Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Willie Crawford
Many people coming online and deciding to sell affiliate products never sell a single product. The reason is glaringly obvious, and it's not the unfortunate affiliate marketer's fault.
Think about any job that you've ever held in the offline world. What happened? You were hired and told when to report for work.
When you showed up for work you were entered into training. Depending upon the job, you spent weeks, sometimes even months, with a trainer guiding you and looking over your shoulder.
Compare that with your typical affiliate program that the complete newbie can join.
You fill out an affiliate registration form and are handed an affiliate link. With some affiliate programs you are also directed to an affiliate resource center.
With a few of the better affiliate programs, you are also directed to some affiliate training videos. The affiliate training videos are the exception rather than the rule.
Affiliate marketers are basically left to figure out what works all on their own.
It's really not much better for new people coming online who decide to launch their own product.
They come online and read over and over again that you really need you own product. So they decide to create one, perhaps putting it on Clickbank, or a somewhat better option - decide to use the Rapid Action Profits script.
These new product owners understand that they need affiliates, so they put a link to an affiliate signup page somewhere on their site. They often stick this affiliate program signup link in the worse possible place - right on their salespage where it distracts buying customers.
As a side-note, a better place to put your affiliate signup invitation is on your download page, or you can tell your new customers about your affiliate program in a follow-up email. What better person to recruit as an affiliate than a satisfied customer who actually knows your product?
These new product owners sign up affiliates, give them their affiliate links (and a few tools) and then wait for the orders to come flooding in.
When the orders don't come surging in, the new product own wonders what he did wrong, and concludes that affiliate programs really don't work.
The problem in both of the above cases is simply a lack of adequate training for affiliates in what works in promoting affiliate products.
The sad part is that there is lots of information available on what has proven to work for top producing affiliates. I, as a super affiliate, have written over 1300 article on the topic of ecommerce. Many of those articles outline techniques that work flawlessly for me.
For the product owner or affiliate program operator, there are entire affiliate training programs in a box. One that I looked at recently included 52 weekly autoresponder training sessions. It even included video lessons to SHOW the struggling affiliate how to do many things.
Each of the weekly lessons in that "affiliate training program in a box" taught a skill that the aspiring affiliate marketer needs to understand.
If you are an affiliate program owner and wants to check out that "affiliate training program in a box" it's at: http://WillieCrawford.com/TrainYourAffiliates/
Seasoned marketers and copywriters understand that marketing is not guessing. It's testing until you discover what works, and then USING those things proven to work.
Seasoned marketers and copywriters understand that they are often WRONG as far as what they think will work. Only the market decides what will work. That's why they don't experiment, but instead stick with the "tried and true."
If you are a new (or unsuccessful) affiliate marketer, your solution is simple - learn and stick with what's already proven to work.
If you are a product owner with an affiliate program that's NOT producing, your solution is simple - train your affiliates.
When you train your affiliate, they will experience success selling your products, and having finally figured it out, will double their efforts in promoting your products.
Like any other paying job in the world, affiliate marketing does require training. Make sure that you're not overlooking this critical element of the online marketing puzzle!
About the Author:
Willie Crawford is a leading Internet marketing and traffic generation expert. His favorite method for generating free website traffic is distributing videos, audios, articles and press releases using the automated distribution service at http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.com/
Read more of Willie Crawford's articles.
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I will seek to answer those questions here, as well as to provide a Day Planner to enable the new online entrepreneur to navigate the maze of building a successful online business. When I find great advice by other writers, I will include that information as well. --- Clinton Douglas IV, Founder of Vasrue.com |
Friday, May 29, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
LOA: The Secret and The Law of Attraction Doesn't Work! 3 Reasons Why
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Andrew Brinkworth
Okay, we've all heard the reviews from friends and family.
"Oh, The Secret, my friend read it and said it was a joke so I didn't bother," says Mom.
"It worked for a while and then I gave up because I didn't get the car I wanted," says Uncle Larry
"It's just a lot of metaphysical hokum," says Steve your best friend.
Let's be quite honest, each and every one of those statements is absolutely true. Look at the search results there are just as many con articles as there are pro articles written about The Law of Attraction and The Secret. So we must say that the statements are true. FOR THEM!
Yes for them. They got out of it exactly what they put into it, and I am sure that what they put into it was exactly what most people put into it. "I've read the book, now where's my Ferrari."
The fact of the matter is, there is a Secret to the Secret and The Law of Attraction, in fact, make that 3 Secrets. The first will leave most people kicking themselves. The second is perhaps something that most people fail to recognize. The third, well the third takes some work but there are two professionals who are ready to help you!
Let's start with the first Secret. What does the Secret warn you about straight away in the book? The Universe manifests our thoughts and it cautions us to focus on our thoughts and remain positive. It's kind of a scare tactic. Think bad thoughts and bad things will happen to you; think good thoughts and you'll get good things (The Ferrari).
There is a better way to explain this because of the simple fact that in many ways, we do what most children will do when faced with this dilemma. We'll act good until we get what we want and then go back to normal after we get it. Think I'm wrong? Ask yourself why all the little terrors in your neighborhood become angels around Christmastime!
The same goes for us if we don't get what we want. We're good positive people and we think about the new house or money and after a while we don't get what we want and feel foolish and cheated and revert back to the glass is half-empty realists we were. We are ignoring a singular fact here that eludes all of us. When I read that book, I was a tremendously positive person. Everything was possible and I was going to get it. But it seemed to take a while and then I got discouraged and reverted. What did I miss?
I was happy! My friends said so, my wife said so, my parents thought so. I was a positive person for a change and people liked to have me around. And then I woke up one day and forgot. It happens. I forgot that nothing happens to me unless I act. If I don't do anything how can I ever get what I want?
Let me give you an example. A while back I worried about losing my job so I started staying up late at night working on side projects. Then I overslept and the boss fired me. You can say that it's my fault because it was, but you can also say that by thinking negatively about my job I put myself in the position where my boss had the excuse he needed to let me go! Every time I had trouble at work, it's because I was worried about my job or needed an excuse to leave. I got my wish every single time!
The moral here is that if I had just remained positive that something better was going to happen and remained a joyful person I might have enjoyed my job more or at least been someone that another company would kill to have work for them! So be positive for the only reason that I can think of. IT FEELS BETTER. Don't do it for the car do it for yourself to feel better.
The second Secret is something that most people fail to realize. If you look at the DVD and the book you notice that it's extremely basic. Why, was it so simple? So that everyone could get the basic understanding of what The Law of Attraction was all about!
The Secret is, AN EASY READER. It's only the beginning of a much larger course of study that delves both into our connection with the world around us and entreats us to look deeper into ourselves to become better people. The answer here is that for the Law of Attraction to work, it must become a lifestyle and not a phase.
The third Secret does take some work. I've been hinting at it throughout this article, I wonder if you've picked up on it yet. The reason why the Secret didn't work for you is YOU! Yes with all our hang-ups and pre-conceived notions we stopped the Universe from working for us and turned it against us. How?
Let me ask you if this sounds familiar. You've had a great day, you've said all the right things, and you've thought all the positive thoughts but its taking a little while to manifest. So, late at night as you sit in the dark you do what countless people do. You quietly sabotage yourself back to what you think is reality.
You know that thoughts I'm speaking of: "This can't possible work." "There's no such thing as free." You can't help it but you did it didn't you? Come on be honest for a second and admit it. You did set yourself up to fail. Don't worry I did too. That's why I decided that the positive feeling I had was something I needed to have or I couldn't survive and decided to invest in my own well being.
I sought out help from two of the experts who helped write The Secret, Dr. Joe Vitale, and Bob Procter. These to gentlemen have forgotten more about The Law of Attraction than most people know. Their programs are designed to help us get past the barriers we erect inside our minds and help us do what the The Law of Attraction was meant to do. Help us be happier and more content with our lives! There programs are in depth and include methods that are designed to combat all of the negative emotions we carry around with us. I do not have room to go into more detail about their programs; however you can read more about them by reading about The Law of Attraction on my website, shown below.
Remember, it's never too late to feel better about your life and to act in ways that WILL make it something you'll want to live. Don't give up hope when help is just a click away!
Good Luck.
About the Author:
Andrew Brinkworth is an Internet Marketing Expert and "The Law of Attraction" Evangelist who believes the you can improve your life today! He publishes http://www.andrianmarketing.com/the-secret.html
Read more Articles written by Andrew Brinkworth.
Copyright © 2009 Andrew Brinkworth
Okay, we've all heard the reviews from friends and family.
"Oh, The Secret, my friend read it and said it was a joke so I didn't bother," says Mom.
"It worked for a while and then I gave up because I didn't get the car I wanted," says Uncle Larry
"It's just a lot of metaphysical hokum," says Steve your best friend.
Let's be quite honest, each and every one of those statements is absolutely true. Look at the search results there are just as many con articles as there are pro articles written about The Law of Attraction and The Secret. So we must say that the statements are true. FOR THEM!
Yes for them. They got out of it exactly what they put into it, and I am sure that what they put into it was exactly what most people put into it. "I've read the book, now where's my Ferrari."
The fact of the matter is, there is a Secret to the Secret and The Law of Attraction, in fact, make that 3 Secrets. The first will leave most people kicking themselves. The second is perhaps something that most people fail to recognize. The third, well the third takes some work but there are two professionals who are ready to help you!
Let's start with the first Secret. What does the Secret warn you about straight away in the book? The Universe manifests our thoughts and it cautions us to focus on our thoughts and remain positive. It's kind of a scare tactic. Think bad thoughts and bad things will happen to you; think good thoughts and you'll get good things (The Ferrari).
There is a better way to explain this because of the simple fact that in many ways, we do what most children will do when faced with this dilemma. We'll act good until we get what we want and then go back to normal after we get it. Think I'm wrong? Ask yourself why all the little terrors in your neighborhood become angels around Christmastime!
The same goes for us if we don't get what we want. We're good positive people and we think about the new house or money and after a while we don't get what we want and feel foolish and cheated and revert back to the glass is half-empty realists we were. We are ignoring a singular fact here that eludes all of us. When I read that book, I was a tremendously positive person. Everything was possible and I was going to get it. But it seemed to take a while and then I got discouraged and reverted. What did I miss?
I was happy! My friends said so, my wife said so, my parents thought so. I was a positive person for a change and people liked to have me around. And then I woke up one day and forgot. It happens. I forgot that nothing happens to me unless I act. If I don't do anything how can I ever get what I want?
Let me give you an example. A while back I worried about losing my job so I started staying up late at night working on side projects. Then I overslept and the boss fired me. You can say that it's my fault because it was, but you can also say that by thinking negatively about my job I put myself in the position where my boss had the excuse he needed to let me go! Every time I had trouble at work, it's because I was worried about my job or needed an excuse to leave. I got my wish every single time!
The moral here is that if I had just remained positive that something better was going to happen and remained a joyful person I might have enjoyed my job more or at least been someone that another company would kill to have work for them! So be positive for the only reason that I can think of. IT FEELS BETTER. Don't do it for the car do it for yourself to feel better.
The second Secret is something that most people fail to realize. If you look at the DVD and the book you notice that it's extremely basic. Why, was it so simple? So that everyone could get the basic understanding of what The Law of Attraction was all about!
The Secret is, AN EASY READER. It's only the beginning of a much larger course of study that delves both into our connection with the world around us and entreats us to look deeper into ourselves to become better people. The answer here is that for the Law of Attraction to work, it must become a lifestyle and not a phase.
The third Secret does take some work. I've been hinting at it throughout this article, I wonder if you've picked up on it yet. The reason why the Secret didn't work for you is YOU! Yes with all our hang-ups and pre-conceived notions we stopped the Universe from working for us and turned it against us. How?
Let me ask you if this sounds familiar. You've had a great day, you've said all the right things, and you've thought all the positive thoughts but its taking a little while to manifest. So, late at night as you sit in the dark you do what countless people do. You quietly sabotage yourself back to what you think is reality.
You know that thoughts I'm speaking of: "This can't possible work." "There's no such thing as free." You can't help it but you did it didn't you? Come on be honest for a second and admit it. You did set yourself up to fail. Don't worry I did too. That's why I decided that the positive feeling I had was something I needed to have or I couldn't survive and decided to invest in my own well being.
