Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Custom Logo Design Is Affordable

To attract and retain customers, businesses use marketing in many forms. After all, customers must be made interested in the business to begin with, if the company is to serve them with products and services. The proven way to create a unique image and identity for your company or product(s) is via brand recognition. The most visible part of a brand identity is a logo. When customers see your logo, you want them to instantly be reminded of your firm or product.

A quality logo presents a positive, professional brand image to the consumer. You want your company logo to be as good of a work of design as possible, and produced in high quality.In the eyes of a consumer, a poorly designed logo translates into a poor representation of your services and products. Your new company logo will be the catalyst of establishing the best possible image.

Stop for a moment and think about some of the easily recognizable company logos. A good example of this would be the golden arches.


No matter where in the world they live, when people recognize a logo, they immediately associate it with the given company. This is good branding, the kind you want for your company. A unique and memorable logo design will go a long ways.

In todays fast paced world, people tend to think visually. Pictures, shapes and colors are remembered and brought to mind when thinking about our experiences, even with products and services. People give their business over and over to companies they trust, and almost instinctively seek out the logos of these companies.

People tend to place more trust in a company with a well designed logo. The best way to do this is through the use of an easy to remember unique design. Consumers come to associate the logo with the company, which is exactly the idea.

Your company logo should be placed and visible on all your ads, letterhead, stationary, business cards and anywheres else.

While it is possible to take the do-it-yourself route with your logo, not everyone possesses the requisite skills for it. If you're like most people, you'll want outside help. You can hire a designer on a contract basis, but keep in mind there will be some headaches: non-disclosure agreements, contracts and of course, gathering references to make sure the designer knows what they're doing.

Many opt to hire logo design specialists. Companies who specialize in logo design can create a logo for you and put it onto your marketing materials and so on. One such company is Logo Design Creation. They offer web design, which they handle with the same professional, affordable service that goes into all of their work. Being able to get the bulk of your branding done with one stop shopping is a bright idea for any company.

If you're trying to build a brand image for your company, a well designed logo is the way to start. You'll catch the eyes of consumers, while instilling confidence in your company; which will get your company's foot in the door with the public.

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Monday, September 29, 2008

Money online income business - a good site

So what exactly, piece by piece do you need to do to create an online business?

If you are looking for some simple steps to start an online business then you will be pleased to know that it is not as hard as you might think. Computers are now becoming so affordable that most people can afford the investment needed to purchase one. Even if you can't afford your own gear there are plenty of places you can go to get on line for a small fee.

So here are some of the steps in creating an online business?

I will assume you have your computer and that it is connected to an internet connection. You have to devise a good way to record securely all your login details. One problem with security on the internet is that you have to have a username and a password for everywhere you go. Many people use the same one for every website but this is not secure.

I do not have a common login - all mine are different. I keep a close record of all these in a book. Some people use a spreadsheet program but you need to have a very strong password for this sheet.

Your first step is quite easy as it just involves sufing the internet for good money making opportunities. There is a lot of choiuce out there but most of them will be useless to someone starting out. Keep a log of all the programs you find interesting and watch the pricing and support levels offered. Do not under any circumstances buy a mentoring program for £10,000’s. Mentoring is great once you have some basic knowledge.

The second step to earn or make money online is to review the different programs you have found and reduce it down to one you think you can do. You need action rather than sitting around to start making money.

The last step is to blindly ignore all other programs and work like mad on the program you have chosen. You must focus on one opportunity for 3 or 4 months before you start to make your money. Remember that if it sounds too good to be true then it is!

You can learn what are the steps in creating an online business without money by visiting our make free online money blog. You will find 3 easy ways there to make money online.

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Sunday, September 28, 2008

Discover how work from home blogs can give you online income

.when I set up my first blog I knew nothing about it and had to learn as I went along. I started a blog about my diet that I was on. It was nothing too elaborate – just a simple blogger.com blog that cost me nothing to set up. People read blogs all the time and I was getting some good traffic so I decided to earn some money from my blog.

Work from home blogs are nothing new but to me it was very exciting to see all these people reading my blog. The blog made me more disciplined on my diet as I wasn't going to let my readers down by breaking my diet. I came across the information page on my blogger dashboard and it recommended that I join their adsense program. The idea was to add something called adsense to my blog. These are the adverts you see on some websites.

It costs nothing to set up and the designing of the website is all done for you. Google has made sure that all the adverts displayed with content that is on the same subject as your website. so all my adverts are about diets and dieting. This makes it more likely that you will get people clicking on these ads. When I get a click on my site on an advert I get paid a small amount for it.

With this help from google I was starting to make some free online income. With only a few visitors to my pages in the early days there was only a small amount of income but it got more over time. So what you can do is start with one blog and get that going. There is no limit to how many of these earning blogs you can set up and earn money with.

You can see how easily work from home blogs can provide you with a small but easy online income,

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Saturday, September 27, 2008

Affordable online success is available for everyone

When you consider starting a business you always think about the costs involved. The level that you pitch in will be determined by your budget and the potential of your online money making machine.

There are however good and affordable online success methods that can be started up on a shoe string budget. I will use $100 as an imaginary budget to use on starting your own online business empire. i hope it will be enough. Where would you spend this and why?

You need to research a theme or niche that your website will focus on. The internet is full of top quality software and information that we can use to keep our spending as low as possible. I used wordtracker free version to start with but now have the full program. You must look into what people are looking for. What answers to their problems do they have.

Then you need to find a product to sell to your niche. I recommend that you produce your own product in the form of an ebook that speaks to the needs of your niche. I always send my ebooks out as pdf's. You can convert a word document to a pdf using one of the many free pdf converters available.

Having written or sourced your product you now need to work on a sales page that will convert website visitors into customers. The hosting and website will be taken care of by blogger. The sites are easy to mange and you can set it up in minutes,

To take payments you can use a buy now button from paypal. the buy now buttons are quick and quite simple to arrange and paypal will not charge you for this. When you start making sales they take a percentage off the sale price. You now have your own internet business

So you have managed to find your niche. Your own made product is ready to go. You have put your web page up on the blogger site and you have unstalled your purcahse system. Have you noticed that I still have to spend your hard earned $100. What to do eh? Would you agree that I have demonstrated affordable online success.

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Friday, September 26, 2008

Dominating Rankings With Article Marketing Automation

article marketing automation

It’s been about a week since the debut of article marketing automation review and I must say, I’m impressed at this service in the early going.

The super SEO team over at PLRPro, Marc Lindsay and Daniel Turner have launched Article Marketing Automation as their new service (f.ree and paid) aimed at helping blog owners with their article marketing.

What this service does is essentially drips related content (that you choose) in sporadic intervals into your blog for your dominating niche. As a f.ree member, you can open an account and add your blog into the network to accept these articles. You’ve read the last statement correctly. You can actually sign up to ArticleMarketingAutomation.com at no obligation and include your blog instantly.

To add your blog into their network is literally child’s play.

- you log into your blog and register a new user as an Author in your settings. Author is the best option to choose as you don’t want to give anyone else Administrator access to your blog for security/tampering reasons

- in the AMA interface, enter the category of your blog, URL, the user login credentials you created as Author in your blog, click Add and you’re done

You can either choose to approve every article that is queued for your blog or have them automatically accepted for publication. I selected the auto-approve method, as I have setup many blogs within the network, and to accept every article manually would be quite cumbersome.

