good site for browsing and had a good visual offering for the visitor.

Fred Showker’s main thesis in his review is the importance of the reader as an element in the creation of web sites. The site must be tailor-made for the reader for it to reap the fullest benefits. The content must be of relevance to the reader and not just provide a stiff approach to giving out information.

He further adds that a site may come up short on the design aspect but it still should follow this basic concept, "The reader is the most important element in the equation." Style gives way to message, and content is STILL king.

Author: Paul Hood

Blog expert says : A Person Is Known By the Blog He Keeps

2009-01-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

Literature is the soul of the wit. The best source of literature can be now found in blogs. The growing trend of ‘blogmania’ is slowly sweeping the netizens. Every person aspires to have a blog as a platform to publish his thoughts and be heard and read.

General surveys undertaken on blogs and bloggers shows a rising trend in blogging. A parallel platform for literary endeavor, the blogs are overthrowing the traditional journalistic norms. Publishing of news and views no longer remains the privilege of an elite minority. Anybody and everybody is free to get in touch and explore the writer within himself. The anamorphic nature of the human soul is best reflected in the blogs.
http://alphablog.rediffblogs.com/2005_20_03_alphablog_archive.html

A survey in the United States brought out a startling fact the 30% of the surveyed people read blogs. Also, 52% of the surveyed people advocate equal journalistic rights and freedom for the blogs. And the most striking fact is that 31% of the surveyed people revealed that they found blogs to be more credible than the newspapers.

The growing popularity of blogs can be gauzed from the fact that Yahoo, Google, MSN, Rediff and all the other bigwigs of the cyber world are experimenting with blogs and bloggers. Both free and paid blog hoisting sites have come up which offers a plethora of tools to make blogging a breeze.

MSN has even gone to the extent of making a common 'passport' database across all its services. So now, a MSN user can use his own personal 'id' across MSN messenger, Spaces and hotmail. Also, MSN has integrated its Spaces with MSN Messenger 7.0. The users of MSN Messenger 7.0 will have a tab labeled 'gleams' which will inform them when their contacts have updated their individual blogs.

Recent statistics from MSN shows that MSN has 170,000 daily blog updates. This number is huge considering the fact that most of the bloggers do not update their blogs on a daily basis.

The Literature of the new era is no longer limited to books. From Poems to Features, from Humor to Short Stories, everything can be found in the blogs.
http://alphablog.rediffblogs.com/2005_27_03_alphablog_archive.html
http://alphablog.rediffblogs.com/2005_03_04_alphablog_archive.html

Though good blogs are a trifle to find, yet close scrutiny will reveal every blog to be good in its own personal aspect. After all, blogs are a slice of the blogger's life and every one's life is a good source of learning experience.

http://alphablog.rediffblogs.com/
This also opens up the teaching value of blogs. Blogs can be a mirror of life, culture and society. What can be a better teacher than one with a plethora of experiences to offer on a silver platter?

About the Author :
Abhishek Sarkar works as an Executive Content Developer and Analyst. He is currently associated with Alpha Blog.

Marketing expert says : M-Commerce Twice the Cash Value of E-Commerce

2009-01-20T03:55:00.000-08:00

Do you even know what M-Commerce is?

Well you better learn fast. Predictions in Europe for M-Commerce, the second largest market behind Asia, are for a spend of €7.4 Billion in 2006 that's over $8 Billion. That's twice the predicted spend of traditional web services!

So what is M-Commerce?

It's very simple, mobile / cell phone based sales. Usually relating to content such as games, wallpaper, ringtones etc. But there's much more to it than that. Keep reading.

What's the big deal?
More people own a mobile phone than a PC, they're better integrated in to daily life. People are very comfortable using them. They are now in fact heavily relied upon, as the phone feature is only a small part of what can be perceived as a miniature multi-purpose multi-capable portable computer.

Mobile Growth
Mobile growth already outstrips all other communication channels. Half of all Americans are mobile phone subscribers. In the UK the ownership of a mobile phone is equivalent to 1.5 phones per head of population. According to research, mobile content services will be worth $121 Billion worldwide by 2008. White label distribution of ringtones, images, games and other promotions will drive up to 1/5th of the revenue generated. It's estimated 1.5 Billion people worldwide own a mobile phone.

With more and more technology add-ons to tempt the consumer these devices are now Cameras, MP3 players, game consoles, voice notepads, picture albums, diary organiser, PDF readers etc etc.

In fact I'm writing this article on my PDA / Phone whilst sat in the sunshine in the garden. With two taps on the screen I can hook up to my home wireless network and check my emails, browse the net, update my Blog or edit and publish article submissions on one of my sites all via broadband.

We are not that far away from always on Net connections. Once this arrives it will allow anyone to do this almost wherever they are. Certainly in the major cities around the world. When this happens there will be a third Internet boom as Joe public try's out the Net connection again that was always too shoddy to use in the past.

And what will they want? Content! ringtones, wallpaper, games, MP3's etc

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The real money isn't even going to be made via a Net sale. The real money will be made via SMS(Short Message Service), MMS(Multimedia Messaging System) and this ones a goldmine...Micro payments.

Recent research has shown a doubling of worldwide revenue from streaming TV and sports bulletin subscriptions. 380 million people worldwide are expected to subscribe to similar services in 2005. Including TV show bulletins particularly from 'reality TV' shows, News bulletins or Soap updates.

Big deal you're not a TV network how can you make some money out of this boom?
I'll go into that in a second but first I want to go back to those Micro payments I mentioned earlier. The real gold dust.

Micro Payment Profits
Micro payments have been around for a while here in the UK. A smaller land mass has allowed for a quicker rollout of mobile technologies here. Nationwide Network coverage is easier to achieve. I believe the first example in the US to take it mainstream was by the 'American Idol' show. Viewers voted for the acts on the show via their mobile phone. They where then charged a small premium for their vote on top of their networks regular SMS charge. Think of the millions of votes that the show attracted and the revenue generated.

That's micro payments in action.

The beauty of this is that people don't feel like they're spending money because they don't need to whip out their credit card, it's an easier payment method, usually involving a simple text to a small number and the payment is small. They also trust their mobile for making payments unlike an online transaction.

Any payments made will appear on their next phone bill. People are already used to paying in this way, they're comfortable with it. Whether it's to vote for an act on a TV show, for a game download or to grab the latest ringtone.

What have you got that you could take micro payments for?
You should be considering how you can utilise your current website network to tap into this market. Do you offer subscriptions? Is there a service you offer that you could convert to subscriptions.

How Can You Make Some Money?
Here's a quick example. Your newsletter. Would your subscribers be willing to pay a small premium to have your newsletter delivered directly to their mobile? Wherever they are, without the need to be sat in front of a PC. Thus bypassing the SPAM filter problem and guaranteeing they receive your valuable content. You could sell it as valuable service for your customers with added content not available on your site or via your regular newsletter.

Or offer them up to the minute breaking news in their industry, which they receive as it breaks and not when they check their email five hours later when it's to late to take action.

Digital artists sell your wallpaper designs direct to the consumer via the mobile phone. New bands forget the record company contract sell your music via MP3's direct to the consumer. Investment advisors get subscribers to your 'Hot Tips' bulletins. Store owners offer a sale bulletin service etc etc

The Future
The omnipresent Google are moving forward with major mobile initiatives. Spending vast amounts of money to stake a claim in this fledgling market. There's the mobile version of Froogle for one and they've also developed mobile business listings specifically for the potentially huge 'local search' market. They also offer a free SMS based information service http://www.google.com/sms/ and http://www.google.co.uk/sms/

Another major company Real Networks, creators of Real media Player, recently bought Finnish mobile phone game developers Mr Goodliving for $15M. Essentially buying a back catalogue of high profile mobile games.

NTL a cable TV company here in the UK recently streamed the Grand National, the biggest race horse meet here in the UK, live to Nokia owning subscribers.

This is early days and that's a small glimpse of the future.

The M-Commerce Market is very different from the online market in terms of what content consumers are currently paying for. The biggest revenue generators online, 70%, are porn and dating sites. A similar percentage via mobile is for games, music and video. Films, that's another one, Nokia are now distributing Hollywood movies via memory card!

The technology specifically 3G, an always on network with transfer rates of 384kbs a second, is here and trickling into mainstream culture. These devices are in fact capable of 1920kbs. Compare that to GPRS at 56kbs. You don't need these speeds to take advantage of this market but you should keep them in mind to realise the full potential of where mobile communication is going.

Here's a brief, eye opening, wish list from consumers for future mobile phone payment abilities:-

10 Use your mobile as a key
9 Marketing communications
8 Retail checkout payments
7 Vending machine payments
6 Flight check in
5 Credit / debit cards
4 Season tickets
3 Loyalty cards
2 Parking Meter payments
1 Mobile Coupon redemption

Getting Started How do you Accept Payments?
Reverse SMS is very popular at the moment. It provides the ability for you to direct consumers to secret download links on your site whilst taking payment through a premium SMS message. Another method known as 'WAP Push' sends a link via SMS that automatically launches when the message is opened. You will need to set up your own WAP / SMS Gateway on your server which will require server administrator access to use both these solutions.

But there are other easier solutions a number of websites are springing up that allow you to upload your content available for download, games, video, wallpaper, MP3's etc . A small fee is taken from each paid download by the SMS Gateway company..

I've compiled a list of useful links to a number of the above solutions and I've also thrown in a couple of links to 'mobaphile' websites were you will find some interesting predictions for the future development of mobile phones along with some real off the wall ideas for making money with mobiles. http://www.how-to-make-money-online.info/m-commerce-resources.php

To paraphrase a strap line 'The future's bright the future's mobile'.

About the author: Darren Yates
Online a site all about making money online and Internet Marketing.

Business expert says : What If A Franchise Was Run Like a Typical Home Based Business and Residual Income?

2009-01-20T03:52:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered how a Franchise would do if run like a typical home business? This might give you some idea.

There is something that is long as I live I will never understand. Well I suppose actually there are several things, however right now this is business focused. That something is residual income. I just can’t for the life of me understand how someone can go through life and just continue to work at a job with no plan for residual income. I suppose many people just can’t comprehend that they can have money coming into them while they aren’t working.

There are a number of ways to get residual income like writing a book, or a song. However, these are tough occupations to succeed at.

One of the very best ways to have residual income is good home business in Network Marketing. Network marketing has been criticized, poked fun of, ridiculed and worse. But it’s here to stay and it’s popularity is growing. Often called the poor man’s franchise, with the right company, product and timing a person can actually do much better than a franchise without the expense and headaches that so often accompany a franchise.

Think about this, what would you say is the best most successful stable franchise today? Several come to mind but no one can argue that McDonalds wouldn’t be at or near the top of most lists. So what kind of point am I making here. Simply this, many people argue that home businesses, especially in the area of network marketing don’t work. Well gee whiz if a McDonalds was run the same way the majority of people work their home business the McDonalds would all go out of business.

Here is how the typical McDonalds would be run if run by the typical unsuccessful home businessperson.

When it’s open – I stress the word open, (more on this) it would probably be open less than 1 hour a day. The workers would be sitting around pretending to be working, but accomplishing very little. And then suddenly at a whim the store would abruptly close, perhaps to open again in a few days or even a few weeks. No schedule or hours of operation would be posted when the store was going to be open. After reopening after an absence the workers would just be getting back in the groove of working again when a half hour later the store would close because no customers were coming in. It seemed not knowing when the store would be open was keeping them away – imagine that. Well after a month or so of no customers the store is closed with the owner muttering under his breath. “These franchise things just don’t work!” Then he starts telling all his friends, “I tried one of those franchise things once. They just don’t work!”

This example is easy to see and yet we all wonder why a home business fails when conducted in this same manner. What is great about a home business versus a traditional business is you don’t have to start each day at 8:00, you have a lot of flexibility. However, you don’t have the flexibility not to work for days and weeks at a stretch and engage in poor work habits when you decide to work.

Of course not all the blame can be put on the new home business person, there are some bad programs out there and timing can be bad with others. Of course wrong expectations can mislead many people into discouragement. What do we mean here. Well look at it this way. Very few people would argue that Microsoft would be a poor stock investment today. However, there are people that hype their particular company that has passed it's growth spurt, that you can get rich and retire with their company. This is the same as a dishonest stock broker pushing Microsoft from the angle of it getting ready to explode in value as they will have double digit growth each month for the next 5 years. Hey in the early 80’s Microsoft had this type of growth, just don't expect the growth to continue forever.

The point is there are always new Microsoft’s in the Business and Home Business markets. It’s knowing how to find them that is key. They are out there, home businesses that are rock solid and will experience this type of explosive growth over the next 5 years.

About the author:
Nick A. James offers informative tips and information on nutrition, health and working from home.

Googling expert says : Are you using both sides of the GoogleCoin?

2009-01-20T03:46:00.000-08:00

By now most of you realise that Google can give our websites the ability to appear within their results pages using a Pay
Per Click model (PPC).

This is called Google Adwords

Hopefully, you will also be aware that that Google offers website owners the ability to display these PPC results on
their own websites.

For this privilege, Google will pay the website owner a share of the PPC revenue earnt from any click throughs on the results displayed on their website.

This is called Google Adsense

So there you have both sides of the Google coin.

On one side, the ability to drive low cost targeted traffic and on the other side, the ability to generate revenue from
your existing traffic.

You'd think that was the end of it but really it is only the beginning.

Heads or Tails?

Heads it is….

Let's look at Adwords

There are those that think…

…write your ad, pays your money and away you go.

Which to 80% of the people using Adwords, this seems to work OK for them. Remember I said OK!

For the other 20% , these guys and gals, are testing,changing, innovating and working Google as hard as they can.

One such character is Chris Carpenter , whose GoogleCash is pioneering in the way that he works Google and now lets
other work Google just as hard.

"Like Bruce Lee taught us the art of fighting without fighting, Chris Carpenter shows us the art of website revenue generation without a website!"

Chris has shown examples of Adwords campaigns that cost cents to set up but pay dollars in commissions. None of my
current investments give me such a high ROI.

I have tried my hand at it and I am currently making around $4000 per month just from this one product. I am only
spending $250 on Adwords to get this return.

Why not have a look at Google Cash yourself.

http://www.j2-squared.com/google-cash-book-review.htm

Tails you win!

Secondly, while most people just cut and paste Adsense code into all the pages of their site, they just leave it at that
thinking job done!

They don't explore the high value keywords in their market or niche.

Why do that?

Well if you knew what the more profitable keywords and terms are, you can write content and these words can be displayed.
Google Adsense will then look at your page content and work out what to display.

You could double your income by changing words on your site. Maybe Life insurance to life assurance or personal loan to
loans or adverse credit to bad credit.

Also sites tend to use one format and one position for the ads.

Test, test, test

Try different layouts and work out which ones work best for you. You may be surprised.

Test, test, test

There are several tools that can help you identify keywords but the best for you would be either the Google Adwords program or Overture view bids tool.

Don't worry about thinking you are doing anything wrong. In fact, think about it - you will be creating relevant content for Google to display and for their users to read. Users are happy, Google are happy and you will earn more revenue from Adsense. So hopefully you'll be happy too!

A Win Win situation!

Again, like most things rather than reinvent the wheel there is a whole book on Adsense written my friend William
Charlwood has written The Definitive Guide to Google AdSense which tells you exactly how to make money by hosting small
ads on your website. It is a detailed road-map of everything you need to do to get going and then maximise your AdSense
income.

Once you've got it right, you can look forward to a check every month from Google.

Check this out here:

http://www.j2-squared.com/adsense-guide.htm

So there you are, there are two sides to the Google coin.

Are you using both sides!

Good Luck!

About the author:
Jason Hulott is Director of J2 Squared, leading specialists in Internet consultancy
whose specific aim is to drive more Revenue to websites

Computer expert says : Computer Accessories We All Want For Our New Computer!

2009-01-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

Printers
A computer accessory we all need. From inexpensive ink jets to monochrome and color lasers, different printers are designed to do different jobs with your computer. You will have a few choices to make when getting your new printer: price, speed, and print quality are the main ones. Ink jet printers and digital cameras are changing how we print photographs. Load your printer up with special photo inks and paper and ink jet/bubble jet printers have become one of the best options for transforming a digital image into a photograph! For speed and razor sharp text the monochrome laser printers are fantastic.

Scanner
This computer accessory is for input into your computer. Graphic designers will use a scanner often to input pictures etc. If you don't have a digital camera a scanner is the only other way to get pictures into your computer to email, manipulate, add to cards, etc.

Speakers
These are computer accessories that most computers come equipped with. But some people like 'game players' want to upgrade for surround sound. You will find many different versions and brands.

Keyboard and Mouse
These are also computer accessories that usually come with a computer system. Although most people will have to purchase new ones during the life of their computer. This is because they do not last as long as the computer system itself. Of course, it is dependent on how much you use them, how rough you are on them, and how clean you keep them.

Author: Bonnie Archer

Web expert says : Website Buying Guide Checklist

2009-01-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

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.

Author: Joel Walsh

Blog expert says : Blogosphere Networking

2009-01-18T21:44:00.000-08:00

Blogging seems to be taking over the world, or at least everyone seems to be talking about blogs. However, there are a surprisingly large number of people who have no idea of blogs, blawgs, blogsphere, etc....

I was recently at a social gathering with some very educated and sophisticated individuals. In the conversation I mentioned my new book (“Some Assembly Required: How to Make, Keep and Grow Your Business Relationships” and my blog (“The Business Development / Networking Blog”). Everyone immediately understood the concept of a book.....but the idea of a blog created many a puzzled face.

I was asked a lot of questions (some folks had heard of blogging, others had not). The following are the top questions, and my feeble attempt to answer them:

1. Why did you start your blog?

I started it as an experiment to help educate myself about blogs. My company is interested in having an industry focused blog, and I decided to take it upon myself to jump into the blogosphere and get my feet wet. In addition, I write a recurring column for Professional Marketing Magazine, and I thought that regularly writing a blog would give me some good practice and help me uncover themes for future articles. I also felt I could use it to help promote my new book.

2. Has it been worth it?

Yes!!! On all three of the above reasons I have exceeded my goals. I now understand the commitment involved if we create an industry blog. I have already created a lot of positive material that can later be turned into articles for my marketing column. AND.....I have sold a bunch of copies of my new book .....even before it is released.

3. Are all blogs the same?

NO. There are as many types of blogs are there are writers. I have categorized them into three types, but I am sure others would have arguments about these areas:

A. Corporate Blogs. These are hosted by companies to promote their products and services or to communicate with clients.

B. Philosophical / Content Blogs. In this type, an individual (or group of individuals) writes on a specific topic and shares their opinions with the readers. Topics can range from business to sports to politics to religion, etc.... I would put The Business Development / Networking Blog in this category. The blogs from which I learn the most are philosophical/content blogs.

C. Diaries. In these blogs people record their daily experiences the way one would write in a diary. Some of these can be quite entertaining, as they allow the voyeur in each of us to look into someone else's private world. However, reader beware...some of these can reveal a bit more than you want to read (or see).

4. Why would I want to read blogs?

They are a great way to discover information on any particular topic or variety of ideas. Many bloggers have very good sources of information and they certainly have opinions. As with any media source, you need to beware of the authors intent and ulterior motives. Also, blogs can just be interesting to read.

5. What have you learned from writing your blog?

Like the term "World Wide Web" only a decade ago, "Blogs, blogging and the blogosphere" are the new new thing, and are not just a "fad". If people are not yet aware of blogs, they will be soon. More and more blogs are created every day and blogs will soon touch everyone who surf the internet.
Having your own blog, however, is not for everyone. You must be committed to writing on a regular basis, and not shy about sharing your opinions. I have learned that a blog can go stale if you do not make posts on a regular basis.

I also learned that when you blog, you are actually networking. At first it seemed like this was one sided, until I began to hear from people who were regularly reading my blog. I have developed new friendships with many bloggers who write about similar topics. Often one blogger will email another with a compliment or suggestion, and they will begin to correspond regularly. Just like any other type of business friendship, the relationship grows over time. This blog-networking leads to mutual understanding and respect between the bloggers and then can lead to business relationships and referrals.

6. Should I start a blog?

That is a question every person will have to answer for himself/herself. I
would suggest you begin by reading other blogs and getting familiar with what is out there in blog-land. If you believe that you have something to say...then by all means, start a blog. But remember to be patient and persistent. Like writing a book, it takes time and there is no guarantee that you will become widely read. However if you are dedicated, you will uncover many unexpected benefits from your blogging experience.

If you are interested in easily learning about blogs, I suggest you start by reading the posts and links in the series called “31 Days to Better Blogs" at www.problogger.net, hosted by Darren Rowse. This is the best collection of advice to the experienced and novice blogge

the Author : Thom Singer

Computer expert says : COMPUTER BACKUPS

2009-01-17T21:19:00.000-08:00

COMPUTERS AND HALLOWEEN, DO THEY MIX?

Computer backup is so important to your computer that to ignore it is to risk its damnation.

