Tuesday, October 26, 2010

25 Fat, Juicy Keywords

With the holiday season fast approaching and the all important new year sales blitz just around the corner, webmasters are preparing to cash in like never before to capture the greater part of the pay per click revenue spoils. AdSense has some new competition in Chitika and Yahoo's Publishing Network is really taking off. The following 25 keywords I have identified as giving exceptionally larger than life payouts; adjust your site accordingly to pull in the greatest amount of cash over the next few months. Don't expect me to share with you actual pay out amounts [they vary, anyway]; I did my homework so now do yours too!

The following are 25 words followed by my comments:

Mesothelioma – Duh. Goes without saying.

Money – give make money and free money a try.

Bextra – also try Bextra lawyer, Bextra Pfizer.

Life insurance – life insurance quote, life insurance rate, term life insurance.

Health insurance – what people need, but few can afford.

Prescription plan – what people need, but few can afford.

Student loan – student loan consolidation is a biggie.

Personal injury attorney – add in a particular state before the term to narrow things down.

Acne – zits are in, very in.

Timeshare – resell timeshare is popular too.

Mortgages – always a popular term and will be as long as people own houses.

Equity loan – also give home equity loan a try.

Debt consolidation – a perpetual leader. No surprise there!

Lasik – vanity sells!

Face lift – like I said…

Hair loss – more of the same!

Caviar – one of the highest paying foodie keywords.

Canadian pharmacy – always a crowd pleaser.

Elder care – some day we'll all be there; sooner than you think!

Spyware – a perpetual problem with mass appeal!

Laptop computer – also try notebook computer.

Cell phone – always a competitive area.

VOIP – voice over internet protocol continues to strengthen.

Tax help – as long as there is an IRS…

401k rollover – everyone wants in on the action

So, what does each of these words have in common? Pay outs of two dollars or more per click is possible; much, much higher for some keywords depending on the season and a host of other factors. I identified many other keywords that also are high payers, but left them out on purpose. I shouldn't have to give away all my secrets now, should I?

Monday, October 18, 2010

Security And Privacy On MySpace

Is there security and privacy on MySpace? This can be a difficult question to answer because there are many possible answers. There can be a certain degree of security and privacy available on MySpace but as with any online community there is also the potential for unsafe situations and violations of privacy. However, there are a couple of ways MySpace members can ensure they are receiving the highest levels of security and privacy possible. This includes being familiar with the terms of service, taking active measures to protect yourself and making use of the privacy features included in the software.

Read the Terms of Service Carefully

Reading the terms of service carefully can give users an understanding of the amount of security and privacy available on MySpace. These terms of service provide members with useful information for the types of activities or content which are prohibited on MySpace. Understanding these regulations will help members to understand whether their actions or the actions of other members are in violation of the terms of service. While the MySpace administrators do not have a policy of policing the community for content violations, they will respond to allegations by other members of violations and will take appropriate actions if the members are in fact found to be in violation of the terms of service. These actions may include deleting the members account and taking appropriate legal actions.

The MySpace privacy policy is referenced within the terms of service and this reference incorporates the entirety of the privacy policy into the terms of service. As a result members who join the MySpace community and agree to the terms of services are also, by default, agreeing to the privacy policy. Therefore, members should carefully review the privacy policy and familiarize themselves with the terms of this policy.


Protect Yourself on MySpace

Members of MySpace do have a small degree of protection afforded by the administrators of MySpace but they can provide themselves with a great deal of additional protection by being aware of how the Internet works and using common sense. Generic safety tips for protecting oneself on the Internet also apply to the MySpace community. Just like it is not wise to give out sensitive information such as your address or social security number on online discussion boards, it is not wise to list this type of information on a MySpace profile either.

MySpace members may think the information they post on their profile is only being viewed by their friends and the members of their extended network but this is not true. There can be many individuals on MySpace who are lurking and viewing members' websites all the time. Some of these lurkers may be completely innocent but others may be harvesting information.

Making Profiles Private

MySpace does have some features which can give members an increased amount of protection. The ability to make a profile private is one of these features. Most MySpace profiles are public and are viewable by both members of the community and nonmembers. However, those who wish to keep their website private can make it only available to those on their friends list.

Members of MySpace also have the ability to remove members from their friends list or block other members from sending them emails or instant messages. Only members in your friends list can post comments on your website so if there are members who are leaving malicious comments, you can remove them from your friends list to avoid future problems. Also, if you are receiving harassing emails or messages you can block users to prevent them from contacting you in the future.

Problems With Web Analytics

There are two major problems with web presence analytics; they're either non-existent or too complicated. Many people may be against using web analytics because it not only measures success it also measures failure. Someone in charge of marketing might be afraid to use web analytics because it would prove the failure scientifically. Avoiding web analytics because it shows failure is the wrong attitude. We learn from our failures and we must welcome the opportunity to gain knowledge of them.

There is a lack of skilled employees required to manage, distribute and analyze Web analytics. Historically, web analytics was developed by IT for IT. The people using them were comfortable with dealing with raw data. Web analytics tools have been designed to be interpreted by technical personnel. There was little regard for people without technical skills. As a result, the rest of the organization has become alienated from analytics. A good web analytics solution has to be easy to understand for any member of the organization. One of the biggest misconceptions of web analytics is that it needs to be complex.

Often, web analytics generate a huge amount of data. The end result is data overload that lacks actionable information. Frequently, insignificant data becomes the noise around actionable data. The noise makes the process overwhelming. Instead of providing answers, web analytics can create more questions. Meaningful interpretation of data has created a hostile attitude toward web analytics among the non-technical people of the organization.

Web analytics is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Web analytics tools provide data not information or insight. We need the tools to provide us with the raw data, but it's up to us to make sense of it all.


The real value of KPI is continuous monitoring. It is not a once a year or once a quarter project. At the very least, you should examine your KPIs once a month. Monitoring is continuous; reviewing happens on a regular interval.

The most important KPIs are the ones that measure whether business objectives are met or not. It is great to know how many visitors a web site has in a month, but it is more useful to know what percentage of users make a purchase.

Web sites are no longer just online catalogs with a shopping cart. They are becoming complex applications with high levels of interactivity. Today, a highly usable site is also highly interactive. If the on site search is not working properly, you have a web site that lack interactivity. Therefore, it scores low in the usability scale. If the site navigation is counter intuitive, it will result in low usability score. All of the above will result in lower conversion therefore lower revenue. According to studies, many online shoppers give up and abandon the shopping process due to usability issues.

Web analytics must be viewed as an activity directly tied to revenue. It is indeed a revenue generating process. The absence of web analytics can result in loss of revenue, and the presence of it will almost certainly result in increased revenue.

How To Make Money On The Internet! Or How Not To!

Well if you are reading this article then that means you really
want to make money online!

But I bet your totally confused and don't know what's real anymore?

And your probably kind of sick of all seeing the same things and over and over again, and not knowing if they work. You probably hear positive things and negative things about every program out there. I know I do!

Seriously if I see one more web page or add about selling on ebay or filling out survey's im going to go crazy.

I've been on the internet now for along time, I've gone in circles and tried everything there is to make money. After all things are said and done, the main thing I realized is, if someone is trying to sell you the information for a dollar amount $ (whatever it may be) without giving you even the slightest idea of what you are buying, then DON'T BUY IT!

You will end up getting the same thing you probably bought 3 times already.

I think it is pointless for a business to try and sell something to a customer, but yet only tell you "You will make money!" umm ya how?

I mean that's like going into a shoe store and the sales person saying "Buy these shoes, they will help you walk, but you can't see them until you give me the money!"

WOULD YOU BUY THE SHOES?

The best plan for any business that I can give advice to, is come up with a business plan where you tell the customer what their doing and how it's done, but only hold back say: the name of the company you need to buy the products from or whatever it may be.

There are a few sites out there that are actually worth your time and will offer you free information. These sites are often ignored because they are free, and for some reason today in society people seem to think if something is free then it is of no value! That's actually the farthest thing from the truth. The best things in life are free, (we all know this).

I am going to go over a few things that repeatedly show up on the internet again and again, trying to make you buy their information, only to find out that you will make less money doing what they suggest, than what you paid for it!

1. Selling on Auction sites or Buying wholesale lists.(Drop shipping)

Ok selling on auction sites can be a means to earn money, but it depends on what you're selling. If you own a brick and mortar store (a real live store) it can be a way to add to your revenue and sell extra things on the side. But selling of the internet (droppshiped item) or buying wholesale items, is usually a complete waste of time. Think about how many people those wholesale lists are available to, and how many people are going to be competing with you to sell that same item. This in turn leaves you with very little profit. Not to mention that almost all wholesale lists online are out of date and most of the time the items are not even actually whole sale priced. Plus you must pay the listing fee for your item, the final sale value %, and then other fees for processing payments! In the end you really only made like $3 and hour. Is that worth your time?

I'm not saying every product is like that, there are a few niche items (if you can find them) that might sell well and have a good conversion for you, but as soon as you find them so will someone else, and on and on the cycle goes!

