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Email Newsletters: Turning Words into Dollars

By Carol Solomon

If you want to market your business on the internet, building your business with email newsletters is an extremely important skill.

One reason that email newsletters are so effective is it keeps you, (and your service), in the minds of your potential clients. When your potential clients are ready, and they have a need for your service, they will contact you.

Connecting with people through email newsletters takes a special kind of skill. Email newsletters create familiarity and comfort with the readers. The main purpose of an email newsletter is to build a relationship with your subscribers.

REMEMBER: It is not your readers' job to remember you. It is YOUR job to make sure they do not forget you.

Since I like to respect your time (and follow my own advice), here are eight �quick tips� to increase your success and profit in writing for email newsletters:

1. Spell it out. People want "step by step" instructions � it makes any task seem easier and more manageable. If you can tell someone "how to" solve a problem or manage a difficult situation in steps, your newsletter WILL be read.

2. Send it out often. Many coaches think they do not have time, (or words), to write a newsletter more than once per month. However, anyone who has survived to adulthood has enough material to write for a lifetime :-). Keeping it short and sending it out more often gives people more opportunities to contact you.

3. Give your readers a consistent product with a consistent format. Consistency builds trust and confidence. The number one reason people buy something is trust and confidence in the person making the offer.

4. Make many offers. Put an offer for your services in every issue and encourage people to contact you. Offer different products and services � for example, some clients want individual coaching, others prefer a group. I offer both.

5. Some people will never hire you, but they will purchase an ebook or a teleclass. Find out what your readers want and create it for them.

6. Offer something free (and valuable) � a free consultation, teleclass, or a special report. Even if your readers do not take you up on it, it is beneficial to offer something � your readers will remember that you offered a gift.

7. Don't forget how valuable your information is to people who do not have it. Most professionals underestimate the VALUE of what we know. Personally, I think that the work we do is BEYOND the value of money � how can you put a value on helping someone build a business or be more effective in their life and work?

8. Be patient. You are building a relationship with your readers. It can take about 1000 subscribers before you start seeing income. Once you get that first client Health Fitness Articles, you will never look back.

To get free (and short!) Tech Tips delivered to your inbox - go to Tech Tips for Coaches (http://www.techtipsforcoaches.com/). A few short years ago, Carol Solomon, Ph.D. (http://www.easycoachingwebsites.com/), had ZERO technical knowledge - in fact, she could barely send an email. She adopted the mantra "if other people can do it, then I can do it too." She now trains others who are challenged in the world of technology, but want to use the internet to catapult their businesses.

A Priceless Resource for the Internet Marketer

By Brad Johnson

The hardest part nowadays is that someone who is in the field of Internet Marketing really struggles to devise 'the perfect website', to attract 'the perfect customers', and develop the 'perfect product'. You do this in order to construct 'the perfect amount of exposure', develop a list, put together 'the perfect email,; and hit the send button. Now watch the magic happen as your account populates with income. It is a wonderful dream, is it not? If only it were a possibility for every Internet Marketer, newbie, or veteran to get the attention needed...Well now you can.

PC-Tutorials.com is a new online resource website designed specifically for the Internet Marketer. Through the site, anyone can submit their promotional product, watch free video tutorials, and look at a collection of articles pertaining to the one thing they want to know more about: Internet Marketing.

Those who are just starting to cut their teeth into the business of Internet Marketing will be impressed to see the help this website generates for them: It gives them exposure to their own website, products, and articles for absolutely no cost.

Even the veterans who have been in the game a long time have a chance to increase their exposure even further as PC-Tutorials.com reaches out to a targeted audience that are visiting that very site to see their products, to view their articles, to interact with the pros. PC-Tutorials.com is literally a haven for the Internet Marketer.

At last, there is no more time wasted or money spent on anyone trying to get his or her site or product noticed. It can all be merged into a site solely created to helping others get the sales, get the leads, and get the results to the offer they want to share with the world.

It is not about membership, fees, or commitments. PC-Tutorials.com is a come as you go environment that welcomes you while your there and encourages you to explore. So if you're an Internet Marketer and want that extra kick to getting some income flowing in your bank account, or you just want to find an online resource to help get you noticed, look no further as PC-Tutorials.com is created solely for YOU.

Brad Johnson is the founder of PC-Tutorials.com and has over five years experience as an Internet Marketer and Information Technology specialist. See the unveiling of this new Internet Marketing Information Technology website at http://www.pc-tutorials.com.

Using Your Web Stats to Sell

By Aviva Brown

After you have a website, you start to learn a lot of tips and tricks for doing business on the web. One of the best marketing tools you have is on your server, and you would be amazed at how many people don't use it. That tool is your website statistics. If you have never examined your web stats before, you are missing a real gold mine of information. They are usually found in the control panel section of your web hosting company. Most web hosts will email them to you if you can't access them yourself.

Learn Important Pages Viewed Information

You are most likely familiar with your "hits" on your web stats for finding out how many people have visited your website. Most stats programs will not only tell you how many visitors you have had to your site, but what pages on your website they visited, how long they stayed on a particular page, and what page they last viewed on your website before they surfed on.

Valuable Keywords and SEO

If you're interested in search engine optimization for your website and you aren't sure what keywords to use for your site; there is usually a section in your web stats file that shows you what keywords a person entered to find your site and what search engine they used. You can put those keywords around your website on various relevant pages to increase the search engine optimization of your site. That will not catapult your website to the number one position on Google overnight, but it will increase your rankings if done correctly.

The Magic of Referrers

Another great feature is the referrer section. Know what sites or search engines are referring your website visitors. Referrals can come from other websites, news groups, clubs and forums, or even competitors - if people are being referred to your website, find out by whom. In many cases, someone who had a great experience with your firm will be referring your company to someone on a message board that is looking for a similar product or service.

Use Your Web Stats

If you notice people are leaving within a few seconds of hitting your index page. Look at it in a few different browsers because they are not all created equally. What loads like a champ in Internet Explorer may look like garbage in Firefox or Opera browsers; or it simply may take too long to load. If you notice people are leaving at a point in your shopping cart - either your shipping is too high or your program may be faulty. Find out what items are getting the most looks and promote those to bring in more visitors.

Now that you know how your web stats can work for you, jump-start your Internet business today.

Aviva Brown recommends that you promote your website by submitting it to http://www.avivadirectory.com/.

Who's Darlene Atkinson

Hi I'm, Darlene Atkinson

I believe I should introduce who I really am. Born in Sept 1957, on a farm
My parents had 12 children, I am the tenth child in the family.
Left school 3 months into 8th Grade, I move to Sacramento CA one month
after my 17th birthday.

Went to business night school where I was hired
at the age of 20 for the State of CA.
Left my first State job to transfer to a new state job with CALPERS!

I purchased my first home at the age of 28 and also at this time
I began exploring the Home Business Opportunities in August 1989,
there I found T.J. & Eileen Roheleder in 1990, M.O.R.E Inc is their company
out of Gossell Kansas and yes I still have my day job, fortunately though, today I'm out of debt
at 50 years of age.

Typing very quickly, parts of my life, I choose to stay single.
This should be short enough and hopefully not to dull.

Darlene Atkinson

5 Ways to Avoid the Biggest Bottleneck In Your Business

By Paul Speziale

What's the biggest bottleneck in any business? Besides sales, this often-overlooked feature of any business could be causing you lost sales and your long-term success. Use these tips to reduce the most costly (and annoying) bottleneck with businesses today.

Imagine for a moment that you have just spent a small fortune on marketing...you have a sale that you want to advertise and you have produced full page ads in the local newspaper setting you back $20,000 a day, sent out thousands of flyers, produced signs, sent out press releases and you even went on TV.

The big day arrives and floods of people enter your store. You look at the people clawing at each other to buy your goods, while you eagerly wait to count your profits.

Then something bad happens...

A cashier takes a break to talk to his girlfriend on his cell phone, and she breaks up with him. He returns 15 minutes later disgusted, not caring about anything, right into the heat of the crowded store. He starts being rude to the customers, taking his time and tells some of the customers off.

Appalled, your customers leave the store, and the profits you were counting in your head have vanished into the smoke they came from.

So what happened?

What happened is what many believe is one of the biggest problems of any business today...the people that interface with your customers.

Usually they are the most underpaid, under trained people in your business. They are relied upon to handle all customer inquiries, complaints, joys and questions and basically close the sales. It’s not just in retail either. Any business that has prospects phoning and asking questions or placing orders has this problem.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard a story from a disgruntled long-time customer of some business that was driven away because the customer service person couldn’t accommodate their request, I would have lots of nickels.

And you know, the people that represent your business, the ones that interface with the customer everyday ARE your business to the customer. If they are mad because of some “7 dollar an hour…can’t wait to get home to go drinking” customer service representative, they will lump you and your product right along into their mental state. If you receive a brick in the mail one day, you may be having this problem.

So how do you avoid this bottleneck?

First, isolate whomever is having any contact with your customers.

1. Who’s answering your phones?
2. Who is on the floor greeting your customers?
3. Who’s answering the emails?
4. Who is responding to your white mail?
5. Who is placing the order?
6. Who is making the sales?

Second, you need to be constantly educating them and training them as to your specials, new products, etc. Make sure you have a networked computer system to take notes for telephone operators. There is nothing more frustrating then phoning one-customer service person, only to have to retell your problem to another one 10 minutes later after they mistakenly hang up on you.

Third, educate them on how to deal with people. Once they know why certain customers behave the way they do, they might not be rude with them or they can adapt their behavior to build rapport and guarantee the sale.

Fourth, give them a little negotiating power. Some customers will try to negotiate. Give the person some room with that, just to appease the customer’s desire to “get a good deal”. Often people will warm up when there is some negotiating room.

Lastly, perhaps give the people that deal with customers a small reward for their excellent people handling skills (in other words, closing the sale). It doesn’t have to be money. In fact, chances are it will be material things, not money. Find out what your employees want the most. It can be an IPOD, or a trip, your own products, or something to encourage them. Use incentives so they make the special effort with your customers.

Paul Speziale is a direct marketing consultant / entrepreneur based out of Toronto, Ontario. He has served all industries from manufacturers to retailers, from entrepreneurs to professionals. Besides helping clients, he is working on his own projects. He also volunteers his time for several worthy causes both local and global. You can reach him at: http://www.AnelloSolutions.com: Growing Your Business Through Low-Risk, Optimized and Results Based Marketing

Success Is Simple When You Make Sense Of The Numbers

By Joseph Kennedy

The vast majority of people in business really do not like numbers. They remember Math as being one of the hardest subjects in school. They never got interested in accounting.