I sought out help from two of the experts who helped write The Secret, Dr. Joe Vitale, and Bob Procter. These to gentlemen have forgotten more about The Law of Attraction than most people know. Their programs are designed to help us get past the barriers we erect inside our minds and help us do what the The Law of Attraction was meant to do. Help us be happier and more content with our lives! There programs are in depth and include methods that are designed to combat all of the negative emotions we carry around with us. I do not have room to go into more detail about their programs; however you can read more about them by reading about The Law of Attraction on my website, shown below.
Remember, it's never too late to feel better about your life and to act in ways that WILL make it something you'll want to live. Don't give up hope when help is just a click away!
Good Luck.
About the Author:
Andrew Brinkworth is an Internet Marketing Expert and "The Law of Attraction" Evangelist who believes the you can improve your life today! He publishes http://www.andrianmarketing.com/the-secret.html
Read more Articles written by Andrew Brinkworth.
When Pennies Count, These Budgeting Tips Could Save You Hundreds of Dollars Per Month
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Fred Vanhoosen
The current state of the economy has been a wake-up call for many people and it's causing them to get serious about saving money and eliminating debt now.
In order to increase your savings, pay off debt, or just stop living paycheck to paycheck you have to do one of two things. You can either earn more money or spend less.
For many of us, it will take a while to earn more, but we can start spending less right now.
Track Every Dime Spent
The best way to start living on a budget is to start tracking everything you spend for a couple months. Carry a small notepad with you and log every purchase. If you have a spouse make sure he or she does the same. Soon you will have a good idea of your spending habits, and you can start trying to find items on your list that can be eliminated or reduced.
Once you add up how much you spend each month, compare it to your monthly income. Hopefully you earn more than you spend. If not, you must be using credit to get some things paid. If this is the case, you need to start making cuts in your spending, so that you don't have to borrow to finance your spending.
Here Are Some Budgeting Tips That You May Consider:
You may find that you are paying too much for telephones, internet, and television.
Your cell phone provider may offer a cheaper plan that still offers you enough minutes to get through the month.
Do you still use your land based phone line? Many people are getting rid of their land line and going with cell phones only for their communication needs in order to save money each month. You might even try that new Magic Jack phone service. We just switched to Magic Jack and it works great. And best of all, we are saving about $920 per year on phone services, now that we have switched phone providers.
Many internet providers offer different prices for plans based on the speed of the service. Maybe slowing it down would be worth the money saved.
If you are subscribing to cable or satellite television, you can probably find a cheaper package by reducing the number of channels you receive.
If you don't want to cut out any of these services, maybe you can buy them all from one company and save by bundling them all together.
Utilizing The Envelope System
Once you have your list of your usual spending, start working on a budget. Some people find it works best to assign every dollar they make in a month to a certain category.
One method that a lot of people use to try to stay within a budget is to use an envelope system. You get an envelope for different items on your budget and place the amount of money you expect to spend that month in the envelope. Once you spend all the allotted money, you can't spend any more in that category.
Some people make an envelope for several categories like groceries, eating out, gas, clothing and entertainment. Some people don't need to make envelopes for every expense. Maybe they find the thing that is making them spend too much each month is that they eat out too often. Making an envelope for eating out would help them keep track of how much they spend at restaurants and let them know when they are at their monthly limit.
The main goal of most budgets is to lower spending so that there is more money to put toward savings. The amount you intend to save should be included in the budget so that it is not neglected. Treat savings as you would any other expense in the budget. Also, remember that if you end up spending less than the budget, you should apply that extra money to savings or paying off debt.
Handling The Management Of Infrequent Expenses
The thing that probably gives people the most problems when it comes to making a budget is that a lot of expense don't occur on a monthly basis. Homeowners insurance and property taxes are often due once a year. Auto insurance is usually due every six months. Auto maintenance fees are often unpredictable, but the oil changes and tires are fairly predictable.
You might not buy clothing every month, but if you keep track of your spending you'll soon figure out roughly how much you spend per year for new clothing. For the expenses that don't happen every month, just calculate how much you spend on those categories each year and divide by twelve. This will give you a monthly amount that you can budget. If you save that amount every month you'll have the cash to pay those bills when the time arrives.
Some financial experts even suggest opening a separate bank account for these types of expenses. You might not feel that is necessary, but you'll want to keep track of these categories with either a notebook or a spreadsheet.
Never Get Angry or Give Up
The last thing to remember is that you shouldn't get upset if you can't stay within the budget the first month. It takes a while to get the budget adjusted to match what you need to buy. Just keep making a little progress each month and you'll be much better off than those who follow no budget at all.
About the Author:
Fred Vanhoosen writes about the cash advance loans / cash advance loan industry. To learn more about these payday loan products, we recommend reading the following overview of the cash advance concept. Learn more at: http://www.fastcash4all.net/
More new articles.
Copyright © 2009 Fred Vanhoosen
The current state of the economy has been a wake-up call for many people and it's causing them to get serious about saving money and eliminating debt now.
In order to increase your savings, pay off debt, or just stop living paycheck to paycheck you have to do one of two things. You can either earn more money or spend less.
For many of us, it will take a while to earn more, but we can start spending less right now.
Track Every Dime Spent
The best way to start living on a budget is to start tracking everything you spend for a couple months. Carry a small notepad with you and log every purchase. If you have a spouse make sure he or she does the same. Soon you will have a good idea of your spending habits, and you can start trying to find items on your list that can be eliminated or reduced.
Once you add up how much you spend each month, compare it to your monthly income. Hopefully you earn more than you spend. If not, you must be using credit to get some things paid. If this is the case, you need to start making cuts in your spending, so that you don't have to borrow to finance your spending.
Here Are Some Budgeting Tips That You May Consider:
Utilizing The Envelope System
Once you have your list of your usual spending, start working on a budget. Some people find it works best to assign every dollar they make in a month to a certain category.
One method that a lot of people use to try to stay within a budget is to use an envelope system. You get an envelope for different items on your budget and place the amount of money you expect to spend that month in the envelope. Once you spend all the allotted money, you can't spend any more in that category.
Some people make an envelope for several categories like groceries, eating out, gas, clothing and entertainment. Some people don't need to make envelopes for every expense. Maybe they find the thing that is making them spend too much each month is that they eat out too often. Making an envelope for eating out would help them keep track of how much they spend at restaurants and let them know when they are at their monthly limit.
The main goal of most budgets is to lower spending so that there is more money to put toward savings. The amount you intend to save should be included in the budget so that it is not neglected. Treat savings as you would any other expense in the budget. Also, remember that if you end up spending less than the budget, you should apply that extra money to savings or paying off debt.
Handling The Management Of Infrequent Expenses
The thing that probably gives people the most problems when it comes to making a budget is that a lot of expense don't occur on a monthly basis. Homeowners insurance and property taxes are often due once a year. Auto insurance is usually due every six months. Auto maintenance fees are often unpredictable, but the oil changes and tires are fairly predictable.
You might not buy clothing every month, but if you keep track of your spending you'll soon figure out roughly how much you spend per year for new clothing. For the expenses that don't happen every month, just calculate how much you spend on those categories each year and divide by twelve. This will give you a monthly amount that you can budget. If you save that amount every month you'll have the cash to pay those bills when the time arrives.
Some financial experts even suggest opening a separate bank account for these types of expenses. You might not feel that is necessary, but you'll want to keep track of these categories with either a notebook or a spreadsheet.
Never Get Angry or Give Up
The last thing to remember is that you shouldn't get upset if you can't stay within the budget the first month. It takes a while to get the budget adjusted to match what you need to buy. Just keep making a little progress each month and you'll be much better off than those who follow no budget at all.
About the Author:
Fred Vanhoosen writes about the cash advance loans / cash advance loan industry. To learn more about these payday loan products, we recommend reading the following overview of the cash advance concept. Learn more at: http://www.fastcash4all.net/
More new articles.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Hidden Costs of Freeware
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Anne Sych
You are tasked with looking for software and in your research you stumble upon 'free' software. Can this be? It sounds too good to be true! How can they do that? It is very tempting - most of us at least take a peak. After all, why would we buy something we can get for free?
Or perhaps you start out looking for a good solid solution that will meet all of your needs, but your budget is tight and you begin looking at trimmed down or free solutions that may be available. You think that it may be good enough to get you by for now, and you can just purchase something better at a later date when things improve.
While this is tempting, one must consider the hidden costs of 'free' software. In the end, you could be spending more for a 'free' version, than a reputable, well built affordable solution.
Here are a few considerations when considering free software:
1. Many 'free' software solutions are not actually free. Essential components needed to use the software are additional - sometimes the components are minutely priced, but when you plug in your volume needs the prices really add up.
2. Does it really fit your needs? - With 'freeware' there is no product specialist to guide you with your selection, so you are forced to figure out on your own if it will meet your needs. Often once implemented you may learn that it does not meet needs after all or that certain parts do not work the way you need them to. Time lost in business is money lost.
3. You are on your own - typically freeware does not include any implementation assistance, training or support. At best you may get a 'guide', but no one to answer questions or help you with your system environment.
4. No training is provided - how will your employees learn how to use the new software? There are no best practices to follow, and you are left to learn on your own. In addition to time lost, often mistakes are made along the way that are hard to correct because you have done so much already "the wrong way". Again, time lost.
5. Is it cross user friendly? - Some companies may have an employee smart enough to 'rig' a freeware to meet their needs. Once this employee leaves or moves on new folks can't figure out how to make it work the same way.
6. Will it grow with you? - What will you do when you outgrow your application or your needs change. Will you force your business tasks around the app, or be forced to start over? Many hours, weeks, months are spent implementing a "free" system, processes are built around it, training is conducted - much man hours and internal costs. Starting over can be very costly. All of the time spent and resources used are now wasted as you look for a solution to replace this "free one".
So be on guard not to get caught up in the "free" hype, which in the end can cost much more. Take the time to do the due diligence now and select what you need for both now and for the future. Choose a provider that has a quality reputation, offers assistance, provides support, and a solutions that is scalable and can grow to meet your needs long term.
About the Author:
Written by: Anne Sych, Marketing Manager for Novo Solutions, Inc. Novo Solutions, Inc., is an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) in Virginia Beach, Virginia specializing in Customer Support Software. Free trial versions of the Novo Help Desk Software, Knowledge Base Software and suite of web based Customer Support Solutions. Contact: sales@novosolutions.com for more information. http://www.novosolutions.com/
Read more Articles written by Anne Sych.
Copyright © 2009 Anne Sych
You are tasked with looking for software and in your research you stumble upon 'free' software. Can this be? It sounds too good to be true! How can they do that? It is very tempting - most of us at least take a peak. After all, why would we buy something we can get for free?
Or perhaps you start out looking for a good solid solution that will meet all of your needs, but your budget is tight and you begin looking at trimmed down or free solutions that may be available. You think that it may be good enough to get you by for now, and you can just purchase something better at a later date when things improve.
While this is tempting, one must consider the hidden costs of 'free' software. In the end, you could be spending more for a 'free' version, than a reputable, well built affordable solution.
Here are a few considerations when considering free software:
1. Many 'free' software solutions are not actually free. Essential components needed to use the software are additional - sometimes the components are minutely priced, but when you plug in your volume needs the prices really add up.
2. Does it really fit your needs? - With 'freeware' there is no product specialist to guide you with your selection, so you are forced to figure out on your own if it will meet your needs. Often once implemented you may learn that it does not meet needs after all or that certain parts do not work the way you need them to. Time lost in business is money lost.
3. You are on your own - typically freeware does not include any implementation assistance, training or support. At best you may get a 'guide', but no one to answer questions or help you with your system environment.
4. No training is provided - how will your employees learn how to use the new software? There are no best practices to follow, and you are left to learn on your own. In addition to time lost, often mistakes are made along the way that are hard to correct because you have done so much already "the wrong way". Again, time lost.
5. Is it cross user friendly? - Some companies may have an employee smart enough to 'rig' a freeware to meet their needs. Once this employee leaves or moves on new folks can't figure out how to make it work the same way.