Computers require care and feeding. They require that you attend to their needs. If you don't, then they will most surely be sent to Hell.

Halloween means Hell. What! What do you mean that Halloween means Hell?

Well, if your computer is given the option of trick or treat, which will it accept? Will it accept the trick or the treat? What do you think?

Halloween is the time that computers are subject to tricks or treats. Did you know that more computers fail on Halloween than any other day of the year? That’s right. It’s true (smile). Your computer is in danger! Protect it. Do your computer backups.

Back to the Hell thing. Hell you say? Yep. Well, what do you mean by Hell?

Computer hell is the place for computers without computer backup. The failure to perform hard drive backup means that you are playing Russian Roulette with your data. Data needs your protection. Failure to protect your data may cause your home or business records to be sent to Hell.

Hell in this instance is for the records and files that cannot be resurrected. Resurrected you say, what does that mean?

It means that without computer backup as a source of salvation then the files can safely enjoy eternal oblivion. Oblivion you say, what does that mean? That means they are eternally lost from computer resurrection.

Is there any mercy for my precious files, you ask?

Why yes there is. Would like to know what the mercy for your files is? Yes! Yes! You say.

OK boys and girls listen carefully. The salvation, mercy, resurrection and redemption of your files lies in regular and consistent and persistent computer backup.

If you backup your computer consistently and persistently your files will be resurrected and saved from accidental deletion, hard drive failure and those nasty things like fire, flood, theft, earthquake, hurricanes, tornados and the like!

Computer backup is the key to your data's salvation!

Do your computer backups boys and girls.

Milk and cookies will be served in the pantry.

Trick or treat for your computer backup?

About the author:
Jack Back has been a working computer consultant company owner since 1991.

Business expert says : Direction, Desire and Determination, 3 D’s To Home Business Success

2009-01-17T21:05:00.000-08:00

When reviewing home business opportunities you must do a thorough review of the opportunity. Make sure the company has a superior marketing plan as well as exceptional marketing tools to help you succeed in your quest for home business financial freedom.

To make money using the Internet you need to be involved in several different opportunities to be successful – make sure the home business opportunities you choose to pursue have a clear path to success, giving you a definite direction in achieving your home business goals.

Most people fall into one of two categories, those that just think about success and those who have the desire to succeed. Even though every one really wants success in their life, few really take the necessary steps to be successful in life or any type of home business for that matter.

It is so easy to come up with excuse after excuse why you can’t be successful. It really is a mystery why we can’t take control of our wants and needs. If you just step up to the plate and take control over your life’s ambitions you’ll see how success is really within reach. If you believe you can achieve, but you must also have the desire to achieve what you believe.

You’ve been provided great direction; you have the desire, so now it’s all down hill, you are going to be successful in your home business and you will make money – right? That may be enough for most, however without determination your chances for success will be far less than someone who has the determination to withstand the hurtles a home business entrepreneur will face.

9 out of 10 home business ventures will fail – why? Many people start a home business with excitement and a desire to be successful – but as soon as the going gets tough, most will lose hope and faith and turn the energy that fueled their home business completely off.

You must go the extra mile, have the passion and determination and success will not be an issue – you will succeed in your home business. Your success should be fueled by your mistakes and failures. Take what you learned from an unsuccessful situation and build on that failure – never give up, never surrender.

A successful person has the endurance to make money with their home business in spite of all the difficulties that will arise. They have no doubt and never waver no matter what is thrown at them. You must be stubborn and hard willed refusing to cave in when you are at what seems to be the bottom. The power of your determination has most likely never been tapped – we can all be successful at anything, I mean anything if you are stronger than the opposition - failure.

Failure must not be an option – Thomas Edison made 4,999 unsuccessful attempts at creating the perfect light bulb – it was his strong willed determination that finally lead to his successful 5,000th attempt. The list of these types of examples is endless – your determination for success must be endless as well.

You can pursue success and overcome just about any problem, snag, or bump in the road that life has to offer – if you have a strong enough determination. Where there is a will, there is a way. If you waste time wondering “why me” or “why can’t get a break” you will be destined to fail and never have a successful home business.

Nothing worth doing will ever be easy, you can overcome the odds and make money in your home business venture if you have Direction, Desire and Determination – nothing can hold you back with when you have these three ingredients deep within you.

Author: Tim Somers

Blog expert says : Why Blog?

2009-01-17T20:55:00.000-08:00

It seems everyone these days is talking about blogging. Everywhere I go, I find articles and forums devoted to this craze. I also have heard from many moms who are trying to figure out what a blog is and how they can use one to their benefit.

The term “blog” is short for “weblog”, which just means an online journal or “log”. You can jot down personal thoughts and notes, post articles you’ve written or keep track of interesting websites you find. The sky is the limit, it seems, when it comes to blogging. A blog is something entirely of your own creation and you can use it to share your thoughts with the world, well….with anyone you can get to read it anyway.

One of the main debates going on about blogs is whether blogging can be done to improve Search Engine rankings for businesses or to create a buzz about business websites. Both of these can be true if the blog is used correctly. Many resources show that once a blog is created, many times it is listed in Search Engines within 48 hours. This was true of the blog I created for Christian Work at Home Moms.

These are many ways to create a blog. The easiest by far is to use one of the free tools available online, such as Google’s Blogger. You can create your blog for free using their online tools and templates(nothing to download). After you have created the blog, you can then publish your blog through them and “Wa-La” – your blog is posted online for the world to see.

Once you’ve created your blog, you will need to decide how you will use it. Will it be a personal blog, full of thoughts and comments for yourself alone or maybe your family? Or will it be a business blog, with articles and tips for potential customers? If you want your blog to be found by others, blogging experts recommend that you begin by setting the title and descriptions for your blog. These are similar to the the title and descriptions you set for your website. Try to make them meaningful because they are what people will see when your blog is returned in a Search Engine. If your description is simply “my blog”, you may not draw the attention you’d like.

If you are blogging in the hopes of attracting customers, make sure to use wise use of words and links in your blogs. Try to avoid the “click here” link. Instead, opt for links within descriptive sentences. Add the HTML link within the sentence and attach it to the words that are closely related to the page or site you are linking to. For example, to link to my website I would not use “click here” as my link. I would say, “Please visit Christian Work at Home Moms for home-based work resources” with the link within the text.

There are many ways to get your blog noticed outside of optimizing them for Search Engines. For instance, there are entire websites devoted to listing blogs dedicated to any topic that you can think of. One of the best such websites devoted to women-created blogs, is BlogDaisy.com. You can also use free tools such a FeedBurner.com to track the traffic on your blog and to create a dynamic title box that can be used to display your blog headlines on your website or even in your email signature. Each time you update your blog, these headlines are instantly updated.

There are many ways to use a blog for either personal or business use. If used correctly, a blog can be a terrific tool to inform potential customers of your business. Be sure to update your blog at least once a week so that the content remains fresh and you remain in the Search Engines.

Author: Jill Hart

Marketing expert says : Is A Marketing Plan The Same Thing As A Communications Plan?

2009-01-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

How does a marketing plan relate to an organization's communications plan? What are the differences? Is the marketing plan just one aspect of the communications plan? Should one consider combining them into a single document?
A communications plan is a PART of your marketing plan. A communications plan is a focused strategy you use to get the word out about your business, product or service.

You may use a variety of communications tactics such as public relations, advertising and speaking engagements. Yes, it does identify who you are communicating to and what your message is, and where and how you will get that message out, and often has goals or objectives you are trying to achieve.

Here's the difference between the two

A marketing plan starts by creating a strong, strategic marketing foundation for your communications plan. It addresses the goals and objectives for your business, not just for your communications activities.

It addresses how you package, price and sell your product or service, not just how you talk about it. It takes into consideration your competitors and helps you develop a unique selling proposition to ensure your product or service is uniquely positioned in the minds of your prospects and customers.

And it ensures you have a way to track all of your marketing activities to create the greatest possible success for your business.

You need a marketing plan FIRST

The messaging part of your marketing plan is where your communications plan comes in. Once you have created a strong, strategic marketing foundation (which you will do as part of creating a marketing plan) you can determine a message strategy and tactics - this is your communications plan. And it most definitely can be a part of the same document.

When I write marketing plans for clients, the communications plan is part of the marketing plan. The only time it is not, is when the client has written their own business and marketing plans. But in those cases, I make sure I either get to review their plans or that I completely understand their business goals and strategy so I can develop a marketing communications plan to support them.

The success of your communications plan depends on it

If all you have is a communications plan, you are missing an important part of what it takes to make a business successful. A marketing plan is essential.

Author : Debbie LaChusa

Googling expert says : One of the 'Golden Rules' of Internet marketing....

2009-01-15T18:41:00.000-08:00

In my opinion, one of the 'Golden Rules' of Internet marketing has to be the following:

'Once you have uploaded a website, you should leave it online forever - even if it is only making you a couple of dollars a month.'

As long as you are covering the hosting and domain registration fees each year (maximum of a couple of dollars a month), then why take the site offline? Admittedly if the site is causing you hours of work every week and still only making you a couple of dollars income each month, then yes, remove it. But if the site involves you in no work (for example if it sells an eBook or you generate Adsense income etc from it, then why remove it?)

The point is that whilst the site in question may only be generating a small amount today, you never know what might happen tomorrow…..

This principle has been illustrated to me in a pretty big way during the past week and this is the sole reason that it is fresh in my mind and I want to share the experience with you so that you don't make the mistake that I very nearly made.

I have a site which I built about three years ago. It was a bit of an experiment and not connected to my main income-earning sites in any way. The site covered a topic that was pretty competitive online - an industry for which top search engine rankings were exceptionally hard to get. As I say, it was an experiment and I didn't really expect the site to make me much money - which was a good thing as it meant that I wasn't too disappointed when it didn't! :-)

After a few months of receiving no traffic, the site was eventually picked up by a couple of the major search engines and it started to receive a handful of visitors each day. I guess on a very good day I would get 45 referrals. Needless to say, the site wasn't making a fortune in income but something is always better than nothing.

Anyway at the beginning of this year I undertook a review of all of my websites and made the decision to ditch a few of the under-performing sites. This is where I nearly made a big mistake by deleting my little site but for whatever reason, the site in question managed to survive my 'cull'. It was a close call but in the end I decided that even though the site was only making $20 or $30 a month, it wasn't involving me in any work so it would be stupid to turn it off just for the sake of it.

So the site remained online and up until last week, it continued to tick over as it has done for the past three years, earning a minimal income every month from the few visitors that manage to find it.

That all changed last Thursday however when Google suddenly decided that my little experiment site was far more valuable than it had previously thought. Yup, Google decided that instead of listing my site way down the rankings for one or two low-level keywords, it would index the site at the top of the rankings (quite literally in first place in many instances) for numerous high-level keywords! :-)

Result? The site has gone from receiving an average of 35 visitors a day from Google to receiving over 500 visitors per day. On the busiest day this week, Google kindly sent the site just under 800 visitors.

Of course, this is great news and the site is already making considerably more profit than it has ever done but just look at how I would have missed out if I had taken the site offline. Remember, this is a site that I have barely touched in three years and I certainly haven't spent any time optimizing the site for the search engines. It is just a simple case of Google changing their algorithm in a way that favours my site considerably. This is one of those situations which could happen to any website at any time and this is the main reason why I say, once you have a site online, leave it there.

Clearly there is no guarantee that my site is going to stay at the top of Google for any length of time and given my experience of how search engines work, I am prepared for it to drop back down the index at any time but I am certainly enjoying the extra traffic while it lasts.

The above situation also illustrates how fickle search engines can be. Longer term readers will remember that I took the decision not to bother chasing search engine rankings some time ago. This decision was taken after Google decided to move one of my highly optimized sites from top position for countless keywords to about 20th position. This was a site which I had spent weeks optimizing and a site which had held top positions for over two years. Traffic to this site dropped away in hours and that was the point at which I vowed not to waste my time chasing search engine rankings and instead, would just let the search engines sort themselves out and rank my sites as they saw fit.

Sometimes this approach works and sometimes it doesn't - I try not to let it worry me either way.....

About the author:
Richard Grady has been helping ordinary people earn online since 1998

Web expert says : CREATIVE SUITE - THE UNDERLYING INTEGRATION

2009-01-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

Are you an Acrobat user and needs a complete tool for your print or web design projects? Read on.

A few months ago, Acrobat launched its main creative design packages including Photoshop/ImageReady, GoLive, InDesign and Illustrator. After a long period of silence, it came up with a much better package.

Adobe’s Creative Suite now comes in two new packages, the Standard Edition and the Professional Edition. The Standard Edition is composed of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. This package contains most of the print-oriented flagships. On the other hand, Adobe GoLive and Acrobat Professional comprise the Professional Edition, which focuses on web design.

Basically, these packages are combinations of the strengths each application offers. They are integrations of tools for handling colour management, screen display, type handling and more. They allow cross-application, meaning any file done in one program can be opened to the other programs as long as the file was created on one of the programs that comprises the packages. When a file is transferred, all other options can be applied. For example, when you open an Illustrator file to Photoshop, that file will be opened as a Photoshop file.

Every creative application on the package uses PDF file format. Not just a PDF format, they use the latest PDF 1.5 format. PDF format allows you to import and export directly. You can embed vector PDFs from Illustrator and bitmap PDFs from Photoshop in a multi-page InDesign PDF. This can also be exported for PDF web display or repurposed via GoLive.

Adobe Creative Suites has a new integrated file management system, which is essential in the software’s workflow and tight integration. Different components and versions of a project are hard to manage, especially when you are going to use a lot of programs, as in workgroups. But Adobe has a solution to this, the Version Cue. Version Cue, through the application of Save dialog, enables you to store all job elements and important version of your project. The Open dialog accesses visual thumbnails of the project file. You will also be warned if other users are using the same file. In other words, it provides file versioning and management.

The packages also contain XMP or eXtensible Metadata Platform standards. This allows you to search for files according to related information like keywords or authors.

Creative Suite applications are guaranteed excellent tools to provide you with your desired result. Think of these packages as the total of all these applications.

the author: Blur Loterina

Blog expert says : The Secrets of Corporate Blogging

2009-01-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

Web logs, popularly known as blogs, have become one of the hottest communication tools on the Web. Offering the opportunity for anyone to create their own free Web site, encouraging opinions and interaction, blogs provide forums for individuals to create their own highly personal presentations to the Web audience, and for consortia of all types to experience the sort of online community feeling that was pioneered by early newsgroups and by the phenomenal success of AOL in the 1990s.

Blogs have reached into the corporate and government sectors as well. A prominent federal magazine suggests that some company employees spend more time blogging than on personal e-mail, an average of over an hour a day. What started out as an outlet for teenage expression and grassroots journalism has turned into a lucrative communications tool for small and large businesses alike.

General Motors’ Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz, turned to the company’s blog when rumors surfaced about the discontinuation of the Pontiac and Buick brands. It became a means for a direct response, a way to talk to their consumers unfiltered.

Other companies such as Sun Microsystems and Microsoft are also recognizing the impact of blogging in their relationships with their customers and employees. In an article dated June 5, 2005, The Washington Post proposed that there were more than 100 official corporate blogs in existence, with hundreds more on the horizon.

Although the a major newspaper called blogging “ephemeral, fast-paced and scathingly opinionated,” blogs continue to grow steadily in the corporate world and companies are realizing their value.

Corporate Blogging

Internal Communication

Corporate Blogging refers to a company producing or supporting a blog that it uses to accomplish business objectives. A blog can serve many purposes in a corporate setting. Internally, a blog can be a forum for discussion about work-related issues. The informal atmosphere is encouraging to internal corporate communication. From small-scale discussions to virtual “town meetings,” in which employees at all levels feel that they can be heard, blogs promote collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Blogging can help establish a company or employee as an expert in their field. By posting information about a certain topic, a person exhibits their knowledge of the subject matter, setting himself up as an authority. People will come to equate the site and the author with that topic. This reputation for subject mastery and expertise can boost your sales and consumer opinion.

A blog can be an interactive addition to an intranet or e-mail newsletters. Since automatic update notification is possible on blogs, people are more likely to stay on top of the latest postings.

Public Communication

Blogs can be used to communicate to prospects, clients, employees and the media. Press releases and project updates can be posted, as well as job opportunities or information that the company wants to distribute outside of the normal news channels.

A blog can strengthen the bonds between the company and its customers. When a company presents itself honestly and transparently, it not only builds trust, but instills loyalty as well. Customers are more likely to work with a company they feel they know better than another. Blogs allow for that informal communication. They create good word-of-mouth among customers who don’t read the trade magazines or business pages. The nature of a blog fosters that image of transparency and openness for a company. Most people prefer companies who are honest in their dealings and frank about their issues. As seen in the media with the Dan Rather case, a blog can illuminate the truth through encouraging people to share what they know.

Blogging also reflects forward thinking. By staying current with the technological trends, you give your company a fresh image.

A blog can serve as a recruiting method. Interested job seekers can examine the company by reading its blog.

When testing a new product or service, a blog is an excellent place to give more detailed instructions or receive feedback.

Although, comments can be negative. Not everyone will agree with what is said on a blog. Instead of preventing them, welcome the constructive criticism and edit comments only to remove profanity and personal attacks.

The Down Side

There are some drawbacks to blogging. It is not a magic solution to your business needs. Many people feel that blogging popularity is much like the Internet in the 90's, a promise of money, but not necessarily delivery.

Blogging can lead to legal issues as well. Companies have real concerns about liability, exclusions and limitations, and indemnity. Although there are laws that protect against libel, misappropriations and other injuries suffered as a result of posts on the Web, companies can be held vicariously responsible for statements made by employees that are harmful to others.

In any medium where an employee is sharing information, there is the possibility of leaking trade secrets or financial information. Former Google employee Mark Jen was famously fired for gabbing about life at the company on his personal blog, not sanctioned by Google.

Like all essentially unfiltered communication, blogs can get personal. Many bloggers feel the need to discuss their personal lives as well as their professional ones. Companies must be careful not to stifle communications by keeping personal lives out of the workplace. By doing this, they risk closing down the lines of communication entirely.

Inevitably, a disgruntled employee may use this as an opportunity to badmouth the company. This is not limited to blogs, since an unhappy employee has a variety of mediums through which to vent his disapproval. Blogs just make it easy.

The content may not have enough substance to warrant or hold an audience. Some companies fill their blog with marketing fluff. People can see right through this and will most likely ignore the site. Blogs should be used for transparency, not shameless self-promotion.

Best Practices

Fine Print. Since there are so many legal issues surrounding blogs, it is imperative that the site has some sort of disclaimer and limitation of liability.

Know What You’re Doing. Senior management should be educated by the corporate communications and legal department about what blogs are and how they might affect business.

Create blogging policies. A company should have a list of policies regarding blogging to ensure that trade secrets are kept secret and personal lives do not become public. Policies may include keeping financial information from being posted, as well as severe consequences for anyone using the blog for negative publicity.

Avoid the Marketing Blog. Making your blog into a blatant marketing campaign is a bad idea. Customers are looking for real answers and honest opinions. They will pick up on insincerity instantly.

Keep It Fresh. Make content relevant and timely. Update the blog as often as possible with the most worthwhile news. This will encourage people to come back.

Reinforce the company’s core values. Then, make sure the content fits these values and supports the business strategy.

Encourage employees to use it, but remind them of the ramifications of their actions.

Free versus Paid Products

When creating a blog, there are hundreds of services and software from which to choose. The first decision to make is whether to go with a free service or pay for one.

For paid services, the cost varies depending on the features used. The basic hosting fee for a domain is anywhere from $5 to $15 a month. The domain name will need to be registered yearly, which can cost $5 to $35. This does not include the software, which may also have to be purchased.

While free services offer the basic necessities of blogging, paid services are usually more desirable since they have more to offer.

With a free service, the company offers a free site, but it may contain advertisements to offset the cost of maintenance. A paid site will not have any advertisements.

Most free services have a variety of templates to choose from for the look of the site, but paid services offer highly customizable designs.

In addition to the basic functions, paid blogs offer the ability to upload photos and images and tailor links on the site. They also offer better security and allow the creator to censor or control comments. Paid sites normally lead to a higher search engine ranking. They enable the creator to configure search output and there are fewer restrictions placed on paid sites.

Paid news aggregators will often keep a list of recently updated blogs and will rank them, showing new sites and newly added photo albums.

For a simple blog, any free service will do, but to get a truly customized and highly functioning product, it will take paying something for it.

RSS Feeds

With the rising popularity of blogs, it has become increasingly time-consuming to keep track of ones that are of interest. No one has time to check each and every favorite blog every day to search for new content. RSS feeds have become the solution.

RSS feeds are small XML files that contain a headline, date/time and description and link to information published on a blog. When used along with a feed reader, or news aggregator, they give an update on the newest content that has been added to a blogging site to a subscribed user.

RSS was developed in several different versions, each with a different meaning. RSS can stand for Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary or RDF Site Summary, depending on the version used. All versions do the same thing, though. They provide a summary of information. They send a blog’s highlights to subscribers instantly upon publication. RSS feeds save the user from having to visit the site for updates.