Most of us go into business, because we like the thrill of designing a new product, the joy of making a sale, or simply the freedom of being your own boss; not because we love to pour through financial sheets.

When you look at how many businesses fail, and WHY they fail, you have to step back and rethink things. A venture can have the most exciting products or services ever devised and plenty of customers and STILL not make a go of it.

Why? The answer is in the financial numbers.

Most businesses don't work out because their owners and managers don't fully understand the business' financial picture. When you have a complete and accurate view of your firm's finances, you know:

* How much money you are making
* How much money you're spending
* How much money you'll make or loose in the months ahead
* Know if your product is succeeding
* Know if your advertising is a waste of time
* Know if you need to order more product, or less, or even how to make money with your unused inventory

Your company's numbers quickly tell you all this and more. So how do you get access to these truths? Most small business experts will tell you to get a good accounting program like MS Money or QuickBooks. But that's not nearly enough.

Even though these programs are good, maybe even essential, you'll need to fully understand what is going on in your company. That's why a whole industry has sprung up to supply these much needed forms, databases, and software.

Big box stores and other large retail and service organizations have always had access to this kind of advanced accounting power. They either use their own teams of in-house MBAs or sign up for very expensive outsourced financial management services.

Today you can have that same kind of expert help simply by logging onto the Internet. Many of the forms you'll need are available free. And you can gain access to even more software and databases for a very small monthly fee.

Finally, BIG company financial power is readily in the hands of small and medium-sized businesses. Make sure you make full use of these resources. Your probability of success will be far higher and you may never have to worry about your company suffering serous setbacks.

Joseph Kennedy is a veteran of the banking industry and a former computer analyst. He is founder and CEO of http://www.businessbuilderonline.com, offering extensive financial, legal, and administrative forms you need to quickly succeed in business, plus much more. info@businessbuilderonline.com.

Five Ways to Make Money With Private Label Rights

By Tim Spencer

Private Label Right's articles, ebooks, and software are products that the original creator has decided to give up their copyright to and sell in such a way that the buyer can modify them in any way they like, and pretty much do what they want with them. This gives the buyer virtually endless ways to make money.

Private label rights products, also known as PLR, are also a great way for the novice marketer to make money on the Internet.

So what are some of the ways to make money with private label rights products?

Here are five to get you started.

1) Create an ebook from related articles. Paste them into a word processor, each article forming an individual chapter. Add some nice graphics and a table of contents and you have a saleable product. You can also monetize it by putting in links to affiliate products or your own website. You can sell your new ebook either from your own site or through auction sites like eBay.

2) Create individual web pages for a website. Search engines love relevant content on web sites and by modifying the articles slightly, your content will become unique to you and help with your rankings, drawing people to your website. If on your pages you have links to related products, the visitors will look and possibly buy.

3) If you bought a PLR ebook or two, you could take each chapter out and create an autoresponder ecourse with them. You can then use this to entice people onto your mailing list, and over the course of time build your own credibility with prospects, and building trust with them to the point where they will trust your recommendations on products to buy.

You could also strip out the content of PLR ebooks to create web pages for your own blog or website.

4) You could use PLR articles to create a short report that you give away, and allow others to give them away too, creating a viral marketing effect, increasing traffic to your blog, website or affiliate links. If you also made parts of your report rebrandable, you will increase people's willingness to pass your report on.

5) PLR software is a bit more difficult because if you do not have software experience you may have to hire a programmer to do the branding for you. Having said that though, if you branded the software correctly, you could easily use it to draw traffic to your own website by getting it listed in many of the download site that are available online.

These are just five ways to make money with private label products. You can profit from private label rights products in hundreds of ways. The only limitation is your own creativity!

Discover why many people do not find ways to make money with private label rights products. Free report shows you why and how you can http://www.create-an-income.com/info/plr

A Plan to Launch Your Product In 4 Simple Steps

By Melvin Perry

If you look at the online market today, you will be able to observe that there is major competition online. This major competition has motivated internet companies to continue coming out with new and innovative products in order to have an edge on the competition. This is the main reason of their sustained success amongst a competitive market. That is why having a product launch plan is very important for online success. Here are four easy ways to get started with a successful product launch plan.

When you create a product launch plan, it is very important that you have an understanding of your target market. If you release a product amongst an audience that has no interest in your product, then your product launch plan was a tragic failure. Therefore, you must really know your target audience before you come up with a product launch plan. Also, it is important that you launch your product during a time when there is maximum demand for your product in the market.

With a good product launch plan, it is necessary that you market and presell your product before the actual launch date. During this time, you must use as many methods of advertising as you can to get your message out. The internet has turned out to be the perfect medium for pre-launching successful product releases. Just put ads to your product on high-traffic websites that are closely related to your target market. Remember, a successful product launch plan always takes into account the target audience that it is marketing to.

You should always include attractive bonus offers with your product when you begin to come up with your product launch plan. Including bonuses and alluring offers with your product will improve the success and earnings gained from the launch. Another proven product launch plan is to keep the price low initially during the launch, then raise the price to normal after a few days.

Melvin Perry is an internet entrepreneur that specializes in building large email lists within a matter of weeks. He currently teaches marketers via free step by step videos how to earn thousands monthly through the list-building model via free step-by-step videos. You can snatch these videos at no cost by visiting http://www.list-building-videos.com FREE Internet Marketing Videos.

Guaranteed Ways to Build Up Your Ezine List

by Suzanne Falter-Barns
www.getknownnow.com

Learn tips on how one ezine owner built her list to more than 75,000 names in just a few years. (She bought only 4000 of them.) Guerilla tips from Suzanne Falter-Barns and Jenna Glatzer.

Want your E-zine list to catch fire and really start to fill up? Jenna Glatzer took her own list from the hundreds all the way to 75,000 in 7 years by simple, steady marketing, and using many of these techniques. (Jenna bought only 4000 0pt-in names along the way.) Here are some tips we provided, and some I've pulled from my own experience, building my list for The Joy Letter to 17,000 over five years.

1. Free Stuff.

Pick genuinely useful fr.ee stuff that you know your audience wants and needs. For instance, my brand new
E-zine, Expert Status, attracted 600 readers in just a few weeks by offering a report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents." The practical freebie works. Jenna Glatzer offers two free E-books/reports to subscribers on agents who are receptive to new writers, and on writer's markets. She notes: "Before I
did that, my subscriber numbers were in the hundreds, not thousands.

2. Put a subscribe box on every page of the site.

This has worked for both Jenna and me. Mine is parked in the left hand column of the site. Experts advise putting a simple sign up box (with freebie mentioned) in the top left hand corner, as that's where the eye naturally travels first. A simple sign up box that requests only E-mail address works best.

3. Ad swaps.

Exchange plugs for your E-zine with another Website, to run in each other's E-zines. Be sure to mention those freebies! Doing this on a regular basis with a rotating selection of Web partners will keep your subscription page busy.

4. Cross-registration.

I've found subscribers by having a plug for my E-zine on the thank you page of a comparable (but not directly competitive) Website. This offer is made to folks who just signed up for an E-zine, and are therefore deemed 'in the mood for more.' Offer a swap with your site, and try not to list more than about two other E-zines. Also, make a point of including only really good, reliable publications that reach your target market.

5. Give away a bonus for other sites to use, based on your E-zine.

A popular Web marketing technique is the special one- or two-day promo that offers big bonus lists when you buy a certain product on those particular days. (I cover this promo technique in more detail in my E-book/binder, "Get Known Now; How to Build Your Platform as a Self Help Expert.") So, collect some of your best E-zine essays, pack 'em up in a downloadable PDF-based E-book, and offer it as a bonus these sites can use in their special promos. Don't forget juicy descriptive copy about your E-zine, and a subscribe link at the end of your E-book. I've gotten hundreds of new readers this way, and much traffic to my site.

6. Announce E-zine 'events' on PRweb.com and other PR sites.

There's an entire world of web-based press release distribution services out there, some of which are low cost or even free. So, use them. But be sure to only plant press releases that are truly newsworthy, and thus likely to get press attention. Even if the media don't use your words this time, they'll hopefully
file you as an expert for future use.

7. Use discussion boards or groups.

These are sites frequented by gangs of people interested in the same thing. Avoid the unmoderated sites, because they're likely to be spam targets that generate little bonafide traffic. Boards found on member
sites are the best. Don't spam the board with your subscribe message. Instead, offer some genuinely helpful info. Then sign off with a signature line that includes E-zine and subscribe info. You can find some of these groups at groups.yahoo.com, topica.com, mail-list.com, and listfool.com, for starters.

8. Sponsor other people's contests.

Jenna Glatzer gives away products like her paid newsletter, "Absolute Markets Premium Newsletter," to writers' groups, contests, and conferences that request it, regardless of size. I've tried this too, to good effect. Simply run an announcement in your E-zine that you'd be happy to sponsor comparable events. Ask them to provide a URL for an event description, so you know it's legit. Then offer up your gifts, and ask for a plug for your E-zine and for them to talk up your dazzling freebie, as well. Jenna notes that
groups she sponsors "often send out ads for us to their lists � just as a thank you."

9. Run quality content.

There's no substitute for heartfelt writing plus solid information about a subject that matters.

Jenna writes: 'The main reason our list stays so big is our 'letter from the editor' � Each week, I chronicle my writing life and my triumphs and failures � when an article is killed, when I'm having trouble finishing a book � And I share personal things, too, like when my grandfather died�. People write: 'I feel like I know you so well.' And I think that's why they stay on the list, even when their mailbox fills up with dozens of other writer's newsletters.

10. Allow reprints.

Allow any newsletter that wants to reprint your articles to do so. I like to have an E-mail requesting permission, so I can enter their info into a big database I use to track where I can send more articles in the future. I end each article with the line: "You may reprint this article in your own E-zine or Website. Simply send an E-mail requesting permission to EMAIL ADDRESS. Please be sure to include our full
bio box at the end."

11. Create a survey or contest.

This would be one of those newsworthy 'E-zine events' I mentioned above in point # 6. Make it a fun, relevant question that you could really develop a good, newsy story from. I did a survey asking people what they fought with their spouse/partner/boy or girlfriend about. The results made for the kind of reading offline media enjoy running short, 100-word pieces about (fillers.) I made sure to attribute the survey to my E-zine, "The Joy Letter," with a mention of the site's basic URL. You can get the technology to run your own survey and collect responses at surveymonkey.com (for a fee) or bravenet.com (for free.)

