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<title>HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194</title>
<description>Home Business The Easy Way - DNi Update</description>
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<title>Drive Massive Traffic With Stumbleupon - What Stumbleupon Did Not Want You To Know</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Etienne Teo<br />
<br />
StumbleUpon has been one of the leading referral traffic social media networks which you should be using to boost traffic to your site/blog. You might not know that within a day if your site/blog is being stumbled by others, you might be drawing hundreds or thousands of visitors who are interested in what you have to offer. The more people who give a thumbs up and a review, the higher your chances are for your article to be exposed to others.<br />
<br />
When you are stumbling another article,  make sure that you also drop a review with relevant tagging. By dropping a review, the user will know you have given a read and he might drop by your profile and stumble sites that may belong to you as well. It will appear on your profile so that it looks more like a blog, and whatever review you give will tell others how good this article is and they will stumble further. Tagging is important as well. With relevant tags on the review, it will be sent out to others who are interested in this topic to give it maximum exposure.<br />
<br />
Stumbling your Articles<br />
<br />
Remember that you should try to avoid stumbling your own article, unless it is something that you think could benefit both your users and the readers on StumbleUpon-- then stumbling your own article would attract more people to see what you have.<br />
<br />
Aim to be a Top Stumbler<br />
<br />
This does not happen in a day, but it takes time to reach that status. Set a goal to become the TOP 50 STUMBLERS and start to stumble websites, photos and videos equally. Make sure you do not give only thumbs up and no reviews because a top stumbler does not only thumbs up, but gives a review and tagging as well.<br />
<br />
What StumbleUpon Doesn't Want You To Know <br />
<br />
I will now share what StumbleUpon does not intend to let you know on how you increase your status and also how you can work your way to a Top Stumbler.<br />
<br />
Stumble more Videos and Photos<br />
<br />
Would I be biting my own tongue if I said that stumbling more videos and photos can increase your ranks more than stumbling websites? According to my observations, a majority of  the Top 50 stumblers actually have less pages stumbled on than many others but still gets ranked in the Top 50... why is that so?<br />
<br />
The photos and videos they stumbled made a lot of difference, and it could be the way for you to become a Top Stumbler.  Have you stumbled enough Videos and Photos to make this myth come true for you? If you have yet to, then do it quickly.<br />
<br />
All in all, you need to learn how to stumble better -- don't just give a thumbs up and leave the site!<br />
<br />
Etienne is an author and blogger who gives tips and tricks on how to make money online and strategic blogging and traffic tips. Learn how to increase targeted traffic at <a href="http://www.etienneteo.com/" target="_blank">http://www.etienneteo.com/</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>

Internet Marketing: Is Your Website Sticky?</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
by Wendy Maynard<br />
<br />
A Website is one of the most powerful marketing tools that you can implement. You can update it immediately; it is unique to your business; it can be seen by thousands of people who are searching for EXACTLY what you have to offer; and it works as your sales force, 24/7. It also can be expanded and changed over time.<br />
<br />
Make sure that your Website includes content that will keep your prospects coming back. This is called a “sticky” site. Things like articles, tips, and quizzes not only show off your company's expertise and skills, but they are interesting and can educate people about a wide variety of topics.<br />
<br />
Here are some things you can do to enhance the "stickiness" of your site:<br />
<br />
1. Update Your Portfolio: If you have a portfolio of your work (photographers, architects, landscapers, designers, writers, etc.), keep your "latest and greatest" work current. Send an enthusiastic E-mail to your customers, to let them know when you update it.<br />
<br />
2. Write Articles: You are an expert in your field. Customers are hungry for the information only you can provide. Give them helpful advice and tips. On your homepage, let Website visitors know about this section.<br />
<br />
3. Add a Discussion Forum: Your Website designer can help you add a discussion forum. This allows visitors to communicate with each other, and your staff can provide helpful answers.<br />
<br />
4. Create a "Links" Page: Customers like being able to find out more information regarding their purchasing decisions. With a links page, you can map the way for them to visit other related Websites. People will return to your site as a resource, to access this compilation of links.<br />
<br />
5. Publish an E-zine: Publishing an E-zine will help position your business as an expert in your field. It sets you apart from your competitors and instills confidence and trust in your readers, making it easier for them to do business with you. You can archive your articles on your Website on an ongoing basis, to refresh your content for business.<br />
<br />
6. Ask Your Site Visitors What They Want: Is there something in your business you are considering? Do you want some feedback on a service? Why not ask for your customers’ opinion? You can post an online opinion poll and, down the road, post customers’ responses.<br />
<br />
7. Start a Blog: If you are committed to posting regularly, a blog can be a great way to build relationships with your customers and leads. You can give them advice about services or products, you can offer them helpful advice, and you can give business updates. Best of all, a blog is easy to set up and update!<br />
<br />
8. Publish "Audio Bytes": There is so much great technology you can easily incorporate on your Website. One example of this is easy-to-record audio. You can create audio reports or radio shows, to give your visitors helpful advice.<br />
<br />
Copyright 2006 Marketing Maven<br />
<br />
About The Author:<br />
<br />
Wendy Maynard, your friendly Marketing Maven, publishes REMARKABLE MARKETING, a weekly marketing E-zine for business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. If you're ready to skyrocket your sa1es, easily attract customers, and have more fun, subscribe at http://www.gomarketingmaven.com/ezine.html.<br />
<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>Autoresponder – A Major Consideration in Building a List</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
by John V. W. Howe<br />
<br />
One of the first considerations in building a mailing list should be &ldquo;how am I going to handle all those names that I will have in my list&rdquo;. An autoresponder is the answer to this &ldquo;nice to have&rdquo; problem.<br />
<br />
When you study successful Internet entrepreneurs, the most common theme that runs through the success of these individuals is building a list of customers who then become faithful repeat customers. You know from your off-line life that the businesses that you continually use are the ones that do a good job and treat you right. Once you gain confidence in them, you continue to go back to them. The same is true on the Internet.<br />
<br />
An eBook called &ldquo;The 30 Day Blueprint for Success&rdquo; tells convincing stories of the importance of building a mailing list. The book is a compilation of articles from 15 highly respected Internet professionals from different arenas of the Net who were challenged with the following scenario:<br />
<br />
&ldquo;Dear Internet Marketing Expert,<br />
<br />
You suddenly lose all your money, along with your name and reputation, and only have your marketing know-how left.<br />
<br />
You have bills piled high and people harassing you for money over the phone.<br />
<br />
Plus, you have a guaranteed roof over your head, a phone line, and an Internet connection for only one month.<br />
<br />
You no longer have your big guru name or JV partners. Other than your vast marketing experience, you&rsquo;re an unknown newbie.<br />
<br />
What would you do, from day 1 to day 30, to get yourself back on top?&rdquo;<br />
<br />
(The above quote was excerpted from Volume I of &ldquo;The 30 Day Blueprint for Success&rdquo;.)<br />
<br />
The most common method that these individuals used was to rebuild a customer list as quickly as possible so they could be effective in rebuilding the business they once had. Just as an aside, the book was very revealing about the thought patterns of these experts during their 30 day quest to restore the income stream that they once enjoyed.<br />
<br />
I was fortunate to be able to attend a class taught by my friend and mentor, Jim Cockrum (author of &ldquo;The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay&rdquo;). During the class, he said that if his office caught fire the first thing he would save was the backup of his mailing list.<br />
<br />
How to Manage a List - Autoresponders<br />
<br />
Some might consider this a little backwards, but let&rsquo;s plan for how we are going to handle the list before we figure out how to build it. We need to be able to capture basic information like name and email address. We need to be able to automatically send a reply to the person joining the list and verify that they were indeed the person who sent the request to join. (This is called double opt-in and it is vitally important so you can prove that you are not sending SPAM to the members of your list). We will need to send out emails to all the people on the list in the future when we start communicating with the customers on the list.<br />
<br />
To handle this in any volume on your own is an impossible task, but there are services called autoresponders on the Internet that will handle all of this for you.<br />
<br />
There are free autoresponders such as FreeAutoBot.com and there are paid autoresponders such as Aweber.com and GetResponse.com. Free sounds good for a start up, but the downside is the fact that the autoresponder puts its link and sometimes places advertising in the emails that it sends for you. This does not look as professional as a message from a paid autoresponder.<br />
<br />
If you use a free autoresponder and then want to switch over to a paid one later, you face the conversion problems of converting your mailing list. This can be done with import features in autoresponders that allow for mass input of lists. However, this is additional work and the autoresponder will take a close look at the list since this is how large SPAM mailing lists are loaded into an autoresponder. This is your choice and should be carefully researched before you make your decision.<br />
<br />
Let&rsquo;s discuss the autoresponder, Aweber.com. The site has a 30 day free test drive that will allow you to experiment with it and decide if it is for you. Go to http://www.aweber.com look around.<br />
<br />
If you decide to use it (and you will have to use an autoresponder to build a list of any size), one month of service from Aweber.com is $19.95 as of this writing if you start off with a monthly plan. Once you are satisfied that this is for you, you can save $60.00 per year with an annual plan.<br />
<br />
After you have registered, log into Aweber.com and go to the &ldquo;How to Get Started&rdquo; page. This is very complete and has great instructions and tutorial videos to help you set up your first autoresponder.<br />
<br />
Compose your email to send in MS Word or similar word processor. This will help you with spelling and grammar. Then open MS Notepad or a similar text editor. Notepad strips off the word processor formatting in preparation for copying and pasting your message into the Aweber input screen.<br />
<br />
If you use MS Notepad , it is found under Accessories in Programs on your MS Windows. If you have not already done so, set up a shortcut icon on your desktop or on your systems tray for Notepad. It is very handy to be able to open this quickly. It can be used as a scratch pad for copying and pasting information from web pages to print or save for later use.<br />
<br />
Each week when the weekly issue of Boomer eZine is being prepared for publication these are the steps that are followed:<br />
<br />
1. Log onto Aweber and set up what is called a &ldquo;Broadcast Message&rdquo;.<br />
<br />
2. Copy the newsletter from MS Word and paste it into Notepad.<br />
<br />
3. Copy the text from Notepad and paste it into the input area on Aweber.<br />
<br />
4. Check the formatting in Aweber.<br />
<br />
5. Send a test email to myself to see how the email looks. This is a tool on Aweber.<br />
<br />
6. If the email is acceptable, queue the broadcast message to send the Boomer eZine to all the names on the list.<br />
<br />
The Aweber autoresponder automatically sends follow up emails. It is set up to send a follow up email 14 days after the initial sign up to thank a new subscriber to Boomer eZine for being a reader.<br />
<br />
Now that we know there is a simple way to handle all those names that you will add to your list, go out and get started building your money making mailing list.<br />
<br />
Good luck.<br />
<br />
Copyright 2006 John Howe, Inc.<br />
<br />
John V. W. Howe is an entrepreneur, author, inventor, patent holder, husband, father, and grandfather. He has been involved in entrepreneurial activities for over 40 years. He founded http://www.boomer-ezine.com and http://www.retirement-jobs-online.com to help Boomers (baby boomers) become entrepreneurs when they retire.<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>Who Else Wants To Make Money With AdSense?</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
By Jerry Oakman<br />
<br />
Fact number 1: Kids in high school are making thousands of dollars every month with AdSense.<br />
<br />
Fact number 2: Housewives, retirees, mom and dads, who are just staying at home and have never made a dime on the internet have created full-time incomes by simply placing AdSense ads on their web site or blog.<br />
<br />
These are just some of the “super AdSense earners”. You may have already heard about their story for they are among the few who are on their way to making millions worth of cash just by promoting AdSense sites.<br />
<br />
Anyone, any age, and gender can become money generating AdSense publishers, as long as, he or she has what it takes. How does one go about this Internet advertising?<br />
<br />