Though I must tell you…the meat of this system is in the seo article writing and submitting your articles to drip into other blogs within the network. You can either choose the number of blogs to accept your article, or leave an unlimited amount for all blogs to accept them at will. You can add up to three different links into each article. This is an absolutely HUGE addition to this service. For instance, I had submitted a written article into the AMA queue on Aug.20 with two keywords linked to the article. So far, up to this writing, the article has been accepted and posted by 22 blog owners. With the two links in the article, the total accumulation would be 44 added on-theme links pointing to my site for my chosen keywords in only three days! These are natural white hat links that’s giving me high rankings in the search engines. I’m already in the middle of page 2 in Google for my chosen keywords. You will have to join at this point to become a member of AMA.com in order to receive the seo article writing submission benefits. So why is it worth it for you to join?

In a nutshell, Google and other search engines love content and many related links pointing to your websites. Only slight traffic will arrive by adding your own blogs into the network and receiving new content daily. The trick in receiving monster traffic to your site is in submitting articles with anchor text links in them, maximizing your link building over time with many related links pointing to your blog. This service is essentially a “set-it-and-forget-it” system, with all the hard work being completed in the background, leaving you to concentrate on other tasks.

There are also two other BIG improvements that AMA have added to their system. Couple of hints…one involves more anchor text links in your article, and YouTube!

At the very least sign up to Article Marketing Automation for f.ree and check out this system. If you're truly serious about your business, then I would highly recommend you try out their article marketing system. It's well worth it, as I'm sure you'll agree 100%.

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Make Money From The Internet With A Virtual Real Estate Empire

The internet is a great place to make money and many are doing it by building virtual real estate empires online. Virtual real estate empires, or VRE’s, are websites that are built for one purpose: to invite traffic and, ultimately, to sell ad space, which will then bring you a profit. Some people are taking that one website and turning it into many websites, which means they are making even more money. The best part is that they don’t have to do a thing. Just by having the website accessible, and by driving traffic to that site by posting articles on a specific subject, or anything else people will search for, they are making great money with very little work. You simply post a website, write the articles, and wait for people to visit. What could be easier than that?

Choosing Your Niche

In order to build a virtual real estate empire online, you must choose a market. This is the subject matter your articles will discuss. This can include anything from your favorite hobby, your favorite sport, your favorite cooking recipes, or anything else that comes to mind. The niche should be something that others will search for. If the niche is popular enough, then search engines will include your site in their searches, driving more and more traffic to your site.

How You Make Money

The goal of building your virtual real estate empire online is to make money and you do that by selling ad space and/or placing affiliate links on your site. Ad services, such as those provided by Google and others, pay you every time someone clicks on the ad on your site. So, if your site gets enough traffic, you can make a lot of money just by having your site up and running. It’s an easy way to make money and all it requires is for you to write the articles.

Your Virtual Empire

The more websites you build, the more your virtual real estate empire will grow online. You can even include links to all your other websites on your original website, which will increase your revenue and will also increase the chances that your website, or websites, will be listed higher on search engines. If you want to make money on the internet, and you’re looking for a way that’s easy and fun, then a virtual real estate empire online is the best way to go about it.

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Monday, September 22, 2008

Article Marketing Is Important For Anyone Who Wants To Do Business Online.

To read an updated version and to get the most out of your article marketing efforts check out Article Marketing Automation.

Article marketing has been used for years. From media publications, it has shifted to the web which many experts say is timeless thus making it very important in the digital age.

The reason why article marketing is so important is that it will not only enhance your website with information but it will also make it go up the ranks of major search engines which all boils down to quality traffic.

This means that chances of people buying your items via the web are much higher and some of these customers might even come from out of state or from a different country.

A. You can make this happen simply by choosing the right keywords which the search engines will pick up when someone decides to look for it.

B. Another option is to send your articles only to those that cater to it. This can be done by uploading the article to your favorite online network. There are also popular article submission sites, also known as directories as well as article search engines which you can submit to, often free of charge. Although I highly recommend you to check out the ones were you have to be a paid member too.

C. You can also get help from friends who also have websites and also post your articles there. The more sites you are able to advertise in the better so you get to reach a larger audience.

D. If you have written a lot of articles already, it is time to put these into categories. You can also put these all together in the form of an e-Book and give this away fro free.

E. The articles may also be submitted to ezine sites.

Article marketing is just one of the tools in promoting your site via the web. There are also meta-tags and pop up tags which happen to be very popular. The only difference is that you have to spend a few dollars in order for these to be posted in other sites.

So is article marketing important? The answer is yes because with 300 to 500 words, you are able to talk to the reader in a more personal level better than what a banner can do. Most people don’t even pay attention to a banner and just close it because many feel that it is a waste of time just entertaining it.

Perhaps the best part is that you don’t have to be an expert writer to tell the reader what your product is all about. The main thing is that you are able to say it simply so this will be easy for just about anyone to understand.

If you are having a hard time putting the words together, do some drafts, proofread it before submitting this online. For those who don’t write very well, maybe you should hire someone to do that for you by simply giving them certain guidelines about the message you are trying to convey.

People who want to search for something using the web have to type in certain keywords in one of the major search engines. If you want people to find your site, you have to put yourself in their shoes and then put in factual information so you can be trusted. This is the essence of what article marketing is all about and why it's is so important for anyone who wants to do business online.

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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Promoting and marketing your home based business online.

If you are a typical business owner in this day and age, you likely have come to realize the vital role of the Internet and World Wide Web in the promotion and marketing of your particular business enterprise.The majority of commerce of all types will be undertaken online as opposed to in the brick and mortar world in the not too distant future. That's what business experts predict.This includes transactions relating to small business enterprises as well.

With that in mind, if you want your business to survive -- let alone to thrive -- you will want to make certain that you develop the best possible plans for the Internet marketing for small business.Without Internet promotion for small business, for your small company, your small business likely will not even succeed into the future, let along thrive in that future.

In point of fact, most businesses operate on a strict budget.So it is of vital importance to save money wherever and whenever possible.Internet promotion for small and medium sized business can prove to be the most economically effective method of marketing a business in this decennium.

Done correctly, Internet marketing for small business can be cost effective.A business plan for a small business can be written without breaking the bank in regard to the budget of this small business.

In addition to being economically, Internet marketing for small business program or plan can also be crafted in such a manner to best target potential customers or clients on the Internet. Through a well crafted Internet marketing for small business plan, a small business can identify and reach out to precisely the customer or client base that is necessary for a particular business’s success.

If you are interested in developing Internet marketing for small business plan for your small business, you may want visit our internet business blog. There are some consultants in business today that deal specifically with creating and crafting viable and effective Internet marketing for small business campaigns for small business ventures. By finding such an Internet marketing for small business consultant, a small business owner, operator or manager will be well on the way to developing an effective Internet marketing for small business program.

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Saturday, September 20, 2008

Easy Profits Using PPC In Your Affiliate Marketing Business

PPC is one of the four basic types of Search Engines. PPC is also one of the most cost-effective ways of targeted internet advertising. According to Forbes magazine, PPC or Pay Per Click, accounts to 2 billion dollars a year and is expected to increase to around 8 billion dollars by the year 2008.

Let us take a quick look at how PPC Search Engines work.

These engines create listings and rate them based on a bid amount the website owner is willing to pay for each click from that search engine. You need to find a top affiliate training program. Advertisers bid against each other to receive higher ranking for a specific keyword or phrase.

The highest bidder for a certain keyword or phrase will then have the site ranked as number 1 in the PPC Search Engines followed by the second and third highest bidder, up to the last number that have placed a bid on the same keyword or phrase. Your ads then will appear prominently on the results pages based on the dollar amount bid you will agree to pay per click. Top Affiliate Training Program

How do you make money by using PPC into your affiliate marketing business?

Most affiliate programs only pay when a sale is made or a lead delivered after a visitor has clickthrough your site. You need to find a top affiliate training program. Your earnings will not always be the same as they will be dependent on the web site content and the traffic market.