6. Will it grow with you? - What will you do when you outgrow your application or your needs change. Will you force your business tasks around the app, or be forced to start over? Many hours, weeks, months are spent implementing a "free" system, processes are built around it, training is conducted - much man hours and internal costs. Starting over can be very costly. All of the time spent and resources used are now wasted as you look for a solution to replace this "free one".
So be on guard not to get caught up in the "free" hype, which in the end can cost much more. Take the time to do the due diligence now and select what you need for both now and for the future. Choose a provider that has a quality reputation, offers assistance, provides support, and a solutions that is scalable and can grow to meet your needs long term.
About the Author:
Written by: Anne Sych, Marketing Manager for Novo Solutions, Inc. Novo Solutions, Inc., is an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) in Virginia Beach, Virginia specializing in Customer Support Software. Free trial versions of the Novo Help Desk Software, Knowledge Base Software and suite of web based Customer Support Solutions. Contact: sales@novosolutions.com for more information. http://www.novosolutions.com/
Read more Articles written by Anne Sych.
Finding Balance Between SEO and Non-SEO Traffic Generation
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Kurt D. Lynn
So much SEO.
You might think, from all the buzz about search engine optimization - SEO - that it offers a cure for all the world's business ills. Somehow, SEO has been propelled from the backwaters of Internet geekdom into the forefront of modern business marketing. For example, if Google's own search results are any indication, the interest in SEO yields almost 50% of the interest in general advertising. That level of interest seems way out of proportion to the realities of business advertising.
So Why All The Hubbub?
The excitement seems to be around the notion that SEO means "free advertising", that it means, if you do it right, millions of people will be clicking through to your site willy-nilly having found you on some search engine and then will immediately do business with you. And behind all that excitement are thousands of overnight SEO "experts" that, variously, all claim to ... (pick one)
Have SEO secrets that will help you get an unfair advantage over the next guy;
Guarantee you a first-page listing for an incredibly low monthly rate;
Provide hundreds of high page rank sites that will link to your site;
Give you 5/10/20 quick tips to immediately improve your rankings;
Tell you what Google/MSN/Yahoo doesn't want you to know about SEO;
Tell you that whatever SEO you're doing is all wrong; or
Some other variant of the above.
To some extent, this notion of "free advertising" is not altogether inaccurate. SEO can result in your site being found - free of charge - and it can result in traffic to your site that may, in fact, result in new business. But the reality of SEO is not quite that simple.
SEO Is Far From "FREE".
SEO takes work... often, hard work. For those that aren't familiar with what's involved in SEO, below is a list of some of the typical activities that (as the CREST commercials used to say) "when applied in a conscientious program of regular professional care" will result in higher search engine rankings.
Researching and selecting keywords that are truly relevant to your desired audience;
Researching competition for desired keywords;
Researching and analyzing competitive websites;
Re-writing and restructuring your website to address desired keywords, to be moreaccessible by search engine "crawlers", to appropriate label meta tags, headings, and inter-page links;
Create a program to build links to your site from other sites (directories, exchanged links,article marketing, etc.)
Create a program to keep content on your site regularly refreshed and synchronized with all the above.
Regularly (daily or weekly) monitor all the search engines and your competitors positions
SEO Is Not Easy.
Doesn't quite sound as easy as some people suggest does it? That's because it's not. And it's all the more complicated when you realize that every site on that first page, and on the second and third, is trying to do the same thing - but against you! You boost your rank above them. They go to work and boost their site back above yours. And so on and so on... It's a war and the SEO "experts" are the arms dealers.
Your Goals And Those Of The Search Engine May Be Different.
If you're going to pay good money for SEO, it may also be worthwhile to keep in mind that search engines don't necessarily have a goal of making you the most findable site on the web. The bottom line for them is making sure that their users finds what they are looking for. Satisfying that requirement may mean that you don't and should not come up first. Google is the number one search engine for a reason: Google users get results they want. Those may not be the results you want.
Short Term and Long Term.
In the short run, there may be some serious benefits from investing in SEO to boost your search engine rankings. In the long run, however, there's probably not much you can do beyond a certain point. Frankly, if you have a finite budget, altering the basic nature of your site and trying to boost how valuable your site is to others (as represented by links to your site) can only be taken so far. After a point, the perfect market characteristics of the search engine will prevail.
Balance SEO With Other Forms Of Traffic Generation.
What this means is: yes, do make sure you do the essential SEO necessary to optimize your rankings in search engines. But do it in the context of an overall marketing program. Definitely use SEO to ensure that you get a fair and accurate appraisal by search engines. But also invest in other non-SEO lead-generation methods to bring traffic to your site and business to your table.
Above all, measure the results of your SEO and non-SEO activities carefully and frequently. When SEO reaches the point of diminishing returns, cut the rate in which you invest in it and boost your reliance on non-SEO marketing to reach your goals. In the long run, traditional non-SEO marketing may just be the most reliable and consistent way to boost traffic to your site.
This article was originally published on my blog, here.
About the Author:
Kurt D. Lynn has been a founder, cofounder, or senior executive of half a dozen enterprises in both the U.S. and Canada. Currently Kurt provides consulting and communication services focused on the needs of emerging and growing businesses. His consulting firm, KLynn Inc, offers an assortment of proven services for the development of sound marketing strategies, tactics, and project execution. His communication services, while more diverse, are focused on optimizing sales and marketing effectiveness: http://www.klynn.ca/
Read more Articles written by Kurt D. Lynn.
Copyright © 2009 Kurt D. Lynn
So much SEO.
You might think, from all the buzz about search engine optimization - SEO - that it offers a cure for all the world's business ills. Somehow, SEO has been propelled from the backwaters of Internet geekdom into the forefront of modern business marketing. For example, if Google's own search results are any indication, the interest in SEO yields almost 50% of the interest in general advertising. That level of interest seems way out of proportion to the realities of business advertising.
So Why All The Hubbub?
The excitement seems to be around the notion that SEO means "free advertising", that it means, if you do it right, millions of people will be clicking through to your site willy-nilly having found you on some search engine and then will immediately do business with you. And behind all that excitement are thousands of overnight SEO "experts" that, variously, all claim to ... (pick one)
To some extent, this notion of "free advertising" is not altogether inaccurate. SEO can result in your site being found - free of charge - and it can result in traffic to your site that may, in fact, result in new business. But the reality of SEO is not quite that simple.
SEO Is Far From "FREE".
SEO takes work... often, hard work. For those that aren't familiar with what's involved in SEO, below is a list of some of the typical activities that (as the CREST commercials used to say) "when applied in a conscientious program of regular professional care" will result in higher search engine rankings.
SEO Is Not Easy.
Doesn't quite sound as easy as some people suggest does it? That's because it's not. And it's all the more complicated when you realize that every site on that first page, and on the second and third, is trying to do the same thing - but against you! You boost your rank above them. They go to work and boost their site back above yours. And so on and so on... It's a war and the SEO "experts" are the arms dealers.
Your Goals And Those Of The Search Engine May Be Different.
If you're going to pay good money for SEO, it may also be worthwhile to keep in mind that search engines don't necessarily have a goal of making you the most findable site on the web. The bottom line for them is making sure that their users finds what they are looking for. Satisfying that requirement may mean that you don't and should not come up first. Google is the number one search engine for a reason: Google users get results they want. Those may not be the results you want.
Short Term and Long Term.
In the short run, there may be some serious benefits from investing in SEO to boost your search engine rankings. In the long run, however, there's probably not much you can do beyond a certain point. Frankly, if you have a finite budget, altering the basic nature of your site and trying to boost how valuable your site is to others (as represented by links to your site) can only be taken so far. After a point, the perfect market characteristics of the search engine will prevail.
Balance SEO With Other Forms Of Traffic Generation.
What this means is: yes, do make sure you do the essential SEO necessary to optimize your rankings in search engines. But do it in the context of an overall marketing program. Definitely use SEO to ensure that you get a fair and accurate appraisal by search engines. But also invest in other non-SEO lead-generation methods to bring traffic to your site and business to your table.
Above all, measure the results of your SEO and non-SEO activities carefully and frequently. When SEO reaches the point of diminishing returns, cut the rate in which you invest in it and boost your reliance on non-SEO marketing to reach your goals. In the long run, traditional non-SEO marketing may just be the most reliable and consistent way to boost traffic to your site.
This article was originally published on my blog, here.
About the Author:
Kurt D. Lynn has been a founder, cofounder, or senior executive of half a dozen enterprises in both the U.S. and Canada. Currently Kurt provides consulting and communication services focused on the needs of emerging and growing businesses. His consulting firm, KLynn Inc, offers an assortment of proven services for the development of sound marketing strategies, tactics, and project execution. His communication services, while more diverse, are focused on optimizing sales and marketing effectiveness: http://www.klynn.ca/
Read more Articles written by Kurt D. Lynn.
The Roller Coaster Of Link Popularity
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2007-2009 Bill Platt
Most webmasters are in a constant state of confusion about how to create link popularity and how to rank well in the search engine results. Three of the top four search engines, Google, Yahoo and MSN calculate link popularity as one part of their search algorithms. So, for all intent purposes, building link popularity will be an important part of getting recognition and strong placement in the search engine result pages (SERPs).
Link popularity, in essence, is a count of how many web pages point to one of your web pages.
The Google PageRank Version of Link Popularity
PageRank (PR) is a Google tool that expands on the simplest link popularity calculation. PageRank is a value given to every web page on the Internet, with 12 possible rankings.
* The Gray Bar in the PageRank tool indicates that a web page has not been added to the Google PageRank database, or Google has banned the website. (If any page on a particular domain has its own PageRank, or if any pages are shown in the Google search results when someone searches "site:www.yourdomainurl.com", then the website in question has not been banned by Google.)
* PR0 to PR10. PR0 indicates that the web page has been added to the Google database, but it does not yet have any PageRank assigned to it, generally because there is not any PR value pages that link to it at this time.
If one is tracking PageRank from the Google toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com/), then it needs to be understood that the database that stores PageRank values is only updated about once every 3-4 months.
While Google does use links to a web page to determine the web page's PR value, it is impossible these days to utilize Google to find what links are directed to your pages. Even the Google webmaster tools (http://www.google.com/webmasters/) interface will not show you all of the links Google is counting towards your own Link Popularity or PR value.
Playing Follow-The-Leader
In earlier years, Yahoo and MSN did not employ a link popularity calculation in their search algorithms. But, when one competitor is thoroughly kicking their competition, then the underdog competitor must respond, if they have any desire to remain relevant.
So, after years of lagging behind the Google powerhouse, Yahoo and MSN decided it was time to work a link popularity calculation into their search algorithms.
Both Yahoo and MSN are still struggling to find a way to retake some market share from Google. Even with Yahoo's Project Panama rollout and MSN's Live Search rollout, both are still finding Google to be a difficult 800-pound gorilla to conquer.
Building Link Popularity
In essence, even if search engines did not include link popularity as a portion of their ranking procedures, one would still want to develop links to his or her websites.
Links are the roadways that keep Internet users moving from one website to another. Before the search engines became the all-powerful providers of Internet traffic, the role of Internet promotion was to establish links on pages where a website's target audience is already going.
The goal of course is to get the person reading the page to click the link to the target website. With every visitor to a website being a potential customer, it makes good sense to get as many visitors to the website as possible, and that requires getting as many links as possible pointing to a website.
Google PageRank 101
Since Google drives the largest portion of search traffic on the Internet, I am only going to focus on their link popularity system.
All web pages on the Internet have been assigned a PageRank value by Google, according to the value of the web pages that link to them. This number is always in flex as links are made, lost or change value.
In short, the pages linking to your pages have their own Google PageRank value, according to who links to them, and the value of the pages that are linking to their web page. As the web pages linking to your web pages gain value, then your pages will also gain value in the Google PageRank algorithms.
As a Webmaster, it should be your goal to create as many links to your website, as you can muster. Eventually, most of the web pages with real value will gain their own PageRank, and they will pass some of their PR value to your web pages.
But, I Tried That Once...
Whatever link building strategy one might recommend, there will be someone else saying, "But, I tried that once and it did not work." Some may go a bit further and say that they tried it once and received initial good results in Google's SERP's, but then those results shortly dissipated and the previous high placement in Google evaporated.
