KDB Business Services- Business Reviews and Tips

2007-11-15T19:03:00.000-05:00

Today I was researching some product prices online. The thing to do when there is so much competition for Christmas. This is the time every marketing strategy is tried, every possible option checked out, and alot of money spent on advertising.

I went to several different sites and tried to purchase some things. When I clicked on them I received the message "this product no longer available". I just spent a few hours searching for the specific product only to receive that message. I was rather annoyed. So I searched some more, found something else, only to find that it was no longer available either.

One of the biggest crucial things for survival in this overly competitive time of the season is to make sure you have enough products available. If you get quite a few sales a day, you should make sure you have hundreds of products available.
Make sure that you keep an updated inventory list at all times, and make sure you only allow yourself to get down to a certain amount of product availability.

This brings me to another thought I had today as I was scanning around. Overall presentation of your site. There are so many more shopping sites online now. What makes you decide to buy from one place over the other even when they may have the same products for the same price? Does one site appear more professional than the other site? Does it look like it has been around longer? Does it look like it is a more trustworthy site? What kinds of questions run through your head before you make that final choice?

The bigger name stores like Walmart, Toys R Us, Macy's, Big Alots, and others can afford much more leeway in certain things than the smaller businesses. But does that mean they deserve all of the business then?

That is where the creative thinking/marketing comes into play. You need to find something unique to offer. Free shipping is a big one. If you can't afford free shipping because you are working with a dropshipper who doesn't offer it, can you find a cheap product that people may like and want to add for free? Free gift wrapping? I have a company I deal with that doesn't offer free gift wrapping, but it is cheap so it is worth it to tell your customers it is free and you pay the little bit of difference. If it means the difference in sales or not for only a few dollars, it is worth it.

In these times as everyone surfs around looking for gifts online, it may get discouraging to the young new shop keeper trying to make a name for himself. They may feel like they really can't compete. But Rome was not built in a day and neither was any other business. You need to keep perservering. Keep learning and practising something new in regards to advertising and marketing every day, don't allow yourself to have any negative thoughts, and just believe in what you have set out to do. Take out your mission statement. Read over again what you had planned for your 5 and 10 year terms. Remind yourself that you are still on track, and will remain that way providing you keep going as planned. Something is only a dream without a reality if you have not properly prepared for it, and envisioned it as such. This is not a dream like winning the lottery. This dream is a future you have planned and prepared to work for long and hard no matter how it may seem from one day to the next.

So take care. Keep your ideas going. Don't be afraid to try something new. If anyone has any questions don't be afraid to post a comment. I'd love to share ideas and concerns.

2007-11-08T21:47:00.000-05:00

There is alot of stock put in domain names and proper web hosting when starting up your online business. There can also be alot of confusion and indecision when trying to decide on what to do.

When I started out my online virtual assistant site a few years ago, the domain name was pretty simple. I chose my business name.com. That seemed like the logical choice since I knew the name would be available as well as it would state what kind of services I provided all in one, which is the key objective.

When I started out my new online store 5 months ago, I was a little more unsure of what to name my domain.
I knew I wanted to sell children's products at discount prices, so I chose http://bargainbin4kids.com. As time went by though, and my resources for products began to get wider, I realized I needed more of a niche, so I decided on cartoon merchandise. Changing the name of my website was easy enough, but now I was in a dilemma. I had been using the domain name I registered, and all my visitors/customers where aware of that name. If I changed it now, I would have to start my marketing all over. What to do? As of today, I have still kept my domain name.

Choosing a domain name that describes your website mission is important. Choose wisely. Make sure you are positive of what your mission is before you choose. Otherwise you may waste valuable time and money investing in the wrong thing. These are the lessons we learn along the way.

Now for web hosting. There are many sites out there that offer web hosting at prices that range from free to $100 a month depending on what you want to do.
Free sites are alright to start your business if you do not have that many products to sell and would just like to get the feel for setting up and maintaining a website.
I chose to use http://vstore.ca for mine. I liked it because it has a great shopping cart that is easy to use. It offers a free web hosting service to start with the option to upgrade to premium at anytime for $20 a month.

I used the free store for my online gift shop with miscellaneous products that only ship to American customers.
The free option is not good for certain things though. Sometimes you are not able to view the site when surfing. Bad for business! It hasn't happened very often, but enough to notice and be a concern.

You can not make any extra money by posting affiliate links you want to promote, or Google adsense. Any advertising income is earned by Vstore only.
You can't upgrade or specialize your web template to make it more uniquely yours, only the 10 standard templates are available.And you can't sell downloadable products like ebooks, which is available in the premium paid subscription.

Then there is another site I tried that is free called http://1freecart.com. That seems to be a good site. They use different layout templates. You have more options on how you would like your products viewed. There is a new option now that they have merged with http://sharesale.com which is one of the affiliate sites I use. So now you can upload and post your affiliate programs on there. You still can't benefit from Google adsense, but it is nice to know they allow the affiliate links. I need to review more on that aspect as I have just found out they added that feature.