2. Filling out Surveys.

DON'T DO IT!

This has to be the biggest waste of time on the internet today. I personally have never even touched that area. I know allot of people who have though, and it has only led to disappointment. There are so many sites promising you $10 here $40 there to fill out a simple online survey.

Ok so first they want you to pay to find out where the surveys are, and then when you pay them and go to fill out the survey's you find out that to your surprise, you must qualify to fill out the survey. For example: You must be between 5'9 and 5'10 , weight 62lbs and not eat for three days, you must have black hair and blue eyes and live on the moon! So hmm I guess I don't get the $40?

Or you can fill out 2 hour surveys about what brand of toothpaste you like and you will get paid $2! Need I say more?


3. Online Rebate Processors

This one is kind of new to the online world of offers. There are a few sites (that look very similar!) that offers you a list of people to work for, and promising you $15 a rebate. OK this depends on the price of the rebate, the company you are issuing the rebate for and on and on. As far I know, there is only one company that actually pays that (off the list they give you) and they won't accept any more employees. So unless you want to spend $40 to get the list and then make about $1 a rebate, don't waste your time.

4. Billing processor, medical billing specialist or transcriptionist.

All I have to say about this one is if you are interests make sure you look for work through a local business that you can actually talk to and call. Or you will end up working for some random office in Malaysia or some foreign country getting paid .12 cents an hour.

5. Paid to surf

There are many, many sites out there promising you money to surf the net or read emails. That's because they are trying to get you to sign up for their programs. You get paid like .1 cent an email and a few cents a web page as long as you're at the web page for at least 30 to 60 seconds. That's a total waste of time.

6. Getting a free website to sell other peoples things!

Ok this will make you a few buck here and there, but the amount it costs to advertise, and then the small % you get back in return isn't really worth it. Really you are just making money for the person above you and they are giving you a very small % of what they make. Also there is so much competition in this market that you have to find a very small niche with very specific products that are not so over marketed.

7. Forex (trading currencies)

Is actually one of the best ways to make money online, if you practice a little and know what you're doing. The reason some people over look this is because there is a work involved and you need to learn the system. It's not a get rich quick scheme, but it is a get rich long term scheme.

Forex is : The currency trading (FOREX) market is the biggest and fastest growing market on earth. Its daily turnover is more than 2.5 trillion dollars. The participants in this market are banks, organizations, investors and private individuals, just like you.

8. The EASY FREE INCOME SYSTEM

This is a hard to explain system, but I have used it for over a year and it's worked for me this long. The reason I think it's a good system in the first place is because of exactly what I said earlier, you don't have to pay a single cent to get all the information there is to get about the system. People make a great living off of it and it's totally free. You get a free ebook to read it all over, and it doesn't involve anything I have mentioned above. No marketing, no forms, no calling, no selling or buying, no emailing, no nothing really! And when something's free and promises to make you a good income, I always check it out. I mean what can it hurt, it's free? You can get a free copy for yourself at www.easyfreeincome.com

It's something I enjoy, its fun and I make really good money from it. Its not hard to do and you get all the info for free, which is a huge bonus from my point of view or anyone that is trying to find a good income earner but don't want to pay before they know what it is!

So that is my opinion on the latest online money makers! I can't speak for everyone, but I have extensively tested or know someone who has tested, all the methods above.

I hate to see people waste their time, because there are so many things out there that are a huge time waster.

I have been online now for along time, and have tested program after program, I wrote this article to share my ventures and to try to give some advice, whoever it may help, so that people who are new to the online industry of making money might have some direction on where to go or what to try and not try.

I will continue to write articles on all new money making methods I try, until then good luck and I hope you benefit from this advice.

Acquiring Quality In Bound Links To Your Website

If you're wondering what a back link is, well it is a link placed on another site with content relevant to yours that is directed towards your website. Links to your website direct traffic from the linking point to your site and help you to rank higher in search engines.

Let's say that you have a website that sells grills. To get the most effective links to your site you would want to find other sites that offer content similar to grills to place your link on. These other sites might sell books on grilling, offer recipes for grilling or grill parts. The linking site will ideally have content that relates to grilling in some way.

You should view the internet as a popularity contest and each little link is a vote for your websites quality. Links of quality are much more effective than links in quantity. 10 links from websites with content related to that on your site could be more valuable than 1000 links from unrelated sites.

The links placement on the relevant site is also important. You are better off with a link on the front page of a website than a page that is deep within the site. Ideally you should be able to get to the page your link is placed on by clicking on a link from the front page. Look at it in this way, if you can't find the link neither can the search engines.

We should also cover two different ways to get a link placement.

Free link placement involves several options. There are some sites that will offer free link placement with no strings. Other sites will require a reciprocal link back from your site which decreases the link value significantly. You can also write and submit articles to article directories with a link back to your site.


There are quality directories where you can have your website listed. A quality one that actually provides benefits to the website linked to will generally charge a fee to review your site in consideration of inclusion. This is generally one of the most time effective ways to achieve good results.

Another option is paid link placement. This is purely paying for advertising space on a website. It is an option but should be very carefully done. The primary consideration for this option is for generating traffic via the link itself. Search engines are becoming better at detecting paid links and are making requirements of specialized no follow tags to be placed in them which takes away many of the linking benefits other than traffic from the link itself. If you choose this option be careful that you understand how to do it properly and the risks if you don't.

When you do get a link back to your website, having relevant text in the link itself is important. This is what will help you to rank in search engines for relevant keywords. When a search engine comes across the link it will note the link text and try to match it with the content of your site. The better a match the more relevance that link will be given by the search engine.

Link building from quality sites does take time. You are not going to start today and finish up tomorrow. It takes a consistent, focused approach over time to see results that give you the results you're looking for over the long term.

12 Ways To Create An Order-Pulling Niche

A niche is something that sets your business apart from your competitors. To compete with other businesses nowadays, especially online, you need a uniqueniche. Just make sure your competitors are not using the same niche. Below are twelve ideas you could use to create an order pulling niche.

1. Your niche could be that you offer free delivery. This may cost a little money, but, you will gain the extra customers to make up for it.

2. Your niche could be that you offer a lower price. If you can't afford to offer a lower price you could always hold the occasional discount sale.

3. Your niche could be that your product achieves results faster. This niche is very effective because people are becoming more and more impatient and want results fast.

4. Your niche could be you've been in business for a longer period of time. People think if you've been in business longer you have more credibility.

5. Your niche could be that your product tastes, smells sounds, looks, or feels better. When you target the the senses you're triggering basic human attractions.

6. Your niche could be your product is light or compact. People may want to take the product on a trip or don't have much room where they live.

7. Your niche could be that you've won a business reward. When you win a reward tell your customers or visitors about it. This increases their trust in your business.

8. Your niche could be that your product lasts longer. People don't like taking the time and spending more money buying replacement products all the time.

9. Your niche could be that your product is easy to use. People don't want to buy a product that they have to read a 200 page hard-to-understand instruction manual.

10. You niche could be that your product has better safety features. People want to feel safe when they use your products.

11. Your niche could be that your product was made by hand. Most people believe that products made by hand have better quality.

12. Your niche could be that you stand behind all your products. People want to know that you back-up any claims you make about your product with either guarantees, warrantees and free replacements.

5 Bad & Lousy Words You Should Never Say In Your Salesletter

Do you know exactly why people don't seem excited to buy your product? Have you ever wonder why your competitors make more sales even though they have a terrible product to offer? Even worse, why people couldn't even be bothered to live their email address in your opt-in form and subscribe to your free newsletter?

You may wonder people just don't feel interested to buy your product or maybe your price is too high. Or you've finally realized that your product is a pile of junk and decided to find another product to sell.

You've got to stop whatever you're doing and think for a moment. It is not your product to be blame. Sometimes your own salesletter which is the one that kill your business. You've written some words that people don't even want to hear and scare the hell out of them. Studied has shown using these words will decrease your sales up to 75%.

So, what are exactly the bad words you should never say in your newsletter?

1) Buy – This specifically asking people to take out their wallet and spend some money. Bare in mind, most people surf the Internet searching certain information for free and sometimes they need more time before considering buying your product. Whatever business you're doing, using this word alone can destroy your business in split second. Instead of using the word 'buy', change it to 'claim' or 'invest'. Ask yourself, which one sound better, "Buy this amazing product" or "Claim this amazing product."

2) Learn – This will remind people back in the old days where they have to study and learn in 1st or 2nd Grade. Nobody wants to squeeze their brain out and learn something new on the Internet. Information on the Internet is just too huge. Nowadays, people want fast information and have no time to learn. Instead of using the word 'learn', it is better to use the word 'discover'. Now we are giving somewhere. Does this word sounds a lot better, "Discover 10 Easy Tips To Improve Your Golf Swing."


3) Tell – You don't have to use this word to explain the benefit of your product. People will not listen to you if they don't recognize you. Study this two words carefully, "Let me tell you the secrets of becoming a millionaire" or "Let me reveal to you the secrets of becoming a millionaire." Which one do you think that will make people keep on reading your newsletter?

