Home Business The Easy Way - CBa Update http://www.blogmoneymiracle.com en-us EasyRSS
By Tellman H. Knudson

Your goal as a marketer is to monetize your site as quickly and as easily as possible. In the process, build your list along the way.

There are all sorts of different ways to think about doing this.

If you are an AdSense publisher, it may be smarter to have AdSense only after people subscribe to your list. In addition, it may be smarter to only show the AdSense after people have told a friend.

Do you see why?

If these people are not on your list, if they are not telling their friends, then you cannot monetize those people again. They visit your site, and then leave, and go to the AdSense ad site, and forget to join your list. If they are on your list, you can monetize them repeatedly with ways that have more impact than AdSense.

Until they subscribe, do not show the AdSense. It may turn people off and they may not join your list. Alternatively, as I said, there are various ways to think about this. Maybe when they subscribe, the AdSense disappears because you already captured their names and addresses for your list, and then you can follow up and make recommendations on products that they would benefit from. Test these!

Perhaps, do an A/B split test, where one page has AdSense and the other does not. See which one works better, and then go with it. However, keep testing. Test your headline; test your subscribe button. You can test all the elements of your page--one test at a time. For instance, do not change your headline and the opt-in button at the same time. You will not know which prompted the viewer to join your list.

Consider the following. When implementing marketing strategies, do not take too much time before you test them. If they do not work, you took a lot of time to think about something, which did not work.

I would recommend that you send out a press release. Do it today, or at least first thing in the morning to drive traffic to your squeeze page, which should lead to your sales letter or the sales letter of the product you are promoting. A press release about your new site will get some traffic.

You also want to use pay-per-click. The reason you want to use pay-per-click is, you can check your conversions and see how everything works before you find list members and everything else. I would use pay-per-click and get rolling with that right away.

Whatever your budget is $5, $10, $100, or $2,000, spend that. You want to go low. You can spend $5 to $10 a day. Focus on split testing and tweaking the squeeze page and the sales page, until it is making money for you on the $10 a day.

The whole thing is... Do not Wait! Take action immediately! Do not let anything stop you. If your squeeze page sucks, you can make changes to it, until it does not suck anymore. Yet, it is out there the whole time, getting some response. If you had nothing working for you, you would be no further in building your list.

Tellman Knudson is CEO of http://OvercomeEverything.com. Learn how to build a powerful and responsive list quickly through his premiere list-building course, http://MyFirstList.com (http:/myfirstlist.com ).

Changing Your Affiliate Formula]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_CBa_331/user/index.php
By Hamish Hayward

I kept six honest serving men,
They taught me all I knew.
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

These well known lines by Rudyard Kipling offer sound advice for many situations in life. They can be applied, if you are thinking of getting involved in network marketing, or any other type of work at home business.

WHAT CAN I DO TO MAKE A PROFIT?

Simply put, you provide a product or service in return for money. Do not worry if you do not "have" a product - just get one from somebody else and then sell it, or get involved in an affiliate marketing system. Successful merchants have been doing this for thousands of years.

You do not have to make the product yourself. You do not even have to own it. You can simply sell it on someone else's behalf and then take a percentage of the profit.

If possible, try to market a product or service that is provided on a monthly subscription basis. That way you will get your percentage every month - residual income.

Do not get involved with any business that does not have a genuine product and which pays you for recruiting others into the business. This type of arrangement is characteristic of a pyramid scheme.

WHY CHOOSE NETWORK MARKETING?

Network marketing, coupled with the power of the internet, is ideal for a start-up business. No premises are required and there are no employees, so both start-up and running costs are very low compared to a traditional business.

The internet can be used for both selling and recruiting and many of the tasks associated with these activities can be automated using websites, autoresponders, email etc. You also have the ability to reach a worldwide market - the possibilities are endless.

Unlike many traditional small businesses, you can work your network marketing opportunity part-time to begin with. You do not need to give up your day job until you are ready, so the risk is very low.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO START?

The sooner the better. Start-up costs are low and much of your initial outlay will be covered by money back guarantees. Your risk exposure is minimal.

However, if you already have some business experience, you should expect to be on a learning curve to start with. Do your research, pick a company with good training and support. Find a good mentor, and get going. The sooner you learn the tricks of the trade, the sooner you can start to build your business and make a profit. One thing's for sure - you will not make any money "thinking about it".

HOW DO I IDENTIFY THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY FOR ME?

Do not sign up for an opportunity because it has a nice website or a good sales letter/email. Do investigate the six key criteria: Product, Cost, Company, Commission, Administration, and Sales.

Make sure that you are completely happy with each of these areas and you will avoid any nasty surprises.

WHERE SHOULD I SET UP SHOP?

Keep costs down by working from home. The power of the internet means you can tap into the world market working from your spare room in your pajamas. You can work offline if you want to use leaflets, brochures, direct mail, etc. - but do not limit yourself geographically.

WHOM SHOULD I BE WORKING WITH?

Obviously, you are the star of the show. It is your business and you will enjoy a much higher degree of autonomy than would be available in almost any job. You are not entirely isolated though, and finding the right people to work with is very important.

Pick a good company to work with. Ideally one that has been around for a while and which provides good training and support. Selecting the right company to collaborate with will significantly increase your chances of success and minimize the probability of being scammed.

Most scammers and con artists tend not to stick around too long. They make their money and then move on before they are caught - so choosing to work with an established company is always a good idea if you want to reduce risk.

Another key player is the person who recruited you or introduced you to the opportunity. They may be referred to as your "upline", "team leader", "sponsor", "mentor" etc. depending upon the company that you are working with.

This person does not need to be at the very top of the business. If they were, then they might find it difficult to find time to help you. However, they should be experienced and willing to help. Exchange emails with them, talk on the phone, and see how responsive they are. If they are not right for you, then you can always get involved in the same opportunity but with a different mentor.

Finally, you will build your own team or "downline". Try to be a good sponsor to your team members and help them out as much as you can. Remember - Just because you introduced them to the business, you are not their boss. Offer them advice and encouragement but do not forget they came into your opportunity to have their own business - just as you did.

Hamish Hayward

Internet Business Tips ...

Discover the key criteria you must evaluate when starting your own online or offline business. Free e-books and newsletter packed full of hints and tips.

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By Scott White

Brand Identity is a promise, one given from business to customer to expect certain things. Whether that promise involves product quality, service, price, or a million other things; it varies from brand to brand. However, the one thing common among all brands is the need to be a strong brand.

Why is brand identity so critical?

A strong brand identity can position a company above its competition all by itself. However, acquiring a brand that strong takes time, money, and effort to develop. It is not as simple as just redesigning a logo or rewriting a tagline. Brand identity is the reason your customers choose you instead of your competition.

How to rework your brand identity.

Successful re-branding involves "evolution," not "revolution." You must impress upon your existing customers that your new brand is just a new and improved version of the same you. It is important not to get crazy with a re-branding effort because you could end up destroying fragile emotional ties and customer loyalty.

Brand identity is much more than marketing.

Having a brand identity that resonates with your market is important, but not at the expense of the people within your company. They need to get it, and be your brand's most fervent ambassadors. Do your employees believe in your company? Do they feel like they have a vested stake in its success? Companies with solid brand identities can say yes to these questions. Can yours? If not, here are some things you can do:

Get every aspect of your company on the same page: Easier said than done, right? Well, that does not mean it is not necessary. Get all your departments talking to each other and understanding each other.

# Promote everyone to the position of brand ambassador: Give everyone a common understanding of the company, its mission, and their part in it. They should feel like they have ownership-even if they do not.

# Reinforce brand values and behaviors: To do this, use the tools you have, such as internal communications...and like a good basketball coach, consistently promote these fundamentals until they are second nature.

Your employees will ultimately determine your success or failure. That is why it is so important to have them buy into your company's brand identity. However, that is not something that you can force. You, as leadership, must earn it. However, once you do, you will have a company that is full of happy, motivated, successful brand ambassadors.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru, a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA. Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

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By Suzanne Freiberg

So, you’ve just come up with the best one-of-a kind ideas since sliced bread and want to launch your own business. Congratulations, you are on the road to the American dream of becoming an entrepreneur! Now let me extend my deepest sympathies for the pain you will experience as you try to get your business started.

Hey, don’t stone the messenger; I’m not the only Negative Nelly on this topic! The facts are, as stated by the Small Business Administration, 80% of small business start-ups close within the first five years. But, maybe you and your idea are different and you are prepared to beat the odds. If you still want to give it that ol’ college try, read on. (My apologies to those of you whom I have completely devastated. However, keep in mind if you are still reading and I haven’t scared you off yet…you could have what it takes to start your own business.)

Have you ever wondered why we are in awe of the Bill Gates and Martha Stewart’s of the world? Have you ever wondered why they are one-of-a-kind kinda’ guys/gals and are so well known? Well, I think it has something to do with the blood and guts they had to donate to start, build, and be successful in their own businesses. Anyone can start their own business, but only 20% of those starters are still in business after five years and even fewer are actually running a successful business; that means making money. So, this journey definitely takes more than what 80% of us have. Are you still reading? Ok, you may have what it takes.

What it takes to launch your business (we’ll leave the part about actually being successful to another article) is what I refer to as the “Eight Steps to A Successful Start”:

1. Determine Your Niche,
2. Identify Your Ideal Client,
3. Develop Your Unique Value Proposition,
4. Create Your Brand,
5. Prepare a Business Plan,
6. Prepare a Marketing Plan,
7. Develop a Sales Strategy, and
8. Accept failure, learn from it and re-group

Please note that the first eight steps have nothing to do with what you actually want to “do” in your business. In other words, if your dream is to be a career coach, you won’t actually be coaching clients until you have been a marketer, sales person, financial expert, and strategist. Oh, and for those brave Internet entrepreneurs you will also have to become an Internet guru. Note: if you know what mega-tags are, congratulations you are well on your way! Back to my point, what is important to keep in mind is that for most business launches it takes a full two years before you are “doing” whatever it is your business is all about and before you are ever the business owner of your dreams. Still reading? You are already beating the odds!

