Starting an Internet Business on a Budget

I sometimes meet new Internet marketers on various forums, and they want to earn a decent living online, however, most of them have only the slightest ideas on where to start, and most are not willing or able to invest much money in an online business. Trouble is, it is almost impossible to start an Internet business without spending some money. Theres web hosting for a start. However, heres a rough guide on how to build an Internet business starting with nothing.

If you have no money to start off your online business, you can earn some capital using your already existing skills or knowledge. You can give tuition to students on your best subject in school or college, you can teach others about your hobby, you can write guides on knowledge or skills you picked up through experience that cant be found in books.

The first thing to do is make a list of your skills. What skills do you have? (What do you mean - none? Of course you have!) If, for example, youve been running a home for the past few years, you have skills in organizing, (trips, parties, healthy lunchboxes etc.) childcare, budgeting to name just a few. You might also (perhaps through your job or from your hobbies) have an interest in languages? It is vital to list skills or knowledge that you have and that could possibly be in demand by other people.

For example, lets say you love fly-fishing and you do it every day after work. You could build your Internet business on writing a guide to fly-fishing. There you are, that wont cost you a cent! Maybe youre good at writing stories or were good at essays at school. Copywriting is a very useful tool, and good copywriters are always in demand. There is always some mundane job that people don't want to do, but maybe you can do it. One persons mundane is anothers exciting!

Another way to go is through affiliate marketing. Many internet marketers start out this way, and many of the really successful ones keep doing it. It can pay really big dividends if you know where and how to advertise. It works on the principle that when you get someone to sign up under you, you get paid a certain amount if that person buys the product being sold. If its a paid membership site, you get paid a percentage of those members monthly fees for as long as they remain a member. You can be a member of as many affiliate sites as you like, so you have the opportunity to make a very good living this way, so go for it!

©Marie Byrne 2007Fatima Blog39792
Victoria Blog43456

Signs You May Need A New Web Design

1. Does your website provide quality content that would be valuable to your customers and is updated regularly? If the answer is no or maybe, place yourself in your customers position and analyze your web pages thoroughly. Try to assess if the material would interest you enough to keep on reading. If it's difficult for you to be objective, ask a friend or colleague to perform this task and give you their honest opinion.

2. Is the ROI from your website low compared to the number of visitors you are receiving? This could mean you need to highlight the benefits of your products versus those of your competitors or offer an incentive to your customers.

3. Can people automatically guess the purpose of your website the minute they get to it? Remember that online visitors spend less than ten seconds, on average, on each website they visit. Why could this be? Many websites do not captivate their visitors attention, possibly because of confusing copy that doesn't pinpoint the company's purpose or benefit to the customer. Other problems can be the use of too many images, cluttered context, or copy that is hard to read.

4. Does your website mirror your business image? Analyze your company's marketing position and goals. Make sure your website is delivering the right message to your visitors and conveying your company's personality and vision. You must also provide an interesting website that captivates your audience and will stand out in visitors minds.

5. Do you receive calls or emails from your customers asking how to find sections of your website that should be easily found? This strongly suggests that you need better website navigation.

6. Do you provide testimonials or examples of your products? Websites differ from traditional forms of selling in that there are no personnel to talk to and no store front to view. Your image is solely portrayed through your website. Your copy, images and videos do it all! That's why it is a worthwhile investment to get a professionally done website if you want it to be successful.

In Conclusion

If you tailor your website around the needs of your customers you will be successful. Follow the tips above, along with our SEO recommendations found at: http://www.stellarimagedesign.com/websitetips.html and you will experience more traffic and sales. Stellar Image, LLC is now offering a free web hosting package with any order of web design.

Alexandra Saieh is the owner and president of Stellar Image, LLC, a top provider of imaginative website designs, business websites, and secure web hosting. She has been designing websites for seven years and Stellar Image, LLC has been awarded the Fastest Growing Company award in October, 2006 by http://www.HostReview.com.Ernesta Blog34875
Vanda Blog17655

How to Put your Online Marketing on Autopilot

Do you want to not be actively participating in day-to-day marketing activities?

Do you want your target market to come to your web site and subscribe to your newsletter?

Do you want qualified buyers to come to your web site, buy your product and download it, all without any involvement from you?

One of the important building blocks of creating passive income streams is to have a web site that can do as much as possible for your web site visitors, before you get involved. For example:

- If someone wants to become your business coaching client, they should be able to fill out a questionnaire with information about their business, their goals, their budget, etc. This way, the client will be pre-qualified online, instead of you spending time on pre-qualification. Pre-qualification is a good process to automate, as answering a questionnaire can be done easily online.

- When someone wants to buy your ebook or special report, have a process that processes their payment, confirms the payment and lets them download the product without your involvement. Again, this will help you save the time getting the payment, processing the payment and delivering the product. This is another great process to automate, as all the tools for accepting payment online and delivering a digital product are readily available.

Remember, people come to your web site for many different reasons. Some want to read your articles. Some need your services. Others want to subscribe to your newsletter. Yet others need to purchase your products. All of these actions require a different online marketing process.

While each process is different, the processes may be easy to set up. Once you formulate what a process needs to do (process payment, deliver product, qualify a potential customer), you will be able to define and implement the process.

Over to you - lets take action! Here are the steps you need to take to put your marketing on autopilot, and have your web site do the majority of your marketing for you:

- Audit your current web site, and all the processes to use to qualify clients, register newsletter subscribers, sell products, deliver products, etc.

- Identify how involved you are in each process from the very beginning of the process, from the middle, not at all. Every process is different. Some will need your involvement at some point (when someone asks for a project quote). Others can be 100% on autopilot (digital product sale and delivery).

- Identify how you can improve each process. Are there ways to add more automation? Is there a way to pre-qualify a client futher?

By putting your marketing processes on autopilot, while still offering your customers your products and services, will give you more time for working with existing clients and creating more passive income streams products.

Biana Babinsky is the online business consultant, expert and author, who teaches business owners and solopreneurs how to put online marketing on autopilot and make money. Learn how to increase your own product sales get Top 5 Ways To Increase Your Online Sales Special Report absolutely FREE at http://www.avocadoconsulting.com/free_newsletter.htmlFidela Blog6545
Verine Blog61023

How To Finance A New Acura Dealer Purchase

Once you have decided on getting a new Acura, visit the manufacturers website for details on what is available and how to locate the dealers closest to your location. With this information you are ready to start getting quotes so that you can begin the process of financing your car.

There are a wide range of payment options that you can explore to find the one that best suits your circumstances. The main ones are:

Pay cash

This is a quick alternative, but not many persons are able to come up with the full payment price for a new car. If you pay for your car up-front, you may be able to get an even better deal. Also, ensure that your dealer gives you a good warranty.

Leasing

This option allows the consumer to lease the car they want through a leasing company. Most choose a set period for the lease. This period is normally the length of the cars warranty. With is arrangement, the leasing company will buy the car and you pay an agreed upon monthly payment. Generally this monthly payment is less than if you take out a personal loan. Once the lease period is up, the consumer can either opt to purchase the car for themselves or go into another lease arrangement normally for a newer model vehicle. As an added bonus, some leasing arrangements take the hassle out of car maintenance as the leasing company is responsible for this.

A loan

Another popular financing option is taking out a personal loan from a bank, credit union or other financing agency. The consumer will need to make an agreed on monthly payment to the lending agency for the life of the loan. Once the loan is paid off, the car is yours.

Trade-in of your old car

Trading in a used car can also help with financing a new car as the funds obtained can be used to make the down payment. Some of these options are easier than others based on your credit rating.

Tracy AndrewsViolette Blog96981
Van Blog74381

Smart Home Business Owners

Home business owners wear many hates. Salesman. Accountant. Ad executive. CEO. With so many hats, often home business owners end up with nothing more than just a big, hairy headache. But with some basic tips and organization, the small home business owner can avoid headaches and find financial success with his big idea that led him home to begin with. Success home business entrepreneurs do three major things to successfully manage their businesses.

First and foremost, they pay attention. They do not let money just slip through their fingers to pay off what seems like a necessity. Instead, they make prudent, specific decisions on a daily basis. These type of business owners will examine invoices carefully. They're the kind of people that stand at the department store check out and count their change before they walk away. They're the penny pinchers, the economists in our world. Every successful home business owner must find a way to do just that and to pay attention.

Secondly, the successful home business owner will keep his business account separate from his home account. Many new home business owners simply pour their business income into their home account. Not only is this a bad way to manage money, but it will cost money when quarterly income taxes are due. Instead, the successful home business owner will keep a separate checking account for his business. All of the business income will go into this account, and all business expenses come out of that account. When the home business owner needs money for his home account, he will pay himself a salary out of his business account and set aside 25 percent for taxes. Those who fail to set aside money for taxes, will find themselves in great angst when April rolls around.