The last free webs hosting service I would recommend for beginners, is called http://freewebs.com. They have templates that are more graphical in nature. I checked into this website option to set up a website for my daughter who sells her original impressionist artwork. The templates were a good match for her. This site is cool because it has a community you can meet people in. You can create your own blog, you can create a photo album page,and numerous other pages that the other sites don't offer. It does have the option to post products but it is done with a different system. The other sites have integrated shopping carts. This one you add the pic and the product info and then a link to add a paypal button, which then allows a connection to go to your Paypal account to pay for the merchandise.

As for paid web hosting sites, other than the upgrade for vstore, I would recommend http://netfirms.comThey are pretty affordable. I used them a few years ago for my business services website. They do have an ecommerce package as well for more money than their regular hosting package, but I have never actually tried it out personally. The thing I enjoyed the most was the amount of Stats you could keep track of for your website. You also could get multiple domain names, and 100 email adressess all included.

Check around and see what you decide. The free web hosting options are good to start with though. When you feel comfortable then you can upgrade.The free sites still have an option for you to buy your own domain name and point it towards the site for a more professional look. They still provide Stats for you to keep track of visitors. And most of them offer discount deals for marketing your site as well. 1freecart has some good offers.

Take care. Next week we will discuss more about Sharesale and other affiliate membership sites.

2007-10-30T21:50:00.000-04:00

It is the day before Halloween. There is a bustle about every home. The kids are running around trying to make sure they have all the things they need for their costumes,and some are trying to make sure everyone knows where the party is going to be. The parents are scurrying around to pick up last minute treats, bake cookies, call for babysitters, or whatever needs to be done.

The decorations are all put up, the lights all lit, the candy bowls all laid out, makeup all donned, and the party all set to go.
Tomorrow all the leftover candy will be on sale for a fraction of the cost it was today. A few days later all the Christmas merchandise will line those same shelves.
It is 54 days to Christmas and the retail environment will use every moment possible to convince buyers that they need to have whatever it is that they have on sale. Whether it is a cute new toy for Susie, a crafty six in one tool for dad, an awesome out of this world video game system for Billy, or a super deluxe baking set for mom, there is a promotional tactic being employed.

In the retail world it is all about the holidays. A big percentage of the income made is during those peak hours and days before Christmas.
Say as a small business owner who sells children's products, my store averages approximately $2000 a month January through October. Then the Christmas rush comes upon us. Everyone knows if you buy online you need to start purchasing 6-8 weeks before Christmas to ensure you will receive your gifts on time.
So, starting the middle of November the rush begins. In the 6-8 weeks before Christmas, sales jumps from $450/$500 a week to $2000 a week or more. That is why it is so crucial for you to make sure you have a good marketing strategy set up. The competion is fierce. But the need is great as well. Make sure you can be found, offer as much of a deal/steal as possible, and provide quality products with excellent customer service.

People want to spend money this time of year, they need to purchase presents for their loved ones. Some people are browsing for ideas with no idea of what to get, others are looking for specific things.
I have found a new help in reaching out to my customers. It is called Site Pal. You create your own character and record your voice, and the character talks on your website for the customers. If you are interested click on the banner below to take their free 15 day trial. It is worth it.

Some people don't have sites set up for ecommerce but still want to get into the frenzy of selling online for the holidays. Site Pal can be used even in eBay auction listings. On an average day, over 1,000 live auctions use customized SitePal talking characters to connect with their customers, pitch their products and drive customer acquisition. That is pretty impressive. And it is a great price. $9.95 a month for a permanent animated sales force to help you out every day is well worth the price I think.

If you still haven't decided what to do yet for an online business, there are numerous affiliate programs out there for almost every product imaginable. If you would like to promote ebooks you could check out Clickbank.com. If you would like to promote toys, or other merchandise you could check out Sharesale.com. I have an account with both companies and they are very good with delivering your sales commissions on time. They have a great stats board for you to keep track of all your sales progress as well. Every company you decide to promote for will give you all the banner htmls and most necessary promotional tools you will need to help earn money. Remember when choosing your programs to pick the companies that offer at least 30% commissions when dealing with ebooks and such and at least 15% commissions when dealing with physical product merchandise like toys. Otherwise it is not really worth your time. You may need to spend a few dollars on CPC or PPC to get people to come to your site and click on your options, so you need to make sure you will receive enough of an income to make it worth the pay out.

Happy hunting! Keep up the good work and keep plugging away. Next week we will discuss options for web hosting. Designing a website is not as hard as you may think nowadays, with alot of the web hosting companies offering great website builder programs included in their packages.

2007-10-18T16:02:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon.
I was going to continue on with another business idea to make money, but I thought I would discuss online auctions first. It still ties in with having your own store, but can be used on it's own as well if you want to get your feet wet in the online selling world but aren't ready to set up your own website.

Now, I know everyone knows and seems to use eBay as the number one auction site,but I have found over the last few years that not everyone is still feeling the love.
eBay is getting so competitive these days, some people just can't be bothered.
From the sellers point of view, unless you have your own unique product, that only you posses, you have to compete with everyone else trying to sell the same product as cheap as possible to get the sale. So, therefore, no room for profit eventually.
Also, the more people post, the more you have to promote to make your ad stand out(like paying extra for Bold,etc.)Therein, the price of your listing just doubled. Once upon a time it was affordable to post on eBay. .25c and you were good to go. Now the average costs you about $2.00.