4) Things – Using this word will not make your salesletter sound astonishing. It makes the salesletter very boring to read. This will make people lost their confidence in whatever you've offered to them. Instead of using the word 'things', consider to revise it to 'tips', 'tricks' or 'techniques'. "Get these 5 great techniques right away" is far better than "Get these 5 great things right away."

5) Stuff – This word is what most marketers used to describe how great the product is. If you change it to 'Insider Secrets', definitely this will give people an urge to act right away. Consider this two words, "Click here to download your 7 stuffs" or "Click here to download your 7 amazing insider secrets." Which one would you like to click?

If you can avoid this 5 bad words, your sales will definitely boost up to the roof. Don't neglect the power of these words. Now, it's time for you to check all your salesletter and change it (if any) right away. You will be surprise of the outcome.

3 Key Questions To Ask About Internet Marketing

Internet marketing is exciting, challenging, and confusing. It can make or break your internet business career and yet many people who depend on internet marketing don't have a full grasp of the essentials involved in internet marketing.

In fact, many internet entrepreneurs waste a great deal of time, energy, and momentum because they do not fully understand internet marketing. Don't let this lack of understanding undermine your income potential.

In order for you to better understand internet marketing and its impact on your internet business you must know the answers to these three key questions:

1. What Is Internet Marketing?
2. What Is The Cost Of Internet Marketing?
3. What Is The Benefit of Internet Marketing?

What Is Internet Marketing?

Marketing is actually rather simple. Marketing is communication about an idea, product, service, or organization. Marketing therefore encompasses advertising, promotion and sales as well as the various techniques and forms of communication used to advertise, promote and sell.

Marketing is broader than simple advertising or promotion in that it includes researching the market to learn what consumers want and then setting out to meet their needs with the appropriate product, price, and distribution method. Marketing includes market research, deciding on products and prices, advertising promoting distributing and selling.

Marketing also covers all the activities involved in moving products and services from the source to the end user including making customers aware of products and services, attracting new customers to a product or service, keeping existing customers interested in a product or service, and building and maintaining a customer base for a product or service.

Internet marketing includes these same activities but also pulls in various internet tools including web sites, email, ezines, banner advertising, blogging, RSS, text links, search engine optimization, affiliates, autoresponders, and other ecommerce applications.

What Is The Cost Of Internet Marketing?

The range of expenses for internet marketing is huge. There are a number of promotional and marketing ventures that can cost you nothing or only pennies a day while other advertising efforts can cost you thousands a day.


It is important to consider your goals -- both long-term and short-term -- as well as how much each prospective customer is worth to you. This will help you determine a workable budget for your internet marketing campaign.

Many internet promotions are free, you can set up a web site and/or blog for $250 a year, and you can buy text links for $10 a month. You could easily spend $25-50 a day for advertising but there are many cheaper ad options available.

The best program is to start small and cheap and slowly build as you test and learn what is successful for your market and product. There is no perfect acvertising solution that works wonders for everyone. Each marketer and each product has a different formula.

What Is The Benefit of Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing offers more benefits than many traditional marketing mediums. The very nature of web sites and blogs is that they continue working to promote and market your product long after your initial marketing effort is over. Similarly many advertising efforts, such as ezines, newsletters, banners, and text links also continue to increase in power over time.

Email marketing can be a tremendous surge in contacts and sales and offers the ability to personalize your message as well as reach a targeted audience so your chance for sales goes up exponentially.

The other tremendous benefit of internet marketing is that it offers convenience and immediate satisfaction. Your potential customer sees your marketing message when it is convenient for them -- and often when they are seeking information about your specific topic. Then you offer them the ability to act on that interest right then. They can locate your product and buy in the time it would take to watch a commercial on television or turn a page in the newspaper. That is the power of internet marketing.

Now that you have the answers to these three key questions, you are ready to begin your own internet marketing campaign -- and succeed with your internet venture.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Use Ezine Marketing To Boost Traffic Or Profits

You've probably seen them advertised or subscribed to a few. E-zines seem to be sweeping the Internet and filling mailboxes. Maybe you've thought about creating your own for your site, but decided against it for any number of reasons. Maybe you didn't see how e-zine marketing could help. Maybe you decided that maintaining an e-zine would be too much work. Maybe you didn't think anyone would pay to subscribe, and why go through all that work for free? Well, here are some responses to your excuses.

E-ZINE MARKETING WON'T BOOST SITE TRAFFIC.

You've probably got repeat users on your site; those dedicated few who check up on you everyday to read any new posts no matter what. Obviously an e-zine won't make them come back more frequently. They already visit every day! How much more do you want them to view your site?

Then you've probably got those people who check you out once in awhile when they think of it. Those people might only visit the site once a month. What if they had subscribed to your e-zine because they liked your site so much and received it in their mailbox once a week? Wouldn't that remind them to go visit the site more?

And what about that one time user who came to your site, loved it, and then suffered from a minor head injury and partial amnesia and forgot all about your site. No traffic from this person. But what if they had subscribed to your e-zine? The reminder would be sitting in their mailbox, which they had stored the username and password for in case they did succumb to partial amnesia, and they would once again be able to visit your site. And who knows? Maybe visiting your site could trigger all of their memories to return. You'd be seen as the hero you are, all thanks to an e-zine.

And if you simply mail out the password to subscribers and have the e-zine posted on your site, then every time a subscriber reads the e-zine, they add one more hit to the site.


E-zines are a regular reminder to Internet users that your site is still around and worth checking out.

AN E-ZINE WON'T MAKE ME ANY MONEY AND ISN'T WORTH MY TIME.

Oh contraire. E-zine marketing can and does produce revenue. Ignore the fact that in the last section I showed you how e-zines increase site traffic and thus revenue. Think for a moment about affiliate marketing. What if you place some of your affiliate marketing links within the e-zine? By doing that you are sending your revenue generators directly to mailboxes instead of being forced to wait for consumers to come to you!

Also, who said that the e-zine has to be free, or that you can't have an upgraded e-zine available for a small fee? The upgraded version could have extra articles, more frequency or other nifty features that people would be dying to pay for. If people like what you have to say, then they will be willing to pay for it.

AN E-ZINE WOULD BE TOO HARD TO PRODUCE

As with so many things on the Internet, you have to remember that you're not alone. There is an entire market out there of people whose job it is to help you market online, and e-zine marketing is no different. There are websites out there that you can buy articles from to post and sites devoted to writers trying to find freelance jobs just like writing for your e-zine. Programs can be downloaded to help you with your formatting, and contact lists in e-mail programs make mass mailing a cinch.

I am not saying that creating an e-zine will be as easy as eating a sandwich, but it can be done without an obscene amount of work. The benefits are absolutely worth the cost in time or money. In today's Internet, e-zine marketing is a tool that cannot be ignored.

Publishing A Newsletter

Today, many websites offer a free newsletter. Newsletters, from the receiving end, can be a great source for information that is delivered to your in-box. You can simply save the newsletter for future reference, something many people do. From the publisher's standpoint, though, a newsletter is a fantastic idea as it gives you a database of people who are interested in what you have to offer. Marketers know the value of this. But, aside from the potential financial benefit of such a mailing list, a newsletter is also a great way to keep in touch with users who may have only surfed across your website once. They may, on a whim, sign up for your newsletter and, thus, you have a way to keep in touch with them at a later date. You can also use your mailing list as a source for demographics information or opinions. Want to start a new feature on your site and want to know whether it will work or not? Survey the members of your mailing list.

So, let's take a look at what needs to be looked at to start your newsletter.

Length

It would be easy to send your users a long, winding email that requires them to scroll a long way to read the whole thing. However, in practice, this doesn't work very well. You want to keep your newsletter as brief as you can. If you include an article in your mailing, keep it brief and to the point. If the article is long, you could publish a portion of it and direct them to your website to read the rest of it.

Size

Newsletter size goes hand-in-hand with length, but with HTML newsletters being the norm today, it is possible to have very bloated HTML that does something that could be done otherwise with much less code. In short, then, keep your HTML efficient so that the size of the newsletter in kilobytes does not become too large. Remember, you're sending a lot of them (stress on the server) to people who may still have dial-up (slow download speeds).

Frequency

You need to decide how often you will publish your newsletter. Most are published weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. If anything is published more often than that, be sure to make that very clear to new subscribers because mailings that are sent too often will cause some to unsubscribe because they find it annoying. Also, once you commit to a frequency, stick to it. If a newsletter is sent irregularly, people will find it useless or will not respect it. However, if it comes at the same time with constant frequency, they will come to expect it and you will gain the respect of having done what you said you would do.

Format

Most newsletters are offered in both HTML and Text formats and this is your best bet. Most users prefer HTML and HTML provides you with more flexibility to get your message across. Text emails are very plain looking, however they are smaller in size and readable in any email client (some email clients still have a hard time with HTML). It is best to publish in both formats and give subscribers a choice.