To receive RSS feed, a user must have a feed reader, also commonly referred to as a news aggregator. This can be software, a Web-based service, extension or built into a browser. It essentially takes the XML code and translates it into readable information. When the “update” button on the feed reader is clicked, it searches all of the subscribed sites’ RSS feed for new information.

Having a RSS feed greatly increases the traffic to a blogging site because it provides an easy way to keep an audience abreast of the latest developments. Once someone is a subscriber, he will continue to be involved in the site. RSS also makes it easier for someone to add a site as a link onto their own site.

Blogging inherently encourages communication and the transfer of ideas. Blogging lets businesses extend their reach and strengthen consumer loyalty, as well as get people talking about their product. It's a matter of perception, encouraging integrity and strengthing relationships in the corporate world. Blogging has become the trademark of forward thinking companies, willing to suffer a few stings in order to get to the benefits it has to offer.

About the author:
Karoline White is a Content Developer at Brook Group, a Web site design firm near Washington, DC.

Computer expert says : Protect Your Computer And Your Personal Information From Spyware

2009-01-14T19:16:00.000-08:00

Spyware is a broad term used for certain types of software that are downloaded onto your computer without your knowledge. Malware has become a phrase that is used when describing spyware and adware.

Spyware is placed on your computer in order to track your internet surfing habits. It knows every site you visit and every page on that site. Spyware also collects your personal information through software that tracks your actual keystrokes. If you fill in a form to make a purchase all your personal information, including name, address and credit card information can be tracked. The potential abuse of spyware tracking is also being discussed in some businesses that store secure information, such as credit card numbers or even medical records.

Adware is another type of spyware. It doesn't work by tracking your information as spyware does, but what it can do is actually change your browser settings without your consent. It can cause pop up ads to show on your computer. It can even place a new toolbar on your computer. Most people are unaware they even have any type of adware installed on their computer until their computer starts to slow down.

The spyware business is a billion dollar a year industry with people getting very rich selling the information they steal about you. There is a case currently in court in the State of New York against a spyware company. The outcome of this legal case will hopefully mean the end of secretly placed spyware.

In order to not fall prey to these types of malwares there are steps you can take. First, don't download freebies. A lot of services that are offered to you as "free" such as free music downloads are free per say, but the price you pay is allowing them to place spyware software or adware targeted advertisements on your computer. Read any agreements about the software very carefully before you download it.

Run an anti spyware software program often along with your virus protection software. Generally spyware and adware are designed to be difficult to remove from you computer and they leave behind "ticklers" which reinstall the software.

the author: Ryan Larson

Googling expert says : Cache in the Bank - Understanding Google's Advanced Operators

2009-01-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

If you would like to know when your site was last indexed by Google, you can find out easily by using the Google cache command. By typing “cache:www.logcabinrustics.com” into the Google search engine, I learned that my site was last indexed yesterday. The Google cache also displays the web page at the time of indexing, so you can see the latest version of your page that was indexed by Google.

As some webmasters have learned, the Google cache feature can be particularly handy when a valuable website and its backup have been lost due to computer failures. It may be time-consuming, especially if you have hundreds of pages, but you can actually retrieve the “lost” pages from your site in the form that Google last indexed them. If this doesn’t work, you might also try the Wayback Machine at archive.org.

Forensic experts have also used the Google cache feature to their advantage—to retrieve incriminating evidence from the web. This should be an important reminder to all webmasters not to publish sensitive material online. A later decision not to publish some tantalizing tidbit, and the frantic page-pulling that ensues, may not be enough to erase those ill-said words from the Net.

Webmasters are supposed to be able to block Google from caching their site by using the “no cache” tag. However, many don’t even try this for fear of losing favor in the company's powerful search rankings. Although Google says the “no cache” tags don’t affect web rankings, some webmasters aren’t so sure.

Other Helpful Google Operators

Other helpful search engine operators of particular value to webmasters include:

LINK: The LINK operator, when used in conjunction with your domain name, is supposed to tell you how many links are pointing to your site. The syntax for this command is “link:http://www.thevegetarianexpress.com/. By way of caution, this only shows how many links indexed by Google that are linking to you. A more inclusive option is found at the Marketleap website, where the Link Popularity Tool reports how many links are pointing to your site from other well-traveled search engines as well.

INURL: Google’s INURL operator will restrict your search to one site only. For example, typing “inurl:www.logcabinrustics.com log beds” will bring up the log beds only on the Log Cabin Rustics furniture website. This is a particularly helpful option if you are looking for a specific phrase on one site.

INTITLE: The INTITLE operator is helpful if you are looking for sites with a particular keyword in their title tag. Use this phrase at Google by typing in “intitle:furniture” or whatever other search term you are looking for.

Variations of the above themes include the ALLINURL and ALLINTITLE search operators. These are particularly useful when you are looking for a string of keywords in either a title or site. For example, if you start a query with allinurl:, Google will restrict the results to those with all of the query words in the url. For instance, [allinurl:logcabinrustics.com bunk beds] will return only documents that have both "bunk" and "beds" in the url.

Google operators can be especially helpful in analyzing the web pages of key competitors. To learn more, visit http://www.google.com/help/operators.html.

the Author: Cari Haus

Business expert says : Home Business Legalities And Tax Advantages

2009-01-14T03:49:00.000-08:00

Most cities and/or counties require you to have a business
license and/or permit. Check with your local government
municipalities to find out what the requirements are for
where you live. Depending on where you live, you should be
able to get this information from your local courthouse or
townhall.

As a home business owner, you may be required to file
estimated tax returns and pay estimated taxes quarterly. If
you have employees, you also have to submit taxes withheld
from employee paychecks. Here are some of the taxes you may
be responsible for:

Employment taxes -- Federal income taxes, Social Security
and Medicare, federal unemployment and state income taxes.Zoning may also be an issue. Municipal ordinances can be
very restrictive about what types of businesses are allowed
in a residential district. This also applies if you plan on
placing a sign outside of your home. Again, check with your
local government municipalities to find out what the
requirements are for where you live.

In addition, depending on how your home business is
structured--as a sole proprietorship, partnership or
corporation--there may be forms to file with the state. The
legal structure affects taxes and the liability of the owner
and the home business, so it's important to follow the
appropriate procedures. Contact your state's Department of
Revenue for filing fees and information.

If you plan to operate your home business under a name other
than your own, you will have to register a fictitious name
with the county--usually referred to as a DBA filing (Doing
Business As). The exceptions to this regulation are
corporations and partnerships doing business under the
umbrella of the corporate or partnership name.

Federal self-employment tax--Required by those who work for
themselves to cover Social Security and Medicare
contributions.

Sales tax--Each state requires a sales tax number for any
company involved in selling tangible items. Sales tax is
collected, reported and paid to the state either monthly or
quarterly.

Unemployment insurance tax -- You are required to pay
federal and state unemployment taxes if you have more than
one employee on the books for at least 20 weeks in a
calendar year, or if they have paid more than $1,500 in
gross wages in a calendar quarter.

Again, check with your state's Department of Revenue for
more information.

A home business qualifies for all of the same tax deductions
regular businesses do. In the eyes of the IRS, the only
difference between most home businesses and Fortune 500
Companies is their size, and the fact that home businesses
can also deduct many household and living expenses.

Owning a home business will entitle you to deduct thousands
of dollars in every day expenses. After all, why pay more in
taxes than you have to?

Listed below are just some of the items you are allowed to
deduct:

* Your car and car expenses.

* Your mileage.

* Your home computer, printer and other office equipment.

* Your home. If you're not a homeowner, you are allowed to
deduct the area where your home office is set-up.

* If you're a homeowner, you may deduct a portion of your
property taxes and utilities.

* Your travel expenses.

* Your restaurant meals, entertainent, dinner parties.

* You may pay wages, tax free, to two of your children, if
they are involved with the business.

* You may deduct your families health insurance.

NOTE: To qualify for the above tax deductions, you must be
actively working your home business.

In closing, since tax laws are continually changing, I
highly recommend you consult with your accountant or tax
advisor to learn more about applying the aforementioned
deductions to your home business.

About the author:
Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer,
publisher and entrepreneur.

Web expert says : Nonsense! Why do I need a website?

2009-01-14T03:34:00.000-08:00

A Website will help you and your business and has absolutely nothing to do with buying or selling or e-commerce or...
"I don't sell anything online, I don't advertise online, in fact I don't really even know how to use a computer... why should I pay for a website?"

If you don't feel a website can help your business grow or increase business sales, or if you're happy with the site your nephew made for you over half a decade ago... then you're not intune with current business trends and business practices.

Fear the unknown no longer!

Don't feel inferior and don't let that notion frighten you... that's why were here! To educate and help you understand exactly how our design and website services can help you.

You shouldn't do something because everyone else is. As far as the internet is concerned, there are definitely good, sound, solid reasons for having a web presence. This article will touch on just a few... and none of the following points have anything to do with selling a product or service of any kind online. All of these reasons affect your brick and mortar business... in a positive way!

The reasons you should have a website in plain English.

Even if you never use the internet, MOST of your customers do. In early 2005, Google announced it had over 9 Billion pages in its index. Common sense should tell us that there must be something to this internet marketing!

By having even a simple, informative website about you, your product or service, you open an instant, FREE door to perspective clientele that you never had before. This is the digital information age. The purpose of the website is to give yourself a billboard in it. Even the simplest website can:

Instant Access to your business Collateral-
Provide Downloadable forms, price lists, sale sheets and brochures to people researching a purchase. House a forum via email to quickly and easily answer questions about your goods and services.

Reduce Costs-
A strong enough web presence can eliminate many print advertising and other campaign costs. Even on the most rigourous web campaigns, the advertising cost per customer is far, far less by comparison.

Give People What They Are Looking For-
More and more people research a company or product online before face to face contact. Today people expect to find a web site for a company with at the very least further information on services or products.

Always On-
Information about your company is available 24/7, locally, nationally, and globally at no extra cost. Imagine the cost of a direct mail piece through the post office to every address in the world with a computer!

Cost Effective-
Can easily be the most cost effective advertising and marketing medium of communication to existing and potential customers.

Showcase What You Do Best-
If your product and service is quality and you're a one person operation, your website can focus on your business and open the door to people who might not be thinking of a smaller business for their needs.

About the author:
John Krycek is the owner and creative director.

Marketing expert says : Why Network Marketing?

2009-01-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

Put simply, Network Marketing is just a way for businesses to distribute their products. If you have been looking for ways to earn a good residual income from home, then network marketing may be the right choice for you. Right now, when you are reading this, there are vast opportunities building up in network marketing programs. So this is just the right time for you to pitch in and start building your business.

In network marketing, the work you put in today will provide a residual income for you and your family for years to come.

The distribution process, used in traditional marketing, moves a product from the manufacturer to the warehouser to the wholesaler to the retailer to the end customer. On the other hand, network marketing companies use a network of independent marketers to move the product directly from the manufacturer to the end customer.

As one of these independent marketers, you earn a percentage of the profit on all sales you make. Of course, it's quite possible for you to earn a good income by selling the product directly to the customer, but the real punch in network marketing lies in the power it gives you to build a downline. You have the freedom to build a downline of other independent marketers below you. As a result, you stand to gain by earning a percentage of their combined sales.

Give it some thought. As a traditional marketer, you may be quite happy with the handful of existing customers you already have. But imagine the potential of having a downline of, say, a hundred people who also make some sales and you're earning a percentage of all those sales!! By having a downline working under you, you can effectively multiply the time you put into your work. Imagine having a downline of 1,000 people each putting in only an hour a day five days a week. In one month 20,000 hours of work would be done. It would take one person alone 10 years to produce the same amount of work.

So it IS possible, you know, to make huge amounts of monthly incomes from network marketing. It isn't all hype. All you need is some hard work and basic intelligence, as in any other job. So why not try and make this work? After all, you won't have to do the 9 to 5 grind five days a week. You'll have more time for your family and yourself. Don't you find that wonderful?

About the author:
Lana Hampton builds her network marketing business online quickly and easily.

Business expert says : Your Home Business Attitude

2009-01-11T23:36:00.000-08:00

Let me put this to you nice and sweet: Attitude predicts your future. Honestly.

If you tell yourself that you’re not going to succeed with a home business, you won’t. If you think you’re going to lose, you already lost.

I remember as a little girl in school, we had a Christmas fundraiser. The person who sold the most candy out of the entire school won the grand prize, a TV. I kept telling myself over and over again, “I’m going to win that TV.” It wasn’t the prize itself that I wanted so bad because God knows I had everything as a child. It was being number one. I had to be number one and I was determined to succeed!

Before starting a work from home business, take some time and write a list of goals. What is it you want for yourself? What is it you want for your family? What are the things you want to accomplish with a home-based business? Some of your goals may include the following:

- Put a child through college
- Pay off your bills
- Buy a new home
- Buy a new car
- Take a nice vacation

YOU CAN reach your goals, whatever they happen to be, if only you have the right attitude and support. I know how friends and family members can be. Negative at times, huh? UH HUH! Let them know what your goals and plans are and tell them you’d like some support with your new home business.

If ordinary people around the world are succeeding with their home business, so can you! What makes them different from you? You don’t need “skills” or a college degree to make a 6-figure income when it comes to a home business. All you need is the right attitude and you’re half-way to success!

By the way, I won that TV.

About the Author :
Nicole Taylor will help you to succeed with one of the best home business opportunities on the Internet!

Business expert says : Direction, Desire and Determination, 3 D’s To Home Business Success

2009-01-11T23:31:00.000-08:00

Web expert says : Streamline Your Website Pages

2009-01-11T23:22:00.000-08:00

Squeezing the most efficient performance from your web pages is important. The benefits are universal, whether the site is personal or large and professional. Reducing page weight can speed up the browsing experience, especially if your visitors are using dial-up internet access. Though broadband access is the future, the present still contains a great deal of dial-up users. Many sites, ecommerce sites especially, cannot afford to ignore this large section of the market. Sites with a large amount of unique traffic may also save on their total monthly traffic by slimming down their web pages. This article will cover the basics of on-page optimization in both text/code and graphics.

Graphics

Graphics are the usual suspect on heavy pages. Either as a result of a highly graphic design, or a few poorly optimized images, graphics can significantly extend the load-time of a web page. The first step in graphics optimization is very basic. Decide if the graphics are absolutely necessary and simply eliminate or move the ones that aren't. Removing large graphics from the homepage to a separate gallery will likely increase the number of visitors who "hang around" to let the homepage load. Separating larger photos or art to a gallery also provides the opportunity to provide fair warning to users clicking on the gallery that it may take longer to load. In the case of graphical buttons, consider the use of text based, CSS-styled buttons instead. Sites that use a highly graphic design, a common theme in website "templates", need to optimize their graphics as best as possible.

Graphics optimization first involves selecting the appropriate file type for your image. Though this topic alone is fodder for far more in depth analysis, I will touch on it briefly. Images come in 2 basic varieties, those that are photographic in nature, and those that are graphic in nature. Photographs have a large array of colors all jumbled together in what's referred to as continuous tone. Graphics, such as business logos, are generally smooth, crisp and have large areas of the same color. Photographs are best compressed into "JPEGs". The "Joint Photographic Expert Group" format can successfully compress large photos down to very manageable sizes. It is usually applied on a sliding "quality" scale between 1-100, 1 being the most compressed and lowest quality, 100 the least and highest quality. JPEG is a "lossy" compression algorithm, meaning it "destroys" image information when applied, so always keep a copy of the original file. Graphics and logos generally work best in the "GIF", or more recently, the "PNG" format. These formats are more efficient than JPEGs at reducing the size of images with large areas of similar color, such as logos or graphical text.

A few general notes on other media are appropriate. Other types of media such as Flash or sound files also slow down a page. The first rule is always the same, consider whether they are absolutely necessary. If you are choosing to build the site entirely in Flash, then make sure the individual sections and elements are as well compressed as possible. In the case of music, I will admit to personal bias here and paraphrase a brilliant old saying, "Websites should be seen and not heard." Simply, music playing in the background will not "enhance" any browsing experience.

Text and Code

The most weight to be trimmed on a page will come from graphical and media elements, but it is possible to shed a few extra bytes by looking at the text and code of a web page. In terms of actual text content, there may not be much to do here. A page's content is key not only to the user's understanding but also search engine ranking. Removing or better organizing content is only necessary in extreme situations, where more than page weight is an issue. An example might be a long, text heavy web page requiring a lengthy vertical scrolling to finish. Such a page is common on "infomercial" sites, and violates basic design tenants beyond those related to page weight.

Code is a different story. A website's code can be made more efficient in a variety of fashions. First, via the use of CSS, all style elements of a web page can now be called via an external file. This same file can be called on all a site's pages, providing for a uniform look and feel. Not only is this more efficient; it is also the official recommendation from the W3C. The same may be said of XHTML and the abandonment of "table" based layout. Tables, though effective for layout, produce more code than equivalent XHTML layouts using "div" tags. Where a minimum of 3 tags are required to create a "box" with content in a table, only 1 is needed using divisions. Using XHTML and CSS in combination can significantly reduce the amount of "on page" code required by a web page. A final, relatively insignificant trick is the removal of all "white space" from your code. Browsers don't require it; it is primarily so authors can readily read and interpret the code. The savings are minimal at best, but for sites that receive an extreme amount of traffic, even a few saved bytes will add up over time.

Conclusions

Target images and media files first when seeking to reduce the weight of a page. They are the largest components of overall page weight and simply removing them can significantly reduce total weight. The images that remain should be optimally compressed into a format appropriate for their type, photos or graphics. Avoid huge blocks of text that cause unnecessary vertical scrolling. Organize the site more efficiently to spread the information across multiple pages. Adopt XHTML and CSS to reduce the size of the on-page code, and call the CSS externally. These tips should help reduce the size of your pages and speed their delivery to your viewers.

About the author:
Mr. Lester worked in the IT industry for 5 years

Web expert says : How To Use A WYSIWYG HTML Editor To Make Stunning Ebay Auction Listings.

2009-01-11T23:12:00.000-08:00

What kind of browser are you using for online surfing? Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, Opera?? Sure, all are good programs but I want to talk about an excellent program called Netscape. If you use Netscape, do you know that you also get an amazing WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) web design program called Netscape Composer for free? Basically you don’t need expensive HTML editors anymore. The list of commercially available HTML editors software is endless – and the price tags are enormous. Most people don’t want to spend a lot of money to get started with their eBay business. Fair enough, since the goal is to make money and not to spend money. So it makes perfect sense to use a program to design auction listings which is available for free. And such a program is Netscape Composer.

It has the same professional features like FrontPage or any other similar program. To design stunning and professional looking eBay auction sites with Netscape Composer you need to download Netscape first. If you start up the program, select File->New Composer Page and basically you can start immediately to design your auction listings. You can make you letters in any colour, bold, italics, use background colours (or even images) etc. The options are endless. You can save this file on your local hard drive as html file. I used to have one file for every listing I generate. The best thing is that once you have got a nice and professional looking eBay auction listing, you can use it for ever. Just open your last listing in Netscape Composer and edit according to your new item. Amazingly, this takes only a couple of minutes.

But how do you transfer your listing saved as a html file on your local hard drive to eBay? The answer is simple. Once you have logged in into your eBay account and selected your category and starting price you have to type in your “item description”. Did you see that eBay allows HTML format? Have a look when you launch your next listing. That’s the time where you go back to your new listing you just have created with Netscape Composer. Down the bottom of your Netscape Composer page you’ll see a button called: SOURCE - the source code of your listing. Click on that and highlight and copy the entire text. Select then the eBay site and paste this text into the “Item description box”. Make sure that all links are working and that all photos are uploaded to the internet.

When you have finalised your listing you will be surprised. A stunning and professional looking “DIY-listing”. You can always use “ready-to-go” auction templates and edit these according to your item. You’ll see that with an professional auction design you can easily attract more buyers and get higher bids. It’s worth the effort. Keep in mind that professional web design software is highly expensive and does the same job. Alternatively, you can choose from a huge variety of third party auction services doing the job for you. But hey, there are incredibly expensive too. Don’t you think that the eBay fees are high enough and you can easily do it yourself without spending any additional dollars. It’s really simple!

About the author:
Thomas Haselhorst is webmaster of http://www.auction-design-for-free

Googling expert says : Here's 4 Quick and EASY Steps To Getting Your Website IN Through Googles 'Back Door'

2009-01-11T23:09:00.000-08:00

Google... one of the Internets MOST powerful search engines recently announced a new FREE service that makes it easier for you to improve your websites coverage within Googles index through its NEW collaborative crawling system.

On the down side though, Google does not 'Guarantee' immediate inclusion, But, is still good news for those of you who have just finished building a website and are ready to submit to the top search engines.

So, what's this NEW service called that Google just released?

It's called "Google Sitemaps".