That can get pricey if you are posting a list of items and only one or two sell with a profit of only $5.00. When I first tried this it cost me $95.00 for the first 2 weeks of posting.Ouch. That was something I could not afford on a regular basis. I started scanning around for other auction listing sites, I found and tried and few, now I use a combination of using the website traffic that goes to those auction sites, and my own online store website. Every few weeks I go and post about 20 items on www.ioffer.com or www.webidz.com and see how they are received. If they seem to sell, I keep it up, if not, I try something else.

I like these 2 sites of all the ones I have checked because they allow you to set up an online store on their site for free(up to 500 products), they can be listed as Buy now,with bidding,or make an offer options. I like to just pay a certain price online when I shop. Some people get a thrill out of haggling, and others love to compete with bidding. So having all the choices available at once is good. Once again,no charge to list the item either, unless you want multiple pictures, and special features, then it is .5c a piece. You also can leave your items up as long as you want. Unlike the auctions on eBay, the items don't end in the 3, 7 and 10 day cycles. The competition is still there for other sellers selling the same items at low costs, but not as many as in the eBay community.

That brings me to the buyers point of view. Great for low prices, but as more people list,you have to scan through pages to find a good deal. Alot of the sellers only sell to Americans to keep the costs low for shipping.

The big thing for todays resellers is using dropshippers. What dropshipping is, is a company who has the inventory stored in a warehouse allows you to sell their products with out physically buying the items first. Then when you have a buyer for the item you put the order in to the company and they will dropship the item to your customer without their own company info on the box. That way, you pay a wholesale price they ask for and sell it to your customer for a retail price, you collect the money, give the lower price to the company when you place the order for the customer, and the difference is your profit. I use this method for most of my products. As you start making more money you can just go to wholesale sites, buy more products at even cheaper wholesale prices, and earn more profit. You will have to store the merchandise yourself by then, so usually most people wait to proceed to that step when they can afford a storage space or extra room in the house for their storeroom.

Dropshippers can be found online, but you have to do alot of research and spend a few dollars to find good ones. Most of them say they are, but they are what is known as "middlemen." You would still get a discount, the profit margin would just be a little bit smaller. A good place to get into even though it is pricey to start is OneSource, brought to you by www.WorldwideBrands.com It costs $299. to sign up but it provides so many viable good sources it is worth the money in the long run. One time fee. There are other cheaper sites, but they are not quite as extensive. If you prefer to go that route, I recommend Shopster.com They have the option you can make a store through them, so you would not have to invest in a hosting site for $20 a month as well. Lots of products there. The profit markup isn't quite as high as with worldwidebrands, but still good enough to learn the ropes with. They ship worldwide as well. Other big sites like Doba.com, only ship to the US.Shopster has good customer service to help you out. They are offering a 7 day free trial for you to check it out and see what you think. Then it is $29.95 a month with a one time $99 startup fee.

If you are interested in starting up your own online store, want to try the dropshipping method, and would love to have this great opportunity to try your own business online with relatively low start up costs, check into one of these two companies. Then remember, for promoting your products, use the auction sites as well as your website. Also, ioffer.com has a promotional tool you can use to create flyers for your products. You could print some of those out, and try putting them up around your neighborhood, or door to door mailboxes. You can promote in so many ways. They don't all have to be costly either.

Bloggers Directory - Submit Your Blog!
Do you own a blog online? Feel free to submit your blog to my Bloggers.MartinLemieux.ca directory!

2007-10-05T14:45:00.000-04:00

Good day. Today we will go more into depth about the premade websites I briefly mentioned the other day. I left the link for the Zlio shop for anyone to take a look. That is a good store idea for anyone who is just starting off and doesn't really know what direction they want to take.

Zlio provides the software,templates, and monthly web hosting needed for you to setup your own shop for free. All you need to do is find the products you desire from the list available, click on the "add product to store" button and that is it.

Zlio is in affilliation with numerous stores that have agreed to pay anywhere from 3-14% commissions on anything sold. There are around 3 million products to choose from in almost every category you could think to need or want. Zlio makes a deal with these companies, takes their own cut(hence being able to give you the website creation and hosting for free), and then there is still enough for your commission.

There is also a community setup there so you could create a profile, look around at other people's stores and link with them to help exchange traffic and profits. Zlio offers promotional tools and options for you, to help you market and promote your store as much as possible. There are several templates to choose from to create the look and feel of your storefront as you would like it to appear so it will be uniquely yours and not a generic website just like everyone elses.

You can make money from commissions off of your own chosen products in your store. When you get more adept at it you could always open up another store for another niche idea( a chosen specialized product or group of people to market to). There is no limit to the amount of stores they allow you to have for free. Just remember though it is up to you to market and promote so the more stores you have, the less time and money you will have to promote the best for each store.