Let’s take a look at Step One, “Determine Your Niche.” Your niche is determined by defining exactly what group of consumers will be your customers. This group will consist of people who have specialized interests and needs, and have a strong desire for your service or product. An example of a strong need would be an attorney who needs a well organized back office system to keep track of past and current case loads. The group in this case is “attorneys” and the specialized interest/need is all about well-organized back office systems. So, if your product is a well-organized back office system for attorneys, this guy/gal is in your niche.

Once you’ve identified a group with specialized interests and needs, now known as “your niche”, you have to ask and come up with answers to the following questions:

Will this group spend money for my product/service? Do they have the money to spend? A good way to tell is if they have spent money for similar products/services in the past. For instance, “moms” might be a great target market for a new type of stroller, especially since they have spent money on similar products. However, not all new moms have money to spend on a new stroller. You would then want to specifically target moms who have more disposable income – i.e. extra cash for your one of a kind stroller!

Can I easily find and then reach this group of people? Physicians are easier to locate than moms. Why? Physicians are listed as a group in the yellow pages. So, if your have a product/service that targets a professional group such as physicians you will have an easier time reaching your niche. Whereas, if targeting moms, it may be harder to find that group, since they don’t have their own heading in the yellow pages!

Is this group large enough that I can make money selling to them? If your product/service is eye patches for one-eyed pirates, you may need to expand your group. However, if you are selling a new bra to women who have had breast enhancement surgery, you might have a hit!

Is this group small enough that my competition would overlook it? Yes, your competition might have over-looked the one-eyed pirate market, but that is because this group is too small. However, if your product/service is directed towards a specific need that a specific group has; i.e. women who have had breast enhancement, you might just have the perfect small market.

Have you been a part of this group? You must know the needs of your niche market. The best way to know those needs is if you have been in that group and understand the group’s dreams and desires. If you have ever been an attorney, who had need of a well-organized back office, then you would be well prepared to create and offer this service to attorneys.

Is this a group you would enjoy working with exclusively? Perhaps, you were an attorney and that is where you came up with this great back office system. That’s great, but if you got out of the litigation business because you didn't like your peers…you might want to re-think your idea of selling your handy dandy back office system to attorneys.

Can you see yourself creating other product/services for this group? No one wants to be a one-hit-wonder, ala Billy Ray Cyrus and his ‘Achy Breaky Heart’! Once you have sold everyone in your niche one of what you have to offer – where do you go from there? If your price point is high enough, maybe you can retire to Hawaii. If you are selling a $1.99 product, you will need a way to expand your line as your business grows.

Are you passionate about your product/service?

The amount of time and energy, or as I mentioned earlier “blood and guts”, that it will take to launch a business is huge! You had better passionately believe in what you are doing and whom you are doing it for, if you want to successfully launch your business.

Well there you have it, the first step in launching your business: Determining Your Niche. Take some time and answer all of the questions outlined above for your product or service. You may find that you want to make a few modifications to fit your niche or maybe you need to change your niche to better suit your business. Either way, just by taking the time to complete this first step you are already on the road to the American dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Congratulations! (And, a little sympathy for your time and trouble!)

In the coming weeks look for “So, You Want to Launch Your Own Business? May I Offer My Congratulations and Deepest Sympathy? Part II: Identify Your Ideal Client”

Keep in mind that a career coach can help you through all of these business launch steps. Career coaches act as guides on a journey of greater self-awareness and clarity, to help you find your true passion. Your coach can help you create an action plan to get from where you are to where you want to be in your career and in your life. Once you are working in your strengths, you will find you are passionate about what you are doing and the journey is not as painful as if you had made it alone.

To find out how a coach can help you, contact SmartWork Career Coaching @ 805.376.1906 or e-mail @ sfreiberg@verizon.net. One of our Career or Executive Coaches will be happy to discuss your coaching options.

© Copyright 2006 Suzanne Freiberg. All Rights Reserved.

Suzanne Freiberg, with 20 years of executive experience, founded SmartWork Career Coaching to empower women in management and leadership to make the changes necessary to become break through leaders. She has received extensive training in emotional intelligence; leadership development; and managing stress for executives. She is a Certified Career Coach and a Certified Executive Coach, as well as a member of the International Coach Federation. http://www.smartworkcareercoaching.com.
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By Alan Ocab

Why have you not started your own Internet home business? Is it because you do not have products to sell? Is it because you do not know how to write your own sales letter or simply because you do not know where to start?

Well, starting your own Internet home business is really not that hard. It is also not that simple. You just have to know some of the basic things to get started.

So where do you start? This is the ongoing question of those wanting to start their home businesses.

1.Start with a great product. A great product is something that people want; not something that has all the bells and whistles. (Well, you might end up with a super-duper of a product that nobody would want to buy!). The demand for the great product has been tested over and over and still people would want to buy them.

2.Set-up your website to sell that product. In this case you need to have good sales letter to convert your website visitors into buyers. The success of the product you are offering almost always depends on your sales letter. So, if you spend massive time configuring your product, you have to spend double that amount of time polishing your sales letter.

3.Drive visitors into your website. The quickest way, of course, is through pay per click advertising. You can go to Google and sign up with their adwords program and start driving visitors to your site. Yahoo also has a similar program, but Google is better because it puts up your campaign instantly.

Steps 1 and 2 would literally freeze the new internet entrepreneurs. What products will I sell, are these products in demand? How do I make my own products? I cannot write a sales letter, having them written by a good copywriter would cost me an arm, etc. etc. These are some of the issues nagging those who would want to start an internet home business.

Alan Ocab specializes in teaching real people how to start profitable Internet home businesses. If product creation and writing the sales letter are the things that stop you from starting your own internet business, then what is offered at http://www.home-business-today.com is right for you to get you started.

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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/.

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By Chuck Ingersoll

I know, "Resonant Congruent Differentiation" sounds like something that immediately scares your ears. Something you learned about and quickly forgot in Psych 101. However, stick with me a moment. I think you will see that it is much simpler - easily understood - and very pertinent to the way people name products, services, and businesses.

Having recently gone through some re-roofing trauma, a lawn sign promoting a contractor grabbed my attention. "Mr. Fussy Roofing" it read. I first laughed at the name because of its seeming oxymoronic message. In addition, it is a name with amusement value. Moments later I thought, "I wish I knew about that guy when I had my roof done."

'Mr. Fussy Roofing' is an almost perfect example of a differentiated product or service name that is congruent and resonates beautifully. When you are coming up with names, this is exactly what you should be striving for: resonant congruent differentiation. So let us break down what that phrase means and into intellectually chewable chunks.

Go Ahead, 'Splain Resonant Congruent Differentiation

Take it to the end first: differentiation means you are not being confused with competitors, so you stand out in a positive fashion. If all the companies that make steel are named after locations or owners, such as Bethlehem or Harris Steel, you will not achieve much differentiation if you are called Rogerson Steel. Choose StrongSteelCo and, at the least, you have demonstrated a positioning and promise in your name.

Now for the resonant congruent part. Congruent, be consistent with the qualities and values personified in the products/services you provide. If you make a high-end speaker system, naming it 'Mickey's Speakers' would not be a good call. People would think you had a "Mickey Mouse" product, and naming it after your own self, sounds low budget and small time. This name is incongruent with the image you wish to convey. This name type starts you off in the weeds, so you have to climb out to establish a quality identity.

Resonant, in a very basic sense, means the name makes the prospect or customer feel in alignment with the key message that the name of your product or service communicates. It is credibility, appropriateness, a connection with your brand.

'Mr. Fussy Roofing': Our Branding Hero

Let us use 'Mr. Fussy Roofing' as our example. For right or wrong, roofing contractors do not always, have the greatest reputations. People are suspicious of getting ripped off or of shoddy work. (A neighbor had a new roof put on. It drained improperly so water went between the siding and the underlayment. This was, as my daughter says, UNgood.) Many roofing contractors are small businesses and do not put a lot of thought into their naming and branding. (Exhibit #1: A local contractor named DBA Roofing.) Many other MALE business owners would find 'Mr. Fussy' to be too cute or feminine a name, and would instantly rule it out.

However, our Mr. Fussy did not. He went outside his comfort zone, possibly, to create a name that resonated congruently with me, his typical audience, and achieved positive differentiation. What do I take away from 'Mr. Fussy Roofing'? He cares, he is different from most, he features attention to detail, he will likely do an excellent job, and he does roofing. All from three words!

Contrast this with 'DBA Roofing'. I know they do roofing, and perhaps could not even think of a name. I do not know anything more about what they stand for, what their vision is, or how they do business. Just two words - Mr. Fussy - tell me so much more. Mr. Fussy differentiated his business. I get it and like what he promises, so it resonates with me. The idea of a roofer being fussy is very congruent and highly desirable to me.

So Why Don't More Companies Create Resonant Congruent Differentiated Names?
There are many reasons: ego, ability to be objective about every company except your own, stubbornness, caution, corporate culture, a desire to take a safe middle road, and on and on. This desire to 'play it safe', not take a chance, applies as often to big corporations as it does in small businesses.

Many people may think that 'Geek Squad' is a great name. It's more fun, evocative and compelling than 'Your Computer Experts' or some other safe vanilla choice. Yet when it comes to their own name, people get scared and go down a safe path. I recently named a coffee shop "Thanks a Latte." Would you rather go there for that experience or to 'Dunkin' Donuts' or 'Herb's Coffee Shop'?

Obviously, you have to take your audience into account. 'Thanks a Latte' is aiming for a Starbucks-type of crowd: more upscale, willing to pay a bit more for quality. Yet, in many cases, a striking, effectively clever, or even surprising name will take you so much further, especially if your marketing budget is limited. (Hey, isn't everyone's?)

Unless you are one of those cavemen from the Geico commercials, you know that a geek is a computer nerd. A geek squad is a whole mess of 'em. Chances are you will find 25 PC repair guys in your Yellow Pages called 'Something Computer Repair'. You'll only find one 'Geek Squad'. Let's say you see three commercials. One for 'Phil's Computer Shack', another for 'Waterville Computer Repair', and the third for 'Geek Squad'. Which are you going to remember? And who YOU gonna' call?