Method of Sending

You need to research and find a way to send your newsletter. Sending mass email is fairly server intensive, depending on the size of your mailing list. For very large lists, it is usual to go to an outside newsletter hosting company to publish the newsletter. These companies have dedicated servers and powerful mass email software in order to send your newsletter without a burp. If you send the newsletter in-house and your list is large, you will want to pay attention to how the mail is sent. We use a PHP-based system designed in house which throttles out-going email depending on site traffic - our way of placing a governor on the rate of sending and not drag our sites to a crawl.


Promotion

When you start your newsletter, you will need to promote for subscribers. If your site is already pretty well trafficked, your job just got a lot easier. Put the subscription form up on your website and begin to collect addresses. You will find that the rate of sign-ups will be very dependent on yoursite traffic. This action will result in sign-ups, however you may find that the rate of new sign-ups is still rather slow. You need to get their attention. A popup window is a popular and very workable way to do this. While many users don't like pop ups, this is a use of the popup which makes a lot of sense because it is so workable. Your subscription rate can easily double with this alone. When setting up thepopup, use a cookie to ensure that a user does not see the ad more than once for a certain timeframe. You might even want to mention this in the popup itself so that people who are more easily annoyed by them may calm down a bit. Set the popup to appear on their first page view or some other interval. When your code opens the popup, set the cookie. In subsequent page views, your code will detect the cookie and not open the window again.

Aside from the popup, make your subscription form prominent on your website. If you have a forum, see about putting an option into the registration process which will add them to your mailing list when they sign up. Also, invite people to invite friends to your mailing list.

Opt in and Double Opt In

An opt-in mailing list means that a person can visit your site, enter an email address and that address is subscribed. Double opt-in means that when they enter the email address, the system sends them an email which contains a link which they need to click to confirm their subscription. This two-stage setup provides more security because you know the address is valid and that the person signing up is indeed subscribing their own email and not somebody else. The opt-in method willresult in much higher subscription rates because you do not need to get the user to do anything else once they enter their address. Double opt-in is more secure, however you will have people who simply do not confirm, therefore the subscription rate will be slower. IF you are after sheer numbers, opt-in is you best method of address collection. However, this method is more open to fraudulent emails. If you use double opt-in, you may want to have a system which will send them a few reminders over time if they do not confirm. In using opt-in, at least send them an email confirming their subscription, with an option to unsubscribe right then and there if they are not the ones who subscribed the address. You might even want to include the IP address of the person who signed them up.

A newsletter is an excellent marketing resource for your website and, if you have not begun one, you should strongly consider it.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Successful HTML email marketing campaigns and Lotus Notes issues

As the online world changed in the nineties from informational to commercial and highly competitive, marketers embraced the new technology and the need has arisen to send graphically appealing newsletters and marketing messages. You have only seconds to capture attention, and the right picture will grab quicker than the right copy, as they say, "a picture can be worth a thousand words". Just ask your clients if they would use plain white paper, rather than letterhead, to send an offline message to prospects and customers.

Today, the vast majority of all email clients can render (that is, display) HTML emails fairly well. Notable exceptions are older versions of Lotus Notes and pre AOL pre version 6.0. So whereas a few years ago the answer to the question was rather complex, today it really comes down to message purpose, subscriber preference and multipart messaging. Studies show that roughly 95 percent of commercial messages sent today are sent as Multi-Part MIME.

Multi-part MIME is an older protocol that allows you to send both text and HTML versions of an e-mail in a single package, kind of like a sandwich. The recipient's e-mail program then displays the HTML version, if it is capable of reading that, or the text version, if it is not.

MIME stands for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions and is an internet standard for the format of e-mail. Virtually all human written Internet e-mail and a fairly large proportion of automated e-mail is transmitted via SMTP MIME format. SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and if nothing else, you'll learn a few more acronyms if you stick around. Internet e-mail is so closely associated with the SMTP and MIME standards that it is sometimes called SMTP/MIME e-mail.

Folks, while nobody can really agree on numbers and stats, we all agree on this: HTML Email Doesn't Work Properly for Millions of Recipients.

HTML email breaks in a wide variety of email inboxes. This isn't due to your creative abilities or lack of HTML knowledge - it's due to the fact that the email client your recipient views your email in routinely breaks your message.

I feel like this is worth defining, as I know a lot of people get very scared when we talk about clients and servers, but will not admit it. An email client (some "big picture" folks also call it Mail User Agent) is nothing but a computer program that is used to read and send e-mail, such as Outlook, Lotus Notes, Thunderbird, etc. A mail server (also called a Mail Transfer Agent or MTA, or a mail exchange server) is a computer program that transfers electronic mail messages from one computer to another. Most of the time, since nobody has time to learn all the acronyms and terminology coined by those "big picture" people, we are used to know a mail server as the entire contraption (wires and all) that runs the program.

Depending on the email system, your HTML images may be blocked so recipients see a blank white box and/or your live hotlinks may not work properly. AOL 9.0, Outlook 2003, and Gmail are most infamous for blocking and/or breaking HTML, "for security reasons".

Another big offender for not letting HTML through is Mel, the guy that works in the corporate IT department. Many corporations have IT departments who can't wait for the day when all attachments and all HTML emails are eradicated. That is because in their world, anything that is not pure text is spam, virii, worms, trojans, spyware, adware, pure evil(ware) that makes mailboxes grow and users growl. As a consequence, most of those cubicle inhabitants - the end users - who have to sign a hundred page policy before they start getting busy on those corporate e-memos, are unable to view and/or send HTML messages, whether the feature is turned off at a server level, or on their computers.<


Everything else aside, there is no bigger offender here on Earth than Lotus Notes. Lotus Notes is notorious for its refusal to handle Multi-Part MIME the same way the rest of the civilized world does.

For your amusement, here is a definition of Lotus Notes that was created by one of those "big picture" executives: "Lotus Notes is a commercial workflow and groupware software package that also provides application developers an environment for quickly creating cross- platform client/server applications". Still with me? Don't be scared. For the purposes of this article, Lotus Notes is an email client. Ok?

If you work for a company that uses Lotus Notes as the email system, don't even think about sending newsletters other than in text form from it. Besides the fact that as a general rule, I always recommend to marketers the use of a professional permission based email marketing service, in the Lotus Notes case you just have to.

If you communicate to the B2B market, particularly large professional services firms, large lawfirms, many Global 2000 companies, HTML email compatibility will be a thorn in your side, as a lot of these companies use Lotus Notes.

The issues include:

- Older versions of Lotus Notes (under R5) convert HTML emails to a Lotus Notes Rich Text format. Lotus Notes versions under R5 also do not recognize Multi-Part MIME messages (HTML and text combined in a single email).

- Some companies may be deploying later versions of the Lotus Notes client, i.e., R6, but using an older version of Lotus Notes/Domino server such as 4.6. In this example, the recipient's email client would also render an HTML message incorrectly.

So for a recipient to view a properly rendered HTML email, a company must use both the Lotus Notes client and server of R5 and above.

Here are some quick tips you can take if you have a significant Lotus Notes subscriber base:

1. Include a link at the top of HTML emails named "View Web Version" or something similar. The link sends recipients to a web hosted HTML version of the email (either on the email technology provider's server or the sender's server).

2. Also include an "Update Preferences" link and provide a web site update form that then enables recipients to choose to receive Text rather than HTML.

3. Create complete Text versions for those who prefer not to receive HTML or cannot view HTML.

4. On opt-in forms, include an option to receive a Text version and potentially list tips (i.e., "If you are using Lotus Notes versions below R5, select Text").

In conclusion, I will say it again: Folks, don't try this at home. Instead, always outsource email marketing to one of the many professional services. Advantages are: No blacklists and established relations with the major ISPs, ensuring maximum deliverability (plus, you don't want to be called a spammer and banned from everywhere). They also make it easy to create, send, and track permission-based email, have advanced reporting, message scheduling, the ability to create unlimited lists, bounce back handling (extremely important), subscription management, newsletter templates and many other major industry-standard features. The service I use for my company can be tried free for 15 days, here: http://www.bsleek.com/emailmarketing/

Send Your Website An INSTANT 'Surge' Of FREE Targeted Traffic Using "T.O.D."

The problem is, are you getting enough of it to make your online business grow to your expectations within the time period you have set?

In my mind you can never have enough traffic But the fact remains, NO Traffic, NO Profits, NO Business.

Though there are many ways to generate traffic online, both FREE and Paid, the question remains, which method or methods are right for you and your business to get it moving and profitable in as little time as possible?

Now, with that being said, what I'm about to share with you IS a 'Proven' way to create an avalanche of FREE targeted traffic to your website, without having to pay a single penny.

This is ONE of many of the tactics the guru's online use to get the word out 'Quickly' about there NEW product and/or service.

But, before I move on any further, let me first explain what "T.O.D." stands for and what it is so there won't be any confusion through the rest of this article.

"T.O.D." stands for -- "Traffic On Demand".

What is "Traffic On Demand"?

It's simply an website and/or list owner with a large 'eMail List' of subscribers to which he/she can Blast an email out to at any time absolutely FREE about whatever they want as long as it's related to there target audience.