Writing articles for AdSense is the way to do it. Using the right keywords in your articles and having Google ads on a certain site has become the most profitable way of marketing that anybody can get into. No experience and level of education needed. If you are not using this strategy, or may not be aware of it in the first place, chances are you may be losing thousands of dollars worth of extra income and still do not know it yet.<br />
<br />
This is one of the many reasons why writing original quality content articles are now the latest in marketing buzz.<br />
<br />
Content and links. When combined together becomes a really powerful tool to a successful web site and richer individuals.<br />
<br />
Many internet marketing professionals are already aware of the value of an original quality content and how using keywords can drive targeted traffic into their sites from the search engines.<br />
<br />
So why do not all these web site owners write and submit their own articles, if that is what is important?<br />
<br />
The simple and understandable answer is that it takes time to write articles, submit them, and get targeted traffic to their websites. They get the services of those who can spare some time to write the articles that can cater to their site purpose, and still turn out good quality and unique work.<br />
<br />
To get into the AdSense marketing business, to start earning some good cash, ask yourself, did you enjoy writing when you were in school? If you answer yes to this question, you already have an initial advantage over most internet marketing business owners who want to make money online and do it from home.<br />
<br />
With the boom in the AdSense market comes the need for sites to want fresh, quality, and original keyword rich content.<br />
<br />
This way, web site owners can have a steady supply of articles with the proper keywords that relate to their site contents. The result of this is in the sites page rank when indexed by the search engines.<br />
<br />
This, in turn, gets more AdSense ads to show above, below, or next to the article on their website with targeted traffic.<br />
<br />
What do people have to do?<br />
<br />
Write quality and original content, keyword, or phrase rich articles with links to your website in the resource box.<br />
<br />
Then build a website or web page with targeted keyword or phrase rich, original content for the targeted traffic that originates from the articles you wrote. Finally, you will have Google AdSense ads that are targeted to your keyword or phrase rich, original content site where visitors will get to visit when they come looking for information.<br />
<br />
This is a win-win situation, if you think more about it. It is a favor for persons looking for quality content and information. It is a win-win for the persons writing the original content articles. In addition, also for the person with the quality original content rich website. Of course, the search engines and its advertisers are getting targeted traffic and sales, but so what? As long as you are getting something in your favor, it does not really matter what the others are getting for themselves.<br />
<br />
Therefore, who else wants to start earning money with AdSense? You?<br />
<br />
Everyone. Anybody. Internet marketing has many opportunities wide open for this group of people. Writing articles and using AdSense for your kind of internet marketing strategy is one sure way of getting a piece of that action and cash.<br />
<br />
Better, not be left behind the many who are making millions already.<br />
<br />
Visit: http://adsense.awardspace.biz<br />
<br />
Jerry Oakman webmaster, SEO specialist & internet marketer from Y2K, some of his "must see" projects are:<br />
<br />
http://adsense.awardspace.biz<br />
http://articles.awardspace.biz<br />
http://directories.awardspace.biz<br />
<br />
where you can find free FFA, eZines, article posting & SEO news, eBooks, viral stuff, internet marketing tools, video tutorials, current eBusiness information and more.<br />
<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>

15 Little Known Ways To Make More Money With eBooks</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
by Eva Browne-Paterson - www.evieb.com<br />
<br />
1. Allow other e-zine publishers or web site owners to republish small nuggets or excerpts of information from your E-book with your byline or ad included.<br />
<br />
2. Make extra profits from selling monthly updates of your E-book. You could also back-end sell the extra never released chapters of your E-book.<br />
<br />
3. Give away a free E-book and then give people an option of buying the paid version of the E-book. Also let others give away the free version of your E-book.<br />
<br />
4. Divide your E-book content into reports then give people the option of just purchasing the info they want.<br />
<br />
5. Purchase reprint rights to other people's E-books and combine them with yours in a large package deal or private E-book library web site.<br />
<br />
6. Change the benefits on your E-book ad copy into links. When people click on it take them right to the order page. It'll give them a urge to buy your E-book.<br />
<br />
7. Charge people a cheap price to read half of your E-book. If they like it, they can pay full price to read the other half.<br />
<br />
8. Offer freebies that are related to the E-book you're selling. It could be free monthly E-book updates, a free E-zine, free consulting, etc.<br />
<br />
9. Show your prospects a sample page out of your E-book. Just black out some of the important info. This will make your prospects curious to buy.<br />
<br />
10. Provide a low and high priced version of your E-book. Show benefits of each version side by side. People usually spend a little more for extra info.<br />
<br />
11. Offer the reprint rights to your E-book. You can sell the rights with the regular purchase price or as a separate higher price.<br />
<br />
12. Make your E-book available for offline people. You could turn it into a print book, report, video, audio book, print newsletter, etc.<br />
<br />
13. Redesign your E-book for specific niches. You can create multiple profits with very little work. Example: Turn a business E-book into a craft business E-book.<br />
<br />
14. Give your prospects discount coupons on other products when they purchase your E-book. It could be your products or others that you made deals with.<br />
<br />
15. Divide your E-book into online newsletter issues. You could charge a recurring monthly subscription for people to view each issue.<br />
<br />
Eva Browne-Paterson is a popular information publisher and has recently created an amazing system for increasing your free time AND profits in under 7 days at: http://tinyurl.com/akoeq.<br />
<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>Private Label Rights Makes Building Your Business Easier</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
By Tracy Yates<br />
<br />
Do you use private label rights products in your online business? If you do not, or have been on the fence for a while, this article will help you hop off the fence and finally get started integrating private label rights into your business.<br />
<br />
Before you can fully comprehend the importance of what private label rights products bring to the profiting table, you need to have a clearer understanding of what they are.<br />
<br />
A product that offers private label rights is one that places total controls into your hands from the word GO! With them, you can claim authorship of the product, place an abundant amount of affiliate links within them for easy back-end profiting, break them apart, and create smaller portioned products such as electronic courses, bite size ebooks, or even articles. Beyond that, you can also combine them together and make an entire product.<br />
<br />
Essentially, you are in control of the product, its presentation, and retain all the credit for it. In addition, you also collect all the profits from selling your new creation. In addition, you get to do this without all the headache of making the product from "scratch". You make a few adjustments to it, and away you go.<br />
<br />
In contrast, having a product with resale rights, no matter the status of those rights, simply does not give you the creative freedom that private label rights does. With a resale rights product, of course, you can resell the product, but you cannot make any changes to the bulk of it, except a few select places for your affiliate links or name, as an authorized reseller.<br />
<br />
However, with private label rights products, you are free to explore every aspect of change within that product and put your own unique look and feel to it without restriction. Therefore, building your own collection of resalable products you can claim as your own creations is a far more easily established goal.<br />
<br />
Beyond that, you could use them to generate almost "instant" content in the form of articles within your business web site, freely available for your site visitors to read, to which you could easily place Adsense codes for multiple profit streams. The possibilities are virtually endless due to the freedom that private label rights provide you.<br />
<br />
While some may argue the ease of using private label products, the truth of it is still there. This is as plain as day for you to see. Many people will try and "down play" the importance of what private label rights can honestly provide to your online business by making the process of using them overly complicated. This is simply a "scare" tactic to lower their own competition within their market.<br />
<br />
Private label rights are an excellent way to create your own specialty line of products. If you are brave enough to seek them out and put them to work for you, using them will expand your profits, bottom line.<br />
<br />
Consider adding them to your online business arsenal.<br />
<br />
Tracy Yates is an established Internet Marketer with over 4 popular web sites and more than 25 infoproducts to her credit. Visit her private site here: http://www.tracyyates.com to discover more about her. Her current endeavor is taking the private label rights industry by storm and causing a HOT FUSS. . . All to benefit YOU!<br />
<br />
Find out more at http://www.originalprivatelabelproducts.com<br />
<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>Online Focus Groups – Concept Testing and Customer Insights</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Henk Hoets<br />
<br />
So you need to test your new product concepts against prospects, customers, or the trade. Concept testing explores consumers' reactions to a proposed product, message, or ad.<br />
<br />
But you have limited time to get voice of the customer reactions and insights about your concepts. And the target segment is difficult to recruit into a traditional focus group room.<br />
<br />
Product and marketing managers face these problems all the time. The good news is that online bulletin board focus groups can help you with concept testing.<br />
<br />
What are Online Bulletin Board Focus Groups? <br />
<br />
The purpose of online bulletin board focus groups (BBFG) is to gain qualitative insights about prospects and customers. You want to understand their perceptions, attitudes, opinions, and behaviors about a topic.<br />
<br />
A bulletin board focus group consists of a moderator, 10 to 20 respondents, and observers.<br />
<br />
Moderators, respondents and observers meet on a bulletin board focus group web site. But they don’t need to meet at the same time. They can login any time during a BBFG session.<br />
<br />
Bulletin board focus groups typically run for three days. The moderator posts questions and concepts, and respondents post their comments. Observers watch.<br />
<br />
How Bulletin Board Focus Groups Work<br />
<br />
The moderator recruits, screens and invites respondents to a bulletin board focus group.<br />
<br />
But, rather than meet face-to-face, participants login to a secure (https) bulletin board web site, using a username and password.<br />
<br />
The moderator sets the ground rules, builds rapport, and launches questions, concepts, and probes using a moderator’s discussion guide.<br />
<br />
The moderator controls what respondents see, and when they see it: questions, concepts, and respondents’ responses.<br />
<br />
Respondents post their comments: opinions, perceptions, attitudes and descriptions of behaviors.<br />
<br />
Observers can direct the moderator to probe respondents’ answers. By the way, the respondents cannot see the observers.<br />
<br />
Transcripts are immediately available for analysis. You get instant word-for-word quotes and insights.<br />
<br />
Qualitative Product Concept Testing<br />
<br />
This is how you use bulletin board focus groups for concept testing.<br />
<br />
The moderator presents concepts on the BBFG web site. This is where you can show products, ads, messages and web sites. The moderator shows concepts using several formats: written descriptions, images, video clips or web sites.<br />
<br />
Respondents mark-up concepts, using mark-up tools available with BBFG technology. For example, they can highlight words and images they like and dislike. And they can add their comments about specific items in the concept.<br />
<br />
You gain valuable voice of the customer information about your concepts. You see specific words, sentences and images that respondents like and dislike. They reveal their feelings and thoughts about your concepts.<br />
<br />
You can see if customers’ perceptions about concepts match up with your perceptions.<br />
<br />
Another useful BBFG tool is “uninfluenced answers.” The moderator can control when respondents see other respondents’ posts.  With the uninfluenced answer feature turned on, respondents must answer a question before they can see answers from other respondents about the question. The moderator can reduce group bias, using the uninfluenced answer feature. Uninfluenced answers are an ideal tool for concept testing.<br />
<br />
Benefits of Bulletin Board Focus Groups<br />
<br />
Using bulletin board focus groups, you can assess customers' or prospects’ reactions to product concepts, ads, messages and web sites quickly. You get rich, voice-of-the-customer, word-for-word quotes and actionable insights.<br />
<br />
Plus you avoid travel time associated with traditional face-to-face focus groups and save thousands of dollars in travel expenses.<br />
<br />
You can even interview busy executives, subject matter experts, professionals, and on-the-go people who don’t have time to attend face-to-face focus groups.<br />
<br />
Also, you get better geographical respondent representation than face-to-face focus groups.<br />
<br />
BBFG is a viable research tool. Seventy-one percent of U.S. adults use the Internet (early 2007), according to PEW Internet Research. That is about 160 million U.S. adults.<br />
<br />
BBFG is one of the fastest-growing market research tools today. Many companies are turning to professional moderators who use it.<br />