A common story I hear is that "we tried" a specific link building process. Shortly after doing so, our website went from result 300 in Google's results to page two or three of the search results. Then a month later, our website dropped to around 100 in the search results as the link page slipped into Google's Supplemental results. These people often conclude that the link building process used was not effective.
They make this statement because they do not understand the inner-workings of what is happening to their link popularity and search engine placements.
Several Factors Drive the Roller Coaster
With press releases, it is easy to comprehend the how and why of the climb and fall. Press Releases are treated as news stories, and as such, they are more important in real time than they will be in a month or so. That is why press releases can generate big results quickly, and it also explains why those results quickly fade away.
With article marketing, it is common for a new article placement to help any website mentioned within the article and its accompanying resource box (about the author information) to rise in the search rankings early, then to drop away for a time, and perhaps rise in value again later.
Let me explain how this process works, and it will make more sense to you.
Google's Main Index and Supplemental Listings
In order for the referenced website to get the PageRank it needs to climb in the search results, the web pages linking to it must have their own PageRank. As a single web page gains in link popularity and PageRank, the web page will also improve in the search results.
When a new article is placed for the first time, it is always placed on a "brand new" page on the Internet. New pages on the Internet, by their very nature, do not have any external links pointing to them and therefore, they do not have any established PageRank.
In recognition of this "brand new" status, Google is giving a pass to those new web pages. As far as the Google algorithm is concerned, these "brand new" pages might have value, but that value cannot yet be determined based on the number of links pointing to the page.
At the end of Google's "pass window", Google checks to see if this new page has developed any of its own inbound links and PageRank value. If the new web page has not developed any value of its own after a window of 30-45 days, then the new page will be moved from Google's main index to Google's Supplemental listings. If the new page has developed PageRank, then the page will remain in Google's main index.
According to Matt Cutts, the Google Guy, "Having urls in the supplemental results doesn't mean that you have some sort of penalty at all; the main determinant of whether a url is in our main web index or in the supplemental index is PageRank." (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/infrastructure-status-january-2007)
Many web pages that have slipped into the Supplement listings will gain their own PageRank over the long term, and as such, those pages may return to Google's main index in the future. If articles are valuable resources to their readers, then many placements of those articles will be given their own inbound links and therefore PageRank, but it takes time.
As a general rule, it appears that the average web page will gain a measure of PageRank somewhere in the range of 90 to 180 days from the day the web page was created. While not all pages will receive inbound links and PageRank, enough of them do to make the whole process worthwhile.
You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play
As a Webmaster, your website will never gain link popularity if you do not take actions to increase the number of links pointing to your website. If the web page never accrues any link popularity, it will not gain PageRank, and it will not rise in the search engine rankings.
You are in the driver's seat, so if you fail to accomplish link popularity and search placement, then it will have been the fault of your inaction.
Do you remember my sample scenario above, "Shortly after (completing a link building campaign), our website went from result 300 in Google's results to page two or three of the search results. Then a month later, our website dropped to around 100 in the search results as the link page slipped into Google's Supplemental results."
These people frequently conclude that a specific link building activity produced no results, because they did not stay on page two or three of the results. Surprisingly, these people tell us that they started out at #300 and ended up at #100, and yet they claim that the process did not work in their case. How so? They climbed 200 places in the search results. How is that an ineffective link building campaign?
So, the next time you hear someone crying about the link popularity roller coaster, think back on this article, and you might be able to help him or her to clear the fog of confusion.
About the Author:
Bill Platt has offered article distribution services at http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ since 2001. If you are more interested in performanced based SEO services, then Bill's team can help you with that as well. If you have questions that only Bill can answer, give him a call at (405) 385-7038, between 9am-6pm CST, Monday through Friday.
Read more Articles written by Bill Platt.
Copyright © 2007-2009 Bill Platt
Most webmasters are in a constant state of confusion about how to create link popularity and how to rank well in the search engine results. Three of the top four search engines, Google, Yahoo and MSN calculate link popularity as one part of their search algorithms. So, for all intent purposes, building link popularity will be an important part of getting recognition and strong placement in the search engine result pages (SERPs).
Link popularity, in essence, is a count of how many web pages point to one of your web pages.
The Google PageRank Version of Link Popularity
PageRank (PR) is a Google tool that expands on the simplest link popularity calculation. PageRank is a value given to every web page on the Internet, with 12 possible rankings.
* The Gray Bar in the PageRank tool indicates that a web page has not been added to the Google PageRank database, or Google has banned the website. (If any page on a particular domain has its own PageRank, or if any pages are shown in the Google search results when someone searches "site:www.yourdomainurl.com", then the website in question has not been banned by Google.)
* PR0 to PR10. PR0 indicates that the web page has been added to the Google database, but it does not yet have any PageRank assigned to it, generally because there is not any PR value pages that link to it at this time.
If one is tracking PageRank from the Google toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com/), then it needs to be understood that the database that stores PageRank values is only updated about once every 3-4 months.
While Google does use links to a web page to determine the web page's PR value, it is impossible these days to utilize Google to find what links are directed to your pages. Even the Google webmaster tools (http://www.google.com/webmasters/) interface will not show you all of the links Google is counting towards your own Link Popularity or PR value.
Playing Follow-The-Leader
In earlier years, Yahoo and MSN did not employ a link popularity calculation in their search algorithms. But, when one competitor is thoroughly kicking their competition, then the underdog competitor must respond, if they have any desire to remain relevant.
So, after years of lagging behind the Google powerhouse, Yahoo and MSN decided it was time to work a link popularity calculation into their search algorithms.
Both Yahoo and MSN are still struggling to find a way to retake some market share from Google. Even with Yahoo's Project Panama rollout and MSN's Live Search rollout, both are still finding Google to be a difficult 800-pound gorilla to conquer.
Building Link Popularity
In essence, even if search engines did not include link popularity as a portion of their ranking procedures, one would still want to develop links to his or her websites.
Links are the roadways that keep Internet users moving from one website to another. Before the search engines became the all-powerful providers of Internet traffic, the role of Internet promotion was to establish links on pages where a website's target audience is already going.
The goal of course is to get the person reading the page to click the link to the target website. With every visitor to a website being a potential customer, it makes good sense to get as many visitors to the website as possible, and that requires getting as many links as possible pointing to a website.
Google PageRank 101
Since Google drives the largest portion of search traffic on the Internet, I am only going to focus on their link popularity system.
All web pages on the Internet have been assigned a PageRank value by Google, according to the value of the web pages that link to them. This number is always in flex as links are made, lost or change value.
In short, the pages linking to your pages have their own Google PageRank value, according to who links to them, and the value of the pages that are linking to their web page. As the web pages linking to your web pages gain value, then your pages will also gain value in the Google PageRank algorithms.
As a Webmaster, it should be your goal to create as many links to your website, as you can muster. Eventually, most of the web pages with real value will gain their own PageRank, and they will pass some of their PR value to your web pages.
But, I Tried That Once...
Whatever link building strategy one might recommend, there will be someone else saying, "But, I tried that once and it did not work." Some may go a bit further and say that they tried it once and received initial good results in Google's SERP's, but then those results shortly dissipated and the previous high placement in Google evaporated.
A common story I hear is that "we tried" a specific link building process. Shortly after doing so, our website went from result 300 in Google's results to page two or three of the search results. Then a month later, our website dropped to around 100 in the search results as the link page slipped into Google's Supplemental results. These people often conclude that the link building process used was not effective.
They make this statement because they do not understand the inner-workings of what is happening to their link popularity and search engine placements.
Several Factors Drive the Roller Coaster
With press releases, it is easy to comprehend the how and why of the climb and fall. Press Releases are treated as news stories, and as such, they are more important in real time than they will be in a month or so. That is why press releases can generate big results quickly, and it also explains why those results quickly fade away.
With article marketing, it is common for a new article placement to help any website mentioned within the article and its accompanying resource box (about the author information) to rise in the search rankings early, then to drop away for a time, and perhaps rise in value again later.
Let me explain how this process works, and it will make more sense to you.
Google's Main Index and Supplemental Listings
In order for the referenced website to get the PageRank it needs to climb in the search results, the web pages linking to it must have their own PageRank. As a single web page gains in link popularity and PageRank, the web page will also improve in the search results.
When a new article is placed for the first time, it is always placed on a "brand new" page on the Internet. New pages on the Internet, by their very nature, do not have any external links pointing to them and therefore, they do not have any established PageRank.
In recognition of this "brand new" status, Google is giving a pass to those new web pages. As far as the Google algorithm is concerned, these "brand new" pages might have value, but that value cannot yet be determined based on the number of links pointing to the page.
At the end of Google's "pass window", Google checks to see if this new page has developed any of its own inbound links and PageRank value. If the new web page has not developed any value of its own after a window of 30-45 days, then the new page will be moved from Google's main index to Google's Supplemental listings. If the new page has developed PageRank, then the page will remain in Google's main index.
According to Matt Cutts, the Google Guy, "Having urls in the supplemental results doesn't mean that you have some sort of penalty at all; the main determinant of whether a url is in our main web index or in the supplemental index is PageRank." (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/infrastructure-status-january-2007)
Many web pages that have slipped into the Supplement listings will gain their own PageRank over the long term, and as such, those pages may return to Google's main index in the future. If articles are valuable resources to their readers, then many placements of those articles will be given their own inbound links and therefore PageRank, but it takes time.
As a general rule, it appears that the average web page will gain a measure of PageRank somewhere in the range of 90 to 180 days from the day the web page was created. While not all pages will receive inbound links and PageRank, enough of them do to make the whole process worthwhile.
You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play
As a Webmaster, your website will never gain link popularity if you do not take actions to increase the number of links pointing to your website. If the web page never accrues any link popularity, it will not gain PageRank, and it will not rise in the search engine rankings.
You are in the driver's seat, so if you fail to accomplish link popularity and search placement, then it will have been the fault of your inaction.
Do you remember my sample scenario above, "Shortly after (completing a link building campaign), our website went from result 300 in Google's results to page two or three of the search results. Then a month later, our website dropped to around 100 in the search results as the link page slipped into Google's Supplemental results."
These people frequently conclude that a specific link building activity produced no results, because they did not stay on page two or three of the results. Surprisingly, these people tell us that they started out at #300 and ended up at #100, and yet they claim that the process did not work in their case. How so? They climbed 200 places in the search results. How is that an ineffective link building campaign?
So, the next time you hear someone crying about the link popularity roller coaster, think back on this article, and you might be able to help him or her to clear the fog of confusion.
About the Author:
Bill Platt has offered article distribution services at http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ since 2001. If you are more interested in performanced based SEO services, then Bill's team can help you with that as well. If you have questions that only Bill can answer, give him a call at (405) 385-7038, between 9am-6pm CST, Monday through Friday.
Read more Articles written by Bill Platt.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
List Building - 10 Super Fast Ways To Build Your Opt-in List
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Titus Hoskins
Keywords are ground zero. They are essential to your online success. You must get your keywords right or it's game over before you even get started. Mainly because keywords are the most important element of your online marketing.
It can't be emphasized enough, especially to beginning online webmasters or marketers, choosing the right profitable keywords will largely determine whether or not you succeed with your online endeavors. You simply must get this element right or your marketing will be in big trouble.
What Are Keywords?
Lets start at the very beginning, keywords are the exact words someone types into a search engine to find what they're looking for on the web. Some keywords are valuable/profitable, while others are virtually worthless.
Profitable keywords are the ones that convert into a sale, a lead or potential client/customer for your company or product. These are the words someone is searching in order to buy a product or hire a service. Someone searching for "honeymoon vacation packages" is probably in the market to book a honeymoon vacation and could turn out to be very profitable for the right website or business.
Profitable keywords are the ones where the searcher is in the right "mind-set" or frame of mind to buy what they're searching for on the web. Tailor your online marketing to target these profitable keywords and it can spell success.
So what's the whole process for finding or choosing profitable keywords to use in your marketing? Lets look at some ways to proceed...
Number of Keyword Searches Made?
You need to find out how many searches are made for your chosen keywords each month. Simply use WordTracker or a site like SEOBook. These will give you a preliminary number of searches made each month for your keyword. Highly popular, well-searched keywords with hundreds of thousands of searches each month will be extremely hard to rank for because you will have stiff competition from major companies with limitless resources.