You also have a personalized affiliate link to promote to get others to sign up and make a store to sell things themselves. For everyone you sign up you get 10% of their commissions, and then5% of everyone they sign up afterwards. Now if a commission is only $5.00 and you get 5o cents it may seem pretty pointless to try since the 5% would then be only 25 cents, but remember when it comes down to that level it will be all about the amount of people signed up underneath. Since that won't be your main focus of income anyways, it is not really a concern, just call it a little extra bonus.

I hate to mention the cons as well as the pros when trying to promote a business opportunity, but I must. It is not a big concern, just merely a mention. Right now, this option is only available to sell products to the USA and France customers, but Zlio is in the process of getting it setup to be able to expand their sales and shipping to worldwide. So I stillrecommend this idea since there are still millions of shoppers out there, and more to come in the near future.

So if you enjoy shopping, are pretty up on the current trends in todays market, and think you would like to try your hand out in this type of business, it is a legitimate business that is cheap to start up and get going. You can purchase your own domain name later on and provide yourself with a more professional front. If you have any questions you can email me at melanie@bestdeals4ushop.com or melaniebremner@bargainbin4kids.com

2007-09-26T14:57:00.000-04:00

Some of you who may have been reading my past posts from last year may be wondering what has happened to me and my other business.

I have changed the direction of my business. I am still KDB Business Services, but I decided to research and learn about internet marketing and focus mostly on the best start up businesses for people who have not much startup capital but still want to stay home and have a career.

I started to talk to some mothers and hold a weekly meeting to see what interested mothers and how much time they would have to invest. Since most mothers dcn't have much time or money to invest due to having to watch children, and clean home, I decided to dig around and see what I could recommend that would be the most for the least investment but still manage to reap enough rewards and not be a scam.

There are alot of scams out there in the internet world, alot of so called "gurus" prey on the fact they know so many people are out there trying to find work at home solutions.

90% of the programs and ideas marketed out there are scams. And even if they are not necessarily scams, persay, they are misrepresented to the point, that they might as well be.

First off, anything promised to be a complete business in a box, where all you have to do is buy the product and then put it on a web host service, and the money will come rolling in, is all fake.

The majority of all online business work is in the day to day marketing that goes along with it. The internet is so vast, the competition is so intense, that you need to do as much marketing to get yourself out there as is humanly possible.

You can get discouraged, alot of people give up before they start to see anything because it takes a long time. If you do not have at least a year to invest without needing money, then this type of business is not for you.

That is why stay at home moms are perfect for this type of business, they are going to be home with the children not working anyways. With all the options for marketing and advertising that require lots of work, but are free, it is a viable option. There are ways to spend money for different advertising, such as adwords(we will discuss this at another time), but I personally think until some revenue is noticed from all the hard work being done manually, don't invest anything yet.

You need to do the manual advertising in order to learn the ropes. Once you are secure in knowing how things are done, and what makes a difference, then money can be spent more freely on pay per click options, paying for email optin subscribers, paying for targetted traffic or whatever if there is still more traffic needed to your site.

I know you need to spend some money to make some more money, but there is the smart way and the blind way. Learn the ropes first, research options, try all the free sources first, then when you have developed a nice sounding advertisement/sales copy you can promote through all available sources.

I will discuss with you various business opportunities out there that I recommend, I will try to help you with any concerns you may have. If I do not readily know the answer to something, just let me know,and I will go find an answer from some trusted internet professionals that I know do have the answers.

The first thing we will be discussing is affiliate programs. I have researched hundreds and hundreds and have narrowed it down to some I will take the time to discuss with you over the next little while.

if you would like more info, just email me with a comment or concern in the subject line, and I will research anything needed and get back to you. melanie@bestdeals4ushop.com

Anyone interested in building an online retail shop can take a look at the 3 shops that I am presently running, we will discuss how to set one up and all the factors for interested parties.
http://bestdeals4ushop.com, http://bargainbin4kids.com, http://everything4moms.zlio.com,

Tomorrow we will discuss affiliate websites, that are premade for you, these are often what some people like to get into because they have no technological skills. These do require some form of monthly payment, but any business you start will cost for web hosting monthly charges and a domain name.
Until tomorrow.

2007-09-25T22:39:00.001-04:00

Having a blog of your own? Why not. But having your own online shop is even better! It takes less than five minutes to sign up, a few more to personalize your shop and finally, a pleasurable stroll through Zlio's directory of over three million items to fill your newly-created virtual e-store. And at the end of the day, you get a commission on every sale generated through your store (2 to 15%, depending on the supplier).

The most important thing, then, is to generate traffic on your shop (mine's here, by the way!) Or in addition, you can rely on your family and friends - indeed, if you refer someone to Zlio, Zlio gives you a free bonus of 10% of that person's commissions, for ever, and 5% of the commissions of anyone they refer in turn! By the way, I thought I might mention that my referral link is http://zlio.com/?page=app:signup&r=116049, in case you'd care to click on it!

