Home Business The Easy Way - DMc Update http://www.blogmoneymiracle.com en-us EasyRSS
by Jonathan Teng
http://www.TheMarketingCraze.com

"It's NOT another wave. It's a PERMANENT wave destroyer!"

I have to admit it...

Article writing is, hands down, the most powerful weapon in the marketing arsenal to date! I have always asked myself why very few marketers are taking advantage of it. It's so easy and so rewarding.

Just watch the article directories and announcement lists; you'll quickly see what I'm talking about...

...and you'll see the same names, over and over again!

These people are consistent in their work. They keep submitting articles, month after month, while they're establishing themselves as leading experts in their fields. They're building their credibility each day ... and their businesses? Well, they are simply thriving.

While most new Internet marketers will come and leave like a blink of an eye, these "article" guys have staying power. Their articles will be around years after they are gone -= a legacy that will outlast them.

Isn't this amazing?

(1) It's free. While other marketers are losing money on pay per click ads, article marketers promote their businesses for free. No hidden cost whatsoever. Their articles will be reprinted on hundreds of Websites, all bringing warm leads and pre-sold customers to their businesses.

(2) It's easy. They don't need to hold a PhD in order to be an article writer. It's as simple as writing a 300- to 500-word article a week, and they're done for the week.

(3) It appreciates. "Hey! I read your article ... It rocks!" "Great article ... I have bookmarked your site for other posts ..." "Fantastic ... I like what you write ..."

Only Article Marketers receive these types of messages in their inboxes. They are respected among their peers. They get their inspiration from the appreciation of other people.

(4) It sets them apart. What's the difference between an article marketer and other marketers? Simple ... Article marketers are smarter. They are a step above the average Joes in the business arena. They are problem solvers. They write for reputation and trust. And they write for profits.

(5) It's the center. Articles are the central part of an E-zine. They stand alone, with no disturbing ads. They get all the reader's attention and their words will gently direct them toward a link to their Website.

(6) It links to others. Articles are the ultimate linking strategy. Article Marketers don't need to beg for incoming links from Webmasters. Their job is to provide free content -- quality content that Webmasters will fight for.

(7) It's viral. While an ad will last only for a few days, articles will last for years. Great articles will be reprinted over and over again, reaching thousands of new potential customers. It's like planting a seed that will take root and then develop a life on it's own.

Article writing is the only complete weapon that a marketer should be equipped with because it's truly the only skill a marketer needs to master to succeed.

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By John Dow

In the past few months, I decided to re-dedicate myself to increasing my SEO on several of my web sites. Most have been around quite some time and have good page rankings, but have slipped in position on many of my most effective keywords.

Like many, I have Google Adwords campaigns running that produce sales. It's been easy to ignore my basic Search Engine Optimization and keyword positions. Moreover, Google has been up to its favorite pastime of making changes to its ranking algorithms, which has had an impact. In addition, right now Google is the big dog so you have little choice but to listen to the music.

If you have the basics covered (good content, relevant keywords, H1 tags, etc.), that will take you so far. However, in the last few Google updates, the linking (quality of links, not necessarily quantity) has become the dominant factor. Do links increase the value of the site to the searcher? I'm not going there, its Google's playground, so you have to abide by their rules.

Web site promotion is an ongoing battle, especially with the search engines. Web site search engine traffic has a habit of ebbing and weaving due to natural cycles. In fact, the Internet cycles are starting to look more like retail cycles every year. Throw in the different algorithms that each of the big three use and it becomes quite a challenge.

Besides paid advertising, search engine traffic is the only other good source of targeted visitors, and hopefully buyers. Therefore, although I do not depend on search engine traffic, it is still a big source of daily traffic and provides potential buyers. So doing your basic SEO chores is not very exciting but is definitely necessary.

SEO is also a moving, constantly changing target. In addition, thanks to Google's Adsense program, there are 1,000s, if not 100 times that, new web sites created every day. New web sites are as rain drops during a cloudburst.

For those of you who have never heard of it, Adsense refers to publishing Google's AdWords client advertisements on a web site. When someone clicks on one of the displayed ads, the web site owner is paid a fee or commission. Now that sounds easy to do, but there is the small item of getting traffic to click the ads, and hence, all the new competition for traffic.

Just the other day, I was doing some research on one of my keywords for a website that had fallen on hard times in rankings. In the area above the search results on Google, a blue line shows info on how many results came up out of how many possible results. I keep good records and the last time I did some checking that figure was a possible 5,344,882 web sites that have my keywords.

Now 5 million is a lot, but now the info showed 61 million possible web site results. Whoa, no wonder my position has changed. I now have 12 times the number of competitors. I have records back to 2003 on this web site so I went back and I looked, and in 2003, I had a mere 950,000. Therefore, in three years it went from 950,000 to over 61 million.

Holy Cow Batman, that's incredible. However, I have a feeling that is just the beginning. The competition is going to continue to grow. In addition, this is not a major product area; this is a sub niche web site. Thank you Google Adsense. I have to believe that many of these web sites are Adsense oriented without even looking.

Ok, it's time to do some serious resuscitation on this poor downtrodden web site. The fastest way I know to breathe some new life (or initially launch a new web site) is content and links. I've already done the basic on page optimization so more content, and off page, linking is my best bet. Content will be easy, I have a ton of new stuff I can add from multiple sources.

I can write some new articles and post them on some popular article sites too. I could also do some new interviews with industry experts but my niche is limited, so that my not apply to this web site. Google likes both of those methods and neither will take too much time. I can also do some new links (the text on the link is important too - use keywords in the actual link) on my other related sites.

Now links outside of my other sites are going to be an issue. Links always seem to be a problem. Your web site link partners should have both a good page ranking and very relevant content. Then you also have to have something of value to the web site that will be linking to you.

You can join one of the link web sites, although I usually don't since there is an outside chance of trouble. Alternatively, you can do the Google search on your keywords and email to like web sites. My web site has a good page rank so I should be able to pick up a few that way.

I can also buy some links on some directory sites. There are some good ones at reasonable prices. Look for a good interior ranking (on the category page you will be putting your link). The going rate is anywhere from $10 to $50 per year.

In addition, always keep in mind it is the quality of links, not quantity. They need to be PR4/5 and above with matching content. I figure 10 new outside links, and maybe another 10 pages of new content each month for the next 90 days will help my rankings quite a bit.

Therefore, you really should keep an eye on your organic search engine listings. In addition, even though you may not depend on it for all your traffic, it should be a part of your ongoing web site promotion plan. Just getting 10 new links and 10 new pages of viable content a month can have a big impact.

SEO involves a lot more than just content and links but that is a good starting point. In addition, both these are very easy to do for anyone. There are more sophisticated SEO tactics, which I'll cover in another article soon.

John Dow owns http://www.WebSiteBluePrints.com, a website that specializes in web site tools and marketing. Check out a great software tool by clicking here Web Site Blue Prints.

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By James Saunders

Did you know that you could dramatically increase the number of visitors that come to your site on a daily basis from Google?

Web Content (Mass + Keywords) + Links = SEO

Image Text or JavaScript?

Question: Navigation is based on images, again if these are images of text?

Answer: Search engines obtain links very considerable, and only read text. They like to match the topic of the target page to the text in the link that pointed to the page. Avoid JavaScript.

What to do? Use text only navigation. The text and containing elements can be styles with CSS to set them up, look like images, give a background image, or at least rearrange them to look a little fancier. The optional is to ensure that there is some text based navigation elsewhere on the page.

Gains: Search engines will be able to match the topic of the target page with the reputation (link text). A higher relevancy is better. Ensuring there is text on the page will also help the visually impaired who use text only browsers, in conjunction with Braille output devices, or text to speech software.

Links and Link Relevancy

Question: You want many links to your website?

Answer: Although links may be great for visitors and search engine spiders, the true appraisal of the link may not be fully clear to you. Visitors are unlikely to click on irrelevant links and search engines hate them. Reciprocal links, (you link to me, and I will link to you), can be of use when associated, but carry less weight in the search engines than one-way inbound links.

What to do? Avoid link farms (pages of links, for the sake of links), treat reciprocal link requests with anticipation and stay associated.

Gains: Spending time and thought on your link profile will ensure natural growth of links. Search engines hate anything that looks artificial, or anything that could be interpreted as 'Search engine Trick'.

Duplicate Content

Question: Webmaster copies content from another website, or sets up numerous sites, which are identical, or very similar. Does this mechanism work?

Answer: Search engines apply echo content filters to the search results. Although the idea of increasing the market share is a bona fide idea, a thousand similar sites is not the way to go about doing it. Efforts put into the secondary sites will be forfeited.

What to do? Endorse all of the pages so each of your sites is unique. Querying a search engine for an exact match of long strings of text will show you, if the content is bringing up elsewhere. If a webmaster does have facsimile pages and wishes to avoid any penalties or filters, the webmaster must choose one page to have the other identical pages redirect to. Redirects are covered later. You may also use random RSS Feeds that are mixed before they show up on each page. The RSS have the ability that they always have fresh content, but only if you mix 3 or more RSS feeds, you will get a unique result and not what all the other sites have that are using the same RSS feeds.

Gains: Your efforts are not wasted; time and money can be saved. Always-Fresh content from the RSS Feeds.

Numerous Sites

Question: Following on from identical content, there are numerous sites. A single webmaster has a certain number of closely themed sites, all inter-linked and hosted on the same IP address.

Answer: This is seen as search engine Frame-up, the linking structure and numerous sites just are not natural. Penalties can apply.

What to do? Such site structures can work if set up properly. This means that each site must reside on its own IP address where, at least, the C class is different. IP address is covered later.

Gains: Increased market share, effectively linked and spiderable sites, no penalties applied.

Unfriendly URLs

Question: The URL (web address) of some of your sites pages look like domain dot com/product.php?id=2346&category=665&sid=f29a3483270cc10b3783706916216e3a

Answer: Search engine spiders are getting better, and following, and indexing these form of URLs, but not all of them. The spiders are scared of being caught in an endless loop of identical pages with 1000s of different URLs. They are also off putting to your site visitors who could surely remember mydomain dot com/products/cars/boostvalves.