I think I could actually go on and on here. The possibilities seem to be endless. If you try even half of these techniques on a regular basis, you'll find your subscriber rates double and even triple. Here's to building your list � the foundation that much of your traffic and success rely on.

Suzanne Falter-Barns' Website at getknownnow.com offers tips and tools that help you build your platform and get known as an expert in your field. Sign up for her free E-zine, "Expert Status," and receive her free report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents."

Is your Business a Hobby, a Necessity or a Challenge?

Is Your Business a Hobby, a Necessity or a Challenge?

How do you approach your online work from home business venture?

Is the making of money in this way (rather than working a 9-5 job) just a hobby? Maybe for you it’s become a necessity. Or perhaps you’ve set it up to be the greatest challenge of your life.

Let’s look at some possible answers.

Question: Should an entrepreneur run his online work from home business venture like a hobby?

Answer: Only in one respect and that has to do with his or her business being a pleasure. When we choose to work on a business venture that brings us great personal pleasure, we have an unbeatable combination.

Question: Should an entrepreneur run their online work from home business venture out of necessity?

Answer: Well, think about it. We’re pretty much in the throes of a global recession. The price of everything is going up sky high. Having an online work from home business can give you tremendous control over your personal finances when others are being fired or laid off. Because your business is operating as a financial necessity, you’ll structure it in such a way that the basics of food, clothing and shelter (as well as “life’s little extras”) are taken care of with relative ease.

Question: Should an entrepreneur run her online work from home business venture as a challenge?

Answer: Running your business as a challenge is a great way to keep yourself motivated. You can set up multiple challenges with short term goals that measure:

How much product is sold (front end)
How much product is sold (back end)
How much traffic is generated (daily/monthly)
How many opt-ins are generated by each campaign (growing your list)
How much profit is generated (monthly)
How much positive testimonial feedback you’re receiving

You can even challenge yourself to become a millionaire and chart your monthly progress along the way.

If you’re looking for the resources to run an online work from home business as “a pleasurable necessity filled with exciting online challenges”, then take a few minutes to check out tinyurl.com/44dc4b

Whatever you need to succeed – they’ve got it.

______________________________________________________________________________

Marsha Sneed reviews quality business opportunities and online resource tools that can be used effectively by newbies and experienced marketers alike to reach their marketing and financial goals. She can be reached at jcsneed@onebox.com.

AdSense Used As a Web Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Detection Tool

By James Yaqins

Abstract: In addition to Google AdSense, advertisements in the business environment have played a role. Sometimes, they can use their web search engine optimization conditions (SEO) detection tool! If your website of just doing a column optimization, but just joined the Google AdSense advertising code, AdSense refers to the content of the advertisements, and may be 'food for thought' from the information.

If your website joined the Google AdSense, look at the Google advertising on their website. There are some surprising discovery and enlightenment; for example, found a new competitor, or some of the new trends within counterparts. The Google AdSense advertising in the business environment has been playing the role of relevant articles. In addition, Google AdSense advertisements and sometimes even their own web search engine optimization used as a tool for measuring the conditions!

AdSense website used as a search engine optimization (SEO) tool. This is my columns on the front page of a web site observation and the analysis found. Google�s AdSense discovered in the course of the trial, the front-page columns online marketing a new observation. Although the text of a lot and seldom changes, it also believed that, the body had been included, and web pages related to the themes of the word. However, the website of AdSense advertisements are often not normal; the advertisement bore little relation to the core content pages. In addition, visit the website, by Alexa toolbar shows, and related sites, are not directly related to the web page (Alexa website statistics and information can be used as a reference tool). According to the information analysis, preliminary assessment is the theme of the website homepage. Meta labels or website content may exist some problems search engines cannot make an accurate judgment of the core content of the website.

According to this idea, words are related to the website, so many checks Meta found that the problem is the label "page description" content, to a certain extent. Since the adoption of a common template, the website of the "page description", and the theme of the website, website content is not much correlation. Simply modify this issue shortly after a big improvement on the aforementioned issues.

This is why I use AdSense advertising, search engine optimization tool, for measuring the website as an example. However, this "search engine optimization tool for measuring" has certain limitations, are not effective for all website, Moreover, a strong correlation between advertising pages there AdSense advertising or not. Another possible situation is that theme and content of the website pages contain keywords. Corresponding advertisers do not put in advertisements or it is not suitable for advertising in this area, of course, impossible for advertising, Google advertising alone cannot determine the site of the phenomenon to a simple search engine optimization, only as a reference to a certain extent.

If your website or the website of just doing a column optimization, but just joined the Google AdSense advertising code.

AdSense refer to the content of the advertisements may be some food for thought from the information.

James Yaqins own http://www.kersearch.com, this is a free articles search engine and directory for search engine marketing. See more articles on the search engine marketing, please click http://www.kersearch.com

Ecommerce: Have Cart - Will Shop

By Scott Lindsay

You will need a shopping cart application to facilitate ecommerce, in order to sell products or services online. While your customers simply want a way to make a purchase, if they are interested in your product, you will have already considered tough choices

For Instance...

If you want a full solution for invoicing, statements, receipts, and company financial history, there are solutions to cover all of this with an application for a shopping cart connected to company financial data. One such company is COREsense based in New York. This service requires less redundant work, because data entry on sales to a separate accounting software application is not required due to the full integration of financial data. For most companies, this solution will fall outside normal budget constraints.

If a shopping cart does not fit your budget, you have a couple of solutions that might work depending on your technical expertise. OSCommerce is available at no cost. This product is a fully customizable solution for a shopping cart, but it does require personal programming. In many cases netrepreneurs will hire a programmer to set this shopping cart up for them.

If you have no up-front budget for a shopping cart, PayPal makes one available at no cost. However, they do retain a fee, as well as, a small commission on each sale. The power of PayPal may make this a trusted source for online transactions for your customers.

Yahoo and eBay provide shopping cart services, at $30-40 per month, and offer a few features unavailable with the low-cost or no-cost checkout solutions.

There are other online solutions for cyber transactions with the tipping point based entirely on the size and needs of your online business. If you are a large company with thousands of online transactions, it may ultimately be less expensive to purchase a shopping cart system requiring a monthly fee. In the end, the fees and commissions associated with no-cost carts could outpace a standard monthly fee from other ecommerce transaction solutions.

Your customers have a choice in where they shop online and you have a choice in how you manage online transactions. Spend some time checking out the services offered and how the fees will affect your bottom line, both now, and as your company grows.

As with all ecommerce sites, your business will not do well if it is difficult to checkout. Make sure the transaction solution you choose allow your clients to make a purchase easily. If the process if too difficult, the prospect may bow out before the sale is complete.

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. HighPowerSites is the easiest do-it-yourself website builder on the web. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with http://HighPowerSites.com at: http://www.highpowersites.com

Ecommerce: Shopping For A Shopping Solution

by Scott Lindsay

The specifics of ecommerce can require a learning curve that many are reluctant to tackle. Perhaps that's why many brick and mortar stores have not entered the world of online marketing.

It is possible to look at ecommerce and consider the things you might need and lose heart. You take a look at some of the items you need such as site design, hosting, shopping cart, autoresponders, search engine registration and a laundry list of other services and you wonder how in the world you are going to come up with a way to make it work. This is especially true for those who are just happy if they can figure out how to open their email account.

Because not everyone is adept at the specifics of ecommerce, sites that customize a package for their customers are a boon to many entering the world of ecommerce.

Don Fortner, a Direct Marketer describes a one-stop ecommerce solution, "You can really have it all. I was quickly able to build a fully functional commercial web site using the easy-to-use templates with slide shows, image maps, fully functional search engine, Pay Pal shopping cart and more! Highly Recommended."

According to High Power Sites you can find a, "solution that affordably allows anyone with even the lowest level of Internet experience to make their own professional ecommerce website."

These solutions are feature-rich in design and function and manage the very specific needs you may have in a user-friendly interface. Those who use these one-stop ecommerce solutions find they are able to successfully launch their website in a very short period of time.

Many online marketers have found that the integration of multiple technologies in one package provides a choice that gives them time to learn the skills of optimization. For some netrepreneurs this option becomes a long-term solution.

Dale McIntosh from AMJ Funding Group who uses an integrated ecommerce solution said, "My website pages are as good or better than some of my friends who are in the same type of business."

When you follow the success stories of those who have added ecommerce to their brick and mortar store you will notice a growth pattern that is more than encouraging.

Perhaps the greatest advantage to an online store is it never closes. Automated function in a solid website design allows for transactions to occur at the discretion of your clients. The fulfillment of the orders can be taken care of when you or your staff is available. Those who utilize the web for purchases enjoy the control they have in making online purchases at times that are convenient to them. Ecommerce allows you to cater to that desire.

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. HighPowerSites is the easiest do-it-yourself website builder on the web. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with http://HighPowerSites.com at: http://www.highpowersites.com.

Autoresponder � A Major Consideration in Building a List

by John V. W. Howe

One of the first considerations in building a mailing list should be “how am I going to handle all those names that I will have in my list”. An autoresponder is the answer to this “nice to have” problem.

When you study successful Internet entrepreneurs, the most common theme that runs through the success of these individuals is building a list of customers who then become faithful repeat customers. You know from your off-line life that the businesses that you continually use are the ones that do a good job and treat you right. Once you gain confidence in them, you continue to go back to them. The same is true on the Internet.

An eBook called “The 30 Day Blueprint for Success” tells convincing stories of the importance of building a mailing list. The book is a compilation of articles from 15 highly respected Internet professionals from different arenas of the Net who were challenged with the following scenario:

“Dear Internet Marketing Expert,

You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left.

You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.

Plus, you have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, and an Internet connection for only one month.

You no longer have your big guru name or JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you’re an unknown newbie.

What would you do, from day 1 to day 30, to get yourself back on top?”

(The above quote was excerpted from Volume I of “The 30 Day Blueprint for Success”.)

The most common method that these individuals used was to rebuild a customer list as quickly as possible so they could be effective in rebuilding the business they once had. Just as an aside, the book was very revealing about the thought patterns of these experts during their 30 day quest to restore the income stream that they once enjoyed.