2007-09-25T13:19:00.000-04:00

Stay At Home Working Moms Have Real Jobs
I have been a stay at home working mom since 2004. I used to work in a call centre doing tech support before I decided to stay home and have a baby. I still wanted to work, so I started my own virtual administrative business.
I graduated from Toronto School of Business in 1998 with a Small Business Management diploma, so I was confident in the knowledge I could succeed. I also had 9 years of administrative assistant experience I could rely on when selling my skills to prospective clients.
I set up a simple site that advertised my services, then I spent hours creating flyers to post in my neighborhood, endless more hours posting my ads on free classified websites I found through Google searches, and set up my complete home office.
I found work doing various customer service jobs like taking orders for restaurants such as Swiss Chalet, a couple telemarketing jobs, typing out manuscripts and school papers for clients, and a few other odd jobs. I soon found I wanted a different kind of online job, so I decided to expand into the ecommerce world.
It is tough to go on your own. There is no one to help you out. You have to take care of every aspect yourself. I taught myself internet marketing. I almost quit in the process. I am not put off by very many things, but taking on the daunting task of learning internet marketing by myself, with no direction; no one to tell me who to trust when looking for proper mentors to guide me through, was downright scary!
I learned how to make professional looking websites, researching templates, learning html and java script, finding clipart, uploading images, setting up an ecommerce shopping cart so I could process orders through Paypal, and so much more.
Hours of researching, calling, faxing, and emailing, to set up wholesale accounts for bulk product orders. Finding dropshippers for products I am not physically able to keep in storage. The list seemed to go on.
Now on a daily basis there is still the updating and maintaining of my website to make sure all products are available with the correct inventory count, processing orders as they come in, responding to any emails from customers, processing returns, getting the advertising out to Yahoo and Google, creating my bi-weekly newsletters for two different websites and then sending them out to everyone who has opted in to my email list, and writing articles to submit to the article directories to further enhance my traffic.
I recall a conversation I had with one of the mothers I meet with on Wednesdays for our “Work At Home Moms” group. We were discussing how people respond to us when they find out we work from home and do most of our business online. There are a vast many people out there who are under the impression that we don’t work as hard as the average Joe who has a job outside of the house. I needed to write this article to inform others that work at home mothers most often tend to work harder than outside jobs. While we maintain our business at home, we still manage to do the laundry, watch the children, clean house, and make dinner. I work so much my husband often wonders when I will ever stop.
We do have real jobs, and we do work real hard. We just happen to be our own boss.

About the Author

Melanie Bremner is a mother of three who has written and published several children’s stories, taught Sunday school, and graduated from business school, with a minor in psychology.
She is presently running and maintaining an online discount retail shop, and produces a bi-weekly newsletter full of stories, facts and fun for the whole family. If you would be interested in receiving tips on various topics of raising children and family matters, you can sign up for her newsletter at http://bestdeals4ushop.com

2006-11-17T14:16:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since I have written as I have been quite busy. I have now narrowed down my niche. I was trying too many different outlets for multiple streams of income and ending up run down and going nowhere special.
I am now teaching an ebay class once a week, and in the process of completing a tutoring license for ebay itself so I can be registered to teach ebay on their behalf. It is called an Education Specialist Program. I am getting to be a professional ebay seller but a long way off from being a Power seller although that is a goal to look forward to.
My children's stories have finally found an illustrator who is willing to work on consignment so I will be checking into making them into ebooks and selling them on ebay as well as on my own new website. I have the poetry book ready for creating into an ebook and then up for sale.
As well I am going to be adding my poetry to plaques and selling them individually on ebay and my own site.
But that I think will be all. I am having a new baby the beginning of April so will need to be making money from home. I do have some students who will come to my home as I have a 4 computer classroom in the process of being setup.
I would like to leave you with a little knowledge for the day. I enjoyed this article and thought you may gather some useful information from it yourself.

Top Performers Have These Critical Management Skills
Copyright 2006 Dennis Sommer

Do want to be known as "The Expert" or "The Guru"? Do you
want to advance your career and income? If you answered yes
to both of these questions then you need to become a “Top
Performer” in your profession. Whether you are now a
Manager, Executive, Consultant, Sales or Service
Specialist, then Management skills will be one of the keys
to your success. Experience and knowledge in your area of
specialty may make you an above average performer, but to
be a “Top Performer” start implementing the following 11
Management skills and action items today.

Top performers are successful by being honest, respecting a
clients intelligence and focusing all their energies on how
to make a difference in a clients life. After reviewing the
following “Top Performer” Management skills and action
items, you will know how to be more effective, efficient,
and successful.

Strategies for building a strong successful organization.

1. Define both long term and short term measurable goals.
Concentrate your efforts on the short term goals. This can
be measurable goals either weekly or monthly. The long term
goals will come.

2. Fuel your internal motivation by setting clear and
concrete goals and objectives. Example, customers to
contact, revenue, gross margin, issue response time, etc.

3. Measure everything. Anything with a response that will
measure your effectiveness. Develop a scorecard system that
tracks your target goal versus what you actually achieved.

4. When your customers perceive your offering or service as
being in short supply, they view it as more valuable.
Market for 20% more volume that you can manage.