<br />
Bulletin board focus groups are effective for concept testing. Test new product ideas, ads, and messages, and gain valuable customer insights. Use insights to develop new products and marketing programs.<br />
<br />
Copyright © 2007, Henk Hoets. All rights reserved.<br />
<br />
Henk Hoets is an RIVA trained professional focus group moderator and qualitative marketing research consultant.<br />
<br />
Henk has moderated hundreds of focus groups and in-depth interviews for major corporations, and small and medium businesses.<br />
<br />
He is the founder of Hendriks Research, a qualitative marketing research firm. He also is a former product and marketing manager and 20-year veteran of the wireless industry. He holds an MBA.<br />
<br />
For more information about online focus groups and focus group moderating, please visit <a href="http://h-focusgroups.com" target="_blank">http://h-focusgroups.com</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>What Is Brand Identity?</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
By Scott White<br />
<br />
Brand Identity is a promise, one given from business to customer to expect certain things. Whether that promise involves product quality, service, price, or a million other things; it varies from brand to brand. However, the one thing common among all brands is the need to be a strong brand.<br />
<br />
Why is brand identity so critical?<br />
<br />
A strong brand identity can position a company above its competition all by itself. However, acquiring a brand that strong takes time, money, and effort to develop. It is not as simple as just redesigning a logo or rewriting a tagline. Brand identity is the reason your customers choose you instead of your competition.<br />
<br />
How to rework your brand identity.<br />
<br />
Successful re-branding involves "evolution," not "revolution." You must impress upon your existing customers that your new brand is just a new and improved version of the same you. It is important not to get crazy with a re-branding effort because you could end up destroying fragile emotional ties and customer loyalty.<br />
<br />
Brand identity is much more than marketing.<br />
<br />
Having a brand identity that resonates with your market is important, but not at the expense of the people within your company. They need to get it, and be your brand's most fervent ambassadors. Do your employees believe in your company? Do they feel like they have a vested stake in its success? Companies with solid brand identities can say yes to these questions. Can yours? If not, here are some things you can do:<br />
<br />
Get every aspect of your company on the same page: Easier said than done, right? Well, that does not mean it is not necessary. Get all your departments talking to each other and understanding each other.<br />
<br />
# Promote everyone to the position of brand ambassador: Give everyone a common understanding of the company, its mission, and their part in it. They should feel like they have ownership-even if they do not.<br />
<br />
# Reinforce brand values and behaviors: To do this, use the tools you have, such as internal communications...and like a good basketball coach, consistently promote these fundamentals until they are second nature.<br />
<br />
Your employees will ultimately determine your success or failure. That is why it is so important to have them buy into your company's brand identity. However, that is not something that you can force. You, as leadership, must earn it. However, once you do, you will have a company that is full of happy, motivated, successful brand ambassadors.<br />
<br />
Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru, a leading Corporate Branding and Branding Research firm in Boston, MA.  Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.<br />
<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>How to Achieve Success with AdSense Arbitrage</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
By Karl Stadler<br />
<br />
Is AdSense Arbitrage just an old hype revisited for the profit of a few or does it have a future as a successful online business?<br />
<br />
'Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right.' Henry Ford. This quote holds true for anything you attempt. It is all about the belief you have in yourself to achieve success.<br />
<br />
When speaking about the subject of AdSense arbitrage, you will find eyebrows rising. It looks upon it as a 'black hat' method of making money as an online business. This is due to a bad name it acquired from people who misused the system.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, this is now behind us largely, thanks to the Google slap down on landing pages.<br />
<br />
AdSense arbitrage has become a viable business model for a sustained online income, provided, of course, you know what you are doing and don't go against the system but work toward the betterment of the system.<br />
<br />
AdSense arbitrage is not a new concept or secret idea that has just arisen; it has been around for a while. The concept behind AdSense arbitrage is simple, you buy advertising from adwords or another PPC engine, and you send the traffic to a landing page of your own with AdSense advertising. People click on the AdSense ads and you are paid. Your profit is made up of the difference between what you pay for the click and are paid for the click on your page.<br />
<br />
This may seem relatively easy to achieve, but there are some points you need to consider very carefully before placing your ads and landing pages.<br />
<br />
1. You have to research your keyword and make sure it will be profitable. To get an indication of the profitability factor of your keyword, make use of the Overture bid tool. Type in your keyword and look at the difference in the bid prices between ad one and ad ten.  The higher the difference in bid prices between the first ad and the last ad the higher your chances of success. This is not a clear indication that it will be profitable, but it is a good indicator of what is going on in that specific area of the market linked to the keyword. Based on this information, you should then research the keyword further.<br />
<br />
2. Target your landing page to the visitor who clicked on your ad. Optimize the page for the keyword you chose, or else the wrong AdSense ads will be displaying on your page.<br />
<br />
3. The content of the landing page should be no less that 300 words and must be relevant to the keyword and adwords ad you placed.<br />
<br />
4. The AdSense ad placement is of optimal importance to ensure a high click through rate and successful AdSense arbitrage.<br />
<br />
Like in any business online and off line there is a risk factor. It is the same with AdSense arbitrage and there are many who have gotten it wrong and given it up as a bad business idea.<br />
<br />
Then of course, there are those who persisted and believed in what is possible and now are reaping the rewards of a good monthly income from AdSense arbitrage.<br />
<br />
I would like to go back to one more quote, and it holds true for every thing you do.<br />
<br />
'Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently’.  Henry Ford.  He built cars and made it happen, you can make your business happen Free Articles, and it is entirely your choice.<br />
<br />
Find the underlying cause of the business and see how AdSense arbitrage will benefit you and your online business with a sustained long-term income. Visit http://www.yourenterprize.com/adsense/adsense-arbitrage.html .<br />
<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
</item>

<item>
<title>

20 Tips for the Perfect Mailshot</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
by Simon Davies<br />
<br />
You’ve heard the classic formula, AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.<br />
<br />
But, how do you grab attention, turn interest into desire and prompt an action that’s sure to get the phones ringing?<br />
<br />
Here’s 20 tips to ease you through the trauma of getting strangers excited:<br />
<br />
Grabbing the reader's attention...<br />
<br />
Short of saying "Hey, you!" at the top of the page, how can you get more than a passing glance from a busy reader?<br />
<br />
1. Avoid using "Dear Sir or Madam." Tie a householder to your product with "Dear Holidaymaker" or "Dear Shopper." For a business, try "Dear Manager" or "Dear Sales Director." (It's true, important people can be just as vain as the rest of us!)<br />
<br />
2. Don’t be too clever with headlines. Just get your point across so your reader will keep going. Avoid wordplay at all costs - most people hate puns, and your reader might need to know your product before they’ll get the joke. Wordplay also slows down the reader's inference, which is the last thing you want to do.<br />
<br />
3. Don't fall for gimmicks. Headlines in clever fonts and wobbly lines of text can look pretty naff and a little amateur. And whatever you do, steer clear of WordArt – especially the blue wavy font, it’s been done to death!<br />
<br />
4. Tantalise. If your prospects have been suitably profiled, you already know what they long for. So write a headline that puts it within their grasp. They'll read on to find out if they really can have it.<br />
<br />
5. Use impressive facts or case studies. It's a great way to grab the reader’s attention, and it gives you something to refer back to when you're rounding off the letter.<br />
<br />
Turning attention into interest...<br />
<br />
Once you've grabbed the reader's attention, you need to keep them reading. At this stage your style of writing plays as big a role as the message itself.<br />
<br />
6. Empathise. Show the reader you understand what bothers them. Get them on your side. They don't want to know about your business, but they are interested in how your business can solve their problems or meet their aspirations. Once you’ve got the reader focused, you're free to show how your product meets their burning desire.<br />
<br />
7. Keep it personal. Assume you’re chatting to a friend, not writing to the bank manager. You don't want to be over-familiar, but remember important people are still human beings who respond to a warm, friendly approach.<br />
<br />
8. Choose your words carefully. Say "and" instead of "but," "when" instead of if" and "will" instead of "might." And keep it customer-focused by using "you" and "your" more than "I" or "my."<br />
<br />
9. Stress the key points. Use sub-headings, indent important paragraphs or italicise vital words. But AVOID CAPITALS and exclamation marks!!!!! And don’t emphasise too much - or nothing will stand out.<br />
<br />
10. Make it easy to read. Keep your sentences short. Like this. Keep paragraphs to half a dozen lines or less. And leave plenty of blank space on the page. If it's daunting for the reader, it goes in the bin.<br />
<br />
From interest to desire...<br />
<br />
You've got the reader's attention and used enough hooks to keep them reading. They're focused on why they need your product. Here's where you make them salivate...<br />
<br />
11. Sell the benefits, not the features. By and large we don't care how something works as long as it does the job. Unless you're writing to experts or hardened enthusiasts, lengthy product specs will only slow down the read.<br />
<br />
12. Focus on the end result. Give the reader something to dream about - look beyond the product and show how it's going to change their life forever! Insurance buys you peace of mind. A car buys you freedom. A new sofa gets you precious moments at the end of a busy day. This is where you take the reader to the end of the rainbow, where their woes are distant memories!<br />
<br />
13. Banish doubts. Part of building desire is silencing that nagging voice that says "there's a catch." So prove your credentials with qualifications, testimonials or a no-risk offer.<br />
<br />
14. Set yourself apart. By now the reader's fairly keen, but why get the product from you? Be careful of rubbishing the opposition - no one wants to get caught in a bitching crossfire between you and your competitors. Focus on the positives and hammer home your unique selling point.<br />
<br />
15. Imagine life without it. Now the reader's imagined life with your product, take it away from them! Remind them how bleak life can be without your miracle solution. Can they carry on without it?<br />
<br />
Desire becomes action...<br />
<br />
You're nearly there! You've built up an opportunity, but every word matters as you move in for the kill...!<br />
<br />
16. Use subliminal closing. When you finally ask for business, you don't want it to read as a sudden jolt or change in tone. So fill the letter with casual assumptions that you will be doing business. Positive phrases like "When you call us" and "You'll see the difference" ease the reader gently into the right frame of mind.<br />
<br />
17. Don’t be shy asking for what you want. When the time comes, be bold. You may be looking for a sale or just a chance to quote. But if you don't qualify what you want, no one will second guess you. Make your call to action clear and make it easy for the reader to respond.<br />
<br />
18. Add an incentive. It's fairly obvious, but your greatest enemy is apathy. Even a warm prospect could put you on the back burner unless you give them a compelling reason to get in touch today.<br />
<br />
But -- remember -- that needn't mean offering a discount. Adding value with a second product or service is better for your image. And your bank balance.<br />
<br />
19. Your signature matters. Make it legible and sign in blue ink so it doesn't look mass-produced. And if you're a Sales Manager, remember many readers will be put off by your job title - far better to send the letter from the MD or Head of Customer Services.<br />
<br />
20. Add a PS. Letter writing protocol demands that we sign off formally, but in doing so we lose momentum. A PS is a chance to re-excite the reader, where you re-state a key benefit or add one final incentive. By the end of a good PS, your offer should be way too good to resist.<br />
<br />
Happy Scribbling!<br />
<br />
Simon Davies is the co-founder of Wales-based copywriters EarthMonkey Media. He and partner James Daniel have over 30 years experience as journalists, copywriters and scriptwriters. Their site can be found here: www.earthmonkey.biz.<br />
<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
</item>

<item>
<title>Finding the Right or Wrong Credit Lenders</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
By Allison Thompson<br />
<br />
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 &lsquo;bad credit&rsquo; lenders who can assist these people when their state of financial affairs is so dire.<br />
<br />
You will find that &lsquo;bad credit&rsquo; 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 &lsquo;bad credit&rsquo; 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.<br />
<br />