I like to pick less popular keywords that get only a couple of hundred of searches each day because my chances of getting on the first page greatly increases. But don't get fixated on the number of searches, some keyword phrases that only get four or five searches daily, can still be very profitable.
For serious keyword research in a particular niche market I like to use Brad Callen's Keyword Elite which is professionally designed software that makes all your keyword research so much easier. But there are plenty of free keyword tools you can use. One handy keyword tool is Google Adwords external suggestion tool which will help you find valuable keywords.
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Commercial Intent of Keywords?
But how do you know if a keyword is profitable? Well, one convenient tool is from MSN which helps you with "Detecting Online Commercial Intention" of keywords. Just type in a keyword and it will give you a percentage or probability your keyword query has commercial benefit or intent.
http://adlab.msn.com/Online-Commercial-Intention/Default.aspx
Conversion Rate of Keywords?
Once you have your chosen keywords in place, next you want to have a landing page that converts those keywords or traffic from those keywords into buyers or leads for your online business. This is another crucial element of your online marketing - you must have a landing page or content/site that converts into a sale or you obviously won't make any revenue.
Keep in mind, if you're into affiliate marketing, you main goal is not to sell but to "pre-sell" your products or services. One effective way I have found to do this is to give potential customers/clients valuable information they can use in making their final purchasing choice. Comparison sites do well, as do review sites, top ten sites... potential customers use the Internet and keywords to not only find products but more so, to find information on those products. Your goal should be to provide this valuable information to make their task a little bit easier for them and they will reward you with a sale.
What are Long-Tail Keywords?
Long-Tail keywords are simply that: long three or four word phrases that searchers use to find what they're looking for on the web. Because they are highly specific, long-tail keywords have proven to have better conversion rates than general keywords. This is also just common sense, someone searching for a "2005 ford mustang convertible" may just be in the right mind-set to buy such a vehicle; as compared to someone searching for a more general keyword phrase such as "sports cars."
Study your website traffic logs religiously to find long-tail keywords that turn into a sale. Target these long-tail keywords in your marketing. Even buy PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising in the three major search engines - Google Adwords, Yahoo! Marketing and MicroSoft AdCenter - for these valuable/profitable keywords.
And build higher rankings in organic search for these long-tail keyword phrases. It's really not that difficult for long phrases, especially if they're related to your site; many times you can reach the top spot in a matter of days, especially in Google.
How To Rank High For Your Chosen Profitable Keywords?
Of course, the million dollar question is: HOW do you rank in the top spot for your chosen keywords? I believe the key to ranking high in the search engines (especially Google) is to be persistent in building your rankings for your keywords. Take a long-term view or approach, sometimes it may take months, even years, to rank in the top Five for your highly competitive keywords.
The best strategy is to "stick to it" and keep building relevant links to your keyword landing page. Create related blogs with valuable content linking back to your keywords. Write keyword related articles and distribute them all over the web. Create Google Alerts for your keywords and them place comments/links in the newly formed pages on the web that Google is indexing.
Be pro-active, download the SEOQuake toolbar and find your main keyword competitors. Check out their links and then go out and get the same links. Write better higher quality content than your main competitors because Google always rewards great content. Plus, use the free http://www.Addthis.com button and let your visitors bookmark your great content in all the social bookmark sites and build your keyword links for you.
Do keyworded Press Releases with your embedded links and spread them all over the web. Get these Press Releases into Google news and other important places on the web. http://www.PRWeb.com is really a great place for your press releases since you can embed your keywords in your links.
If you can try to get your most important keywords in your domain name. Many SEO experts argue the merits of this but from my own experience and marketing - it is much easier to rank high for your keywords if you have them in the domain name. Again, it is just common sense, if you have your main keyword in the domain, this keyword is obviously telling the search engines this is what your site is all about. I have even bought domains and created sites specifically around certain keywords just to rank high.
Always remember, you have to be persistent, I have been fighting some keyword battles for over four or five years! For really profitable keywords, it can be a constant struggle to remain on the first page, but the trick is not to give up, just keep fighting away at your competitors. Persistence usually pays off in the end and those profitable keywords will have your links in the top spot. Make ranking high for those profitable keywords your number one marketing strategy. Concentrate all your marketing efforts towards getting plenty of quality traffic for those keywords and you will succeed online.
About the Author:
The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites. For the latest web marketing tools try: Marketing Tools. If you liked the article above, why not try this Free 7-Day Marketing Course here: Internet Marketing Tools
Copyright (c) 2009 Titus Hoskins. http://www.bizwaremagic.com This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
Read more Articles written by Titus Hoskins.
Copyright © 2009 Titus Hoskins
Keywords are ground zero. They are essential to your online success. You must get your keywords right or it's game over before you even get started. Mainly because keywords are the most important element of your online marketing.
It can't be emphasized enough, especially to beginning online webmasters or marketers, choosing the right profitable keywords will largely determine whether or not you succeed with your online endeavors. You simply must get this element right or your marketing will be in big trouble.
What Are Keywords?
Lets start at the very beginning, keywords are the exact words someone types into a search engine to find what they're looking for on the web. Some keywords are valuable/profitable, while others are virtually worthless.
Profitable keywords are the ones that convert into a sale, a lead or potential client/customer for your company or product. These are the words someone is searching in order to buy a product or hire a service. Someone searching for "honeymoon vacation packages" is probably in the market to book a honeymoon vacation and could turn out to be very profitable for the right website or business.
Profitable keywords are the ones where the searcher is in the right "mind-set" or frame of mind to buy what they're searching for on the web. Tailor your online marketing to target these profitable keywords and it can spell success.
So what's the whole process for finding or choosing profitable keywords to use in your marketing? Lets look at some ways to proceed...
Number of Keyword Searches Made?
You need to find out how many searches are made for your chosen keywords each month. Simply use WordTracker or a site like SEOBook. These will give you a preliminary number of searches made each month for your keyword. Highly popular, well-searched keywords with hundreds of thousands of searches each month will be extremely hard to rank for because you will have stiff competition from major companies with limitless resources.
I like to pick less popular keywords that get only a couple of hundred of searches each day because my chances of getting on the first page greatly increases. But don't get fixated on the number of searches, some keyword phrases that only get four or five searches daily, can still be very profitable.
For serious keyword research in a particular niche market I like to use Brad Callen's Keyword Elite which is professionally designed software that makes all your keyword research so much easier. But there are plenty of free keyword tools you can use. One handy keyword tool is Google Adwords external suggestion tool which will help you find valuable keywords.
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Commercial Intent of Keywords?
But how do you know if a keyword is profitable? Well, one convenient tool is from MSN which helps you with "Detecting Online Commercial Intention" of keywords. Just type in a keyword and it will give you a percentage or probability your keyword query has commercial benefit or intent.
http://adlab.msn.com/Online-Commercial-Intention/Default.aspx
Conversion Rate of Keywords?
Once you have your chosen keywords in place, next you want to have a landing page that converts those keywords or traffic from those keywords into buyers or leads for your online business. This is another crucial element of your online marketing - you must have a landing page or content/site that converts into a sale or you obviously won't make any revenue.
Keep in mind, if you're into affiliate marketing, you main goal is not to sell but to "pre-sell" your products or services. One effective way I have found to do this is to give potential customers/clients valuable information they can use in making their final purchasing choice. Comparison sites do well, as do review sites, top ten sites... potential customers use the Internet and keywords to not only find products but more so, to find information on those products. Your goal should be to provide this valuable information to make their task a little bit easier for them and they will reward you with a sale.
What are Long-Tail Keywords?
Long-Tail keywords are simply that: long three or four word phrases that searchers use to find what they're looking for on the web. Because they are highly specific, long-tail keywords have proven to have better conversion rates than general keywords. This is also just common sense, someone searching for a "2005 ford mustang convertible" may just be in the right mind-set to buy such a vehicle; as compared to someone searching for a more general keyword phrase such as "sports cars."
Study your website traffic logs religiously to find long-tail keywords that turn into a sale. Target these long-tail keywords in your marketing. Even buy PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising in the three major search engines - Google Adwords, Yahoo! Marketing and MicroSoft AdCenter - for these valuable/profitable keywords.
And build higher rankings in organic search for these long-tail keyword phrases. It's really not that difficult for long phrases, especially if they're related to your site; many times you can reach the top spot in a matter of days, especially in Google.
How To Rank High For Your Chosen Profitable Keywords?
Of course, the million dollar question is: HOW do you rank in the top spot for your chosen keywords? I believe the key to ranking high in the search engines (especially Google) is to be persistent in building your rankings for your keywords. Take a long-term view or approach, sometimes it may take months, even years, to rank in the top Five for your highly competitive keywords.
The best strategy is to "stick to it" and keep building relevant links to your keyword landing page. Create related blogs with valuable content linking back to your keywords. Write keyword related articles and distribute them all over the web. Create Google Alerts for your keywords and them place comments/links in the newly formed pages on the web that Google is indexing.
Be pro-active, download the SEOQuake toolbar and find your main keyword competitors. Check out their links and then go out and get the same links. Write better higher quality content than your main competitors because Google always rewards great content. Plus, use the free http://www.Addthis.com button and let your visitors bookmark your great content in all the social bookmark sites and build your keyword links for you.
Do keyworded Press Releases with your embedded links and spread them all over the web. Get these Press Releases into Google news and other important places on the web. http://www.PRWeb.com is really a great place for your press releases since you can embed your keywords in your links.
If you can try to get your most important keywords in your domain name. Many SEO experts argue the merits of this but from my own experience and marketing - it is much easier to rank high for your keywords if you have them in the domain name. Again, it is just common sense, if you have your main keyword in the domain, this keyword is obviously telling the search engines this is what your site is all about. I have even bought domains and created sites specifically around certain keywords just to rank high.
Always remember, you have to be persistent, I have been fighting some keyword battles for over four or five years! For really profitable keywords, it can be a constant struggle to remain on the first page, but the trick is not to give up, just keep fighting away at your competitors. Persistence usually pays off in the end and those profitable keywords will have your links in the top spot. Make ranking high for those profitable keywords your number one marketing strategy. Concentrate all your marketing efforts towards getting plenty of quality traffic for those keywords and you will succeed online.
About the Author:
The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites. For the latest web marketing tools try: Marketing Tools. If you liked the article above, why not try this Free 7-Day Marketing Course here: Internet Marketing Tools
Copyright (c) 2009 Titus Hoskins. http://www.bizwaremagic.com This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
Read more Articles written by Titus Hoskins.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Buying Expired Domains Tips - The Issue of PageRank
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 John Khu
Every webmaster tries hard to promote web site on to the top most pages of Google search engine. All of us understand that Google has a system called Google PageRanking that allows it to index web sites on search engine pages. With this system, Google also decides how popular your web page is among search engine users. Higher PageRank means that your web site is more popular than many other web sites and it commands some authority among web users. PageRanking is an important index for expired domain buyers because the web page that has good PageRank is always beneficial to them.
Finding an expired domain with good PageRank is obviously very advantageous, because the inherent commercial value of an expired domain with PageRank, will go up among interested buyers. Finding such domains was very difficult sometimes back, but it is quite easy now. Earlier, a long and boring process took hours of precious time. You had to collect the names of thousands of expired domains, choose interesting ones and check them manually for PageRanking by using a manual tool. It was acutely difficult to separate out good ones from the bad ones. In the end, one could extract just few of them!
Recently, things are changing very rapidly, as several web sites help you find expired-domains with Google PageRank in double quick time. These web sites allow you to search through an extensive database and create a big list. You can even choose efficient filters to filter unwanted expired domains. Another significant aspect of these web sites is that you find out the sources where you can buy those expired domains. Google PR is an excellent indicator of segregating good web sites from bad ones. PR is a sum of quality and quantity of incoming links coming into a web page. An expired domain that owns lot of incoming links is the domain that you can buy and own.