I was fortunate to be able to attend a class taught by my friend and mentor, Jim Cockrum (author of “The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay”). During the class, he said that if his office caught fire the first thing he would save was the backup of his mailing list.

How to Manage a List - Autoresponders

Some might consider this a little backwards, but let’s plan for how we are going to handle the list before we figure out how to build it. We need to be able to capture basic information like name and email address. We need to be able to automatically send a reply to the person joining the list and verify that they were indeed the person who sent the request to join. (This is called double opt-in and it is vitally important so you can prove that you are not sending SPAM to the members of your list). We will need to send out emails to all the people on the list in the future when we start communicating with the customers on the list.

To handle this in any volume on your own is an impossible task, but there are services called autoresponders on the Internet that will handle all of this for you.

There are free autoresponders such as FreeAutoBot.com and there are paid autoresponders such as Aweber.com and GetResponse.com. Free sounds good for a start up, but the downside is the fact that the autoresponder puts its link and sometimes places advertising in the emails that it sends for you. This does not look as professional as a message from a paid autoresponder.

If you use a free autoresponder and then want to switch over to a paid one later, you face the conversion problems of converting your mailing list. This can be done with import features in autoresponders that allow for mass input of lists. However, this is additional work and the autoresponder will take a close look at the list since this is how large SPAM mailing lists are loaded into an autoresponder. This is your choice and should be carefully researched before you make your decision.

Let’s discuss the autoresponder, Aweber.com. The site has a 30 day free test drive that will allow you to experiment with it and decide if it is for you. Go to http://www.aweber.com look around.

If you decide to use it (and you will have to use an autoresponder to build a list of any size), one month of service from Aweber.com is $19.95 as of this writing if you start off with a monthly plan. Once you are satisfied that this is for you, you can save $60.00 per year with an annual plan.

After you have registered, log into Aweber.com and go to the “How to Get Started” page. This is very complete and has great instructions and tutorial videos to help you set up your first autoresponder.

Compose your email to send in MS Word or similar word processor. This will help you with spelling and grammar. Then open MS Notepad or a similar text editor. Notepad strips off the word processor formatting in preparation for copying and pasting your message into the Aweber input screen.

If you use MS Notepad , it is found under Accessories in Programs on your MS Windows. If you have not already done so, set up a shortcut icon on your desktop or on your systems tray for Notepad. It is very handy to be able to open this quickly. It can be used as a scratch pad for copying and pasting information from web pages to print or save for later use.

Each week when the weekly issue of Boomer eZine is being prepared for publication these are the steps that are followed:

1. Log onto Aweber and set up what is called a “Broadcast Message”.

2. Copy the newsletter from MS Word and paste it into Notepad.

3. Copy the text from Notepad and paste it into the input area on Aweber.

4. Check the formatting in Aweber.

5. Send a test email to myself to see how the email looks. This is a tool on Aweber.

6. If the email is acceptable, queue the broadcast message to send the Boomer eZine to all the names on the list.

The Aweber autoresponder automatically sends follow up emails. It is set up to send a follow up email 14 days after the initial sign up to thank a new subscriber to Boomer eZine for being a reader.

Now that we know there is a simple way to handle all those names that you will add to your list, go out and get started building your money making mailing list.

Good luck.

Copyright 2006 John Howe, Inc.

John V. W. Howe is an entrepreneur, author, inventor, patent holder, husband, father, and grandfather. He has been involved in entrepreneurial activities for over 40 years. He founded http://www.boomer-ezine.com and http://www.retirement-jobs-online.com to help Boomers (baby boomers) become entrepreneurs when they retire.

RSS Feed Tools

By Jack Doren

Difference between RSS Submit and RSS Feed Submit.

Let's compare the two solutions...

a] Both tools are desktop software, which essentially submits your feeds to the appropriate places online. As such, both tools provide the same functionality.

b] RSS Submit will submit your feeds to 78 engines and directories, while RSS Feed Submit covers 75. Not much difference here, although it seems that RSS Submit might be doing a better job at keeping their tool updated (I've been using them since April and already have received many updates that made the software easier to use and added new engines and directories).

c] Certain search engines and directories require more information than can be provided through a fully automated submission process. RSS Submit tackles this problem by first asking you to fill-in a longer form. It will automatically take you to each of the manual submission sites, where it already pre-fills the forms and only asks you to confirm manually. RSS Feed Submit makes this even easier, first requesting that same information, but then doing all the work automatically. The only question in my mind is the quality of submissions. How do they compare to each other?

d] Ease of use is a strong factor. RSS Submit takes the game here. It allows you to submit multiple feeds at the same time, save them in the management interface, and track how many times you submitted each of them. RSS Feed Submit allows you to do one at a time.

e] As far as expanding the basic functionality of the tool, RSS Feed Submit is the clear winner. It allows you to add new search engines and directories by yourself, even tackling those that would otherwise require a manual submission. This is a great user-interface for adding new sites.

f] The final differentiating factor is the price, with RSS Submit starting at $44.95 for the Personal Edition, and RSS Feed Submit selling for $29.95.

Source:

http://www.rssdiary.marketingstudies.net

Jack Doren

I am working on http://www.softwareriviewblog.com. I usually publish articles regarding latest software tools of different categories which are mentioned in my weblog. I am also handling article marketing of this Blog.

The Incredible Power of Free In Internet and Affiliate Marketing!

By Kanaga Siva

Free Membership, Free Submission, Free eBooks, Free Websites, Free Downloads, Free Classifieds, Free to Join; yes, anything Free has an incredible pulling power in both Internet and Affiliate Marketing.

It is simply amazing how this four letter word, ‘FREE’, can capture the imagination of the newbies, and also the most seasoned and experienced Internet Marketers, and Affiliate Marketers.

The Success of your Internet Marketing or Affiliate Marketing Business depends on several inputs such as Determination, Dedication and Motivation, among others. In spite of possessing these qualities, financial limitations can be a dampening factor in your endeavor to succeed. Therefore, an offer of free tools, free eBooks, free classifieds, etc. can be just the thing you have been longing for to boost your confidence and help you succeed in your business.

Even if you are not short of funds to operate your Internet or Affiliate Marketing businesses, the offer of free items that could be helpful to develop your Internet business is something no sensible entrepreneur wants to ignore. Why pay for something when you can get it for free?

It is important to note that in spite of the prominent display of the word Free, some items are not always Free, and some are useless; nevertheless, the urge and desire to try them out persists.

There are many scammers who capitalize on this, to make a quick buck. This is where the newbie has to be watchful and not fall prey to scammers.

Many genuine smart Marketers do take advantage of this inherent weakness of both man and woman and offer free items to promote their businesses.

There are several great free webmaster tools that are extremely popular with Internet marketers, Affiliate marketers, Internet home based business entrepreneurs, and other online entrepreneurs.

Similarly Free eBooks and Articles written sincerely with the sole purpose of educating the audience are also very popular and sought after by webmasters.

There are websites dealing exclusively with Free items that are very popular in the Internet.

Another Free item extremely popular with low budget business entrepreneurs are Free classifieds.

There are also several very much sought after Free to join affiliate programs that are long standing, safe and secure, and global in nature, who provide you with free tools, free web sites, and great support systems.

Thus the Internet abounds with all kinds of free items. Some have hidden charges. Some lead to scams. Some have both free and paid versions. Some are totally free with no strings attached.

Regular visits to the Search Engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Altavista and studying these various free items will help you to weed out the Good from the Bad and the Ugly.

Great people do exist out there in the Internet World. They are prepared to share their knowledge and expertise with the rest of the Internet fraternity for Free. Webmasters and Online Entrepreneurs should indeed be grateful to these Individuals and Organizations who are constantly making the Internet experience much easier, cheaper, pleasant, and enjoyable for millions of Internet users.

The Incredible Power of the word FREE without doubt continues to captivate the hearts and minds of the Internet Marketing and Affiliate Marketing world, until a more powerful substitute is discovered.

Copyright © 2006 Kanaga Siva Kanaga Siva has a wealth of experience in Marketing and operating a successful Home Based Business. Visit his http://www.business-fromhome.com Website for Tips, Ideas and Advise to start and operate a Home Based Business.

Target Marketing Your Internet E-Commerce

by William Z. Piker

It is one of the supreme ironies of the Internet that the computer, so long derided as impersonal, is now being used to create highly personal experiences for Web site visitors. Because a computer can sift through vast amounts of existing information according to preprogrammed rules, computers can now take company information (or special interest information) and combine it with information supplied by prospective customers and digest it in a way that is meaningful to each individual.

What are the best ways for businesses to personalize selling and customize products in order to build business. Although many of these methods are still in their infancy, a great deal can be gleaned as to current strategies and technologies and techniques and strategies can be implemented.

To attract new customers, companies can now establish Web sites that provide highly individualized recommendations based on information provided by the customer. In this way, it's possible to tell a prospective customer exactly which product, among a plethora of possibilities, is just right for that individual or that business. The strategic idea behind these efforts is clear: By empowering the customer with information about how a specific offering meets his or her needs, the company positions itself as a knowledgeable place to buy and also demonstrates how its products are just right for that individual customer.

This information, properly used, gives an existing supplier or retailer a clear leg up on the competition: The Company is able to use its information to establish itself as the supplier of choice and to suggest services to existing customers before they request them. Companies can maintain effectively private Web sites for individual clients so that they can both provide extraordinary service and recommend new products that will be of value to these customers.

In the past, this type of personalized communication was virtually impossible: Retailers and suppliers lacked the detailed information necessary to provide these recommendations and the ability to cost-effectively communicate it to individual customers.

However, today we have moved into an era where technology allows firms to cater to the individual needs of customers in a way that have not been possible before. The value of these initiatives, both in tightening the bonds with existing customers and in attracting new customers, is high. Another business tool made possible by the Internet is something that previously was available only to the wealthy: product customization, done quickly and inexpensively.

How are companies making use of several levels of "personal" recommendations ?

In adopting any strategy based on personalization, privacy is a central issue. The ability to make the customer feel comfortable enough to give you the information you need to create a tailored product or solution is among the primary challenges companies must overcome.

1) The Web's ability to help companies establish marketing intimacy is possible because a Web site combines five elements:

2) An opportunity to present information in an interactive format, permitting customers to express their preferences to the owner of the Web site

3) Virtually costless online communications between the potential buyer and seller

4) A visual component that lets potential buyers see prospective purchases and how they would appear if personalized The ability to store tremendous amounts of personal information about their customers

5) An unprecedented ability to create systems that configure products so that costly errors are eliminated, thus reducing the expense of creating custom products

Presently, one-to-one selling can be viewed in two general categories, recommending and customization.