Finally, the successful home business owner simply tells his money where to go instead of allowing it to walk away from his hands and into someone else's. He creates a budget and lives by it at home, and he creates a budget at lives by it at work. Successful home businessmen are successful money managers both at home and at business. They create a budget where they spend every dollar of income on paper before writing a check. Then once they have their budget written, they can tell their money where to go and thus do not lose any money through the financial cracks.

Many new home business owners will take incredible risks to own their own business. They do scary things like take out home equity loans for start up money instead of starting slow and managing their money. You do not have to lose your home when you have a home business. Manage money smartly, and you'll find yourself looking for a new home not because you're losing yours, but because you need a bigger one.

Jim Biscardi is owner of Dynamic Wealth Systems, LLC and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Jim recommends you visit: http://www.DynamicWealthSystems.comErnesta Blog91524
Vernice Blog5185

Starting a New Business? Get Easy Loan, Forget Financial Worry

The root is the most important factor for any business to flourish. If you are planning to start a business of your own, first make the root stronger by having a strong financial ground. New business loans will help your business attain heights. When you are starting a new business, this loan will help you solve most of the financial problems that arise while setting up an enterprise.

New business loans can be used for various business related purposes like buying machines and equipments, vehicles, and other resources that are essential to startup a new business.

Before taking any step forward you should first of all prepare a business proposal in order to apply for a business loan. This requires a lot of research and estimations. It should bring out a clear idea about how much money you will need, how much money you hope to make, what competition you will face. It should also give details about what equipments and training you will need and other information depending on the requirements. With these details, lenders will get to know the feasibility of your business and whether it is sustainable or not. You should always keep in mind that a well prepared business proposal increases the chances of getting a business loan.

Finding a new business loan is not a tough task. With coming up of more and more online lenders, internet provides you with the fastest and the simplest procedure to avail new business loans. All you need is to just click on the mouse button and you can access various websites offering new business loans. At the time of filling the application form, lenders will ask you for certain information about your personal credit history and business plan.

New business loans are offered in both secured and unsecured forms. With a secured new business loan, you are required to put a security against the loan. Security can be anything such as your home, car or a kind of valuable property. Since the presence of security covers the risk of lending money, thus you can avail these loans at a lower interest rate. On the side, unsecured loans do not ask for any security, but the interest rate is charged comparatively a bit higher.

You need not worry about your credit score if you are seeking for new business loans. If you have a bad credit, look for lenders providing business loans for borrowers having bad credit. You will get cheap loan with low interest and easy repayments which will satisfy your financial situations.

With all its advantages, business loans can help you make your dream come true. Now you can start a new business of your own without any financial crisis.

Tim Kelly is an expert in finance having completed his LLM in Finance (Master of Laws in Finance) from Institute for Law and Finance at Frankfurt University. He is currently working with BadDebtBusinessLoans as a financial advisor. To find New business loans, online business loans, bad credit business loans, secured business loans , unsecured business loans, cheap business loans, bad credit instant business loans, bad credit cheap business loans in UK that best site's you need visit http://www.baddebtbusinessloans.co.uk/Fanchon Blog77567
Verna Blog58169

How To Get Cast In Television Commercials: Guaranteed Part 1

Before the drum roll and the big reveal, let's begin by understanding that this casting secret is for ADVANCED would be commercial actors and actresses. This is NOT a basics course on the entire 'casting for television commercials' genre.

Information on taking the right classes and getting agents and posing for head shots and picking your commercial acting niche appear elsewhere.

But for now, we concentrate on the big game...getting you cast in a commercial.

Okay, here's the process. Roll it. You've already come in and, with the casting director and her assistant running the camera, you've recorded your lines. More than likely you've done this with someone else from the same commercial or with the casting director themselves.

Things go only one of two ways...the creatives and the producer at the agency say 'nope' in the blink of an eye and you're gone...off to audition for that new dish soap spot, or they say 'play that guy one more time' and you're brought back. Hmmmmmm.

You want to be the second kind.

So now, you come in for call backs. This is where you do the same lines, but you do them much more in depth.

Here's the first real trick the casting director might not remember to tell you... WEAR THE EXACT SAME CLOTHES YOU WORE IN THE FIRST CASTING SESSION.

How come?

Because this way no one will differentiate between your first call and your call back. Meaning, there won't be an EASY way to tell if you've been properly directed on the tape by the creatives.

It's very important for you to realize that ultimately, your goal is to please the copywriter and the art director MOST. Endure the casting director (although they're usually very nice people) but embrace the creatives!

You wearing the same clothes is very important to the creatives, because you may do something in the first round of casting (the reason you got the call back in the first place) that you forget to do in the call backs. And get this, it might be something you're not aware that you do...

Remember, you got the call back because of something they saw in you. And if they don't see it in the call backs and they still want 'that special thing you do' then they'll always have it on the first tape. This is vitally important for you to cover this base as you go on more and more calls...assisting the process will get you cast.

Also, creatives like to be in control when presenting their selects to the client.

The casting selection is very important to a great spot and if you are on their favorites list from day one, you want to stay there.

Here's how to make sure that happens...

Make sure you ask the casting director if there was anything in particular the creative may have given him or her in terms of feedback.

Interested in Part 2?

A former Madison Avenue Creative Director and Copywriter, Kevin Browne is the owner of http://www.become-a-copywriter.com , the BEST, most ultra-inside site for those who truly want to understand the inner workings of the advertising industry.Evonne Blog93947
Vera Blog27062

Cash Now - Affiliate Marketing

The apparent availability of wealth draw so many to the Internet, its reminiscent of the days of the California Gold Rush. Not so different from that distant past most get disheartened in their quest of making money online. They believe just about everything they see online. With the plethora of available e-Books claiming to have the secrets of striking it rich, they end up spending much more than necessary. The result is more than often information overload with no clear path of where they are going, except maybe onto the next e-Book.

These individuals just want to know how to make money online and how to do it now. There are of course many ways to make money on the Internet, after all it is the worlds largest market place. You need to devise a plan; one can either sell their own product/services or simply sell someone elses. The vast majority of individuals would fall into the second category. Its called affiliate marketing and once done correctly this is where you can strike gold.

There are literally thousands upon thousands of products available for anyone to promote and make commissions ranging upwards of 75% some even 100% and all you have to do is signup for free. As an affiliate you can start making money almost immediately. Theres no inventory to keep, no having to deal with customers and you dont even need your own website. What can be better than that?

This is how it works: first you have to sign up to be an affiliate with the company(s) of you choice for the products you want to promote. You would be given a unique URL for their website which contains your affiliate code. This URL leads back to their sales page where any purchases made by visitors will earn you your commission, either a percentage or a flat fee. Tens of thousands of people earn a living this way and free themselves from their regular jobs.

Promote your products! Potential buyers arent just going to pull your affiliate links out of mid air. Now you have products that you can sell thats only half the battle. The second and most critical is to drive traffic to the site(s) using your affiliate URL.

There are several ways to promote your affiliate links, of which I will briefly mention a few. Paid Ads is really the best form of promoting, using search engine pay-per-click on Google, Yahoo etc. For free traffic you can write a blog and include your affiliate link. Write and submit articles on topics youre comfortable with and include your link in the bio box. You can also have someone write for you, a Ghost Writer. Join forums and put your link in your profile or signature area, so whenever you make a post your link gets out there. If youre looking for financial freedom, look no further than affiliate marketing.

Juan Mendez is a Successful Web Entrepreneur and Aspiring Writer.Ermengarde Blog9439
Vin Blog26616

How to Choose the Right Webcam Surveillance Software?

Many people want to have some kind of spy equipment for better home security. However, besides wireless spy cameras, VCR or DVR systems, there is also special software used to control those surveillance gadgets.

Large companies use professional security systems along with already built in (embedded digital video recorder or PC based DVR soft) spy camera control software. But what about smaller guys? Do you also have to spend thousands of dollars for professional spy security system and software to feel safe and secure in your house? And the answer is not necessarily.

Webcam for Spying Purposes

You have the ability to use your webcam (connected to your PC) as a surveillance tool. And to control it, all you need is inexpensive webcam surveillance software. As a matter of fact, such software allows you to connect more than one camera. It can display as much as 16 webcam views on your computer screen.

Moreover, webcam surveillance software even allows you to detect motion and start capturing an event within milliseconds. This means that you dont have to keep your webcam surveillance software turned on all the time in order to secure the area. By using motion detection webcams, you can also save your computers HDD (hard drive) space.

You know, video takes a lot of hard drive space. Non stop recording for 24 hours can cost you 1GB of HDD space a day. Well, it depends on the chosen image quality. Lower quality images will require less bandwidth. Also, if you set lower FPS (frames per second), then youll save even more HDD space.

But if you have a large HDD (like 160GB or more), then theres nothing to worry about.

What to Look for in Webcam Surveillance Software?

Before you decide to order webcam surveillance software, there are a couple of things to consider. Lets take a look at some of the features of webcam software that you should seriously consider, ok.

* Audio Capturing - Does your webcam surveillance software have audio capturing option? If not, then you should consider that carefully. If you want to record a conversation, its crucial.