Now, your probably wondering, "Well, how's T.O.D. going to benefit me?

Simple.

You proposition the website and/or list owner with a JV(Joint Venture) proposal they simply can't refuse.

For those of you who don't know what a 'Joint Venture' is it's simply a business partnership between two or more parties that agree to share the $$Profits$$.

If you've been online for any length of time I'm sure you've heard of 'Joint Ventures' at least somewhere online and how people claim is how there Internet fortunes were made.


There's good reason for there claims simply because they already knew where to find an 'Hungry' targeted audience waiting for what they had to offer known as "T.O.D.".

All they had to do was take the time to contact and proposition the website and/or list owner with a JV proposition they counldn't refuse.

And belief me when I say this, there are literally MILLIONS of websites out there just waiting for you to hit them up with your Product or Service so they can send it to there lists of subscribers and collect there share of the $$Profits$$.

And, if you already have an 'Affiliate Program' set-up for your product or service, your half way there. All you need to do is write a compelling JV proposal(not to long, these people are very busy and are hit up everyday with JV offers) and tell them... "What's in it for them?"

And, here's another quick tip... make sure you 'Personalize' the JV proposal you send, otherwise, they won't give you the time of day and will discard your hard work as SPAM.

Now, how can you get started - Starting Today?

The 'Search Engines' are a great place to start under the keywords related to your product and/or service.

You can also go to 'Ezine/Newsletter Directories' and search through there database of list owners to find relevant JV partners.

Keep this in mind that not all the website and/or list owners you contact will jump on your JV offer.

Don't get discouraged.

If you don't here from them within a few days or a week, send out an follow-up email just in case your first JV proposal didn't get through to there Inbox, otherwise, keep on searching and keep on contacting.

You just never know what might happen.

Email Marketing: Affordable Internet Marketing Technique

Email marketing is labeled as a killer method when it comes to effective low-cost Internet marketing endeavors. This is because it is the most widely-used and has the best reputation in bringing targeted traffic to websites. It is used to stay in touch with your customers or prospective customers, send out invitations, or make special offers.

It's as easy as writing an e-mail that may be in a form of a newsletter or a plain announcement, and sending that to as many targeted recipients as possible. However, there's an ideal way of going about it.Email marketing is not just about writing any email that you will be sending to anybody. To clarify that, here are some simple tips in doing email marketing the best way possible.

1. Join the "Can Spam" campaign.

Email marketing is not at any rate tantamount to spamming. You are not supposed to send information that your email list will not have any valuable use for.

2. Make your email list open it.

Your email might get lost together with the hundreds of emails that inbox owners are confronted with everyday. Improve your subject line by using extra white space creatively, adding text symbols, starting each word with a capital letter, asking compelling questions, not making any unbelievable claims, and not using the word FREE.

3. Keep it real.

Not including any too good to be true statements is not only applicable to your subject line. Your email content must never embody any promise your business can't keep. Make your offer genuinely of value to your recipients.

4. Don't go too low.

If you inform your customers regarding discounts, minimal discounts are not that effective compared with substantial discounts. But never offer discounts that are lower than your profit. It will defeat the purpose of thisemail marketing effort.

5. Make it eventful.

It's not about contradicting the advice that you should keep an email short and sweet. This tip is on including seminars, conferences and other events in your email. Businesses that require training benefit much from this method. With these RSVP-requiring emails, repetition is important. Just make sure that an ample interval is considered before sending out a reminder email.

6. Post news.

Sending newsletters and postcards provides useful information for your subscribers. These are the best forms of reaching out to your customers or prospects. You should keep the information short, simple and direct to the point for this feat to be effective.

With these simple ways of going about your email marketing endeavor, your business will prosper in no time.

Email Marketing - The Lifeline Of Your Internet Business

It is not unusual to have high ranking at the Search engines yet see low
conversion rates. In fact, someone else whose ranking is lower than yours may be making a killing online with his products. How could that happen? With all other things being almost equal, good web design, good sales copy, quality products, it is highly probable the other person has an effective email marketing campaign set
in place.

It is a so-called 'known secret' of successful online marketers that the lifeline of any Internet business is email marketing. It brings longevity to your business. If you hope to make a long term living off your Internet business, you need to give serious thought to email marketing if you haven't done so.

I started off my Internet business without seeing the need for email marketing. I spent a lot of time on SEO. Then one day this question dawned upon me. What am I to do with the traffic that would show up at my door?

It is a known fact that not many people will buy your product or service on their first visit to your website. Yes, some may buy the products that you are promoting but the majority won't. The vast majority may never come this way again. You stand to lose substantial traffic in this way. Then what about those who bought something? How can they become your lifelong customers?

No wonder, successful online marketers have an effective follow-up system that allows them to touch base with their visitors. What better cost effective way to do so than through email.

4 Benefits of Email Marketing:

1.Gives visitors a personal touch to your online business. Email communication is the most cost effective way at present to touch base with your website visitors.

In a highly impersonalized world of Internet marketing, simple personalized email communiqués can do wonders for your Internet business.

2.Allows you to build credibility and trust with your visitors. You can achieve this by conducting short courses in the area of your expertise through email. The courses you conduct must be relevant to the products or services you are promoting on your website.

For example, if you are promoting weight loss products, you may conduct a short course like 30 days to lose weight. People are more disposed to buy your product or service if they gain confidence through the information you have provided.


3.Exposes visitors to your product or service. Sales statistics reveal that most people need to be exposed to an offer 7 times or more before they buy. You have no way of exposing your products or services before your website visitors except through Email marketing.

4.Turns first time buyers into lifelong customers. Email marketing is an effective way to update your customers of your latest products and services.

Follow-up with your customers immediately after they made a purchase with an offer of a free gift or special discounts on products that are related to what they have bought. This is good marketing practice. You will endear first time buyers to you, and turn them into lifelong customers.

After all been said, how to get visitors to leave behind their email address? Nobody will give something in exchange for nothing. Offer a free e-book, or software, or email course, or newsletter in exchange for your visitors' names and email addresses. This is by no means tricking people into giving their email address. In the first place, your visitors have some expressed interest when they came by your website. Your job is to continue to arouse their interest that they want to know more about what you have to offer them.

The names and email addresses you collect is called an opt-in email list. With it you can touch base with your visitors without being accused of spamming.

Follow-up with personalized email communiqué, offer relevant information and leads. Don't turn your email communiqué into one big sales letter. It puts people off. If they unsubscribe from your mailing list, it's your loss. Say goodbye to your potential customers.

You cannot maintain the number one spot at the Search engines all the time. Other webmasters will overtake you sooner or later. However, this does not diminish the importance of Search Engine Optimization. For long-term success, SEO and an effective email marketing campaign are needful.

Direct Email Marketing Keeps You Linked To Your Customers

Direct email marketing is the solution to a very big problem for online retailers. Ask anyone looking at the traffic reports for their online store and they will tell you that nothing drives them more crazy than getting someone to their site (either naturally or through an advertisement) and then seeing them leave. They're gone into the abyss that is the online market place, possibly never to return again. At this point they're pretty much gone. This represents another lost customer, lost revenue, and increased frustration. If only there was some way you could stay linked in with that customer. You know they had some interest in your offering (after all, they ended up at your site in the first place) and maybe their next trip is the one that converts. Introduce a direct email marketing solution as part of your marketing and strategic mix and you might be able to lure those lost patrons back.

It's a proven fact that it can take up to 6 touch points before a customer trusts you enough to make a purchase. Are you planning on achieving all 6 touch points on one visit? That is a very ambitious goal. Chances are you'll get some touch points in on the first visit, but those are only the first steps. You can easily add a signup box to your website from any major email marketing company and collect visitors' addresses. Once you have that, it's a path to getting the necessary touch points to seal the deal.

Once you have a person's permission to contact them (remember, do not spam as it will hurt your business in the long run!) you can easily create snazzy email marketing promotion to get them back to your site. Whether you're selling T-shirts, office furniture, or DVDs, you know that certain deals just can't be passed up. Why not put one of those deals in front of your customers and get their mouth a little wet. Even if it's been weeks since they visited your t-shirt site, for example, if you offer a "buy 1 shirt, get 1 free" deal, you'll see an instant spike in traffic and a boost in conversions. Reaching out to customer has always been the role of direct marketing, but now, with email marketing, it all happens electronically.


Direct email marketing is a powerful tool that can boost your sales, but don't expect that to happen without a little effort on your part. You need to take the time to understand your customers, know what interests them, figure out how to pique their curiosity and make an offer based on all that. The more you target your email marketing message effectively, the greater your response rates will be, and the faster people will come back to your online store.

The online retail marketing place is fiercely aggressive and there are tons of competitors just a click away from your site. You need to outperform the competition by making sure your store is in front of the customer a lot more. With direct email marketing campaigns you can get your store information and special offers right in their inbox. You will ingrain your online brand in their minds so that come purchase time, they've racked up enough touch points that their decision is easy.