The reason why you should incorporate PPC into your affiliate marketing program is that earnings are easier to make than in any other kind of affiliate program not using PPC. This way, you will be making profit based from the clickthroughs that your visitor will make on the advertiser’s site. Unlike some programs, you are not paid per sale or action.

PPC can be very resourceful of your website. With PPC Search Engines incorporated into your affiliate program, you will be able to profit from the visitor’s who are not interested in your products or services. The same ones who leave your site and never comes back.

You will not only get commissions not only from those who are just searching the web and finding the products and services that they wanted but you will be able to build your site’s recognition as a valuable resource. You need to find a top affiliate training program. The visitors who have found what they needed from you site are likely to come back and review what you are offering more closely. Then they will eventually come back to search the web for other products.

This kind of affiliate program is also an easy way for you to generate some more additional revenues. For example, when a visitor on your site does a search in the PPC Search Engine and clicks on the advertiser bided listings, the advertisers’ account will then be deducted because of that click. With this, you will be compensated 30% to 80% of the advertisers’ bid amount.

PPC is not only a source of generating easy profits; it can also help you promote your own site. Most of the programs allow the commissions received to be spent for advertising with them instantly and with no minimum earning requirement. You need to find a top affiliate training program. This is one of the more effective ways to exchange your raw visitors for targeted surfers who has more tendencies to purchase your products and services. Top Affiliate Training Program

What will happen if you when you integrate PPC into your affiliate program?

PPC usually have ready-to-use affiliate tools that can be easily integrated into your website. The most common tools are search boxes, banners, text links and some 404-error pages. Most search engines utilize custom solutions and can provide you with a white-label affiliate program. You need to find a top affiliate training program. This enables you, using only a few lines of code, to integrate remotely-hosted co-branded search engine into your website.

The key benefits? Not only more money generated but also some extra money on the side. Plus a lifetime commissions once you have referred some webmaster friends to the engine.

Think about it. Where can you get all these benefits while already generating some income for your site? Knowing some of the more useful tools you can use for your affiliate program is not a waste of time. They are rather a means of earning within an earning. You need to find a top affiliate training program.

Best know more about how you can use PPC search engines into your affiliate program than miss out on a great opportunity to earn more profits.

Top Affiliate Training Program

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Great Ways To Make Money Writing Articles Online

To read an updated version about the best article submission service and how to instantly multiply your article marketing efforts by 10 times check out Article Marketing Automation.

In this post I'm going to talk about different ways to make money online writing articles. Are you looking for ways to make money online or from home? If so, you may have read about article writing online. There are a number of different ways for you to make money online writing articles.

Although writing articles is a great way for you to make money from home, it is not necessarily something that you should do on a whim. First, you need to create a small business plan. After all, if you want to write articles from home to make money, you are essentially creating a business. A business like that needs to be well thought-out to be profitable.

It is also a good idea to decide what type of articles you want to write, ahead of time. Are you knowledgeable on the subject of cell phones, computers, and software? If so, did you know that you can specialize in technical writing, which tends to pay more? Do you want to stick with writing articles like traditional web content or would you like to branch out to sales letters and press releases? To make the most money, you may want to consider trying all of these different ways of making money from home writing articles.

Next, you will want to decide who you want to write your articles for. Do you want to write articles for yourself or for others? Know that each has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, if you're going to use your articles to create a niche website that will make money through advertisements, it can take up to 3 months or more for you to start seeing a profit. On the other hand, if you obtain clients to write articles for, you should be paid within 14 days, on average.

You should also take the time to think about how much money you want to make from home writing articles. Since you are able to work from home and write articles, you may be seeing huge dollar signs. With that said, like any other legitimate work-at-home opportunity, you will not get rich quick. Website content articles vary a lot. Some writers charge $5 per page, while others can charge as much as $50 for a page.

Determining your rate ahead of time is not required, but it will help to ensure that you are paid what you are worth. Yes, you can raise or increase your rates, depending on the projects in question, but do not undersell yourself just to find a client who will pay you to write articles to make money online. After all, you want to make money, not lose it right? At the very least, make sure you are making your state’s minimum wage.

If you opt to write articles for others, you will want to target either webmasters or search engine optimization companies. Webmasters often look for article writers for content for their websites. SEO companies are hired by webmasters to market their sites and increase their search engine rankings. Article writing is the single most effective marketing component of search engine ranking. Aside from outright targeting these individuals and companies, you can look for freelance job boards, visit freelance bidding websites, or create your own website.

If you opt to write your own articles to make money, it is important to know that you have a number of different money making options. One of the easiest ways to make money online writing articles is to sell your content. There are websites that allow you to sell your articles, but these websites tend to take a percentage of the sale. There are also websites that either pay you outright or with a page view bonus for displaying your articles on their website.

Another approach that you can take is to create your own website. You can use your articles to create an adsense website or blog. For example, if you're going to write articles on dog grooming, your website could have a generalized dog care theme. Later on, you can add additional articles, such as articles that mention tips for choosing healthy dog food, etc. With this approach, you can make money through Adsense ads, advertisements and affiliate products.

As you can see, there are a number of different ways available for you to make money writing articles online. In fact, that is exactly what is so nice about doing so. You have the freedom to decide how you want to make money from home writing articles.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Affiliate Marketing - The Easiest Method To Earning Some Income On The Internet

Searching for a way to get some substantial money in the internet?  Here’s a suggestion: you can do so without dealing with thousands of review entries, posting innumerable
applications for another individual’s blog, or surfing pages you’re not even accustomed with.

Without a doubt, the quickest and the easiest way to gain some income online is via a business model we tagged as affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing isn’t a hard idea to comprehend.

Picture a group selling its merchandises on the internet.  Picture  that very  group getting net clients, same as us, to aid them advertise their manufactured goods 

Such an establishmentis tagged as an affiliate trade, and the internet clients,  who choose to aid the affiliate commerce sell its manufactured goods  will be called associates. 

So, how do affiliates gain profit?

Generally, associates  make  a stated charge for every sale they able to recruit to the affiliate commerce,.  An affiliate, upon enlisting in the affiliate program, will be demanded to pick a merchandise to promote.  For every product  he opts, he will be given a sole affiliate link.  This affiliate connection is critical to his success.  This affiliate link is what the affiliate will use to sell the affiliate merchant’s goods.

Each time another internet client surfs  the said affiliate link, that internet consumer will be led to the affiliate merchant’s site.  In addition, the affiliate program will know that the said internet patron came from a particular affiliate link, and if the web consumer opts to avail of the product being advertised, the individual who possesses the affiliate link will have the specified amount.

Joining affiliate programs is very profitable, considering that cuts range from 50% to 80%.  Just visualize a high-priced goods being advertised for $100.  If, as an affiliate, you’ll manage to refer a patron, you’d earn $50 for that specific sale solely!

Here’s an exciting thought: a lot of big tagged products are being advertised for $1,000 and up, and their merchants are from time to time vigilant for diligent affiliates.

There is no restriction as to the number of affiliate programs you can join.  So, there is no limit as to how much you can earn from affiliate marketing.

Don’t know where to begin hunting for lucrative affiliate schemes?

You can begin your affiliate marketing ventures with affiliate channels like clickbank, cj and shareasale.  These networks are a compilation of affiliate schemes under one main system, making it simple for beginners to know the ins and outs of affiliate business.

5 Ways To Convert More Visitors Into Sales

Though you may get countless visitors per day, if you can't convert them into successful purchases, your hard work will be useless.  Here are five techniques you can choose to implement to dramatically ,ultiply your web conversion rate.