What to do? Use Search Engine Friendly URLs. If you are running the Apache web server on Linux enabled server use mod_rewrite to translate the URLs into something nicer.

Gains: Higher chance of being indexed by more of the search engines, keywords in your URL, higher chance of being clicked on in the SERPs

Redirects

There are two main redirects, based on the HTTP specification

301 - moved permanently

302 - moved temporarily

You should use 301 redirects wherever possible. This can be done in your server side scripting, eg

Code: php

header("HTTP/1.1 301 Found");

header("Location: w w w newdomain dot com/");

redirects can also be set up in your .htaccess file, if you run the Apache web server

IP addresses (C class)

IP addresses are the numerical addresses of computers connected to the internet. For ease of reading, they are broken down into four parts, each called an octet as they contain 8 bits of data when written in binary form. An example my be 62.85.68.114. in this case, the C class is 68 (and everything up to it), so if you have a few sites hosted on this IP they would all have identical IP addresses. If each had a single IP address that started 62.85.68. then they all share the same C-class IP address. As the allocation of IP addresses within a server involvement is usually configured so that each server has it's own C-class; this means that a search engine knows that all sites on the same C-class IP address are all located on the same server

Your competitors might not be standing still; neither should you.

James Saunders is the owner of TrafficBoosterPro, the SEO software which makes Unique Content pages Quickly and Easily! Software that bring massive Traffic from RSS Feeds in AutoPilot, now in it's 2nd revision at http://TrafficBoosterPro.com.

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By David Fishman

You have had your website up and running for a while and the major search engines have yet to recognize the site. You are not alone. Many sites have a hard time becoming indexed. Sometimes it is due to being new or possibly it is just a matter of bad luck. Fortunately there are options in the quest to be indexed and one, if not a combination of a few, will get your website the attention it needs by being indexed by the major search engines.

First method to consider is search engine submission. Sounds easy, right? All you have to do is sign up and your site is indexed. Not exactly! For most of the search engines, simply filling in the requested information on the submission form is enough to get the ball rolling. This method is useful everywhere except when dealing with Google. As the most popular and largest search engine, they tend to be a little pickier. The key to becoming indexed by Google is to get link exchanges from other sites that are indexed by Google. Otherwise the powers that be see the unlinked site as of little value.

Another way to help your website get noticed is pay per click advertising. This one will not actually help get the site indexed, but it may increase traffic to the site. That could increase revenue and make your site more appealing to other webmasters that may allow links to be placed. And that does help with search engine indexing.

While on the subject of links, these little blurbs on someone else’s website can be incredibly useful in getting attention from the major search engines. One way to receive links is to politely request a link exchange of the potential webmaster. Often you will discover that if space on the site allows, the other website owner will request that you place a link on your site back to them. While search engines have gotten wise to this practice, it will up your website’s exposure to the general population. The notion of registering with web directories will help gain the respectability needed to be recognized by the search engines for indexing. Some directories charge a fee for inclusion and others will accept payment to place your listing quickly or higher on the page. If finances are a major concern, there are some web directories that don’t charge for inclusion. It will help with the indexing issue; just not as quickly as the directories that charge.

It can be incredibly time consuming to build up the necessary links to get attention from the search engines. There are programs available that will help you set up a request letter and submit the requests to other websites with similar content to yours, saving you a lot of time. While there is a monetary charge associated with this type of software, it can save the webmaster hours of work and frustration.

While working to get your new, or slow-moving, existing website noticed by the search engines for index inclusion, remember to be patient and get those vitally necessary inbound links.

David Marc Fishman is a link marketer and owns the site http://linknetics.com.

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By Diana D'Itri

Getting prospects is only one piece of the sales puzzle. Once you have interest, whether it comes from word of mouth, traditional advertising, or the Internet, time is not your friend. You must convince that prospect, as quickly as possible, that you are the best candidate for the job. If you are not expeditious in conveying your credibility and ability to measure up, then you could lose that prospect to your ever-awaiting competition.

With that said, competition is not always a bad thing. Especially if you can prove that, you are better than they are.

How do you prove that you are as good as you say you are? Use authentic customer audio testimonials to say it for you. Your best customers have a compelling story to tell others about their experience with you and their positive word of mouth can convince your prospects to do business with you.

With so much deceit and hype these days in advertising, an actual heartfelt testimonial heard from a happy satisfied customer, can be the tiebreaker that makes your prospect choose your business over your competition.

We have all been there. Desperate for help with a particular need, perhaps our roof is leaking or we need a new doctor, whatever the product or service, a referral is comforting when we are in critical need of a good service provider.

If we do not have a first hand referral from a friend or colleague, would we settle for a second or even third hand referral? Sure, we would.

The human psyche likes to be reassured when dishing out hard-earned cash for a product or service. Almost any referral is better than no referral, when it comes to entrusting our homes and lives to someone.

Have you noticed you are more inclined to go to a movie or a restaurant when someone else said how good it was? It did not matter whether you knew the person giving the referral or not. Their first hand experience transferred to you, boosted your comfort level and propelled you to go see that movie or eat at that restaurant the next time you were in the neighborhood.

I have a friend, who every time he orders from a menu at a restaurant, asks the server for their opinion about what is good on the menu. He likes the reassurance he gets from their recommendation and it affects his decision on what menu item he tries.

While it is true most businesses have written client testimonials displayed on their web sites and office coffee tables, unless those testimonials are from well-known businesses, sometimes written testimonials are often glossed over.

However, there is an amazing thing that happens when a real customer speaks from the heart, and the listener senses the honesty in the person's voice.

If it is a put on, insincere, most people can tell the difference. When it is heartfelt, that is what moves the listener. It is what they hear.

Just think about the radio. Numerous products are sold by a voice coming through a speaker.

With audio testimonials, your business can compete with the big boys. Recently, Mercury Car Insurance used testimonials to sell their services on television. It must have worked because, for months, they featured the testimonials in many commercials. Just listen to the radio or watch television to observe how many successful companies still use testimonials to support their claims.

There are two ways to capture a live audio testimonial from a satisfied customer and there are several places to showcase them once you have them.

With the increase in broadband capabilities on the Internet these past few years, the Web is one place that audio and/or video testimonials can be effective.

If your customer is a truly satisfied one, then he or she is always happy to oblige by recording a positive testimonial about their experience with your business. However, remember, because they are important to you, be extra kind to them by making the experience as painless as possible. Sticking a camera in front of their face and asking them to answer questions will be challenging for you and them, and does not always result in the best testimonial (unless your clients are actors or used to being in front of a camera). Most likely, your customer participant will feel more comfortable giving his or her testimonial over the telephone, which will create a more authentic, and compelling result.

Your business can capture audio testimonials from your satisfied customers in two ways:

1. Hire a professional review company to help facilitate and record your testimonial participants.

a. An interviewer will record your customers for you. This method authenticates your testimonials and saves you the awkwardness of doing it yourself.

2. Set up a dedicated telephone line that will record and prompt your customers to leave a testimonial.

a. There are audio companies that offer this service for a monthly subscription and you ask your customers to call an 800 number where they can leave the testimonial.

Once you have captured several audio testimonials, it makes sense to showcase them everywhere and anywhere you typically advertise.

· Web site pages

* Place your customer reviews on your testimonials page, front page, or next to areas on your site that can be corroborated by a testimonial.

· Email

*Talk to your web master about Imbedding a customer testimonial link on the top, bottom, or side of your email page.

· On Hold

*Incorporate your audio testimonials into your 'on hold' message so callers can hear them while they are waiting.

· Radio Ads

*Write a radio ad that features your customer's testimonials. (If it is good enough for Mercury Insurance, why not you?)

Seeing is believing, but seeing and hearing motivates people to act. You have worked hard to grow your business. Audio testimonials are a priceless reward for a job well done.

Your prospects will be more motivated to do business with you when they hear the voice of your satisfied customer singing your praises.

Diana D'Itri is Co-Owner of RaveBiz, a testimonial-broadcasting agency. Diana has spent the past four years educating small and medium sized business on how word of mouth & referral strategies can grow business and reduce ad spend.

Visit http://www.ravebroadcasting.com or http://www.competitionscoop.com/landscaping.html to listen to audio rave reviews.

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You are just a click away from contact with your clients and prospects by e-newsletter. The savings in postage, printing and sorting by the post office is nothing short of wonderful. And by adding photos and images, your newsletter is a full-color, graphically-enhanced image of your business for only a fraction of the time that paper newsletters require.

Elegant graphics are great, but newsletters are all about NEWS. Make your newsletter a "must-read" in everyone's crowded email box by presenting exciting, interesting and boldly-presented information.

The Not-So-Hot Newsletter is filled with:

* boring product descriptions
* long, rambling paragraphs as dense as a forest
* poor quality photos without cropping or enhancements
* selling features instead of benefits
* grammar and spelling errors
* sloppy formatting
* "all-about-me" attitude that makes clients feel unimportant

The Must-Read Newsletter is known to contain:

* brief, dazzling product descriptions that leave the reader wanting to know more
* crisp writing in conversational style
* high-quality digital photos
* additional ideas that clients find interesting
* special offers that can only be found by reading the newsletter
* creative ways to use the product or service
* interaction with clients through question/answer column

From this comparison, you can see that an effective e-newsletter starts with planning. A tried and true place to start is to answer the classic news reporter’s questions: who, what, when, where, how and why. Who is your audience? Set up specific criteria for the gender, age, income, interest or other qualities that define your target reader. Knowing the demographics of your reader makes preparing the e-newsletter so much easier.

What is the purpose of your e-newsletter? Your newsletter can sell, inform, take a political or social stand, incite discussion, share hobbies or define you as an expert in your field.

When will you send the newsletter? Preparing a polished newsletter takes time, especially if this is new for you. Start with monthly. Before you take on a weekly newsletter, get in the flow of twice monthly and see if it meets the need. Whatever frequency you choose, let your readers know and be faithful to the promised dates.