Direct email marketing is a gateway to building the relationships with your customers that will make them want to buy from you. By staying linked with your customers, you will develop an edge, because your offers will extend beyond your website and into the inbox of potential buyers.

Are Autoresponders really that important to internet marketing

Essentially, there's no internet marketing without autoresponders, and vice versa. It's very simple: without the use of autoresponders, it's impossible to succeed at Internet Marketing nowadays. Autoresponders can take over many of those marketing tasks that make an online business successful.

As an Internet Marketer, you'll probably agree when I say Internet Marketing is pretty time consuming. A big part of your marketing arsenal are your autoresponders. They can be used to stay in touch with your existing customers, but they're even more important as a tool to develop a relationship with your potential customers.

With an autoresponder, you can deliver sales messages or email courses. You can send reminders and some autoresponders can help you to build your list. When you think about it for a minute, you can probably come up with plenty of ideas how to use yourautoresponder to generate more sales en to build relations with your customers. A bit of creativity on your side, creates endless possibilities.

When you want to become a successful internet Marketer, you need to know this: an opt-in list and an autoresponder are vital to any type of online marketing. In fact, if you would take away all of their marketing tools, most marketers would fight to the death to be able to keep their list andautoresponder!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Online Shopping Boom in Australia

As everyone knows, the Internet is a great place to find bargains and great deals on any product you can name. Want heated socks? You'll find them online. Discount books? No problem. Any and everything can now be purchased online, and most Internet shoppers know that buying online is usually much cheaper than visiting a physical store. Online shopping has become very secure, and there's no reason to be afraid to buy online. With many differed verified and secured systems, it's okay to use your credit card for your Internet purchases. Online shopping is quick, easy, and cheap, and everyone is getting involved. Even people who never buy anything online are realizing that sometimes there is no choice. Even event tickets to concert and sporting events can be found online – often after those venues have already sold completely out of tickets. If you can get tickets to the big game online and no where else, why not use the Internet to your best advantage?

A World Connected
The Internet has brought the entire world together. From the safety and relative comfort of your own home, you can browse online encyclopedias, libraries, visit museums and zoos around the world. You can shop in Paris, read about art in Egypt, and research anything that you desire – if you know how to use the Internet. A man living in Idaho can chat with a woman living in Beijing. People from all walks of life can get together in a virtual room and play games, have heated discussions or even date. The Internet has connected the entire world, and we are the ones who benefit. We can learn about anything, buy anything, talk to almost anyone, and all we need is Internet access.

How Are Things Down Under, Mate?
Australia has taken part in the online shopping boom in a big way. Australian-based and Australian-themed web sites filled with every product imaginable will pop up in any Internet search. Many of these sites, while easy to navigate and attractively laid out, have so much stuff on them that it can get confusing. Australian-based online shopping sites have become increasingly popular recently. Is it possible that Aussies like to shop online as much as the rest of us do?


It's true that most of the time; you don't know that you're visiting a site from another country unless there's another language (that you can't read) on the site. It's easy to tell "oh, this site is Japanese" or "this site much be German" because the language is strange and unfamiliar. But sites based in English-speaking countries, like Canada, England, and Australia are harder to discern from the pack. If everything's printed in English, how do you know if that site comes from California or the Australian Outback? Most Australian online shopping sites don't have helpful pictures of kangaroos and wallabes to tell you "hey, we're from Down Under!" So chances are that you've already been exposed to an Australian online shopping site and you didn't even know it! Australian online shopping sites are all over the place. They pop up in searches and they're being linked to all over the place. Unless something blatantly tells you "this is Australian," chances are that you won't even know the difference.

Shopping With the Aussies
A culture that has been immortalized in film, books, and restaurants, many countries are fascinated with Australia. A wild, rugged, and infinitely interesting land, Australia has a culture, a language, and a style all its own. The recent online shopping boom in Australia has brought more Aussie-made and Aussie-related products into America and other countries. But Australian online shopping isn't all kangaroo figurines and boomerangs. Australian products are great, and that's why they're becoming so popular. Online shopping in Australia is huge right now, and sites for shopping abound.

How To Choose A Shopping Cart Vendor For Your E-Commerce Site

E-commerce has exploded on the internet and many successful businesses exist solely on the web. And why not? With a virtual storefront, the overhead costs of running a business are greatly reduced. Therefore, with effective marketing, these businesses can hang on during the difficult early stages of a new business and are less dominated by cash flow while trying to stay afloat.

One of the major reasons for the surge in online purchasing has been the convenience and security of the shopping cart feature on e-commerce sites. The virtual interface of putting things into a 'cart' has, at once, a comfortable familiarity and whimsy. It really is an elegant system that has won the confidence of the online shopper through its proven security.

There are many different vendors of shopping cart services. So how does one go about choosing the right one for their e-commerce site?

The very first thing you have to do is to decide exactly what, and how much product you are going to be selling. Are you selling 1 item? A line of similar items? A catalog full of many different products, and if so, then how will your site present this catalog?

What will be your volume of sales this year? Next year? In five years? Some shopping cart services are great for lower volume sales with less product variety and no catalog. Other shopping cart services allow for complex, high volume sales and catalog features.

In terms of cost of the cart service, you need to find the shopping cart option that matches your selling volume.

PayPal offers a fantastic, free-to-set-up shopping cart that is great for lower volume sales. Your fees to them are a percentage of each of your sales. In addition, you can automatically take major credit card payments without setting up credit card merchant services. This saves you $300-$400 right off the bat


For high volume sales you may pay less going with a shopping cart vendor that charges you a monthly fee rather than a percentage of your sales.

You also need to look at the purchase process the shopping cart service offers. Potential customers abandoning the purchase because they weren't shown the shipping costs before they were required to give their credit card information, for example, can be devastating to sales. The simpler, clearer and shorter the process from cart to sale, the better. At no point should the potential ciustomer feel that there is a surprise ahead.

Finally, the look of the shopping cart needs to fit the visual theme of your site. Most shopping cart services have several variations on a basic look. Make sure one of those variations works.

Basic services will range anywhere from $10 to $30 per month. Remember to add in the cost of credit card merchant services if you want to accept credit card customers. And this is highly recommended. The downside of online purchases is that the customer must wait for the item to be shipped. Having to wait even longer for a money order to be received, or worse, a check to clear, on top of shipping time reduces the convenience of online shopping to the point where sales could be lost.

Computer Rental - Why It's the Right Way Forward

Computer rental is sometimes necessary for people with serious business or personal obligations. When you are on to an important project, responsible for speaking at a business meeting, or perhaps making a presentation, you may suddenly need computer equipment that you do not normally have.

There are many ways to obtain a computer if you need one, and one of the most common ways to do so without having to fork out cash in full is to try a computer rental. Acquiring a computer this way has a lot of benefits, that you might be unaware of, so check out why it is a good idea to use a computer rental, even if its not your first time owning one.

Many places online as well as stores in your local hometown area have the option for computer rental. In fact you can also rent other utilities for your house, apartment or dorm pretty much like furniture or even household appliances like a washing machine, dryer and dishwasher. The advantages for doing this are numerous, and most people are surprised to learn that computer rental is so commonly adopted by many. In fact, you should scout and shop around for the best deals each store has to offer, given the competitive market.

Almost all stores have incentives to use their electronics rental service. One of the best is that if youve got a few credit problems, or if youre trying to establish credit, then this is ideal. There are no credit checks, and you dont even have to put up collateral to obtain it. All you need is a couple of personal references, and you must be currently employed in order to qualify for a computer rental. 90 days same as cash is an option. Interest is not added because payments are not required; all youll be paying for is the tax on your purchase.


The payment period is usually pretty flexible. Stores will work out a set payment plan that is ideal for you. Monthly, weekly, or even every other week is a viable payback time period. Hidden fees are not included because theyre typically figured into the payment plan.

Another benefit is that you will get the computer the day you order it. Also, stores today dont carry off the wall brands that dont work half the time, if at all. All reputable stores offer a guaranteed satisfaction, or youll get your money back on the payments for the computer rental youve made. Make sure to look at how long the offer is for your particular purchase.

The key benefit of getting a home or office computer this manner is that you can always give a go at the policy of trying it before you decide to buy it. With a computer rental you can choose a particular model, try it out for a while, and if you think it's for you, you can always purchase it. It is definitely a better option compared to buying one outright, and then finding out that its not what you really need or want. A computer rental is a win-win option, whatever way you look at it.

Are You A Victim ?

Would you let someone walk into your home, take whatever they wanted and leave as if nothing had happened ? "

No ! Of course you wouldn't. So why are you letting them do it to your website ?

WARNING:

If you are using PayPal , Clickbank or a number of other payment processors for your digital downloads YOU ARE LOSING MONEY !!!

Using a simple two step operation those in the know can read your website, download your product for free (Steal it) and be gone without you even knowing a thing.

Depending on your traffic and product price, this could be costing you hundreds, even thousands of dollars a month.

" So Simple your average 12 year old can do it ! "

Almost as scary is the fact that any pictures, content, links in fact any thing on your website can be stolen with just two simple mouse clicks. This isn't only available to those in the know either. It is common knowledge and is so simple your average 12 year old could and does do it, EVERY DAY.