Different types of &lsquo;bad credit&rsquo; lenders exist, and banks are one source. Should you need to arrange a &lsquo;bad credit&rsquo; 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.<br />
<br />
If this does not work out, there are a number of companies around which also act as &lsquo;bad credit&rsquo; 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.<br />
<br />
Many financial experts say that when looking for the right sort of &lsquo;bad credit&rsquo; 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>Carve a Niche for Your Site Via Social Media Optimization</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Steve Waganer<br />
<br />
The Internet has changed our lifestyle to such a great extent that we rely on it for every little thing we are involved in. In fact, it is one of the best ways to get connected with our family and friends, as we are constantly swinging between the pendulum of time and work. The latest method of staying connecting is social media optimization. It is, in fact, a perfect way to churn out endless profits. Moreover, the internet is a huge platform for sharing information and interacting.<br />
<br />
Social media optimization has become one of the most popular methods through which one can interact and gain knowledge on various serious and miscellaneous topics and issues. It has, in fact, raised the level of internet services by enhancing the visibility of the site and at the same time getting the site a higher rank amongst the famous search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo. Social media optimization, however, involves carefully planned and laid-out strategies that help many websites in gaining popularity and more business.  What exactly is social media optimization?  Well, it is a set of methods that generate publicity through the internet and connect online communities and websites together.<br />
<br />
Social media optimization is possibly the best method to attract traffic to your website. Today, many businessmen prefer business conducted through social media optimization as it gives an edge over various other publicity methods. In fact, search engine marketing firms have certainly made social media optimization an excellent medium of interaction. With the evolution of information technology, net savvy people frequently visit a number of websites to get knowledge and the appeal of social media optimization is that it acts as an interactive platform. You have most likely come across videos uploaded on various sites that also offer blogging services, forums and discussion panels that further enhances the effect of social media optimization. In addition, social media optimization uses viral marketing techniques that spread their word across the web.<br />
<br />
In this instance, the sole purpose is to get people talking about a product, service or an idea. The conventional method of word-of-mouth serves as the publicity vehicle that in turn popularizes the website amongst the users. The various other techniques utilized by social media optimization include video and photo sharing, social bookmarking and blogging. In social media optimization, the emphasis is laid upon the elevation of the link-ability of the website that encourages the inbound links. Social media optimization additionally creates tags and book marks for the website so that it becomes user friendly and is accessed 24 hours a day. With this, the user is able to bookmark it easily as well as go back to it whenever required without any hassle or trouble. Hence, the visitor attains a comfort level with the website. As a result, the website will get recognition and simultaneously gain popularity amongst the internet users. The purpose of social media optimization will be achieved. Therefore, the website will be able to create its own space amongst various search engines and also earn a rank as a top website.<br />
<br />
Steve Waganer has specialization in Web Marketing. He is expert in Search engine optimization,Search engine marketing, [<a href="http://www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com/social_media_optimization.html" target="_blank">http://www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com/social_media_optimization.html</a>]Social media optimizationTo get the SEO tips from SEO firm for your website to get high rank and top position in major search engines visit <a href="http://www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com" target="_blank">http://www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>Create An Expert Showcase Website The Media Will Love</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
By Annie Jennings PR<br />
<br />
If you are a book author, expert, or wish to brand yourself to the media and are in pursuit of media placements, Annie Jennings PR recommends you develop a media site, or author/expert showcase site developed especially for the media.<br />
<br />
Choose a website name that is easy to type and contains no unusual spellings. You want to keep the site simple and easy to use.  Limit or eliminate any challenges the media might have.  The first step is to name the site in a way that makes it easy and obvious.<br />
<br />
The name of your media website, for example, could be: www.YourName.com, www.YourNameCredentials.com, www.yournamePHD.com, or if www.yourname.com is not available, buy the .TV extension meaning you would buy the www.yourname.tv.<br />
By naming your website after yourself, the media assumes they are going to the site to find out about you, the expert or author, and of course, they are right.<br />
<br />
It is certainly OK to have more than one website; in fact, I recommend it. Each site should have a specific strategy, that is, what do you want the visitor to do? This is also called a conversion strategy.<br />
<br />
With a media site, you want the media to be able to obtain all the information they need to book you for the media opportunity.<br />
<br />
With a business site, you want the visitor to find out all about your business and hire your business.<br />
<br />
With an e-commerce site, you want the visitor to find out all about your products or services and buy them.<br />
<br />
Observe, all three types of sites have a unique strategy.  The media website should not be combined with any other type of site; especially, with an e-commerce or sales site. It seems odd that you would want the media to buy your products or services, right?<br />
<br />
CONTACT INFO<br />
<br />
Each page should have a header area containing the essential information about you. This should include a short list of topics or a broad category name such as &quot;Relationships&quot; and your contact information.<br />
<br />
I advise against using email as the only way to get in touch with you. Why? It is not instant and does not leave the media with certainty that you will respond. How do they know you will even get the email?  So they must continue their search for the perfect expert and you will most likely lose the media placement.<br />
<br />
Certainly, never use info@, as that seems like it goes to an unmanned inbox. You can use your real email address. It will sound more convincing.  Be sure the email goes directly to your blackberry. You can even let the media know that the email goes directly to your blackberry and you will respond shortly.<br />
<br />
But ALWAYS give out a telephone number if you want media placements. You can use a cell phone or even an answering service that contacts you the second the media calls them. The best choice is the most direct route to you!<br />
<br />
YOUR BIO PAGE<br />
<br />
If you have credentials, let the media know right away. The more credentials and accomplishments you have in your area of expertise, the better your chances are of being chosen by the media for the placement.<br />
<br />
Also include all of the topics you can discuss, as well.<br />
<br />
Be sure to lead with a great color picture of you &ndash; one that is engaging, well groomed, and offers the viewers a glimpse of your personality.<br />
<br />
Do not use your driver's license picture!<br />
<br />
Your bio page should be conversational in nature and not a copy and paste of your C.V. or resume. The idea is that you want you bio to tell a story about you, your expertise, who you are, and in the end, answer the one question the media has, which is, are you the perfect expert for them?<br />
<br />
YOUR MEDIA APPEARANCES PAGE<br />
<br />
A Demo: Short video of previous author or expert media appearances. Sending your demo DVD overnight just takes too long! No kidding. Create a short DVD as a starter demo with clips of your BEST MOMENTS. Don't have the long version of each segment as the first demo the media sees. They can always look at the rest if they like the first starter demo enough to want to know more about you.<br />
<br />
An Audio Clip: Let the media hear you in action, but first, be sure to map out what they are going to hear. Start fast, engage fast and deliver some awesome talking points.<br />
<br />
I highly recommend hiring a pro to help you develop and record a high-powered, blockbuster, short audio; especially for the media, packed with what they need to hear to choose you from a great engaging personality, to an action-packed pace, to lots of great information.<br />
<br />
Your Print And Online Placements: Include a list of your most prestigious placements; including, the month and issue date of the article. If the original article is online, then by all means, link to the article.<br />
<br />
Your Topics &amp; Areas Of Expertise Page<br />
<br />
Your topic page should include a list of the topics you can discuss along with titles of tips, sheets, or links to tips, sheets, or articles you have written.<br />
<br />
The reason why you want to actually link to tips, sheets, and articles (such as Ten Smart Career Moves or Why You Should Never Ask Your Boss For A Raise On A Business Trip) is because this gives you the chance to showcase your knowledge in a variety of areas.<br />
<br />
The idea is to present yourself and your experience in the most powerful way possible, creating certainty for the media that they are making an excellent choice in choosing you!<br />
<br />
Annie Jennings PR has booked thousands of media placements with over 20,000 authors and experts. Annie is the creator of advanced publicity strategy, media websites, online press kits, platforms, advanced branding, HOT 35! BIG CITY &amp; national shows radio campaigns. Free &quot;How To Create An Online Media Kit&quot; at http://www.anniejenningspr.com/onlinemediakit.htm Free Website Consults Audio at http://www.anniejenningspr.com/publicitypro.htm.<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>Sam Walton's Success Story</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
By Evan Carmichael<br />
<br />
&quot;There is only one boss - the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.&quot;<br />
<br />
Growing Up<br />
<br />
Sam Walton's career in retail began in 1940 when he became a sales trainee in Des Moines, Iowa at a J.C. Penney store. Despite his enthusiasm to serve the customers, Walton was not a model employee. His desire to make his customers happy was so great that he often let other responsibilities like paperwork and keeping the books fall by the wayside. He was almost fired by his boss who told him that he was not cut out for a career in retail. Walton kept his job, however, because of his ability as a great salesman.<br />
<br />
In 1942, Walton was drafted into the United States Army. He worked in the communications division of the Army Intelligence Corps and remained on home soil throughout the Second World War. When he left the army three years later, Walton was married, had a child, and decided to start his own business to support his new family. With the $5,000 that he had saved along with a $20,000 loan from his wife's father, he purchased a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas. Walton was 27 years old.<br />
<br />
Starting The Business<br />
<br />
By putting in many hours at the store and implementing a pricing strategy far below what his competitors were charging, Walton's new business took off. By 1950 he had the top performing Ben Franklin store in the area. Walton's landlord, seeing his success, decided that he wanted Walton to sell the store to his son. When Walton refused, the landlord decided not to renew Walton's lease and he was forced to shut down.<br />
<br />
Walton's 10 commandments for business success were: 1) Commit to your business.<br />
2) Share your profits with your associates and treat them like your partners. 3) Energize your colleagues. 4) Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners. <br />
5) Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. 6) Celebrate your success. 7) Listen to everyone in your company. 8) Exceed your customers' expectations. <br />
9) Control your expenses better than your competition. 10) Blaze your own path.<br />
<br />
Determined as ever to succeed in his venture, Walton looked for other rural Arkansas towns for a new place to set up shop. He came across a small village called Bentonville and opened the Walton's Five and Dime in 1950. He made sure to get a 99-year lease this time on the property. The two local competitors in Bentonville did not want to discount their prices and Walton's business began to flourish.<br />
<br />
Realizing he had a recipe for success, Walton began looking for other areas of expansion. He borrowed money and used the profits from his first stores to acquire more. By 1960, he owned 15 stores but he was not getting the kind of return on investment that he thought he would be making. He then made the decision to follow a heavy price cutting strategy and hope to get much higher volume to turn a larger profit. This was not a new idea. The problem at the time was that most discount stores were small, located in urban areas, and focused on specialty items. Walton's plan was to change the way retailing was done across the country.<br />
<br />
Building An Empire<br />
<br />
Walton's revolutionary plan was to have large superstores in rural towns that discounted a wide variety of products. His initial approach was to Ben Franklin. They turned him down, as they did not like the idea of operating with lower margins. Without a large company behind him, Walton opted to go it alone. In 1962, he mortgaged his home and borrowed against everything he owned to open his first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas, and a neighboring town of Bentonville.<br />
<br />
Excited about the prospects of getting discounts and selection that were previously only obtainable in the cities, rural customers came out in droves to his store. The success of his first store allowed him to expand and by 1969 he had 18 Wal-Marts in Arkansas and Missouri.<br />
<br />
Funded solely through debt and reinvested profits, Walton decided that in 1970 he would take the company public. The IPO raised $5 million and Walton retained 61 percent of the company. The money was used to settle the company's debts and fuel further expansion. By 1980, 276 Wal-Marts were operating.<br />