This brings up another key attribute of memorable, powerful names: attitude. 'Geek Squad', 'Thanks a Latte', 'Brains on Fire' (a naming firm), 'Mr. Fussy'... they all bring a distinctive point of view to the name. A name you can connect with almost viscerally. Consider Mr. Fussy one more time. Who has more of a persona in two words: 'Mr. Fussy' or 'Bob's Roofing'? Who conveys more depth of appropriate and convincing meaning in two words? While finding a name that fits is important, creating one that voices a point of view, that you and your business believe in, will go a long way toward developing true differentiation and memorability. You can say this attitude will give you greater resonance with proper congruence, if you do it right.

Do You Want to Describe What You Do, Or Be Memorable?

If you're going to name your company and have, it stand out from the competition, choosing a functional name like 'PhotoCopy Hut' isn't really going to dazzle anyone. 'PhotoCopy Hut' doesn't go any further than simply being functional on a very basic level, but we've seen worse. Ever notice a truck go by you on the expressway that says something like "Kordis." They may even have a tag line, such as "Bringing the World to You." You wonder, what do they do? Are they importers? Are they a global delivery service? Do they manufacture desktop globes? They have this incredible opportunity to create thousands of impressions a day with consumers and they cannot even be bothered to say what they do. This is truly a waste of a great moving billboard.

Big companies are fond of neologisms, (concocted words or terms), such as Claris or Pentium. They get away with it because they have huge budgets. I think you know there's Intel inside by now. Yet have you ever heard of Comergent? And if you did, would you remember it?

There are other types of names: acronyms, evocative, descriptive, alphanumerical, and aspirational and on and on. That's the topic for a future article.

Yes, your name and brand identity need to be more than resonant, congruent, and differentiated. Other essential aspects of your brand include being authentic, connected, able to be lived every day, attention to every detail of customer contact, and so on. But an excellent starting point is the resonant/congruent/differentiated test. Think about those ideas in relation to your name or brand.

If you would like some fresh thinking and branding, naming, tag line, or positioning assistance, please get in touch. 585.746.2320 or e-mail chucketal@aol.com. ChuckIngersoll.com

About the Author
Chuck Ingersoll is a freelance namer, brander and copywriter. He brings over 20 years advertising agency experience to the process, and specializes in creating names, positionings and taglines that are not only clever, but effective. (Otherwise it's just empty creativity.) For 10 years he operated his own advertising agency in Rochester, NY, Ingersoll et al, serving major clients Kodak, Xerox and Bausch & Lomb. As a writer, creative director, and vice president at other ad agencies, his experience covers most industries and every type of marketing communications writing from ads to Web sites.

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Pay Per Sale affiliate programs have been around since the beginning of the affiliate marketing business and, due to its obvious fairness, it is still a popular commission model. The number of programs offering this commission model are plenty-- far more than any other model available online.

The reasons for its popularity are many, but a big reason is advertisers' full control over the margins. With any other commission mode, the advertiser needs to calculate the conversion ratio, number of sales and size of purchases very carefully to eliminate the risk of overpaying for clicks, leads or impressions. With the PPS model, advertisers know they will only pay a specific percentage of each sale, meaning every new affiliate - no matter how successful - will contribute to the revenue of the affiliate program.

Advertisers using other commission models stand a much greater risk of having a new affiliate join, only to see him send nothing but non-converting traffic, thus getting paid for nothing. PPC, PPL and PPM are also much more open for fraud, often in the form of auto-generated visitors (i.e. from a script) or other ways of generating impression, clicks or in some cases even leads. For newly-started affiliate programs, showing limited cash flow, other commission models can prove difficult in the beginning. Often it takes a while to get the ball rolling, and paying for anything but sales can cost a bit of money before you get some back. Be sure to calculate how long you can afford to pay for a certain amount of visitors if no one actually converts into a buying visitor.

There will, of course, be plenty of referred visitors who convert into sales, but there are no guarantees. If you were to use a PPS model, paying ONLY For sales, you would never have to pay a commission unless you were seeing a positive cash flow. This is true for the affiliate program as a whole, as well as on an individual affiliate level. Your affiliates won't get paid until they actually makes a sale, thus making the advertiser money in the process.

Some affiliate programs offer a fixed commission instead of a percentage, and if the commission is the same on sales for different amounts, the percentage will differ from one sale to another. Try to find an approximate percentage of commission to calculate the expected revenue for each affiliate sale. Calculating the minimum and maximum revenue is important as well, in order to keep track of the revenue of the affiliate program and its commission model.

Theo Swan - Writing about affiliate marketing and how to make your website stand out. Read more about converting traffic, or find a new program, at http://www.affiliateranker.com]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_CBa_331/user/index.php
By Dechen Lau

Content is the soul of a website. Content is comprised of the words or text on a web page along with the graphics and structure of a website. Today Web content is the best tool for building relations with your potential customers. The look and feel of a site is crucial, but quality web content may be more important.

Two of the most popular methods of getting traffic from search engines include PPC – (Pay Per Click), and SEO – (Search Engine Optimization).

PPC:

Pay per click advertising on search engines allows you to choose keywords that you would like your site to appear for, when a search is performed. You decide how much you are willing to pay each time a person clicks on the search results. The more you are willing to pay per click, the higher your site will appear in the results for the keywords you choose. Pay Per Click is advertising provided by the search engine providers (Google, Yahoo! and others) where you PAY for top placement. Their strategies for placement differ slightly. Some search engines will give you higher placement if your ad has a higher click-through rate, (meaning more people click on your ad in ratio to the amount of times your ad appears); others give top positions to the highest bidder.

You already know surveys are excellent for finding out what your target market wants. However, if combined with low cost, quick and dirty Google PPC, surveys can also send many targeted prospects to your site every month.

In either case, you PAY. It is a quick way to be listed in the search engines and a smart way to get your traffic flowing. You could spend far more than is profitable for your business, if you do not know what you are doing.

Search Engines: While crawling pages of a website, search engines look for content more than anything else. Search engines can pick up quality content and it is the only factor that they emphasize and value most while ranking a website. For the benefit of their users, search engines try to find the best and most useful content on the Internet for any given set of keywords.

SEO:

Search engines are extremely competitive (in terms of placement). The major search engines account for over 90% of all traffic. With that though in mind, companies that are serious about earning a share of the internet market should be committed to securing top 10 rankings for the keywords or phrases that pertain to the products and services that they offer.

The best way to ensure a solid return on your website investment is to employ the services of a Search Engine Optimization firm with a proven track record of success, knowledge of current and cutting edge techniques, and experience working with the business community.

There are a lot of companies working ‘behind the scenes’ to help website owners get plenty of traffic from the natural search engine listings. Natural listings mean the search engine has ranked you according to the value it believes your site will offer an individual searching for a specific word or phrase.

Understanding exactly WHAT the search engines want to see when ranking sites requires knowledge of the algorithms. These algorithms change all the time as search engine providers try to outwit the search engine optimizers trying to find loopholes in the ranking system.

Some SEO companies will promise you top spots for a certain cost. Some are honestly creating optimized websites – others may be using techniques that could possibly get your site BANNED from the search engines entirely, (once the search engine catches on). However, optimizing your website for better placement in the search engines is a technique that you should become familiar with and use to your advantage.

Both of these traffic methods have their pros and cons for generating traffic from the search engines. You will find out more about using them properly later on. First, you need to know what REALLY works…

Dechen Lau., is an Author, Speaker and Internet Marketing Consultant
http://www.powersuccessmarketing.com
http://www.powersuccessresponder.com

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by Kirk Bannerman

Working at home in your own home based business has sort of a natural appeal for an ever increasing number of people.

The reasons people express for wanting to work from home are many and varied, but most home based business owners cite the ability to set their own hours as a major factor in their decision to work at home. However, many people that have work at home businesses often fall into a trap that flies directly in the face of their stated desire for time flexibility.

The strong growth in home based business activity continues and, according to the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, fifty-two percent of ALL small businesses are home-based.

Some home based business owners have been known to become "workaholics" because their office is so accessible. Don't become a slave to your business ... get out of your home office regularly to renew and revitalize yourself.

Close the door to your office or otherwise remove yourself from your designated "work area" and go into your "home" area to live your personal life. If your business involves the use of the telephone and you find it difficult to ignore a ringing phone in the office, simply turn the ringer off and turn the volume on the answering machine way down. If your business is Internet-based, just turn off your computer (or at least get away from the monitor and keyboard).

As a work at home business entrepreneur, you certainly aren't required to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week just because your business is located in your home. After all, your office or workspace is just an area in your home ... its not your home itself!

Working and living under the same roof has a host of advantages, but it can present some challenges (in addition to the workaholic syndrome mentioned, above) and stress factors.

Here are four ways to create a less stressful home business environment:

1). Remember why you wanted to become involved with a home-based business (i.e. more time for family, work schedule flexibility, etc.)

2). Have discussions with your family members and get their input about the working arrangements and the amount of time they want with you.

3). Use good time management techniques. Keep a list of tasks by order of importance. There are many low-cost and effective "day planners" or "organizers" readily available today.

4). ALWAYS take a little time to "smell the roses."

While not experiencing the negatives common to a corporate office working environment, the home-based business owner may occasionally experience stresses and frustrations that are unique to working at home. Networking with other home-based and small business owners provides an opportunity to connect with others who may be experiencing the same stresses/frustrations that you are. Sharing stressful and/or frustrating issues with someone else in the same situation can relieve your stress and may bring you good advice from a different point of view.

As a final note, remember to observe Home-Based Business Week each year (it is always the week of October that includes the second Tuesday).

Kirk Bannerman operates his own successful home based business and also coaches others seeking to start their own home based business. For more information, visit his Website at Legitimate Home Based Business (http://www.business-at-home.us/) .