5. Discontinue 50% of your offerings to increase overall
sales. To many offerings cause customer confusion and lost
sales. Analyze your offerings and discontinue your
unprofitable or low margin offerings.

6. Focus promotions on new customers not current customers.
Your current customers already know what value you bring to
the table.

7. Promote a list of unique features that compliment a
competitive solution or show unique value. Your offering
will then stand out from the others.

8. Keep it simple and relevant. Eliminate irrelevant
information from offering brochures, marketing, and
presentations.

9. Empower healthy competition between departments,
divisions, and regions. Reward success.

10. Hire competitive people. Competition is healthy and
will improve everyone’s performance.

11. Selling success follows six fundamentals:

Passion (for your company, offering, service, and yourself)
Organization (take notes and have all your information at
your fingertips)
Planning (develop and execute a step by step plan for each
opportunity)
Persistence (never give up)
People Skills (develop excellent written and verbal
communication skills)
Offering Knowledge (know everything about your offerings
and the competitors offerings).

----------------------------------------------------
Dennis Sommer is a widely respected and world renowned
authority on sales, business development and leadership
performance improvement. He is a leading adviser, author,
and speaker providing clients with practical strategies
that improve personal and organization performance. With
nearly twenty years of business development and leadership
experience, he has consulted on over 200 critical business
and technology initiatives for Fortune 1000 companies.
Dennis can be reached at Dennis@btrconline.com or
a/a

2006-03-13T20:04:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it is the middle of March already? Time flies when you are having a fufilling life.
I am glad the Christmas season is over and everyone is back to having money to spend. It is the time now to see what new goodies can be found. I know I have done alot of online browsing these last couple months. Both for my business and my up coming wedding. What did we ever do before the time of online shopping?
One thing I find is a viable marketing tool is cross promotion. I often click on links I come across on one site if it will take me to something else I could use without my having to do a websearch.
Here is an article that may help you out to an effective way to cross promote on your own site.

Cross Promoting Techniques that Will Work For You!
Copyright 2006 Raymond Heye

Cross promotions are not a new idea. They have been used by
businesses for a very long time. For example, a real-estate
company may promote a certain lawyer to close a sale, as
the lawyer will promote that agency in his firm. The system
is somewhat similar to the primitive barter system, where
people traded items rather than using money. How can
anything primitive fit into the online world of Internet
marketing? Very easily. Cross promotions are, simply
stated, a trade of advertising space. Instead of paying for
advertising space on a site, you would place their ad on
your page and yours on theirs. There are many ways to use
cross promotions in your internet business that can be an
effective and cost efficient way to advertise.

One way is to use link exchanges. This is very effective
when doing cross promotions with a company that is similar
to yours, however you should be sure and never link to a
page that is in direct competition with yours. One of the
best things about link exchanges is that some search
engines are factoring in hits from the sites that are
linked to your page to when determining the ranking.
Therefore linking to a more popular site, can not only
increase your advertising, and traffic, but also increase
your search engine ranking.

When customers or potential customers subscribe to your
ezine you can use this as an opportunity to use cross
promotions. On the same page that the customer subscribes
to your ezine, make available the opportunity to subscribe
to another company’s ezine. You can even exchange ad space
in ezines, and provide recommendations for those whom you
cross promote with. You might even want to exchange column
space in one another’s ezines.

Writing free articles that inform customers or potential
customers with information that is useful and accurate can
create a reputation for you and your business. Soon readers
will come to know you as an expert on the subject. In these
articles the author uses a byline to help promote his site.
Bylines can be a way to use cross promotions as well. You
can use part of the space in your byline to recommend
another’s product.

If you have been considering writing an ebook, a joint
venture could mean increased profits for you and the person
you are partnering with. Cross promotions through ebooks
are an excellent way to allow for a wider topic and to
promote both your business and your partner’s business. The
ebook should contain information that will benefit both
businesses and still be helpful to the reader. A good
example of using cross promotions through an ebook is to a
site selling used video games partnering with a site
selling gaming devices. These are two subjects that would
interest the same reader and most likely lead the reader to
both sites.

You should keep in mind that the recommendations that you
make are a direct reflection of you, so choose your cross
promotional businesses carefully. Also keep in mind that it
would be nice as a shopper to be able to link from one site
to another as a way to “shop around.“ Since this is usually
not beneficial to you, never link or recommend a site that
is in direct competition with you. Instead, recommend those
who are similar, such as health and life insurance.

----------------------------------------------------
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2006-02-06T18:13:00.000-05:00

I hope the New Year has been good to you so far. My business is off to a great start it appears. The forecast looks clear. I am feeling rejuvenated. I am in high spirits.
But the constant struggle I am finding is for the online target marketing. Driving traffic to my site. Getting into a high ranking on the search engines.
The following article may give you some tips on getting yourself up and in a good standing on the search engine ranking.

Building Valuable Web Content... Fast
Copyright 2006 Dave Markel

By now most everyone who runs a website is aware that
content is king. Whether it is in the form of photos,
products, blog entries or articles webmasters are obsessed
with adding content to their sites. It isn't always easy to
do. There is a fine balance between pleasing the search
engine to get high rankings and pleasing the visitors to
your site, and lets face it visitors are the priority since
they are the ones with the wallet.