<br />
An integral component of Wal-Mart's success was it&rsquo;s leveraging of new technologies to improve efficiencies and save costs. Walton knew that the key to success in a low margin business was to rigidly control his costs. Wal-Mart was, for example, one of the first major retailers to use electronic scanners at the registers which tied to an inventory control system so they could know immediately which items were selling well and needed to be re-ordered.<br />
<br />
The success of his Wal-Mart stores led Sam to another idea - Sam's Wholesale Clubs. These would be discount stores that sold to small business owners in bulk. The idea was another big hit for Walton and by 1985 he was considered by Forbes magazine to be the richest man in America with an estimated net worth of $2.8 billion.<br />
<br />
Similar to Ray Kroc, Sam Walton did not invent retailing, he simply changed the business model and way of doing business to make it a much more profitable venture.<br />
<br />
Evan is an entrepreneur and international speaker. At the age of 19, he became an owner and Chief Operating Officer in Redasoft, a biotechnology software company. The company quickly grew to over 300 organizations as clients, including NASA and Johnson &amp; Johnson, in 30 countries. He started Evan Carmichael &amp; Associates with the goal to give entrepreneurs the Inspiration to follow their passion and the strategies they need to succeed. Evan has delivered over 100 keynote presentations to entrepreneurs in North America, Europe, and Asia. He has been interviewed by newspapers, radio stations, and television stations including The Globe and Mail, CHUM FM, CityTV, Global TV, OMNI TV, Enterprise, and the Toronto Sun. Evan's website, http://www.evancarmichael.com, is the world's #1 website for small business inspiration and strategies.<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>Show Me The Money!</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
By Paul Taylor<br />
<br />
The title of this article is not just the newest TV show staring William Shatner, or a great line from a Tom Cruise movie. These four words should be the motto of small business owners everywhere. Without money, your business has very little chance of succeeding. This statement can be taken several ways.<br />
<br />
First and foremost, is finding financing for your business idea. Each business owner has to decide where to find financing. The obvious choices include banks, finance companies, money brokers, etc. Another place to look for funding is friends and family members. That is not what this article is really about.<br />
<br />
Second, is to price the items in your business so that it insures that your business endeavor is a success. You want your prices to be in line with your competition. Price is usually a consideration with most people. However, you do not have to have lower prices on every item; you must, however, be in the same ballpark with the competition. There are other items that customers consider when purchasing an item from you, but price is the main one.<br />
<br />
And finally, the reason for this article is start&ndash;up costs.<br />
<br />
What are start-up costs? Start-up costs, as the name implies, include all the expenses that you have during the process of opening your business. Simple enough. But many times, entrepreneurs underestimate the amount that it will take to open the doors. Each business start-up costs vary, depending on the type of business that you plan to open.<br />
<br />
Many of the costs associated with opening a business are obvious, however, I will list many of them so that when you are planning your budget, it may refresh your memory.<br />
<br />
&middot; Location for your business. Of course, this is the most obvious. Initial maintenance problems or remodeling should consider a start-up cost.<br />
<br />
&middot; Advertising is often overlooked or underestimated. You should check with various media about prices to advertise. This can be a major expense. Having a sign made for your building is also necessary for your business.<br />
<br />
&middot; Insurance is a necessary evil. Do not open the doors without it.<br />
<br />
&middot; Office equipment such as computer, printer, scanner, copier, fax, adding machine, calculators, filing cabinet, desk, and a bookcase are all necessary in an office.<br />
<br />
&middot; Office supplies are also overlooked; these include paper, pens, computer disks, notebooks, file folders, tape, stapler, and so on.<br />
<br />
&middot; Business licenses are required and should not be forgotten, although the cost is usually minimal.<br />
<br />
&middot; Utilities such as electricity, water, and phone; also an Internet connection and mobile phone should be considered.<br />
<br />
There may be other costs that can be associated with start-up that are not listed here. This is only designed to get you to think about what it really costs to open a business. Many start-up costs are one time costs such as a deposit on a utility connection or having a sign designed and placed on the building or marquee. However, many are recurring such as insurance premiums and monthly utility expenses.<br />
<br />
One business owner that I know said this about start-up costs &ldquo;you should add up everything that you think it will cost to get open and then at least double it, and you will come close to what it costs.&rdquo; The lesson here is do not underestimate your initial expenses. It costs more than you think.<br />
<br />
Paul Taylor is a business owner that helps other business owners and entrepreneurs locate wholesale distributors and drop shippers. Visit his website http://www.WholesaleMap.com for information about wholesale sources or opening a business.<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>Problem Solving Techniques For Your Business</title>
<description><![CDATA[<br />
<br />
By Mario Churchill<br />
<br />
It is an unavoidable fact that businesses will encounter problems once in a while. It may be a problem in marketing, in sales, or in personnel. Whatever it is, you need to solve it fast in order to keep your business on track and avoid losing a lot of money.<br />
<br />
Having problems in your business may seem very frustrating.  With simple problem solving techniques, you can solve your problems in no time at all.<br />
<br />
For example, if your competition is selling more than you, you need to analyze all the related factors of the problem with your company, or why your company isn't selling like it used to. Determining the problem is the first step in all kinds of problems that you need to solve.<br />
<br />
With big business problems, face the facts; you will need help in order to solve it faster. Here is a guide you can use in your problem solving techniques to know how to solve problems more efficiently:<br />
<br />
-The first thing you need to consider is identifying what problems you are facing. Whether it is about marketing or about sales, you first need to know what the problem is in a specific department. It may be lack of sales or it may even be problems with inefficient employees. Whatever it is, try to know what is causing it.<br />
<br />
-Once you identify the problem, you need to set up a meeting with the people who are responsible.  Then, you can ask them about their opinions on the problem. Try to ask them what is wrong with their respective departments and try to let them list the things they think need to be improved.<br />
<br />
-After they write all the things they think have a problem, discuss it one by one. Ask them how and why they arrived at that particular problem, and what their opinions are to properly solve the problem.<br />
<br />
-Now that you have their opinions, you can now decide what to do about that particular problem. Knowing what is causing the problem will enable you to arrive at the right decision in solving the problem.<br />
<br />
These are the things you should consider when solving a problem in your company. You will know how you can solve the problem by making the right decision.<br />
<br />
If you still need information to arrive at a good decision, then you should look for it. One way to solve the problem is by imagining how you can cause the problem. For example, if you think you need customers, imagine how you can scare them away. By doing this, you can determine why you don't have enough customers and solve it.<br />
<br />
These are some of the things you should keep in mind in order to solve the problem in your business more effectively.<br />
<br />
By getting the right information about a particular problem, you will be able to solve it at a much faster rate.  You can really improve how your business is running and also improve the way you deal with problems.<br />
<br />
Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For more information checkout http://www.ideacenter.com and http://my-updates.info.<br />]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>Forum Marketing Profits - Free Traffic And Free Advertising</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Gitte Dabek<br />
<br />
The majority of Internet Marketers are always looking for some additional places to promote products for free and get some free traffic. But when thinking about this, did you ever consider "Forum Marketing"?<br />
<br />
There are loads of Internet Marketing Forums and even highly specialized forums for almost any niche market. They all serve many purposes. First of all, they are an informational resource, but did you know that they can also help you to grow your business?<br />
<br />
- By contributing posts with valuable information and by being active in the forum, you can easily brand yourself as an expert in your niche and everybody likes to buy from experts rather than from the "average Joe".<br />
<br />
- By posting regularly to these forums you can also generate a flood of backlinks to your site.<br />
<br />
- By promoting your website with your signature tag, you will get a lot of free traffic to your sites and sales you never would have made without that.<br />
<br />
The first trick to doing this successfully is to properly utilize the signature tags of your postings, because it’s only this little signature tag that is promoting your website, product or service. Look at the terms of every forum to make sure your signature lines comply with the rules. Then make your tag eye-catching, sticky, create it like an email headline so that it attracts the reader to click the link and read more.<br />
<br />
And please: don’t contribute just "Me, too!" posts or silly questions. <br />
<br />
The second trick is the information value of your post. You have to really show some expertise to the forum members to get them interested in what you have to offer and to encourage them to click on your signature lines.<br />
<br />
Follow these simple steps and do not to blatantly advertise your business, but contribute valuable content and in a short time, you will see fresh and targeted traffic coming to your site. You have built trust and credibility within the forum community and this will pay! Not only will you make more sales, you will have backlinks from an authority site with a high Page Rank and that means additional search engine traffic!<br />
<br />
The critical point in forum marketing really is: do respect the community, be patient and contribute value to place yourself as an expert. And do not even think to spam the forum using some tricky software tools. You will be banned immediately.<br />
<br />
If you do it the right way, forum marketing will become a powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal.<br />
<br />
Gitte Dabek is a home business expert. She is running a website listing and rating legitimate home business opportunities. If you are interested to read more about the Top Home Business Opportunities, visit her at <a href="http://www.top-home-business-opportunities.net" target="_blank">http://www.top-home-business-opportunities.net</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>Admin Advantage - Building Credibility Using Forums</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Ryan A Chua<br />
<br />
Black Hat SEOss will definitely impress you with all the aces up their sleeves, but if you do not want your website to be black-listed by popular search engines such as Google, then it is recommended that you try other better options that are available. Generating traffic to your website is no doubt important, but if you have long-term business plans then you need to realize that what is even more important is building and maintaining the credibility of your website. It is only when credibility is maintained that you can you hope to retain users on your website and, most importantly, motivate them to buy products or services that you might be selling through your website.<br />
<br />
So, what is the best way of building credibility? Well, the truth is that there are many ways of doing that. However, if you are looking for the best solution, then I will recommend that you opt for forums that act as the perfect platform for user interaction. You see, when you start a forum on your website, what happens is that users develop positive perceptions about your website-- something that helps a lot in building the desired level of credibility. Since forums are places where users are allowed to share their views and experiences, both negative as well as positive, it naturally leads to a feeling of communion amongst those who throng your website. This helps a lot because users then feel more at ease while using your website or when buying products and services that you might be offering through your website.<br />
<br />
Building credibility through forums should be your first priority because by doing so you not only increase traffic to your website, but also reduces costs and improves profitability of your online business. This becomes a possibility because when you have a successful forum, you no longer have to invest huge amounts on Internet marketing or hiring writers, bloggers, and SEOs. All the marketing and content gets done automatically by forum members without you having to spend a single penny. Even the mundane SEO tasks such as keyword optimization get done in the process and that, too, without raising the hackles of search engines, something that is always a possibility with SEO-assisted optimization techniques. You see, when users discuss topics related to your website, it automatically leads to the requisite keyword insertions, something that the search engines are most likely to take notice of in a positive way. That’s the magic of forums!<br />
<br />