" Where do your Emails go first ? "

Did you know that your emails can go through more than four different severs before they arrive at the in box of the person you sent them to. Again with only a little know ledge it is possible to read your emails at any stage of their journey from your computer to the recipients in box.

" Would you allow these people into your home ? "

Ill ask you again "Would you let someone walk into your house and take your money ?"
NO ?

Then why are you letting them steal money from your website ?

"Would you let someone walk in to you home and walk out with the contents such as your TV set or stereo ?


NO ?

Then why do you let them steal whatever content they want from your website ?

"Would you let someone at the post office open your letters and read them before they were delivered to you ? "

NO ?

Then why do you let someone read your emails before you even receive them ?

Just being aware that these things go on every day puts you ahead of the majority, who are totally oblivious to this outright theft and invasion of their privacy.

" Don't allow them into your website ! "

Now you know, You could be losing money, you could be donating anything on your website to anyone who wants it and that your email could be read by many different people before you see them

What are you going to do about it.?

If you are going to broadcast that you have free products available and invite people to take whatever they want from your website. What do you expect ?

" Don't be a victim "

As with any crime, the perpetrator chooses his victim carefully. He searches for someone who looks like a victim.

It the same on the net. The criminals look for vulnerable websites ie Websites allowing digital downloads. They are looking for websites with nice graphics, good content and lots of keywords. Oh did I mention that, your competition can actually steal your Keywords in a bid to get a better search engine ranking.

" Conclusion"

Now you know what the criminals are looking for you can take the necessary measures to protect yourself.

Do you want to be a victim ?

It's up to you !

19 Free eBay Secrets to Success!

Gaining success through the eBay selling business may not be as complicated as you think. You only have to know where to find free eBay secrets that count. Once you get hold of free eBay secrets, start applying them in order for you to put up a successful eBay selling business.

No need to look high and low for free eBay secrets, we've got them compiled here for you. You can use these free eBay secrets to create a booming business on eBay.

Once you decide to become an eBay seller, choose the user ID you will have to use, carefully. Choose a User ID that represents your business or the items you sell. Your User ID automatically becomes your eBay identity to potential buyers.

Look up the "How to Sell" Tour and watch the eBay selling demonstration video. Then learn of free eBay secrets in starting up at the eBay Learning Center.

Get your ID verified by using the ID Verify option when setting up a Seller's Account. This gives you an ID Verify icon in your feedback profile thereby giving the eBay community more confidence to buy from you. Don't let this free eBay secret go unheeded.

Make sure to get computer backup disks in order for you to store up valuable data. A free eBay secret of using accounting software will help you know how your business is doing so you can make it more profitable.

Look for a good place where you can put your inventory and shipping materials. It's a free eBay secret that they need to be in a safe, dry place nearby. Writing a daily To-Do List will help you organize your schedule. It is also the free eBay secret for you to manage your time on normal tasks and follow up on opportunities that aren't part of them.

Taking eBay's fees into account may be the free eBay secret you need that'll guided the pricing of your items.

Find the best category where to list your products under. This free eBay secret is probably known by everyone. From eBay's home page, click the "Buy" button, and browse the categories to find categories that apply to your items. Another free eBay secret that's necessary for your products' success is checking where competing items have been placed. It's a good idea to choose two categories for your listings to reach more buyers.


Even if you have to pay additional fee, spotlighting your title is a practically free eBay secret that's guaranteed to grab buyers' attention when they search for listings.

Hiring a Trading Assistant can free up the time you need to let you focus on the more important aspects of your eBay business.
Constantly monitor My eBay for your listings performance and other activities on the site. Keep track of your eBay correspondence by using My Messages. Surely, this free eBay secret will be a great help.

Attending trade shows is not only a free eBay secret advice it is also a great opportunity where you can get product trends preview and connect with manufacturers and discuss the opportunity of selling their products on eBay. Make sure to bring your business cards and be ready for discussions/

Protect yourself from potential fraud. Be wary for unusual buyer requests and consider it as a fraudulent sign if such requests come to light.

eBay consultants are available for advice and even free eBay secret tip offs. Once you know how to sell on eBay and checked out the eBay Community, your head will be buzzing with new business ideas.

Subscribing Chatter may get you not only feature articles, tips, helpful links and member interviews but maybe also free eBay secrets to success. Signing up for the PowerUp Newsletter can get you advanced notice of upcoming events and promotions. You'll get to know free listing days, feature discounts, seller sweepstakes and more.

There's nothing wrong in promoting your eBay store. In fact it is another free eBay secret that you design marketing materials to promote your store.

Once you made a final sale price, donate part of it to a Nonprofit Organization of your choice. Remember that the ultimate free eBay secret to success is passing on the blessings and knowledge you acquire!

Get To Earn Through Earn Money Online Survey

With so many options to earn money, the earn money online survey would easily be the most effortless way of doing so. You do not have much to do, just collect data and get paid for it. Could not be simpler, could it?

Do not let chances pass you by, register today

Sometimes you see the opportunity staring you in the face but it does not strike you and you let it pass by and loose it completely. If you do see it and it registers in your mind and you do something about it, you will stand to gain much and will never be sorry that you registered with this option to earn money online survey.

What you could earn through this method of making money, that is earn money online survey will give you more benefits than you could have imagined.

Thank your lucky stars you do not have to do a 9 to 5 job

Being tied down to a full time job with no time for your self, your home or your family could very easily make you wish for a complete change in you work environment. Imagine being able to work whenever you wanted to, and if you had some other pressing commitment you could give it your attention too. This is the way your life would be if you joined the program to earn money online survey. Not only could you work according to your timings, you could also make those holiday trips and not neglect this earn money online survey. This survey can be carried out from any part of the world; all you would need to have is a computer with an internet connection. The survey data could be collected at any time of the day or night and you could pass it on to the companies you have registered with, with no break in the feed back to them.


All you have to do is to make up your mind and there is a wide horizon opened up to you to earn money online survey. You can determine the amount you want to earn and target yourself. The more you work, the more you earn. It is not like a job where you work long hours but the paycheck remains the same. All this, while you take care of your home and your family too.

There is no age restriction for this online survey work

The only criteria is that you are an adult above 18 years of age and then there are no further restrictions. You could work for many years, with no upper age limit to hinder you earnings. There need be no fear that you would suddenly have to stop working with earn money online survey. Life is so much better and fuller with so many more opportunities to enjoy when you keep getting ahead with earn money online survey. You can now let your dreams take over and be dreams no more, but reality.

Now with all the freedom you could ever hope to have you can learn to enjoy life and also be motivated to work harder as the payback is according to the effort that you put in. Plan your days; prioritize your schedule and all this is only your own wish, with no interference from a boss or any other source. The freedom to be happy and to choose your life to be the way you would want it to be.

Forex Trade: Main Drawbacks of a Forex Trader

Why is it that very few traders succeed in the Forex trading environment while the grand majority of traders fail to achieve success? Although there is no hard answer to this question, there are a few things that will put you one step ahead and will definitely put the odds in your favor.

The main purpose of this article is to guide you through some important aspects of Forex trading. But in a different way, instead of telling you what to do or the best way to do it, it will tell you what to avoid. Sometimes it is better to identify the main drawbacks on a discipline and then isolate them so we have the best results at a certain level of development.

The search for the Holy Grail
Many traders spend years and years trying to find the Holy Grail of trading. That magic indicator or set of indicators, only known by a few traders, that will make them rich in a short period of time.
Fact: Well, there is no magic indicator, nor a set of indicators that will make anyone rich in a short period of time. The main reason of this is because market changes, every single moment is unique. Every Forex trading system will fail from time to time. Our work here is to find a Forex trading system that fits our personality as traders, otherwise the trader will find it hard to follow it.

Looking for Easy Money
Unfortunately most traders are attracted to the Forex market for this reason. Mainly because of the publicity showing or rather trying to show how easy is to trade and make money in the Forex market.
Fact: Yes, it is very easy to trade, anyone can do it. It is as hard as one click. But the second part of it isn't that easy. Making money or achieving consistent profitable results is hard. It requires lots of education, patience, discipline, commitment, and this list could go to infinite. In a few words, it is possible to have consistent profitable results, but definitely it is not easy.

Looking for Excitement
Some other traders are attracted to the Forex market or any other financial market because they think it is exciting to be a trader.
Fact: Yes, it is very exciting to trade the Forex market. But if this is the main reason you are still trading the Forex market, sooner or later you will discover the most expensive adventure you have ever known. Do some thinking on it.<


Not Using Money Management.
Most traders forget about this important aspect of trading. They think they shouldn't be using money management until they achieve consistent profitable results. They totally forget about the risk side of trading.
Fact: Money management allows your profits to increase geometrically, but also limits your risk on every single trade. Money management tells you how much to risk on each trade. Using money management is a must if you want to achieve your trading goals. By using money management you make sure you are going to be able to trade tomorrow, the next week, month and the following years.