Brick-and-mortar companies have long known that for the most part, either a motivated buyer has done a great deal of research on a particular product, or a product has been enthusiastically recommended by a friend or business associate. This knowledge leads to two keys to establishing a Web site that motivates buying:

Ample information (so that the buyer needn't do any more research—and, in the process, possibly depart your Web site for another)

A positive recommendation.In the past effective recommendations were generally person to person, there are several reasons why these technology-based recommendations are valued now. One has to do with the dizzying array of choices that now faces consumers. A cosmetics firm may offer hundreds of shades of lipstick or eye shadow; financial services companies have become true supermarkets filled with choices; well-known cold remedies now have multiple versions that end with words such as "plus" and "sinus" and "cough."

A generation ago, the dilemma posed by the array of choices was generally solved through one-on-one interaction (selling, if you will). Someone with a cold would have stopped by his or her local pharmacy and chatted with the pharmacist about which of the three or four cold remedies carried by the pharmacy would be best.

Depending on your product and customer, several types of recommending functions may work best. But first, let's take a moment to consider how to judge effectiveness..

Personalization, like any business initiative, should be used judiciously. There are real costs that accompany developing personalized applications: They range from the hard cost of development dollars to the cost of disappointing customers or prospects who expected a better experience. It's important to assess whether a personalization effort will be effective and contribute meaningfully to new sales or customer retention before investing the time and money in bringing it to market.

The criteria for establishing an effective recommendation system are different for every product. The system chosen is dependent upon a balance of the following: (1) the nature of the product, (2) the amount of information needed from the potential buyer to make an effective recommendation, and (3) the likely willingness of the prospective buyer to share this needed information with you.

Will consumers will trust the information they receive from companies on the Web as much as (or more than) they trust sales representatives? All evidence to date suggests the answer is yes. People believe that no trusted brand will risk its good name by posting misleading information on the Web.

As you go about creating an online recommendation system, your overriding goal should be to make the online shopping experience better than what a customer might encounter in the physical world. Therefore, you need to ask yourself: "What can my company accomplish using this medium that can't be accomplished in the physical world?"

Payment issues online seemed to have been taken care of by the credit card companies as a matter of routine.

What about issues of privacy? Consider gathering data anonymously. Recommendation systems that provide advice to consumers anonymously are likely to be far more popular and, therefore, more effective. In these cases, you are able to provide the prospective buyer with value without needing to jump the hurdle of "you can trust me with this information."

If you'd prefer to record the identities of site visitors, you are one step ahead if you are a recognized brand. Consumers are already predisposed to believe in your company name. In this case, address the privacy issue head-on with a statement that precedes your online registration form: "The information gathered here is to help us better serve you; we will not share or sell this information to anyone."

Finally, if you plan to share customer data with others, then you need to be explicit about it and receive the customer's permission. The worst thing you can do is fail to inform the customer that some piece of information you determine about him or her may be used in some way the customer does not expect.

Product customization is possible because of a convergence of two elements: the Web as a one-to-one communications technology and manufacturing processes that allow for the development and delivery of custom products.

Designing your own custom desktop computer at Web sites such as Dell has become "commonplace," but what about designing your own swimsuit or, perhaps, golf clubs? These customized services provide several valuable benefits for companies: (1) They help to drive new business, and (2) customers are willing to pay a premium price for an individually designed product, which means these products and services sometimes have higher profit margins than standard offerings.

The ability to interact with customers and say, "I can create the product that is just right for you," is one of the most powerful features of the Web. Expansion of this Internet capability will be the inevitable result of the combination of (1) manufacturers creating products that permit increasing customization, (2) further advances in computing power at ever decreasing costs, and (3) new software that is continuously enhancing the options available to businesses to personalize.

Smart companies realize that the more involved the relationship becomes with the customer, the better their rate of retention. They are implementing this strategy in a wide variety of creative ways, involving both personalization and customization, and will certainly enhance their applications significantly over time:

1). Companies are creating extraordinary convenience for customers and establishing systems to speed the fulfillment of custom orders.

2). E-mail communications and reminder systems are going to be used increasingly.

The ultimate goal of every business is to have a customer who wants to hear from the business about new products that he or she might want to buy. E-mail, for the first time, provides this type of powerful tool, since it's an almost costless communications vehicle.

3). In business-to-business selling, smart companies are also linking tightly to their customers.

Leading-edge technology companies are offering custom password-protected Web sites for their corporate accounts and high-volume small business accounts. These sites are typically designed to simplify the buying process, and they offer

(1) customer online malls offering products preselected by the company to be bought by employees at volume discount prices,

(2) electronic mail links to account managers responsible for serving that customer,

(3) the ability to track the status of orders, and

(4) dramatic increases in the speed of order fulfillment through the elimination of paper forms and a reduction in errors.

This is a clear way of providing customers with additional value and of tying the customer more closely to your company. Most companies will also see an increase in revenues from these accounts.

What was called for, of course, was a new category of employee: "e-mail respondents"; yet no one wanted to add staff at an additional expense to a project that was in its infancy.

Enter "response software."

Several intelligent software systems, are able to routinely handle and route questions, so there is no excuse for underserving your customers with the first and most basic customer service—answering their questions.

Companies who are successfully managing their e-mail via electronic means are also taking the opportunity to benefit from the Knowledge they glean.Companies are finally transforming their Web sites from marketing brochures to vehicles that turn visits into sales leads. Those who develop a Web presence and fail to respond to electronic inquiries in a timely manner run the risk of losing existing and new customers.

Industry research also shows that only 30 percent of Fortune 500 companies respond to questions directed to these companies through their Web sites, which means a large number of customers aren't getting the personal attention winning companies need to provide.

As you consider the possibilities offered by personalization and customization, I suggest that these initiatives be weighed against these criteria: Will the initiative enhance relationships with my customers by adding convenience or a better ability to meet their needs?Will the initiative result in potentially high cost-savings for my organization Will intelligent product configuration eliminate and reduce costly order errors and help to target vital marketing efforts directed at the customer base entity?

Mr. William Z. Piker
IT Department Head Ace Employment Services
billys_office@yahoo.com
Interest in e-Commerce Systems as well as Vintage Computing
http://www.vintagecomputermanuals.com
http://www.badgerlinux.net

7 Steps to Creating Your Own Podcast

By Donna Gunter

Listening to podcasts is not something I enjoy or take time for, frankly. I am a visual learner and prefer to read something rather than listen to it, as I find reading a much quicker way to gather the info that I need. However, with the proliferation of audio listening devices, like the whole iPod family and other mp3 players, I have to acknowledge that I am in the minority, I believe. The world is listening to a wide variety of audio files, much more so than ever before in history, and I need to get on the bandwagon or be lost in the dust.

What is a podcast, anyway? A podcast is an audio file that you create in .mp3 format. You can upload it with an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) file to your server for your target market to download any number of programs created to receive or subscribe to your audio file. You can listen to it at your leisure on the computer or a personal mp3 device.

Why should you create a podcast? I think it serves as a marketing tool for the solo service professional, who might want to do one of the following:

--create an Internet radio show, or talk show, in which you create content-rich broadcasts for your target market

--conduct a teleclass series in which you interview experts who have solutions to problems faced by your target market

--promote a printed book, ebook, or CD/DVD series by releasing promotional snippets to a wider audience

--provide short and valuable expert tips to your target market (my Get More Clients Online, podcast consists of the weekly article I write for my newsletter)

Many podcasts are about an hour in length, especially when they consist of recordings of radio shows or teleclasses. However, I think the listening threshold for most people is about 10 minutes. This means your podcast needs to be 10 minutes or less in length. If it is longer, you really have to grab their attention in the first 10 minutes to keep them listening for the full amount of time.

Good content and a good speaking voice are essential to maintaining interest. Do not make your podcast one long advertisement for your services or products -- share some useful information with your target market to help them solve their problems. You need to have a good speaking voice. Nothing is worse than listening to someone read a speech with a monotone delivery. So, for maximum impact when you record your podcast (especially if you're just recording yourself), get up and walk around, smile, gesture, or do whatever you normally do when you deliver a speech. Modulate your voice, much in the same way you would when you have a 1 on 1 conversation with someone -- put feeling and emotion into your words. I pretend like I am talking to my best friend, and that helps me with a livelier delivery.

What are the steps to creating a podcast?

1. Listen to a few podcasts to get a feel for what others are doing. To listen, you will need a podcatcher (podcast reader), which permits you to subscribe to podcasts in the same way you subscribe to blogs. I favor iTunes as my podcatcher of choice, which is a free online download. You will also need to find podcasts. The quickest way to do that is via podcast directories, which include the iTunes store. Podcast Alley, one of the most popular podcasting sites, has a large podcast directory, and Yahoo Podcasts has a podcast search. To find others, simply search online for "podcast directory."

2. Plan your podcast. Who is your target market? What do they want to listen to? How will your podcast be unique from others in your industry? What is your format (interview others, host a teleclass, or record yourself)? How long will your podcast be? How frequently will you deliver your podcasts?

3. Record your podcast. Many people choose to record their podcast with a free piece of software called Audacity. It has an easy learning curve and advanced features for more experienced podcasters. Mac users might want to check out Garage Band. For best recording sound, do not use the microphone that came with your computer or the one built into your laptop. You will want to get a more professional one, such as the ones offered at Plantronics or Radio Shack.

4. Save and upload your podcast to your server. Once you have created your podcast in an mp3 file, now you have to save it, and upload it to a server, via an FTP program (like CuteFTP) so that it is readily available. You can upload it to your website, or use one of the many podcasting hosting services available. The problem with uploading it to your website is that audio files are space hogs, and you can quickly exhaust all the storage capacity of your hosting account, not to mention your monthly bandwidth capacity if your podcast is popular and is downloaded frequently. That is why I use a fee-based audio service hosting company, Audio Acrobat, which offers me generous storage and bandwidth capacity for a semi-annual fee. Another popular podcast hosting company is Hipcast.com.

5. Create your podcast feed. You can create your podcast feed from scratch. However, I recommend you use a feed service to do so. If you use a podcasting hosting service, this feature is included in your service package. For everyone else, the quickest way to create your podcast feed is through Feedburner.com. This same service creates RSS feeds for blogs. The advantage of creating your podcast feed from this site is that you can create a browser-friendly feed, track your circulation, and enhance your feed with its SmartCast technology.