Where will you find readers for your e-newsletter? You want to add to your client base by connecting with others online who have similar interests. That means advertising, blogging, sharing mail lists, affiliate links or any means possible to find new readers from other sources.

How can you get your newsletter prepared with the highest quality? Remember you can find writers, graphic designers and other support services locally or online. You don't need to be a Lone Ranger. Help is available at a wide range of prices.

Why do you need a newsletter? Maybe this needs to be the first question. Don't do it because your competition does. Make your e-newsletter an important communication tool that is as informative and comfortable as chatting with a friend over coffee.

Aurelius Tjin is The Publisher of The 'Unstoppable Profits Blog' With Over 22,000 Readers. Discover His Secret Strategies To Skyrocket Your Internet Marketing Business. To Get Free Internet Business Videos, Tips, and Strategies Go To http://www.aureliustjin.com.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DMc_126/user/index.php
by Jason Tarasi

When writing copy for your Website, always keep in mind the famous saying, "it's not what you say, it's how you say it." This very concept is how you turn casual visitors into customers.

Your Website content should convince visitors that your service or product is either unique or superior to that of your competitors in terms of quality -- or that it is competitively priced. Show how your product or service will solve their problems, answer a dream, enrich their lives, and/or improve their businesses. You are the dependable expert that they want and need!

Your Website copy plays a major role in establishing and growing your customer base. Web site copy creates the "voice" of your company or product. The look and feel of a site puts a "face" on the company, and on otherwise intangible products and services.

On an e-commerce site, the copy plays a key role in closing sales as well as in up-selling and cross-selling products and services. Good copy delights first-time visitors, encourages return visits and propels both customer acquisition and loyalty.

People read a Web page differently than they do a brochure or a newspaper. They scan, scroll, click, hit the "back" button, and hit the "forward" button. "Reading" is all about moving around and being in control.

You have one chance to make a first impression - to quickly convey the benefit of staying on your Web site. I can't overstate the importance of first impressions, which, in Web-time, are measured in milliseconds. The layout, functionality, message and overall look and feel of your Web page determine who stays - and who clicks away.

Remember - a confused visitor, is a lost customer.

Most people have a short attention span. You must grab their attention right away, and then hold it like a vise. Your story should be clear and to the point. Say what you have to in the least amount of words possible and never confuse your visitors.

The goal of any Web page should be to get the visitor to DO something: to move on to the next step in a purchase sequence or to click for more information about a product or service. Without readable, compelling copy and clearly organized hypertext links, visitors are much less likely to complete a transaction - and return to your site again.

Writing for your Web page should always start from your visitor's perspective. What is your Web site visitor looking for? Why is he/she there? How can you make his/her visit as quick and efficient and positive as possible? You should take the time to clarify the goal of each page before starting to write. If the page is part of a transaction sequence, identify what may be hindering the buying process. Be sure instructions are clear and easy to read.

You must create a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) in combination with a strong, unique feature of your business. It should answer that most difficult question:

Why should potential customers buy from you?

Tell your customers what you are selling and explain what your service or product provides. What is the key benefit(s) to your customers? What pain does it cure, what solution does it provide? Compare your service with that of your competitors and highlight what makes you stand out from the competition? Keep working on this until you can clearly separate yourself from the field. As stated earlier, there must be a convincing reason for doing business with you, instead of your competitor.

Summarize the above into one tight, powerful, motivating phrase that will persuade your customer to do business with you and to trade their money for the benefits delivered by your service.

If you're going to promote your service and expand your customer base using your Website, potential clients have to be able to trust you. Their confidence in you and your products has to be boosted. Endorsements on your Website from a valued friend or colleague, or a referral from a strategic partner are the types of "leads" that boost your credibility. You and your service must be perceived as being trust-worthy before your visitor will be confident enough to contact you or even buy your product.

Show prospects that you have their best interests at heart and that you can adapt or customize your service to meet their individual needs. Foster an ongoing relationship that steadily increases their trust levels and cements a view that you are an "authority" in your field.

Finally, be wary of broadening the theme of your site too much. Try not to dilute your product or service's targeted niche simply to expand your base of merchant partners. Remember; focus on selling your product or service. That's where the "meat and potatoes" of your business will come from.

Looking for quality resale rights products? Michael Rasmussen and Jason Tarasi own and operate one of the Net's premiere resell rights memberships. To grab your free resell rights package, click this link now - Free Resell Rights (http://www.resellrightsblowout.com/).

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Before you can put any of these rules to use, you may want to understand a little more about the differences between social media marketing and social media optimization.

SMM = Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing is strategically using the big social sites to spread your brand name or drive traffic back to your web presence.

SMO = Social Media Optimization

Social Media Optimization is adding key elements to your websites or content that make them easy to spread across the big social sites.

Rohit Bhargava Developed Social Media Optimization Rules 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

1. Increase your linkability

Linkability is the willingness of other websites or articles to link back to your site. One way to increase your natural Google listing is to increase how many authority sites link to you, so to increase your linkability with social media optimization is to make your site more informative and useful to others. You can do this in many ways; blog, white papers, press releases, keyword targeted articles, RSS feeds, etc. This is the most important step in Social Media Optimization and should be your first priority.

2. Make tagging and bookmarking easy

The act of tagging is to bookmark the website to social bookmarking websites. For example, if you like the content or services provided at a website, you tag it. This will show others that you approve of this site and they will check it out, making viral traffic. To include social media optimization tagging on your site, you can add tagging links such as Digg, Del.icio.us, Technorati, etc. Also, add the tagging links to other pages in your site (not just the homepage) and when visitors click the tag button, make sure that there is a suggestion box to help your visitor list a relevant tag as well as notes.

3. Reward inbound links

As I mentioned before, one way to increase your natural listing with Google using social media optimization is to get more back links. You can do this by rewarding people/websites that link to you (inbound links). Inbound links are links that send people to your site from somewhere else. One way to reward people for linking to your site is to have a “Recently Linked” section that lists all of the websites that have linked to you.

4. Help your content travel

Social media optimization focuses on providing useful content to your market. When you publish content such as an article, video, or audio file you must help it reach as many people on the web as possible. You can do this by submitting to relevant high traffic websites. When the word gets out about your great content (no matter what format) you’ll receive backlinks to your site.

5. Encourage the mashup

To mash up is to use two websites' content and mash them together. For example, YouTube makes it easy to mash their content (videos) onto your site. In addition, because it is so easy, you have added a video to your site that has a Youtube logo on the video as well as a link back to YouTube. So to encourage a mashup with social media optimization is to make it easy for other websites to use your content and reference it to drive traffic back to your site.

Jeremiah Owyang Developed Social Media Optimization Rules 6 and 7

6. Be a User Resource, even if it doesn’t help you.

One thing all visitors appreciate is honesty. With social media optimization, you should include links to other websites that will help your visitor reach their goal or find the information they want. Do this, even when it doesn’t benefit you. By linking to competitors or information not created by you, you reap the benefits of having the all inclusive information on a particular topic. In the end, more people will link to you because you have lumped all information (or links) on a topic in one location.

7. Reward helpful and valuable users

Valuable users are your best friends. A valuable user can be determined in many ways; they may send traffic to your site, add valuable content to your site, or assist visitors at your site. No matter what they're doing, if it benefits you, your site, or your service, you need to reward them. This could be by sending a personal message thanking them for their dedication. Other ways to reward your valuable users is to create a rewards systems, advertise for them or promote their efforts on your homepage.

Cameron Olthuis Developed Social Media Optimization Rules 8, 9, 10, and 11

8. Participate

With Social Media Optimization you can participate by joining on the conversation about your topic (or targeted keyword). Simply posting articles and sharing content isn’t going to keep the buzz going. You should continue to share information on other websites. This participation will share your knowledge with more people. One way to do this is to find people that are blogging on your topic and to give input on the conversation. Also, participate in forums or other social groups that are discussing your topic. Read comments on your articles, videos, and audios and respond to them.

9. Know how to target your audience

Social media marketing is about sharing content/information. Not everyone is interested in your topic, so be sure to do your marketing research and post your information and knowledge where it will be understood and appreciated.

10. Create content

Content is considered to be any form of information that benefits a visitor. Content can be a white paper, article, video, audio, widget, etc. Your job is to find a piece of content that will spark interest in visitors. No matter what market you enter, there is always a form of content that they will share with others. Find out what it is and give it to them. This will, in turn, have them coming back for more useful content. If this happens, then you know that your social media optimization is successful.

11. Be real

Internet users are searching the web for specific content. If you are providing content that links back to a website, be sure that the website is relevant. You will not be rewarded for coaxing a visitor to a site that has nothing to do with the content they just read (or watched, depending on the type of content you provided).

Loren Baker developed Social Media Optimization Rules 12 and 13

12. Don’t forget your roots, be humble

It’s easy to let popularity get to your head. When you become the shining star in your market be sure to recognize those that helped you get to the front of the pack (this ties into #7 a little).

13. Don’t be afraid to try new things, stay fresh.

Anyone on the internet knows how quickly things change. Keep up with new media content, new types of websites, and new interests in your market. By staying on top of new information you can maintain top rankings.

Lee Odden developed Social Media Optimization Rules 14, 15 and 16

14. Develop a Social Media Optimization strategy

Social Media serves multiple purposes. You need to identify what your purpose is and then publish content that will promote that purpose. Some purposes for Social Media Optimization include: branding, reputation, charity, increased traffic, increased sales, credibility, etc. Make sure that as you develop content that you are publishing and creating with that purpose in mind.

15. Choose your SMO tactics wisely.

Of all the content available on the web, only about 10% of people on the web are content creators. The other 90% are consumers and are willing to share your content. Make your content easy to consume and spread. Also be sure to create content that will have the most impact on your original purpose.

16. Make Social Media Optimization part of your process and best practices.

We all know that there are specific Search engine optimization tactics that every website should include. Just as you include keywords in your title tags and keywords in your H1 tag, you should find ways to include social media optimization aspects into the building of your website. This can be small details like including social bookmark tags on your site or encouraging incoming links with the “Recently Linked” list I covered in #3.