1.    Scorchingly interesting headlines.  Internet users have become impatient in this day and age.  It's very easy for them to visit another web page every time they meet something despisable in your own web page.  The secret lies in winning their attention fast.  Such can be achieved with cleverly-written headlines.  Headlines, you see, are the first things that your prospects will be greeted with when they firsr arrive at your page.  If they'll like what they'll see, they'll hang around.  If not, they'll abandon your page just as quickly as they came.

2.    Easy-to-scan copy.  You'd think that with the growing popularity of the internet, more and more browser will be used to reading.  The contrary, however, is what is true.  People easily get fatigued while reading, what with the thousands of information they encounter with each and every session of online browsing.  The trick is in simplifying things for them to read your sales copy.  Use numberings and bullets as much as you can.  Make your copy easy to scan.  Prepare your sales pafe for an impatient audience and you'll be rewarded greatly.

3.    Benefit-oriented selling.  Your readers will buy based on emotions and provide reasons for their purchases based on logic.  Don't forcefully advertise the specifications of your product for your audience to see.  Instead, inform them of the benefits they can derive from what you're offering.  Tell them what they stand to gain.  This is a much better method of stirring up their desire to acquire your product.  Mention the features later on, as your clients will need such data to justify the purchase they will be planning to make.

4.    Urgency marketing.  Force your visitors to purchase from you as soon as possible.  Don't allow them to think too much, as you might lose some sales.  Use OTOs, special offers, and other time-sensitive techniques to bait them into purchasing your product at the soonest possible time.

5.    Use involvement options in your sales page.  Your sales letter doesn't have to be a static, simple delivery of your offer.  You can include involvement tools that will compel your readers to pledge an emotional investment on your undertaking.  Ask or solicit for their ideas.  Better yet, provide them with multiple options for potential answers.  Add calculator scripts that they can manipulate.  Make them feel a part of the sales page.

Six Proven Ways To Get Traffic For Your Website

Traffic, without a doubt, is the heart of every internet business.  Let us discuss six proven ways that will help you achieve the traffic that your online enterprise will need:

1.    Search engine optimization (SEO).  It's a known fact that 80% of the number of visitors that you will be able to get for your homepage will brought in the search engines.  That being said, it is absolutely critical that your pages will be properly built for easy indexing by the major search engines on the internet.  This can be done via proper keyword research and application.  By discovering profitable keywords appropriate to the subject of your enterprise, you can win the attention of search engine spiders and efficiently compete for a visible position in search engine results pages.

2.    Article marketing.  Come up with articles relevant to the subject of your online business.  Include a bio box talking about yourself or your undertaking, and of course, including a link to your website.  Submit this article and resource box to big article directories like eZinearticles.com and isnare.com.  Do this daily and soon enough you'd enjoy thousands of back links pointing to your website.

3.    Yahoo Answers.  Yahoo Answers is one of the best techniques that will help your website get listed in search engines in a matter of hours.  Just look for open questions relevant to the subject of your venture, answer them to the best of your abilities, and write down your link as your source.  Yahoo Answers will fetch direct traffic and it will provide for you important back links from what Google sees as an authority website.

4.    Blogging.  Google, Yahoo, MSN and the big search engines absolutely adore blogs.  By creating a blog and regularly uploading posts that mention your website's URL, you will be able to get more back links for your website and you'll be able to make iteasy for search engines to index and display your web pages.

5.    YouTube marketing.  Change your content into a simple video and upload the same over at YouTube to immediately get the attention of a batallion of internet users who are regulars of one of the web's biggest and most popular destinations.  Plus, Google loves YouTube videos!

6.    Press releases.  Most online and offline publications are always looking for noteworthy information to republish.  They check out newswires where various parties upload newsworthy articles.  By writing an objective item about your website and submitting the same to a big online newswire like prweb.com, you'd be able to push your online undertakingto win a lot of visitors.

Why Internet Marketing Videos Are So Powerful

Being successful at internet/affiliate marketing is the desire of a huge number of people online.

Fed up with unfulfilling jobs, interminable commutes, lifetime loan repayments - the list goes on - people see the internet as akin to a Gold Rush. Millions to be made online if they could only figure out where.

Stories about people striking it rich on the internet abound. And we're not talking about savvy business people, but regular Joe's and even kids who've followed a program and achieved that long-sought success. Yes, there are the internet entrepreneurs who conceive an original idea, run with it and create a product that hits the digital shelves at exactly the right moment - niche marketing of the highest order. But as with any enterprise, those entrepreneurs are both uncommon as well as being the kind of people willing to take risks.

Most people don't like taking big risks or have that creative spark and even if they do, don't know how to run with their idea. Like the prospectors of old, most people rush off to the store, buy some inadequate tools and go prospecting for internet gold without knowing the first thing about what they're doing.

Needless to say, most people fail at making any real money online. Knowing the right tools to use and where to look for internet riches is a huge step in the right direction.

The information product industry is a booming one, and a huge amount of it concentrates on telling people how to make money online. But, as you'll find out if you buy a few of these products, a lot of information is rehashed as well as being out of date in the fast-changing world of niche marketing. Besides, ebooks can be an effort to wade through.

Internet marketing Video tutorials, on the other hand, are easy on the eye and they provide real examples of techniques and tips in action. You are, literally, watching over the shoulder of someone who's demonstrating a procedure as it happens. And, if you don't get it first time, you can replay the video as much as you like till it sinks in.

It appears that the majority of people are visual in nature which is why they respond more to visual cues rather than the printed word. Why do you think store windows use animated displays to attract your attention rather than big printed banners? Moving images engage the mind as well as attract the eye. That's why learning from internet marketing videos gives such good results. And it's a technique you'll learn from quickly. An instructor's personality comes across much more strongly through audio and video than it ever can from an ebook. So does enthusiasm, which can empower you to succeed when relying on printed words just drains you.

There are now some great internet marketing video training products available to help you in your goal of achieving online success. I'd urge you to consider these as an alternative to a simple ebook. The advantages to you are enormous.

Discover how you can gain immediate access to a motherlode of powerful Internet Marketing video tutorials, that take you by the hand and show you step-by-step how to fast-track your way to online financial success AND you'll also get Master Resell Rights to these videos so you can sell them and keep all the profits!...

5 Advanced Affiliate Marketing Strategies You Can Use

Article marketing is wonderful, but there are more means  by which you can do well in the field of affiliate marketing.  These are 5 mega-effective but easy-to-implement techniques that will aid guarantee your victory in this world.

1.    Viral marketing through news merchandise.  Create an eBook which will offer valuable statistics on the subject matter connected to the affiliate product you will be selling.  Either create a unique item, or purchase a PLR of an existing eBook.  Occupy the leafs  thereof  with your affiliate links.  Publish the recently abridged eBook without charge.  If the information revealed by the said eBook is attractive enough, you will enjoy an exponential increase of different leads within a small amount of time.

2.    Tap into social networking websites similar to MySpace.com, FaceBook.com and the likes.  If the affiliate product you're planning to sell is anything that is fancied by the demographics served by the abovementioned websites, then you can create numerous upon thousands of leads in a matter of days.  Just create an account, and add as many friends as possible.  Then mass-mail a non-spam notes raving about the affiliateproduct you wish to advertise, with your affiliate link as the cited URL.  Best yet, organize a group that is in vogue - like a "Music Lover's Group" for persons who prefer song, for example - and request for associates. As the holder of the group, you can bequeath notes on the bulletin board for all the associates to notice.  Utilize this to transmit your business memo.  Because social networking pages are perceived as hip, any announcement you will send through its channels - though delicately - will get keen notice from their throng of customers.