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by George Levy

As someone who spends an obscene amount of time researching, playing and "working" on MySpace [and loving every minute of it I might add... ;-) ] I have made myself into an expert and an authority on the process of customizing or "pimping" profiles as my countless thousands on MySpace will vouch for me.

Before going deep on HOW to pimp MySpace, I'd first like to address WHY one should pimp his or her MySpace profile.

There are really two answers to this question...

The first is my expert opinion as a marketing specialist - "branding and differentiation."

As MySpace continues to grow at a frantic pace (there are currently over 108 million profiles on MySpace and growing at about 26,000 new ones daily) - it becomes increasingly difficult for an individual or an online business seeking to establish a presence on MySpace to "stand out from the crowd." A well pimped out profile allows for a unique user experience that separates and differentiates a profile from the millions of other "plain-vanilla", non-pimped profiles.

A customized profile allows for using corporate colors and logos as well as controlling the end-user experience to be consistent with one's overall brand identity.

Ok... having said that.

My second answer is more personal - simply "Because it looks cool and because you can."

So... having cleared that up.

The process of "pimping" or decorating and customizing a MySpace profile is part art/part science and consists of several key steps which should be addressed sequentially if you want to have a truly great looking profile.

In order, you must:

1. Choose the kind of look you are going for.

What will your profile be about? Is it about you? Is it for a business? Is there a specific atmosphere that you want your profile to have? You must be clear on what you want to portray and design in your profile prior to making any customizations.

This will help you save a lot of time and needless aggravation

2. Determine if you'll use a Pre-Made layout or create your own.

There are thousands of pre-made layouts available on the Internet. One need only to search in the search engines for the keywords "MySpace Layouts" to find page after page of web sites that offer pre-designed layouts for you to choose.

Another alternative, and my personal preference, is to design and develop your own profile look. By customizing your profile look and feel, you not only avoid the risk of using the exact same layout that somebody else is using but you also prevent any problems you may have with any copyrighted images in your layout that the original creator may not have secured and which may result in your profile being shut down by MySpace.

Should you choose instead to pimp your profile yourself, you will need to have a tool called a "MySpace Profile Editor" that will allow you to change most aspects of your profile including background images, colors, borders, fonts and a great number of other customizable options. You can do a search for "MySpace Profile Editor" to find one you can use.

Like in all software, there's the good, the bad and the ugly in profile editors and being tired of just finding "the bad", I personally chose to custom develop my very own easy to use, top of the line profile editor.

3. Customize your Contact table.

MySpace also allows you to customize a section of your profile called your "Contact Table." This is the small table underneath your default picture where you can select to Add as a Friend, Send a Message, Rate a Picture and other actions.

Once again, you can search on the web for "Pre-Made Contact Tables" that you can download and install but just like with pre-me profile layouts, you run into the same issues of not having a truly original profile and any potential copyright infringement issues.

My recommendation is, if you can develop your own contact table, by all means do so.

The general consensus on MySpace is that a profile is never truly pimped unless it has a custom table to go along with it...

So make sure that when you pimp your profile you choose a good looking contact table to go along with it.

4. Apply "hide codes" and "tweaks."

There are many other codes and so-called "hides and tweaks" that you can apply to your profile to make it hide specific information and change the look of many different elements including how pictures are displayed, if you want to center your profile and the order and number of how your friends are displayed. You can also apply effects to blur and reverse your images, add graphics that seem to "fall from the sky" and a great number of other options to embellish your profile.

In conclusion, pimping your MySpace profile is a very personal process and making your "Space" or profile be truly unique requires a combination of skills, patience and the willingness to try different things. Remember, in customizing your MySpace profile, there are no wrong answers and anything you create is yours to keep or discard (do overs are perfectly acceptable in MySpace... Unless of course you break any of MySpace's terms of service which can be accessed through a link at the bottom of every page on MySpace.)

Make sure you enjoy the process and don't be afraid to try new things - after all... it is YOUR MySpace profile, make it truly a reflection of who you are!

George Levy is an internationally recognized Internet marketing expert responsible for helping all types and sizes of businesses use the Internet to sell over $100 million dollars in the United States, Canada and 14 countries across Latin America. He is also commonly known as "His Mastership" on MySpace and is part of a select group of MySpace users commonly acknowledged as "Legends" and "VIPs" with thousands of friends worldwide and hundreds more added daily.

George is the expert author of the Internet Salesmanship newsletter and blog as well as the creator of best selling "MySpace Mastership" program with all the tools and video instructions necessary to Pimp your MySpace profile, make thousands of friends and become a well known celebrity on MySpace.

To find out more about George Levy, you may visit his blog at http://www.georgelevy.com and visit MySpace Mastership to receive his 5 day Free email course on achieving Mastership of MySpace at:

http://www.myspacemastership.com
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by Shannon Margolis

In today’s highly competitive business climate, the success and longevity of enterprise businesses of all types and sizes primarily depend on efficient business process management. Considering the fact that a proper business process management plan that incorporates the latest, state-of-the-art business process solutions is what separates the successful, prominent businesses from the rest, all business-oriented companies are permanently looking for improvements in this particular area in order to strengthen their position in the market. By establishing a top-quality business process management plan, customized to fit the exact needs and requirements of your business, you can significantly improve the efficiency of your business, thus ensuring better profits and better exposure.

The concept of business process management encompasses an extensive series of specific activities performed by businesses in order to optimize their regular processes. The activities comprised by business process management can be divided into three distinctive categories: design, execution and monitoring.

The design phase either refers to designing customized business processes or adopting already existing processes and modifying them to fit the specific needs of a certain business. During the stage of business process management design, organizations can also test the efficiency and reliability of the newly developed business processes before introducing them into practice. By integrating specific software for process design to be used for obtaining graphical representations of workflows, as well as for implementing and maintaining workflows, organizations can transform the evolution of business processes into a less demanding and challenging experience.

The phase of process execution, just like the name suggests, basically refers to the execution of the previously designed processes by using various applications. While in the recent past the succession of activities conducted during this stage of business process management depended almost entirely on human intervention, today’s advanced technology allows for a good level of automation, significantly limiting the need for human intervention. Modern software in the category of Business Process Management Systems (BPMS) provides efficient automation solutions, allowing companies to use computer language in performing specific activities. Although the need for human intervention in the phase of process execution hasn’t been completely eliminated, nowadays it represents almost a negligible factor when using highly-competitive software tools.

In order to ensure that their used BPMS is efficient, organizations should check if the software respects the principles of business process architecture (accounts for all the major segments of business process architecture: enterprise architecture, policy and procedures, project management, logistics and so on). Some of the most popular BPMS used at present are built on the Microsoft Platform and include names such as BizTalk Server, SQL Server, InfoPath, MOM and SharePoint. With a good level of training in business process architecture and business process implementation using advanced BPMS, companies can substantially increase business efficiency and prosperity.

The last stage in business process management consists in process monitoring. The process monitoring stage involves performing a series of activities aimed at obtaining conclusive data on the performance of business processes, as well as finding and timely correcting any emerging problems. The monitoring of processes and the reporting of existing problems can nowadays be handled entirely with BPMS. With the right software tools, companies can rapidly identify performance issues, being provided with detailed statistic data and in-depth analyses of each distinctive category of business processes.

The long-term results provided by high-quality business process solutions and efficient business process implementation inside organizations are: significantly increased business efficiency, higher business adaptability, versatility and agility in the market. In order to ensure the optimal performance of your business processes through efficient business process management, you can either employ the services of a reputed business-consulting company and receive the latest solutions, tailored to fit the exact needs of your business, or form your own team of professionals with a good level of training in business process implementation using advanced Business Process Management Systems.

For more information on business process management please visit www.unitekconsulting.com?source=articlesender

Shannon Margolis
Marketing Coordinator
http://www.unitek.com/training

View their website at: http://www.unitek.com/training?source=articlesender/
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by Michael Moshkovich

The age of Internet shopping is taking over the world, and even the brick and the trend is even affecting the brick and mortar store with more and more customers wanting to shop on the Internet. In order to stay competitive, a store must not only have a physical location, but it must be willing to have a website from which customers can shop. It's no longer enough to have a website for customers to see what the store sells, but it must offer an online storefront so that shoppers can make purchases from the privacy of their own homes.

In order for a merchant to have a successful online storefront, it's important that he install reliable and easy to use shopping cart software. For those who are new to online shopping and don't understand the purpose of the shopping cart, let us explain a little about the process. Before the introduction of shopping card software, an online shopper had to purchase each product he wanted individually unless the merchant had an order form where the shopper could include several items. As eCommerce became more popular, the importance of a better system became pertinent. If eCommerce were going to become the wave of the future, merchants would have to make it quick and easy for customers to place an order. Thus, the eCommerce solution was the development of shopping cart software that allows a shopper to make purchases and place them in a "shopping cart" much as you do at the grocery store and pay for everything when you have finished shopping and are ready to "proceed to checkout."

Shopping cart software has opened an entire new media for the online shopper, and as a result, eCommerce has exploded all over the Internet with the introduction of stores like Amazon.com who do not even have a brick and mortar store. Yes, they have a brick and mortar building, but that is a packaging and shipping facility only, not a store where you can walk in and purchase what you like. Amazon is probably the first store of its type on the Internet, but many more have opened since then. Today, instead of just books and videos, Amazon distributes products for a great deal of retailers including ToysRUs. The technology of the shopping cart software has opened up an entire new era of shopping throughout the world, and at the holidays, it's even bigger as people flock to their keyboards and monitors instead of the malls as they used to do.

How has the trend toward eCommerce shopping affected retailers with a concrete building, especially during peak seasons such as Christmas and Easter? For those who are innovative and determined enough to enter the eCommerce market, the seasons will show a boost in business, but for those who choose to limit their business to walk-in trade, they are likely to see a reduction in the sales volume compared to the previous year's figures. With people's busy schedules and the price of gasoline, online shopping is becoming more attractive to the average shopper, especially with the ease of using shopping cart software and the attractive online storefront websites that are available. Interactive websites draw customers to their products with music, games, animation, and other tools that catch the attention of a potential buyer.