17. Don't be afraid to let go of a message or idea and let others own it.

Finally, when you create a movement, spark an idea, or develop a new topic don’t be afraid to let others run with it. Collaboration is key. Others can improve upon your original idea and give you credit for the start. Be sure to give credit where it’s due.

Justin Brooke started with just a $2/day marketing budget and grew his business past 6 figures in just 1 year. At just 25 years old he has been Vice President of a multi-million dollar company and nominated "Best Marketer of 2007" by the American Business Awards. Justin's award winning [http://www.mpyremarketing.com/free_lead_gen.html] social media optimization company wants to handle your [http://www.mpyremarketing.com/free_lead_gen.html]social media marketing needs.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DMc_126/user/index.php
By Allison Thompson

People will find themselves in difficult financial situations, at times. It may be because their business has not worked out and is on the verge of becoming bankrupt or it could be for personal reasons (a divorce settlement is not what it should have been). At any time, the need for financial support is important. When faced with situations such as shown previously, a loan to help them recover is hard to find. There are many reasons why getting a loan could be difficult, it may be they have a poor credit rating or they have no equity to act as security on a loan that lenders will normally provide. However, now there are moneylenders around called ‘bad credit’ lenders who can assist these people when their state of financial affairs is so dire.

You will find that ‘bad credit’ lenders are institutions or organizations that are able to provide loans to people who are in desperate need of financial assistance. One type of option that these kinds of lenders provide is a private loan (also known as a hard money or ‘bad credit’ loan). This type of loan does not require the borrower to have any equity, and as a result, are able to provide such loans but at an increased rate of interest.

Different types of ‘bad credit’ lenders exist, and banks are one source. Should you need to arrange a ‘bad credit’ loan, you could first consult a bank. Many banks require some sort of equity against the loan that you are looking for. It is advisable that you seek assistance from a bank where you have been a customer from some time. This provides the bank with a guarantee of knowing who you are and they will have full details of your banking records.

If this does not work out, there are a number of companies around which also act as ‘bad credit’ lenders. Such companies will provide you with a loan proposal, but be aware that they will often charge much higher rates of interest than usual.

Many financial experts say that when looking for the right sort of ‘bad credit’ lender, it is wise to do as much research as possible. Obtain all the information you can on each lender. Make sure you are aware of what sort of loan programs these lenders have and what the interest rates are that they offer on their loans. After getting this information, it is wise to compare each one. See which ones suit you and the one you will not have difficulty in making repayments to.

Allison Thompson, an expert author, after becoming a work from home mum, runs a small real estate company in Spain. Due to her involvement in the property market she has carried out extensive research relating to all financial matters. If you would like to learn more, please visit http://www.centrallendingservices.com.
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by John Hirth

You know this one ... you've identified what they need, maybe even found out how much they are willing to pay. Now it's time for that infamous "trial close."

"If I can show you a way to solve your problems, will you buy my product?"

They answer "yes" and you believe you've got the deal. Then, you come back and make your presentation and, when you ask, "so -- are you ready to buy?" the prospect says, "I like it, but I'm going to have to check on some other options."

Now you ask, "what went wrong?" Weren't they listening, or did they just out-and-out lie?

Think about it... when you asked, "if I can show you a way to solve your problem, will you buy my product?" what was the prospect thinking? Usually, they're in one of two positions: ready to buy and favorably disposed to your offer (in which case, you would have gotten the deal), or not ready to buy -- still needing more information.

I believe that, by asking that closing question, you often end up forcing your prospect to "lie" -- a strategy that, half the time, will back-fire!

Here's why.

If they were really ready to buy when you asked for the "trial close," I think you would have gotten the order. However, in this situation I don't think they were that far along. In fact, they probably needed more information, hoping that your presentation might provide it.

What they would really like to say is, "I'm not sure I'm ready to make a decision," but they're afraid if they tell you that, you won't give them the information they need. So they lie and say "yes," to get what they want.

It's not that they are "bad people" -- it's that you're a "bad" sales person!

What will work much better is what we refer to as an "open close." Your question is a closed-ended question, only giving the prospect two choices.

Use an open close like, "If I show you a solution to your problem that you believe will work, what would you feel comfortable doing next?" With this open close, there is much less pressure and the prospect will more likely tell you the truth. They haven't been put in a corner, forced to pick one of only two answers.

Now can tell you anything.

The true "sales master" understands that, "to close or not to close," is really the prospects' choice and, by giving them more options with an "open close," you will raise your winning percentages!

Now that I've shown you a better way to close -- will you use it?

Instead of thinking about closing business, think about "opening" new business. With that thought in mind, "open closing" should be much easier!

John E. Hirth is President and founding principal of Selling Dynamics, a sales force development, sales training and sales process consulting firm dedicated to increasing sales revenue and corporate profits. Email: jeh@sellingdynamics.com Website: http://www.johnhirth.com .

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By Titus Hoskins

Here is my number one Internet Marketing Strategy for producing an online income. It is so simple it actually works! Discover how this one marketing technique can also help you succeed online and work from home...

I am often asked, "How does one start an Internet Income?"

"Where do you begin? What do you need to start?” In addition, these questions are often followed by, "How did you get started?” These questions are popping up more often now as my name and sites become better known. However, I still get some very skeptical looks whenever I mention I work full-time on the Internet. For many people the Net is still a place chock full of 'quick-rich-schemes' and 'con-artists', where someone is ready to rip you off at the very first opportunity.

Of course, the reality of working on the Internet could not be further removed from this unflattering image. In my case, I make it a point to only deal with top name companies such as Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Amazon, Apple, Google... or top web marketers with solid reputations such as Marlon Sanders, Neil Shearing, John Reese, Ken Evoy...

In addition, I quickly learned Money Talks! It does not matter who you are, where you are operating from or how small or big your online sites/activities are, if you can generate through your online marketing efforts monthly sales in the 100-200k range for any company - you will be noticed. And your sales don't have to be in that price range, if you can generate any sales through your web site or sites, you can start to build a business online and work from home.

I come from a background in art and education but nothing compares to working on the web from the comfort of your own home. The freedom is very liberating. Once you start earning a nice income here, there is no going back. Money talks in many ways! However, how do you get started? How do you begin? I believe my own very modest success comes from one simple strategy. It has to do with learning, more importantly; it has to do with HOW we learn.

One key strategy I have learned and it is quite simple: always learn from the inside. Get as close to the source as you possibly can. No matter the field or subject area, get as close to the real experts in that field as you can possibly get. It is something all artists do instinctively! This very simple strategy has proven to be very effective for me. There is no reason why it cannot also work for you.

Here is how it is done: instead of buying the latest marketer's info product/ebook/webcourse... you join their affiliate program first! You will receive marketing information, countless free audios/training materials on this marketer's products and methods. You will get the inside information on how these marketers operate and how they are working the Internet.

You will also probably receive great discounts for any products that you do buy. You will receive updates, invitations to web seminars, free promotional material, if you are well known, or are a valuable affiliate, you will receive free copies or products to review.

What is even nicer, once you start generating sales, this affiliate relationship often develops into a personal relationship with the owner or company. You get to know the owner or the affiliate manager on a personal level and this opens many doors for other business opportunities.

This simple strategy works great. I apply it almost every day in my own marketing and even in my own life. For example, around each New Year, everyone is talking about making resolutions and setting goals, both for their businesses and in their personal lives. It is an important topic. I wanted to learn more.

As I make it a point to seek out the top person or person in any field, I wish to learn about (in this case) goals or goal setting. The name that immediately came to mind was Gary Ryan Blair. He is known as the GoalGuy! What more can you ask for? Gary Blair has made goals his business.

He also has an excellent affiliate program, which you or anyone can join. In addition, by joining Gary Blair's affiliate program, you will receive valuable information on goal setting and strategic planning from the inside, if you really want to learn about Internet Marketing, how to build websites, how to earn money from the web... just find the Top Guy in that field.

My suggestion for the top person is Ken Evoy.

Ken Evoy, of SiteBuildIt and Make Your Site Sell fame, is the perfect person for learning about the whole web marketing game. One of the best ways to learn what Ken knows is to join his affiliate program first! You get tons of free marketing info and products. You will learn how his system works. You will also learn how Internet Marketing really works.

Perhaps the main reason I chose SBI is its great online community. If you want to succeed at something, you must 'hang-out' with people who are succeeding in that particular field. Might sound a bit simplistic but there is more truth in this philosophy than most people realize.

If you want to be a jackass, associate with other jackasses! If you want to be a millionaire, associate with other millionaires! If you want to be an Internet marketer, you must associate with other Internet marketers! It is kind of a no-brainer but many people do not do this. I repeat, if you want to be a web marketer Article Submission, you hangout with web marketers and learn from the inside.

A simple Internet marketing strategy works, one that has served me well as I continue to build my online business. This can also work for you.

The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous niche websites, including two sites on Internet marketing. For the latest and most effective web marketing tools try: www.marketingtoolguide.com For the latest Internet Marketing Strategies go here: www.bizwaremagic.com 2007 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

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By Carsten Cumbrowski

Why you should look into Pay Per Click Marketing if you are an Affiliate Marketing Newbie. Tips and tricks for beginners and why you should look beyond PPC to be successful in the long term.

If you are a newbie to Affiliate Marketing, I do recommend to look into Pay-Per-Click Advertising at the beginning, because it is still one of the more easy ways (or less difficult would probably be more true) to get started in this industry AND get fast results. Results referring to earning commission. No more and no less.

Using the PPC services of the big three US Search Engines, Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, Microsoft AdCenter, or services of "second tier" Search Engines like Miva, Kanoodle, Ask.com, or Looksmart is still not as complicated as most people believe. It will get harder as time progresses though. Nobody would argue this fact. Also bid prices will most likely continue to rise and not get back to what they were just a few years ago.

The "golden age" of PPC marketing might be over, but it is still much easier to earn some commissions with it compared to most other, older and more mature marketing strategies.

Take Search Engine Optimization for example. If you start a new site today, chances are you will not see very much, if any results for 3 to 6 months, assuming that you already know SEO, what is probably unlikely. "Trial and Error" is a concept that translates to years of trying and failing in SEO compared to hours, days or weeks for trying something new in Pay-Per-Click marketing.