* Compressed Files - Does your webcam software compress video files? If not, then the space of your HDD might fill up quickly. Try to search for software that compresses the video without losing its quality.

* Remote Access - This is very important. If you leave your webcam to record the area, you should have the ability to access your webcams view via internet connection. This is very neat function that is absolutely must in webcam software.

* Motion Detection - Weve already mentioned that. Motion detection is also extremely important. You dont want to record the area when nothings going on, right. So make sure that motion sensing is enabled in your software.

* Alert Options - Does the webcam surveillance software have an alert option? Some webcam software alert when they detect something. They can alert via email or even dial a phone number. You should seek for this feature, because its very neat.

* Multiple Webcams - Can your surveillance software record a live view from multiple web cameras? 2, 4 or 16? If you want to connect more than one camera to your PC, then multiple webcam support is absolutely must in the software you choose.

* Stealth Mode - Does the webcam software run in stealth mode? Stealth mode means that nobody can see if the software is running or not. Not even if they Press "Ctr+Alt+Del" and look at Windows Task Manager!

Look for webcam surveillance software that allows you to do all or at least most of the functions mentioned above. If your software isnt capable of detecting motion, doesnt have alert option, doesnt have audio recording options, then search for a better solution.

In Conclusion

Webcam software (for spying or home protection purposes) combined with a few inexpensive webcams, can definitely serve as a basic home security system. You can put your webcams in the most important places and have your PC to record each cameras view. And if motion sensors detect something unusual, they can alert you via email or phone.

However, if youre really looking for quality and all-in-one solution for professional home protection, then a more powerful DVR security system with multiple spy cameras could be your best shot. Such systems cost over thousand dollars, but theyre ideal for quality home or office protection.

Marie JohnsonVivian Blog72969
Faith Blog40392

Promotion Strategies: How Small Flash Drives Offer Big Marketing Opportunities

USB flash drives also often referred to as thumb drives or jump drives act as reusable portable hard drives. These small units about the size of a pack of gum can easily be carried in a pocket, worn around the neck like a necklace or used as a key chain by your clients and prospects. There are even USB flash pens with the flash drive hidden inside the writing utensil.

USB flash drives plug directly into your Universal Serial Bus (USB) port of a computer and are typically built to hold between 64 megabytes and 2 gigabytes of data. The popularity of flash drives have grown significantly over the past several years as storage capacities have increased and USB-enabled computers have become ubiquitous. The popularity and capabilities of flash drives has led to the advent of flash drive marketing.

The use of USB flash drives as effective marketing tools is continuing to evolve for forward thinking marketing professionals.

Custom Flash Drive Marketing Delivers Branded Product To Customers

Thumb drives can be stamped with a companys logo and as a result, custom logo USB drives have become trade show and convention favorites.

Companies are giving branded custom logo flash drives to key customers and prospects providing them with an instant reminder of your company every time they use the flash drive to transfer files or back up a document. Providing your customers (and potential customers) with a branded custom logo USB flash delivers a great way to market by keeping your brand in front of customers while giving them something of real value they will use over and over.

Flash Drive Marketing Delivers Branded Product With Targeted Messages

Using flash drives as branded giveaways and corporate gifts are just the tip of the marketing iceberg. Savvy marketers are increasingly using the storage capabilities of these compact devices to deliver their message. Flash drives can now be pre-loaded with data, music, video or other content. The devices can also be setup to auto-run a marketing message or load a specific website when inserted into a computer. Customers are able to continue to use the flash drive, storing their data alongside the pre-loaded content. A custom logo USB flash drive that also holds a pre-loaded message or presentation offers companies the benefit of delivering a branded product AND targeted message at the same time.

The concept of delivering your marketing messages via thumb drive was started several years ago when automobile manufacturers provided flash drives pre-loaded with presentations touting the features of their latest models. The idea has caught on and not just for big companies. Looking for creative and cutting edge ways to stand out from the competition, large, medium, and small sized firms, companies and organizations across a wide range of industries are now looking to flash drive marketing to communicate their messages.

Ways That Organizations Can Utilize Flash Drive Marketing:

Schools can provide handbooks and required course materials to incoming students via thumb drives featuring school colors and mascot. Students can continue to use the thumb drive for data storage and transfer throughout the school year

Design and creative agencies can provide multi-media portfolios with links to additional web-based content

Bands can promote and deliver new music via flash drive. In addition, bands can use USB mp3 players to allow users to listen to music directly from the device

As the popularity and capabilities of USB flash drives continue to grow, marketing professionals will continue to find unique and innovative ways to utilize flash drive marketing. The marketing possibilities may only be limited by the imagination.

Jim McKinley, Marketing Director of http://www.CFGear.com -- the leading retailer of USB flash drives -- helps companies increase their awareness by over 100% with customized flash drive marketing programs. By providing customers and prospects with a branded product and a targeted message, you can cut your advertising and direct marketing expenses in half. Become a forward thinking marketing professional and visit our Custom Logo Flash Drive page. Ermengarde Blog9439
Freddy Blog56853

The Seven Demons of Internet Marketing

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year, and it arrives in less than a week. I thought it would be an appropriate time to write about the demons of internet marketing. By this I mean that whenever one ventures into the online business world, trying to make their fortunes online, there are always obstacles to face along the way. Let us call these obstacles "the Demons of Internet Marketing"!

Demon #1: The Demon of Trust

Our first demon when trying to find profitable home based business opportunities online is the Demon of Trust. With so many online, money making opportunities out there, which source is the one we can safely put our hard earned dollars into? Which internet guru is going to take us by the hand and lead us to success? Which opportunities are scams and which are real and legitimate? Well it takes some time to figure these things out, but the time you take to do your research into different opportunities will be well worth it in the end. Most of us delve into this or that hot new opportunity and lose a little money along the way, but if we know the business has a good reputation, have checked it out at the Better Business Bureau, have asked questions in forums and to direct contacts, have compared opportunities, and read books on the subject, then we can probably feel safe that the Demon of Trust is not going to knock us down.

Demon #2: The Demon of Money

The second demon we run across when we are deciding on a new business opportunity, or have already chosen one, is the Demon of Money. This demon can be nasty, as internet marketing ventures can be very expensive if we're not careful. First we have to determine if we have enough money to not only start, but to sustain a business online. Then we have to create a business plan and budget for ourselves so that we can maintain our business for the long term. After all, a web business is not something you quickly whip up, leave alone, and expect to bring in the bucks. A web business takes a little, or even a lot of money to maintain over time. Ask yourselves if you have enough to do it. Find out ahead of time what costs will be involved along the way. What do you have to pay for membership fees? What programs might you be asked to join? What advertising techniques will you have to pay a pretty penny for? What methods will you use to market your business and how much will it cost? Get an Excel spreadsheet together and track your expenses. If you do these things, the Demon of Money might not burn a hole in your wallet.

Demon #3: The Demon of Time

Running an online internet marketing business is no easy task. It takes hard work, energy, and consistent effort before you can expect to see results. Even if you realize it will take time, there are often unforeseen events that happen in our lives that prevent us from moving forward with our businesses. You have to account for the unforeseen when managing your time. You have to expect to do something every day to get your business rolling, even if you can only manage one small task. Making a daily to-do list really helps in this case. Write yourself a note about what you want to accomplish and set some goals that you will work towards achieving. It's a bad idea to try and do too much all at once, as it just leads to feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and burnt out. Just like with your money, you need to manage your time in a way that suits every other thing going on in your life: Your day job, your family, your friends, your athletic pursuits, your recreational activities, your rest, and your relaxation. If you can only do a business part-time, don't try to force yourself to make it full-time. You can only do so much if you want to stay healthy. Plan your days wisely and the Demon of Time will tire you out.

Demon #4: The Demon of Advertising

Internet marketing involves a great deal of advertising if you expect people to find your business online and purchase products or services from you. We must select different forms of advertising to find out what works best for us. This, too, is no easy task, and it can be terrifyingly expensive. If we keep in mind that there are many free and effective ways to advertise and we find and use these methods, then we might survive. Article writing, blog posting, linking, and free classifieds are great ways to advertise our online businesses and don't have to cost us a cent. But of course, we are going to want to try some paid advertising methods, especially if we have the money to do so. We could select and pay for ezine solo ads, pay for an article submission service, or a ghost-writing service if we have articles written for us. We could pay for Google Adwords, or pay to get quality one-way links pointing back to our sites. We could pay for a press release or newspaper ad or flyer. The possibilities are endless. We have to find out what's right for us, and sometimes this just takes a little bit of dabbling into everything to find out what works. Then once we find out what works, we can get ahead of the Demon of Advertising by duplicating what we have done to get positive results.