So now that you understand the importance of building credibility through forums, it is all up to you how well you implement that on your website. However, before you actually start a forum, you need to take certain precautions because just like any other technique, forums too have their limitations and disadvantages, especially when not used in the prescribed manner. You may be planning to get the best forum software, but believe me, if you do not know the tricks and techniques involved, you will not be able to make much progress even with the most advanced software programs. So, instead of risking your investments, I would recommend that you first learn the intricacies and the tricks of the trade.<br />
<br />
Ryan Chua is a professional IT and Onlne marketing consultant for the past 5 years. Ever since running his own traffic and profit-generating websites, he has been teaching others how to do the same for their own online endeavours. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.ForumSecretsRevealed.com" target="_blank">http://www.ForumSecretsRevealed.com</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>5 Reasons Forums May be Hazardous to Your Website's Health</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Jerret Turner<br />
<br />
When used correctly, forums offer new as well as experienced business owners the perfect platform for promoting new ideas and products. They're also a great way to acquire one-way links.  While forums have their benefits, they also have the potential of creating huge damage to your business. One wrong thread could send a lot of bad press to your site as well as to your email account.<br />
<br />
Forums can be a great place to learn new ideas and bounce ideas off other people. But they require a lot of time. More often than not, it's far better to spend that time concentrating on marketing your business rather than trolling the forums.<br />
<br />
The following five points underscore why spending time in forums can be hazardous to your site's health.<br />
<br />
1) It's not a matter of if but when you'll get flamed<br />
<br />
The problem with forums is that you never know when things are going to get out of hand. Without any reason or warning, you can become a flame target.<br />
<br />
I can guarantee that at least one person will not agree with you. This isn't so bad as long as the dialog takes place within the forum.  But these online arguments can get out of hand and spill over into blogs, other forums, and through email.<br />
<br />
2) Link bandwagons and useless comments<br />
<br />
One of the low points of any forum is that 95% of the posts tend to be completely useless. Many posters are only participating in the hope of getting some mileage from a forum. For people who own a similar business, posting on a forum is the perfect way to gain some exposure and get one-way links to boot. Many times, they don't add any value to the forum.<br />
<br />
Then there's the typical flood of "I agree" comments. These "valueless" comments can suck an excessive amount of your time.<br />
<br />
3) Everyone's an expert<br />
<br />
There's an old saying, "If everything is important, then nothing is important." I believe this applies to forums as well.<br />
<br />
The problem isn't for lack of experts. The problem is trying to decipher the real experts from the flack. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to differentiate good advice from bad. This is somewhat like the blind leading the blind. Misleading advice abounds. It takes time to acknowledge the good experts from the "wannabe" experts. Time better spent elsewhere.<br />
<br />
4) Old and stale information<br />
<br />
People post comments and information based on what they've read or heard about. Unlike a typical publication, with its overabundance of editors, assistant editors, and fact checkers, forums are open source. You have to do your own fact checking.<br />
<br />
Another problem is information that's just plain old. What may have been true a few years ago may not apply today. For instance, web rings were very popular in the late 1990s. Now, they're simply known as link farms. But there's plenty of information-- old information-- that shows up in search results concerning web rings; much of it in forums.<br />
<br />
5) Writing truthful, thoughtful comments is a fad<br />
<br />
While some forum discussions have their golden moments, many threads are one sided or between two or three parties. I liken it to two groups of people, each standing on opposite walls in a gym screaming at each other. Unfortunately, many times the good comments get stuffed underneath the bad, disrespectful, disparaging comments.<br />
<br />
While forums certainly have their place, they shouldn't be an all too often hangout. Most webmasters would find they can achieve their site goals faster and more efficiently if they focused on their sites rather than the forums.<br />
<br />
Jerret Turner, CEO of LinkAcquire.com, can help you build one-way links for better search results. Visit him at <a href="http://www.linkacquire.com" target="_blank">http://www.linkacquire.com</a>. Download a free copy of Jerret's new work, The Little Linking Instruction Book, by visiting <a href="http://www.linkacquire.com/signup.html" target="_blank">http://www.linkacquire.com/signup.html</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>Internet Marketing Tips - Handling Forum Spam</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Steven Wagenheim<br />
<br />
One of the things that many Internet marketers do is run forums. Let's face it, getting a nice active forum going can be the key to making a nice income online. The problem with running your own forum, unfortunately, is that you're going to have to deal with forum spam. It's a big pain in the backside, trust me on this. So how do you deal with it? This article is going to give you a few no-nonsense methods to deal with forum spam.<br />
<br />
The first thing you need to do is get moderators. There is no way that you're going to be able to run a forum on your own, especially if it gets popular. Moderators are a must in keeping a forum clean. Offer your moderators incentives to do the job. Maybe give them the right to occasionally post ads, especially if you're running a non-ads forum.<br />
<br />
The next thing you need to do is use Captcha to keep forum spam down. This will at least stop the spam robots from posting. Yes, there is automated software that will post spam without the person having to go to the forum physically. By using Captcha, the robots will be stopped cold in their tracks.<br />
<br />
For the real live human spammers who don't seem to want to give up, there are a few things you can do in order to discourage them.<br />
<br />
The first thing is to ban their IP address. In many cases, these people are running off of a static IP address. In the cases where you're dealing with people who are using computer cafes to do their spamming, this isn't going to be much help. But you will cut down slightly on spam by banning IP addresses.<br />
<br />
When all else fails, turn the forum into a paid access only forum. This will definitely keep the spammers away. While you may end up losing some of your members, the really serious ones will stay and you'll end up making an income directly from your forum. If you don't want to go that route, you can try disabling signups to your forum for a few days. This will discourage many spammers and hopefully send them on their way.<br />
<br />
Dealing with forum spam is not fun and it's a war that isn't easily won. However, by following the above tips, you can greatly cut down on your forum spam.<br />
<br />
To YOUR success,<br />
<br />
Steven Wagenheim<br />
<br />
Tired of busting your behind for peanuts online? Go to my web site and find out how I earn a monthly income that exceeds 5 figures and how I can help YOU do the same. Get your free report at <a href="http://www.mysecretarticles.com/report.html" target="_blank">http://www.mysecretarticles.com/report.html</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>Understanding Smiley Icons and How to Use Them</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Craig Thornburrow<br />
<br />
The Internet is continuously evolving. It has been incorporating all current technology into its domain and has thus stood the test of time and storm. From video conferencing to class sessions delivered online, it has touched almost every aspect of life. But none has been as popular as Instant Messaging, which gave birth to smiley icons, a product of man’s quest to make cyberspace as social as possible.<br />
<br />
Smiley icons are sequences of characters and symbols which represent different facial expressions, human feelings and sometimes even social gestures. They were first developed in an attempt to make the web as humanly social as possible. Later on, however, they were extended to represent all forms of humor, nationalism, celebrities and all kinds of things. And yes, it is still developing.<br />
<br />
So, what are the most popular classes of smiley icons?<br />
<br />
Emotions: Smileys are used to represent most human emotions. The most popular ones are smile, frown, wink, laugh, mock, tongue sticking out, etc. These are very frequently used in chat rooms and online forums.<br />
<br />
Cartoons: From smiley icons of fat guys scratching their pot bellies to other weird symbols, there are a whole bunch of cartoon smileys that may have quite a lot of appeal to you and your lifestyle. All you have to do to get these smileys is search them online and follow the instructions to download them.<br />
<br />
Ideologies: Since people of all faiths, creeds and nationalities partake in the discussions at the forums and chat rooms, some smart guys came up with smiley icon that represented religious symbols, socio-political identities like national flags and others. If you have been wondering how that guy that you always meet in the chat room gets to display a waving US flag, now you know.<br />
<br />
Celebrities: Celebrities are more like gods nowadays. There are people who have made a fortune just writing about them. So it shouldn’t surprise you that we now have some emoticons that represent them. From politicians like former president Jimmy Carter :(=) to celebrities and TV characters like Pamela Anderson &:-)3 or Alladin @:-) , there are many classes of icons that represent most things we care about, and these icons are continuously evolving.<br />
<br />
If you want to master the arts of the internet world, you have to learns its ways and be a part of its cyber culture, which includes understanding and rightly using smiley icons to deliver warmth to your online posts and break the ice created by the screen.<br />
<br />
Craig Thornburrow is an acknowledged expert in his field. You can get more free advice on smiley icons and animated smiley faces at <a href="http://www.smileyicon.net" target="_blank">http://www.smileyicon.net</a> and <a href="http://www.smileyicon.net/animate-your-messenger-conversations-with-animated-smiley-faces.html" target="_blank">http://www.smileyicon.net/animate-your-messenger-conversations-with-animated-smiley-faces.html</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>6 Hot Forum Marketing Tips</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Jon Roussel<br />
<br />
When you are beginning your internet network marketing  business, it is likely that you will be on a shoestring budget.  One of the first things that you need to do with internet marketing is to build your own list. This list will be comprised of targeted prospects that are interested in the niche market that your business focuses on.<br />
<br />
Participating in forums is an excellent way to quickly begin generating targeted traffic. Responsible and targeted forum marketing can help you do this. You need to find forums related to your niche market. Posting frequently and answering members' questions is the first forum marketing tip.  Put your unique selling proposition in your signature with a link to your website. If people like what you have to say, they will visit your website. This article discusses six forum marketing tips to help you build that targeted list.<br />
<br />
Forums are online communities where members interact with each other through posts. A distinguishing characteristic of a forum is its specificity. Forum threads are very topic-specific.  These threads discuss one topic only.<br />
<br />
Here are six forum marketing tips to help you generate ongoing targeted traffic.<br />
<br />
1. Determine your expertise and find appropriate forums that you can join.  Look for active forums that have topics related to your business or expertise. Create new threads there, offer your knowledge, and help others--frequently. This will build your integrity and expertise.<br />
<br />
2. Create a linked signature and include it at the end of your posts.  Do not use an affiliate link.. You can use this to sign your posts. This signature must lead to your web site. The traffic you generate from it is very highly targeted.<br />
<br />
3. Manage your forum affiliations. Do not try to post replies or threads in every forum.  Find five to seven forums where you will become active and then ramp up so you make at least five forum posts daily.<br />
<br />
4. Create interesting threads on the latest 'hot' topics. You will see that a lot of people are talking about a certain problem and are trying to find the right solutions for it. You can create a thread which offers your solution in a step-by-step format.  This will continue to build your integrity and expertise.<br />
<br />
5. Reply to existing topics with quality answers. Look for questions which people post because they want to know more information about it. Reply to the topic with a quality answer. If you do this often, people will look to you as an expert and will start to respect your opinions. They will then enter your prospecting funnel to get more information from you because they trust you.<br />
<br />
6. Use a system to save and track your forums and posts such as Forum Fortunes, which saves a lot of time because it saves and tracks all of your posts and forums.<br />
<br />
Following these forum marketing tips will help you establish yourself as an expert, develop trust and build relationships.  Many people will contact and join you because of the information, help and assistance you continue to provide.<br />
<br />
Jon Roussel is a successful internet marketer in Beverly, MA.  He helps people succeed with a home-based business that will  generate a long-term reliable leveraged residual income. Learn more at <a href="http://www.jonroussel.ws" target="_blank">http://www.jonroussel.ws</a>, Jon Roussel's Website.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<item>
<title>Secrets Of StumbleUpon - Becoming A Top Stumbler</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Leonard Bartholomew<br />
<br />
Becoming a top stumbler is the ultimate goal when you use StumbleUpon. I have not reached it yet, but I know it's out there.<br />
<br />