6. Publish and promote your podcast. If you use a podcasting hosting service, the service will publish your podcast and notify various podcast directories about the availability of your new podcast. Alternatively, you can enter the info directly into the major podcast directories. You will also want to promote the podcast on your website, blog, and in your email newsletter. One of the easiest ways to do this is to add feed subscription buttons (called Chiclets) to your sites. You will have to cut and paste the HTML code into your templates to create the chiclets. You can get directions on how to publish subscription buttons from the various podcasters you want to feature. Lastly, you will want to create "album art" for your podcast, or a graphic representation that many podcatchers upload with the mp3 file. Album art may be from 170x170 to 300x300 pixels square at 72 dpi. Any graphic designer can help you create this graphics file.

7. Make money from your podcast. Advertising on podcasts is still new, but some companies like Fruitcast.com or PodcasterAds.com are places to start. Another option is to place Google AdSense listings on all of your sites to list your podcast, or seek sponsors for your podcasts, just as you would for a radio show.

Do not let the audio world pass you by! Podcasting is a very inexpensive way of helping you get the word out about what you do and what you offer to the world.

Copyright (c) 2006 Donna Gunter

Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Business Coach Donna Gunter helps self-employed service professionals learn how to get more clients online. To sign up for more FREE tips like these and claim your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at http://www.GetMoreClientsOnline.com. Read about running an online biz at her blog, http://www.getmoreclientsonlineblog.com or subscribe to her Get More Clients Online Podcast at http://dgunter.audioacrobat.com/rss/get_more_clients_online_podcast.xml

Open Source Technology, a Must For Your Small Business And Links To Get You Started

by Paul Williams

Are you looking for innovative ways to increase your ROI, your bottom line and downright save a ton of money on your IT costs? Let me answer that for you! Of course you are, you would not be a savvy business owner if you did not seek out ways to stretch your money. Drum roll please, introducing Open Source technology a new way for small businesses to even the playing field with their enterprise and big boy competitors.

Why is this important? You now have access to the same or comparable solutions that normally costs hundreds if not thousands to implement and deploy. Case in point, the Open Source version of SugarCRM, which is a Customer Relationship Management tool can be had for free while one of its proprietary and commercial competitors Salesforce.com cost about $1,000 to start per year for a five user license. Another quick example has Ubuntu, which is a full-featured Linux based operating system against Microsoft XP. XP Professional edition costs $299.99, while Ubuntu costs nothing and comes freely loaded with Office utilities that rival Microsoft’s Office software suite. You do the math. Remember to include per user and or per pc price and upgrades. Yeah, I know, you have been suckered for a long time and we didn’t even mention the server operating system and licenses. Ask yourself, why am I paying for something when I can get it done for little or no cost?

Using Open Source is like using “guerrilla tactics” for your small business IT needs. Does free mean cheap? Let’s take a look. Open Source software affords the user to have software developed by hundreds of developers instead of just a few. Most of the Open Source solutions mentioned here are tried and tested solutions. Did you know that you already use Open Source? Yep, in fact if you use a web browser or use email your using opens source software. The Internet is built upon open standards and runs on Open Source software. Who currently uses Open Source software? IBM, HP, Oracle, whole governments, Google, Yahoo and Amazon just to name a few.

So you might be asking yourself, what exactly is Open Source? Open Source software in its simplest form is software that freely distributes the source code along with the object code (the actual program that you install and use), so that any programmer familiar with the language can tweak, improve, modify or customize it without needing to ask anyone for permission or wait for a vendor to do it for them. For a more verbose definition, please visit http://www.opensource.org. The bottom line is, this model of software distribution can give you a freedom and a savings that compels you to at least become a bit more knowledgeable to its uses.

These are some useful links to help get you started on the Open Source road.

http://www.opensourceweekly.com (for the latest is Open Source technology for small business owners)
http://www.sourceforge.net (the world's largest Open Source software development web site)
http://www.freshmeat.org (Open Source software repository site)
http://www.theopencd.org (a collection of high quality Free and Open Source Software.)
http://www.ttcsweb.org/osswin-cd/ (a collection of over 100 free/Open Source software for home and business.)
http://www.itservants.com (Open Source Technology Consultants)

Top Open Source Applications for your small business needs.

http://www.openoffice.org (Great alternate to the Microsoft office suite.)
http://www.firefox.com (Open Source web browser, great alternative to Internet Explorer)
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird (Thunderbird email application, similar to Outlook)
http://www.tightvnc.com (for remote connection to your computers)
http://www.mysql.com (The worlds most popular Open Source database)
http://www.phpmyadmin.com (database management tool)
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net (Filezilla- ftp application to upload and download your web content)
http://www.joomla.org (Website Content Management System or CMS)
http://www.mamboserver.com (Website Content Management System or CMS)
http://www.apache.org (Very popular Web server application)
http://www.oscommerce.com (online shop/ e-commerce solution)
http://www.sugarcrm.com (the CRM tool mentioned in this article)
http://www.dotproject.net (project management web application)
http://www.gimp.org (Image manipulation program)
http://www.nvu.com (complete Web Authoring System)
http://www.gnucash.org (personal and small-business financial-accounting software.)
http://www.subversion.tigris.org (Subversion- Document management and revision control system)
http://www.k5n.us/webcalendar.php (WebCalendar- Online calendar program for single or multiple users)
http://www.openvpn.net (full-featured SSL VPN solution)

Desktop Linux Distributions

http://www.ubuntu.com Ubuntu
http://www.redhat.com Redhat
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki Fedora
http://www.novell.com/linux Suse
http://en.opensuse.org OpenSuse
http://www.slackware.com Slackware

You can also get the server versions to take care of your business client/server needs such as Email, file, print, FTP, Web, Database, Domain, Authentication etc., There are many distributions of Linux available please check http://www.distrowatch.com for additional resources.

This list is not at all exhausting and not meant to be. This should serve as a starting place on your journey into the Open Source realm. For general questions feel free to email me, if you have specific questions about any software listed here try posting to the respective forums. A good book to read is Open Source Solutions for Small Business Problems, written by John Locke. My definition of Open Source was found in this book.

What have we learned? Before you plunder hundreds of your hard earned or borrowed money into software seek out or find someone who is versed in this technology. Research and evaluate if an Open Source solution can fit your needs. Remember, Open Source Saves!

Paul Williams is a technology consultant, who teaches people how to save money by using open source software to solve their top 10 technology business problems. http://www.opensourceweekly.com.

Internet Search And SEO

by Oleg Ishenko

Internet Search

For the last decade the Internet has emerged itself into an integral part of our everyday life. What previously was mostly a network of research institutions has become an unprecedented medium for commercial and social use. With the number of web pages now exceeding 12 billion it is extremely difficult to find information without using search engines.

Search engines appeared almost immediately once the WWW was born. A pioneering search engine called Archie was created in the University of Montreal in 1990 and was used to search files located on public FTP sites. The first search engine created to crawl and index text files on the web, World Wide Web Wanderer or Wandex, was introduced in 1993 in MIT and worked on principals similar to those used by the modern web search engines.

However it was not until late 90s when search engines have become the major tool to find information on the Internet. Before Internet directories such as Yahoo! or BestOfTheWeb were used to locate web pages. But it didn't take long for web users to recognize the usefulness of the Internet search, once indexing and ranking algorithms have reached a state where search engines were able to quickly return highly relevant results

Search Results Relevancy

It is all about the relevancy of results. In their infancy search engines were utterly vulnerable to abuse. Originally search engines used to index file names and later meta-tags. It doesn't take much to stuff file names and meta-tags with popular keywords which are irrelevant to the document's content. When a user queried a search engine with a keyword he received results that couldn't satisfy him. That is why Internet directories with pages classified into directories by human reviewers were far more useful than the search engines of those days.

The problem of relevancy has become increasingly important with the growing commercial use of the Web. The profits of commercial websites depend on their exposure and if there is anything that can help improve the exposure in search results - it must be done. And the first attempts to influence the search results by using popular but not relevant keywords to drive more traffic were made.

With their increasing computational and storage capacity search engine have become able to index the entire content of a page. But it was still possible to abuse search results by using excessive keyword stuffing, hidden keyword-rich text or many other spammy techniques. Basing solely on the page content it was impossible to ensure the relevancy of search results and more advanced ranking algorithms were introduced.

Search Engine Optimization

But even modern sophisticated search engine algorithms are not perfect and can't guarantee 100% relevancy. There still exist many loopholes that can be exploited to manipulate search results. Search results manipulation is not necessarily an unethical conduct. Consider three biggest travel websites: http://Travelocity.com, http://Expedia.com and http://Priceline.com. They provide booking service of a similar quality and are equally relevant for keywords like 'vacation' or 'airline tickets'. But nevertheless they rank differently in search results, and it is natural for a lower ranked site to try improving its position by using search engine optimization techniques.

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is about defining what factors influence the placement of a page in search results and adjusting these factors to obtain a higher position. To optimize the relevance of a page you have to adjust keyword frequency and proximity, add keywords into headings and bold text. It must look natural though - excessive keyword stuffing might have negative effects. To increase the popularity of a page you must obtain incoming links with targeted keywords in the anchor text, and make sure that links come from authoritative pages but not from irrelevant link farms.

Search engine optimization is an extremely dynamic field. Once a loophole in ranking algorithms becomes known and widely used, search engines change their algorithms to neutralize its effect. Every algorithm update can drastically affect positions and traffic of websites utilizing aggressive crash and burn optimization strategies. Such strategies are based on the most recently discovered loopholes and tricks and are able to put your pages into top positions quite quickly. Their effect however lasts only to the next algorithm update.

Another far more time-consuming approach is the creation of websites with high quality content following so-called Google quality guidelines. This approach emphasizes the website's value for users and persuades against using tricks to manipulate search results. In short - good websites eventually will rank high. But it takes years and tons of effort to make a site popular this way. Some sites are by their nature difficult to promote this way. For example few grocery stores can afford turning their websites into top Internet grocery portals; it just wouldn't be worth the effort.

SEO alone can't guarantee a lasting effect. Not using SEO at all requires too much effort to promote a site. The wise way to make a website popular is make sure that it is useful for users, obtain quality incoming links and do not forget to fine tune your pages focusing the targeted keywords. Follow the famous Brett Tabke's Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone - after four years it is still a valid approach.