New merchants should certainly not hesitate to add a shopping cart feature from the start unless your business is only one product and no choices such as color or size. For instance, if you are selling a book you wrote, and it's only in one format, then there is no need to have a shopping cart. If, however, you offer the same book in hardcover, paperback, and eBook format, a shopping cart may be a good idea in case a buyer wants to buy more than one copy in different formats. Of course, if you have a multi-product eCommerce site, to operate without a shopping cart is courting disaster. Some of the reasons for adding shopping cart technology to your eCommerce site include:

- It allows a shopper to save his purchases and return later to finish shopping

- A shopper can return to his shopping cart and increase or decrease the number of items he wants to purchase

- A shopper as an opportunity to remove products from his shopping cart without deleting the entire order

- Shopping cart software also allows the buyer to track what products he ordered and allows the seller to include shipping information

The shopping cart software makes it easier for the seller as well because he does not have to keep track of numerous orders, and it allows him to see everything a buyer ordered at one time. In many cases, a shopping cart is also connected to online inventory so that a seller knows if he has enough of the product to fulfill his orders. It also allows him to track what customers have bought and thus know what may interest a customer for the future.

Copyright (c) 2006 WebCart

Michael Moshkovich is a web developer and internet marketer who has written over 50 articles on SEO, shopping cart software and PPC marketing. To learn more about WebCart visit us at http://www.webcart.net.
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by Huzaili Aris

A conference call involves the communication between a calling party and more than one listener. There are numerous conference call services available, making it difficult to make a quick decision. The service that you choose will ultimately depend on the expectations and uses you wish get out of your conference calls. For some, only a few details matter, such as price, while others are in need of advanced services like on-the-spot technical support. Below are a few factors to consider when choosing the conference call service that is most compatible with your needs.

Business Conference Calls

When it comes time to report quarterly stats, many companies turn to conference calls. This allows them to communicate the ups and downs of their business to interested parties. A higher-level company executive, such as the CEO, often reads the company reports. Once the results are revealed, the call is then accessible for others to join in, namely stock analysts, who come with a slew of questions. Businesses may also use conference calls to promote their products or services. Seminar leaders may open a conference call to the public to share their marketing techniques or business strategies for free or a small price.

Entertainment-Based Conference Calls

Today, people are looking for more and more ways to make new friends or find the companion of their dreams. When bars and clubs get to be too much, the allure of chatting on a "party line" becomes increasingly appealing. Entertainment-based conference calls are used to provide a break from boredom, as well as a way to socialize with others. Participants call a phone number set aside for this purpose and are plugged into a whole new world of mingling and flirting.

Audio vs. Visual

Audio conference calls are less expensive and require less equipment than visual conferencing. Web conference calls also open up a host of potential problems, such as malfunctioning chat, instant message, and web cam services. Streaming video may also pose concerns. Although the capabilities of visual conference calls are vast and have a better way of getting the point across, depending on your intended audience, the concept might be too advanced.

To use visual conferencing as a business tool, you will also have to familiarize yourself with an assortment of software selections and other online options. Learning visual conferencing techniques is a process. For example, include too many large files and you may end up with a communication problem.

Conference Call Limitations

What kind of conference call do you want? Some services allow the called party to speak during a call, while other selections only allow called parties to listen to what is being said.

Conference Call Set-Up

Do you want to control how conference calls are received and made? Calling parties can place calls to desired participants or entrance to a call is gained by calling a special phone number.

Reservation vs Non-Reservation

When you choose a service offering reservation-less conference calls, you will enjoy more freedom. Calls can be placed at any time without speaking to an operator or setting up an appointment. Reservation services require you to schedule your call ahead of time.

Conference Call Commands

What sort of capabilities do calling parties have when choosing a service? Things to consider include the ability to get operator assistance, mute and unmute participants, alter ringing tones and record conversations.

Call Planning is Essential

Knowing how long your conference call will be allows you to shuffle along participants to meet time expectations. As a rule of thumb, a conference call centers on an hour or more. Larger groups demand longer time frames, but without the use of video, it is difficult to keep the interest of all participants.

Usually, about 1-3 minutes are given to each participant to voice his or her opinions. Often, an hour-long conversation handles about 1-2 topics. Another important factor pertaining to conference calls is to prepare for last-minute technical issues. Be aware of applicable time zones and schedule a conference call that will accommodate all of your desired participants. When choosing a service, make sure all customer and technical support will be handled in a timely manner.

Billing Plans

Accepting a variety of credit cards, some services offer per minute pricing plans. Once the conference call is completed, a call summary is emailed to you with all of the details. Applicable charges are then placed on your credit card. Additional plans include flat rate unlimited and monthly plans. Some companies offer a flat monthly rate of $60 for a maximum of five people that allows unlimited usage for the month.

Special Services

Will the conference call service you choose provide you with extra services? Depending on your needs, you may desire to have a taped recording of your conference call. Some services offer this luxury for a flat fee (around $25). Some charge an hourly rate if you wish to have a transcript of your call. Rebroadcasts are also offered through some services for a fee. For an extra charge, operator assistance might be available, which helps with the moderation of conference calls.

Several Conference Call Service Companies Reviewed

Accu Conference : This on-demand, fully automated toll-free service offers reservation-less service, free call recordings and live in-call web control for 9.9 cents per line. Operator service costs 13.9 cents. Unlimited use, flat-rate conferencing is offered, starting at $99 per month.

No Cost Conference : Offers free, reservation-less conference call capabilities, available 24 hours a day. You will receive a pin and dial-in phone number once a quick registration is completed. Free and cheap conference call services are good for short notice calls and limited budgets. With this option, reliability of service does become a concern.

WebEx : Offers conference call services, as well as helpful products, such as Meeting Center, Training Center, Support Center and Sales Center. They offer different solutions to better serve small, medium and large companies. They also offer decent live technical support and pay-per-use services.

OnConference : This service offers no set-up fee and has a listed price of 19 cents per minute per person with or without toll-free access.

Contact Call : Highly recommended for their operator-assisted services.

When you conduct careful comparisons and research on the many conference call services, you will be able to take advantage of a wealth of savings that regular phone services cannot provide.

Huzaili Aris is the webmaster of http://www.conferencecall101.com. Starting a conference call is not as complex as some people think. It is the easiest way to save you time and money for your business. Know all the information about making conference.
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by Jeff Davis

I’ve been scammed plenty of times.

I just lost $50 on a type at home scam!!

Not to mention the 5 years, $1000's of dollars and blood, sweat and tears, I put into trying to make money with my website.

By now, you'd think I could smell a scam a mile away.

Right?

Well, not always.

It seems that the smarter I get the smarter the scammers seem to get.

But when I decided that I wanted to work from home, I knew that I didn’t want to pay way to much money to get a job.

Nor did I wish to have to recruit tens or hundreds of people in order to get paid for whatever job I did get.

All I wanted was to do a better job than my competition.

You know--like I used to do in the “real” world.

Along the way I discovered that there were a lot of other people, just like me, who were trying to avoid the emotional and financial pain of being robbed, in a phoney scheme.

Over time, I realized that there is no 100-percent, sure-fire way to protect myself.

But I did learn--the hard way--that I could recognize some of the warning signs on the way, and how to minimize the risks of getting burned.

I eventually put my experience to work, started a web site, to help other people who want to work from home.

Following are some tips that I want to share with you so we can "flatten" your learning curve, and you won't suffer the same heartache, and frustration that I did.........

These tips are easy to follow, and I offer them below with the hope of helping you find a real way to make money online with your website.

1. Don’t pay for an opportunity, they obviously are not in it for the long haul, and have no intention of putting you first.

2. If you find that the company uses language like this in their copy, you should run screaming the other way.

Words like:

matrix, power line, no experience necessary, free information, big money fast, you get the picture, and I am sure you get bombarded by these sleezy tactics every day.

3. Look out for companies that hire “internationally”.

Chances are great that the “company” is really a person who already has an up line, down line, or whatever.

4. Don’t send an SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) for further information. If they can't afford stamps, how are they going to pay YOU?

5. Shy away from 900 numbers, most honest marketers, will provide you with real contact information. Do a "who is" and do your "Due Dilligence"

6. Don't buy courses and materials that the company "provides" for a price. If you don’t already have the tools for the job, then you probably aren’t qualified for the job.

7. Examine the advertising copy with a fine tooth comb, often time the "hook" is in small print.

8. Check the track record of the compay, before agreeing to work for it. Your hard-earned pay might end up being the owners’ grocery money, because they didn’t budget their start-up money properly.

9. The Better Business Bureau is a great place to start researching a company. Although companies pay to be listed there, any company that gets complaints will also be listed--for free.

10. Join the forums that relate to your niche, and you will find like minded people who love to expose a scam when they find one. This is a valuable resource alone, will save you a lot of time and trouble.

Don't balatantly advertise, build relationships and be a "helper". Learn to enjoy helping others.

Article by Jeff Davis. Did you find those tips on avoiding scams useful? You can learn a lot more about how to make money with your website here: http://how-to-make-money-with-your-web-site.com
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by Sharon Housley

You think that you have mastered the art of RSS, but how much do you really know? Take the RSS quiz to test your knowledge of RSS.

Question: If something is in an RSS feed, it is perfectly fine to reproduce the contents of the feed. I mean after all RSS means really simple syndication, right?

Answer: No, that is not true. Regardless of whether content is in a feed or not, the original creator of the content has the right to restrict its use. While most people do feel that if content is in an RSS feed, it is available for syndication--that is not always the case. Various groups have made efforts to add namespaces which expand the tags used in RSS, to define whether the content is available for syndication. The two most notable namespaces that detail permissions are the Creative Commons extension and the Bloglines' Access extension. These two extensions are not yet widely supported so it is always best to check the terms of service associated with the feed or website to determine if the feed is available for syndication.

Question: RSS is only for blogs right? All blogs have RSS feeds right?