Demon #5: The Demon of Traffic

Once we have our web businesses up and running, we must get visitors to our sites if we expect to make any money online. The Demon of Traffic gives us endless frustration as we try to find ways for people to find our products and services online. If you don't have a very specific and targeted niche market, then this can get crazy in a competitive internet marketing world. One of the best ways to get traffic to your site is by writing articles and placing the link to your site in the author's bio-box at the end. Article marketing is huge and your links will get spread around the net in no time, especially if you use an article distribution service that reaches thousands of publishers online. You should also try to get one-way links pointing back to your site by submitting your URL to different link directories on a regular basis. You can also get your links circulating by posting your link in different discussion forums, or making comments on other people's blogs. Your links are picked up by the search engines and will appear in the search results when someone searches for a particular keyword. You also want to offer a newsletter on your site and perhaps advertise your site by circulating and opt-in form in different traffic exchanges. Traffic exchanges are another way to get credits to show your links and build traffic to your site. The ways to generate traffic are endless if you are creative and again, find out what works best for you and duplicate your success.

Demon #6: The Demon of Downlines

If you are involved in a network marketing business, it is a real challenge to build a good downline to grow your network. You have to be willing to find prospects and communicate with them regularly if you expect anyone to join your business. You should be willing to offer your contact information, and accept phone calls to answer any questions your prospects may have. You must be willing to offer your support and assistance whenever it is needed, and you must go out of your way to make your customers feel like they are number one. You may even want to distribute business cards, flyers, brochures, or create a CD to demonstrate your product or service and give it away for your prospects to review. You may want to find network marketing distributors who are already interested in your business and have some knowledge already about it. If you are willing to communicate, support, and be there for your prospects and customers, then the Demon of Downlines can be beat.

Demon #7: The Demon of Sales

Last but not least is the Demon of Sales. Sometimes even when we are doing all the right things in our businesses, the sales just aren't coming in as we'd like them to. Once we build a list and have traffic to our sites, and we have advertised using this or that method, how do we translate our efforts into sales? How do we keep our current customers interested in our products and services and coming back to us in the future to buy more? Sometimes this is just unpredictable, but one thing you can surely do to help your business boom is to develop solid relationships with your client base. Once you have a list of subscribers to your newsletter, talk to them. Send them personal messages in addition to your business messages. Don't try to sell them something every time you write or talk to them on the phone. Show them that you care about their wants and needs, and care about making their lives happier in some way. Show them how your product or service will satisfy that need or desire. Show them that you are there and willing to help them at any time. Build rapport with them by asking them questions, and asking for their feedback. Get them involved in your business as much as possible. Once you have a good relationship, you have customers, possibly for life!

Liane Bate owns a Plugin Profit Site web business, is a member of Success University, and the IAHBE.Vanda Blog21916
Virginie Blog25968

Marketing Management And The EU

Many of the marketing texts argue that marketing is a logical process with a natural structure which can be viewed primarily as a method of: understanding the marketing environment; using the marketing mix; developing a marketing plan based upon the use of the mix; implementing a plan through a strategy; and finally, using a control method to ensure the strategy is adhered to. This marketing process is reviewed and evaluated regularly and modifications made to the use of the mix to take account of market changes impacting upon competitiveness. This view of marketing seems to suggest that much of the marketing theory relate to multinational enterprises, which are internationally based and have global ambitions. The EU market constitutes a differentiated marketplace in terms of culture, competition, and organization strategies used to penetrate the target market. Although these differences have their implications interfere with a country's business planning, EU is considered as an opportunity for companies worldwide to expand through internationalization strategies and compete with major players in terms of sales, profits, market shares and organizational momentum.

Another core issue in marketing is the growth and importance of theories in networking and interaction. This view looks at the way in which companies and organizations interact and consequently network with each other to gain commercial advantage in world markets. The network can be using similar subcontractors or components, sharing research and development costs or operating within the same governmental framework. Clearly, being within the EU, a trading block with no internal barriers creates its own networks. Collaborations in aerospace, vehicle manufactures and engineering have all sponsored the development of a European outlook based on its own internal market network. This network and interaction approach to marketing shows the substance of being able to influence decisions by knowledge of how the EU network works or interacts.

The EU is a rich, diverse market, with a vibrant and varied cultural heritage; this means that although there has been a harmonization process within the 15 states as a result of the formation of EU, there are still differences. Rather than business being simpler as a result of the union, it should be recognized that because of regulation and need to restructure in a global market it can be highly complex. It should be remembered that the Europeans have a high-income average and like to have their cultural differences recognized. Those firms that will or have recognized this have a good chance of developing a successful marketing strategy to meet their needs.

Furthermore the marketing operations of EU companies need to be adapted in order to respond to the multiple of changes which have taken place in Europe. However, it is not possible to identify clearly how companies should modify their marketing operations. Some companies face radical change to overall strategy as well as to marketing operations. Other companies are more likely to consider minor alterations to their existing strategies and marketing initiatives. The only "golden rule" as is so often the case is that there are no "golden rules." EU companies need to assess their marketing response to the changes in the European environment, on the basis of careful studying the effects of these changes on their current and likely future activities.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for http://4investing.net/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://businessworldnow.net/ and http://ifinancecentral.com/.Fannie Blog12562
Vivi Blog26756

Link Building That Works

There are several different ways to build links for traffic and for search engine rankings. Matt Cutts describes the best links as links which are given freely by authoritative sources that are trusted by visitors and Google themselves. (to paraphrase)

So the following tactics will get you those kinds of links:

1. Linkbaiting ' writing controversial, wise, witty, valuable, or otherwise good content that gets other people talking about you on their sites, linking back to your post.

2. Press Releases ' This may seem counter-intuitive since most people think press release syndication is only about "placing" links where you want them across a large network. But think of it this way: PRWeb.com has a trackback feature where bloggers can do a trackback to your release and get a valuable link back to their site in the process. They talk up your release and your release gets more traffic, link popularity, which sends you more traffic from the release including more link popularity by having a release that actually ranks.

Link Buying

Text Link Brokers and Text Link Ads (both .com) are the best places to buy advertising. I say advertising because you shouldn't be buying links just for pagerank. I get more traffic than you do and my pagerank sucks. Plus if Google finds out you are buying links solely to manipulate their rankings, they will zap you.

(I know this is stupid. How can Google know the difference between you buying a link on a site for traffic and buying it to manipulate their link popularity algorithm? It's a ridiculous argument to say they know why I bought a link. Google doesn't know your reasoning for buying advertising other than you want more exposure. Keep it that way by not talking about "buying links" and instead call it advertising. That's really what it is.)

Don't buy links for pagerank. Here's another reason:

You should be buying ads for traffic directly from the site you are buying from. Search engine rankings are a side effect of good advertising, not the reason for it.

Authoritative Directories

There are directories you must be listed in if you are serious about your online business. And they cost money. Sorry, but you can play the "free" game for years before you see any serious traffic from free link building alone.

You can gain a lot by submitting to Yahoo Directory, Best of the Web, What You Seek and other human edited paid directories. Google trusts the sites they find there and so do the visitors who use these directories to search.

You can circumvent any paid linking and advertising and still succeed. But I'm willing to bet you don't want to wait as long as it is going to take to get the results you are looking for by going to totally free link building route.

Jack Humphrey is the editor of the Friday Traffic Report where he teaches link building tactics and blog marketing strategies responsible for Billions of hits for his readers per year. http://www.jackhumphrey.comViolette Blog96981
Etty Blog61201

Forum Marketing: Is Forum Marketing Right For Your Internet Marketing Efforts? Part 1

A forum is sort of a gathering place for like minded individuals with whom you can communicate about your niche. Other names a forum is commonly referred to are message boards, electronic discussion boards, bulletin boards, discussion forums and discussion groups. Every niche has hundred of Forums to choose from. The great thing about forums is that you can target a certain group of people that fit the demographics you are looking for.

Forum marketing is what this article is all about. Forum Marketing is basically the methods and techniques one uses on a forum in order to legally drive free website traffic to your site without violating the forums Terms of Service. In other words, what can you do to drive traffic to your site without breaking any of the rules of the forum?

There are anonymous forums allowing for full anonymity that allow post without registering. Then there are the forums that require that one register with a login name and a password before being allowed to participate in any discussions. A majority of member only forums are moderated to ensure that the content one posts is appropriate for that niche topic as well as to prevent spam. Participants are identified by unique usernames and graphical avatars. Forum marketing works in all sorts of forums.

It can be a huge benefit and asset to driving free traffic to your website if only you will participate in the ongoing discussions in a forum. Every time you enter a post, whether you initiated it or not enables you to place a copy of your website link at the bottom. Considering that forums are usually high traffic sites, most of the popular ones have a high Page Rank. When you place your link on the forum, it is crawled as a backlink to your website from a high page rand site which carries a great deal of weight in where your site will end up in the search engines. Joining more then one forum: the more backlinks you are able to obtain, the better the chance you have of ranking very high up (maybe even the first page) of the search engines for your various keywords.

Often times anonymity plays an important role for the forum participant. You will find that people on forums are more apt to discuss even topics they would never consider discussing in person with others. They will talk about anything and everything online.