I believe that if you follow just a few steps every day, you will reach this peak. Yes, "top stumbler" and "top stumblers" are keywords in StumbleUpon, but don't confuse them with becoming a Top Stumbler. Top Stumblers are chosen by the moderators of SU.<br />
<br />
My friend, Brian, from NowSourcing.com, wrote an exceptional article on the flocking behavior and the effect that any social media site has. People are curious about other people, and like people flock together where there is good content. This is what makes StumbleUpon such a marvelous site.<br />
<br />
To get Top Stumbler means that: <br />
<br />
1. You are posting frequently, <br />
<br />
2. You are tagging your posts with "top stumbler" and "top stumblers", <br />
<br />
3. You have close to-- if not over-- the 200 friend limit, and <br />
<br />
4. You are using the "Stumble" button to view other web pages from other Stumblers.<br />
<br />
The average number of votes for a Top Stumbler is around 18,000. These are the three basics that were written about previously, plus the additional task of stumbling pages yourself. The mechanisms will take over and you will get Top Stumbler on the basis reviews as well as votes.<br />
<br />
Previous articles on Secrets of StumbleUpon are linked in the author's information at the end of this article for your convenience so you can read up on the basics:<br />
<br />
1. Introduction<br />
<br />
2. Fresh Content<br />
<br />
3. Tagging Your Posts<br />
<br />
4. Making And Keeping Friends<br />
<br />
Some clarification on #4:<br />
<br />
Reviewing a person's site and then contacting them with a request to be added to your friends list is the easiest way to make friends. There is a wide choice of friends in StumbleUpon, even though it may not be the largest social site around. There are 3,698,021 registered Stumblers, so this should not be much of a problem.<br />
<br />
I would not recommend making a person your friend until they show up as having subscribed to your pages in the friends tab, otherwise you end up with a lot that will just need to be deleted. Also, check their active date on their pages tab. I usually let them go for about a month and then "Remove Friend". Anyone not interested in the pursuits that you are interested in is not going to be much help to you.<br />
<br />
Also, use the "Send To" button to "force stumble" your friends. Put in a brief message to get their attention. When they hit the stumble button, your page will show up. Guaranteed traffic! Takes about 30 minutes.<br />
<br />
Eventually, you will also start getting pages sent to you from your friends. Help them out by voting! And remember this when you get a thumbs down. A thumbs down counts as a vote. It is a good thing, not to be taken badly. You expect others to take your thumbs down graciously when you give it out, don't you? You will not make many friends if you do the knee-jerk reaction and get defensive.<br />
<br />
I appreciate the opportunity to share the information I have learned with you. This is by no means is the last post on this subject as long as I am a SU user, even though-- from a basics point of view-- this may be considered the last of this series.<br />
<br />
The cumulative visit statistics from StumbleUpon for each of these posts:<br />
<br />
1. Introduction - 291 (submitted on 10/1/07, 22 days)<br />
<br />
2. Fresh Content - 692 (submitted on 10/2/07, 21 days)<br />
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3. Tagging Your Posts - 1702 (submitted on 10/13/07, 10 days)<br />
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4. Making And Keeping Friends - 1737(submitted yesterday 10/21/07, 1 day)<br />
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Anyone else see a trend?<br />
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Leonard Bartholomew, B.S. Computer Science, Is A Cardiac Computer System Administrator As Well As An Authority On Developing Home Based Internet Businesses Part Time. Read the series of articles on Secrets of Stumbleupon at <a href="http://www.moxie-drive.com/blog/2007/10/secrets-of-stumbleupon-becoming-top.html" target="_blank">http://www.moxie-drive.com/blog/2007/10/secrets-of-stumbleupon-becoming-top.html</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>How To Find The Most Successful Business And Alternative Networking People On Myspace</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Shawn Drewry<br />
<br />
In today's information age lies a hidden goldmine of opportunity in all areas of business interests. When you have been through certain things in life, it helps you to tap into the creative mind. One of the things I've been doing recently, in which I have been successful, is finding quality, business networking professionals-- some of whom are famous-- all on MySpace.<br />
<br />
One way I like to find quality business people to network with on MySpace is to head on over to my local Walmart. In their magazine section, you'll find every topic of interest ranging from fitness, Windows Vista, PC and digital camera reviews, WWE wrestling, fishing, hunting, investing and so forth. The first thing I do is head to the business magazines and randomly select any one that may deem appealing to my eye at that very moment. If it's Forbes magazine, I'll pick it up. Then, I skim through the Table of Contents to see what sounds most interesting. From there, I select what's most useful and head on over to that section. Once I am there, I skim through the introductory paragraph, looking for people's names to use as visual keywords to myself.  I do it like this sometimes because if I don't feel like buying the magazine, I can still skim for fresh names of people to look for as potential business contacts to network with on MySpace<br />
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From there, I make a list of people by specific profession. For example, "Chris De Wolfe - MySpace". I then make lists by that topic under "Social Media Folk", "Affiliate Marketing Connects", "Corporate Business Execs", and so on. Once my list is compiled, if I didn't buy the magazine, I'll then take the list home with me and turn on the computer right away. Once I am logged into MySpace, I then plug in each name into the search bar, select "People" and scan the MySpace search results. Sometimes, it may be a lot of people with the same name, but finding the right person will require making your best judgment. If you happen to know the zip code the person resides in, that helps too, as does having their e-mail address.<br />
<br />
Another savvy way of finding quality business connects is to send a friend request to associates of persons whom you've already friend requested. For example, if Steve Forbes had a MySpace page, and I friend request him, and I see that Bill Gates of Microsoft , Steve Jobs of Apple, Jay-Z of DefJam, and perhaps Steven Spielberg are on his top friends list, I'll friend request them too. This is a very effective, yet viral way of locating quality business connections on MySpace. From this point, if some of them accept you as a friend, be sure to be courteous and sound very professional when contacting high-profile business people on MySpace. Play your cards right and you'll be surprised how much the "big wigs" pay much more attention to the "little people" like you!<br />
<br />
Shawn Drewry is the CEO of <a href="http://www.Drewryonline.net" target="_blank">http://www.Drewryonline.net</a><br />
<br />
He was born & raised in Brooklyn, New York and has been in the working world for 10 years, including corporate america. As much as he did well on his jobs, someone somewhere he worked with or even the employer themselves found some reason to wrongfully terminate them. He has learned the hard way to become an independent person, breaking the shackles of traditionally following the working class.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>Tips on Encouraging Forum Conversation</title>
<description><![CDATA[by CD Mohatta<br />
<br />
There are many effective little techniques that encourage forum posting. One of the tricks that helps to encourage forum conversation is to end some of your posts with leading questions. "What do you think?" "How do you do it?" "Does anyone know how to ____?" Questions give an easy opening for the next person to post, just as they help foster conversation in real life.<br />
<br />
If you start a new thread, it often is more successful if your first post is short and asks a question, as opposed to being several paragraphs in length that cover a topic more thoroughly. This is kind of surprising because you might have thought a longer post would be more intriguing, but try it and see! You'll notice a difference. So, even if you've thought about a topic a lot, try not to say much in the first post. This lets other people be "experts" too, and they will enjoy the conversation.<br />
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In writing classes they often teach you to write strong. Strong writing is well thought out, authoritative, doesn't use the word "I," has good grammar, spelling, and punctuation. But on a forum, it can intimidate others so that they won't post. If instead you say, "I think," "Gosh, how do you spell that?", include personal stuff, and so forth, it makes the writing less formal and more like you're sitting across the cafe table from an old friend! This makes others comfortable so they are more likely to open up.<br />
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Compliments about what someone posted before you also helps many of the readers to be comfortable posting because they interpret it as a friendly, gentle place. Whether face to face or online, other people will like it when they receive positive comments or are asked questions. It simply makes people feel like they are being listened to, and we all like that!<br />
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Timing is also important in encouraging good conversation on a forum. It's better to post two or three responses at a time every three or four hours, than to sit down once each evening to post because it keeps the forum fresh and people get the feeling someone is always there for them to talk to. If they check in an hour or two after they posted and they see responses, well, of course they'll be more likely to get involved in the forum than if they have to wait a day for a response.<br />
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Social network users, visit <a href="http://www.wishafriend.com/ac/holidays/christmas/" target="_blank">http://www.wishafriend.com/ac/holidays/christmas/</a> for Christmas MySpace comments. You can also find Christmas MySpace graphics at <a href="http://www.wishafriend.com/graphics/holidays/christmas/" target="_blank">http://www.wishafriend.com/graphics/holidays/christmas/</a>, and find Christmas Layouts at <a href="http://www.wishafriend.com/layouts/christmas/" target="_blank">http://www.wishafriend.com/layouts/christmas/</a>  to add to your profile.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>Using Forums to Get Back Links</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Sean R Mize<br />
<br />
With the present trend in marketing and online business, competition to get the a higher and better ranking is getting stiffer and a lot more complex.  In order to attain the best traffic on the net, a lot of marketers and businessmen are engaging into so many highly tremendous methods of marketing.  One of the most sought-after marketing tools that many are trying to experiment on is the search engine optimization, particularly the off page optimization process.  You may be asking, why search engine optimization?  What features does off page optimization have to be considered as one of the most sought-after marketing tools?  Well, the answer to that is very basic and fundamental - traffic driven by back links.<br />
<br />
Back links are the most essential means of generating traffic on a site nowadays.  A lot of marketers and business people have seen the strong potential of off page optimization to obtain successfully numerous quality back links on a site more than its contemporaries.  Back links are link addresses that you are able to generate from sites that wish to start a connection with your site.  Usually, this happens under the method of SEO that requires it to be done outside the main content of the site - thus, off page optimization.<br />
<br />
One of the best ways to get back links is through the use of the forum.  If you are able to publish your message on the forum sites where you are a member, you are given the opportunity to include on the message some of your relevant information such as the company name which you represent, as well as a bit of personal information such as your name and your e-mail address.  You will be given this opportunity when forum masters see your contribution to the forum site as something that is indispensable.  In order to continue getting such opportunity, you continue to submit postings that contain relevancy and pertinence.<br />
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As additional information, if you are serious about generating more back links from forum sites, engage yourself into more than one forum site and allot time for each individual site.  In that case, you have far better opportunity to gain mileage with considerably more net users.<br />
<br />
Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to forum traffic success, 'Secrets of Generating Traffic With Forums'<br />
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Download it free here: <a href="http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/2ezforums.html" target="_blank">http://www.secrets-of-internet-success.com/2ezforums.html</a> Traffic Generation With Forums<br />
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Sean Mize is a full-time internet marketer who has written over 1,574 articles in print and 11 published ebooks.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>InfoPreneur Secrets - LEVERAGE The Resources Of Others For Explosive Wealth</title>
<description><![CDATA[by James Penn<br />
<br />
This is one article in the series of "InfoPreneur Secrets" which discusses tips, tricks, techniques and secrets to be a successful info product creator and marketer. This article will discuss the importance of leveraging the resources of others to literally explode your sales without much additional effort on your part.<br />
<br />
Let me ask you a question:<br />
<br />
What’s better than ONLY YOU promoting your product and generating sales for your info product?<br />
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Answer: Hundreds, even thousands, of marketers marketing your product FOR YOU for free!<br />
<br />
Let us look at one of the most successful internet marketing products ever, ‘The Rich Jerk’. This is the ultimate example of a marketer effectively leveraging the resources of others.<br />