The real cool thing about "Google Sitemaps" IS it accepts RSS(Real Simple Syndication) and Atom feeds with the .XML extension as one of the accepted formats for submitting your websites Sitemap for inclusion in Googles index.

This is just one of the four formats Google accepts and is the one that I'm going to use for the rest of this article to show you how to generate your own .XML sitemap of your website for inclusion in Google.

It's real easy to do so don't worry about it being to complicated.

So, with that said, lets go to Step #1.

Step #1. Sign up for "Google Sitemaps".

This step is easy, simply follow the link provide below and sign up for a Free account. It should only take you a few minutes to do, then once your done, come back here and go to Step #2.

Go to: http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/login

Step #2. Generate your .XML sitemap.

In this step your going to generate a .XML sitemap for your website using a Free online sitemap generator.

This Free online generator will build you a sitemap up to 500 pages. If you have a larger website with thousands of webpages you'll have to use a paid service and/or software to generate yours.

Go to: http://www.xml-sitemaps.com

Enter your required information on the form provided.

Step #3. Upload your generated .XML sitemap to your server.

Once your generated sitemap is finished(your generated .XML file should be called site.xml.gz) it's now time to upload it to your server using your FTP(File Transfer Protocol) program.

This is very important that you do this before submitting it to Google Sitemaps for inclusion.

Step #4. Submit your NEW .XML sitemap to "Google Sitemaps".

Now that you have generated your "Sitemap" for your website and uploaded it to your server all you have to do now is to go to "Google Sitemaps" and submit your sitemap URL.

(ex. http://www.yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml.gz)

That's it.

Now, depending on Google, your sitemap should get downloaded within the next 24 hours, so be sure to check and see that it did and that there wasn't any problems or errors.

Also, your going to want to be able to track your indexed webpages within the search engines, especially Google, so you can see how things are going, so I'll leave you with one last resource that will do this for you.

Go to: http://www.uptimebot.com

All you have to do is enter your URL and click "GO".

The results page will list the results from Google and 9 other popular search engines.

Well, there you have it... "4 Quick and EASY Steps To Getting Your Website IN Through Googles 'Back Door'".

About the author: Cory Threlfall
Want to get MORE 'Insider' marketing Secrets on How-To drive Traffic to your website?

Googling expert says : How to Use Your Google API Key as Your Secret Weapon - Part One

2009-01-11T23:00:00.000-08:00

Just over a year ago, Google.com began to provide access to its' web search API to programmers and developers. This provided them with a way to utilize the optimum resources of Google's database of listings. At first, there were few practical applications that would help the average webmaster.

However, there are now plenty of ways that any site owner with an API key can benefit from these innovative programs, and web applications.

And since the licensing of the API restricts the creation of tools for commercial use, these resources will not cost you anything but some well-invested time. In the next few minutes, you'll learn how to use this information to your advantage.

Let's back up a moment and get some of the terminology out of the way. This won't be a tech-guru explanation- more like an oversimplification to give you a basic idea in layperson's terms.

An API means application programmer interface. Basically, the Google API gives programmers access to Google's database of listings, which they can then use to create web applications.

When you get an API key it simply gives you the ability to access the interface the programs are based on. Therefore, your key will allow you to plug into the application they've created, for a pre-determined number of queries.

So now you can harness the power of Google's database to your site's advantage.

How?

First, get a Google API key.

The myriad of ways sites are using Google API keys are astounding. Some of them require you to provide your own API key to use them. You can get it at no charge here:

http://www.google.com/apis/

Your queries are limited to 1000 per day. But that's more than enough for most web site owners. For some of the tools, you won't even need it, as the developers seem to be allowing you to run tools using their own keys.

Don't worry, you don't need to be a software genius for this key to be useful to you. Developers have already built tools for you to use, all you'll have to do is find the sites where their online applications are housed, and if necessary, plug in your key.

Think of it as a universal password. You'll get the key via email, then all you'll need to do is cut and paste it in the box provided. Which brings us to the next piece in the puzzle.

There are literally hundreds of places you can use the Google API key.

Some people have developed plug-ins you can use with database-driven sites. Many have developed tools that will help you increase or study your present rankings in Google, resulting in more targeted traffic to your site.

My favorite tool helps you study countless different pieces of data found through Google via email, automating hours of research. But we'll come back to that later.

I've already written a step by step guide to help you increase your current Google rankings. Instead of repeating my brief review of those sites here, I've posted that article to a page that you can read at http://www.freetrafficdirectory.com/increaserankings - it's a free online guide that you can start using today.

I wanted to get that out of the way so we can talk about some of the other sites I've discovered since then.

One site will search Google for you and compile a site map using the pages it finds for your site in Google. Visit it here:

http://www.tele-pro.co.uk/scripts/google/indexer_info.htm

You can study the relationship between your sites and others using GARBO (stands for Google API Relation Browsing Outliner). This can help you find sites to trade links with, or sites you can link to from your site to provide more information to your visitors, and otherwise study the relationship between two sites, as told by Google.
Read more about it here:

http://www.staggernation.com/garbo/readme.html

Want to query only the newest additions, for research or for tracking purposes? Try Goofresh here:

http://www.researchbuzz.org/archives/001405.shtml

You can also add Google searches to your site. It's the number one search engine, and especially if you have a member's area, it can help make your site "sticky", meaning that your visitors will find themselves coming to your site over and over to use your resources. You can find the script to add this to your site here:

http://scriptsearch.com/details/8886.html

Another helpful Google API Tool can help you get users to search your site using Google. It uses PHP, and can be found here:

http://www.thinkbling.com/scripts.php

To find more applications on your own, you'll first want to look around at the sites I have already mentioned, as many of them have multiple web based applications developed with their access to Google's API, or will in the near future.

The reason I wrote this article is because it takes a bit of digging to find some of the best ones. Here is a good starting places that I found, naturally, through Google:

http://www.soapware.org/directory/4/services/googleApi/applications

If you want to search Google itself, you might try search terms like "Google API applications", "Google API software" or "Google API scripts". You can also start from "Google API" and search within results for implementations or the word "key".

(to be continued)

About the author:
Tinu is a free traffic FANATIC. She has been offered treatment for this condition but says it just saves her too much money!

Computer expert says : Spyware and Adware – Are You Protected?

2009-01-11T22:56:00.000-08:00

Spyware is without doubt the most prevalent threat to online computer privacy and security.

Exactly what is Spyware?

Spyware applications are programs and files that hide on your PC's hard drive without your direct knowledge. They allow hackers and advertising companies to track your every move, both online and even when you work offline.

Tracking the websites you visit, the items that you buy online, the emails you send and receive, your Instant Message dialog, and worst of all they can even record your credit card number, personal identification numbers, and all of your passwords.

If you use dial-up to connect to the Internet then spyware can be used to bill 900 numbers to your telephone bill.

Spyware allows hackers to take control of your browser and alter your computer system files.

These computer parasites slow down your Internet connection by inundating you with unwanted Spyware pop-up ads.

This is just a short list of the harm that Spyware can cause.

Note: Spyware and Adware cannot be detected by anti-virus and firewall software.

Some Disturbing Facts About Spyware:

· Spyware infects 91% of all computers. That equates to an alarming 9 out of 10 computers!

· 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last five years, including 9.91 million people or 4.6% of the population in the last year alone.

Keep reading to learn how to keep from becoming a victim of Identity Theft.

Have you noticed your computer running slower than ever?

The reason for that may have to do with online advertisers adding Spyware, or Adware to your computer without your knowledge.

Exactly what is Adware?

Adware works very much like Spyware.

Adware is software that will show you popup ads over and over. These files can also be extremely dangerous to your PC and could cause major problems with your Computer.

Note: This article is an excerpt from a SPECIAL REPORT entitled "Spyware! – How To Get And Stay Safe". In the full report you'll find the information you need to effectively protect your computer and personal information. Avoiding the grief of dealing with problems like Identity Theft among others.

The full version of the free report can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking over to http://www.easyhow-to.com/special-reports/spyware.htm

About the author:
Clyde Dennis, a.k.a. "Mr. How-To" has been writing and publishing Articles and Newsletters online since 1999.

Computer expert says : How to Avoid Getting Ripped-Off Online

2009-01-11T22:52:00.000-08:00

Online security is one of the top catch phrases these days, but hardly anybody knows what it means and worse, most home computer users think security only applies to corporations and online businesses.

Most people think online security means simply protecting your credit card data from fraud and theft, but it actually goes way beyond that.

The potential for mayhem and just plain disruption of your life doesn't just mean credit card fraud - it can mean having your identity stolen, your life disrupted and spending hours cleaning up after an online 'vandalism' attack.

You must protect yourself from everyone from the teenage computer hacker to the organized crime syndicate using computer worms and keystroke logging viruses.

The great news is that a number of simple techniques should protect you against the vast majority of threats, since the evil doers will simply move on to easier pastures.

Update your anti-virus files

The widespread 'Bad Trans' worm logged keystrokes and transmitted potentially sensitive data such as credit card and social security numbers to the 'bad guys'.

Though this virus contained a high level of criminal intent, it was easily blocked by anyone with up-to-date anti-virus files.

If you don't have anti-virus software with current virus definitions installed, you leave the door wide open for security problems.

Install a 'Firewall'

A firewall helps prevent unauthorized access to your computer by 'hackers'.

It closes off the entry points (called open 'ports') carried by virtually every computer connected to the Internet.

A common misconception is that firewalls are only for people with cable or other high-speed connections.

Even if you use a dial up connection to get online, a firewall can help you detect and prevent people from logging on to your computer, stealing files or even using your computer to break into others!

You can take a free test of your computer's security by logging on to http://www.symantec.com/securitycheck/ and clicking 'Find out today if you are safe'. The results may surprise you.

Use secure sites

Only give sensitive data such as credit cards, social security numbers and important passwords over a secure connection.

This means the little yellow lock appears in the lower part of your browser and nobody but the website you are connected to should be able to read the data you send.

Change passwords often

An easy way for you to protect your sensitive data and email is to change your passwords on a monthly basis, or even more often depending on how frequently you use computers away from home.

If you log on to your email at the library, in 'cyber cafes' or any other remote computer then the possibility exists that computer could have a key-stroking virus present.

This means everything you type into the computer (passwords, birthdays, social security numbers, credit cards) could be logged and used by someone else.

** Change your passwords at lease once a month.

Though not fool-proof, these security tips should help reduce your vulnerability and keep you safer online.

About the author:
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist

Marketing expert says : After the most informative assistance pertaining to internet marketing.

2009-01-11T22:42:00.000-08:00

After the most informative assistance pertaining to internet marketing. When you're seeking excellent advice concerning internet marketing, you'll find it hard separating quality information from misguided internet marketing suggestions or help so it is sensible to know ways of moderating the information you are given.

Now we'd like to offer you some advice that we believe you should think of using when you are searching for information about internet marketing. Please be aware that any recommendation we may offer is only applicable to internet advice about internet marketing. We don't really offer any guidance or tips when you are also conducting research in books or magazines.

An excellent tip to follow when you are presented with information and advice about a internet marketing web site is to ascertain who owns the site. This may divulge who is behind the site internet marketing identifications The easiest way to work out who is at the back of the internet marketing site is to look for the 'about' page.

All reliable sites providing content on internet marketing, will nearly always have an 'about' or 'contact' page which will list the site owner's details. The details should disclose a number of indications about the website owner's expertise. This enables you to make an assessment about the vendor's qualifications and experience to provide advice to you regarding internet marketing.

Author : Tom Brown

Marketing expert says : Looking for the most informative assistance concerning internet marketing article.

2009-01-11T22:35:00.000-08:00

Looking for the most informative assistance concerning internet marketing article. When you are after the best advice about internet marketing article, it will be intricate extracting the best information from ill-advised internet marketing article suggestions and directions so it is wise to know how to judge the information you are presented with.

Here are several guidelines that you should make use of when you're searching for information regarding internet marketing article. It is important to remember that the guidance we give is only pertinent to internet help on internet marketing article. We can't offer you any tips or guidance when you are also conducting research offline.

An interesting tip to pursue when offered information and suggestions on a internet marketing article page is to verify the ownership of the website. This may reveal the operators internet marketing article integrity The easiest way to reveal who owns the internet marketing article website is to look on the 'about' page or 'contact' page.

Any reputable site providing information concerning internet marketing article, will nearly always have a 'contact', or an 'about', page which will list the site owner's details. The fine points should detail some specifications regarding the owner's proficency and credentials. You can then decide for yourself about the webmaster's depth of experience, to offer assistance with internet marketing article.

Author : Tom Brown

Blog expert says : 23 Tips and Strategies on How Everyone Can Blog Right andGet (3-end)

2009-01-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

Tip #16 - The essence of your Blog is your Audience, listen
to them. Always interact with your readers who post comments
on your blog. Reply with a brief thank you note or just
simply attend to their questions if they have any. It's a
proven fact when there's a direct human interaction and
knowing the fact that there's a "real human" at the other
end of the blog makes most of them coming back. If your
audience provide suggestions, comments or feedbacks, take
them constructively and inform them if you have any desires
of implementing such ideas on your next update. And of
course, don't forget to thank them for their ideas. If it's
a great idea, why not throw in a free gift? Mention their
website in your blog?

Tip #17 - Create and increase the "Why Must I Return" Value
to Your Blog
Everyone knows the fact that Blogs get a huge level of
returning visitors because of its constantly updated
content. Why don't you add more interesting items to that
return value by having fixed periodical posts / offers, e.g.
Monday Top 10 Tips, Picture of the Week, Free Bonus of the
Month, Free Daily Wallpapers, etc. to give them the absolute
excuse to return to your blog. As long as you can
efficiently and appropriately increase that Return Value
constantly, it is mostly guaranteed that you'll be getting
tonnes of repeated visitors, period.

An advance notice, prelaunch announcement or anything
similar to that also can act as a short term return value
strategy. Encourage readers to comment on your such notices
/ posts. Experiment and play around with this idea.

Tip #18 - Multiple blogs
It never hurts to use multiple blogging accounts to attract
more people. You can even have multiple blogs within
Blogger.com itself, but you may also want to try different
free blogging services such as JournalHome.com,
LiveJournal.com, Blog-City.com, etc. Should you have the
urge to have multiple similar duplicates of your blog just
to gain more traffic, it is wise to avoid it as search
engines / feed directories might translate that as excessive
redundant information which simply brings you trouble, and
you're tend to get penalized, banned or even accused of
spamming.

Tip #19 - Digital Art, Creative Graphics Another proven fact
- Monotonous and continous display of text will make your
readers run away! Try to include non- advertising graphics,
pictures, photos, and art in your blog entries, but try to
keep them at a limit. Too many graphics also mean slower
loading time and messy text and graphical combination. You
don't want your blog to look messy. Most of the time,
graphics can bring your blog to life. Pictures can make
boring texts interesting no matter how long it is. Graphical
elements are by far the fastest message delivering element
available on the net today. It may deliver various messages
by a split second of a look.

Tip #20 - Maintain a Personal Blog
A blog is most successful when it is kept personal. Try to
include personal experiences which relates to the topic of
your blog entry. Stay away from the business style of
writing. Write with a more personal style and use first-
person narratives. Share product reviews and personal
endeavors, instead of trying to make it sounds like you're
selling.

Tip #21 - Credibility & Popularity
As thing progresses, things need to change in order to cope
with the flow and nature of development. If your number of
readers are reasonably huge, and still using a free blogging
service to get your messages out, you may want to consider
getting your own domain name and hosting plan to have a more
personalized Blog.

Domain names and hosting plans are pretty much
straightforward. Research is all what it takes to get the
best of all the available options. For the most highly
recommended comprehensive listing of Free Blogging software
out there, drop by at http://www.opensourcecms.com/. This is
by far the best place to drop by if you want to get your
research done about which blogging software to choose.
Reviews, ratings, public votes, demos, etc are provided. And
the best thing is, all of them are Open Source, which means
they are totally free. Try going through the server
requirements for each software before purchasing your
web hosting.

Tip 22# - Customize the look of your Blog
If you happen to be using one of the Free blogging services
out there, you might notice that most of us are using the
same template again and again for our blogs. It is well
understood that not everybody has the technical knowledge to
change the layout as how they want it to be, but if you have
the knowledge, by all means try to customize it and make it
look DIFFERENT. You can grab that extra attention, if you're
different in certain ways. Create that image for yourself.

Tip #23 - Blog and Make Money

Once your blog has gained some real momentum and your blog
traffic is increasing then it is time to start thinking
if you want to turn your traffic into profit. Some of the
recommended income generating sources are as follow :-

Google Adsense, Amazon Associate program (www.amazon.com),
Blogads.com, Crispads.com, Tagword.com, Affiliate Programs
and any advertising related text links can be your place to
start off.

Final #Tip - Conclusion.
Following these blogging tips should make your blogging
experience much more rewarding. Blogging is generally done
out of interest and enthusiasm and sometimes for income
generating purposes. The flexibility of blogging will never
cease to expand. Through time, dedication, and persistence
you will be rewarded with all the royalties of blogging.

About the Author
John Teh is an internet blogger enthusiast, exposed to the
fun and possibilities of blogging on the net.

Blog expert says : Do You Need Help Adding RSS Feeds To Your Blogger?

2009-01-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

It’s really easy and here is how you can do it:

Log into your blogger account

Go to "settings"

Go to "site feed"

Copy the "site feed url"

Then go to www.feedburner.com

Scroll down to "try feedburner today" and paste your "site feed url" and then click next. You'll be at "select services" There are lots of options on that page and you can look through them all, but to get to the feeds you need to go to the bottom of that page and click on "next".

Then you can log in or sign up. It's free to sign up. After you fill in your info then click and that page will allow you to "activate your feed". Click on that and then click on "launch your publicity tools" and then click on "chicklet chooser". Then you have many options. I personally always choose the “my yahoo”, “my msn”, “newsgator” and “xml”. Click on each one and you'll see the code you need to grab. You have to do it for each one.

Then just go back to your template and put it in. You're set. As you can see there are other different things you can do too. So look around in there and check them all out.

But that is just the very basics of getting a feed up. Now, when you get that feed added let me know so I can add you to my personal “my yahoo” page!

About the Author
Nell Taliercio is the publisher of a weekly telecommuting newsletter that helps moms and dads work at home.

Marketing expert says : The Key to Successful Marketing

2009-01-09T02:32:00.000-08:00

If your business has limited marketing resources in
terms of people, expertise and materials then you
might want to consider outsourcing your marketing
functions to an independent marketing professional or
a marketing and promotions agency. Small
businesses, downsized companies, and expanding
corporations all have different reasons to outsource.

Marketing can be an expensive activity and maintaining
in house resources can really make this a difficult
program to commit to. But marketing is a very
important part of business success so allowing
someone else to focus on marketing gives companies
a chance to focus on their core business and areas
that will enable them to surpass their competition.

Outsourcing marketing resources comes with a price,
but this cost is usually lower than it would be if the
companies had employed and undertaken in house
activities. By eliminating the need to hire full-time
employees, using an agency for marketing resources
saves companies thousands of dollars on wages,
taxes and benefits. You are also gaining expertise in an
agency that you might not find in individual employees.
In addition to their own staff, agencies also have other
resources to help you, such as their own outside
contacts, suppliers, designers, copywriters and
printers--saving you time as well as money.

When you hire an outside agency, you are hiring
experts in marketing. These are professional people
who can focus on all your marketing needs and not be
hindered by your internal politics, relations between
employees, or lack of knowledge among staff in
relation to marketing strategies and how they integrate
with business strategies. Marketing professionals
whether independent or through a marketing agency -
will often have more experience in the particular
aspects of marketing than you staff, and undoubtedly
more than you could pay for in an employee. Also,
since they work with other clients, they have seen what
works and what doesn't in other company campaigns.
This knowledge translates to more efficient and
effective marketing for you as you have the benefit of
their hindsight.

As with outsourcing any business function, allowing an
outside agency to do your marketing or advertising
brings a certain kind of objectivity with it. Sometimes
you just need a fresh perspective to overcome
difficulties and to achieve specific goals. An objective
marketing professional will help you see things you
might otherwise miss and will be more open to offering
a range of fresh ideas as opposed to a bunch of tired
ideas that you might have been toying with for years
but have yet to implement.

About the author:
Rudiz Vendita is the owner of
FU Marketing which is
a premier resource for marketing information.

Marketing expert says : Network Marketing for Easy Money!

2009-01-09T02:28:00.001-08:00

Ok, I know what you’re thinking, another marketing guru selling a way to make quick money. Well, sorry, that’s not the kind of easy money I’m referring to.

Network Marketing has been around for a while. Most of us know someone who has a friend or relative who became involved in off-line network marketing. We listened to their sales pitch with our mind already set on how we were going to say no and the best way to get out of the meeting as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Through out the sales pitch we thought to ourselves, what would drive someone to put this much effort into selling these products? Why would they spend all this time promoting their product to their friends and relatives? Would we ever be able to meet them again and look them in the face wondering if they were going to start into their sales pitch?