Although buying an expired domain with lot of incoming links is a good idea, you cannot be too sure of the quality of those links. Sometimes, the quality of those links may not be real. There are occasions when you can even buy expired domains at higher prices than their real worth. Given the nature of the internet, it is almost impossible to find out whether the seller of the expired domain is trustworthy or not. To avoid such situations, you can use a number of PageRank-checking software to know about the scope and authenticity of expired domains that you want to buy. The quality of backlinks and inbound traffic is also very important when you buy an expired domain. Top quality and premium backlinks are always beneficial to a domain expiring, while you can even pay bigger amounts to buy such domains. In the end, you may wish to conduct a simple online check to find out, if an expired domain has a valid PR. Just type the following into your browser window - info:[the name of the expired domain] plus the extension without the www prefix. If you are to find valid PR, then you can consider buying that domain.
About the Author:
John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web sites called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com and http://www.expireddomaingains.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.
Read more Articles written by John Khu.
Copyright © 2009 John Khu
Every webmaster tries hard to promote web site on to the top most pages of Google search engine. All of us understand that Google has a system called Google PageRanking that allows it to index web sites on search engine pages. With this system, Google also decides how popular your web page is among search engine users. Higher PageRank means that your web site is more popular than many other web sites and it commands some authority among web users. PageRanking is an important index for expired domain buyers because the web page that has good PageRank is always beneficial to them.
Finding an expired domain with good PageRank is obviously very advantageous, because the inherent commercial value of an expired domain with PageRank, will go up among interested buyers. Finding such domains was very difficult sometimes back, but it is quite easy now. Earlier, a long and boring process took hours of precious time. You had to collect the names of thousands of expired domains, choose interesting ones and check them manually for PageRanking by using a manual tool. It was acutely difficult to separate out good ones from the bad ones. In the end, one could extract just few of them!
Recently, things are changing very rapidly, as several web sites help you find expired-domains with Google PageRank in double quick time. These web sites allow you to search through an extensive database and create a big list. You can even choose efficient filters to filter unwanted expired domains. Another significant aspect of these web sites is that you find out the sources where you can buy those expired domains. Google PR is an excellent indicator of segregating good web sites from bad ones. PR is a sum of quality and quantity of incoming links coming into a web page. An expired domain that owns lot of incoming links is the domain that you can buy and own.
Although buying an expired domain with lot of incoming links is a good idea, you cannot be too sure of the quality of those links. Sometimes, the quality of those links may not be real. There are occasions when you can even buy expired domains at higher prices than their real worth. Given the nature of the internet, it is almost impossible to find out whether the seller of the expired domain is trustworthy or not. To avoid such situations, you can use a number of PageRank-checking software to know about the scope and authenticity of expired domains that you want to buy. The quality of backlinks and inbound traffic is also very important when you buy an expired domain. Top quality and premium backlinks are always beneficial to a domain expiring, while you can even pay bigger amounts to buy such domains. In the end, you may wish to conduct a simple online check to find out, if an expired domain has a valid PR. Just type the following into your browser window - info:[the name of the expired domain] plus the extension without the www prefix. If you are to find valid PR, then you can consider buying that domain.
About the Author:
John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web sites called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com and http://www.expireddomaingains.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.
Read more Articles written by John Khu.
Friday, May 8, 2009
I'm Afraid of Being Misquoted! Publicity Dilemma 8
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Marcia Yudkin
Occasionally someone comes up at the end of a seminar on publicity to tell me that they once got media coverage, but the article was full of errors and they're now reluctant to try again. Or someone cites a colleague or neighbor who was grievously misquoted in the news. From those who've voiced this concern to me, I suspect many who don't ask about it also have this worry in the back of their minds.
It's understandable to be apprehensive about being misrepresented in the news. After all, it's public - massively public. You don't want to show up there with the equivalent of toilet paper snaking from your shoe. And we all know how easy it is to get the facts wrong. As kids, we experienced it when we played "Telephone," where what made sense at the beginning of the chain of messaging became totally transmuted by the end.
Yet being misquoted is not usually the catastrophe most people think it is. I once had a client who had become publicity-shy after getting front-page coverage in the Wall Street Journal. "There were 17 errors in the article!" she wailed.
"Come on, show me," I said.
She began pointing at particular sentences in the article and explaining how each was wrong. I stopped her after the fifth mistake. "You know, not one of these so-called mistakes has any impact whatsoever on your credibility. Do you think anyone cares that you owned that company for seven years instead of five - anyone except you? Of course reporters should get it right. However, here you are complaining about getting free coverage in the Wall Street Journal! When, as you told me, people who read the article called you from all over the world to find out how to hire you!"
Not convinced? Okay, here are three tactics that help you prevent being misquoted.
1. Prepare for your media interview. Find out ahead of time what the story is about. Jot down your talking points - the things you want to get across to the reporter. Then stick to them. Don't wander, don't adlib.
2. Provide a written fact sheet or backgrounder to the reporter. This contains dates, numbers, details and spellings critical to the topic. For an interview in person, you can hand it to the interviewer, and for a phone interview you can fax or email it. This way, the reporter knows for certain that you graduated from the University of Washington, not Washington University, and that you founded your firm in 1979, not 1997.
Do not demand or even ask politely for the chance to review the article or the broadcast segment before it's finalized. This goes against journalistic ethics. It's fine to invite the reporter to call you back to check anything they're not sure about or to say you'll be happy to cooperate with fact checkers.
3. During your interview, speak slowly and clearly. Use simpler sentences rather than long, complicated constructions that run off in five different directions. Spell out any proper names or unusual words. When face to face with a reporter who's taking notes, pause occasionally so the reporter can catch up with you. Do the same during a phone interview if you hear the reporter clacking away on a keyboard.
If, despite such precautions, you are misquoted, don't freak out. Stop and think about whether or not anyone besides you really cares about the error. If you decide it's important to get a correction on the record, write to the media outlet in a cool, collected tone.
Investor's Business Daily once featured Janice Hoffman's company, Before and After, on its front page, noting that it's located in Waterville, Massachusetts. There is no such town, however. The paper's one-line correction, "Janice Hoffman, Professional Organizer, is located in Watertown, Massachusetts," was spotted by a Channel 4 reporter who had not seen the original article and in short order put her on the air. "That was definitely my favorite typo, ever," Hoffman told me.
About the Author:
Publicity expert Marcia Yudkin is the author of 6 Steps to Free Publicity, Persuading on Paper, Web Site Marketing Makeover and eight other books. She has engineered coverage for herself or her company in the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Success, Women in Business and dozens of newspapers around the world. Get free access to a one-hour audio recording in which she answers the most common questions about getting media coverage at http://www.yudkin.com/publicityideas.htm
Read more Articles written by Marcia Yudkin.
Copyright © 2009 Marcia Yudkin
Occasionally someone comes up at the end of a seminar on publicity to tell me that they once got media coverage, but the article was full of errors and they're now reluctant to try again. Or someone cites a colleague or neighbor who was grievously misquoted in the news. From those who've voiced this concern to me, I suspect many who don't ask about it also have this worry in the back of their minds.
It's understandable to be apprehensive about being misrepresented in the news. After all, it's public - massively public. You don't want to show up there with the equivalent of toilet paper snaking from your shoe. And we all know how easy it is to get the facts wrong. As kids, we experienced it when we played "Telephone," where what made sense at the beginning of the chain of messaging became totally transmuted by the end.
Yet being misquoted is not usually the catastrophe most people think it is. I once had a client who had become publicity-shy after getting front-page coverage in the Wall Street Journal. "There were 17 errors in the article!" she wailed.
"Come on, show me," I said.
She began pointing at particular sentences in the article and explaining how each was wrong. I stopped her after the fifth mistake. "You know, not one of these so-called mistakes has any impact whatsoever on your credibility. Do you think anyone cares that you owned that company for seven years instead of five - anyone except you? Of course reporters should get it right. However, here you are complaining about getting free coverage in the Wall Street Journal! When, as you told me, people who read the article called you from all over the world to find out how to hire you!"
Not convinced? Okay, here are three tactics that help you prevent being misquoted.
1. Prepare for your media interview. Find out ahead of time what the story is about. Jot down your talking points - the things you want to get across to the reporter. Then stick to them. Don't wander, don't adlib.
2. Provide a written fact sheet or backgrounder to the reporter. This contains dates, numbers, details and spellings critical to the topic. For an interview in person, you can hand it to the interviewer, and for a phone interview you can fax or email it. This way, the reporter knows for certain that you graduated from the University of Washington, not Washington University, and that you founded your firm in 1979, not 1997.
Do not demand or even ask politely for the chance to review the article or the broadcast segment before it's finalized. This goes against journalistic ethics. It's fine to invite the reporter to call you back to check anything they're not sure about or to say you'll be happy to cooperate with fact checkers.
3. During your interview, speak slowly and clearly. Use simpler sentences rather than long, complicated constructions that run off in five different directions. Spell out any proper names or unusual words. When face to face with a reporter who's taking notes, pause occasionally so the reporter can catch up with you. Do the same during a phone interview if you hear the reporter clacking away on a keyboard.
If, despite such precautions, you are misquoted, don't freak out. Stop and think about whether or not anyone besides you really cares about the error. If you decide it's important to get a correction on the record, write to the media outlet in a cool, collected tone.
Investor's Business Daily once featured Janice Hoffman's company, Before and After, on its front page, noting that it's located in Waterville, Massachusetts. There is no such town, however. The paper's one-line correction, "Janice Hoffman, Professional Organizer, is located in Watertown, Massachusetts," was spotted by a Channel 4 reporter who had not seen the original article and in short order put her on the air. "That was definitely my favorite typo, ever," Hoffman told me.
About the Author:
Publicity expert Marcia Yudkin is the author of 6 Steps to Free Publicity, Persuading on Paper, Web Site Marketing Makeover and eight other books. She has engineered coverage for herself or her company in the Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Success, Women in Business and dozens of newspapers around the world. Get free access to a one-hour audio recording in which she answers the most common questions about getting media coverage at http://www.yudkin.com/publicityideas.htm
Read more Articles written by Marcia Yudkin.
Money Making Tips with Your Expired Domains - Domain Parking
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 John Khu
Newbie expired domain traders keep searching for newer and innovative ways of making money out of their expired domain names. Expired domain trading is a vast industry, where almost every domain trader will be competing with others to sell their stock of domain names. What happens when an expired domain trader sits on a big pile of domain names without using them for any commercial purpose? The result could disastrous for the business, because the cost of retention and maintenance is always recurring and it can cut a big hole in the pocket.
Sitting on a big inventory of expired domains is a fruitless exercise that consume too much of your precious time as well as money. You must focus in deriving handsome income from your domain names so that you can cover the cost of retaining them with you. One of the simplest ways to earn money with your expired domains is to park them on specially designed and marketed domain parking web sites.
Domain parking offers you several advantages and benefits of not only earning money, but also maintain your expired domains in the most profitable manner. Some of these benefits are:
Enough revenues: Almost all domain-parking companies share a generous share of income with their clients. This income is enough to cover the expenses involved in maintaining your expired domains.
Very simple set up process: All domain-parking companies offer you a very simple set up process that does not take even five minutes. Signing up and running the account is also very simple.
Contractual obligations: You need not sign any agreements or contracts to stay with these firms. You can move away to another domain-parking company without any penalties or fines.
Global reach: Language and regions are no barriers to you. Most of the well-known domain-parking services provide the services in all major international languages. You can even use highly accomplished geo or regional targeting to drive visitors to your web site.
Efficient sales conversion: Domain parking is an efficient way to turn your domain into a cash machine. It also enhances the chances of domain auction or sales by over 100% because of the wide exposure and virtual advertisement.
Domain parking uses an advanced method of search. It takes the advantage of using type-in type of traffic that is when a web surfer simply types an address on to the search bar of the search engine in a hope that he or she will get the desired information from the search. Domain parking can add real-time value to your expired domain. When you see that your expired domain is increasing in its online value, then you can sell off your domain to the highest bidder.
With all its wonderful benefits and advantages, domain parking still has some pitfalls. Most of the time, some of your domains may never receive any traffic. In addition, the income generated by parking your expired domains may not be substantial. However, domain parking is a lucrative way to park your otherwise dead and expired domain; domain parking can resurrect your dead domain back in to life.
About the Author:
John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web sites called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com and http://www.expireddomaingains.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.
Read more Articles written by John Khu.