By visiting forums and taking note of what people are most concerned about you can search the Internet for products and services that will help them solve those problems. Gather the information about the topic. Write or have written for you articles about the topic. In this way you can find a topic and build a content-rich website for niche marketing that helps with the problem you have identified and that will serve the needs of people. This is a neat way to satisfy the need to know what the problem is before you put out the product solution to the problem. Most writers, especially newbie's, will put together a product before identifying their marketing, kind of like putting the cart before the horse.. By paying attention to the concerns of people on your niche forums, you are approaching the idea of product development in the correct way kind of like putting the horse before the cart, which is, of course, where the horse is supposed to be.

In applying the concept above, you will also be quite successful in identifying great niche marketing websites you can build. A unique way of expanding on your new website idea is to pose various questions on the forums you have joined and elicit multiple answers on major issues of concern. Post a question that will produce many responses and use those responses to write an e-book on the topic. The fact is that many people will buy an e-book that is filled with information they could actually gather for themselves. They will also purchase e-books that will tell them what other people with the same problem they have think about or are doing about their common problem.

Look for Part 2 In This Directory

Jimmy Oakley-©-2007- Jimmy is an Internet Marketer who markets a variety of the best Email and Internet learning systems offered online. Today you can learn his secret weapon to getting tons of quality, 1 way links to my brand new websites in less than a 2-4 weeks with very little effort! Increase your Google ranking by easily using this new software program that is being secretly used by top ranked websites in Google, Yahoo, and MSN! I think you'll be surprised when you visit the website and watch the demo video and read all of the user comments... Visit http://www.jimmyoakley.com/ArticleSubmitter.htmlFilia Blog24952
France Blog61891

Career Fairs Best Serve Everyone But the Jobless

Reading my Sunday newspaper yesterday reminded me of how Career Fairs do little to substantially increase local employment. It seems that no one is willing to say this, and a lot fewer are even willing to believe it, but I know it to be all but a fact.

After spending 20+ years in the news business, and another 20+ years as a personal marketing specialist helping potential hires by writing upscale resumes, I can relate my experience with authority.

You might think that after helping 5,300+ clients get on with moving on and moving up in their careers that I could produce at least one client who has benefited from attending a Career Fair. I can not. This is why I caution any client who gets all excited and goosey about attending Career Fairs. I do not want their disappointment to affect my marketing plan to help them achieve their goals.

In revealing this apparent incongruity for the first time publicly, it is important to note that I am in the high end of the resume writing business. Virtually 97% of my 5,300+ clients during my 20-plus-year career are executives, professionals and managers earning between $40,000 and $350,00 annually who are already in management, want to be in management, or in sales and/or marketing.

Career fairs are all about first jobs and entry level career jobs that do not pay all that well, so they do little for folks who have already been in the marketplace, enjoyed some success, and want to keep moving up the corporate ladder, or any other ladder of their choice.

This makes a lot of sense when you examine who is involved in putting on Career Fairs, and what they expect to get for their investment. I am not talking about the potential hires, or anyone looking for a job or a better opportunity.

I am talking about businesses and organizations, large facility managers, and big advertising media, usually the dominant daily newspaper in the community. Nothing meets their profit needs, their publicity needs, and their public service needs like Career Fairs. It has become almost a rite of passage for these special interest groups in our society.

Let us start with businesses and organizations. Should you stroll down to a Career Fair in your community, and talk to a business representative at a snappy booth display, you will quickly pick up on the fact that the well dressed person is not the person you expected.

You knew going there that if Microsoft was a participant Bill Gates would probably not be there, but you secretly hoped he would. Later you came to realize that the person a major corporation sends to represent them at these Career Fairs is usually the most expendable person available.

This is why they smile a lot, take your resume (sometimes they do not), and tell you very little about what the company is really doing. Major companies that are cooking the books (using unacceptable accounting practices to inflate revenue and profits in order to increase stock prices so executives suck money out faster), and in worse shape than they want their stockholders and the public to know, would be at a Career Fair putting on their best face.

Just being at a Career Fair is good business for businesses and organizations because it gives the impression that those involved are key players in building the community, increasing employment, and acting like a good corporate citizen.

If you think large facility managers do not like Career Fairs you would be sadly mistaken. The same managers who hosted last week's rock concert du jour are more than happy to move the rockers out and the new vendors in.

Facility managers do not give the space away as a public service, and they do take care of the "job" exhibitors. Whether any potential candidate attending the Career Fair ultimately gets hired is none of their business.

Newspapers and related media (usually radio which needs public service announcements to stay licensed) love Career Fairs. The Internet has been gaining the advertising and profits that newspapers have been losing. Newspapers have been forced to create web sites and compete on the Internet whether they want to or not.

Career Fairs give newspapers extra ads and profit regardless of the economy. Newspapers generally run a special section advertising the Career Fair as it gives paying advertisers and the event itself more exposure and prominence. Newspapers also feel a need to serve the community that supports them, whether people get hired at these Career Fairs or not.

You are seeing more and more and more Career Fairs (or Job Fairs) because it is good business for three very big special interest groups who may be more like a three-legged stood than a helping hand. You could hold Career Fairs for the unemployed every other week in Flint, Michigan and it still would not affect their depressed economy; I suspect that the same is true in many other communities across the country.

When your government tells you employment is on the rise, public officials are counting on the fact that when an unemployed person's compensation benefits run out, they drop off of the rolls and remain unaccounted for even though they are still unemployed.

The salient point here is this: It is likely that when people benefit from these Career Fairs it is more by accident than design; the unemployed in our economy are the true story worth telling.

Ed Bagley is the author of Ed Bagley's Blog, which he publishes daily with fresh, original writing intended to delight, inform, educate and motivate readers. Visit Ed at . . .Faun Blog83079
Vikky Blog29382

Search Engine Optimization Help Is A Boon For Your Online Business

Are you planning to start a website? Is that you are worried about marketing your website on top search engine? Search engine optimization help is meant to solve all your problems. SEO is mainly concerned with popularizing your site on major search engines like Google, MSN or any other. In fact, it has become a necessity for online business. Search engine optimization help is meant to show the availability and accessibility of your website. SEO is the appropriate method of improving the visibility of a website in search engines. It gives you better chances of attracting various customers and increasing your online business.

The primary aim of search engine optimization help is to encourage the links of an online business, on the search engines. SEO involves designing best strategies to attract various customers through search engine links. Main advantage of the search engine optimization help is that, it can give an authoritative place to your website in the search engines. It is always mandatory that the SEO firm should have valid reasons for their search engine strategies. Even the support data offered by them has to be appropriate. One should always be careful about the methods used in the SEO business.

Search engine optimization help can prove beneficial for those firms that are willing to have a faster access to numerous visitors. No website is useful if it does not give necessary and desirable information. Words have the power of describing just about anything. While writing informative content for your site, you have to be extra cautious. You are required to take care that the content should explain about the products and services in a convincing manner. Mainly, content helps to enhance the popularity of your website. Another thing to be noticed in the matter of content is that, it should be saleable that can turn visitors into purchasers.

In the world of internet, search engine optimization has gained wide acclaim. Today, everything is changing with a fast pace. The concept of marketing and popularizing is entering every business line. Be it any business organization, website is considered as the most important source of explaining about products and services. Every other person has an excess to internet. In fact, this thing has made it slightly easier for online business companies. Still, access to your site wont work much if the visitors are not convinced with information. Search engine optimization help can give you and your online business company a means to prove yourself in the business world.

One of the most important things in search engine optimization is relevant keyword research. Just imagine that if a visitor searches for a particular keywords and your site is not appearing among top ranking results, then what will happen. It is quite obvious that you will lose clients. You should take care that your site must support all the necessary and relevant keywords. Search engine optimization help will surely prove beneficial for you. You just have to look out for the right and reliable search engine optimization firm, which can provide you with essential help.

Steve Waganer has specialization in Web Marketing. He is expert in Search engine optimization, Affiliated Marketing,Affordable search engine marketing and Organic search engine optimization.To get his expert search engine Optimization help for your website to get high rank and top position in major search engines visit http://www.cometsearchenginemarketing.comVicky Blog58033
Faythe Blog18199

The Ultimate Email Marketing Guide: 15 tips to fast email marketing success!

A practical "how-to" list for email marketing success, from small to large business.

Email marketing is easy (--ponder--) if you know how to do it. Wow, you have heard that one before, I'm sure. Is that not always the case - with almost anything? So, why even say it?

Because - in this case it is really true.

However, so many small businesses make it more complex than it is; they don't fully understand or grasp the impact of list building, what tools, services and techniques are available, and don't recognize what a successful campaign and its results can and will mean for their businesses.

We believe that a) simplicity of application, b) knowledge - and c) immediate action are the first steps to success. And, everything done in an ethical way - you got permission based marketing. Full speed ahead!

1. Get the legalities out of the way.

Did you know that recent changes in the search engine algorithms now recognize a privacy policy page as an important metric in the total number of items that helps your ranking and visibility? In fact, Google has over 100 variables that make up the secret sauce of their algorithmic search engines. Only two engineers at Google know it. (Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google chose not to learn it himself).