All in all, this kind of network marketing seemed rather painful to someone from the outside. Not only was it time consuming, but you needed to be a person with the ability to sell. Most people involved this way did not start out as professional sales people, but they knew they would need to learn these skills in order to succeed.

What our friends understood about network marketing is that the first customers are the hardest. Once these customers started recruiting their own customers things started getting easier. Over time, their income would grow faster. They were sold on the product they were selling and definitely the concept of network marketing. They were persistent and determined not to quit!

I could not help but think – could they really be on to something? It seemed impossible, but what if it worked? Our friends did eventually become successful. But I believe it was only because they were determined to make it work. Giving up was not an option for them.

Times have changed and off-line network marketing has turned into on-line network marketing. The concept remains the same:

- Sell someone else’s products and make a commission on each product.

- Sell the opportunity to others so they do the same, while making a commission on their sales as well.

The second sale is what makes network marketing most rewarding and leads to “RESIDUAL INCOME”. This kind of income keeps coming without you yourself having to do the work.

Today, online network marketing has greatly simplified selling other companies’ products. Not only do they generally do the selling for you, but THE WORLD IS NOW YOUR PROSPECT!

To become a network marketer all you need is a computer, internet connection and a good product with opportunity that can be sold. POINT AND CLICK IS THE METHOD OF SALES TODAY! Good companies offering affiliate programs for network marketing also provide many ways to learn the ropes and how to sell their products. Anyone can learn how to do it!

If online marketing is so easy, why isn’t everyone doing it? It takes time and persistence. This is the hardest part. Our friends understood this and they were determined to succeed and persevere.

Is online network marketing easy? Yes. Does online network marketing take time and effort? Absolutely. Persistence and determination are the key skills needed for today’s environment. The actual work is easy.

Do you want to make money? Are you determined and willing to persevere? Then set your mind on success and grab your network marketing gold!

About the author:
Craig Ritsema operates a successful part time home business and resides in Michigan, USA.

Marketing expert says : Is There Network Marketing Without Hype?

2009-01-09T02:23:00.000-08:00

When I was first exposed to network marketing at the age of 23 and introduced to the idea that any average person can take control of their destiny for a better future, I could see new light of hope.

You see, for me, life had to be about making choices, and the lack of that ability so often in my growing years led me to believe that network marketing is the do-or-die answer. Little did I know or expect the amount of hype I was about to get in my first naive year in network marketing, which almost crushed my dreams simply because no one shared the truth with me.

Is hype really necessary in network marketing? I honestly don't think so.

I hate hype and the very essence of trying to convince someone by using false or misleading words and deliberate interpretation of other people's words in order to get a sale or make a new MLM recruit. I believe in network marketing, but the hype that so often comes as a pre-packaged MLM "starter kit" almost destroyed what I believed in.

Here's why I don't believe hype is necessary in network marketing; because network marketing is not about selling false hopes to anyone. Network marketing is not about selling at all; it's about building long-term relationships and trust. Network marketing is not about convincing, it's about sorting.

If you were looking for a business partner, which one would you prefer? Someone who told you the truth, or someone who stretched the truth whenever he can to keep you happy? Sad to say, you may well belong to the first category as I do, but there are hundreds of people out there who actually welcome the hype.

These are the type of people who WANT you to tell them exactly what they want to hear. And what's that?

They want to hear that they will be able to make money easily without shedding blood and tears. They want to hear that they don't need to learn any new skills. They want to hear that the product you're promoting is 100% perfect and that people will be lining up and punching each other to buy it. They want to hear that success is looking for them.

And as long as those people exist, there WILL be hype in network marketing. When there is demand, there is supply, as my economics teacher used to say once. There's nothing much you or I can do about it. Hype kills network marketing for all those who choose not to walk that path, but it's something that we have to live with.

I also believe just as there are those who WANT hype, there are also those who want the truth. And what's that?

The truth is that network marketing is not perfect. No business model is perfect. There's always a risk that you'll fail. There's always a risk that you'll lose money. There's always a risk that all those things you don't want to happen, will happen.

As long as you're ready to accept that risk, as long as you find someone who is wiling to share the truth with you, and willing to share the risk with you, won't it be worth it to explore the possibility that network marketing promises?

If you fail in network marketing, a business opportunity that has no fixed costs, low investment, and one of the best cash flows compare to any other business, will your life really be worse off than it was when you didn’t realize YOU had a choice?

Or will you be better off than those who never tried simply because they were too afraid of failure? That's something to think about.

About the author:
Gobala Krishnan is a freelance writer and home business entrepreneur.

Marketing expert says : Direct Mail Marketing: Is It Your Choice?

2009-01-09T02:21:00.000-08:00

Direct mail marketing is a system of marketing that is directed at specific people. In direct marketing, the advertisement is directed to a specific individual. This is unlike marketing that is open ended such as a billboard or a television commercial. Direct mail marketing is a very effective means of communication in virtually any environment and for most businesses. But, there are some things to be wary about when it comes to direct mail marketing.

One of the benefits of direct mail marketing is that you can measure your success. If you send out direct marketing materials to 100 people and 50 respond, you can see just how well your marketing has worked. Where as in banner advertising there is no way to judge how many people saw versus how many reacted to your marketing technique. This can help you to measure your success rate quite simply.

But, there are a few things to protect your business from when it comes to direct mail marketing. For one thing, many people hate to get junk mail. And in this we mean email and postal services. Spam is quite common on the web. There are even laws and regulations regulating marketing techniques that employ the use of spam or spam like marketing. Steering clear of such avenues is quite important.

So, should you invest your advertising budget in direct mail marketing? It is quite necessary in most cases to consider the use of this type of marketing. And, regardless of the hassles, it is one of the most beneficial ways to advertise.

There are also many information portals now devoted to the subject and we recommend reading about it at one of these. Try googling for “direct mail marketing” and you will be surprised by the abundance of information on the subject. Alternatively you may try looking on Yahoo, MSN or even a decent directory site, all are good sources of this information.

About the author: Leon Chaddock

Marketing expert says : 5 Reasons NOT To Have a Marketing Plan

2009-01-09T02:16:00.000-08:00

Imagine your perfect customers -- the ones that will eagerly buy your products or hire you for premium pay. Imagine being able to bring those perfect customers to you and having them buy your products or services not once, but again and again. That's what an effectively executed marketing plan does. It reaches the people who want what you are offering, convinces them to take action, and keeps them coming back.

Sounds nice, right? So why doesn't every business have a marketing plan? Let's take a look at some of the reasons you may not:

1. "We had a marketing plan once, but it didn't work. It isn't worth the time to put one together."

No marketing plan will work if you do not work the plan. The planning document is there for business managers to use as a strategic reference throughout the year, as programs in the plan are executed and as other opportunities come along. Any marketing plan that is filed away and forgotten as soon as it's written is useless.

2. "So-and-so had a marketing plan and it didn't help his business at all!"

Marketing is a process, not a singular event. A marketing plan is only the first step in that process. It points your business in the right direction by detailing marketing strategies and programs that will move you toward business objectives.

You must execute the programs in your plan so that you can evaluate program success. Rarely does a marketing program work best on the first try. It is up to you to analyze barriers to success, then tweak and tinker until you are getting positive results. If you ignore critical follow-up, most of your marketing programs -- whether you have a marketing plan or not -- will fail or fall short of their potential for success.

3. "Marketing planning is too hard."

Writing a marketing plan doesn't have to be complicated. There are different levels of planning. More intricate marketing planning processes will result in more refined strategies, with better potential for success. But, if you have limited resources, a top-line approach to planning is much better than none at all.

4. "We don't know how to write a marketing plan."

There are numerous books, software, "toolbox" resources, and articles that take you step-by-step through the process of creating a marketing plan. Frankly, not knowing how is an excuse, not a reason, to avoid marketing planning.

5. "My business is too small for a marketing plan."

Sound marketing strategy is critical to small business success, especially new businesses. Statistics vary widely depending on the source, but most reports cite failure rates for small business at 65% -- 90%. Knowing ahead of time how you will compete and how you will be successful in your marketplace can dramatically increase your chances of success.

Your marketing plan is a vital key to small business success. If you do not have a current plan, start one today. Your company's success depends on it.

About the author:
Bobette Kyle has been proprietor at http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com since 2002

Business expert says : Exposing The Myth Of The Free Home Business

2009-01-09T02:11:00.000-08:00

Here is some feedback I recently received from one of my home business advice newsletter readers:

"I have joined a lot of free home businesses and have made no money. I am determined to succeed at this internet thing, but I need help. I'm not going to spend money on this and waste it. Do you know where I can get a simple step by step FREE manual so I can start my home business?"

-- Jeff M.

And here is the advice I gave Jeff...

Have you spent months, maybe even years, looking for a way to make a living from home on the internet? If you are only considering what is commonly referred to as a "free home business", you are likely to be looking for a long time to come. You can avoid wasting more time and effort by understanding the realities of running an internet home business.

The mentality of getting something for nothing will put an end to any dreams of working for yourself you may have. So will the need for immediate gratification. By keeping these thoughts out of your mind, you greatly increase your chances of running a successful internet home business well into the future.

Let's start out by looking at the idea of a free home business. This would be a home business that you could start and run without spending a dime. You see many different kinds of businesses every day, both internet web sites and real world businesses in your neighborhood. Can you think of just one real business that can be started with no investment and requires no money to operate? You can't because there aren't any.

And spending months of your personal time to set up and run even the most basic small business (that may or may not make any sales) is still costing you money. Yes, your time is a valuable asset that does have monetary value, just as it does when you spend it working for someone else. The fact is that you cannot replace the time you have already used. But you can make more money. You cannot make more time.

If you are not willing to spend money to start and build your home business, you are involved with a hobby, not a business. It is possible to start and build an internet home business using low cost tools and resources, in case you don't have $100,000 lying around. It is also possible to use many no cost resources in your home business that will save you tons of money. But when it comes right down to it, you have to be willing to take on some risk if you want a real business of your own. You have to assume the risk of (wisely) spending money to build your business. There is no way around it.

Here is a getting started manual (free) like the one you asked about http://kenleonardjr.com/manual

Establishing priorities for your personal and business spending habits is your first important task. This will allow you to treat your internet home business like a business, not a hobby. Since your initial cash flow may be small, your initial growth will be slower. But having your internet home business started and running is essential. You can't grow a business that doesn't exist. If you can then delay your gratification by putting most of your revenue back into the business, your business will slowly grow into a profitable money maker.

By delaying gratification, you are demonstrating that you can focus on the big picture, your long term future. This is an essential small business mindset that will allow you to eventually get what you want. Any money you spend on advertising your product or service should be focused on the long term, too. That means focusing on building mailing lists of targeted prospects, either email lists or direct mail lists (both is better!).

You will still end up making some sales along the way, but over time you will have created a much more valuable long term business asset. Future repeated contact with your email and direct mail lists will cost you very little, practically nothing. And the relationships you build through regular contact will make you many customers and sales long into the future at near zero overhead.

So go ahead and start a real internet home business, but stay away from any "free home businesses" (masquerading as real businesses) that won't build real long term worth. You will save yourself a lot of grief, and you will end up actually getting what you want out of life.

About the author:
Ken Leonard Jr. can help you start an Internet Home Business in just a few weeks, using only free and low cost tools and resources.

Business expert says : Why Is A Work At Home Business Now Easy?

2009-01-09T02:08:00.000-08:00

Why not work at home and make money online using today’s internet technology?

With a home business using proven internet marketing techniques and opportunities it’s easy. Really!

Now, more than ever, we are seeing a revolution of people starting a work at home internet business.

If you’ve ever dreamed of having a home business, you owe it to yourself to check it out. All you have to do is follow easy steps to start growing your income.

It all has to do with marketing and creating residual income.You make money using a home business opportunity and use internet marketing tools to promote it.

Now we have email, autoresponders, search engines, marketing websites, affiliate programs, marketing experts, all of which are now very low cost and instantly available.

Think about this for a moment. A few years ago, starting a work at home business would cost at least a few thousand dollars. Now you can get started for under one hundred dollars.

A traditional business can cost thousands per month for rent, employees, insurance and inventory.

If you’re a stay at home mom, retiree, currently unemployed, or just looking to make money online, this may be the answer for you. With thousands of internet marketing home businesses out there, why not become one of them.

Others are taking advantage of the many resources, tools, and proven techniques. Be a work at home mom, a work at home dad, or just someone who is not satisfied with their job. You can start today. The possibilities are endless!

Thousands everyday log onto the internet for their fist time.

Internet marketing and having a home business is a great opportunity that is simply too good to pass up, because it’s so easy to get started. You don’t have to take my word for it, check out some work at home business websites and see for yourself.

With a home business you are in charge. You make the hours, take the orders and collect the income! Sound easy? Well, it is.

As I mentioned, the marketing tools you need to make money online are now all provided. Now, not tomorrow, or the next day. Many have seen their home business income grow, all the while working from the comfort of their own home.

Do you have children? Wouldn’t you rather be with them as much as possible, while still making money working from home?

Would you like to have your own hours? Are you tired of a long commute? How does your boss treat you?

These are some of the questions you may want to ask yourself.

Granted, a home business opportunity isn’t for everyone. You do have to put some time and energy into making it work, it really depends on you! But if you are serious about building a home business, then you really should look into how to start one.

As a member of the Better Internet Bureau, (certified quality site) and a Member of i Cop, (protecting the consumer) we are committed to upholding the highest business and ethical standards possible. It’s important for you to feel comfortable using a marketing service to get you set up and started in the right direction.

It’s never too late to start taking advantage of a work at home opportunity. Turn many hours of research with proven methods into your own home business and make money online.

There are many internet marketing services, affiliate programs and web masters, that can help you get started today. Many others, like yourself, are making money online with their own work at home business. You owe it to yourself to look into ideas on how to get started today!

About the author:
Dean Shainin is a work at home internet marketing trainer

Business expert says : Home Business Opportunities Abound on The Internet

2009-01-09T02:05:00.000-08:00

Looking for a home business opportunity on the internet these days is a pretty involved process. That is, if you don’t know how to eliminate 90% of the junk that’s out there and pick among the home business opportunities that actually have merit and track records.

What works?

Information sales, auctions, hard goods that can be shipped, books, reports, network marketing, you name it!

There are just certain types of home business opportunities that you want to stay away from. Those are things where someone you don’t know from Adam is making guarantees that are way too good to be true. Anyone who makes it sound like money is dripping from the internet for you to simply catch in a bucket is a liar and a thief.

You will never have success with home business opportunities that promise you that you will never have to work, or make things sound too easy. Take it from a professional, working online or offline with a home business opportunity is work.

But home business opportunities have perks that are better than any job you could ever imagine.

You work for yourself and answer to no one but your customers You can make as much or as little as you want You can work as much or as little as you want You can take time off whenever you want You can make your schedule totally flexible You can work on the internet and work from anywhere in the world You can save money on clothes you had to buy for jobs You can save money on gas, car maintenance and insurance You can get great tax breaks owning your own business Travel and other expenses can be tax deductible

The list of great things I can think of about a home business goes on and on. Here are some of the things that can be a drain on you with a home business opportunity:

You can’t leave your business at certain critical times of growth Your family will sometimes become a distraction when you are working at home Your bed is in the same place as your work There’s no boss to keep you honest about your hours There’s no boss to keep you on your focus to complete critical tasks No one will do the work for you Customers can be a pain sometimes The money in the beginning can come in sporadically (people who cannot handle any kind of financial stress should definitely keep their jobs until their home business opportunity starts paying the bills regularly).

No pain no gain. No risk, no profit. No investment, no return. A home business opportunity is like any other business. Don’t let anyone tell you differently!

But for those of us that thrive on making our own way in the world, who love that there is no limit to what we can make, and no one but our spouses to tell us what to do, there is nothing under the sun better than a home business!

About the author:
Darrell Knox is a writer and entrepreneur with 15 years of home business and marketing experience.

Business expert says : 6 Secret Signs of an Easy Home Business

2009-01-09T01:52:00.000-08:00

If you take a look around the Internet, you'll find hundreds of thousands of people who are looking for an easy home business. But what exactly does EASY mean? The answer depends on who is answering the question!

In this article, I'm going to show you six things that easy home businesses have in common - things you should look for when starting a low effort easy home business. Picking a business with these features will greatly increase your chance of success in your business ventures.

Here are the six things to look for in an easy home business:

1. A Well-Established Company With A Great Track Record

It's no secret that most so-called easy home businesses fail. There are a thousand reasons why, and it would take a business degree to really understand it all, but one thing that easy home businesses share is a great track record.

If a company is able to survive and thrive for 4 years, it means they have everything in place to run the business - and that means you can join up and hit the ground running.

2. Popular Products

This ties closely with Item 1 - an easy home business must have products that people want! It sounds simple, but many "fast cash" businesses you see being marketed on the Internet have products that you would NEVER buy in a thousand years. Yet they expect you to sell them!

By choosing an easy home business that has products that are easy to sell, it makes everything easier. You don't need to twist arms, or deal with a high percentage of product returns. Everthing goes smoothly when people are calling YOU to order!

3. No Large Up-Front Costs

This might sound surprising, but CASH is in short supply when you start any easy home business. That's right - every easy home business has this problem. It's important to know that the cost of getting into a business is not your only cost - there are marketing costs to consider, for instance. How will you attract new customers and new sales? You'll need to have business cards, a telephone (try not to use your home phone, just in case your business skyrockets or, Lord fordbid, goes bankrupt), and other expenses. You may need to attend teleconferences, or travel to events, and these costs should be considered BEFORE you jump in to any easy home business with both feet.

4 No Inventory to Maintain

We've all seen the easy home business opportunity that lets you get in on their hot opportunity - if you'll fill your garage with products. Those days are gone!

In today's environment, easy home businesses do all the product handling for you - they will produce it, package it, ship it, and even bill the customer on your behalf. Your only requirement is to tell them where to send your earnings!

Be sure that the easy home business you choose has no inventory requirements.

5. An Easy Way to Attract New Customers

A great easy home business is one that has customers coming to YOU. This is achieved by having a system in place that lets customers find you.

6. A Great Marketing System

The best easy home businesses come with a fine-tuned marketing system that you can use. This is a system that you can plug into with minimal effort, and see results in a very short timeframe. Things like replicated websites, co-op advertising, and low cost marketing kits are things that indicate a great marketing engine is in place. You'll need these tools if you are going to attract potential customers quickly.

Summary

If you spend some time looking at easy home businesses, you'll find some that have the six features in this arcticle. Choosing a business with these features is the best way to maximize your chances of success, and gives you a greater likelihood of seeing positive cashflow in a relatively short timeframe. There's no guarantees, but this checklist will really improve your odds of success!

About the author:
Jack Sinclair is a successful entrepreneur, Internet Marketer and loving husand and father who likes to help others succeed.

Business expert says : Create Your Own Home Business

2009-01-09T01:40:00.000-08:00

A home business is by far the best way to support yourself if you just cannot stand working for others for less money than you need to survive. It’s also the best way to get out of a good paying job that just takes up too much of your precious short life working for someone else.

Let’s face it, you probably know someone who has a home business. Do they look happy to you? Do they complain as much about work and money as you do? Probably not.

This is not to say that you should quit your job and start a home business. You should start one while you still have your job. Some people complain that this is hard and takes up too much of their free time. In the beginning a home business is not profitable – you have to work at it like anything else.

Some people eventually go back to work blaming some program or home business opportunity that wasted their time and didn’t work. Unfortunately, the odds are actually that they didn’t work hard enough and stick to their dreams. Many people allow themselves to believe that there are no legitimate home businesses. It’s easier to go to work thinking this than to let themselves truly believe that a home business is possible, profitable, or liberating.

But if you truly believe there are no good home businesses, that they are all scams, then what are the thousands of people doing everyday in your hometown driving around during work hours?

You know the ones. The people you see on your day off that are driving around and standing in line in places you frequent on your days off. They can’t ALL be on their days off too! You have wondered, just like I did, what it is these people do. I know you have.

Many of them have their own home business. Many of the people you see at the post office who know the clerks by first name are shipping packages of goods they sold on auction at Ebay or their own websites.

The cars parked in the county clerk’s office in your home town. Some are employees there, but not all of them. Many of the people coming and going from that office in your town (during business hours when everyone should be working, right?) are real estate brokers, or no money down buyers and sellers looking up local property information.

Home business owners are all around you, everyday. The home business industry is quite literally booming and is getting larger exponentially by the month.

The worst thing you could ever do to yourself, that is a life-altering belief system, is let yourself believe it is all a scam or that there is no room for YOUR creativity and YOUR value as a home business owner of any kind!

Take me for instance! I own my own website and I sell information, business tools for home business people who work on the internet, and services of all kinds. I work from home. I am one of those people you see during the week driving around town while you wonder what it is I do for a living. Nice to meet you!

About the author:
Darrell Knox is a writer and entrepreneur with 15 years of home business and marketing experience.

Blog expert says : 7 Questions To Ask Yourself BEFORE Starting A Business Blog

2009-01-09T01:30:00.000-08:00

Blogging is the latest buzzword in online marketing and PR.