Answer: No, and No! While blogs may have helped increase the popularity of RSS feeds, RSS feeds are not specific to blogs. RSS feeds can be used for any type of content not just blogs. In fact, there are probably more RSS feeds available for non-blogs than there are feeds for blogs. Publishers have used RSS feeds for articles, press releases, discounts, podcasts, calendars, alerts and the list goes on and on.

Question: When I add a new item to the feed, do I simply edit the old .rss file or do I create a new one?

Answer: If you are adding content related to the theme of the original RSS feed, you should always expand your existing RSS feed rather than creating a new feed. Do not edit any of the RSS feed's existing items, simply add a new item to the existing RSS feed.

Question: Can RSS Feeds be set up for private list subscribers and what kind of security is available for RSS feeds to support a private feed?

Answer: Yes, while there are no provisions in the RSS 2.0 specification for passwords or protecting files, you can use any security mechanism available on the http server to protect the entire RSS feed. The security options are dependent on the capabilities of your web server.

Question: What is a feed reader?

Answer: A feed reader can also be referred to a news aggregator. RSS feed readers come in all shapes and sizes and are just tools that make it easy for users to view the contents or headlines of the RSS feeds they subscribe to. Feed readers can be desktop applications, or web applications. Desktop readers are programs that behave similar to an email client, you add new feeds and when the RSS feeds you subscribe to are updated new items appear in the RSS reader. The web aggregators are websites that aggregate all of your favorite feeds, the web page dynamically updates as new items are added to the feeds you subscribe to. Many email applications now also include the ability to monitor RSS feeds. As the popularity of RSS increases, the options to read and monitor feeds is expanding.

Question: Can you block a search engine from accessing a feed?

Answer: You can use a robots.txt to indicate to search engines that specific RSS feeds should not be indexed. Most search engines will observe the contents of a properly formatted robots.txt file.

Question: What is a GUID?

Answer: A GUID is a globally unique identifier. The RSS specification strongly suggests that each RSS feed item have a unique GUID. If you are creating feeds, a GUID is important because GUIDs are often used by feed readers and aggregators to determine if a feed item is new or simply an existing item that has been updated. Each item in the RSS feed should have a different GUID.

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. Interested in additional RSS FAQs visit the RSS Knowledgebase http://www.feedforall.com/knowledgebase.htm or subscribe to the RSS knowledgebase feed http://www.feedforall.com/knowledgebase.php
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by John Eberhard

A new type of promotional medium has sprung up or evolved on the Internet over the past two years – namely “content hubs.”

A content hub is a type of web site that has lots of informational articles on it. A person with a web site, who needs article content for their site, can go to a content hub and download articles for free on a wide variety of topics, and then post them on their web site. These content hubs allow you to search by topic or category or by keyword.

Writers can post articles on the content hubs. The benefit for the writer is that he can mention his company and include his web site address in the article. And that provides in-bound links to his web site, from the content hubs themselves, and from every web site where that article is posted. In-bound links, meaning links from other web sites that link to yours, increase link popularity, which is one of the main criteria used by Google and other search engines to determine web site ranking.

So the content hubs service both writers who want to get the word out on their company or products or services, and people who have web sites who need article content.

The key, for a writer, is to write something that will appeal to the general public, or at least to a sizable specific niche public (such as webmasters or web promotion for instance), so that the article gets downloaded and used on lots of sites in need of content.

It is also key to include the name of the company in the article, preferably near the beginning, and include the company web address in the article as well, and in the writer bio at the end.

The article itself should not be written in such a way that it is just a blatant promo piece for your company. It has to be written so that it is about a topic that your company deals with or you are an expert on, and it mentions your company, but it doesn’t say “call us now at 1-800-222-2222 for a great deal on tires” at the end. In other words, what in marketing is called a “call to action,” where you tell your prospect to contact you or to respond for more information or to buy now, should not be included in articles for content hubs.

If there are specific key words or phrases that people use to find your web site (most web statistics programs can give you this information), or to look for your product or service, then try to find a way to include those words or phrases near the beginning of your article.

It’s a good idea to look over the type of articles that are currently being accepted on content hubs, to get a better idea of what works there, and so you can write articles that will fit this medium. Some good content hubs to look at are:

http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.isnare.com/
http://www.articlecity.com/
http://www.exchangenet.com/
http://freezinesite.com/
http://articles.simplysearch4it.com/
http://www.dime-co.com/

There are currently over 700 content hubs on the Internet.

Most of the content hubs require that you register with them before they will allow you to post an article there. Some of the sites have your article reviewed by a live person before it goes up. Some will just post it without review.

Once you get registered on a number of content hubs, it is best to post one article, then post more articles at intervals of about once a week. Make sure you include your company name and URL in each article.

If your company has any articles written already that were written for other purposes, you may be able to convert them into a form that will work for the content hubs. The key is to read the types of articles that are already appearing on the hubs and convert your content into a similar form.

Content hubs are a great way to get out information on your company, and are becoming one of the primary ways of promoting on the net.

John Eberhard is President of RealWebMarketing.net (http://www.realwebmarketing.net), a marketing consultant, writer and political analyst living in Los Angeles. He can be reached at http://www.realwebmarketing.net/contact.html.
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by John Case

Writing informative articles and syndicating them over the internet is an easy way to get hundreds, or even thousands, of one-way links to your site, skyrocketing your search engine rankings. As your articles spread across the internet, more and more readers who find the articles useful will find and follow links to your site. You will become known as a leader, not a follower in your field, as your name and homepage link appears on hundreds of other sites.

Many webmasters have never heard of article syndication. Those who know about syndication often avoid it, thinking it is too much trouble, or that they have nothing to write about. Other might see no reason to give away valuable content for nothing. However, producing and distributing articles is not nearly as difficult as it might seem, and the advantages are many.

Creating Your Articles

If the prospect of sitting down to write a few articles frightens you, one option is to outsource the work by hiring a ghostwriter. Ghostwriters can be found by registering at www.elance.com or www.directfreelance.com and posting a simple project outline. Writers will bid on your project, and you accept the writer with the qualifications and bid that best suits you. If you go to the trouble of hiring a ghostwriter, it is probably a good idea to get them to research and write a number of articles, rather than just one.

You can also easily produce new articles by recycling some content from your site, or creating several articles with some overlapping content. For example, if you are running a site on pilates (a type of exercise) you could easily produce four articles with titles like “Just What is Pilates?,” “A Brief History of Pilates?,” “Is Pilates Right for You?,” and “Why is Pilates So Popular with Hollywood Celebs?,” and use a bit of general information in all four articles. The content does not have to be revolutionary-in fact, there is a greater demand for general, “for dummies”-type introductory articles. You should proofread your articles before sending them out, or that one typo will soon be replicated hundreds of times. However, the writing does not have to be at the Pulitzer-Prize level. Just try to write simple, straightforward articles introducing the topics of your site, geared toward someone with no previous knowledge.

Tips on Writing Articles

Include a reprint disclaimer at the bottom of each article. For example: “Webmasters are free to reprint this article provided that it is not edited, the author's information is included, and the links are included as live links.”

Many directories will reject articles that include links to your site in the body text. Include links to your site in the “Author info” section.

The “author info” section, also called the “resource box” at the bottom of the article is a place for you to include a link to your site and brief introduction. Always remember to include this, as there is little point in syndicating articles without it. Here is an example of a simple resource box text: “John Smith is the author of http://www.Domian.com, a free guide to making an income online, and maintains an SEO site at http://www.Domain.com”

Distributing You Articles

There are a number of free article directories below where you can register and submit your articles. Most of them are large sites that are constantly growing as authors add new articles every day, meaning that the search engines often spider them. Even if your articles are never picked up and republished, submitting them to the directories alone will have a huge effect on your search engine rankings. The submission guidelines vary a bit from site to site.

About The Author
John Case is the author of the Complete SEO Training Course (http://www.complete-seo-training.com/) and maintains an experimental advertising site at http://www.awordsworth1000pictures.com/.
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by William Perkins

Most internet marketing professionals agree that if you don’t have a list, then you don’t really have a business. Building a lucrative list is essential to your success. A customer list is the greatest asset of any business. In internet marketing, your customer list is your personal gold mine.

After you solve the problem of generating traffic to your website, it then becomes necessary to capture the name and email address of your visitor so you can build your own customer list. If you fail to do this, your business will fail.

It’s amazing to me how many people spend a ton of effort and money on getting visitors to their site where they pitch a product in hopes of getting a sale and then fail to capture their visitor’s name and email address.

You must focus your attention on building your list instead of on trying to make your initial sale. Remember, only 1 in a 100 people is going to buy your product after arriving at your website. You must capture the other 99 people’s name and email address so that you can show your product(s) to them again in the future.

There are a few techniques you can use to capture your visitor’s information and build a lucrative list. Here are the three “biggies” which are the most effective:

1. The Squeeze Page
2. The Pop-Up, and
3. A Simple Opt-in Form

The best method to use of the three ways to build a list is the squeeze page. A regular opt-in form might get a 10% to 20% opt-in rate, while a squeeze page is more likely to produce a 20% to 40% opt-in rate of the total number of visitors who arrive at your website.

A squeeze page is a web page with only one purpose: to capture the information details of your visitor. The squeeze page is different from using a pop-up or normal opt-in form because you don’t allow your visitor access to your website unless they give you their name and email address, and/or other details.

Therefore, a squeeze page must “sell” the benefits of your website to your visitor. A good squeeze page must have a strong benefit driven headline to grab the reader’s attention, some bullet points outlining the benefits of your website, and a call to action.

The best squeeze pages are not long. Do not make your visitor scroll down the page to opt-in. Other best practices include placing your photo on the page, make bold every other bullet point, and put a box around your "call to action" which is merely your opt-in form. Tell the visitor exactly what to do in no uncertain terms.

You must provide enough information to entice your visitors to leave their name and email address. Use good copywriting and sales techniques to “squeeze” your customers into joining your list. To ensure that people opt-in, you usually have to bribe them.