Oleg Ishenko, Berlin, Germany. BSc in Telecommunications Industry Business Management. Master student in Humboldt University Berlin. MCSE and MCDBA certifications.

Get more useful information at our Comprehensive SEO and Online Marketing Research - http://www.seoresearcher.com

The Social Bookmarking Phenomenon

By Madison Lockwood

We are quickly evolving from a digital world where information was THE marketable commodity to a communications market. New methods of communicating, networking, and socializing become the new consumers of online attention and time, introduced to us on a rapid-fire basis. Blogs, wikis, RSS newsfeeds, podcasts, video socialization are built around applications like YouTube...all of these are recently formulated methods of communication that seemingly overnight have developed millions of participants.

One of the networking methodologies evolving from Internet architecture is the phenomenon of "social bookmarking." One of the more popular sites is del.icio.us. On this site the notion is that you, the web surfer, share interests with others who have web access via your bookmarked URLs. It's the same concept as bookmarking favorites with your browser, but the collection of favorites has a coding system and is shared with others. You build a library of URLs that reflect your interests and you consider worth visiting. You add a personal "tag" with a keyword that characterizes the site.

You can "subscribe" to tags so you can see every new post with that tag. That in turn can take you to the poster's entire list of favorites, which may prove to be a new trove of information for you, and del.icio.us, allows you to go through the same exercise with podcasts, which are now scattered across the Internet galaxy like asteroids.

Others on the web have access to your library and to your personal interests. Utilizing a web based application (in this case, del.icio.us), participants are able to search through sites that others have bookmarked, using not only a standard search term but the tag that has been used to characterize the site. Tags form a collective body of URLs and thus, a body of knowledge - and collective access to those tags forms a community of people with common interests. Included in the process is an optional personal profile, which provides your email address and allow others to communicate with you personally.

The drawback to this format is that a tag search is going to get you every commercial website out there that has laid claim to the same keyword. It takes a lot of scanning and scrolling to find sites that have been tagged by individuals instead of search engines.

There are several platforms out there for social networking. Flickr (www.flickr.com) is a site that uses uploaded photos for networking purposes instead of URLs. You can upload your travel experiences, travel photos and travel interests along with your profile at www.43places.com. Wists (www.wists.com) is a "social shopping" exchange where the bookmarks are all about commercial shopping sites. The level of personal communication allowed by social networking sites is up to you: on 43 Places you can post your photo but refuse personal email. You can also hold the line at public access to your favorite’s library on del.icio.us.

Other social bookmarking platforms (or tools) as they are called, include:

- Backflip
- Blinklist
- blogmarks
- Connotea
- de.lirio.us
- feedmarker
- Jots
- Lookmarks
- Scuttle
- unalog
- Spurl
- Simpy
- Wists
- Yahoo! My Web 2.0

They all have an assortment of tricks and widgets that make their sites a little different. Some of them have fairly sophisticated search methods for their subscribed users; some allow you to "bundle" tags for search purposes; most provide lists of the most popular bookmarks and the recent posts. It's all an interesting experiment in 'distance sharing'. Making use of it for professional (research) or personal uses simply requires taking the time to become comfortable with the methodology and then learning how to get maximum usage out of the tagging system.

Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate for http://www.apollohosting.com. She helps clients understand how a website may benefit them both personally and professionally. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, & VPS hosting to a wide range of customers.

Without Search Engine Optimisation Your Website Could Be Lost

by: Gerald Chait

Building a great internet site is a wonderful achievement. But it could also be a complete waste of your time and money unless potential clients can find it. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one way to ensure your site is seen in the most crowded marketplace ever conceived.

SO WHAT IS SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)?

To understand Search Engine Optimisation you must first consider how people actually look for – and eventually find - products and services on the web.

Research shows that more than 80 per cent of the world’s 290 million internet users (10 million of them in Australia) use search engines to find what they’re after.

There are many search engines available to consumers – the better known include Google and Yahoo! – but in general they all work the same way. Typically a person will enter a keyword or phrase into the search engine and immediately receive a list of recommended web pages.

Internet users are impatient, which means they seldom scan though more than a page or two of search results, and generally only access sites listed at the top of the page. If you want to be seen, your site must not only appear on a list of search results, it must rank towards the very top.

Open a search engine and type in a word or phrase someone searching for your company might use – if you fail to appear in a prominent position, chances are your site has not been search engine optimised. Without optimisation, your site is about as effective as an advertisement floating in the middle of the ocean.

HOW DO SEARCH ENGINES RANK INTERNET SITES?

Search engines regularly dispatch ‘spiders’ or ‘robots’ (aka bots) to collect information on websites. Using an algorithm – a set of complex formulas or rules – the search engine evaluates each website’s relevance and then ranks it accordingly.

These algorithms are unique to each search engine, they are highly secret and they change all the time. But in general they all obey a basic set of rules. That means it is possible improve your chances of a better ranking by ensuring your website has the most appropriate content, and that the content is structured in a search engine-friendly way – this process is known as Search Engine Optimisation.

Search Engine Optimisation is not an exact science. It requires trial and error, and there is never a guarantee of success. But without Search Engine Optimisation your website is almost guaranteed of not being seen.

Of course there are other ways of reaching potential clients. You could, for example, spend money to advertise on a search engine, and only have your advertisement appear when people search for particular keywords. That is valid way to increase your chances of reaching customers. But studies have shown people using the internet tend to trust and visit the free listings more than paid listings.

HOW DO YOU GET STARTED ON SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION?

First you need to find out if your site is actually being indexed by a search engine.

Open a search engine and type your company name in the search box. If you appear in the results it means that spiders or robots have located your site. They will place the site into a memory bank, and visit it from time to time to update their information.

If your site it not listed you could consider submitting your site to search engines. This will not guarantee that they will list you, but it won’t hurt to try. A word of advice - do not submit your site multiple times as this will only annoy the search engine people, and you need to be on their good side.

Some search engines will not accept submissions – they prefer to find your site themselves. And some simply draw their information from other search engines (a disclaimer should alert you to this practice), which makes it pointless submitting your site to them.

Once you are confident your site is being indexed, you need to identify keywords – these are the terms a potential visitor might enter into a search engine when looking for your product, service or company.

Finding the right keywords is a pivotal component of Search Engine Optimisation. There are applications that allow you to test each word by showing how popular it is and how often it is used – the result might surprise you.

A good way to find keywords is to visit a competitor’s website and see what it has listed. To do this, open their site and click on ‘view source’ - a heap of what looks like gibberish will come up, but find a line which says ‘

Gerald Chait is GM, Sales & Marketing of Software Design Group (SDG): Website Development, Design, Search Engine Optimisation, Network Support, Outsourcing Solutions, Help Desk Support, Application Development, Hardware & Software Sales. Gerald.chait@sdgtechnology.com.au or http://www.sdgtechnology.com.au.

Information Products - Free Vs Paid

By Shouvik Mazumder

There are many membership sites on the web. Some of them are paid, some are free. All these membership sites provide information on a range of topics in forms of ebooks, softwares, videos, teleseminars, podcasting etc.

In addition, there are many ebooks available on the net (both for free and for payment) containing information on various topics.

Now have you ever considered, “why does an ebook or membership site provide information for free, while others are providing the same information only after receiving some payment?”

The answer is quite simple: The information is NOT the same.

There is a gap (and this gap can be quite wide) between the quality of information for the free and paid versions. This is what makes the paid version a paid version.

When you read a free ebook on anything, you always feel you are missing something important. Reading a paid ebook does not make you feel like that.

You may feel you can find much information, about a topic, by yourself, within a short period, by searching through search engines. But, in reality ............ you are going the wrong way.

This is simply NOT possible. Not all the information is available via the web. I know because I have tried to do this myself, and failed. Even after spending 1 month on searching a topic, I have gotten more information on that topic, (which I never got earlier through searching), through other marketers.

When you try to gather information on any topic through searching (in other words, when you try to get information for free), you perform the following tasks:-

1) First, you write down some keywords related to your topic

2) Then you go to your favorite search engine and enter those keywords in the search box.

3) After that, you read information on the resulting webpages.

4) Then you decide which information will benefit you.

5) Lastly, you arrange your gathered information in a step-by- step, easy-to-read format.

Now, believe me, doing all these steps will take a lot of your time and energy. What if you can not give the time required? Further, if you suddenly encounter more valuable information about that topic, it will be very difficult for you to rearrange the whole thing.

Therefore, here is the importance of paid version of information over free version of information. Paid version of information is ready for you to read and digest. You don’t need to search for anything. The research is already done for you, by the information product developer. The information product developer is charging you for this.

The info product developers are always at a distance. They know they need to put valuable information into their info product that must benefit the readers, and which would justify their charging. They spend their time on thorough research, and then spend carefully craft their information product. They include valuable tips within their info product, which you will not get from anywhere else. They are a master over a certain topic. Their vast exposure on that topic reflects on the quality of the product they create.

A General Approach: From Free To Paid

In general, to sell their information products, many information product developers first create a free version of the information product, (like a free report) on the theme of the paid version. Next, they input a “useful, but incomplete approach” within that report. This means they first discuss some problems and solutions within the free report relating to the theme of the paid version, not fully disclosing everything). Then they create urgency in the mind of the readers of the report to buy the paid version from them so that the readers can get all the solutions for all the problems on that topic.

This is a good way to sell. The readers know they can trust the author and his recommendation, as they have already read his report. The author, on the other hand, can be certain of creating some credibility in the mind of his readers, and hence can expect some sales.

This article is composed by Shouvik Mazumder. To get a special report on "Information Product Marketing", click below:
http://www.realtimedeal.com/shouvik/infoezine.html

Benefits Of A SEO Sitemap Generator

by Christian Kameir

Sitemap generator programs can be downloaded from various sources on the Internet. Sitemap generator programs have two fundamental purposes. Sitemap generator programs help surfers navigate a site effectively. At the same time, a sitemap generator program encourages search engine spiders. Google offers one of the most popular sitemap generator programs ever to hit the Internet.

The sitemap generator of google makes it possible for a website to get listed and get updated by the google search engine. Setting up the sitemap generator helps speed up the addition of the web pages of a site to the google listing. The sitemap generator also makes it easier for a site to get noticed by online surfers. In addition, any changes made to a website that has a sitemap generator is immediately picked up by google. The sitemap generator also helps keep online information fresh and up-to-date for users.