But with so many marketers jumping on the blogging bandwagon, few people are giving a thought to whether blogs are really up their alley, or taking the time to consider the best ways of going about it.

If you are planning to start a business blog, ask yourself these questions before you take the final plunge.

1. Do you really need a blog?

Writing and maintaining a blog takes a certain degree of commitment, as well as a passion (or at least a liking) for stringing words into a decent sentence. If you don't enjoy writing that much, you could always create an audio or video blog.

But would your business objectives really be served by starting a blog? Or could other methods of online marketing - like SEO, ezine advertising or newsletter publishing work just as well, if not better?

2. Whom do you want to reach with your blog?

The first step to reaching your audience is understanding where they go to find information about your products.

If your audience largely consists of people who live in your town or use products that they search for in the newspapers, offline advertising might be more suited to your purpose.

If however, your target audience belongs to one or more of these segments, a blog might be just the thing to boost your business.

- Internet users

Does your target audience really use the internet? If not, then starting a blog (or any online activity, for that matter) will just be a huge waste of time and effort.

- Blog readers

Does your target audience read blogs? Or do they prefer to get their information in their inbox? If the latter is true, then an email newsletter might be a better option than a blog.

- Search engine users

A blog is an excellent way to boost your search engine rankings and get listed for a lot of your target keywords. If you know that your audience uses search engines to find information, a blog will increase your chances of getting their attention.

3. What do you want to achieve with your blog?

There are a lot of things that a blog can do for your business. Blogs can help you -

- Increase your visibility and search engine rankings

- Brand yourself, your products, your services, your company

- Build a community and network with people who have similar interests

- Expand your reach to those outside your current sphere of influence

- Establish your credibility as an expert or thought-leader in your field

- Put a human face on your business

- Reach out to potential customers and stakeholders

Deciding exactly what you want to achieve with your blog can help you get focused, so that you can spend your time and effort in activities that help, not hinder your business objectives.

4. How much time can you spend on your blog?

Serious business bloggers not only spend time writing their own blogs, but also spend a great deal of time reading up on current events and browsing other blogs in their field for information.

If you are prepared to put in the time and effort required to do that sort of research, your blog will serve as a good branding tool for your business.

If not, you should either hire someone to do the research or seriously rethink your decision to start a blog.

5. What blogging platform will serve your needs best?

Deciding your blogging platform is an important step that you should take only after becoming familiar with the features and benefits of each option.

The reason it is so crucial is because it can be extremely difficult to migrate an established blog to a new platform once you have started it. Moving your blog can result in you losing your data, search engine listings and readers, so don't take this decision lightly.

Decide which platform will best meet your marketing objectives, time constraints and personal preferences before you make your first post.

According to T.L. Pakii Pierce who writes at "How to Blog for Fun & Profits!" http://blogforfunandprofit.blogware.com, if you are short of time, and want to spend more time writing, then a hosted solution like Blogger, Blogware, Squarespace or Typepad might serve your purpose better.

This might also prove a better option if you want to get started as soon as possible, are new to the internet, or are unfamiliar with scripts or code.

If, on the other hand, you're a control freak (like me) and don't mind spending some time and effort to customize your blog, then a server-installed software, like Wordpress, b2Evolution or Movable Type might be just right for you.

If you don't want to install the scripts yourself, choose a hosting solution with Fantastico, which comes with a one-click install of a number of blogging software.

6. How do you plan to promote your blog?

Why is it good to know this before you start your blog? Because it will help you decide where best to invest your time and effort when you need to build traffic to your blog.

You'll learn more about the methods to promote your blog when you subscribe to the email course below. Some of these tasks can be outsourced, while others you would have to do yourself.

Decide what you want to take on and look out for service providers to handle the other functions so you can start building traffic to your blog as soon as possible.

7. How will you assess the success of your blog?

To determine how successful your blog is in boosting your profile or profits you will have to measure your blog traffic and track sales or leads that have come through it.

Planning this in advance will help you take more informed decisions about your blogging metrics, choice of blogging platform and degree of customization you require on your blog.

Understand that blogging is not for everyone. It's just another form of communication.

Don't get so hung up on the technology that you end up ignoring more appropriate ways of communicating your message.

Some things may be easier to communicate face to face, in a conference room, or even through the good old telephone.

But if you asked yourself all the questions above and decided that blogging meets all your objectives, then a blog may be just what the doctor ordered for your business.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Priya Shah is a former journalist who writes on business blogging and publishes an internet marketing newsletter.

Blog expert says : Making Money With Your Blog

2009-01-09T01:23:00.000-08:00

I’ve sure you’ve heard before that it’s a possibility to make money with your blog and you may be wondering how this is possible. And were they really meant for making money or just for journaling your personal thoughts? I’m not sure what they were intended for but they are great ways to make money.

I have a personal blog which is just my own private little place to go online and jot down my thoughts, but I also have my business blogs.

Back In The Beginning

Now to be honest with you in the beginning of my blogging experience I really wasn't sure what I should do with my blog. I knew I wanted to make money with it, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t know what I could do to not only be a value to others so they would come back to my blog, but that I would still enjoy writing it.

So it was really important to me that I find a topic in which I would be excited about, and have enough to offer so that I could blog every week or so. After starting a blog that was meant to just be an add on to my business at MommysPlace.net and struggling with the direction of that blog, I came across one of Alice Seba’s blogs. Which she used to write about her experience through a traffic product.

Every couple of weeks or so she would update her progress through this course. She would tell us all about her successes with this product and how great it was for her business. And it made me think of how I could do something similar.

Product/Service Focused Blog

This is when the light bulb moment went off in my head. This is when I realized what I should have been doing all along. I have been a member of a exclusive coaching program for mothers in business.

Since joining this program my business has seen great success. My income has increased more then five times what it was before I joined and my traffic has increased even more then that.

I enjoy and believe in this coaching program and it happens to have an affiliate program. I often got email from other work at home mothers who wanted to know my thoughts on this program.

Taking a cue from Alice’s blog I decided to start my own such blog. And named it http://MomMastermindsJourney.blogspot.com - okay, not a catchy title, but I'm no good with picking names

I used this blog for the purpose of documenting my successes with my business. My projects, new content added to my website, keyword phrases I was ranking for…etc. Basically anything that had to do with my business, that was directly or indirectly because of my joining Mom Masterminds, I jotted down.

Not only was this the best move I could have made for my promoting this affiliate link it also served as a great way to really see for myself the successes my business was achieving and also to keep me on track.

This is one way you could make money with a blog. There are other ways you could make money with a blog if you don’t want to devote a blog to one service or product you’re promoting.

Side Kick Blog

For instance, my blog at http://www.mommyworkingvirtually.com is a side kick to MommysPlace.net and my forums. This is a blog in which I update my members on additions to the website, newsletter and forums. Updating any important telecommuting or business news and can promote my adsense and any other affiliate programs.

So this blog serves more then one purpose. My main goal with this blog is to get traffic to certain sections of my website. I have a large website and it’s not always easy for people to find my information. So this is a great way for me to keep certain new pages or sections of my website in the public eye and get traffic to those pages. It also serves as a way to make money with adsense and affiliate programs. And lastly it gives exposure to my forum and my newsletter.

There can be many ways and many topics in which you can make money and gain exposure to other businesses you may have or can help in creating you as an expert in a certain field.

Just take the time to really think about what you could be writing about and then how you can make money with that as well. You can take a look at others blogs to get an idea and see what other people are looking for.

Making Money With Your Blog - Resources:

Blogs to Riches- is an ebook that details ways you can make your blog profitable. And the really cool thing with this is if you list the publishers link on your blog for 45 days he will give you this ebook for free! If you don't want to wait that long you can also purchase it for a low price. Read more about Blogs to Riches - www.blogstoriches.com

Increasing Adsense - is an ebook about how to increase your adsense revenue. This ebook isn't specifically geared towards blogs, but the information you will learn you can use with your blogs. (As well as websites and forums...anywhere you have adsense.) www.adsense-secrets.com

* Don't know what adsense is? Go to www.google.com/adsense to learn more.

Ready To Blog?

Are you ready to take the leap into a blog? If so, it’s really very easy to set up a blog. The one resource I have used for all my blogs has been blogger.com. This is free, easy, and fun. There are many templates to chose from and you can customize yours if you would like.

I have used the general template for my mom masterminds blog and I have customized my http://www.mommysworkingvirtually.com blog with different colors and fonts then what it came with. I also have that hosted on my own domain, but you certainly don’t have to do that.

Submit Your Blog

After you create your blog you will want to submit it to blog directories to help get your blog out in front of the public. Some of the directories you can try are:

BlogWise - http://www.blogwise.com
Blog Search Engine - http://www.blogsearchengine.com
Blog Hub - http://www.bloghub.com
Blog Daisey - http://www.blogdaisey.com
Get Blogs - http://www.getblogs.com
Is Blogs - http://www.lsblogs.com

Feeds

Next, you need to add feeds to your blog. What is a feed? Good question. I don’t know the exact way to describe a feed nor do I have a lot of valuable information on this subject.

This is still very new to me, but I can tell you briefly what a feed does. You add a little graphic to your blog. It can be for someone's yahoo page, msn page and other ways.

When they click on that they can add your blog to their personal yahoo page. Then every time you add a new post they are alerted on their yahoo page that you have posted AND it even shows the topic of the post and how long ago it was posted.

This is one of the best resources I’ve found in keeping people coming back to your blog. They can subscribe to it so easily and they will be automatically updated whenever you have posted. It’s pretty easy to add an RSS feed to your blog. The resource I personally use is at www.feedburner.com

Watch Out Blogging World - Here I Come!

Now, see how simple this really can be? You can make money with a blog, gain exposure for another business or websites, can create yourself as an expert on a certain topic, can create a blog for free, get it listed for free and start an RSS feed for free! Now get out there and start blogging.

About the Author
Nell Taliercio is the publisher of a weekly telecommuting newsletter that helps moms and dads work at home.

Blog expert says : Search Engine Optimization For Blogs

2009-01-09T01:19:00.000-08:00

Blogging software is really a simple Content Management System (CMS) that easily adds new pages and integrates them into your site's navigational structure and linkage.

Blogs and blog posts are naturally search engine friendly because they are text-rich, link-rich, frequently-updated webpages that use stylesheets or CSS, and have very little extraneous HTML.

Optimizing a blog is very similar to optimizing a website, and optimizing a blog post similar to optimizing a web page. But depending on the blogging service or software you use, the results may look somewhat different.

If you follow some simple rules for search engine optimization, your blog can rank much higher than static website pages in the search engine results pages.

Here are the most important rules to follow to get your posts listed for keywords of your choice.

1. Use your primary keyword in your blog domain

Whether you purchase a separate domain (recommended) for your blog, or host it on a blogging service or a subdomain of your own site, try to ensure that your URL contains the primary keyword you want to optimize for.

For example, if you want your blog to get found for the keyword "rss" get a domain with the keyword "rss", or use the keyword in a subdomain as in http://ebizwhiz-publishing.com/rssnews/

Getting a domain name with your own name might make for good branding, especially if yours is a personal blog.

But if you're doing it for business and want the targeted traffic to flow your way, keywords in the domain or subdomain are a move in the right direction.

2. Use your primary key phrase in your blog header tags and the title of your posts

If your primary key phrase is "business blogging" make sure that the word business, or blogging, or both, appear in your blog headers (the H1 or H2 tags) as well as the title of each of your posts.

Most blogging software will take the keywords in your post title and put them into the file name of the permalink posts it creates.

For example, if you have a blog on Blogger and title your post "Search Engine Optimization For Blogs", Blogger will automatically create a page with your post and name the file "search-engine-optimization-for-blogs.html" or something similar.

With other server-side software like Wordpress and Movable Type, you may require the mod_rewrite command to save the title of your entries as a permalink.

3. Use your secondary keywords in the body of your post

If you want to get listed for secondary keywords use them infrequently in the body of your post and pepper your blog titles or links with them appropriately.

Don't overdo this or your posts will end up sounding unnatural and spammy to readers.

4. Use your keywords in the anchor text of links

Keyword in links have more importance than simple text.

Use your primary and secondary keywords in the anchor text of links when linking to other blog posts or to other pages on your main site.

Link keywords where they naturally appear in the body text, but again, don't overdo it, or you'll end up with spammy looking pages.

5. Make sure search engines can spider your blog easily

Set up your blog so that the side navigation bar is present on all pages.

Make sure your archives and previous posts are accessible from all pages of your blog so they get spidered easily.

6. Get backlinks from other blogs or websites

Links pointing to your blog or posts are essential to build pagerank and make your blog rank higher in the search engine listings.

I've seen many people recommend Blogrolling as one method of building links to your blog.

BlogRolling is a one-stop linklist manager for your blog or journal.
http://www.blogrolling.com

But all this service actually does is give you a bit of javascript code that "calls" the links.

As far as search engine rankings go, this method of linking is of little use, because spiders can't read external javascript code.

Instead I recommend that you focus your linking efforts on the methods here.

* Submitting to Blog Search Engines and Directories:

Submitting your blog and RSS feed to blog search engines and directories is essential for getting high-quality links back to your blog. Here is the best list I've found of places to submit your feed or blog.

Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites
http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/

* Link Exchanges:

Many similarly-themed blogs are often willing to exchange links with other blogs and form richly interlinked networks or communities. Link exchanges with other blogs are easy to implement with most blogging software.

* Trackbacks:

You can also get links back to your blog using trackbacks. One of the disadvantages of using Blogger is that it does not automatically create trackback urls that others can use to link back to your posts.

Haloscan is a free service that will automatically add comments and trackbacks to your Blogger blog.
http://www.haloscan.com

But if trackbacks are an important component of your linking strategy, I would advise using another software or system that adds this feature automatically.

* Comments:

You can also get back links to your blog by posting legitimate comments in response to posts on other blogs.

7. Update frequently

There's no better food for search engine spiders than fresh content.

Post and update your blog frequently using all the rules outlined above and there's no reason why your blog will not get you top rankings in a short period of time.

8. Stay put

Once you create your blog, try to stick to the same domain and blog host or system for as long as you continue to publish.

You could end up losing a lot of your traffic, your readers and all your search engine listings if you decide to move.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Priya Shah publishes an internet marketing ezine

Blog expert says : Small Business - To Blog or Not To Blog

2009-01-09T01:15:00.000-08:00

A weblog, or "blog" started out as a personal journal on the Web. They have evolved far beyond that initial concept. Now, weblogs cover as many different topics as there are people writing them. Some blogs are highly influential and have readership which exceeds most traditional newspapers, while others are mainly intended as personal journals to be shared with only family and friends. So, should you consider blogging?

The power of weblogs is that they allow millions of people to easily publish their ideas, and millions more to comment on them. Increasingly people write, read and comment on blogs. Many people mistakenly believe that blogs are only personal diaries. More and more, blogs are being used by businesses to attract customers. Since blogs now come in all flavors, let’s look at the basics of blogging.

A blogger is someone who writes a blog. The “Blogosphere” is a word used to describe the online community of bloggers and their writings.
A blog differs from a website only because it is a website that is updated frequently, most often displaying its material in journal-like entries. An entry, a post, or a posting, are the terms often used to refer to a specific article or commentary written by the blogger on his or her blog. Many weblogs allow readers to write a reaction to what was written in the blog entry. These comments can often be found directly following the blog entry.

For millions of people, blogging is a hobby. For some, like journalists, writers, business leaders and political leaders, writing blogs enhances their professional careers. A blog gives the voice a broader audience and allows more direct and interactive contact with the readers. Some bloggers have readership numbers approaching that of big media and are able to earn income from their blogs. But potential profit should not be the primary motivation for blogging.

Why should a blog be part of your business’ marketing strategy? The blogging movement is picking up speed, particularly for businesses. Blogging is one arena where the size of your company won’t matter. A blog is NOT the place to promote your product or company. It is a place to promote your ideas, provide tips, and express yourself in the hopes of building an audience. That audience may , in turn, become customers.

There are two key concepts to keep in mind when deciding whether you will launch a blog or not; providing quality content and blogging regularly. These are critical to creating an audience for your blog.

A successful blog is written with a distinct audience in mind. In this way, you can provide content that is unique to your audience’s issues, needs, or desires. If you create content they like and wish to return to read, you will produce quality content. Successful bloggers have a focused topic and a unique personality.

Both your topic and unique style will cause your audience to return to your blog. When they return, it is critical to stay true to your audience and tone of your blog. If people are reading your blog, it’s because they like your topic and tone. Try not to stray from your typical topics and style too much. This will give your readers a reason to link back to your blog on an ongoing basis. But your content and tone are just one element to consider. Also critical to your ongoing blogging success is how frequently you update your blog.

If you don't update your blog often enough, blog readers will move on to other blogs. There are too many blogs out there competing for your reader’s attention. Blog readers will go where the content is.

Successful blogging takes a commitment of your time. When you begin blogging and wish to capture an audience, you should be prepared to blog every day. In this way, you can develop an audience who counts on you to help them begin or end their day. This means you should also try to post at the same time each day. Your readers will get accustomed to your schedule and check your blog at the appropriate time. The time of day is not as crucial as the consistency in your posting.

So, is a blog right for you? You tell me. Do you have a distinct topic in mind? Do you have a strong opinion or passion for the topic? Do you know what audience you are writing for? Do you have the time to commit to regular postings on your blog? If so, see you in the blogosphere!

About the Author
Michele Schermerhorn calls herself a “Corporate Freedom Fighter” dedicated to freeing cubicle prisoners

Blog expert says : 23 Tips and Strategies on How Everyone Can Blog Right andGet (2)

2009-01-09T01:13:00.000-08:00

Tip #9 - Clarity & simplicity / Short & Concise
Keep your posts and blog entries clear and easy to
understand. Simplicity always produce better results at the
end of the day.

Aside from the lengthy article a week for syndication and
publication your blog entries should be short & concise (if
you can help it). Should you insist on partaking on the
lengthy road, try to maintain a clean paragraphing style,
proper spacing, use different size, color and bold for your
titles as well as the subtitles. Use bullet points, go
straight to the point and never run out of topic. Insert
images to spice up things if you're an avid fan of long
posts.

Tip #10 - Keyword-rich.
If the goal of your blog is to increase your visibility,
include related keywords in the title of the blog. Use the
title as a headline to attract interest. Each item post
should have a title that will attract attention but still be
relevant to the post. The title should be no longer than
10-12 words. Experiment with the titles if you must,
possibly try to avoid general and ordinary titles. Try to
include extraordinary and innovative titles to grab the
readers' attention.

Tip #11 - Spell checking and proof-reading.
It only takes a few extra moments and can save you from
having to make embarrassing explanations. The hazards of
Internet is that if you're too late to correct your mistake,
most likely it's already been crawled by the search engines
and read by many. It is extremely essential to think / proof
read carefully twice or even thrice, about what you post
before doing so. Take note of your language and grammar.

Tip #12 - RSS Feeds
RSS to a blog is like fuel to cars. Mostly every single free
blogs or bloggin software out there will have an automatic
RSS feed generating feature. Although it's most unlikely
that you'll find one without a RSS feature, simply leave it
and find a new one, if you happen to come across one without
it.

Tip #13 - The essence of the Internet - Traffic. It's no
secret. You must have traffic to realize the definition of a
blog.. There are numerous ways to build traffic. Paid and
free advertising, viral marketing, search engine marketing,
RSS/XML feeds, word-of-mouth, submitting to numerous blog
and RSS directories, etc. RSSBlogsubmit (
http://www.rssblogsubmit.com) provides a submission service
for your Blog & RSS feeds. You should always use your blog
URL address in the signature of your email, forum
discussions, message boards, or any other communication
media. Never forget to share your blog to your friends,
colleagues, and any other invidious that you know of.

Tip #14 - Track Your Blog
Tracking your blog does not have to be overly sophisticated
usually a simple free page counter like StatCounter.com,
ActiveMeter.com, Extremetracking.com or Sitemeter.com will
do the trick. Install (copy/paste) the code into the html of
your blog template and start tracking your visitors. Its
better to use a service which gives you advanced traffic
analysis, such as keyword tracking information, referral
information, and search engine information. Visitors,
returning visitors, and unique visitors should be standard
for any page counter service you choose.

Tip #15 - Make use of your Blog's statistical and tracking
information. Believe it or not, your visitors' information
from your tracking scripts will provide you priceless
information on how you can attract more readers. Keep note
on the keyword terms used from search engines which bring
you traffic. You can identify relevant closely related
topics which you can venture into and add more variety into
your blog, yet staying very much in topic. Simply put, more
topic coverage and more variety = more traffic. You may
analyze your tracking information further on how you can
strategize your blog's content. You can also apply some
keyword optimization strategies here.

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Computer expert says : Wireless Networks - How Do They Work?