3.    Use the engine capacity of YouTube.  Have a piece of writing?  Transform it into a video.  Simply get CamStudio, which is free, and shoot a PowerPoint presentation of the article you want to transform.  Upload this on YouTube and share a portion of the 20 million exclusive patrons that visit the website every month.

4.    Try offline selling.  Many affiliates would rather settle on the online field, which is a large error.  Advertise your chief website by means of mugs, t-shirts, bumper labels and weekly ads, and you will be able to tap into a market that your rivals don't even know lives.

5.    PPC advertising.  Want to get ahead of the other affiliates?  Try pay per click (PPC) selling through Google AdWords.  Bid for particular keywords and make your announcement.  Win the bidding and your ad, and your link, will show on the very top of the record in relevant search engine results sides.  Your link will have a best possibility of being hit. More hits, more directs!

Different Options Available For Web Hosting

You will need to look into a web hosting account, whether you are setting up a personal site with which the family can share photographs and information or looking to get your business on the internet. When you finally make the decision to put your business or personal life online, you will find many different options for web hosting and the service you choose will largely depend on the type of internet home you plan to build.

Some companies offer free web hosting that allows you a certain amount of bandwidth every month and for many personal sites, this will be sufficient, but businesses may not have enough access to their sites with the typically limited amount of bandwidth offered at no charge. Commonly, many companies offer free services at around fifty megabytes of bandwidth per month. If families are going to post a lot of photographs on their site, these free web hosting offers may not be enough to handle the load.

The amount of bandwidth is not only for the content of the site, it also includes the information sent to and from the site be you and any visitors to the site, which is very important to understand when looking into web hosting. An average picture can eat up as much as two megabytes by itself, leaving the available space on your web hosting account likely insufficient for your purposes.

Available Scripts Another Important Consideration

When choosing web hosting, the type of information included on your site must also be considered, as some services do not offer the use of all scripts available for internet use. For example, if you plan to upload music onto your site, such as a family sing along, if the service is unable to offer streaming audio on the web hosting service, it may not be the best service you could choose.

Prices for web hosting can also vary tremendously, typically based on the bandwidth available, the amount of storage space you will have on the web hosting company's servers, the number of email accounts included and many other factors. The company's reputation for being available is the one thing that should be on top of the list.

Some of the free or least expensive web hosting services have excellent reputations for being up and running. In most instances, a 99 percent up time is considered the standard, meaning your web site will likely show an error or be unavailable only one percent of the time.

Whether you are looking to start a business or personal site, you will want to look into a web hosting account. Make sure you pick the right hosting plan for your wants. Visit http://www.webhosting.jsgenterprises.com for more web hosting articles.

Monday, September 15, 2008

New Internet marketing system provide daily growing visitors and links from minutes of work

I'm really glad because I have just joined a new service that the guys
at PLRPro have just launched to help you get first page Google rankings
and distribute your articles to high quality sites.

This is the best breakthrough's they have made in
letting you auto pilot your marketing.

Quite easy this is big.... Really BIG - I know from experience

Its called Article Marketing Automation and you can visit them at
AMAT.

It even lets you promote 2 links per article, like your YouTube videos as well as standard sites.

If you haven't been away for a long time, you will know how
Powerful YouTube videos can be.

AND if you have been watching the SEO scene you would have also seen
how Tube videos are getting first page rankings for EXTREMELY
competitive terms easily.

See Google wants to add extra media in its search results, it
also appears that YouTube videos are not competing on the same day
as the rest of the Internet index.

It is MUCH easier to get a first page ranking for your own YouTube video then it is for the main keyword.

So they have that entirely covered all within this new system.

In AMA ServiceT, when submitting an article you can now also include a YouTube URL (the YouTube video that you created, or another one if you just
want every new post to look better).

Then you input some extra YouTube anchor text keywords (the terms you want your YouTube video to be in Google for)

And that's it.

Now AMA ServiceT, when it submits your article, will also include your video as well as link back to YOUR YouTube video, with varying link text,
Helping you get better video rankings.

COME ON this AMATT is huge.

Nobody is doing this right now, and certainly not as easy as this.

What a strong feature for just one part of what the system really does.

Help you distribute your top quality articles to real web sites providing you an instant marketing advantage with your website.

AMATT have also been able to produce first page rankings for normal (not video) competitive keywords with over 400,000 competition.

What would it mean in traffic to you if you could do this exact same promotion to your very own web sites?

Join Today

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Start reaping the benefit of natural SEO traffic on your site

To read an updated version check out SEO Stomping Search Engines

In this article I am going to show you how to use free research to select a site niche and create a powerful community that your members will love you for and visit over and over again. Using this exact method I now have many sites that do this every day, and multiple sites that receive over 100,000 UNIQUES every single month all from search engine traffic.

For a 180 page free ebook that holds nothing and tells you how to build your own massive traffic pulling empire please see my resource box at the bottom of this lesson for your free guide. (Its Called the VRE Handbook) So how did I take a site from 0-450 visitors per day (on the weekend mind you, much slower) and earning over $5 per day in adsense alone AND on the first page of msn for its main keywords in less then 3 weeks.

The first step that I take when looking at building a new site is the keyword research, and topic research. There are many ways you can go about doing this. Using either the digial point forum free keyword tool, or alternatively you could use the yahoo keyword tool also.

Once there, start running your list ideas through the keyword tool and look for something which has a decent traffic count in overture. (I choose overture as an example because it is widely recognized). I usually target niches with 80,000 upward searches per month for the main keyword. This way you are bound to be able to drive some good traffic to your site.

The recent site I picked had 1,000,000 searches per month.

Then I would plug in some of the top sites into SeoElite or your favorite SEO tool and find out how much seo the main sites are doing and how hard or easy it is going to be to beat them.

Next thing I do is research affiliate products and check out some other sites on the topic to see adsense ads available for that keyword. And put in a keyword, it will show you the ads being displayed for that keyword.

Now that we have the basics to one site, presuming you have a nice traffic count. Some profitable affiliate programs and adsense is showing for those keywords. We are ready to rock and roll.

Next thing to do is obviously register your domain and set up your hosting. I personally use HostGator for my domain hosting needs, they are great.

I would then go over to elance and post a project on 30 articles for my topic (I supply the keyword list), usually between 400-500 words of decent quality. You can expect to pay between $3 and $5 per article. Once you find a good copywriter stick with them it will make your life much easier.

Alternative you could also use Rentacoder for outsourcing.

Next thing on the agenda would be to set up the actual site. I will usually do this whilst waiting for my articles to arrive.

I use either Wordpress or plain old html for all my content sites, but sometimes use dreamweaver if I want something a little more powerful. Just depends on your needs and what you have at hand.
For site templates I use free ones from www.oswd.org and customize them to what I need.

I usually build my own simple graphics in Photoshop. But I am now looking at some warriors to see if I can get headers done for my sites (ps if you are a graphic designer and are interested in work. PM me) Once you get your articles back. Start adding them into your site. Each article on an individual page.

Be sure to take note of the most important parts of on-page optimization.

Example when you are adding in your articles. I use main keywords for that article in the file name. (Though this is not so important).

Then also develop an individual page title for each article around the article keyword. Include a title inside the page using H1 tags (tip for young players. Use css coding to make your h1 tags look much prettier and not so out there)

Also add in any adsense or affiliate adverts you need to, into your content.

When adding adsense, the best place to put it is high on your website above "the fold" or above the middle of the page. So a Banner ad up the very top.

Then a large rectangle further down he page. Seems to do best

And then follow basic common sense with your keyword density. Usually the articles are fine; they contain just the right balance in keyword density. Also when linking your article into the site. Link using the main keywords of the article (providing it makes sense). This will help with building your internal linking popularity.