So, you should write and always provide a link to your privacy page. Starter text can be obtained from links below - and always make sure to review with your legal counsel for a final review. You will then include a link to it from your outgoing email campaigns.

Here are some places to start:
a) http://www.truste.org/pdf/WriteAGreatPrivacyPolicy.pdf
b) http://www.marketingpower.com/content4740.php
c) http://www.microsaw.com/privacy_policy.htm

2. Your site must capture user via first name (last name) & email address.

Burn this into your head - make it your site requirement - day one. There are too many online businesses that forget this simple rule. It's a must. If you are reading this article, then you probably already realize the importance of mailing lists.
Your audience is looking for good (relevant!) materials to solve problems in their life and business. Capture these visitors, and continue to provide this information and free information, you can grow your business by 1000% or more almost overnight, in some cases in any future mailing. It's super-important to have - and build a quality mailing list.

On your 'landing page' (sometimes called a sales page, gateway page, squeeze page, splash page) you should try to include this capture form on the "top of the fold" of your webpage. (Think of this as single sheet of paper, folded in half. The visitors will read the top portion first, from left to right - almost in an F-shaped order).

Therefore, make sure you:
Place this input form in a strategic location, "above the fold"
Make this coding your first priority for implementation - don't make it the last - or never (which many companies do)

3. Example Signup forms.

Search the internet for example sign up forms. A great technique is to look for companies that have this in their URL. Try this in Google (type into search box): allinurl: "free newsletter" (it will search any site that has this contained in the TITLE of the page).

Some examples of successful forms:
http://www.microsaw.com/myform.htm
http://www.marketingtips.com/newsletters
http://www.redhotcopy.com/workshop.htm - using interesting "slanted" pop-under and image (a black/white banana)

Note that you should always apply "up selling" techniques: links to other complimentary tools, software, articles & e-books.

In other words, give something away for free.

This is the Stephen Covey "emotional bank-account" working at its best. Web surfers are getting smarter and not just links to privacy policies and terms of use are recognized, but easy to read pages that are brief and to the point, score high. (Ed note: An example can be seen on the right side at http://www.microsaw.com/myform.htm - the "free 5-day SEO email course").

4. Popups, popunders, popup blockers & search engines.

Traditional popups (yes, the annoying ones) are banned from search engines like Google.

Therefore, smart marketers have come up with other means. They are called "popunders".
They use specialized JavaScript to display a pop-up box, but it's not tracked or recognized by popup-blockers or the search engines (Ed. Note: this could change, as the search engines change their smarts all the time).

As of writing, you should use a pop-up box, and capture first name, last name & email. Don't make it an intrusive one though (it needs to follow your style sheet guidelines, in other words).
Another way to go is to use what's called 'house-banners' -- ads that display compelling graphics, text - and uses your own local advertising system (example: double-click).

Here's what to do to capture interested visitors:
Apply a page that "slides" onto your page, and have it appear after 5 seconds.
Display this email form capture on all pages.
Only show it once, and only repeat 2-3 days later (assuming they come back). Many of the email marketing systems include this feature for you.
Annoying, but it works. I went from 5% signups a day a 75% increase overnight - only a few weeks back.

Tip: Make a note that the popup is from your site- not a partner site. (sometimes popups are thought to be from sponsors, make a note to your visitor that it's from you).

5. Do you have a newsletter you are trying to promote? Up-sell is the answer!

If you are promoting a newsletter, outside of just getting visitors to sign up, there are 3rd parties vendors that can help you publish and sell your newsletter. Throughout all campaigns, you must make sure to provide useful, relevant and unique content.

Some options for you:
Coregcomplete.com - get signups on thank you pages of other subscription forms this is a great way to promote your wares
Getsubscribers.com
Partner with companies you find, and call them up. Search for 'newsletter publishers' in Google.
When you write articles (yes, you should) - make sure to make a note in the "About Author" that you publish or have newsletters available.

TIP/Warning: Beware of commercial co-regs -- they typically have poor quality names and offers.

6. Get the best and highest performing email service.

Don't skimp here. A few extra dollars a month can really save you a lot of headaches. We worked with one company that went from about 1,000 emails on their list, down to about 100 in 24 hours, (when they switched providers). They quickly realized that they had made a bad choice.

Here's what to consider initially:
ASP hosted solutions are now connected with ISPs to ensure uptime/deliverability
Desktop applications can work well for you, for example, Gamma Dyne Mailer: http://www.soft32.com/download_4469.html
Autoresponse Plus, GetResponse, Aweber are a good place to start reviewing options.

You can also add monitoring services to make sure that emails get delivered, and keep the highest integrity of your emails via tracking.

Here are a few companies that work with monitoring:
1. pipersoftware
2. returnpath.biz
3. edeliverability.com
4. deliverymonitor.com

Other email marketing services to review are:
Sparklist
Constantcontact
Topica
Global intellisystems
Got campaigner
Vertical response
1stshoppingcart (shopping cart, affiliate programs and autoresponder)
Proautoresponders

You also need to understand and read the updated laws about email marketing and spam. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2004 is FTC governed, and the they will pursue any SPAM artist to the fullest extent of the law.

Make sure you have:
Working unsubscribe
Be careful where you get the lists
Avoid fraudulent subject lines
Include postal address, phone, privacy policy
Porn must be identified in subject line (SEXUALLY EXPLICIT)
Opt-out lists, including 'double-opt-in' (user must click to approve the email)

Tip: It's important to have a strict and trusted email service. Reputable email marketing companies will upload a few emails from your list and test your list to verify. Then, they'll approve or deny you.

7. Test, test & track, track.

No MBA student, no computer scientist, web braniac or 30 year veteran of marketing, both online and off - can predict what visitors will click on, and why. We can all make really great educated guesses, but they are only that. So, you really need to test your campaigns. Online marketing compared to traditional marketing (print, media) is vastly different.

Here's how to do it:
Test the campaigns with A/B Split test tactics - specifically on subject line and ad copy, it can help improve newsletter and pages immensely. (A/B refers to capability of serving up different content or ads, or headlines, sections on your page and campaign - that can be tracked)
Tracking conversions from email blasts (cookies and JavaScript and beacons on landing pages, thank you pages, etc)
Got campaigner and topica are high-end products, aweber is doing split-testing now (we use this - with great success)
Good reporting and database segmentation to section off to demographics, recency, frequency, sales totals
Use relevant and powerful headlines. Use wordtracker.com and keyworddiscovery.com to get keywords to back up your headline in content. (Ed Note: The site http://los-angeles.microsaw.com is dedicated to copywriting for the Internet)

8. Formatting and send options.

Formatting is an important element of any newsletter or mailing. Unfortunately, a love of companies go wild on graphics, sound, multi-media to present "their" branding or look/feel. It's important to have a clean mailer.

What are the options? See a few below:
text only
html
combination of the above & multi-part MIME

Key facts to consider:

Text more easily can penetrate spam filters, gets thru company firewalls, but only preferred by 15% to 25%.

HTML has more advantages, will double or triple the click-thru on text, nicer, pretty graphics, tracking better. It can also track opens, click-thrus and conversions. If the email marketing system supports it (most do) - send both.

Tip 1: Send Multi-part MIME, not just straight HTML
Tip 2: Place a URL reference in email to actual content on your website
Tip 3: Microsoft Outlook "Preview" mode: make sure it looks ok. Many will have this "on" by default - and it may reflect your email poorly (try it!). MarketingSherpa.com has a great article on this and how it can affect "opens". Graphics are often blocked too, so your intended "pretty" newsletter may not look the way you planned under these circumstances.
Tip 4: Make sure font is large enough for "older" folks and the smaller monitors

9. How often to send? How about text size?

In company marketing strategy meetings, where all the 'masters' will create their online strategies -- do not seem to agree. We'll outline a few scenarios below.

Daily.
Daily if you have a good "alert" system (ex: Google alerts) - this will not make sense for most companies. CNN news alerts are ok though.

Once a week.
Weekly ok if you have a strong listener base, and compelling content.

Once a month.
Monthly probably best for most small businesses. Overall - you want to retain "mindshare" - so they don't forget you, but still not too much "in their face".

How long should the text be?
Short, with longer description on website. People "scan", not read
Keep it tight, focused on brief -- "read here for more" (link to full page)

Tip 1: Archive URL's on your site, and allow it to be searched later. It's "spider-food", and you get recognized as an expert as well.
Tip 2: Also, a link to "send to friend" ('found this article, thought you'd be interested')
Tip 3: Use personalization (Dear Bob, Hello Cathy, etc.) - increases opening and reading by 50-60%. Work on the relationship -- build trust and credibility. Note: Don't overuse in the newsletter! Better to be a little conservative, than too friendly.

10. Campaigns and newsletters take time. How-to get it done in your workweek.

Unless you have a dedicated staff, you must do this yourself. Add this task to your calendar (with a recurring reminder), and consider this your "must-do" work.