2009-01-09T00:57:00.000-08:00

Wireless networks use radio waves instead of wires to transmit data between computers. Here's how:

The Binary Code: 1s and 0s

It's well known that computers transmit information digitally, using binary code: ones and zeros. This translates well to radio waves, since those 1s and 0s can be represented by different kinds of beeps. These beeps are so fast that they're outside the hearing range of humans.

Morse Code: Dots And Dashes

It works like Morse code, which is a way to transmit the alphabet over radio waves using dots (short beeps) and dashes (long beeps). Morse code was used manually for years via telegraph to get information from 1 place to another very quickly. More importantly for this example, though, it is a binary system, just as a computer system is.

Wireless networking, then, can be thought of as a Morse code for computers. You plug in a combined radio receiver and transmitter, and the computer is able to send out its equivalent of dots and dashes (bits, in computer-speak) to get your data from here to there.

Wavelengths And Frequencies

You might wonder how the computer can send and receive data at high speed without becoming garbled nonsense. The key to wireless networking is how it gets around this problem.

First, wireless transmissions are sent at very high frequencies, which allows more data to be sent per second. Most wireless connections use a frequency of 2.4 gigahertz (2.4 billion cycles per second) -- a frequency similar to mobile phones and microwave ovens. However, this high frequency produces a wavelength that is very short, which is why wireless networking is effective only over short distances.

Wireless networks also use a technique called "frequency hopping." They use dozens of frequencies, and constantly switch among them. This makes wireless networks more immune to interference from other radio signals than if they transmitted on a single frequency.

Internet Access Points

The final step for a wireless network is to provide internet access for every computer on the network. This is done by a special piece of wireless equipment called an access point. An access point is more expensive than a wireless card for 1 computer, because it contains radios capable of communicating with around 100 computers, sharing internet access among them. Dedicated access points are necessary only for larger networks. With only a few computers, it is possible to use 1 of them as the access point, or to use a wireless router.

Industry Standards

Wireless equipment from different manufacturers can work together to handle these complex communications because there are standards which guide the production of all wireless devices. These standards are technically called the 802.11. Because of industry compliance with these standards, wireless networking is both easy to use and affordable today.

Wireless Is Simple To Use

If all this talk of frequencies has you worried -- relax. Wireless networking hardware and software handle all of this automatically, without need for user intervention. Wireless networking, for all its complicated ability, is far simpler to use than you might expect.

About the author:
Ron King is a full-time researcher, writer, and web developer.

Computer expert says : Why Hide Your IP Address?

2009-01-09T00:56:00.001-08:00

Hiding your IP address is the best way for surfing the net anonymously. IP address is the Internet protocol address. This is the unique address of a computer on the Internet. The IP address consists of four numbers divided by periods. These numbers indicate the domain, the subnetwork, the network and the host computer. Each IP address mostly has an equivalent domain name address, spelled with four letters. It is very important to hide your IP address online. Hiding your IP address online ensures that your personal information is not leaked out to the outsiders.

By installing software in your PC, you can hide your IP address. Anonymous surfing of the web will enable you to safeguard your Internet privacy. There is nothing illegal in hiding your IP address, for the proper reasons. If you have any doubt regarding this you can always consult your legal advisor. The legal advisor can guide you about the matter.

An IP address changer can help you change your IP address when you are surfing online. The tools of IP address changer will let you change your IP address anytime by routing your Internet traffic through an overseas server. The tool has drop down box that enables the user to choose an IP address from one of the countries mentioned in the box. Hiding your IP address is the best option to protect your self from any kind of fraud.

Hiding your IP address also enables you to protect your computer from spyware. Spyware is the software that monitors the activities of the user of a computer. Some webmasters and software producers offer free downloads for your computer. Most of the free downloads are embedded with spyware. After you complete the download, the spyware gets installed in your computer and your activities can be monitored.

Hiding your IP address also gives you freedom from the constantly bombarding pop up ads in your computer. Whenever you enter a website, you will be flooded by the pop up ads. Constant flooding of the pop up ads in the computer can be very irritating and disturbing for the user. The efficiency of the computer also gets diminished due to this. Your computer can stop functioning when you have an urgent piece of work to do. Hiding your IP address will protect you from such situation.

The main advantage of hiding your IP address is that you are protected from any website that wants to monitor your online habits and activities. Hiding the IP address also makes sure that you do not receive any junk or bulk emails in your inbox. Good software for hiding your IP address will keep your computer safe from the hackers. If the software has the ability to support frequent IP address change, the chances of protecting your privacy increases.

You can also use the web-based email to send anonymous email to people. This can sometimes be necessary for your work. Your IP address is meant for your personal use and nobody has the right to misuse this without your permission.

About the author:
Author – MattGarrett http://www.GhostSurf-Pro.com

Computer expert says : Internet Security Basics 101

2009-01-09T00:53:00.000-08:00

The explosive growth of the Internet has meant that thousands of people are today experiencing the joys of being online for the first time. With growth there always comes pain. Be it your growing pains as a child or the growth and development of this part of our culture called the Internet.

Firstly we need to quickly explain what the Internet is and where it came from. The Internet is the offspring of a military project called Arpanet. Arpanet was designed to provide reliable communication during global nuclear war. A vast network of interconnected computers was set up all over the world to allow the various branches of US and NATO forces to communicate with each other.

Nuclear war never came (thankfully) and the world was left with a massive network of computers all connected together with nothing to do. Colleges and universities started to use these computers for sharing research internationally. From there it grew and spread outside colleges to local homes and businesses. The World Wide Web was born and its father was a guy called Tim Berners Lee.

When you're connected to the Internet you're sharing a vast network with hundreds of millions of other users. This shared network provides resources that 15 years ago were never thought possible. Unfortunately when something is shared its open to abuse. On the Internet this abuse comes from hackers and virus creators. Their sole intent is to cause chaos and/or harm to your computer system and millions of other computer systems all over the world.

How do you combat this? You need an Internet security system. This might sound complicated but your Internet security system will be quite straigtforward being comprised of just 2 - 3 Internet security products. We'll look at each of these products in more detail now:

AntiVirus Software
The first and most critical element of your Internet security system is antivirus software. If you don't have up-to-date antivirus software on your PC you're asking for trouble. 300 new viruses appear each month and if you're not constantly protecting your system against this threat your computer will become infected with at least one virus - it's only a matter of time.

Antivirus software scans your PC for signatures of a virus. A virus signature is the unique part of that virus. It can be a a file name, how the virus behaves or the size of the virus file itself. Good antivirus software will find viruses that haven't yet infected your PC and eliminate the ones that have.

Antivirus software can only protect your computer from viruses trying to infect it via email, CD-Rom, floppy disk, Word documents or other types of computer files. Antivirus software alone will not keep your computer 100% safe. You also need to use firewall software.

Firewall Software
The use of firewall software by home computer users is a relatively new occurence. All Internet connections are a two way process. Data must be sent and received by your computer. This data is sent through something called ports. These are not physical things rather aspects of the way your computer communicates online.

Firewall software watches these ports to make sure that only safe communication is happening between your computer and other computers online. If it sees something dangerous happening it blocks that port on your computer to make sure your computer stays safe from the person who is trying to hack into your system.

An easier way to understand a firewall would be to picture your computer as an apartment complex. At the front door of this complex there is a security guard. Every person who enters the complex must pass this security guard. If the security guard recognizes the person entering as a resident he allows them to pass without saying anything. If, however, the person entering the complex is unknown to him then he will stop that person and ask for identification. If they have no business being at the apartment complex he escorts them from the building.

If you are not currently using firewall software your computer will get hacked into - that's a guarantee.

PopUP Blocker
You can get a good popup blocker at no cost. An easy way to do this is to install either the Google or Yahoo toolbar. Both of these come with popup blockers built in. Popups are not necessarily dangerous but are a nuisance and using either of these toolbars will make your life that bit easier.

A simple rule for practicing online security is: "If in doubt then don't". If you don't recognize the file, the email address, the website or if your gut feeling says "no" then don't click that button.

About the author:
Niall Roche of the Spyware & Malware Guide.

Computer expert says : Guide to buying the perfect PC

2009-01-09T00:51:00.001-08:00

PCs have become a staple in every home. Without PCs, you will find it hard to stay connected and to even do the work required of you in school or in the office. With so much PC packages being shoved to our throat every time we go to department stores and computer shops, you’ll really get quite confused on what you really need and what PC package will fit your budget and lifestyle. To help you through this dilemma, here is a brief backgrounder of the parts of PCs that you should get to know.

Processor.
This is one of the three primary components of your PC. The processor is the part that determines how fast your computer process information. Intel is still the leading brand in processors but competitors such as American Micro Devices (AMD) are slowly catching up, offering cheaper alternative. In shopping for a processor, one should consider the following:

Clock speed – this will show the number of instructions that a computer can execute in a second. This usually comes after the brand name. Processors nowadays are already set at the gigahertz range.

Cache memory – this stores the data that were previously accessed. This simplifies the work of the computer as it would not take twice as long to access information already stored in memory bank. Without a cache memory, much of the work will fall on the RAM (Random Access Memory).

Operating temperature – some processors easily heats up. Before buying, make sure that you have asked about the operating temperature just in case you need to buy additional fans or put the computer in an air-conditioned room.

RAM (Random Access Memory).
RAM serves as the temporary memory of the PC, containing information that are needed for the computer and the programs to function. In addition to processors, RAM also determines the speed of the computer. The higher the RAM, the faster the computer is in accessing information and responding to commands.

Motherboard
This is where all the parts of the PC’s CPU (Central Processing Unit) are attached. Some motherboards already have videocards and soundcards embedded on it while others don’t. what is important however is to choose a motherboard that is compatible with your RAM and processor. Incompatibility of PC hardware can cause major problems and may even lead to the breakdown of your computer.

Hard drive.
This is the part where you store all the information in your PC. Picture a floppy disk with much much larger storing capacity. The hard drive serves as the permanent memory of your computer. Here you install all your programs and save all the documents that you need. It is also important that you buy a hard drive with really big capacity especially now when people are so used to storing multimedia files that may use up a lot of hard drive space.

Video cards
This is the part of the computer which determines the quality of the multimedia images that you will view. The higher the memory of the video card, the better is the picture quality and the colors. Also, video cards are also responsible for how fast multimedia images are accessed. This is especially needed if you use your computer for multimedia activities such as watching a movie or playing video games.

Author: Dee Kerr

Computer expert says :Getting The Most Out Of A Tablet PC

2009-01-09T00:38:00.000-08:00

What is a tablet PC, how is it different from a laptop and is it the right computer for you? To find the answer to these questions lets take a look at tablet PC’s and how they work.

Tablet PC's were originally designed to put mobile computers in the hand of people working in the field. The people using them spent the majority of their time away from a desk and wouldn’t have access to a keyboard or mouse. Users would make entries via stylus or digitizer. The lightweight and highly portable nature of these types of computers made them perfectly suited to field technicians and health care workers. These original models are known as slate tablets do to their distinctive one piece design. The entire computer screen and all was encased in one small unit, usually weighing 4 pounds or less. All of the units came with ports for connecting an optional keyboard, mouse, CD/DVD drive, printer, monitor or other computer peripherals. By choosing not to include all of these peripherals computer manufacturers were able to shave off pounds and lengthen the battery life considerably.

Many people were attracted to these new tablet PC’s but still wanted a traditional keyboard setup. Manufacturers responded to consumers demand and the convertible tablet PC was born. A convertible tablet PC looks very much like a small notebook computer. Aside from the monitor it functions exactly like a traditional laptop computer. The monitor is attached on special hinge that allows the monitor to swivel, making it an extremely powerful tool for small customer presentations and demonstrations. The monitor is also capable of swiveling completely around and lying on top of the keyboard with its screen facing up. This gives it the appearance of the traditional slate tablet PC. Convertible tablet PC’s traditionally have a larger viewing screen, larger hard drive, larger battery, and other accessories. These extras make it a much more powerful computing platform, but they also make it heavier and more expensive.

Is a tablet PC the right PC for you? The real question is how portable does you’re computing lifestyle have to be? Do you spend a lot of time outside of a traditional office environment? Do you need to use a computer to record or makes notes while you’re walking, or moving from place to place, if so a tablet PC is the perfect choice for you? For salespeople or business men who spend a lot of time traveling a convertible tablet is probably a much better option. It gives them more power, and more features, with a more traditional computer setup.

About the author:
Eve Larson is the lead writer for the Six Level Network Tablet PC News and Review website.

Web expert says : The Three Principles Of HTML Code Optimization

2009-01-09T00:23:00.000-08:00

Just like spring cleaning a house, the html code of your web pages should get periodic cleaning as well. Over time, as changes and updates are made to a web page, the code can become littered with unnecessary clutter, slowing down page load times and hurting the efficiency of your web page. Cluttered html can also seriously impact your search engine ranking.

This is especially true if you are using a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) web design package such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver. These programs will speed up your web site creation, but they are not that efficient at writing clean html code.

We will be focusing this discussion on the actual html coding, ignoring other programming languages that may be used in a page such as JavaScript. In the code examples I will be using ( and ) characters instead of correct html so that the code examples will display properly in this newsletter.

Up until recently when coding a page in HTML we would be using tags such as the (font) tag and (p) paragraph tags. Between these tags would be our page content, text, images and links. Each time a formatting change was made on the page new tags were needed with complete formatting for the new section. More recently we have gained the ability to use Cascading Style Sheets, allowing us to write the formatting once and then refer to that formatting several times within a web page.

In order to speed up page load times we need to have fewer characters on the page when viewed in an html editor. Since we really do not want to remove any of our visible content we need to look to the html code. By cleaning up this code we can remove characters, thereby creating a smaller web page that will load more quickly.

Over time HTML has changed and we now have many different ways to do the same thing. An example would be the code used to show a bold type face. In HTML we have two main choices, the (strong) tag and the (b) tag. As you can see the (strong) tag uses 5 more characters than the (b) tag, and if we consider the closing tags as well we see that using the (strong)(/strong) tag pair uses 10 more characters than the cleaner (b)(/b) tag pair.

This is our First Principle of clean HTML code: Use the simplest coding method available.

HTML has the ability of nesting code within other code. For instance we could have a line with three words where the middle word was in bold. This could be accomplished by changing the formatting completely each time the visible formatting changes. Consider this code:

(font face=”times”)This(/font)
(font face=”times”)(strong)BOLD(/strong)(/font)
(font face=”times”)Word(/font)
This takes up 90 characters.

This is very poorly written html and is what you occasionally will get when using a WYSIWYG editor. Since the (font) tags are repeating the same information we can simply nest the (strong) tags inside the (font) tags, and better yet use the (b) tag instead of the (strong) tag. This would give us this code (font face=”times)This (b)BOLD(/b) Word(/font), taking up only 46 characters.

This is our Second Principle of clean HTML code: Use nested tags when possible.

Be aware that WYSIWYG editors will frequently update formatting by adding layer after layer of nested code. So while you are cleaning up the code look for redundant nested code placed there by your WYSIWYG editing program.

A big problem with using HTML tags is that we need to repeat the tag coding whenever we change the formatting. The advent of CSS allows us a great advantage in clean coding by allowing us to layout the formatting once in a document, then simply refer to it over and over again.

If we had six paragraphs in a page that switch between two different types of formatting, such as headings in Blue, Bold, Ariel, size 4 and paragraph text in Black, Times, size 2, using tags we would need to list that complete formatting each time we make a change.

(font face=”Ariel” color=”blue” size=”4”)(b)Our heading(/b)(/font)
(font face=”Times color=”black” size=”2”)Our paragraph(/font)
(font face=”Ariel” color=”blue” size=”4”)(b)Our next heading(/b)(/font)
(font face=”Times color=”black” size=”2”)Our next paragraph(/font)

We would then repeat this for each heading and paragraph, lots of html code.

With CSS we could create CSS Styles for each formatting type, list the Styles once in the Header of the page, and then simply refer to the Style each time we make a change.

(head)
(style type="text/css")
(!--
.style1 {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-weight: bold;
font-size: 24px;
}
.style2 {
font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
font-size: 12px;
}
--)
(/style)
(/head)
(body)
(p class="style1")Heading(/p)
(p class="style2")Paragraph Text(/p)
(/body)

Notice that the Styles are created in the Head section of the page and then simply referenced in the Body section. As we add more formatting we would simply continue to refer to the previously created Styles.

This is our Third Principle of Clean HTML Code: Use CSS styles when ever possible.

CSS has several other benefits, such as being able to place the CSS styles in an external file, thereby reducing the page size even more, and the ability to quickly update formatting site-wide by simply updating the external CSS Style file.

So with some simple cleaning of your HTML code you can easily reduce the file size and make a fast loading, lean and mean web page.

About the author:
George Peirson is a successful Entrepreneur and Internet Trainer

Web expert says : XHTML - Kicking And Screaming Into The Future

2009-01-09T00:20:00.000-08:00

XHTML, the standard, was first released back in 2000. Roughly five years later we begin to see major websites revised to use this standard. Even the favorite whipping boy of standards-compliance punditry, Microsoft, presents their primary homepages, msn.com and microsoft.com in XHTML. Standards compliant XHTML sites are still the minority. The reason is simple. When the W3C released the new standard, the rest of the web running on HTML did not cease to function. Nor will the rest of the web, written in various flavors of HTML, cease to function any time soon. Without any pressing need to conform to the new standard, designers continue to use old, familiar methods. These methods will perform in any modern browser, so why bother switching?

These sentiments are similar to ones I experienced. A kind of "if it's not broke, don't fix it" mentality sets in. Whether HTML was "broken" or not is a different argument. To the casual Internet user, their standards are fairly direct. If a site displays without noticeable error and functions to their satisfaction, these standards are met. Whatever additional steps the browser took to make such display possible is irrelevant to most users. This kind of mentality is difficult to overcome in designers accustomed to their old methods.

Technical obstacles to adopting XHTML may be quite steep as well, especially as regards large, existing websites with complex scripting. Yet the time may eventually come where yesterday's "tried and true" HTML is little more than an ancient language, unable to be interpreted by modern electronic devices. Whether one agrees with the direction the W3C takes in the development of HTML is irrelevant, you are just along for the ride. With some perseverance, getting the hang of XHTML is possible. In form, it is not as different from HTML as Japanese is from English. Knowing HTML grants a basic knowledge of the language, it simply becomes a matter of learning a particular dialect. Even an original nay-sayer such as myself managed to do it.

Benefits of XHTML
There are 2 primary benefits to using XHTML. First is the strict nature of valid XHTML documents. "Valid" documents contain no errors. Documents with no errors can be parsed more easily by a browser. Though the time saved is, admittedly, negligible from the human user's point of view, there is a greater efficiency to the browser's performance. Most modern browsers will function well in what's usually referred to as "quirks" mode, where, in the absence of any on-page information about the kind of HTML they are reading, present a "best guess" rendering of a page. The quirks mode will also forgive many errors in the HTML. Modern browsers installed on your home computer have the luxury of size and power to deal with these errors. When browser technology makes the leap to other appliances it may not have the size and power to be so forgiving. This is where the strict, valid documents demanded by the XHTML standard become important.

The second benefit is in the code itself, which is cleaner and more compact than common, "table" based layout in HTML. Though XHTML retains table functionality, the standard makes clear tables are not to be used for page layout or anything other than displaying data in a tabular format. This is generally the primary obstacle most designers have with moving to XHTML. The manner in which many designers have come to rely on to layout and organize their pages is now taboo. Simple visual inspection of XHTML code reveals how light and efficient it is in comparison to a table based HTML layout. XTHML makes use of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which, when called externally, remove virtually all styling information from the XHTML document itself. This creates a document focused solely on content.

XHTML makes use of "div" tags to define content areas. How these "divisions" are displayed is controlled by CSS. This is known as CSS-P, or CSS Positioning. Trading in "table" tags for "divs" can be tough. Learning a new way of accomplishing an already familiar task is generally difficult. Like learning to use a different design program or image editor, frustration can be constant. Looking at "divs" as a kind of table cell might be helpful, though they are not entirely equivalent. As required by the XHTML standard, always make sure there is a DOCTYPE definition at the top of the document. This is not only required by the standard, but it will force Internet Explorer 6, currently the most common browser, to enter its "standards compliance" mode. IE6 and Firefox, both operating in standards compliance mode will display XHTML in much the same way. Not identical, but far better than IE6 operating in quirks mode. Learning how to iron out the final differences between displays is the final obstacle and can require a bit of tweaking in the CSS.

Clean code has multiple benefits. It creates a smaller page size which, over time, can save costs associated with transfer usage. Though the size difference may appear small, for someone running a highly trafficked site, even saving a few kilobytes of size can make a big difference. Further, some believe search engines may look more kindly on standards complaint pages. This is only a theory, though. In a general sense, any page modification that makes the content easier to reach and higher in the code is considered wise. Search engines, so it is believed, prefer to reach content quickly, and give greater weight to the first content they encounter. Using XHTML and "div" layout allows designers to accomplish this task more easily.