So by now we should have the basics of our site set up. This is where we would move onto our off-page optimization.

Off-Page Optimization

From the second step you should know exactly what your opponent is doing in terms of off page optimization, and this is like giving you an insider’s look into their marketing.

Write an article on your topic to kick start things. If you are not a writer, then grab a few articles your copywriter wrote for you, and mix them together so they flow, make sense and provide something of interest.

Submit the article using your preferred method. This could be Isnare, Article Marketer, article announcer and article submitter pro.

Be sure that when you build your article to include your URL in the author’s bio and where you can, turn it into a link with the anchor text being the main keyword of your site.

You should also determine what the main keywords for your site will be, that we will target. SEO wise you probably shouldn’t target more then 4 - 6 keywords for your main page. Remember, every page has its own chance of ranking well in the search engines.

So I would break my keywords down into 2 main keywords and 2 sub keywords.

Example for dog training would be

2 main

Dog training

Dog obedience training

2 sub

Puppy training

Dog toilet training

By submitting articles you will already be starting to build some back links into your site and probably be getting your site crawled already.

The next step would be to start a linking campaign. There are many ways to do this; some people don’t even do it. Some people don’t like it some do. There’s only one small thing I have to say on it. IT WORKS

If you wish to start a reciprocal linking strategy. Then I personally use http://www.linkmetro.com (Brad Callen's) for all my linking purposes. There are others around but I have found this to be one of the easiest. Plus you get a free reciprocal directory script, which is a bonus if you don’t have one or have never done it before.

Depending on how big your niche is, you can also purchase advertising space (aka text links) from sites to help.

I have used both before and both seem to offer a pretty good service.

Super-Tip

When buying links, be sure to run the site that you decide to go with, through seoelite or some other back link analysis tool. I have found some sites out there that are cheating the system in a big way. You would probably want to go with the site that has the most links from individual IP's and has a more solid foundation.

If you are into tracking your sites rankings. Then http://www.digitalpoint.com also offers a free serp tracker. However I use Web Position Gold 3 for the purpose of finding where I rank.

And I think that about wraps up how I start and launch my sites.

I repeat the steps in off-page optimization as many times I need to get the rankings I desire.

Remember a number 1 position is not always best. You can get a page 1 result for a keyword, and then move onto the next keyword. This way you are diversifying your traffic, and not wasting un needed energy for the ego of being number 1.

Your business will thrive for it. Worry about the number 1 position only if it is needed for your purpose.

I hope this has helped some.

Please remember, you don’t need to run out and buy the software I mention in here. It is stuff I have accumulated over the last 2 years that greatly help my productivity. There are a few pieces I would consider a must. (SeoElite, Some form of website building software there are free ones,)

But if you are on a budget, don’t rush out, start of small and re-invest your profits later.

Using the exact above system is how I took just 1 of my sites to over 400 visits per day (all search engine) and over $5 per day just in adsense and in only 3 weeks.

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Making Use Of The Online Spyware Removal

Since spyware can strike at any time, there is nothing worse then being unprepared because you may find yourself missing a lot of valuable information from your computer. This is why it is important to have a backup plan in place that you can use in case your computer gets attacked by spyware. If you do not want to drive all the way to the store then you could certainly purchase an online spyware removal program. Of course, this spyware removal utility will not be able to be purchased if the spyware is so bad that your computer has completely shut down.

When your computer is attacked that badly by spyware, you will not be able to seek the help of an online spyware removal program. In these cases you will have no choice but to drive to the nearest electronics store and purchase a spyware removal program in disk form. Only then will you be able to give your computer that help that it so needs. If your computer is still up and running but you are aware of spyware being on it, then you can certainly shot for the online spyware removal program.

Where To Make Your Online Purchases

While there are a lot of people out there that would just rather assume that all sites selling an online spyware removal program are legit, there are many sites out there that are just trying to hit you with a virus or spyware of some sort. Just because it is promising you an online spyware removal program does not mean that is what you are actually downloading. Be careful to check out the company and get as many details about them as possible. Do an Internet search on the name of the company and see what you come up with because the information that you receive could end up helping you stay clear of trouble.

Check with as many places as you can before trusting any online spyware removal company, service, or program. Do the right amount of research because you will be happy in the end that you did. You certainly do not want caught up in some scam so make sure that you are doing all of the research needed to make sure that you are completely on top of things. Check with other people who have purchased an online spyware removal product and see how they like the product. By going off of what they have to say, you may very well find exactly what you are looking for.

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Sunday, September 14, 2008

Learn How To Write For An Online Audience

One of the issues that an affiliate marketer must understand is how to compose for an online audience. This is because, on the internet, an internet businessman is narrowed to in black and white expressions when it comes to relaying his views. If he can compose superior than other associate marketers, then he has more than a fair chance of outdoing them.

Here, writing for an online audience is very much diverse than composing for print magazine.

For starters, net users are less tolerant. They read subject on the screen , which is more traumatic for the eyes. Lovers of print publications have more variations when it comes to consuming the substance they are offered with, thus making their encounter more enjoyable.

Also, net dwellers have more choices which they can easily take advantage of. If they don't want what they're reading, they can go to another pages with the click of a button. Capturing their interest and keeping their interest are necessary when it comes to writing internet content.

Here are some very fundamental suggestions when composing for an composing client:

1. Make sure your titles are haunting. Headlines are the first few statements that your patrons will perceive when they navigate your website. Most times, they will judge your site founded on your headline . You merely have 3 seconds to sway them to stay, and such can only be accomplished through a captivating headline.

2. Make your piece simple to browse. Use bullets and numberings as much as possible. Below 15% of your visitors will read all of what you will post. A lot of them will peruse through each part, searching for for the information they want or tidbits they will find captivating. You can put things easy for them by organizing your page for easy navigating. You can also highlight main statements of your page , via bold fonts or variation of shades.

3. Maintain your words simple. Write as if you're telling a point to a 12 year old child. This isn't meant to insult your prospective client. This is so because the mean reading conception of internet users is that of a 12 year old student.

4. Make your clauses brief. This will supply more empty plots for your web page. Empty plots is called negative spaces , and it is very important for internet publications. Negative spaces makes your vistors' eyes to rest. net design experts even concur that 2/3 of an entire online page should be made of negative space .

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Five Excellent Advice That Will Assist You Build Your Own Mailing List

How many instances have you came across the line "money is in the list?"

The internet marketing magnates now realize what it indicates from memory. One of the several matters they share in common is a substantial, and often responsive, mailing list. Believe it or not, they get most of their profits from their particular lists.

Here are 5 tremendous advice that will help you have your own mailing list.

1. Offer free products. Whether it's a guide produce similar to an eBook or a particular report, a software program, or any other type of programmed commodity, you can capture your targets' attention by providing such goodies for nothing. Render their subscription to your mailing list a prerequisite for the usage of the said freebie. This is undoubtedly the most effective, therefore the most accepted, manner of creating a big mailing list at a relative hasty rate.

2. Form companies with other marketers who keep receptive lists. Do you require immediate outcomes? Find compatible entrepreneurs and create a JV with them. Basically, you'll just have to generate a pool of merchandise coming from each JV colleague's array. You can advertise these goods to your target consumer for free, or for a low, low amount. Now, here's the hold: before a target can use a produce, he should first join to the product holder's list. If you can make a JV consisting of 5 associates, each prospect can likey subscribe to all of the 5 mailing lists involved.

3. List trade. Find an entrepreneur with a sizable list. Suggest to promote his list in your messages to the members of your list. Make him to do likewise. The consequence is fabulous! You'd be able to increase one another's list!