It will not work without spending and loosing some money up-front, while you learn to get the basics straight. Set low spending limits for new test campaigns, if the feature is available. Wait a few days, spending only a little bit of money, and watch how it converts. If you make money, which is simple to find out, by subtracting the number of click, multiplied by the average cost per click, (= spending for the PPC Service) from the earned commissions. If the dollar amount is a positive amount, you made profit.

Do not go over board because of it, though. You can increase spending a bit, but I do not recommend going full force without a spending limit and buy every click you can get at this point. Wait at least until you have posted your first commission check successfully to your bank account. I would wait even two commission checks with a bit of increase in spending and hopefully commission each payment cycle.

Also loosing money on the first few campaigns should not discourage you and make you stop. See breaking even as a success and progress. It is not very likely, nor impossible, to make profits right from the start. If you do, good for you, If you don't, try to find out why. Once you did use the services, you will at least know how the process works and understand a lot more of discussions at forums, related articles, and tips from professionals. You will not, if you do not do anything and give up before you even started.

You should not just stop at PPC though and only rely on paid traffic to your site; especially, if you rely completely on direct or redirected traffic to the merchant where you are merely a proxy in the conversion process without the customer being aware of your existence at all. If you have a site or "Landing Page" the customer sees first, you will get the chance to do something with visitors that do not convert for the specific offer you are promoting via PPC Ad.

The visitor you paid for is on your site and not the merchants and you might be able to get him interested in something else. Merchants do that too and so can you. Be careful though. Don't create a conflict which could result in a "Lower Conversion Rate" of your "Landing Page" for the original offer. This "something else" should be a "Secondary Conversion Goal" for your Ad and landing page; not just for non-converting traffic, but also as "secondary goal" for the traffic that you actually convert for your "Primary Goal".

May be a similar offer to the one he showed obvious interest in; remember, he clicked the link from your paid Ad; but then decided not to follow through with it for whatever reason. Similar does not mean the same thing, but from another brand or merchant, but similar in topic. Don't offer another TV Set when you promote a TV Set. Offer a TV Program Guide or Magazine instead for example.

This goes beyond the topic of this article, but I wanted to provide you with some "Keywords" and "Terms" for further research. You should look into all the other opportunities and possibilities available for promotion of products and services as well, but with long-term goals in mind. Paid Search can help you financially while you get something more substantial going.

Paid search will only work long term if you really dig deep into this type of marketing and become an expert yourself. This requires many technical Health Fitness Articles, mathematical and analytical skills, and most people do not have them.

Carsten Cumbrowski is doing Affiliate Marketing since 2001and Search Marketing since 2003. He also operates the portal Cumbrowski.com, which provides free resources to paid search (http://www.cumbrowski.com/CarstenC/searchenginemarketing.asp), landing page optimization, keyword research (http://www.cumbrowski.com/CarstenC/seosem_keyword_research.asp) and much more that are vital to success for internet marketers.

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By Jeff Smith

Packaging your own ebook, report, audio package, course, or manual to sell online is within everyone's reach and ability. Turn the knowledge, experience, and information you already have into your own information product. You can quickly be piloting your very own online business keeping 90% of the profits.

Building your own business around what you already know or have experienced is one of the easiest, fastest, and most proven methods of escaping the job market in search of your own profit- producing home-based business.

You may not believe it, but you already have a pot-of-gold within your reach right now - sitting, waiting to turn into products you can sell online.

By packing your knowledge, experiences and stories into digital ebooks, booklets, or even your own course or workshop, you have the foundation for a very profitable small venture.

What have you done or experienced in your life that has demanded you study, research, explore, or learn by working through it? What changes have you gone through that have made you stronger, and what challenges have you faced that have taught you what only someone who has been through your experience would know? At first, examples may not come flooding into your head, but think a little longer, and you should be able to come up with dozens.

SOME BRAIN TRIGGERS

Let us go back in time, at least for many of us to the time you came out of school and began your work life. What did you learn? What challenges did you have? Do you remember taking personality tests, working with counselors to help you find your aptitude? How can you research different kinds of careers to find a match? How easy was that experience? In my case, I had fully expected to work through a law degree after University and become a lawyer. I recall working with our career counselors - even in high school, who had some neat methods of discovering strengths.

Next, I remember having a very challenging time trying to understand, first-hand, what it meant to work as a lawyer - to even meet and talk with other lawyers in the field.

What could I learn from this? Moving from school to the workforce is a crucial time in a woman or man's life. Everyone wants you to succeed, many people want to help - but there are frustratingly few resources to help you.

Could you package some research on personality and aptitude testing with a range of first-hand profiles about many common careers? You could solicit a few pages from several career choices to give an "insider's" approach to particular fields of work.

How about other experiences you went through:

- Marriage advice: including whom to marry, advice on relationships leading up to marriage, how to organize your wedding, handling budget and family issues with weddings, etc...

- Raising children, you cannot tell me you did not learn a great deal for those of you who have raised children

- Changing careers or advancing in your career. It seems we all go through many life lessons as we work through career advancement. If you look back, what advice could you provide that would help make better career choices, if you had to do it again?

- How about health. Were you able to try to find methods of stress relief, ways to reduce pain or suffering from illness, methods of losing weight, or increasing overall fitness? You may think this field is highly competitive, and it is, but there is always room for added tips and strategies based on real experience

- Travel, do you have some hints or tips on traveling?

There are dozens upon dozens of examples where you can take life experiences and the research or knowledge you already have to launch your own information product publishing business.

You may begin slowly with a report, 40-page ebook, blog, newsletter, or you may jump right into seminars, workshops, and a manuscript for a published book.

However you choose to start, you will find you can build your knowledge into a hot business with some determination, persistence, and an action-oriented attitude.

TWO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Does this excite you, the prospect that you have the basis of your own information publishing business within you right now? Most people do not even realize the value of the information they already have, thereby dismissing themselves as a legitimate information publisher.

That is too bad, because the financial and lifestyle rewards of operating your own info-publishing business are many.

So, when you consider your life experiences and hobbies, ask yourself these two very important questions:

1. Are there others going through the same experience or situation?

2. Would your information help them increase their pleasure or reduce their pain with this experience?

You do not have to have all the answers, only enough to improve the situation of others who will follow you through some of these life experiences.

Even the greatest books, courses, or workshops do not tell you everything about a given subject or even give you all of the answers to a given question.

By packaging your knowledge, experiences, tips, and techniques into your own information product (ebook, book, booklet, audio, or video) toward solving a specific problem for your market you will have improved your customer's life.

Discover How To Package Information For Profits in Jeff Smith's blockbuster "Ultimate Information Entrepreneur's Success Package (http://www.infoproductcreator.com/). Find out the exact techniques to use for developing "magnetic" ideas that attract customers to your products like crazy!

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By Mal Keenan

What Mistakes are you Making that are Seriously Hampering your Affiliate Marketing Business? Find out How to Avoid Profit Crushing Errors...

My main aim as an affiliate marketer is to get the most profit out of the market I am promoting. Over the years through trial and error, I have perfected what I believe to be three of the most important strategies for gaining nice profits from whichever internet market you decide to enter.

So, let us get started...

Strategy Number One - You should absolutely set up a website for your affiliate products. Sure, every product will come with its own affiliate page, customized with your unique affiliate links, but smart marketers know that this is not enough. It is very important you set up your own website for your affiliate products. This includes registering your domain and hosting, plus creating or paying for a simple web design - complete with the affiliate images that most affiliate programs provide.

Setting up a website may seem like too much hard work but believe me; it pays off in terms of future profits, if you put in the initial effort.

It also pays to create a different page within your website for each affiliate product or service. You could write an article or review page highlighting the benefits of using your recommended service with a link to your unique affiliate page.

Setting up a blog geared towards your affiliate market is the perfect way to implement the above strategy.

Strategy Number Two - Next on my list of essential strategies is to place an opting form on your website offering a free report outlining the benefits of your service. The majority of sales are between the fifth and twelfth contact between you and your prospect.

If a prospect visits your site and then clicks off never to return, you have missed many more opportunities to close the sale. This is where the opt-in form comes in. If you manage to entice website visitors to offer their email address, then you can follow up via an email autoresponder as often as you like or until the prospect unsubscribes from your list.

Short 7-day reports are quite effective and if you provide useful information, you may have a customer for life. Capturing a prospects email address is one of the most important tasks in affiliate marketing and internet marketing as a whole.

Strategy Number Three - Drive TARGETED traffic to your site. No point in paying to send general website visitors to a site built around the topic of "Exotic Birds". If you are sending visitors to an "Internet Marketing" site, it is pointless to write and submit articles on "Travel in Italy". Do you get the point? It is essential that you target your visitors to your affiliate-marketing niche, if you are going to close the sale. This point may seem obvious to some Article Submission, but many IM newbies spend countless hours and dollars focusing on website traffic that is simply not interested in what they have to offer.

The three strategies above are extremely effective and even more so in a tight niche market. If you employ the advice, you are well on your way to becoming a successful affiliate marketer.

Mal Keenan is publisher of Home Business Tips Newsletter. Check it out for tips on how to get Started Earning a Full-time Income from Home: Free home based business income opportunities Newsletter (http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/). To Find Out What Was My Greatest Lucky Break in My Six Years of Frustration check out: Starting home based internet business (http://www.freeadvertz.com/).

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By Robert Wilkinson

If there were one thing to make direct mail a reliable method to drum up new business, it would have to be the ability to test different versions of a pack to achieve a better return on investment. Having processed many mailings over the years, I can attest that clients rarely take full advantage of this feature. In fact, more often than not, clients do not test at all.

Not testing is commercial suicide! In today's competitive climate, if anything can be done to reduce the cost to acquire a customer, then it must be done. It is a no brainer. Research shows that in times of depression, those who continue to advertise are those that do well. It also shows those who continue to advertise also make the efforts to stretch their budget even further.