Conclusions
XHTML is the current standard set by the W3C. The W3C continues development of XHTML, and XHTML 2.0 will replace the current standard in the future. Learning and using XHTML today will help designers prepare for tomorrow. Valid XTHML produces no errors that might slow down a browser, and the code produced is clean and efficient. This saves in file size and helps designers better accomplish their search engine optimization goals. Learning XHTML is primarily about learning a new way to lay out pages. Though frustrating at first, the long term benefits far outweigh any initial inconvenience.

About the author:
Eric Lester worked in the IT industry

Web expert says : Finding the Right Web Host

2009-01-09T00:16:00.000-08:00

Choosing the right Web Hosting service for your website can be a little bit confusing. There's so many choices out there and many people aren't exactly sure what they should be looking for.

Here's a few things you should take into consideration when looking for a Web Host:

File Storage Space/ Disk Space

How much disk space do you need? That depends on how many files (pages) you plan to upload to your hosting space. If it's a personal or ecommerce site (a site that sells products) with just a few pages and graphics, than 25 MB of disk space a month should be more than enough. If it's a multi-page site such as an online shopping mall, then 2000 MB would be safe.

Storage space is specified in kilobytes KB, megabytes MB, or gigabytes GB, a megabyte is 1000 kilobytes and a gigabyte is 1000 megabytes.

Bandwidth / Traffic / Transfer

All words above are used interchangeably. It's the amount of data that flows through your site, the amount of hits or how many people visit your site. If you're expecting a few hundred hits a day then 10, 15 of 25 GB of Transfer should be enough. If you're expecting hundreds of thousands of hits every month then you should get a hosting account with as much Bandwidth as possible.
Bandwidth is usually expressed in Gigabytes.

CGI

Common Gateway Interface, is a protocal script used to make your site dynamic. Flash banners, moving objects. With the right web design program or scripting knowledge and a host that offers CGI you can easily bring your site to life.

Frontpage Extensions

Now-a-days more sites are offering Frontpage extensions. Microsoft Frontpage is a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) web design program that lets you easily create web pages while the software does all the coding behind the scenes. The great thing about using Frontpage and having a host with Frontpage extensions is once you design your webpages all you have to do is click one button that says "publish site" and all your pages go from your computer to your hosting space with one click.

Shared Hosting / Dedicated Servers

Shared hosting, or sometimes called basic hosting means that the webspace that you rent will be shared on the same web server with other clients of the company you've purchased web space from. This is the most common.

If you purchase a Dedicated server it means your website will have it's own unique server. This is the preferred choice for sites with a huge amount of traffic and many graphics that would take to long to load on a shared server.

Finding a Web Host can be confusing if you're not sure what to look for. If you're planning on having an average website with a few hundred hits or fewer a day, than shared hosting is the way to go.

Author : Dale Ronewicz

Web expert says : Article Syndication - A New Vehicle for King Content

2009-01-09T00:11:00.000-08:00

Creating Content

New websites are being launched daily. In order to compete, webmasters need to find alternative ways of producing themed websites. Highly focused articles are often sought by wembasters. Why? Because content on the web is still king! In order to attract search engines and site visitors, webmasters rely heavily on providing new, innovative and fresh content. If the web site content is rich, visitors will come. If the website content is updated regularly, visitors will return. When evaluating a website's traffic it is easy to see that the low cost of syndicated content can increase a website's value. Sites that contain multiple pages related to a specific topic increase the likelihood of being 'found' when a variety of search phrases are used for that topic.

By creating a niche resource, webmasters are viewed as industry experts and their websites are more likely to receive incoming directory links. A number of publishers provide free content, the only stipulation being that the webmaster serving the content must include the author resource box. Webmasters utilizing free content can easily create portals teeming with themed content.

Unlocking the Key to RSS
Many webmasters are struggling to find fresh, innovative content while other savvy webmasters have realized the potential hidden within RSS and are adopting the technology at a maddening pace. By utilizing RSS, webmasters can tap numerous free content sources with very little effort. RSS truly is a webmaster's key to free content.

Webmasters interested in taking advantage of RSS have a number of resources available to them:

GoArticles is a free content article directory with more than 20,000 articles available for syndication. Recently GoArticles added a feature that will allow webmasters and site owners to add dynamically updated article headlines to their sites by simply adding a single line of java script into their webpage. More than 100 articles are added daily to GoArticles. The content is refreshed and indexed every 3 hours, so new articles are updated on the site 8 times a day. Webmasters looking for content can include theme-based RSS feeds into their site, using java script supplied by GoArticles. The java script accesses an RSS feed that contains the article headlines on the GoArticles site.

GoArticles has 64 article categories, making it easy for webmasters to find content that suits their interest. Webmasters can select either the most recent articles in a specific category or the most popular articles in a specific category. As new articles are added to the GoArticles directory, the content on the websites using the java script will dynamically update.
Additional details at: http://www.goarticles.com
Example of a site using GoArticle's feed - http://www.small-business-software.net/goa-seo-headlines.htm

Another article resource webmasters may find useful is Article Central's tracker script. Webmasters can easily insert java script into their website to list all of Article Central's new articles or site owners can customize the tracker code to list only those articles chosen from the article repository's article category list. Articles relate to web development, design and technology-related issues and are updated daily.
Additional details at: http://thewhir.com/find/articlecentral/tracker.asp
Example of a site using Article Central's feed - - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/articledirectory-headlines.htm

Content syndication is a win-win for both the publisher and the webmaster. As a result of these new distribution opportunities provided by GoArticles and Article Central, publishers will receive increasingly more exposure for their articles and webmasters will have a new source for fresh content.

Webmasters interested in creating dynamic content from other free sources can use the free service provided by Feed2JS. All webmasters need to do in order to display the RSS feed on a website is enter the URL of the RSS source. Feed2JS creates java script that can be inserted into the HTML of the site owner's webpage. Webmasters are also given control over how their content is served, meaning they can customize the look and appearance of the headlines.
Additional details at: http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed/index.php?s=build
Example of site using Feed2JS - http://www.feedforall.com/rss2java-rssblog.htm

Search engines are increasingly looking for theme-based portals by having specific targeted content where Webmasters are likely to be defined as industry experts. RSS is a free and easy way to promote a site and its content without the need to advertise. RSS is defined specifically for syndication; in fact the acronym RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. This means that webmasters serving RSS content do not need to negotiate complicated content sharing partnerships in order to use content contained within an RSS feed.

In order to completely understand the power and potential of RSS, webmasters may want to visit the following resources:

RSS Specifications - everything you need to know about RSS - http://www.rss-specifications.com
Feedster - locate RSS feeds that are topic specific http://www.feedster.com
FeedForAll - create RSS feeds from your own content http://www.feedforall.com
RSS4U - free online RSS reader http://www.rss4u.com
FeedDemon - desktop RSS reader - http://www.feeddemon.com

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for the NotePage

Web expert says : Who should become a web host reseller?

2009-01-08T23:49:00.000-08:00

Let's find out ...

1. Individuals or businesses with more than one website

If you have more than one website and the total disk space you need is 500 MB or more, you can benefit from having a reseller account. The cost for web hosting is lower than if you have individual accounts for each site. Also, you can adjust the disk space and bandwidth allocations for each site.

2. Related service providers

A reseller account is also useful for people who provide related services. If you’re a web designer, for example, why stop at designing sites? Provide your clients with web hosting under your company name, and you continue to earn revenue from your web design clients.

Let’s say that you pay $40 a month for a 3-GB reseller account. If you offer 30 100-MB packages at $7 a month, you could earn up to $170 a month (after subtracting your cost) from that reseller account. Add on additional services such as search engine optimization and website maintenance, and your revenue increases again.

About the author: Chris K. is a Technical Executive Writer for Website Source, Inc.

Googling expert says : Google to Compete with PayPal?

2009-01-08T23:43:00.001-08:00

PayPal is secure in its domination over the electronic payment industry, at least for now.

Following reports that Google planned to launch a new Internet payment service (nicknamed Google Wallet), Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, denied that Google would be directly competing with PayPal. He did, however, acknowledge that Google has plans for some type of electronic payment service.

Without revealing any details, Schmidt emphasized that the Google payment service will not offer the same sort of “person to person, store-valued payments system” as PayPal provides.

The Internet commerce industry was rampant with rumours of the new Google service following an e-commerce conference hosted by securities firm Piper Jaffray. Speculation that Google Wallet would encroach on PayPal territory was reinforced by the appearance of a June 20th article in the Wall Street Journal which stated that Google was planning an online payment service to compete with PayPal.

PayPal is a unit of eBay and generates almost 25% of total eBay revenue. It is used by consumers for making a wide variety of Internet purchases. It allows purchasers to use their credit cards without divulging their credit card numbers to merchants. PayPal takes a percentage of each transaction and had revenues of $233.1 million in the first quarter of this year.

Most of Google’s revenue comes from online advertising and this expansion into online payments was seen by many in the industry as yet another example of the rivalry between the two companies.

Google is a giant in Internet commerce with revenues of $3.2 billion last year. A payment service that competed directly with PayPal would be a serious blow to both PayPal and eBay.

Google maintained silence about the rumours until Schmidt’s comments last Tuesday. Without elaborating, he stated that Google’s payment service would be an extension of its existing advertising programs.

About the author:
Copyright 2005 by Ross MacIver

Googling expert says : When AdSense Goes AWOL

2009-01-08T23:41:00.000-08:00

No matter how hard you work to optimize your page, there are going to be times when Google just can’t figure out which AdSense ad to deliver, so it defaults to delivering a PSA (Public Service Ad) instead.

Now I don’t have any problem with charities, but I give to the ones that I choose to give to. Since I don’t have a non-profit license of my own, the goal of my web site is to make money and I depend on Google AdSense revenues to help pay my bills. Someday I want it to fund my retirement as well, so I can’t afford to have non-revenue PSAs showing up on my site.

The good news is the Google understands the human’s basic greedy nature, so it provides us with an alternative to donating our precious web real estate to charitable organizations. That alternative is known as AdSense Alternate Ads.

As strange as it seems, this feature allows you to let Google competitors into your site. Don’t worry, Google is allowing it with their eyes wide open. They even tell you how to set up the alternate ad code to work on your site and they let you do it right in your AdSense control panel.

Once you add the code to your site, Google will pull ads from whatever service you defined rather than serve a PSA. Google will do that even if those ads are coming from Yahoo, or Overture, or your grandmother’s attic.

This goes a long way towards ensuring that you never lose an opportunity to monetize a visitor’s time spent on your site. How nice it is of Google to gives us that opportunity.

Who do you choose?

Ah, now that’s the big question. Most people head straight for Overture or Yahoo, but there are other fish in the sea worth considering. In fact, some of these fish make their living almost solely by serving replacement ads for PSAs. Run this search (http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official_s&hl=en&q=google+psa+alternatives&btnG=Google+Search) on Google and you’ll have plenty of options to choose from.

Why bother?

Sometimes Google doesn’t have any ads in its inventory to match your site’s keywords. Sometimes Google gets confused and can’t figure out which ads to deliver, so it grabs a PSA ad.

Google also has a not-so-readily-available list of what it calls “stop words”. When the Google AdSense spiders detect these words on your page they automatically trigger PSAs. Some of the more commonly known words include severe profanity (think: George Carlin’s 7 Words You Can’t Say on T.V), as well as other words which may very be quite legitimate for your site such as pharmaceutical, drugs, death, dying, abortion, and the list goes on and on. At least we THINK that it goes on and on but no one really knows for sure outside of a trusted few Google staffers.

But no matter what the reason, you don’t want non-revenue ads running on your site. There’s no excuse when Google makes it so easy to keep the revenue flowing.

About the author:
Diane provides marketing and internet profit tips.

Googling expert says : How to Build A Niche Web Site in 9 Simple Steps

2009-01-08T23:38:00.000-08:00

Maybe you’ve been wondering how to go about setting up a niche web site. Well, here’s a quick little article that will show you how to create your very own affiliate web site. Please note: this is the cheat sheet version. There is a lot more information you should learn about this subject before you get started

Step 1. Pick a Niche Subject

This may be the hardest part of your web site project. There’s literally tons of subjects to choose from. People are interested in a variety of things – from parrots to pilots. You don’t have to necessarily pick something you’re interested in, but it helps.

You’re more likely to do a better job at building your site when you have some interest in the subject matter. It’s like taking a high school or college class. Some subjects are more interesting than others. Make sure you choose something that a reasonable amount of people are actually searching for online and want to find out more information about.

Here’s a free tool that will help you check the popularity of specific subjects: (http://www.nichebot.com)

Step 2. Do Keyword Research

This is a part that many people skip. I’ve made that mistake myself and suffered the consequences – a failed web site. Even though it’s nice to think that you can write anything you want and have total creative freedom, not using keyword rich content is a BIG mistake.

I’d rather lose some creative freedom and attract visitors to my site, than have a lot of flowery prose that zero people will see. You MUST include targeted keywords in your web site copy. Also, make sure you use your targeted keywords in the upper third portion of your web site pages. This is also called optimizing your web site for the search engines. Use the Overture Keyword Tool for research:
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion

Note: keywords must be relevant to the THEME (subject) of your site. Be careful not to over use them. Search engines don’t like keyword SPAM.

Step 3. Get A Domain Name

Having a unique domain name is important, although some don’t agree. However, a unique domain name makes your site look more professional and trustworthy to visitors. I use BuyDomains (http://www.buydomains.com). They are not the cheapest, but I stick with them because I like their easy interface and good customer service. Nameboy (http://www.nameboy.com) is also good.

Step 4. Write Keyword Rich Content

This may be a hard step for those of you who don’t consider yourselves writers. But, writing web site copy is not as hard as it seems. Just think of it as having a conversation with a friend about a product or service you’re really enthusiastic about.

Don’t think you can extol the benefits of your subject? Tune your TV into QVC or one of the other shopping networks to see how they can spend several minutes talking about the benefits of all kinds of mundane products. This is what you’ll be doing for your web site.

Your copy should feature a good balance of friendliness and professionalism. Remember, you’re passing along useful information to your visitor. Put yourself in their shoes. What would you want to know about xyz subject if you were them? Now, write that down. Don’t forget to sprinkle targeted keywords throughout your copy. I print out a list of them to use for my sites.

If you simply can’t put words onto the page and find yourself staring at a blank screen, then visit Internet marketing forums like Willie Crawford’s (http://www.williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi) for suggestions on finding writers. Or, visit Elance (http://www.elance.com).

Step 5. Build Your Web Site

Ok. You’ve created your copy. Now it’s time to build the actual physical web site. I use Homestead (http://www.homestead.com), but there are many good point and click web site builders out there.

You have a lot of creative freedom on how you want your site to look (I prefer black copy on white backgrounds with photos), but remember that people are looking for attractive, easy-to-navigate sites with useful information.

Step 6. Sign Up for Matching Affiliate Programs

You’ve created a web site about xyz subject. Now look for affiliate vendors who perfectly match the theme of your site. Integrate your affiliates attractively into your web site copy. Don’t confuse your visitors by giving them too many choices.

If you want to list a lot of affiliates on the same page, you can create a helpful “resource guide” page.

Step 7. Include Google Adsense Ads

Google has a great program for web site owners who wish to make a little extra money for simply displaying google ads on their web site. It’s easy to sign up and free. Just visit google
(http://www.google.com/ads) and sign up for their Adsense program. They’ll give you some html code to copy and paste on your site.

While google decides which ads will actually appear on your site, you can decide how the google ads will look – choose colors, borders, etc. and where to put them on your pages.

Step 8. Find Link Partners

I found out that exchanging links with other web site owners is a MUST if you want to improve your search engine rankings. Google especially will consider your site more relevant if your site has other sites linking to it. Also the ad copy from other sites, if relevant, can add more valuable keyword content to your own site.

I use Linkmarket (http://www.linkmarket.net) to find credible web sites to exchange links with. It’s free to join.

Step 9. Write Articles to Promote Your Site

Oh oh. Here’s that writing thing again. Well, you better get used to it, because writing articles like this one (normally your articles will be about the subject matter of your web site) will help give your affiliate web site much needed exposure. It doesn’t matter if you write them yourself or hire others (ghostwriters) to write them for you.

You’ll find that the best Internet marketers all write articles to promote themselves, their newsletters, and products and services. Remember, there’s a reason the Internet is called the “information” super highway.

After writing your articles, you can post them to an article directory site like Article City (http://www.articlecity.com). People can easily find your articles to use as free content for their sites.

Now, I suggest that you print this article out and refer to it often as you go about creating the next great affiliate web site. Good luck!

About the author: Donna Monday

Googling expert says : Vote for Your Own Website. Nobody Will Mind.

2009-01-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

OK Ladies and Gentlements. Today we're having a pop quiz.

I heard that groan. Don't worry. This will be over in a matter of seconds.

Q1: "__________" is King.

Q2: Link "____________" and link "____________" matter oodles to Google.

The answers are provided in the following...

Are you hearing a lot of talk from marketers about writing and submitting artic|es to art:cle directories and other ezine publishers? I knew you were. There's been a glut of articles on writing articles. For good reason.

Now I haven't been actively writing and submitting articles until just recently, but the effects have been noticeable. So, what have I noticed?

In the last 4 weeks, I submitted three artic|es to a broad network of article directories and announcement groups. Yes, I did take one week off. So call me a slacker. The three article titles that I submitted were:

"How to Put Your Bookmark on Top Every Time."

"When a Customer Has Done Everything to Get Your Goat"

"We'll fix that later..."

I'm going to report the following numbers in real time as I'm writing this article. This relates to "Q2" above. You can do this too because I'll describe each step exactly. It's real simple.

1) Go to http://www.google.com 2) Type the exact article title for each of the following titles and put it inside of quotation marks. (The quotation marks force Google to look for the exact phrase.) 3) Click the "Google Search" button, and... 3) Be am@zed.

Google reports:

"How to Put Your Bookmark on Top Every Time" - Indexed on 5,820 pages

"When a Customer Has Done Everything to Get Your Goat" - Indexed on 62 pages

"We'll fix that later..." - Indexed on 554 pages

Now, am I going to tell you that in 3 weeks time I've managed to generate 6,436 inbound links to my website? Not. Submitting artic|es doesn't do those kinds of miracles, but my artic|es are definitely out there for other webmasters and ezine publishers to use.

Unique visitor count to GoThrive.com has double since starting my article submissions, and as the artic|es get picked up and published, the inbound links will continue to materialize with time. Not a bad investment of time since the entire process of writing the article and submitting it takes no more than one hour per week.

Inbound links pointing to your website are a very good thing to have. This is part 1 answer to question 2 above.

Link Popularity.

The second part of the answer to question 2 above is equally important. You see, it's not just how many inbound links are out there voting for your site, but it's also important that they're voting for the right thing.

Link Reputation.

Let's say you have a website that promotes running shoes, and you write an article on the wonderful benefits of odor eaters. When you write your article, you'll have the opportunity to include a resource box at the end of your article and this is where you can capitalize on your chance to build link reputation.

The idea behind "link reputation" is that the inbound links use keywords in the text that match the theme of the page to which the link is pointing.

One more time nice and slow. I don't want you to miss this.

*** The idea behind "link reputation"... *** is that the inbound links use keywords in the text *** that match the theme of the page *** to which the link is pointing.

This is a fundamental SEO principle that you should keep in mind not only when writing a resource box for an article, but also when you're designing your web pages.

So, to do this right, you'll want your odor eater article's resource box to have an odor eater keyword-laden link pointing to an odor eater page on your running shoes website. Does that make sense?

As the article's author you're in the perfect position to get the second part of the linking equation just right.

~ You decide what your resource box will say. ~ You decide what keywords are used in the link pointing to your website. ~ And you decide which page the link is directed to.

2 down. 1 to go.

Now for Q1. "Content is King." There. I said it. There's no disputing that all of the major search engines crave content. Enter stage left, Mr. Article Author.

If you're writing artic|es and submitting them to article directories, you also need to be posting those artic|es on your 0wn website. When you do so, add about 20% unique content to your webpage so that it's not exactly like every other webpage that's been uploaded to the net. Search engines don't like to see a lot of duplicate content, so take this little extra step to make sure that your page is unique.

Let's review...

Q1: "_____________" is King.
A1: "C_o_n_t_e_n_t" is King.

Q2: Link "___________________" and link "___________________" matter oodles to Google.
A2: Link "P_o_p_u_l_a_r_i_t_y" and link "r_e_p_u_t_a_t_i_o_n" matter oodles to Google.

The service that I've been using for article submissions is SubmitYourArticle.com (http://www.submityourarticle.com), and I've got to say that I love it. I make one submission using SubmitYourArticle.com and my article is automatically submitted to an additional 22 article directories with only one click of the mouse. They offer a number of cool tools and if you're looking for content for your 0wn website, it's a terrific place to start.

Start today by casting a vote for your 0wn website. Nobody will mind. In fact, you'll find that there are large masses of ezine publishers and webmasters who'd be glad to vote for your website too.

About the author:
Ron Hutton is a 20 year sales and marketing veteran with a passion for coaching and training.