Lately the search engines have been giving better placement
in their rankings to sites that are loaded with good
informational articles, articles that are well written with
no spelling or punctuation errors. Remember the search
engines sole purpose is to give the most relevant results
to a search query.

So to create this content you have several options, all
with their advantages and disadvantages. The best method
but most time consuming is to simply write the articles
yourself. You can also go to a free article directory site
like article city and use the articles there for free.
Hiring a writer at rentacoder is a great option but the
cost of getting good articles is quite high. Another option
is to join a private label article site and use those
articles on your site.

Let’s take a look at the 4 most common methods described
above and see which is right for you. There is no question
that writing articles yourself is the best method of
creating great content. Content that is original and
written in your own voice. However if you are like me it is
far to time consuming to write 40 or 50 article a month,
with the research and proof reading who has the time?

Article directories are a convenient source of free content
but remember you get what you pay for. It is possible to
find very well written articles on these sites but most of
the time you will only find one article on each topic which
makes it hard if you operate a niche web site. Since these
are free articles you are required to include an author’s
bio with every article that you publish. It may seem like a
small price to pay but remember this; that bio is a doorway
straight out of your website. So as you can see free is not
always the best.

A very good way to build content for your site is to hire a
writer at sites like rentacoder or elance. You can get very
well written articles that are right on topic and exactly
what you are looking for, after all you are hiring the
writer to write them for you. This is a great way to
leverage you time as well you spend a fraction of the time
it takes to write the articles yourself. The only downside
is the cost. You can hire a writer for as low as $5 per
article all the way up to several hundred dollars per
article. This can get very expensive if you need to have a
lot of content written for your site. Month after month a
webmaster can spend thousands of dollars. For most, this
cost simply is prohibitive.

Joining a private label right (PLR) membership site is the
best of both worlds. You get great content that is targeted
towards niche websites at a price that is very affordable,
often for less then $1 per article. Private label right
membership sites produce article packages that you are free
to do with as you please. You can re-write the articles cut
or copy paragraphs together to create new articles and at
the end you can call them your own work. PLR sites usually
limit their membership to a couple hundred members to
prevent the search engines from being saturated with the
same content. With all the variation in the way these
articles are being used it is unlikely that you will have
much competition. After all people are manipulating the
articles to create original content.

Having the edge when is comes to the search engine rankings
can bring you tons of free traffic. It is well accepted
that articles not only please the search engine but also
the visitors to your website. As you can see there are many
ways to get great articles some are far better then others.

----------------------------------------------------
Dave Markel is the owner of Great Niche Content; a PLR
membership site. Visit his site at
http://great-niche-content.com

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Lung Cancer

2005-12-27T16:49:00.000-05:00

Ooops, been a long time I must say since the last post and I apologize for that. Thanks to all of you who still took the time to come and read my posts anyways. I hope you all had a good Christmas. I enjoyed mine.
The holiday season can either be a slow one or a very busy one depending on what type of business you are in. For me it was filled more with getting people to know I exist than for selling much.I am hoping by next Christmas though I will be swamped with orders for my books.
We need to stay focused and with our eyes always fixed on the goal even when we are tempted to give up because things are taking longer than we hoped. I like to remind myself that Rome wasn't built in a day.
I have so many artiles I have saved to share with you and now I need to decide what to post first. Seeing as it is a chatty time of year I thought this was an appropriate theme for discussion.

Chatting your Way to Increased Website Traffic
Copyright 2005 Anton Cheranev

Millions of people are drawn to the websites every day just
to chat. Chatting is one of the most popular activities
done by those using the web. Many people admit that once
they begin chatting, they become almost addicted to it.
The average online “chatter” will log on at least once a
day for a chat. Although there is no definite reason why
people love this form of communication, there is something
to be learned by their behavior. When it comes to your
website traffic, you may be able to utilize this chat
“addiction” to increase website traffic. There are two
main ways you can use chatting to help your site. One
involves less startup time, but more maintenance time by
you. The other involves a longer startup time, but less
maintenance. Consider these ideas and begin using chatting
to help your website increase traffic immediately.

If you are interested in using the chat audience, then you
can certainly log in a few hours a day delivering
advertisement to them. This basically means that you can
go into chat rooms with the purpose of posting your website
link into the chat. You can do this randomly, hitting a
room, posting the link without prompt from other chatters,
and leaving to another room. This is the best way to reach
the largest number of chatters. The best way to do this is
to join rooms that relate in some way to your website and
its content. However, by doing this, you will likely
annoy some chatters, which is not good for your website.
You can decide whether the risk is worth it or not.

You can also be more personal about your advertisements.
This will call for going to rooms where you think the most
selective targeted audience may be located. For instance,
if your website is about music, then you may want to visit
chat rooms with music themes. Once you engage in
conversation a bit, you can freely and casually bring your
website link into conversation. You may gain more respect
with this approach but you will likely not have as large of
an audience as with the random posts. If you are an avid
chatter, then also consider adding your website link to
your chatting profile. As you chat, others in the room
will be looking at your profile, without you even knowing
they are doing so. This is a subtle, but effective way to
use chatting to help increase your website’s traffic.
Those that view your profile will likely want to check out
your site and may even tell others about it as well.