You decrease your direct mail costs by applying a little commonsense and by testing which will produce the best response. We will look at the example of a direct mail pack that comprises five parts in all.

The parts of the pack are as follows:

1) Envelope
2) Personalized Letter
3) Brochure
4) Leaflet/Order form
5) Business Reply Envelope

Looking at this, you would think that this is it, but we have forgotten the most important part of all:

6) The Data

Now there is enough here to get your message out.

Experience shows the most important part of the mailing is the data. We must test this part. A badly produced but well targeted letter will almost certainly produce a better return than a well-written badly targeted letter.

You may have a particular target audience already decided, for example, lawyers. You will be able to get lists of lawyers from more than one source to be tested. Equally, you will have the option of mailing to a named individual, or to a job title, so you can test that way, also. So far, that is at least four permutations, provided you use two data suppliers. It would be six if you used three suppliers. If you had not narrowed your field to one sector, then the choice of tests to run could be massively increased, but it is not practical to take it to the extreme.

Targeting is everything! You must get that right, and you can only find that out if you test.

Looking at the envelope, you have a huge number of choices available, also. You can send plain with a stamp, or printed with a message. You could make the material from an unusual paper, print in full color, or use different sizes. You could print different designs, or use different taglines and the like.

Depending on how your envelope is made, you may be able to run multiple designs for a minimal charge. The nature of some jobs is they are printed two or three on a sheet, so you will be able to produce equal quantities of more than one design. Even if it is not free, chances are it will not be that expensive for a plate change.

For the letterhead, you can change the material. Studies by paper merchants have shown a 20% increase in response just by changing to a textured paper. The copy itself on the letter can be changed, and offers can be changed. The number of options to test here is almost limitless.

Moving on to the leaflet, the same applies here as indicated for the letterhead. Copy, material, imagery; they are all fair game.

Finally, yet importantly, we move on to the BRE (business reply envelope). The choices here are limited. White or manila envelopes, perhaps, maybe even a coloured BRE. If it is not going to cost a lot, why not try it.

Using these methods over time, you can increase the effectiveness of your mailings. Always test, even when you think you have the perfect pack, continue to run a test campaign against it, even if the difference between the two is really quite small. If you continue to do this, your costs to acquire a customer should decrease and diminish.
Overall, the point is that there is an almost infinitely large and almost limitless opportunity for testing. Maybe, it is this huge scope for testing that puts people off, but I do not think it is. I think it is just a lack of awareness of what you can do. You do not need to complicate things; you can just run two packs with one difference between them and see how it goes.

Whatever you do though, do not commit commercial suicide and fail to test.

Robert Wilkinson is the owner of http://www.arhiann.com, a print, design, and direct mail business specializing in direct mail and envelope production for small and medium sized businesses.

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By Don Luttrull

If you are involved in an mlm or network marketing business, you have tried to find the best ways, online as well as offline, to get qualified people to your website or to the company’s website. There are many different ways to find qualified people who are actually looking to start a home based business.

You need to realize that most people who are looking for a home based business are not aware of what they are looking for and are simply gathering information. These types of people are the non-targeted leads you find being sold by countless mlm lead companies online.

These types of mlm leads have a terrible conversion rate. This puts your excited mood into one that causes you to start second-guessing yourself and the opportunity you are marketing. Quality mlm leads from an actual mlm leads company with proven results is what you need to build a successful mlm business, and to have the right mindset.

If you were to compare mlm lead companies, odds are you would start with your sponsor or up-line in the business you are currently marketing. This method is not effective to use. The result is your upline is simply trying to get a commission or a bonus off you by sending them to one of the low converting mlm lead companies.

You may take the above statement as being rude or labeling all sponsors, but in all honesty, most people in mlm and network marketing companies are following the same pack of people barely making any real income. You need to set yourself apart from the pack and become a leader in your company.

If a company sponsor is trying to teach you the correct methods to building your business but have not seen any real success himself or herself, then you need to find a new method in which to build your business. Mlm is mainly duplication of a proven method. If your sponsor is not seeing the large monthly income, then I personally would not try to duplicate their methods.

With all the many different ways to get mlm leads, which are done with pay per click accounts and even door-to-door methods, one truly proven method has the highest conversion ratio as long as it is done correctly.

You need to find an mlm lead company that has proven results and offers you a residual income that will pay for your leads as your downline signs up under you, for their leads also. There are a small handful of mlm lead companies worth comparing and sometimes they can be hard to sift through. Mlm lead companies are selling leads that have sold 1,000 times and will not convert for nothing.

If you are looking to build a solid mlm business, you should research and compare mlm lead companies. You need to look for a company that allows you to buy at minimum, 72-hour fresh leads. Along with being extremely fresh, you also need to find an mlm lead company that offers a monthly residual income plan. Having a matrix payout plan attached to a solid mlm lead company can end up paying out more then your mlm company is paying you.

Remember when researching and checking the many mlm lead companies out there, you will usually get what you pay for. Any company offering you 1,000 fresh leads a day for $20 is nothing but a fraud style company and will end up giving you a very bad name in the mlm community. Find a company that is successful and has mlm leads that are actually converting into real mlm sign ups and sales.

Don Luttrull runs a MLM lead comparison site. MLM and Network Marketers vote on which mlm leads company has the best conversion ratios and those companies are then ranked. To see who they have voted for go here http://www.comparemlmleads.com.

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By Robert Wilkinson

If you use direct mail, it is in your best interest to get as much of it opened and read as possible. You may have spent a small fortune on the copywriting and the expensively printed brochure, but if you do not ensure that as many packs are opened and read as possible, then both copy and brochure are wasted.

There are two main schools of thought on how to avoid being binned. The first is to use disguise, and the second is to use persuasion.

Using disguise is mainly a business-to-business approach, but it works for business to consumer mailings also. Businesses to business promotional mailings are marked out so they do not appear to have been handled individually. This can be indicated by an envelope pre-printed with a postage mark, and the use of a window or address labels to show an address.

Try one or more of the following to give the envelope a more individual look.

Use stamps. They have to have been put on by hand, so it must be individual. There is no more obvious an indicator than a pre-printed stamp impression. When using a preprinted impression in conjunction with a window envelope it practically screams, advertising so do not do it.

Hand write the address on the envelope. This is probably only viable for higher value items and certainly get more attention this way. It does not have to be copperplate; it just needs to look as though it has been handled individually.

Use an unusual material for the envelope, say vellum or a textured paper. In tests conducted by a paper merchant, this alone increased responses significantly. The additional revenue generated by the mailing more than compensated for the additional cost for the special paper.

Again, do anything to make your mailing appear more individual and personal to the recipient. Probably the most important element is the use of stamps. This on its own can be enough to get you under the recipient's radar.

Secondly, use persuasive tactics. This is completely the opposite from disguise and is used mainly for business to consumer, but again it works for business to business too. In this instance, we mark it out specifically as commercial by using advertising images, copy, and headlines on the outside of the envelope itself. In this instance, it does not matter if you use a printed postal impression.

Unlike the previous method, which uses curiosity to get your envelope opened, we need to give the recipient a good reason to open the envelope. This can take a variety of forms, but as a couple of examples you can state a benefit, "Increase sales by 15%", or alternatively provide an incentive, "Reply by the end of the month and get 2 for the price of 1".

Be very clear and very specific about what the contents are going to achieve and remember you are only trying to get the envelope opened and read. Avoid anything vague. Do not expect to appeal to everyone using this method. You do not have that much room on the envelope and you cannot be all things to all people.

I hope you will achieve a strong enough response in a small percentage of recipients that they will open, and read the contents. Your persuasive copy will follow logically on from the envelope copy, and keep your prospect interested.

There is a lot of advice against this in business-to-business direct mail, and there is probably an element of truth in this. If you are mailing to an executive whose mail is screened then its likely good advice. However, there are plenty of owner/managers out there that still open their own mail, if the offer or benefit is clear enough, and of interest to open. You may well consign your mailing piece to the bin for the 99.5% of your prospects by doing this, but it was not about them, was it?

In summary, it is simple. Do not be run of the mill. Step away from the norm and make sure your envelope is overtly commercial with a clear benefit, or incentive, or alternatively make it look personal. If you do this, you are halfway to getting it read and that is more than half the battle.

Robert Wilkinson is the owner of http://www.arhiann.com a direct mail production company specializing in mailings for small and medium sized business.

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By Michael Moshkovich

These are tips on what to avoid during the developing stages of your internet marketing business to give yourself the best chance at success.

You need to know several things before building a business in internet marketing. More important, several aspects need avoided when building an internet marketing business. Avoid overuse of keywords, and waiting to advertise your website. It can be detrimental toward the success of your internet marketing business.

All over the internet, search engine optimization and keyword optimization are one of the most important parts to internet marketing. What people do not realize is, this does not mean put your targeted keywords in every line of content. Overusing your keywords throughout your content makes it difficult to follow along with what you are saying. You have to learn to create a balance between the two extremes of not enough use and too much use of keywords.

Keywords are a vital part to the content you distribute in your internet marketing business. The content itself will either draw in readers or push them away. When you begin writing your content, it is easy to get off the subject and begin writing about nonsense. However, it is crucial you provide quality content related to your websites overall theme.

Aside from the content on your website, the information you provide in your emails and other internet marketing schemes is crucial to generating more sales. Because your internet marketing business is new, the logical thing to do is make your point clear and concise. Sometimes clear and concise is too long. It is difficult to learn when you first start out, but you will quickly realize the best email messages get your point across in a short message.

The last thing that is oh too common with newbies is waiting to begin marketing your website until it is more developed. The problem is you are wasting time to begin generating potential sales. Your website constantly needs developing, because in internet marketing, the best way to stay on top is to constantly be evolving and adding new content.

On top of the potential profit you could be missing, you have no idea whether your hard work is what the public is looking for until you give them a chance to look at it. The best way to build a people-friendly website is to get feedback and criticism, because this allows you to learn from your mistakes and build off what people are telling you.

Although you do want to put a lot of research into how you can build a promising internet marketing business, what not to do should be of equal importance to you. While there are several things you need to avoid, Business Management Articles, these are some of the worst mistakes you can make in the internet marketing business.