Tips that work well:
Allocate some time your calendar, book it - and execute, don't delay
Use it as a marketing expense, track it in the books
Hire a writer (guru.com, elance.com) - and use search for 'copywriters' (in your niche)
Test with innovative audio and video options, outsource if necessary
Make sure to include testimonials

11. Auto-responders.

Auto responders are a fantastic and simple way to turn your business on automated 24x7 attendance. Use them, learn them and build your list and responsiveness from this feature alone. Your list will grow, which you will use for future mailings and offers. Auto-responders are software systems that allow for total automation of messaging.

Here are another few tips for you to help build your list and credibility:

Follow up for an e-Book (example: 3 days after first mailing, send "did you get the email?" In that mailing, provide a link to a free download e-book, offers, etc)
Follow up to the subscription - 'thank you'
Training series ("5-day SEO email course") -- see example on www.microsaw.com seo email course
Create free email courses, courses send every 1-2 days for a short period (less than a week).

12. Isn't use of email as a business tool dead?

Answer: No it is not. It's part of our lives, and email is still very effective. It's accepted, and with filters and advanced software solutions, it is managed.

Here are some tips and tools:

Many programs use filtering (ISP)
Bounces can be recorded: soft, hard (to edit/maintenance your list)
SpamAssassin
Cloudmark Desktop (report spam) - helps the community at large
SpamArrest

Amazon does a lot of things with email. They have applied a cool system with personalization. They have supposedly as high as a 14% conversion rate!

Tip: Do you need to check your email for SPAM? Try sending your campaign or email to: sales-spamcheck@sitesell.net?subject=TEST -- you'll get an email response back with a rating of 0 thru 5.

13. Wave of the future - "white-listing".

Email marketing is not going away, as some have alluded to. The key is to stay within the form and function of the email marketing community. Newer options exist for creating "white lists" (universally accepted lists) - a few of these new services are listed here:

Sender Certification is an important change which has been used for a while already.

Here are a few companies:
Habeas
Sender Score Certified

Habeas is expensive at $15,000 a year, and only recommended for serious, large email marketing companies. Goodmailsystems (used by AOL and Yahoo) is also another high-end product. Search on Google for 'email sender certification'.

Tip: Definitely a "future" thing, and growing in use today. You get a (good) reputation for being an email sender, and can build a strong business around this as well.

14. What other technical issues should I review?

Check spelling, graphics, relative links, use the free software XENU to get amazingly detailed reports. The Webmaster reports at the bottom of one of their reports provide a lot of good detail, perfect for executive overview.

Other tips:
Make sure to use http://, not just www... in your LINK references. Your link may not work without it.
Research shows that Tue, Wed, Thu works well for B2B (but, make sure to test!)
Some B2C lists are better on the weekends (personal feeling about this)

15. Landing pages.

We've talked about this topic in several places in the article. It's so important, we dedicate a special section here.

A landing page is a strategically developed (content and visuals) page that you bring your potential customers to. It's a call-to-action page. Many just bring their prospective customers to a home page where other non-related items may appear, including no specific instructions. You only have a few seconds to get him or her to react.

If you are not great at writing, you can hire a copywriter, check elance.com and guru.com, sometimes as low as 30-40 bucks for a pretty good writer.

Test, test, test and location, location, location.

You must test and track (metrics) your pages and run A/B splits (change a few things like color, title, subhead, etc - and not too much at the same time). You can use a free service Google analytics to get started.

More expensive ones are clicktracks, omniture, hitbox, hitlens - and the ultimate wholly grail testing, tuning and tracking system is the taguchi models (multi-variant optimizers).

The human eye scans from top left to right in a downstream manner.

The call-to-action items (like "sign up for my newsletter") would get optimal viewing if placed here, in this F-shaped Golden Triangle. Also, as we mentioned - above the fold!

Make sure you have some free downloads and give-aways, surfers love quizzes and mini-tests, including email courses, using autoresponders for immediate follow-up and tracking.

Your email campaigns should take them to a landing page for more / better conversion.

Tip: Add a "Special Message" block on your page and in your email text and allow users to discuss on your forum or in your blog link.

Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on the subject of SEO and Online Marketing, and has spent over 10 years developing websites and marketing solutions for companies like Overture, Yahoo and Expedia. Veronique Blog66843
Verna Blog58169

Buying Guide for MMORPG Currency

Like many online game players, you probably spend countless hours (or days) farming/grinding in the game only to find out by the end of the night you havent accomplished much and your character is still in need of upgrades. This process can be very time consuming and not to mention extremely frustrating. Ideally, nobody likes to farm since it takes off a large portion of the time that could be well spent focusing on the gameplay. If youre looking to seek an alternate solution to farming by purchasing in-game commodities directly from online retailers, here are some tips on how to make your next purchase.

The secondary market for multiplayer online games is a huge online marketplace and new companies are being formed virtually every week. Customers are given the option to choose between hundreds of different companies. What most people dont realize is the difference between these companies. During the next paragraph, I will outline for you the most important aspects in purchasing online game commodities to save you the potential hassle many customers experience.

As I said earlier, there are hundreds of different secondary market businesses around the world. Some of these companies reside in the other countries where communication is in my opinion, for the lack of better. You might have visited a website with grammatical mistakes and have had trouble interpreting its meaning. Although communication plays a big factor in business to customer relations, I am not in any way recommending anyone to stray away from these websites. Most of these places offer satisfactory service and translation is comprehendible, it ultimately depends on the customers choice. When youre looking for a place to purchase MMORPG currency, here are some advice to make your next shopping experience a little easier to decide.

1. Price vs. Time Although price differences play a big part in deciding who to buy from, please remember is the bang worth the buck? Make sure the service provided is worth the price. (eg: paying $30 dollars for 10 gold plats which took 1 hour to receive or paying $32 dollars for the same amount which took 20 minutes)

2. Customer Support This is by far the most important role in every business. Make sure the customer support level meet your expectations. If you cannot receive adequate support with open issues, then that should give you an overall understanding on the companys reputation. If you cannot find the means to contact the company for support, then I highly recommend everyone to stray away from these websites.

3. Comprehensibility If you visit an international website with grammatical mistakes or have trouble understanding its translation, then chances are that it will be the same with customer support. Ask yourself if youre willing to encounter potential language barriers.

4. Guarantees For companies which offers a type of guarantee on its service, please make sure this commitment is met. After all, you dont want someone who cant play his/her own ball game.

5. Policies Its a good idea to review over the companys policies. I know many people dislike having to read through paragraphs of garble but reading it might save you headaches in the future. (eg: refund policies; incase anything goes wrong and you want your money back)

6. Misc. Features Features such as a feedback/review systems (eg: Bizrate) gives customers a good understanding on the satisfactory level rated by customers who purchased from them in the past. Due to the high demands for in-game assets and the speed at which orders are processed and delivered, features such as Order Tracking are also recommended but not required.

If you apply everyday knowledge of safe shopping along with the advice provided in this article, then the next purchase you make sure be much easier and safer. Please note however, you shouldnt purely judge the reputation of a business solely on a first time experience. As you can understand, it takes an overall experience and knowledge to truly find a company whom you can trust.

Henry Kong is the marketing and research manager for MMOFactory Inc., a secondary market company for multiplayer online games focused on providing players alternate means of enhancing their gameplay.Floris Blog42643
Fatima Blog39792

Fishy Salespeople? How to Finally Stop Handing Out FREE Fish to Your Sales People

Do you remember the good ole days when sales managers used to just sit back and wait for their salespeople to come into their offices and ask for help?

Maybe they needed the old veteran to come in and nail down the close. Well, we all know you just can't do that any more. Sure, that would put a few more sales in the win column (in the short term). But in the long term what are you creating? Nothing but needy, dependent salespeople without an ounce of personal selling confidence.

Showing your people HOW to prospect, HOW to set appointments and HOW to close sales makes your job easier and everybody's paycheck fatter.

If that's the kind of vision you have for your sales team, then it's time to close down the all-you-can-eat fish-fry and open up the all-you-can-catch fishing school.

Wouldn't that be nice? You bet it would. AND profitable, too.

And so we've come to the reason for this article. You see, Self-Sustaining Salespeople are not found; they are developed. Sure, it still takes a certain style of person to succeed in this business, but once you find them, everything else can (and should) be taught. And it's all been broken down into an easy to follow step-by-step system.

But before we teach our future sales stars the secrets to prospecting and closing, we have to help them. HOW? We show them how to make the shift from just hitting their revenue goals to (with our inspiration) becoming Self-Sustained Business Professionals.

Did you notice I used the phrase "business" professional, not just "sales" professional?

That's because to be a superstar in sales, you have possess the proper insight and mindset about business.

That means having a keen insight into the details of your own business cycle, from pre-contact to revenue receipt, as well as an understanding of your prospect's world, and how it relates to their business objectives and what is important to them. Not you, but to them. You must understand how your prospects measure success.