Visibility is key to sitemap generator

Visibility is a major concern when using a sitemap generator. A website that is completely indexed has better chances of getting top search engine placement in page results. Many of the popular browsers used by searchers and that support java recognize sitemap generator programs. These include firefox and Internet explorer.

An online consumer that searches for a specific content on the web can immediately be directed to any one of the web pages of a particular site. The sitemap generator makes it easier for a search engine to provide accurate results from web pages they are familiar with.

Who can benefit from a sitemap generator?

A sitemap generator is highly recommended for websites that often do repeated modification of their web pages. A sitemap generator can be used for websites of any size, regardless of the number of web pages a site may contain.

Although using a sitemap generator is not a guarantee of increased site rankings, it does however provide a website a better opportunity of getting listed on a search engine.

Working with a sitemap generator

Most of the available sitemap generator programs available on the web make use of extensible markup language or XML. Similar to hypertext markup language or HTML, XML is used widely in blogs and syndicated feeds on the Internet. Each line of a XML code for a sitemap generator has a specific purpose.

The location or identifies the name of the web page of a website. The line indicates when the web page was last modified. The format for can either be dd.mm.yyyy, dd.mm.yyyy hh:mm, dd/mm/yyyy or dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm. Shortcuts can also be used to simply the assignment of dates to the cell.

advises the search engine of a specific time frame when the web page is regularly updated. This can either be done on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis. For web pages that are not updated, the value 'never' is used. indicates the level of priority that a search engine should give a particular web page of a website. These levels range from 0.0 for least priority to 1.0 for high priority.

Creating a dynamic sitemap generator

Creating a dynamic sitemap generator is useful for websites containing various web pages. The google search engine makes it easy for users to adapt their google sitemap with the help of a python script.

The python script generates a sitemap using sitemap protocol. This creates a sitemap from either access logs, URL lists or from web server directories.

Tips for using a sitemap generator from google

As one of more popular search engines offering a sitemap generator for websites on the Internet, google offers a few tips for its loyal users. Using the google sitemap url encoder/decoder is helpful for submitting sitemaps to google. For websites that have numerous web pages, creating a sitemap can be a tremendous task. For this situation it is best to click on the column title in order to make it easier for a URL list to get sorted.

The google sitemap generator allows users to save their settings after creating a sitemap. Users can use these saved settings as a guideline for succeeding sitemap generator updates. The sitemap generator also recognizes the use of robots.txt files.

Using a sitemap generator is a positive move in getting top ranking on the Internet's top search engines as well as high visibility among online users.

Mr. Christian Kameir is the CEO of http://www.colizer.com His web site can be found at http://www.kameir.com.

Review: 5 Bucks A Day

by Jan Sepstrup

Could $5 a day make you rich?

No, and that's why I was quite skeptical when I started reading Dennis Becker's new e-book on making money on the internet - "5 Bucks A Day".

It reminded me of an e-book I bought a couple of years ago with a title something like "Double Your Way To A Million" - In theory it would work if you could double your profit each day starting at 5 cents, but only in theory.

I recently participated in a couple of internet marketing surveys, and when I saw the results I realized - much to my surprise - that I was in the top 5% - I do earn some money from the internet. Not much, but I learned from these surveys that 95% earn zero or very little money from all their efforts.

You have all this information from various e-books and e-courses but nothing seems to work for 95% of internet entrepreneurs.

What's missing in the equation for success?

"5 Bucks A Day" is not an e-book that teaches you anything about AdSense, affiliate marketing, listbuilding, blogging or internet marketing. Thats not a bad thing - after a few months newbie internet entrepreneurs probably have their hard disk filled with e-books teaching these subjects - and they're still not making any money.

I've read Dennis Becker's e-book - "5 Bucks A Day" a couple of times and I was really surprised. It was like standing in the middle of the internet marketing wilderness and suddenly you could clearly see which way to go. This e-book describes an easy step-by-step guide on how to find your way in the wilderness - it's all about FOCUS and ACTION - a strategy that anyone can follow no matter what type of internet business you have.

I did some research on what other internet marketers were saying about his e-book and here's some of the comments I found:

"Your report is just what the doctor ordered! I definitely challenge anyone who cannot get some value out of it to look more closely! Some of my favorite books are ones that didn't 'click' until the second or third reading. Definitely DO NOT underestimate this one."

"This is really an excellent report. You've got a great online business perspective. This is a refreshing, novel approach. You're also an excellent communicator (and motivator!). It's obvious you care about your readers. You've prepared a thorough road map that offers substantial benefits to the Internet marketing community. For that, you have my sincerest appreciation. I can't recommend this highly enough."

"What a breath of fresh air you are! This has to be one of the best reports I've ever bought here, and will definitely have a profound effect on my business. Most of us are drowning in internet marketing tactics and tools and business ideas. The hard part is having a simple strategy to use all that stuff that will make us money in a reasonable time. Your $5 a day strategy accomplishes that beautifully!"

"Thanks for sharing your powerful strategy with us. I have read it the first time and will be reading it the second time. This is just what I needed to put things into perspective and take consistent action to achieve my goals."

"Thank you very much for turning on the "dummy light"! I like your approach and message. So many of us keep looking for the next greatest piece of the puzzle on the table, when it was really in our hand all along."

.. and it goes on and on.

Conclusion

"5 Bucks A Day" turned out to be more than I expected and it fills a gap in the market - a simple practical strategy you can use to structure your efforts in making money on the internet. This e-book really gave me an ah-ha experience - a real step-by-step strategy I can and will use in my internet business. I really think this e-book should be on the "Top 5 e-books" list for any internet entrepreneur.

I highly recommend this e-book - Read more here:
http://www.jasmedia.com/5bucksaday

Jan Sepstrup is the editor of the Google Smart Tools Newsletter from http://www.go-smart-tool.com/4free - Newsletter, toolbar, e-book and videos for Google Adwords, AdSense profit and Internet Marketing.

Make Your Thank You Pages Do Double-Duty

By Alicia Forest

Leverage the page your website visitors see after they sign up for your list or make a purchase. This article shares four ways to utilize this space to increase your marketing and sales without having to do more work.

I have a question for you: When people sign up to receive your ezine or other Free Taste of what it is you are offering, where do they end up? Do they see a polite thank you page from you? Do they see the default confirmation page from your list service? Do they see nothing? Are left wondering if the registration went through? People who are signing up for your list expect to see a page afterwards as a normal part of the transaction. On that page, it is important to thank them for signing up and make them feel good about their decision. Also, if you are using a double opt-in for your list, let them know they need to confirm their subscription before they will receive the information they requested from you.

There is more you can do with this page, so why not leverage it? Here are a few ideas on how to accomplish this:

1. Add, Tell-A-Friend. Most people are happy to refer you to someone else they know who might benefit from what you are offering, if you will just ask them.

You can do this easily by simply asking them to point others to your sign-up page, or by using a simple referral software program, like TAFPro, which creates a simple form to fill in with a name and email address of the person whom they are referring. Once they hit send, an email goes directly to the recipient and a copy comes to you. This is a great way to add new subscribers to your list without you having to do more work.

2. Make another offer. The best time to make an offer to someone is when interacting with you. Someone who just signed up to receive information from you is likely to be interested in something else you have to offer. Use this page to make an offer on one of your lower ticket items in your funnel. By doing so, you will gain sales you would not otherwise.

3. Ask a question. This is a prime time to gather a little market research from your readers. Ask a simple question, like "What's your biggest challenge with X?" (X represents your niche, what it is that you are offering). Add an email link where they can send their answer, and then use this information as you continue to develop offerings for your target market.

Doing this also helps in starting to build a relationship with your readers, and it keeps you up-to-date as to what they are struggling with right now so you can offer the solutions they want.

4. Refer them elsewhere. Hook up with a colleague to start trading some thank you page traffic. On your thank you page, say something like, "I know you'll also benefit from (name of ezine), published by (name of publisher)." Then give them instructions on how to sign up. Your colleague would do the same for you on their thank you page.

I implement all four of these strategies on various thank you pages, which are helping me build a stronger relationship with my readers, find out what it is that they want my help with, build my list faster and easier, (while helping a handful of colleagues build theirs), and make more sales by making more offers.

I encourage you to leverage your thank you pages this way in your own business. Making them work double-duty for you will absolutely create the same results for you that I'm enjoying, Computer Technology Articles, so pick one and start working it today.

Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach� and creator of "21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online Success System�, teaches coaches, consultants, and other solo professionals and online entrepreneurs how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit http://www.clientabundance.com/.

Finding Work from Home Ideas

By Elias Georgi

Maybe you have just retired or perhaps you been laid off from your company. Now you have lots of time to pursue other activities and you are wondering if you should look for another job or try to develop something at home. Many people have difficulty coming up with ideas to work at home, and there are thousands of ideas to choose.

We cover a few approaches you can try in this article.

Anyone who has just retired or been laid off goes through a transition of emotions which can include shock at not having somewhere to go in the morning, to boredom, to significant concern about how they are going to pay the bills for themselves and their families. If you have decided to look for a job, there are specific approaches people use to find work, which include developing a resume, sorting through job openings, and most important, networking to let people know they are available, as well as, hear about openings that may be available.

Use these same skills and approaches in the quest for finding ideas to work from home. Although you will not need to have a resume, it is still important to develop an inventory of your skills, which you can use to assess any idea that you may consider. It is also useful to assist in deciding what additional skills you may need to make your work at home endeavor successful.

Networking with people who are already in the work at home area is very useful. You will obtain ideas, and pick up many useful hints and tips that may assist you in developing and starting a work from home business. Networking with people in person, and online, can be equally important. However, in both cases take care to protect your privacy and find legitimate ideas. There are many scams on the Internet. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is so consider each one carefully.

Successful entrepreneurs in every field usually start by asking what problem my solution will solve for the customer. Many people are willing to spend their money on solutions that solve problems for them and your trick is to find the one that does this for a large number of people. The key acid test for considering any work at home business idea is to ask yourself Science Articles, what problem I solve for my customer and how much is it worth to him.

Lastly, carry pen and paper with you at all times and jot down ideas as they come to you for consideration later. Sometimes the most amazing ideas will come to you as you are sitting enjoying coffee in your local coffee shop.

Elias Georgi is an experienced and successful sponsor, mentor and coach for many thriving, tested and proven home businesses. Elias offers proven Internet opportunities and strategies. Visit his Website: work at home business opportunities (http://www.eliasg.com/), he also runs the article directory (http://www.exclusive-article.com/).