Not Being Psychology Tuned
This is one of the most underestimated subjects when it comes to trading. One of the main principles of financial markets is that the price of each instrument is based on the perception of each individual participant "the crowd." In other words the price of each instrument is determined by the fear, greed, ego and hope of all traders.
Fact: Being aware of all psychological issues that affect the decisions made by traders will definitely put the odds in your favor.

Lack of Education
Education is the base of knowledge on every discipline. As lawyers and doctors require several years of college until they get their degree, Forex traders also require long years of study. It is better to have someone experienced to guide you through your trading, since some information could take you in the wrong path.
Fact: The market teaches us invaluable lessons on every single trade made. The process of education for a Forex trader could take for ever. That's right, we never stop learning. We should be humble about the markets and our knowledge; otherwise the market will prove us wrong.

These are some of the most important barriers every trader faces when trying to trade successfully.

Trading successfully the Forex markets is no easy task, it requires a lot of hard work to do it right, but with the right education, you will put yourself closer to your trading goals.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

What the difference one article can make

Article and press releases are ones of the most important marketing tools. Publication of articles and press releases helps to increase traffic on your site, get high rankings for it, attract more visitors and consequently increase your levels of sales.
In spite of the fact that articles and press releases are two different types of marketing tools, nevertheless some people still confuse them. So, if you would like to start writing press release and articles you should understand several basic elements about them. Article is an informative text on some subject which is published in the magazine, newspaper or book. What are the main features of the article? First of al the article should have a topic (as one should take into account the length of the article the number of words rarely exceeds 2-3 thousands, it is advisable to stick to one topic only). The topic must be interesting for your reader and must inform him about some subject (usually you can publish articles under a definite topic, so it would be easier for the reader to choose the subject he is really interested in). After you have chosen the topic, you can start writing the article. The typical format of the article consists of the following: the headline of the article (must be intriguing, attracting and appealing and induce your reader to read your article further); the body of the article (actual text that should comprise both factual and analytical material-ideally you should not only provide some facts but analyze them as well); conclusion (in this part your point of view must be stated or some advice on the possibility to resolve the problem should offered).

How does the press release differ from the article? Whereas the main purpose of the article is to inform public about some general topic, the main purpose of thepress releases is to inform public about some events or developments in the company. As the press release differs in its format from the article so does the writing process. When one starts writing the article one should take into account several important points: thepress release should inform about some event or developments, in short it should provide your readers with some news, the text of the press release should provide some information in easy to-read and informative way. One must understand that the reader is looking for the information about your company, not some exaggerated statements or advertisement. Finally, it should be issued up to some event. These are several important differences between the writing of thepress release and the writing of the article. This article has highlighted most important of them.

Tracking Your Articles Properly

Writing articles related to your business is a great way to build your link popularity and also to provide more content for your site and other sites. Not too mention it's always nice when someone finds your site and uses it within their newsletter. The only problem is, what if people dont tell you that they were using your articles???
How would you know who to reward?
I say reward because of another article I wrote, "reward those who publish your articles". It briefly outlines how to boost your articles popularity by boosting the other sites it's listed on.
Let's say for now, you just want to track your articles properly.
#1 Creating appropriate folders within your "favorites".
Every browser allows you to create a folder in order to hold your favorite web sites. Organizing your favorites folder is key when you plan to market your business 24/7. In this case, we'll create a new folder called "Articles Listed".
Within that folder, you'll want to start creating other "sub" categories for EACH INDIVIDUAL ARTICLE that you market.
For instance, let's say you have about 10 articles that you always promote, you'll want to add 10 folders within your new "Articles Listed folder". Make sure to give them a short but recognizable name that you would be able to distinguish which article it is for.
Ex. (I will use 3 of my title's)
1 Tracking your articles properly (Folder: Tracking Articles)
2 Writing Articles To Boost Your Traffic (Folder: Writing Articles)
3 Reward Those Who Publish Your Articles (Folder: Reward Publishers)
#2 Always keep the same headline for your article:
I've visited many sites who consistently change the headline of the article simply to make it seem like a different article. Don't be shy, I'm sure we've all thought about it, in fact, I am also guilty

Starting now, let's all keep the same headline...
The reason for keeping the same headline is for 1 keeping a strong consistency with your marketing and 2 making it easier to find your articles online.
#3 - Finding All Of Your Articles:
Now let's find them for you... (Hoping that you already created your folders within your favorites menu?)
I prefer using Goggles Toolbar for this but it is not required. Let's all go to: http://www.google.com/ and start looking.
Why google? Simply the best...
Take your 1st article and cut and paste the EXACT title within the google search. Now add "" at the beginning and the end of your title
Adding "" at the beginning and the end will narrow your search to exactly what's in between.
For ex. "Tracking Your Articles Properly" would give me better results than if I were to search: tracking your articles properly. Actually I do recommend you try both methods just in case.
Now once you have found a site that has listed your article, add the exact page your article is listed within the proper folder you created within your "favorites menu".
Once you have completed this task for all of your articles, it will be very easy to keep up with your new articles. Another thing is, if you plan to reward those sites, you now have them all separated into proper categories.
I hope this helps you out even a little like it did for me...

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Top Seven Ways Writing Articles Can Explode Your Online Business

In today's highly competitive internet universe, the importance of attracting highly targeted traffic to your website cannot be overemphasized. Routing web traffic to your site can be your only means of survival, especially in the cutthroat world of ecommerce. Getting a high search engine ranking can be very difficult. Fortunately, there is plethora of website promotion strategies you can use to drive traffic to your website.
There is a wide variety of strategies you can adapt, from paid advertising to affiliate marketing. However, most of these techniques require payment. Nevertheless, there are ways to promote your website and increase your web traffic without spending anything. Writing articles is one of the best web site promotion strategies you can use, and they can be very effective. How, you may ask, can writing articles help improve your web traffic? Here are the top seven ways in which it can help explode your business.
1.Reach more people
When you write good articles, it would be a shame not to share them with other people. You can post your articles in your website or you can submit them to other sites such as e-zines and online publishers. By submitting your articles to these sites, you give exposure not only to your ideas but also to your website. Simply include a link back to your site or include your information in the resource box. With this, you get exposure and free advertising as well. Submit your articles to popular e-zines and take advantage of their popularity. Other sites who find your article relevant may also link back to you. Thus, you increase your link popularity, which is one of the most important strategies in the internet world. Remember that most people are looking for information online and by filling this need with your quality article; you may reap the benefit of more exposure and higher web traffic.
2.Free Advertising
Submitting your articles to other websites presents an opportunity to advertise your website without paying exorbitant fees. Although you should avoid marketing language in your articles and make it informative and useful to your readers, you can always include your site's link in the resource box. In addition, by making your article relevant and helpful to your readers, you are making a good impression for your website, which could ultimately lead to a visit and hopefully a purchase. Good quality content in an article is far better and more effective than a few lines of ad space. You have a very special opportunity to presell your product or service to your prospective customer.
3.Gain High Search Engine Ranking
Create a new web page for your article in your website. Optimize your article to make it search-engine friendly. Use top-ranked keywords and Meta tags that can give your website a high search engine ranking. As soon as you upload your new webpage to your server, search engines will spider through it and you can gain an increase in search engine ranking. Remember that search engine optimized content is a very effective strategy to gain a high ranking in search results

4.Increases Link Popularity
Instead of looking for other sites who would want to establish reciprocal links with your site, you can simply submit an article to other sites. Just do not forget to include a link to your site in your resource box. When these websites pick up and publishes your article, you automatically get a link partner. Try to get as many link partners as you can. Link popularity is one of the factors used by search engines in determining search engine rankings. Make your article especially useful and appealing, so that more websites will be encouraged to publish it.
5.Optimizes your site for improved search engine ranking
By making your site keyword rich, you can greatly improve the search engine ranking of your site. Remember that keyword density is one of the most important factors that search engines use when determining the search engine ranking of site. However, you should always provide relevant, useful and pertinent information. Avoid the temptation of overusing keywords just to gain a high ranking as this may turn off most web surfers. Relevance and quality is still the most important things to consider when writing articles and it will be doubly useful to your site if you make these articles search-engine optimized.
6.Establishes a Good Impression and Reputation
By writing excellent, original and relevant articles, you not only give your site exposure, you are also creating a good impression on your prospects. Encourage more people to visit your site and do business with you by establishing an impressive reputation through your articles. Be seen as an expert in the field and your will ultimately gain more customers eager to do business with you.
7.Enhances your credibility through references and testimonies
Certainly, your articles are going to receive feedbacks and testimonies when you publish them in e-zines and free article sites. Record these positive feedbacks and comments and use them as promotional material in your website or in any of your advertising efforts. Your credibility will be greatly enhanced by these feedbacks, as it will create a good impression on your prospects as well as your existing customers. In this highly competitive world, excellent credibility and trust may be the only things you need to attract new customers or make loyal patrons out of your existing customers. Original, relevant, useful and pertinent articles are important tools you should utilize to improve and explode your business