Copyright © 2009 John Khu
Newbie expired domain traders keep searching for newer and innovative ways of making money out of their expired domain names. Expired domain trading is a vast industry, where almost every domain trader will be competing with others to sell their stock of domain names. What happens when an expired domain trader sits on a big pile of domain names without using them for any commercial purpose? The result could disastrous for the business, because the cost of retention and maintenance is always recurring and it can cut a big hole in the pocket.
Sitting on a big inventory of expired domains is a fruitless exercise that consume too much of your precious time as well as money. You must focus in deriving handsome income from your domain names so that you can cover the cost of retaining them with you. One of the simplest ways to earn money with your expired domains is to park them on specially designed and marketed domain parking web sites.
Domain parking offers you several advantages and benefits of not only earning money, but also maintain your expired domains in the most profitable manner. Some of these benefits are:
Enough revenues: Almost all domain-parking companies share a generous share of income with their clients. This income is enough to cover the expenses involved in maintaining your expired domains.
Very simple set up process: All domain-parking companies offer you a very simple set up process that does not take even five minutes. Signing up and running the account is also very simple.
Contractual obligations: You need not sign any agreements or contracts to stay with these firms. You can move away to another domain-parking company without any penalties or fines.
Global reach: Language and regions are no barriers to you. Most of the well-known domain-parking services provide the services in all major international languages. You can even use highly accomplished geo or regional targeting to drive visitors to your web site.
Efficient sales conversion: Domain parking is an efficient way to turn your domain into a cash machine. It also enhances the chances of domain auction or sales by over 100% because of the wide exposure and virtual advertisement.
Domain parking uses an advanced method of search. It takes the advantage of using type-in type of traffic that is when a web surfer simply types an address on to the search bar of the search engine in a hope that he or she will get the desired information from the search. Domain parking can add real-time value to your expired domain. When you see that your expired domain is increasing in its online value, then you can sell off your domain to the highest bidder.
With all its wonderful benefits and advantages, domain parking still has some pitfalls. Most of the time, some of your domains may never receive any traffic. In addition, the income generated by parking your expired domains may not be substantial. However, domain parking is a lucrative way to park your otherwise dead and expired domain; domain parking can resurrect your dead domain back in to life.
About the Author:
John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web sites called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com and http://www.expireddomaingains.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.
Read more Articles written by John Khu.
Fax To Email Can Be Easily Done With Online Fax
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Titus Hoskins
Many business owners and ordinary individuals often wonder how you can use your email system to send a fax? Especially now that more and more companies are switching over to this new way of faxing and countless people are using online fax to handle all their faxing requirements.
But just how do you send a "Fax to Email" or vice versa "Email to Fax?"
First, you have to understand one of the best ways to do this is to sign-up to an online fax service provider, where you will be given a local or Toll-Free fax number, which you can use to send and receive all your faxes. Your online fax provider acts as your intermediary to handle and process all your faxes.
Keep in mind, Internet faxing is simply using your email system and the Internet to send and receive your faxes. Because it is web-based, your faxes are available anytime, anywhere, as long as you have Internet access. Most providers will supply you with an online site (interface) where your faxes are stored. You can also send and receive your faxes from your login site.
Basically, you can send a fax to your online faxing service and they will forward it to the recipient in an email, your fax will be an attachment - usually in PDF or TIFF format. Likewise, you can use your email to send a fax, most companies will give you exact directions on how to do this. In most cases, to send a fax thru your email you simply enter the fax number you want dialed as a prefix in an email to your Fax Provider account - i.e. recipient's faxnumber@yourfaxcompany.com and attach your fax document.
Again, your online service provider acts as your intermediary on your behalf to process your faxes. That way you can still use email fax to send a fax to a traditional fax machine and vice versa. So you're not limited in any way by using an Internet Faxing service.
As mentioned before, in order to start using Internet faxing you have to sign-up to an online fax provider. There are numerous different faxing companies you can use but remember this is usually a long term service so do your homework now and you can save yourself some serious cash over the long haul. Your main goal is to find a service that meets your specific needs or requirements.
Monthly charges usually runs around $10 a month but there are cheaper options if your faxing requirements are very minimum. Some services offer a "pay-as-you-go" plan or have a yearly fee of around $20. So it does indeed pay to shop around.
Online faxing has many advantages over the traditional way of faxing; mainly it is paperless, inkless, more convenient, more secure and you don't need a fax machine or an extra phone line. Besides, it is totally mobile, compatible with laptops, PDAs, cell phones... and available anywhere you have the Internet.
Regardless of what you call it online fax, Internet fax, web fax... this is one service that will be here to stay.
Are you using it?
About the Author:
For more information on Internet Fax Services use this handy online Comparison Guide to get your own: online fax service Or if you want more detailed information on Internet Faxing try here: internet fax services.
Copyright (c) 2009 Titus Hoskins. http://www.bizwaremagic.com This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
Read more of Titus Hoskins's articles.
Copyright © 2009 Titus Hoskins
Many business owners and ordinary individuals often wonder how you can use your email system to send a fax? Especially now that more and more companies are switching over to this new way of faxing and countless people are using online fax to handle all their faxing requirements.
But just how do you send a "Fax to Email" or vice versa "Email to Fax?"
First, you have to understand one of the best ways to do this is to sign-up to an online fax service provider, where you will be given a local or Toll-Free fax number, which you can use to send and receive all your faxes. Your online fax provider acts as your intermediary to handle and process all your faxes.
Keep in mind, Internet faxing is simply using your email system and the Internet to send and receive your faxes. Because it is web-based, your faxes are available anytime, anywhere, as long as you have Internet access. Most providers will supply you with an online site (interface) where your faxes are stored. You can also send and receive your faxes from your login site.
Basically, you can send a fax to your online faxing service and they will forward it to the recipient in an email, your fax will be an attachment - usually in PDF or TIFF format. Likewise, you can use your email to send a fax, most companies will give you exact directions on how to do this. In most cases, to send a fax thru your email you simply enter the fax number you want dialed as a prefix in an email to your Fax Provider account - i.e. recipient's faxnumber@yourfaxcompany.com and attach your fax document.
Again, your online service provider acts as your intermediary on your behalf to process your faxes. That way you can still use email fax to send a fax to a traditional fax machine and vice versa. So you're not limited in any way by using an Internet Faxing service.
As mentioned before, in order to start using Internet faxing you have to sign-up to an online fax provider. There are numerous different faxing companies you can use but remember this is usually a long term service so do your homework now and you can save yourself some serious cash over the long haul. Your main goal is to find a service that meets your specific needs or requirements.
Monthly charges usually runs around $10 a month but there are cheaper options if your faxing requirements are very minimum. Some services offer a "pay-as-you-go" plan or have a yearly fee of around $20. So it does indeed pay to shop around.
Online faxing has many advantages over the traditional way of faxing; mainly it is paperless, inkless, more convenient, more secure and you don't need a fax machine or an extra phone line. Besides, it is totally mobile, compatible with laptops, PDAs, cell phones... and available anywhere you have the Internet.
Regardless of what you call it online fax, Internet fax, web fax... this is one service that will be here to stay.
Are you using it?
About the Author:
For more information on Internet Fax Services use this handy online Comparison Guide to get your own: online fax service Or if you want more detailed information on Internet Faxing try here: internet fax services.
Copyright (c) 2009 Titus Hoskins. http://www.bizwaremagic.com This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
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Friday, May 1, 2009
Article Marketing Secret: How To Identify and Write For Your Target Market
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Bill Platt
Many people question as to what topic they should choose to write their articles... Fortunately, the short answer is simple... Write articles that appeal to your target market. But what does that mean exactly?
I always pose this set of three questions, when I am talking to clients about what they should write about:
1. What do you sell?
2. Who is most likely to buy what you are selling?
3. How can you "answer a question" or "solve a problem" to help those people who are likely to buy what you are selling?
What Do You Sell?
Maybe you sell widgets, cell phones, car parts, or marketing services... It does not matter what you sell... There will always be a topic that you can write your articles about.
Do keep in mind that the point of article marketing is not to directly sell your products, but rather to educate, inform, or entertain your reading audience. So long as you stick to the idea of educating, informing, or entertaining your readers, you will never have a shortage of people who want to read the articles you write.
However, if you keep your focus on trying to overtly sell your products or services in your "article" copy, then it will be difficult to find publishers who WANT to publish what you have written.
This is important to note, in that publishers NEED content, but publishers tend to be very picky about the content that they want to share with their readers. In order for a publisher to become or remain profitable, he or she must always serve the desires of his or her readers. And readers do not want to be sold to, preached to, or criticized. Instead, readers want to improve their lot in this life and solve the problems that they face.
If you keep the needs of the publisher foremost in your mind, and the wants of the reader, then article marketing is a great tool that can help you to earn thousands of dollars.
If you lose focus of what publishers and readers want, then all you can hope for is a few links from your articles, from a few websites that very few people visit or read.
Who Is Most Likely To Buy What You Are Selling?
Just because you sell cars does not mean that anyone who has a drivers' license is in your target market. Let us put this statement in perspective.
If you sell $2000 cars, most of the people in your target market are the poor - including those in poverty and students.
If you sell $10,000 cars, your market is mostly families in middle-class America. Occasionally, you will find the college kid coming to your store to buy a car for college, and sometimes you will see a bunch of tire kickers who can only pray to get financed.
If you sell brand new cars, your target market will again differ by what kinds of vehicles you sell. A Cadillac-buyer is different from the SUV-buyer and the economy-car buyer.
There is not a car dealership anywhere in the world that tries to target its advertising to everybody with a pulse and a drivers' license. It just does not happen. Either the dealership talks about its available cars and the benefits of owning a specific car, or the dealership points out that they can finance anyone.
Once you understand who is most likely to buy what you are selling, then figuring out what to write about has been made much easier.
Help Your Readers Solve A Problem
Before you start writing your article, you should try to get into the heads of the people most likely to buy what are selling. Those people as a general rule have common problems for which they seek solutions.
One way to get a handle on what those problems might be is to review the email correspondence and phone calls you have taken from your clients. If you read that email all at the same time, certain questions will be asked over and again. In fact, you might even have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website that you can reference at this point in the brainstorming session.
Your email and phone correspondence and the FAQ page on your website can lead you to a better understanding of the kinds of questions your customers are always needing to be answered for them.
Once you have achieved the understanding of what problems your customers seek to have solved for them, then you have to come to the magic formula for writing articles that find wide publication and a large readership.
In your article, present your readers with the questions that people have, and then present answers to the questions and show people how to solve their problems.
In doing so, publishers who have heard the same questions you have heard will be strongly inclined to publish your articles. And when publishers agree to publish your articles, you will be able to reach the publishers' readers and a huge network of already targeted people who are very likely to buy what you are selling.
Understanding The Mechanics Of Article Marketing
When you write your articles, it is important to remember a few key points while writing the articles. Those key points are:
The title serves to get your article opened, so it needs to be good.
The body of the article answers questions and sells readers on your credibility in the marketplace.
The article should be easy to read, and it should easily carry the reader to your About The Author information at the end of the article.
Once at your Resource Box (About the Author information), the role of the Resource Box is not to sell your products or services, but to get the reader to visit your website, where the real selling will take place.
Using the formula that I have outlined here, you are sure to find success with your article marketing endeavors.
Sure, I know some people might be thinking that the only reason for article marketing is building links, so all this extra effort would be unnecessary. But let me tell you something that I learn from time-to-time...
Did you know that if you write an article that gets published in a large newsletter that you can in fact earn $10,000 plus in sales from that single article? This is a lesson that I have learned more times than I can count. And to be honest, it is a lesson I like to learn.
Consider this... You can spend a few dollars and very little time to create an article that will generate a few back links, hopefully helping you to rank in the search engines for your target keywords. Or, you can spend a few more dollars and a little more time and create an article that could generate back links for the search engines AND find a wider audience for your article in newsletters - newsletters that could potentially deliver thousands of visitors to your website and generate thousands of dollars in sales in the next couple weeks. Which strategy makes more sense to you?
If you are wondering if I practice what I preach, then read this article again and then see my resource box below. I provide article distribution services to my customers, and my customers frequently ask me what they should write about in their articles and how to best construct those articles to reach a wider audience, and more specifically, their target audience. If I have answered these questions to your satisfaction, then visit my website and let me help you to promote your articles too.