Offer some kind of free gift to bribe your visitor. A short report, a mini-course, a subscription to your newsletter, or an audio or video file is usually enough to get your visitor to join your list. In your call to action, be sure to let your visitors know that they will be given their free gift immediately after clicking the “submit” button located on your form.

Just a note here: You will not be sending your customers to your web page immediately after they enter their information details. Instead, you will send them to your “One Time Offer” page which is the subject of one of my other articles in this series of articles on list building.

Newbies are often afraid to use a squeeze page. They think that not enough people will choose to opt-in to their list. It’s true that you will need to write convincing copy and you will have to offer a valuable gift to get your visitor to opt-in. But you need not worry about visitors who don’t choose to opt-in. If your visitors are not even interested enough to give you their email address, then they probably won’t be interested enough to buy from you either.

William Perkins writes about how to start an online business, affiliate marketing, and making money online. He has packaged what he knows into a new Affiliate Marketing Handbook. You can get the first 35 pages of the handbook for free when you opt-in at his website. http://www.BigWillySite.com.
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by Jonathan Moss

Why affiliate marketing ? Well, affiliate marketing allows you to advertise products created by others on your website, and then earn up to 75% commission for each sale. You can choose from affiliate programs that sell almost anything, but you tend to be able to make the most money through selling electronic products such as ebooks, reports, software or videos. This article will provide you with a number of tips to help you make a start in affiliate marketing.

Why participate in affiliate marketing programs? Here are four simple tips.

• Find a program in a niche that you like and are interested in.
• Look for a program that is associated with experts
• Find a product in a growing market to help ensure more and future demand for the niche.
• Make sure the program has a good range of useful tools and resources to help you promote the product and grow your business.

When you have decided on your chosen niche, and selected the products you want to promote you must consider why customers would want to buy from your site. So, you must remember the following when designing your website.

• Develop unique web pages to promote each product you are marketing - your site must focus on each product individually and nothing more.
• Always include product reviews and testimonials on your site, and offer free content or reports to your visitors.
• List the benefits of the product and focus on points like how the product can make life easier and more comfortable.
• Write articles for ezines and ereports highlighting the uses of the product and include them on your site. Try to write a couple of articles per week (300 – 600 words). Remember that search engines like article sites and ezine sites such as ezinearticles.com.

Clearly you want all of your visitors to click the order button, but converting them to customers is a challenge. On average only 1 out of 100 visitors are likely to buy. Therefore, if you can generate as much as 1000 hits to your website every day, on average you can make about 10 sales. But how do you get people to visit your site ?

I have mentioned writing articles already as a way to get people to your site for free. A popular way to generate traffic for your website is by paying for it using pay per click (PPC) advertising on the main search engines such as Google or Yahoo. PPC is one of the most cost effective ways of targeted internet advertising. The idea is that you write really good short adverts which appear on the search result pages, and you only have to pay when someone clicks on your link. Your ranking in the search engine results is determined by the amount you are willing to pay for each click on your advert. The highest bid will be ranked number 1, followed by all equivalent lower bids.

There are of course many other ways to get traffic to your site, and these can be found either by searching the internet, or by reading the answer to my next question - where do you go from here ?

The answer - you should subscribe to a course which can teach you the basics of affiliate marketing, an easy to follow step by step guide. My personal recommendation is a free 27 day course by Matthew Glanfield. Matthew has been marketing online for over three years. In the second half of 2005 he generated over $100,000 of sales from only one of his websites. He now runs a number of really successful websites to help others to be able to start their own Internet business.

This course takes you from planning your first affiliate sales on day one to having a fully active website promoting your selected product by the end of the course. It is packed with valuable information and videos to get you on track as soon as possible. By signing up for this course you will also receive a free chapter, The secret formula for successful Affiliate Marketing, from one of Matthew’s courses. You will also receive a copy of a brand new ebook called Copy 101 which will help you write really effective PPC ads.

Jonathan Moss has been working in Internet Marketing for over 12 months. To find out more about affiliate marketing please visit http://27daycourse.jvmuk.com. You may reprint this article in full complete with the Author Bio.
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by Sharon Housley

RSS is not quite a household word, but technically astute individuals are adopting the use of RSS feeds at an alarming rate. If you are interested in jumping on the bandwagon, but not quite sure of where to start, consider following these simple RSS feed tips to maximize feed compatibility and make your feed stand out from the crowd.

RSS DO's

1. Titles and Descriptions.

Always include meaningful keywords in your RSS feed's Channel title and description. Many readers will view or search for topic specific RSS feeds using keywords or keyword phrases. If you have descriptive keywords in your RSS feed's title and description the feed is more likely to be located and subscribed to by interested parties.

2. GUID Format.

Always include a GUID with each feed item. The GUID is a globally unique identifier. Each post should use a different GUID. The GUID will in some cases assist RSS news readers and aggregation software in determining when new content has been added to the RSS feed or when existing content in an RSS feed has been modified. If you do not use GUID's, the software used to aggregate the feeds may have difficulty detecting changes to feed items or the software may not always recognize new content.

3. Publish Dates.

Always include a publish date on feed items. The publish date should be used even if the content is timeless. The Publish Date will help readers determine that status of the content contained in the feed item.

4. Polish Your Feed.

Consider including images within your RSS feed. While the added images will not necessarily improve ranking, they will add a polished look to your RSS feed and help brand your feed.

5. Feed Hosting.

Either host your own feed, or set it up to forward to a third party from your website. This will allow you retain complete control over the RSS feed. You will not need to rely on the stability of another company. If you control the forwarding and at any point you are dissatisfied with the service provided by the third party, you can redirect the feed to another location.

RSS DON'Ts

1. Plagiarize.

Do not plagiarize content in your RSS feed, there is little more to be said. Written words are considered protected in most countries. Posting someone else's work and taking credit for their words is wrong and will damage your reputation as a credible source.

2. Splog.

Do not create splogs by automating feed creation. Splogs just clutter the search engines and directories and make it difficult to locate RSS feeds with meaningful content.

3. Violate Copyrights.

Do not violate copyrights by republishing an RSS feeds contents. If you quote content from another RSS feed, credit the source and provide and link to the original source of the content. As a rule of thumb, editorial content should exceed the length of the quoted material in the post.

4. Violate TOS.

Do not republish RSS feeds without confirming that feed syndication is allowed. The terms of use are not always apparent, so it is important that you check the terms of service on the publisher's feed subscription page prior to syndicating the contents of another publisher's RSS feed.

5. Provide Multiple Feed Formats.

Do not provide multiple feed formats for the same content. As far as the subscriber is concerned, the version of RSS that you are using is irrelevant. Multiple versions of the same feed simply cause confusion. Almost all RSS readers and news aggregators support all versions of RSS, simply choose a version and provide a single feed.

By adopting good feed practices, you can reap the benefits of having an RSS feed. Following these simple RSS do's and don'ts will get you started on the path to RSS success.

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.
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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.
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by Farhad Divecha

As competition increases in the online market space, more companies vie for Top 10 placement on the search engines, driving up costs per click. In such an environment it is imperative for companies bidding on top positions to convert as many visitor clicks into customers as possible. This article discusses a few measures all companies can take to improve conversion rates on their e-commerce sites.

1. Keyword Research

• Ensure that your keyword research (http://www.accuracast.com/resources/seo/seo-keywords.php ) is thorough. If you only select the most obvious keywords, you will pay more, since all your competitors will also be bidding on them.

• If you select only generic keywords, you will suffer low conversion rates since visitors typing such words in are often not yet ready to buy.

• If you miss out the unique keywords which no one else is bidding on, you will miss the opportunity to sell to visitors that search on these keywords.

• Use negative keywords to discourage irrelevant searches from displaying your advertisement.

2. Effective Ad Copy

• Ensure that your ads describe your product or service precisely.

• Do not lie in your ads to attract visitors. If visitors don't find what your ad promised on your site, they will leave, making your conversion rates fall.

• Use your ad to discourage the wrong sort of people from clicking. E.g. if you sell a premium product, don't use words like "cheap" or "bargain".

3. Consistency

• Deliver what your ad promises. Always.

• Make sure that your offline and online advertising image is consistent.

• Most importantly, for e-commerce sites, ensure that the price quoted is consistent throughout your site and through the entire checkout process.

4. No Hidden Costs

• Make customers aware of any extra costs at the very start of the checkout process.

• VAT and postage should be clearly mentioned as extras.

• If the amount quoted at the start is unexpectedly different from the final total, customers will abandon the checkout process and shop elsewhere. This will make your conversion rate suffer greatly.

5. Comprehensive Search Engine Marketing

• Customers often browse and return for products. If they can't find you when they return, you will loose the conversion.

• Top 10 placement in the natural and paid listings often reinforces customer trust in your brand, making them more likely to buy from your site.

• Ensure that your search engine marketing campaign (http://www.accuracast.com/services/ ) also builds a brand in the minds of browsers, so that when they are ready to buy, they will come to your site since it is the only one they recognize.

When you increase conversion rates on your e-commerce site, you can automatically afford to bid more per click without suffering a loss. If you find CPC's rising and profitably diminishing rapidly, the first step you should take is to review your site to ensure that you are converting as many visitors as possible. The maths is very simple:

If you currently pay £1.00 per click on Google, convert only 1% of these clicks, and the profit you make on each conversion is just £100, your total cost = total profit, meaning you just break even.

If you have to raise your CPC to £1.10 per click in order to maintain your top 10 position, you will suffer a loss.

However, if you just raised your conversion rate by 1%, you would actually find yourself making a profit, since your cost would now be £110 for 100 clicks but the profit made from 2% conversion, i.e. 2 sales would be £200!

Other articles to read:

• The advent of RSS advertising (http://www.accuracast.com/seo-weekly/rss-advertising.php )

• Website accessibility important for disabled visitors (http://www.accuracast.com/seo-weekly/website-accessibility.php )

SEO Weekly ( http://www.accuracast.com/seo-weekly/ )

Farhad Divecha

Before founding AccuraCast, Farhad worked for and provided consulting services to a number of large and medium sized enterprises in the UK and USA including 3Com, Proctor & Gamble and Household (HFC, HSBC). He has over 7 years of experience marketing products and services online and offline.
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by Gary Ruplinger

If you’re not using video on your website yet, then you’re missing out on a great opportunity to increase customer responsiveness to your website.