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I bet ‘The Rich Jerk’ himself doesn’t make a whole lot of sales, but he has thousands of affiliates promoting HIS products for HIM in exchange for a percentage of the sale. It’s the perfect business model for both the affiliate and the vendor.<br />
<br />
The affiliate gets money without having to create a product. The vendor makes sales of his product that he wouldn’t otherwise have made.<br />
<br />
The Rich Jerk is one of the must sold internet marketing info products simply because he has a huge affiliate force.<br />
<br />
I’d rather have one thousand affiliates promoting my product passively than just have me marketing my own product aggressively.<br />
<br />
You are limited in what you can achieve on your own. Remember that. But with the help of others, you can accelerate your internet marketing efforts by LEVERAGING the resources of others.<br />
<br />
James Penn is an experienced niche marketer who has developed and profitably marketed a library of niche info products and reports. To discover how to create an insane passive income online by creating tiny reports, visit <a href="http://www.shortreportprofits.com" target="_blank">http://www.shortreportprofits.com</a><br />
<br />
James also runs a blog which details his trials and tribulations of being an internet marketer. He posts his tips, tricks, techniques and secrets that will help YOU to make money. Visit his blog at <a href="http://www.teenagemarketer.com" target="_blank">http://www.teenagemarketer.com</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>Peeking Through the Windows</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Vernon Lee<br />
<br />
Peeking through the windows of how software is designed and development can add to your income. With the technology that has evolved today, we all use computer programs that we like. A lot of software developers start from scratch using various computer languages to develop new and exciting software.<br />
<br />
There is a lot of freeware that is offered under license for use and free to change as long as you don’t change certain things that are written into the program. "You didn’t start the fire," it was already burning when you arrived at the desired spot to write genuine programs and games for fun or profit.<br />
<br />
The software that you use can be enhanced or made better. This is where you fit in. The wheel has already been invented. So why would you try to accomplish building the wheel over again? Why not enhance it? The evolution of the wheel has advanced man into the future so far that we now have cars. In other words, the program or software that you want to create can or may be the idea of someone else. I'm not telling you to steal or infringe on anyone's copyrights or trade secrets. However, once you become proficient in computer programming, why not write your own program to do what your favorite software can do? This process can take a few hours or longer to develop. But once the software is completed, you can market it to increase your income. Your product can be as good as Lager Corporation’s product. Usually the outcome is better than you would expect.<br />
<br />
You can also hire someone to write a program specifically for you. This program can be as simple or complex as you desire. Look at the trends of our world today. What’s hot or in demand? Create a new product and promote it. <br />
Peek through the windows, now tell me-- what did you see? You should have seen the inner workings of computers and software programs that you can help evolve into something useful, creative and new.<br />
<br />
Born in Shreveoort Louisiana, I moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana at age 20. I now live in Humble, Texas. I have a B.A. in Philosophy and am currently employed by The Department of the Treasury. I am married with children and I love to write and tell stories. I am a church Deacon. Everyone that I meet is a friend. I see life as an opportunity to learn, to explore and, of course, to write.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>Coaching - I Have Seen The Competition and It Is Me</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Scott Lindsay<br />
<br />
Who is your competition? If you’re like every other self-respecting online business owner, you have scoured the Internet locating other sites that sell similar merchandise or services. And, like most businesses, you learn what you can from these sites and make use of what you learn.<br />
<br />
Who is your competition? Is it the box store down the street that can sell similar products for less than you can acquire yours? If you’re like most business owners, you seek creative ways to market your product in a manner that accentuates the unique features and qualities that can’t be duplicated in box store purchases.<br />
<br />
But who is your competition?<br />
<br />
You. You are your own best competition.<br />
<br />
As a business owner you need to pay attention to what other businesses do (both online and in brick-and-mortar counterparts). In the end, however, you are in competition with yourself first and foremost.<br />
<br />
You may or may not be able to match or beat another business in price, but you can work hard to do better in business this year than you did last.<br />
<br />
Think for a minute about all the things that you are doing better at this year than last. Don’t limit your thinking to financial data.<br />
<br />
Are you better able to handle administrative duties this year?<br />
<br />
Are you establishing new networks between business associates and customers?<br />
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Are you implementing new marketing strategies that you didn’t know about last year?<br />
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Are you streamlining customer service by developing autoresponders and faster product fulfillment options?<br />
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Are you making sure your website remains fresh and inviting in a way that you weren’t able to last year?<br />
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Are you more passionate about your business this year than you were last year?<br />
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Are you responding to customer requests for certain products and eliminating others that do not sell as well?<br />
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I could ask dozens of additional questions, but the point to this exercise is that if you spend more time competing with yourself than with another business, you will most often find greater success.<br />
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When you compete against yourself, you are better able to learn what you can from mistakes you’ve made in the past and improve. When you focus too much on what someone else is doing, you are less able to evaluate what mistakes you have made (or are making). In the end, you may not have the ability to be objective about how you are doing as a business because you are spending too much time concentrating on a business you don’t own.<br />
<br />
Maybe this is the year you can start a new and healthy competition – with yourself.<br />
<br />
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites.com at: <a href="http://www.highpowersites.com" target="_blank">http://www.highpowersites.com</a> Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: <a href="http://www.bookswealth.com" target="_blank">http://www.bookswealth.com</a>.]]></description>
<link>http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_DNi_194/user/index.php</link>
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<title>4 Surefire Ways To Get Your Banner Ads Clicked</title>
<description><![CDATA[4 Surefire Ways To Get Your Banner Ads Clicked<br />
<br />
by Fendi Salim<br />
<br />
Many people have grown to believe that banner advertising is not effective anymore. That could be good news for the astute advertiser. All they have to do is improve on their current banner advertising methods and achieve that highly-desired click-through rate with less competition to worry about.<br />
<br />
Banner advertising has been one of the most commonly-used marketing methods online. Stick to it with these 4 surefire ways to get your banner ads clicked.<br />
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Surefire Way #1 - Make Use Of Power Words That Trigger Action<br />
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Make use of power words like "Free", "Gratis", "No Cost", "Click Here", "Look Here" in your banners.<br />
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These power words will induce readers to take action and click on your banner.<br />
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Surefire Way #2 - Make Use Of Brief And Hard-Hitting Headlines<br />
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Your headline should be brief and hard-hitting. Your headline should be "talking" to your readers and offer them a way out of whatever problems they are dealing with while offering the desired benefits.<br />
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If you are offering bodybuilding products, try "Achieve a 6-pack in 28 Days!". Mix this kind of text with attention-pulling graphics to create that winning formula.<br />
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Surefire Way #3 - Make Use Of Animation In Your Banners<br />
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Stop using static banners and work on animated banners instead. Animated banners catch the attention of more readers and get more clicks.<br />
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An example of an appealing animated banner is a banner which has the text "Absolutely Free" flashing. Wouldn't that gets your attention?<br />
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Surefire Way #4 - Make Use Of Better Graphics<br />
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You simply do not have to be a graphic artist to have good-looking banners. Simple banners can be created on-the-go by most people, but having unique and excellent ones require better graphics by either educating yourself in graphic design or by hiring a professional.<br />
<br />
Either hire a professional graphic designer to create that banner-- which should cost you no more than $50 per banner--or buy ready-made graphics to create one yourself.<br />
<br />
Visit <a href="http://www.instantwebsitegraphics.com/freegift" target="_blank">http://www.instantwebsitegraphics.com/freegift</a> for FREE graphic designer minisites! Visit <a href="http://www.instantwebsitegraphics.com" target="_blank">http://www.instantwebsitegraphics.com</a> to get Instant Access to our MASSIVE Graphics Library packed with all the resources you need to boost your website sales conversions and save money. You may also visit our website graphics design blog at <a href="http://blog.instantwebsitegraphics.com" target="_blank">http://blog.instantwebsitegraphics.com</a> for more resources.<br />
<br />
You may reprint or distribute this article as long as you leave the content, the links and the resource box intact.]]></description>
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<title>The Power of "Moving Images" - The Social Media Niche</title>
<description><![CDATA[by Clifford Smith<br />
<br />
A quest that has lately arrived in many cyber-minds is how to use videos to achieve the social riches of online media and revolutionize traditional Internet marketing. This article revolves around a similar discussion. A step ahead of your competitors in online marketing is to make use of images that show action and motion. Online Videos are in vogue; they have hit the mainstream and are the most effective and enhanced approach to target an audience for effective communications and marketing. The idea here is to convey messages to an audience in the most exact manner rather than just leaving them to struggle with their individual understanding.<br />
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The web is a global space, and the never-ending nature of enlargement in its functionalities is very demanding. Online videos are facilitating conversations between clients and consumers over the Internet. The growth is announced to be 71% this year as per e-marketer projections. Many websites have experienced unprecedented success in the field of serving as video directories, video search engines, video sharing, video exchanging, video editing etc. And if television was an idiot-box, Internet is breaking it free via the medium of online videos. Unlike the television, videos and ad-videos online do not vanish away leaving the viewer to wait for it, until the publisher decides to broadcast it again in the loop. Also, the audience is not compelled to watch an advertisement that is not of its interest. Advertisers are more than happy about this modernization as they do not have the fear of their ad-budgets dissolving and their advertisement budgets being wasted on an audience that has no interest in what they are selling. We are talking about pulling vs. pushing.<br />
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Websites, web logs (blogs), video publishers, sharing sites, news sites, and video search engines get to do business by collecting quality video content that is easily available. They can choose videos as per the site’s suitability and publish it further by building and integrating their own value-added services. Splash Vision is one of these sites; an impressive, eminent and illustrious site offering easy and remarkable features to encode, upload, host and view videos or photos of maritime and water related lifestyles. Online videos have blown heavy winds across the Internet. The strategy is reinventing the traditional efforts of marketing & promotion, PR & awareness; a breakthrough innovation highlighting an unconventional spectrum for direct and effective communication.<br />
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It is an explosion; a massive explosion, indeed. Networking by video sharing has hit the mainstream and is changing the ideologies of conventional marketing against online audio-video. Through this medium of online videos, you can target thousands of specific users with a common lifestyle who are willing and ready to dive in directly. Quickly skim through <a href="http://www.splashvision.com/" target="_blank">http://www.splashvision.com/</a> and you will instantly see the advantages and the necessity to be a part of it.<br />
<br />
Clifford Smith writes for Flippingmad; where you can find all you want to know about luxury life styles and living large. Please feel free to use this article in anywhere you feel it fits or on your website. If you use this article, please include the resource box and send a brief message to let me know where it appeared:  [mailto:<a href="mailto:aquaaddict@gmail.com">aquaaddict@gmail.com</a>]mailto:<a href="mailto:aquaaddict@gmail.com">aquaaddict@gmail.com</a>.]]></description>
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