Let me put that another way:

Sales Superstars must understand the business they are in. They must respect the business the prospect is in and they must recognize what the prospect values in that business.

To do that, Sales Professionals MUST become Business Professionals.

I've interviewed hundreds of sales people for every type of position.

I found it funny that most candidates were quick to put down a "higher" level of achievement on their resume compared to their peers and the quota objective from prior sales positions.

However, when I asked them what their system and process are to achieve such "superior" results, most (amazingly) could not explain their results from a "business" level.

So, how do you do it? Inspire self-sustain business professionals?

I can tell you that just affirming the objective of executing to revenue is not enough to make it happen. Eavesdrop on any Monday morning sales meeting, and you will see that just about every Sales Manager has the same intention. They may not be "achieving" it, but is always their marching orders.

What those of us in Sales management really need to do is develop a customized Masters level curriculum in "Executing to Revenue" and "Becoming a Self-Sustained Business Professional."

To achieve that ideal, you need to indoctrinate every new sales employee to a system that develops a result-oriented plan, executes to proven tactics and manages the everyday conditions that tend to throw us off track.

Sound good. But can it really be done? And done quickly?

Well, the first step to becoming a self-sustained professional is running your business with critical metrics, processes and systems. Sounds a lot like the way an entrepreneurial business owner runs their enterprise, right?

In the Business of Core Competencies, I help sales individuals and management identify their essential components, and the performance metrics necessary for successful results.

We classify those metrics and discover how they are inter-related with each other and dynamic to preferred results. And by training specifically to these core competencies one at a time, we can control our destinies and routinely achieve our desired results.

You see, there are basically two kinds of people when it comes to results.

Those who point their index finger outward say it's not their fault things didn't turn out well. There were "conditional" reasons for their poor results. But, those who point their index finger inward evaluate what they could have done differently to avoid the negative outcome.

They know the difference between factors, which they can control and conditions, which are outside of their control. They seek out and modify routines and behaviors that are within their control, to improve efficiencies in gaining the required results.

So, ask yourself: Are you inspiring self-sustained professionals or management-sustained individuals?

Interesting question, isn't it?

Self sustained business professionals identify the essential elements and components that comprise your selling process. They realize how they affect your desired result dynamically, and make adjustments in routines and tactics to assure consistent results. No matter what month it is!

Now, here's a sure-fire method to identify self-sustained business professionals in your sales organization.

Evaluate the sales results for the month of December. Who was at or above quota? Realistically, December has only 13-15 selling days versus the normal 20-23 selling days in the rest of the calendar year.

December brings with it holidays, personal vacations, and general mental re-grouping for the new year. For most B-to-B selling individuals, if you don't have your number by midmonth or so, you might as well forget it.

But, if you understand your essential core competencies and performance metrics that lead you to desired results, you will customize a plan to achieve those results. You will start to execute to the plan prior to the holiday month, and your December revenue goal can be routinely met. And the same goes for a personal vacation month.

Makes sense doesn't it? Great! So, what are you waiting for? Go inspire those Self-Sustained business professionals on your team!

Jeff Hardesty is a National sales speaker, Sales performance improvement consultant and the Developer of the X2 Sales System, a blended sales prospecting training system that teaches sales professionals the competency of setting targeted C-level business appointments. Viola Blog82545
Ertha Blog35535

Make More Money In Internet Marketing By BURNING Your PhD In English!

You may be thinking that you will be a failure in internet marketing just because your English teacher from high school gave you an F for your bad grammar and simple vocabulary.

And to top it off, your dear teacher probably even said that you will never make it as a writer! Im here to give you hope because you dont need to be all that great in writing to make money online.

Dont let your misconception scare you. To write successfully online, you dont need a PhD in English. A lot of successful internet marketers dont use professional and impressive English in their writing. And they AINT gonna start!

You may be protesting: Yes however, by procuring a transcendent lexicon and capitalizing gargantuan resplendent words will galvanize people

Did you understand that last sentence without spending 10 minutes with a dictionary? Did my big words impress you? Probably not, if I said that to you face to face, you probably thought I was an English obsessed weirdo!

You probably wouldnt bother reading an article that uses those crazy words, unless you are a true masochist. And I can guess only a very small percentage of people enjoy reading something like that (if any).

You probably wouldnt want to check up each individual word, so let me translate. It says: Yes however, by having a great vocabulary and using big fancy words will impress people.

Did you understand that? YES of course its so simple! And Im guessing most people who can read English didnt have to go the dictionary to understand that phrase. Let me explain a simple truth, we make most money by clear communication, not by complex confusion!

The clearer we can get our message through to our internet readers, the easier it is to sell to them and therefore make more money! Thats why you shouldnt use professional and proper English in internet marketing all the time.

Additionally, using relax everyday language with your customers gives off a feeling that they are talking to a real live human being, which works better when communicating through the internet. Dont be some intimidating corporate robot thats totally not relatable to them.

We want to make our writing so simple to understand that 99% of the population will know what we are offering. Forget impressing the 1% of the population that has a huge vocabulary, because they will certainly understand our writing also!

So for those of you that had a hard time getting an A in English class, CONGRATULATIONS! You have an advantage over other internet marketers that are brainwashed into thinking that the best way of writing is to use higher-level English (like me darn it!).

You dont have to break the bad habit of using overly sophisticated English. So now you have no excuse for your sixth grade level English. For those of you who graduated with a PhD in English, CONGRATULATIONS! That shows dedication and commitment.

However, no one will understand you if you continue writing as you did for your more sophisticated colleagues! Tone it down a little when you are working with your internet marketing business.

Why do you think major newspaper write in simple English? And why are the best selling magazines written in simple English?

Yup, youve guessed it. They write in simple English so that more people will understand their content and more people will buy! You can show off your superior English to the few people who actually care.

So if you are guilty of having perfect sophisticated English in your message, re-edit everything so that even the dumbest sixth grader will understand it. Youll have messages that will be clear and more people will understand what the heck you are talking about!

Alan Quan is a certified Internet Coaching Empire coach and specializes in helping people build their own successful internet marketing business. Visit his website at http://e-bizcoachalan.com/success.htm and find out how he can help you to quickly accomplish your goals and boost your internet profits.Valentia Blog26081
Vanda Blog17655

Get Your Website to Profit With the Best Affiliate Programs Available

The Internet is one of the most frequently used tools for communication today. There are over millions of people who log on to the Internet every single day. Besides, with the benefits that the Internet gives, who would not want to be a part of this information superhighway.

With the Internet, you can communicate with your family and friends through emails and instant messengers, you can purchase goods and services without leaving your own home, and the Internet is one of the most promising income generating tools that everyone can use today.

In the past, you needed products or services in order to make money through the Internet. Today however, you can make money through the Internet by using affiliate programs. This program will allow you to make a substantial amount of money out of your website and is a very good home business that you would want to get in to.

First of all, you need to know what an affiliate program is and how it works in order to fully understand how you can make some money out of it. Affiliate programs is like a joint venture where you or your website becomes a partner with another website that have already developed a product or service that they are already selling in the Internet. As a partner, your job is to direct the visitors of your website to your partner website and hope that they will purchase the products or services being offered. Your website will be like the company's marketing arm, among several.

The company you plan on being affiliated to will be providing all the necessary tools that you need in order to start the affiliate program. They will be providing the links, and some companies will provide free e-books on how you can effectively earn from affiliate programs.

The best way to profit from your website through affiliate programs is by promoting your website in the Internet. The key to success in affiliate programs is targeted traffic. This is why you should think of a product or service that you would want to promote and also a product or service that you are knowledgeable about. Think about your hobby. For example, if you like fixing cars, you want an affiliate program that promotes cars, or car parts.

In your website, you will then discuss about your hobby. Make some articles and post it in article publishing websites and also in your own site. Since your affiliate program is selling cars or car parts or even car accessories, the traffic you generate in your website will have a greater chance of clicking the link or banner of your affiliate website and buy from that website. You will then earn a commission out of the sold product.

As you can see, it is very simple to earn money from affiliate programs. However, when you are just starting out in the business of affiliate programs, you have to work hard to establish your reputation as an expert in the product or service you are promoting. The best way to do this is publish your articles about a particular product frequently. This will build your reputation in the Internet and soon, you will get that targeted traffic you have been always wanting. It is also a good idea to update your website once in a while (once a week) with tips and tricks on a particular product.

The best thing about affiliate programs is that you do not have to be in front of your computer 24 hours a day 7 days a week. All you need is a few minutes of checking up in your website and also check out your earnings in your affiliate programs. Always remember to update your website frequently in order to keep your readers and keep them buying from your affiliate website.

Steven Gerber is a professional copywriter & marketing consultant. He is a protg of Dan Lok, the Worlds #1 Website Conversion Expert, & in Stevens totally biased opinion simply THE BEST. You will find the latest internet marketing techniques & tricks at: http://www.websiteconversionexpert.com.Frederica Blog28645
Verile Blog2744