4. Give substantial markdowns for your future items. A nice way to win your prospects' subscription is by luring them with something valuable. The idea of getting wonderful savings for upcoming merchandise you will sell will be an exceptional encouragement for them to trust you with their contact details.

5. Employ a squeeze page. Just create a highly useful page that will entice your guests' interest. However, just half of the data you will share should be immediately seen. If your visitors would want to learn more about the issue you are discussing, make them to sign up to your mailing list to have access to theremainder of the said figures. This is the best way of increasing your list really, really brief.

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Saturday, September 13, 2008

Bum Marketing In A Nutshell

Numerous internet entrepreneurs and enterprising webmasters know the value of article marketing.

Imagine this: once an article is submitted to an article listing, it can lifted up by a lot of online and offline publications. And because such an article cannot be re-distribute without incorporating the associated resource box, you'd be able to reveal your URL to a lot of individuals.

But here's the issue: article marketing is an obligation. You will have to create and tender no less than 4 pieces of writing per week just to be competitive.

But what if you don't have the time to write and present articles that frequently?

Is there an easier technique to do things?

You're in luck! There is actually a fairly novel means that guarantees to put your site in the front page of SERPs just by giving one piece of writing - correct, only ONE article - to one, two or three article listings.

This technique is called Bum Marketing, and it was conceptualized by a pioneering online marketer named Travis Sago. When it was first published by the end of 2006, it made quite an impression in the arena of eCommerce, and for good reasons at that.

So what is Bum Marketing and how, exactly, does it operate?

Bum Marketing initializes with the assortment of the correct keywords. Nothing shocking you might say? Think again. We're not just hunting for any keywords. We're hunting for a saying that people actually use to hunt for facts online, where such slogan dominates a lot of explorations but is offered by only a few channels.

For instance, you have picked the issue "dog training." The subject commands thousands upon thousands of searches everyday. On the other hand, the precise keywords of "dog training" fetches millions o web pages in the search engines.

The topic is too general. If you use the keywords as they are, you won't be able to attract many guests for your site.

The answer? You have to reduce it.

"How to guide your dog to fetch the tabloid," the accurate key phrase, fetches a mere 300,000 web sites. This fact is simple to dominate!

The next thing you have to do is to compose a composition that will include the key line above. The main phrase should come up at least 3 times for every 100 words of text. A 250 to 1,000 word composition will be enough.

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An Affiliate Marketer’s Guide To Blogging

Selling your affiliate links may show to be hard nowadays, what with several places on the internet hating - if not completely proscribing- the redistribution of the said links on their websites. The nice method to go is to have your particular site which will contain all of your affiliate links, and simply lead persons to this one stop URL.

There are many kinds of pages you can organize for this function, but nothing will ever match up to the sheer versatility, intinsic control, and fantastic scope of a blog.

The expression "blog" has turn out to be a colloquial expression for net residents, which originated from "online chronicles." Blogs were concoted to be net diaries where users can write about the eventualities of their days as well as their opinions for all of world-wide-web to witness.

Blogs, still, are fundamental net advertising arms, plainly because of the following rationales:

- Blogs are in certainty basic subject organization systems. Think Joomla, only, with an edge that even a 7-year old child can make use of. Because blogs are so simple to utilize, they are very available to a large assortment of individuals, marketers included.

- Blogs make content advertising enormously , very plain. Putting on additional substances can be completed with just one click. As such, most bloggers update their content over once every day. And we all know that search engines love fresh content and frequently updated web sites, correct? This is the rationale why blogs dominate the main few sites of significant search engine results sheets.

- Blogs give a more special experience for readers. This is because blogs are associated with the bloggers that sustain them. Every time current entries are put, visitors understand that the blogger himself is talking to them. For promoting targets, such a characteristic of a blog makes extraordinary trust selling very effortless to pull off.

Affiliate promotion through blogging is very, very plain. IIn reality, we can summarize the procedure in 5 easy actions.

1. Create a blog. Either organize a complimentary blog on blogger.com or wordpress.com, or download a changeable- style blog and host it under your own domain, which is suggested.

2. Look for keywords pertinent to the subject of the affiliate article you want to sell.

3. Put an entry mentioning the keyword or key phrase you discovered.

4. Recommend the affiliate item you are advertising and leave your affiliate link.

5. Offer each recent entry to social news networks and social bookmarking pages like digg.com, reddit.com, propeller.com, technorati.com and del.icio.us.

Do this every now and then, favorably no less than thrice every week, and you will soon create a considerable quantity of leads for your affiliate marketing campaigns.

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Friday, September 12, 2008

Auctions, An American Tradition

Today it is hard to imagine anything that is not sold at auction.  A personal property auctioneer helps people dispose of items that can be picked up and moved, like antiques and collectibles. 

If you have not tested the waters and attended an auction, let me ask you, Why Not?  Auctions are fun and are currently a popular way to sell goods and make some great buys.  Here are some tips to make your day at the auction a good experience.

If the name of the estate being auctioned is advertised, the auction is probably a bonafide estate sale offering interesting items coming to the marketplace for the first time.  But, sometimes the auctioneer can be asked not to advertise the estate name.  If the words “with additions” are found in the ad, this would indicate that other consignment items have been added to the estate sale items.  The auction house may post pictures of auction items on their website.  In fact, on-line Internet auctions can be combined very successfully with the live auction.  If you have any questions about the set up of the auction, call the auction house for further information.   

Is the auction advertised as an absolute auction or an auction with no minimums and no reserves?  That means that if the auctioneer takes a bid he must continue auctioning the item finalizing the sale at the highest level he can attain.  On the other hand, a reserve auction indicates that there is a minimum bid that the seller will accept.  Is a buyer’s premium advertised?  If so, there will be a percentage added to your bill when you check out.  The typical buyer’s premium is 10%.   Note what forms of payment are accepted and understand that state sales tax will be added to your bill unless you have a current dealer’s resale certificate to present. 

Go to the auction preview to examine the condition of auction items.  The auctioneer may point out the condition of an item but it is the bidder’s responsibility to take advantage of the preview.  Register early to be ready to hear the auctioneer’s comments before the sale begins on how the auction is to be handled.  See if there is a list of the items to be auctioned.  Make notes on the list, marking items that you may wish to bid on. 

The auctioneer will be on the “block”, meaning he is in front of and higher than the crowd.  The clerk works with the auctioneer recording all bids.  If the live auction is combined with an Internet auction, there will also be an Internet administrator.  There are usually spotters that help the auctioneer see everyone that wishes to bid.  A director works with the ground crew and determines the order that items are brought up for sale.  In the Internet/live auction pictures of items up for bid may be projected on a screen for the audience to see.

A good auctioneer wants you to understand what he is saying.   The auctioneer’s chatter is only a series of filler words that join the bid that he has on an item with the bid he is looking for on that same item.  Position yourself so that the auctioneer can easily see you and don’t be tentative about bidding.  Help the auctioneer know when you are bidding.  He is not going to hold you responsible for a bid if you scratch your head.  If a bid is made inadvertently, speak up immediately saying that you were not bidding.  The auction firm may issue you a bid paddle instead of a bid card.  The paddle is usually larger and can help avoid any confusion about bidding. 

It’s a good idea to bring a folding chair in case seating is limited and boxes and packing can help you protect any small treasures on which you might be the successful bidder.  Food might not be available so bringing water and a power bar will keep you going if you find you simply cannot leave the auction until a certain item is offered or you wish to stay to the very end.   Items for auction can be brought up in listed order or randomly brought up.  If items are being brought up randomly, you may be able to request that an item be brought up for auction.

Who knows, you might enjoy the auction experience enough to become a regular!