With the ever growing population of broadband users in the United States, video has become mainstream. You only need to look at the most popular sites on the Internet and see that http://Youtube.com is the 8th most popular website in the world. Youtube is a site that shows videos, so broadband is essential to using and enjoying the site. It is estimated that 65% of Internet users in the United States have broadband access, and that number is expected to grow to 80% by 2010.

However, putting video on a website can seem quite intimidating if you’ve never done it before. I know. I’ve been in that position. When I first started learning about putting videos on the Internet I didn’t even own a video camera or know how to use one.

Fortunately, technology has made putting your videos on the Internet far easier than in the past. Now you can relatively quickly film a video, add professional looking effects, upload it, and post it on your website.

What You’ll Need

•A computer with a firewire port and Windows XP (preferably a laptop – if yours doesn’t have one, you can buy an adapter)
•A digital video camera
•A firewire cable
•A tripod
•A well lit area

Those are actually the only essential tools. Now there are a lot of extra tools you can add to really add professionalism to your videos, but those are for another time. I just want to focus on helping you get your first video up.

Step 1 - Setting Up

Go ahead and put your video camera on the tripod. Setup your laptop next to the video camera. Now go ahead and plug in the firewire cable to the video camera and then to the firewire port on your computer. Your computer should automatically recognize the camera and ask you what you want to do. Click on the capture video icon. This will open up Windows Movie Maker on your computer – a free program installed on all Windows XP computers (I’m assuming your using a PC and not a Mac since Macs are a bit more intuitive for making videos, and you probably won’t need this guide) Make sure you’re area is well lit. You will want it to seem really bright in order for it to look good on video.

Step 2 - Recording the video

All you need to do is click on capture video in Windows Movie Maker and you can record your video. When you’re done, just push stop.

Step 3 – Editing Your Video

Once you’ve finished recording your video, you’ll see your clip showing in the collections section of Windows Movie Maker. Click on the clip and drag the clip to the timeline at the bottom of the application. Once it shows in the timeline, you’re able to edit the length, and cut out parts. You can also add music or add a title screen and credits.

Step 4 – Saving Your Video

Once you’ve finished editing your video, you’re ready to save it. Just click save, and tell windows to save it in the best quality for playback on your computer format. This will keep the file from becoming huge and will make it much faster to upload.

Step 5 – Uploading Your Video

Go to http://Youtube.com and sign up for a free account. Once you’re signed up, click on my videos and then on upload a video. Find the file you saved on your computer and upload it to Youtube.

Step 6 – Publishing To Your Website

Once you’re done uploading your video. Go ahead and watch your video. To the right of the video you’ll see a section labeled Embed. Copy that code and paste it to the website where you want you video to appear.

Viola.

You’ve just put your video online.

Gary Ruplinger is the owner and operator of http://www.AVICoach.com. His site helps people learn about all aspects of online video marketing. You'll find a variety of video tutorials and guides at his site. Also, be sure to download his free report on making your site sell more with video.
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by Lawren Graf

I love taking pictures. I just can’t get enough. The more pictures I take the better I want to get. This also means that the more pictures I take; the more high quality equipment I want. It’s an addiction. Many photography hobbyists have the same problem I do. If you don’t want to pour all your money into your photography hobby, there is another option. You can turn that photography hobby into a successful photography business. A great way to get started doing this is through stock photography. Businesses all over are looking for pictures to use in brochures, websites, advertisements, and more. These businesses will happily pay for your pictures rather than hire a photographer to take pictures for them. Here are some tips on how to get started on making money from your photography.

The first thing you need to do to start your stock photography business is to decide if you want to sell your pictures on micro or macro stock photography sites. Micro stock sites (ie. istock, dreamstime, and shutterstock) operate on the premise that if you offer photography at a low price, you’ll get more sales (which they do). These sites sell pictures for as low as a dollar for small sizes, up to ten or twenty dollars for a large copy of your picture. They also offer other options like allowing prints, and exclusive license (they pay you a lot more but you can no longer sell the picture to anyone else). Photographers get a percentage of the sale, which can vary from 20 to 80 percent of the sale price. Many photographers don’t like these sites because they sell photography for much less than they feel it’s worth, but many small businesses rely on them for affordable stock pictures. The other option is macro stock photography (ie Alamy and MyLoupe). You will probably sell A LOT fewer pictures on macro stock sites, but on these sites you make significantly more per picture, usually around $250 per photo (as opposed to the 60 cents I made off my first micro sale). Most of these sites will only accept pictures with over 6MP, but if your camera has fewer pixels, you can learn to upsize your photo in an editing program. While it is your own choice which route to take, many photographers start out on micro sites and then start moving their best pictures over to macro photography sites as their skills improve. You should note that some macro sites will not do business with photographers who sell their work on micro sites, so be sure to check their policies before uploading.

Once you’ve started uploading pictures, you need to remember not to stop. The more pictures you have online, the more sales you will make. Most sites have uploading limits and if you can, you should try to put up as many pictures as you are allowed. You should also put your pictures on as many sites as possible. Many people have their favorite stock site and only look for pictures there. This means you can put shots up on multiple sites; although many sites will guarantee you a higher percentage if you decide to upload a picture to their site exclusively. I would try not to overlap picture on macro and micro sites since someone probably wont pay $300 for a picture they can get for $1.

The next key to becoming a top seller is to take pictures with content that sells. Whatever you’re subject is, you will almost assuredly sell more pictures if the background is a solid color. Black and white are the best, but any solid color will work. Generally people want a subject without a background. If the background is a solid color, it’s much easier to remove with an editing program. If you want to know what subjects sell best, most sites have a section where you can see their most popular downloads. Just remember to get inspiration from these photographs, don’t copy them. If all else fails, you can never go wrong with pictures of people. You will need to get releases signed ahead of time for pictures of people with recognizable faces and also of recognizable property.

Hopefully these tips will help you get started making money with your photography. Just remember that, just like getting the perfect shot, starting your business takes time. You just need to work hard and not give up, no matter how slowly it starts. Many people started out slowly and are now making enough on stock photography sites to take photographs full time.

Lawren Graf is a writer for http://www.digitalshotsguide.com/. Be sure to sign up for her informative and helpful digital photography newsletter at http://www.digitalshotsguide.com/.
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By Karl Stadler

Some AdSense sites are performing well and others just exist in the abyss of cyberspace. Make sure your AdSense site is the successful one and keep it out of the abyss.

What makes AdSense work? There are many ideas, as there are theories. Some maintain it is the placement of the ad on the page, some say integrate it into the page, and it must have the look and feel of the webpage. It should be at the top, in this format, and so the secrets continue.

There is only one secret to AdSense success; it is nothing more than traffic. Without substantial traffic, your AdSense pages will not make you money. There is proof of this statement, just look at the click through rate you are receiving on your current pages. You will immediately notice that it takes many visitors to generate a click.

If things go really well, you could have as high as fifty percent and upwards CTR. This is possible, has been done and proven, but it will not just happen on any old page.

Placement of the ad does play a role but it is not as big as many would like you to believe. Information on the best placement of AdSense code on your page is no secret and is free information on Google. It is called a heat map. It will show you exactly where to place your ads for maximum exposure and CTR.

The problem with most AdSense driven sites is exactly that, they are AdSense driven. Nobody seems to care about the visitor landing on the page, becoming click machines supposed to make you money. According to most AdSense sites, they are there for you and not the other way around. No second thought is given to the surfing experience of the visitor.

You have been made to believe that you need a multitude of sites and use all sorts of templates and secret positioning tactics for maximum income. Therefore, every second some would-be AdSense millionaire is putting up thousands of crappy pages all over the internet to get those AdSense clicks that will elevate them to the illusive four and five figure AdSense earners. They tend to forget the internet marketplace is probably the most dynamic market there is, and changes every day. Certain elements remain the same. You have to be able to broaden your thinking and think out of the box.

Let us go back to the least important person for most AdSense publishers, the visitor to the page. These poor souls land on your pages through either generic or PPC traffic. Either way, you have the possibility t they might be clicking on one of your AdSense links. The only driving force for the visitor to click your link is he found the information on your page that related to his search. After going through your page, he will click on one of your links in AdSense to further his search.

Now AdSense displays relevant ads on your page based on the content of the page. If the visitor is not finding what they are looking for, how do you expect AdSense to find related content ads to place on your page?

By considering your visitor and actually providing for them, you are also insuring for yourself that the correct AdSense ads will be displaying on your pages, and hence will deliver a good CTR. Just putting up one thousand new pages with some template or other automatic page-creating device will certainly not hit the mark.

You would probably be better off with ten well designed and optimized pages, not only for the search engines, but also for your visitors Business Management Articles, and you might be able to ensure a profitable AdSense campaign.

There will always be elements that remain a constant no matter how dynamic the market. Utilize these to their best effect, and change with the dynamics and be as profitable as you can. To get the real information visit http://www.yourenterprize.com/adsense/adsense-secrets.htm

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By Steven Gerber

If your affiliate-marketing program is not generating as much cash as you expected, you may be doing it wrong or you do not have the right affiliate-marketing program. You should look for the best affiliate program that will make you earn a substantial amount of income.

It is a fact that many people who have chosen the best affiliate-marketing program have earned a lot of money. They even considered leaving their regular jobs to concentrate on the affiliate marketing program business.

You may think the best affiliate program is not easy to come by and they can cost too much, but the best affiliate program is not really, what it seems. You will find that the best affiliate-marketing program is widely available on the Internet and may only cost you a small amount of money and some are even free.

Many people do not really see that a particular affiliate-marketing program is the best even if they always cross paths with it on the Internet. Therefore, in order to recognize that an affiliate-marketing program is the best, you should know how to look for one.

There are three features you should look for in an affiliate-marketing program, to know that it is the best kind, and will generate an excel