This article was originally published here.
About the Author:
Bill Platt has been writing about article marketing and SEO for a number of years. If you have written an article that you feel is good enough to get publication in a major newsletter or website, then you owe it to yourself to use Bill's article distribution service at http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ If you are interested in learning about coop article marketing, then visit Bill's newest website: http://www.sponsorarticles.com/
Read more Articles written by Bill Platt.
Copyright © 2009 Bill Platt
Many people question as to what topic they should choose to write their articles... Fortunately, the short answer is simple... Write articles that appeal to your target market. But what does that mean exactly?
I always pose this set of three questions, when I am talking to clients about what they should write about:
1. What do you sell?
2. Who is most likely to buy what you are selling?
3. How can you "answer a question" or "solve a problem" to help those people who are likely to buy what you are selling?
What Do You Sell?
Maybe you sell widgets, cell phones, car parts, or marketing services... It does not matter what you sell... There will always be a topic that you can write your articles about.
Do keep in mind that the point of article marketing is not to directly sell your products, but rather to educate, inform, or entertain your reading audience. So long as you stick to the idea of educating, informing, or entertaining your readers, you will never have a shortage of people who want to read the articles you write.
However, if you keep your focus on trying to overtly sell your products or services in your "article" copy, then it will be difficult to find publishers who WANT to publish what you have written.
This is important to note, in that publishers NEED content, but publishers tend to be very picky about the content that they want to share with their readers. In order for a publisher to become or remain profitable, he or she must always serve the desires of his or her readers. And readers do not want to be sold to, preached to, or criticized. Instead, readers want to improve their lot in this life and solve the problems that they face.
If you keep the needs of the publisher foremost in your mind, and the wants of the reader, then article marketing is a great tool that can help you to earn thousands of dollars.
If you lose focus of what publishers and readers want, then all you can hope for is a few links from your articles, from a few websites that very few people visit or read.
Who Is Most Likely To Buy What You Are Selling?
Just because you sell cars does not mean that anyone who has a drivers' license is in your target market. Let us put this statement in perspective.
There is not a car dealership anywhere in the world that tries to target its advertising to everybody with a pulse and a drivers' license. It just does not happen. Either the dealership talks about its available cars and the benefits of owning a specific car, or the dealership points out that they can finance anyone.
Once you understand who is most likely to buy what you are selling, then figuring out what to write about has been made much easier.
Help Your Readers Solve A Problem
Before you start writing your article, you should try to get into the heads of the people most likely to buy what are selling. Those people as a general rule have common problems for which they seek solutions.
One way to get a handle on what those problems might be is to review the email correspondence and phone calls you have taken from your clients. If you read that email all at the same time, certain questions will be asked over and again. In fact, you might even have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website that you can reference at this point in the brainstorming session.
Your email and phone correspondence and the FAQ page on your website can lead you to a better understanding of the kinds of questions your customers are always needing to be answered for them.
Once you have achieved the understanding of what problems your customers seek to have solved for them, then you have to come to the magic formula for writing articles that find wide publication and a large readership.
In your article, present your readers with the questions that people have, and then present answers to the questions and show people how to solve their problems.
In doing so, publishers who have heard the same questions you have heard will be strongly inclined to publish your articles. And when publishers agree to publish your articles, you will be able to reach the publishers' readers and a huge network of already targeted people who are very likely to buy what you are selling.
Understanding The Mechanics Of Article Marketing
When you write your articles, it is important to remember a few key points while writing the articles. Those key points are:
Using the formula that I have outlined here, you are sure to find success with your article marketing endeavors.
Sure, I know some people might be thinking that the only reason for article marketing is building links, so all this extra effort would be unnecessary. But let me tell you something that I learn from time-to-time...
Did you know that if you write an article that gets published in a large newsletter that you can in fact earn $10,000 plus in sales from that single article? This is a lesson that I have learned more times than I can count. And to be honest, it is a lesson I like to learn.
Consider this... You can spend a few dollars and very little time to create an article that will generate a few back links, hopefully helping you to rank in the search engines for your target keywords. Or, you can spend a few more dollars and a little more time and create an article that could generate back links for the search engines AND find a wider audience for your article in newsletters - newsletters that could potentially deliver thousands of visitors to your website and generate thousands of dollars in sales in the next couple weeks. Which strategy makes more sense to you?
If you are wondering if I practice what I preach, then read this article again and then see my resource box below. I provide article distribution services to my customers, and my customers frequently ask me what they should write about in their articles and how to best construct those articles to reach a wider audience, and more specifically, their target audience. If I have answered these questions to your satisfaction, then visit my website and let me help you to promote your articles too.
This article was originally published here.
About the Author:
Bill Platt has been writing about article marketing and SEO for a number of years. If you have written an article that you feel is good enough to get publication in a major newsletter or website, then you owe it to yourself to use Bill's article distribution service at http://www.thephantomwriters.com/ If you are interested in learning about coop article marketing, then visit Bill's newest website: http://www.sponsorarticles.com/
Read more Articles written by Bill Platt.
Debt, America's Greatest Failure at All Levels of Society
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Irene A. Majchrzak
Living in debt is one of the greatest failures at all levels of American society. Many people have discussed the importance of saving for retirement as early as possible, using the time value of money as the major factor in achieving success in retirement.
The truth is debt management cannot start early enough either. When your debt is minimal, for needs only, you can stop the bleeding from your bank account and investments by buying less. Begin to learn how your buying and spending habits contribute to your debt. Uncontrolled Debt has the most disastrous effect on your lifestyle and retirement.
Anyone living in debt will recognize how true this statement is for them. Everyday brings a fear of not meeting the months living expenses including the minimum payments on your credit cards. Checking caller ID to prevent yourself from answering a call from yet another collection service causes indigestion, or an upset stomach, because the calls always come at dinner time. Going to bed when you are ready to relax and sleep brings new nightmares of losing your job and losing everything you were working so hard to keep.
You will recognize your responsibility in preventing debt, because your lifestyle from this day forward depends on you... your ability to control your spending, learning where you will save money and the difference between good debt and bad debt.
You will not gain freedom to live worry-free or to retire without changing your debt habits. Using credit cards and loans expands your purchasing options and ultimately, your bad debt.
You must be careful that while spending cash, you are not falling into the category of "Bad Debt". Bad debt pertains to those things you want, but do not necessarily need. Bad debt may also encompass impulse buying or purchases discussed with your partner, decided upon, and bought without money to back them up.
Discretionary money is money that should be left over after you have covered your living expenses. How does spending available cash or debit/credit card purchases lend itself to bad debt? The first problem I am describing is spending until your discretionary money is gone each month. Many people feel that if there is money left over, they should be free to spend it and they do, until there is nothing left each month.
The second problem occurs when your expenses exceed your paycheck .... needing an extension to your cash flow to meet the operating costs of your home life. This is where the credit cards enter into the debt picture, literally, painting yourself into a corner.
Good debt is debt to cover necessities... the purchases that you need: a roof over your head, transportation to and from work, food, clothing, etc. It is responsible debt within your means and does not extend into credit card usage. It does extend into savings though, if necessary considering it a payment to yourself, each and every month.
You need to learn to live not only within your means but to find the money in your financial strategy to meet your contribution goals for IRA's, 401(k), etc. and make sure when you retire you will be fiscally capable of fulfilling your retirement dreams. Because being debt-free is the cornerstone of your current life and the basis of your future.
Good debt/bad debt: Confusion between your needs and wants are dispelled by asking yourself how your life will be affected if you do not have this item. This question is a very large factor in preventing the occurrence of debt.
You and your family need to be clear on this concept of needs and wants and learn to save for "wanted" purchases as well as emergencies. I would ask questions, such as "Do you have a rainy day fund in case you need to make important repairs or more importantly, if you do not have a cash reserve fund, how do you plan to pay the bill on your next repair?"
This is a major aspect of debt habits. Without a plan for emergency spending, you will enter into a debt spiral. A debt spiral causes your available cash to stay beneath the savings line, continuously circling downward into deeper debt, paying more and more in monthly fees, and consuming your discretionary income. Then the next emergency occurs and the spiral deepens, again.
You and your family need to know how to save and eventually, conquer this problem of increasing liability. Education remains the most important concept for you and your family to assimilate into your standard of living in order to recognize the issues that tend to destroy your investment savings and your family's lifestyle.
About the Author:
Irene A. Majchrzak helps people retire debt-free with a sense of well-being and the freedom to have the things they want. Get her free ebook, Debt Free to Retire, by going to http://debtfreetoretire.com
Read more Articles written by Irene A. Majchrzak.
Copyright © 2009 Irene A. Majchrzak
Living in debt is one of the greatest failures at all levels of American society. Many people have discussed the importance of saving for retirement as early as possible, using the time value of money as the major factor in achieving success in retirement.
The truth is debt management cannot start early enough either. When your debt is minimal, for needs only, you can stop the bleeding from your bank account and investments by buying less. Begin to learn how your buying and spending habits contribute to your debt. Uncontrolled Debt has the most disastrous effect on your lifestyle and retirement.
Anyone living in debt will recognize how true this statement is for them. Everyday brings a fear of not meeting the months living expenses including the minimum payments on your credit cards. Checking caller ID to prevent yourself from answering a call from yet another collection service causes indigestion, or an upset stomach, because the calls always come at dinner time. Going to bed when you are ready to relax and sleep brings new nightmares of losing your job and losing everything you were working so hard to keep.
You will recognize your responsibility in preventing debt, because your lifestyle from this day forward depends on you... your ability to control your spending, learning where you will save money and the difference between good debt and bad debt.
You will not gain freedom to live worry-free or to retire without changing your debt habits. Using credit cards and loans expands your purchasing options and ultimately, your bad debt.
You must be careful that while spending cash, you are not falling into the category of "Bad Debt". Bad debt pertains to those things you want, but do not necessarily need. Bad debt may also encompass impulse buying or purchases discussed with your partner, decided upon, and bought without money to back them up.
Discretionary money is money that should be left over after you have covered your living expenses. How does spending available cash or debit/credit card purchases lend itself to bad debt? The first problem I am describing is spending until your discretionary money is gone each month. Many people feel that if there is money left over, they should be free to spend it and they do, until there is nothing left each month.
The second problem occurs when your expenses exceed your paycheck .... needing an extension to your cash flow to meet the operating costs of your home life. This is where the credit cards enter into the debt picture, literally, painting yourself into a corner.
Good debt is debt to cover necessities... the purchases that you need: a roof over your head, transportation to and from work, food, clothing, etc. It is responsible debt within your means and does not extend into credit card usage. It does extend into savings though, if necessary considering it a payment to yourself, each and every month.
You need to learn to live not only within your means but to find the money in your financial strategy to meet your contribution goals for IRA's, 401(k), etc. and make sure when you retire you will be fiscally capable of fulfilling your retirement dreams. Because being debt-free is the cornerstone of your current life and the basis of your future.
Good debt/bad debt: Confusion between your needs and wants are dispelled by asking yourself how your life will be affected if you do not have this item. This question is a very large factor in preventing the occurrence of debt.
You and your family need to be clear on this concept of needs and wants and learn to save for "wanted" purchases as well as emergencies. I would ask questions, such as "Do you have a rainy day fund in case you need to make important repairs or more importantly, if you do not have a cash reserve fund, how do you plan to pay the bill on your next repair?"
This is a major aspect of debt habits. Without a plan for emergency spending, you will enter into a debt spiral. A debt spiral causes your available cash to stay beneath the savings line, continuously circling downward into deeper debt, paying more and more in monthly fees, and consuming your discretionary income. Then the next emergency occurs and the spiral deepens, again.
You and your family need to know how to save and eventually, conquer this problem of increasing liability. Education remains the most important concept for you and your family to assimilate into your standard of living in order to recognize the issues that tend to destroy your investment savings and your family's lifestyle.
About the Author:
Irene A. Majchrzak helps people retire debt-free with a sense of well-being and the freedom to have the things they want. Get her free ebook, Debt Free to Retire, by going to http://debtfreetoretire.com
Read more Articles written by Irene A. Majchrzak.
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