Michael Moshkovich is a web developer and internet marketer who has written over 50 articles on SEO, shopping cart software and PPC marketing. To find out more information about WebCart visit us here (http://www.webcart.net/). For eCommerce marketing tips, visit the WebCart Blog (http://www.webcart.net/shoppingcartsoftware).

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By P.V. Reymond

In Internet Marketing, many tools exist to build your business or increase your income. You can find lots of software, books, or videos, but you have to know how to use them.

Before you begin to use them, you need to have clarity. There is a tool you may not know very well. It is the most powerful tool that we all have; it is the mind.

Nothing can compete with your mind. You have to use it well. With your mind, you will be able to control everything. Did you know that Yoga experts can stop the beat of the heart or have surgery without anesthesia? Maybe someone does not believe it but it is true and in Internet Marketing, it is the same. If you are using your mind in the right way, you will get good results, and you will have a high percentage of success.

In order to achieve your goals you need to concentrate and have a clear vision of all the ways you have to travel. You have to create the conditions for good concentration, removing all marginal distractions possible, and ignoring others.

It is important to prepare a long-term plan, and divide it into levels, and each level into a systematic process. When you achieve level one, you go to level two, and so on. In this system, your mind plays a fundamental role because there is no software able to build your system. You are the only one that can build it, because you know what you want and where you want to go. This is the point; your mind is your guide. It controls the whole process and it is stronger than any other tool you have.

The essential thing is to maintain an attitude of mental activity, and to avoid anything that will reduce this and make you passive. Thinking and applying systematically will help you to grow; you will discover the power of your mind. Train your mind.

Do not be afraid to make a mistake. Remember, nobody learns from the mistakes of others; you have to try to believe in you. Put such fears to rest! You only have to think, think, and think; and in this way you will learn how to act and how to do everything right.

It is obvious you will have to face some problems traveling along your road. Then your mind will come to help you and you will find the solution in a short period. A powerful mind accomplishes results in the shortest time and with the least amount of wasted motion.

In order to be successful in Internet Marketing you have to focus your niche and to pay close attention to it. Ask yourself, what am I looking for? Keep it in the background of your mind and search for the answer. Knowing everything about you and about what you want, will help you to develop your business.

Keep your mind free; keep a sharp lookout, at every point, to see that you build into the foundation only those materials and that workmanship which will support a masterly structure.

Everyone has difficulty in the concentration of attention, workers in business and industry, students and even professors, complain of the same difficulty. Attention seems in some way to be at the very core of mental activity. Therefore paying attention to your niche and working only in this direction is crucial.

Using your mind as a tool is the most effective factor to be successful.

Copyright © 2006 PV Reymond.

P.V. Reymond is a marketer that built his business alone. He was growing inside the crowd, studying and learning how big marketers treat their customers, and how customers want to be treated. He came out from the crowd to teach people the whole process in how to build a profitable Internet Business with his Free Internet Marketing Education. If you are not making money online or you want to increase your income, then you should visit his site http://www.pvreymond.com.

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By Stephen Joyce

Many retail business owners feel pressure to set up shop online. However, is this realistic expectation or is it an exercise in futility. Some very important key questions need answered before considering the move to online sales.

1. Are your products conducive to mail, phone, or online sales? You think every product will sell online, to some degree, you would be correct. Should you sell every product online? The answer is no. Many products do not sell well online because they are not conducive to impulse purchases, the demand is low, or the product itself has a long sales cycle. Most people will make purchases online using a credit card, having a limit of $1,000 to $5,000, so that the products or combinations of products are easy to purchase.

2. Are you prepared to sell your products online? This may seem very basic, but it will validate your motivation to succeed online. If your motivation to sell online is driven by a belief that "everyone else is doing it and so should I”, then you should seriously consider the implications of selling online. Once you have made the mental decision to sell online, you can begin to formulate your strategy for doing so.

3. Do you have the resources to sell online? Are you prepared to handle five, ten, a hundred, five hundred orders a day? Do you have the staff to fulfill orders, manage online customer service, and make updates to the website? Do you plan to do this work yourself? If so, have you considered the impact this decision will have on the rest of your business? Create a plan that sets definitive goals for your online storefront, as you would for any business opportunity. Remember, managing a successful e-commerce website is a full-time job.

4. Who will build your site? One of the biggest myths about e-commerce is that anybody can build and run an online store. The truth of the matter is that anyone can build and run a store online, but only a select few can do it well. There are many online store builders, shopping cart programs, and hosted applications that let you build a site and start selling your products online, but realistically you get what you pay for with most of these services. Consider hiring a company who specializes in developing online commerce sites for you. The result will be superior to a homegrown site and will ultimately result in increased credibility and sales.

5. What is your budget? Get quotes from a variety of vendors. You will find that the quotes you get back will range from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars. A reasonable amount to budget for your new website is around $10,000 for a full build out including custom web design and software, and ongoing server and maintenance fees of about $300 to $500 per month. When you consider your budget, take into account that the more you spend upfront, the less likely you will be to change the site. On the Internet, keeping your website fresh and updated is crucial to your credibility.

Now that you have answered the fundamentals, you will want to ensure you take the following steps to get your online store set-up correctly and efficiently:

1. Set-up an Internet Merchant Account This is necessary. You may be tempted to use PayPal, 2Checkout, or some other low cost online payment solution, however, in the end, when your site becomes popular and you start generating significant revenue, you will find that the discount rate you pay with a true merchant account will be much less. Although there is a little more work involved in setting up an Internet capable merchant account, your credibility, not to mention your payment tracking, are simplified.

2. Purchase a Secure Certificate. This is also necessary. Securing your site is mandatory in order to avoid possible issues with credit card theft. All merchant account providers will require you have a secure certificate installed on your server before they issue you the account. Secure certificates range in cost from around $80 CAD to $500 CAD depending on the level of security and authentication you require. For the most part, a basic certificate is all that is required for online sales.

3. Organize your product data. When you have your product data organized in a spreadsheet, it will go a long way to speeding up the set-up of your store. It will also help you organize your store layout and determine what products will sell best online.

4. Take good product photos. Since your online customers will not be able to hold or touch your products, a good photo is your next best option. Your photographs should be bright, with good contrast, and show the product either alone or in combination with complimentary products. For example, when selling a pair of jeans, take a photo of a person (preferably someone who looks attractive in the jeans) actually wearing the jeans. Have the person wear other complimentary products from your store like a popular shirt, shoes, and a purse. Customers will be more inclined to buy the jeans if they can see the jeans in context with other products.

5. Set-up a newsletter. Permission based newsletters are an excellent way to keep your customers coming back to your store. Sending a monthly newsletter that highlights new products, sales, or promotions can be a great way to retain and attract new customers.

6. Visit stores that you like and make notes. Do your research. Look at the sites that are at the top of their game and find out what they do. How are their products displayed? How does their shopping cart work? How often do they update their site? The more information you can provide to your web designer and developer, the closer they will come to meeting your expectations.

In summary, do not rush into anything. Like all good things, a high quality revenue-generating website takes time, money and effort to build. There is nothing wrong with starting small Article Submission, but remember to re-invest in your online store. Make improvements whenever you can and keep it fresh. The days of "build it and they will come" have long been over. Talk to a marketing expert and plan your strategy accordingly.

Stephen Joyce is President of Sentias Software Corp, a software development company based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Sentias develops the Booking Server, a sophisticated hosted tour product management and distribution system. For more information about the Sentias Booking Server, please visit http://www.sentias-booking-server.com.

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By Elias Georgi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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By Steve Renner

A fast way to become successful is to Model Success. Find the person who you would like to be like and copy them. This is a secret to Internet Marketing Excellence.

I am on many mailing lists, and like to keep track of what is happening in the Internet Marketing scene. This keeps me in tune with what is going on.

The older, more experienced Marketers are teaching new people the business with their special Coaching and Mentoring Programs.

As part of their Coaching service, they will help these new marketers break into the business, by promoting them to their list. There is nothing wrong with this, and it is actually a great thing. This is how most of the great marketers get started.

Problem is, it seems more and more people who graduate from these Coaching Programs are getting into the business. They want to start giving their Marketing Advice.

One thing I can tell you is this, in the Internet Marketing world there is an incredible amount of different information floating around. It can be overwhelming. This is called Information Overload, and it happens to everyone.

Another problem is you do not always know if the information you are getting is reliable or not. Is this something someone has learned from someone else? Are they now passing themselves off as an expert? Is this coming from someone that has really done it?

It is essential you know the person from whom you are receiving the information.

A good marketer is always looking to learn new things, and looking to learn from someone. If you find just one golden nugget of information, it can make you a fortune in your business.

That's why it is critical that when you are looking to learn from someone, look for a person who is out there actively Marketing, someone who is actually in the trenches doing it on a daily basis.

If they are just learning as you are, then this is not the source example to follow.

Look for someone who has been in the business for a while and has a good track record of success.

This person can become your Mentor. When you find someone that you look up to and want to be like, then just look at what they are doing and copy them.

This is the easiest way to be successful in your business, Model Success! If it is working for them, Business Management Articles, then it can work for you too.

This is a Secret to Internet Marketing Excellence!

Steve Renner has been marketing online since 1998. He is the Director of Training and Marketing for The Affiliate Community, an Online Training and Resource Site for Affiliate Marketers of all Levels.He is a pioneer in the development of Hybrid Marketing and is an Expert in Internet Marketing and Marketing Affiliate. http://www.affiliatecommunity.netGet over $1,000 in Training and Resources FREE!

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By Mikhail Tuknov

For many casual internet users, the terms SEM and SEO rarely enter their minds when they are busy jumping from one website to another. However, these terms establish much of what comes out on the results page whenever we type a word in the search tab of any accessible search engine. These terms are also responsible for all those advertisements and pop-ups that link us to even more websites, whether they connect to our original search or not. So just what are SEM and SEO?

In the simplest way possible, SEM and SEO are tools which website creators, especially those who are promoting and selling a certain service or product, use to gain a lot of exposure and a better ranking for their website. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, the simplicity ends there.