Logan and Richard Adams are the owners of The Specialists of the South in Panama City, FL.  Richard is an Auctioneer.  They hold auctions in Panama City regularly and also hold Online Auctions.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Feature Article: What's Wrong With E-Commerce Websites?

By Jerry Bader (c) 2008

What is going on with e-commerce websites? It appears that
online entrepreneurs spend so much time worrying about website
traffic that they ignore the customers who actually want to buy
something.

Recently, I tried to order a product we spotted at a trade show.
It was perfect for our application so we did a Google search to
find the manufacturer and a list of dealers who sold the item.

Almost all the websites that distributed the product had proper
contact information and invited people to call, which we did.
After six frustrating phone calls to dealers we still hadn't
found anyone willing to answer the telephone. Since we had to
leave a message almost everywhere we called, we decided to try
California even though we are located in the east, and it was
far too early for any reasonable person to be at work.

We finally got in touch with a friendly salesperson in Boston,
who was very helpful but unfortunately the company was out of
stock. Despite not being able to fill the order, we kept their
information on file because they were friendly, accommodating,
and dealt with all our questions. They tried their best to meet
our needs but if we would have ordered using their online system
and found out later that the product was back-ordered we would
have been very upset since we had a deadline to meet.

Next we reached the manufacturer who told us he was too busy to
check if he had any stock, and maybe he could get back to us by
four o'clock. Just as we were ready to give up, the phone rang;
it was the owner of the California dealer, who had the product
in stock, took the order, and shipped it out the same day.

Businesses, especially website businesses cannot run on
autopilot; customers are people and they expect to be treated
like human beings. Now it is not always possible to answer every
phone call the minute someone calls, or to have every product in
stock when people need it, but the more human interaction you
can build into your website the better your sales will be. To
paraphrase that old saying about horses, "you can lead search
traffic to your website, but you can't make them order."

Why Should Anybody Buy From You?

Ask yourself this simple question: why should anybody buy
anything from you? You probably aren't the only company that
sells your product or service, and even if you are, there are
most likely substitutes available from competitors.

When potential customers find you on Google they are also
finding all your competitors. So unless you sell a totally
unique, non-fungible (non substitutable) product, service or
brand that is also the lowest priced on the market, then you
best give people some compelling reason to buy from you.

The product we were looking for was available from a dozen
different website businesses, spread all over the United States
and they all sold the same product at the same price. In the
final analysis we purchased from the supplier that was the
furthest distance away in a time zone three hours earlier than
us; but we purchased from that supplier because we were able to
talk to a someone who answered all our questions in a friendly,
intelligent, and engaging manner.

It's what used to be called customer service before businesses
were turned over to database programmers, number crunchers, and
search savants who think of human interaction as something to be
avoided.

The Human Touch Creates Confidence and Sales

Websites are a very efficient method of lead generation and
potential sales as long as you engage your audience with a
presentation delivered by a real person who explains as much as
possible about the things you sell, and how you sell them. And
that includes things like delivery, which is one of the major
complaints and points-of-contention that online customers have.
Nobody likes surprises, especially when they cost time and
money.

Web sales success has little to do with features, benefits, or
technical advancements, in fact a barrage of features and
specifications is just as likely to confuse visitors, and
paralyze their purchase decision. The one tactic that overcomes
this problem, that inspires confidence in your advice, trust in
your ability to deliver, and convinces people to purchase, is
information presented by a real human being.

You Can't Always Handle Things Personally

Understanding you cannot always be available, the next best
thing is Web video. A video provides a complete, consistent,
error-free, professional presentation of the information you
want customers to receive. Hiring, training, and managing staff
is expensive, and their handling of customers is often
unreliable, resulting in a negative impression of your company.

Lest We Forget Tricky Dick

And that brings me to the Web entrepreneur who thinks that they
are so charming and persuasive that they are going to be their
own Web-video host.

Anybody who studies audience behavior is familiar with the
classic case of the 1960 Presidential debate between Nixon and
Kennedy. Most people who listened to the debate on the radio
thought Nixon won, while the people who watched on television
thought Kennedy won. This was a seminal example of how auditory
and visual performance influences content, impression and
response.

This lesson has been well learned by politicians but has somehow
escaped the attention of business leaders and Web entrepreneurs.

Human Motivational Optimization

Web entrepreneurs' obsession with search optimization, and
their fascination with technical solutions to human problems,
has created an e-commerce environment that is decidedly remote
and unfriendly. Sales are a motivational exercise in
people-problem solving: people buy things that fulfill physical,
emotional, and psychological needs. The answer is to adopt a
Human Motivational Optimization approach to the presentation of
your website material.

What is Human Motivational Optimization? It is a mindset used
for designing Web experiences for human beings, not just search
engine spiders.

Human Motivational Optimization For E-commerce

Let's say you have an online business that sells clothing. The
best way to display clothing is on a model who twists and turns
so the audience can see the item from all sides, as well as how
it hangs or drapes on a real person. A garment displayed flat
looks like a rag, and just doesn't do the product justice.

Even quality still photography doesn't show how a garment looks
when someone moves; and high quality fashion photography is more
expensive than short fifteen to twenty second Web videos.

You can also add some professional voice-over narration that
explains all the fabric details, design features and options
available. A Web video fashion catalog is the most effective way
to sell clothes online.

Perhaps you sell cosmetics. Another product ideally suited for
Web video. Teaching visitors what products look best together
based on particular facial features and coloring as well as
different makeup styles for work, play, and evening are ideal
opportunities to up-sell and build confidence in you and your
products. Customer education is one of the best Web marketing
tactics you can employ in order to distinguish yourself from the
competition.

Not Every Product Is Sexy

Clothing and cosmetics are both high profile products, but
let's say you sell something that is not quite so sexy,
something like sandpaper. Sandpaper is boring but, if you need
an abrasive product, you better pick the right one or you'll
make a mess of whatever you are trying to build.

Teaching customers what products to use turns one-time buyers
into long-term customers. When customers buy the wrong thing,
they invariably blame the supplier, while suppliers that provide
valuable purchase advice create a significant barrier to
competition.

Even major box store retailers have learned that they cannot
afford to have a bunch of part-timers helping customers. Best
Buy has their Geek Squad and Apple Stores have their Geniuses.

Returns on electronics and computer equipment are too costly,
and that goes double for online businesses where shipping is a
factor. And that doesn't take into account customer ill will
created by the aggravation and frustration of being sold the
wrong thing. Rather than being an expense, a professionally
produced Web-video e-commerce catalog is actually a tactic that
saves time and money, both in the sales process, and customer
relations.

Web video engages audience attention; informs viewers of product
advantages, details and options; and explains who should
purchase, as well as who shouldn't. It educates people on how
to get the most out of what you sell, and it does it in the most
compelling and memorable manner. It establishes a trust-based
relationship with clients and that is something competitors
cannot overcome with high pressure, price-slashing tactics.

The Geeks are Killing Your Business

Today we have a generation of entrepreneurs trained in highly
specialized technical areas like search engine optimization,
database development, statistical analysis, and Web-based
programming. All of these disciplines view business, even
marketing, advertising and public relations as if they are
somehow quantifiable, scientific disciplines that can be
measured and managed without consideration of that messy notion
called human nature.

The biggest problem in business is dealing with people, and just
because your business is Web-based, doesn't mean people no
longer count.

We know 'if you build it, they will come' is not a viable
marketing strategy, and the idea 'if they find you, they will
buy' is just as wrong. Start thinking in terms of Human
Motivational Optimization: start designing websites for people,
not search engines.

================================================================
Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design
firm that specializes in Web-audio and Web-video. Visit
http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads, http://www.136words.com/, and
http://www.sonicpersonality.com/. Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.com
or telephone (905) 764-1246.
================================================================

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