To make it a tad bit complex, SEM and SEO are not the same.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM), deals with how a website markets to gain exposure in the different search engines available on the internet. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), deals with how the web creators develop and redevelop the content, quality, and structure of their entire websites. When an internet user types in a particular word in the search tab, their websites have a better chance of appearing on the first few search engine results pages (SERPS).

To make it even more complex, although the functions of SEM and SEO seem different, they are more effective when used together. Since the main function of SEM is to gain further exposure for a website, the common means for attraction are more online advertisements, blogs, internet articles, partner and sponsored websites, and anything that can catch the eye of the internet user.

SEM also makes use of PPC (pay-per-click), and paid inclusion to push a website’s visibility. Lastly, it is also an important process in SEM to submit the name and URL of a website to different search engines and web directories, if only to inform them of the website’s existence. This is carried out to ensure the popularity of a website.

So how does SEO come together with SEM? Despite having all the advertisements provided by SEM, truly the SEO allows the internet user to easily and conveniently find what he is looking for. Since the function of SEO is to gain a better ranking in the SERPS, the web creator has to constantly optimize his website in order to cater to the needs of the internet user; making it easier for spiders or web crawlers to judge whether the website’s content is relevant to the words being searched. Optimization is not a simple and easy task. It involves having to restructure the website regularly, (by editing the html code and meta tags, changing content, reorganizing the site map, developing an easier navigational structure, etc.), to adapt to the rapidly changing demands of the internet user. Still, when done properly, not only does SEO help a website become more useful and therefore, more often visited by the internet user, it also helps gain more exposure since it increases the website’s chances of gaining a better rank in the SERPS.

Both SEM and SEO success rely heavily on the words or context which Internet user’s type in when they search for something on the internet. Take PPC under SEM, for example. PPC is an ad that is triggered by a particular word or context used by an internet user. Once a particular word or context is searched, a corresponding PPC ad for a website comes out. SEO works in the same way. The web creator inputs a particular Meta tag (or keyword) in his html that he believes many internet users will use when searching for information; information, which the web creator’s website may contain.

Although all of these processes involving SEM and SEO are tedious and time-consuming, it all boils down to knowing and serving the target audience. A web creator must be discerning enough to know what the internet users need and want, and at the same time, he must have the real passion to inform and provide the internet users with the right service and product.

Mikhail Tuknov, search engine optimization specialist and a founder of Infatex (Search Engine Marketing Company). With an extensive background in Internet marketing, Mikhail Tuknov offers SEO, PPC, SEM services. http://www.infatex.com/

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By Andreas Sundstrom

Running a traditional brick and mortar business with an online presence, is one very good way to make a part of your living online. However, for the purposes of this article, we are going to assume that you do not have your own business. Therefore, I am going to discuss two of the biggest online moneymakers right now: online business opportunities and affiliate marketing.

Network marketing

The typical online business opportunity built around a network-marketing concept, inheriting the basic qualities of the offline business model that has been available for many decades. The basic idea is that you recruit two or more people, who in their turn recruit two, and in this way your efforts, (at least in theory), are greatly leveraged.

The main difference doing this online is that, utilizing the power of the Internet, you as a network marketer can literally reach people all over the planet.

The problem with the network marketing, or "mlm", concept is it sounds so good on paper - excessively good. Most people who join with a company of this type tend to get a dose of Mr. Reality rather soon.

They discover that recruiting new people, which is what mlm’s are all about - even if they try to tell you differently -, is not at all a simple process. There have been plenty of fraudulent businesses in this niche, and people tend to stay on their toes as soon as they hear the words mlm or network marketing.

To further complicate things, this business model is also based on you paying a set monthly fee - whether you make any money or not, which means many people who start this kind of business actually end up losing money.

It is definitely possible to make a good living in network marketing, but it is definitely not for everybody. "Getting in on the ground floor" is allegedly not always as good as it seems.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is similar to network marketing, in the sense that you will be promoting a product produced by another company or person. This can make life simpler for you, as the merchant usually takes care of all shipping and customer support issues. Amazon.com is probably one of the most well-known (and respected) companies utilizing the power of affiliate partnerships.

As an affiliate, your task is simply to refer new clients to the merchant. When these people buy something, you receive credit with a certain percentage of the sale.

Contrary to network marketing, acting as an affiliate marketer, is generally free. There are certain companies that have a hybrid structure between network and affiliate marketing, which require you to pay a start-up and/or monthly fee to market their products. Most affiliate programs are completely free to join. I would personally stay away from those using their affiliate programs as an income generator, in its own right, or "affiliate sharks”, as one marketer aptly named them.

Affiliate programs are a great way that anyone can start to make money online, without having to invest a lot of money, if indeed any at all.

However, there are certain strategies and marketing methods you need to be knowledgeable of, if you are to make anything but peanuts with your affiliate marketing.

Choosing the right affiliate program, and promoting it to the right people in the right way is an art form in its own right. The people who are good at this, generally referred to as "super affiliates", make a very good living doing nothing else than selling other people's products.

If you are looking to make an additional income from the Internet, or eventually even replace your current income altogether, affiliates marketing is a great way to get started. To achieve the success you desire, you should study and learn the same techniques “super affiliates” use on a day-to-day basis.

Andreas Sundstrom has made a full time living online for the past six years, largely thanks to the power of free affiliate programs. At his website http://www.webhosting-tips.info/affiliate/ he will share some of the most important super affiliate secrets.

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By Alicia Forest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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By Michael Cordova

A landing page is a website page created for one purpose - to persuade the site visitor to convert into a customer by making a sale, completing a form (thereby becoming a qualified lead), signing up for a newsletter, etc.

We provide this landing page quick reference so you can pull it out every time you are creating a persuasive landing page; divided into four sections to use as an all-inclusive tip sheet. Most importantly, consider that you have eight seconds or less to convince your visitor to act. If you have not convincingly made your case in this time, then your visitor will move on and will be lost, as the Internet has created the most fickle customer in sales history.

Page Layout

- Place your logo at the top left. Visitors expect it there so display your branding where it counts.

- If the visitor came from a search engine, keyword search, or a PPC ad, then place the keyword terms in bold at the top of the page. This reinforces, to the visitor that they came to the right place.

- Always, keep the Golden Triangle in mind. It is the most important and scanned part of the page. It is the area of the page that starts at the top left, moves to the top right side, then down diagonally to the bottom left of the page just above the fold. The fold is the area of a web page that the visitor sees without scrolling vertically. You should never force a visitor to scroll horizontally. This means your landing pages should be seen completely on an 800 x 600-screen resolution. Place your UVP in the middle of the Golden Triangle.

- Contrast your Calls to Action with respect to the rest of the page - use contrasting colors, round vs. rectangular, straight vs. slanted, warm color vs. cold color, big vs. little. Make sure you can spot the Call to Action from six feet away.

- Place assurances, testimonials, and guarantees in the far-right column

- Place logos to appropriate associations or online companies at the bottom of the page to show credibility - Verisign, BBB Online Reliability, certified by..., Alexa rank (if good), powerseller, live support, credit cards supported, open 24 hours a day, Hacker Safe, as seen in Entrepreneur Magazine, Chamber of Commerce, etc.

- Don't place external links on a landing page. Just allow them the option to proceed into completing the form and converting into a customer.

- Place privacy policies on the landing page. This instills confidence.

- Think of the Amazon.com website. Note their Call to Action is the hotspot at the top-right of all pages - add to cart, one click ordering, etc. This may also apply to you

Writing Style and Content

- Spend time on your Unique Value Proposition (UVP), and place it into the center of the Golden Triangle. A UVP is the core differentiation of a company's product or service from those of competitors. A complete UVP will describe the market and a company's competitors and the key difference between competitors and your own company.

- Ensure that you do not have big paragraphs. Visitors tend to scan pages instead of reading all of the text on them.

- Write using headers above paragraphs that summarize the following text.

- Use bullets where possible as visitors can quickly scan them. Search engines also prioritize bullets instead of long paragraph text.

- If you want, add a picture to ensure that it will reinforce your message. You can easily lose significant sales by having the wrong picture on the landing page.

- If the purpose of the landing page is to provide a white paper or article, then create an image for the paper with enlarged text.

The Form

- Keep the number of fields on the form as small as possible. This is critical in getting them to complete the form.

- Add a Comments textbox asking for the visitor's input. It can be the key to qualifying leads. Those that complete this form with the services they are looking for should be contacted immediately. Here are some requests you can use for this Comments box:

- What is the biggest problem that you need to solve now?

- What is the purpose of your project?

- Please, list your goals for this project.

- How can we help you?

- In case the visitor does not complete the Comments textbox on the first page, add a 2nd page with only a Comments textbox on it requesting the visitor's comments again. Tell them that if they complete the Comments box now, then they will receive an extra free white paper that is relevant to the same visitor. These visitor comments are important.

- Have the visitor check a box that says something like "YES! Send me the free white paper that will change my life." It is the psychological method of coercing them into completing the rest of the form.

- Prominently list the benefits of completing the form. It is a major validation. Make sure to write the benefits in terms of the user's benefits instead of the features of your product or service.

- Ensure you save the form information into a database and send emails out as soon as the form is completed so you can immediately contact the visitor. The lead's effectiveness drops dramatically as time goes by. Contacting a lead within minutes is ideal.


Landing Page Mistakes to Avoid

- Graphics or text unrelated to the offer - limit copy to only the point of the landing page

- Long forms with unneeded fields - limit your form to what is essential

- Difficult to read fonts

- Navigation off the landing page

- Placing important persuasive copy below the fold

Michael A. Cordova is a managing partner at Mercury Leads, Inc. For questions about our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Internet Marketing, services go to http://www.mercuryleads.com/search-engine-optimization-internet-marketing-seo.asp or call us today at 303-744-2178.

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By Mikhail Tuknov

The world over, organizations are employing low cost techniques in different business processes. Production work is being outsourced to churn out low cost products. Consultancy is taken from a distant nation to bring in quality and reduce service costs. Educational tutorials are tak