Another way to use chatting to increase website traffic is
by adding a chat element to your website. This will likely
take quite a while to set up. Adding chat to your room is
not the simplest thing to do. It can however be a great
way to draw people into your website. This is especially
true if your website is about a specific hobby, passion, or
job. If you have a retail site, it is unlikely that chat
would be appropriate. However, if your site is about stock
tips, then a chat room would enable traders to discuss tips
and information with each other, which would likely keep
them and their friends coming back frequently. One thing
to remember however is that you should always monitor your
website’s chat area every once in a while. It would be
unfortunate to have chatters using your room
inappropriately or abuse certain policies you have placed
upon chatters. This would only make your website look
unprofessional.

Using chatting to help increase website traffic is a free
way to advertise. If you do chat often, you have likely
seen other chatters using this delivery as well. Take note
on which methods of chat delivery is most attractive to you
when you see others doing the same thing. This will allow
you to have a view on both sides of the issue and likely
help you to create a plan that is more effective. The more
time and effort you put into this task, the faster you will
see results, so go ahead and start right away!

----------------------------------------------------
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Lung Cancer

2005-12-06T18:54:00.000-05:00

I have been busy getting my books up and online. My newest find and fabulous site for people like me who want to get their own books up and published without the cost of prepublishing or waiting for a publisher to okay them, is www.lulu.com. They allow you to make as many books as you want and they publish on demand. They also have ebook versions available for purchase. You can choose. They have marketing and promotional aids for free for you to get your books noticed and all the marketing help you need. They just take a small cut for their work. And it is very reasonable.
The following article provides another way to channel your resources and use another avenue of income for your business.

Make Money Online with RSS Data Transfer
Copyright 2005 Peter Tarrida del Marmol

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site

Summary. It also has been referred to as a "pull"
technology rather than a "push" technology. And, in fact,
this feature is what makes RSS so popular in terms of
today's Internet usage.

It's probably hard to argue that anyone who uses the
Internet today hasn't heard of spam. If they have an email
inbox it is probably full of it.

Spam, for the uninitiated, is the receipt of unwanted
emails from people whom you did not request to receive
information. Spam represents the "push" technology. That
is, people "push" their email message at your inbox,
whether you have asked to receive the email or not.

And that aspect of "push" technology is what many have come
to believe is the death of email. It's arguable that email
will still be around for quite a long time, even though
there are still people who continue the illegal spam
process. In fact, companies are making millions now just
providing everyday users as well as huge corporations,
solutions claiming to solve their spam problem.

RSS, on the other hand, can be said to be the exact
opposite of the email "push" technology. Because you cannot
"push" your message to subscribers. In fact, the only way
that people can subscribe to an RSS feed is to do so
voluntarily. And, at the same time, they can unsubscribe
whenever they want.

That's why it's called a "pull" technology. Because
subscribers "pull" information into their readers and, if
the content isn't what they expect, they can unsubscribe
whenever they'd like. So, unlike the email "push"
technology, there is no one using RSS that is experiencing
an inbox full of spam. All they have to do is to
unsubscribe and they will never receive another message
from the person who provided the feed.

RSS has become a popular way to make money on line too. And
that is due in part to the popularity of the RSS "pull"
technology. Here's one way of monetizing a website using
RSS feeds.

Imagine setting up a static one page web site - a minisite
if you will. Now, add either Google Adsense code or the new
Yahoo version of the Google Adsense style ads that, when
clicked by a visitor - you earn cash.

This gives you a nice starting point and, if you optimize
your web page properly, there is a good chance you will get
a high ranking in the search engines. And, the more people
who see your page, the more likelihood they will click on
one of the links on your web page and you'll earn revenue
from the click.

But RSS provides an even greater potential. Because by
adding an RSS feed to that same web page, you turn a static
web page that only contains the information you placed on
it, into a dynamic ever changing web page that others will
likely come back more than once to read.

After all, once someone has read a one page web site, what
incentive is there for them to come back? Plenty, if you
use RSS feeds on your web page. It is possible to add 5, 10
or 15 feeds on your once static web page and now, you've
got a page that automatically updates itself and provides
something that people will want to come back to read time
and time again.

You can easily convert any web page into a dynamic web page
using free RSS creator software. One of the most popular
free versions is called Carp and you can download it at
this web link: http://www.geckotribe.com/rss/carp

Once you've set this program up on your website and added
the proper code to your website, then you will need to
collect RSS feeds that relate to the topic of your web page.

Let's say that the topic of your web page is flower
gardens. You could go to Google News and get their RSS feed
code, place it into the appropriate position in your Carp
coding you put on your web page and then adjust the code as
follows:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=flower+gardens&ie=UTF-8&output=rss

You can also get a similar feed from Topix.net and you'd
adjust the code like this:
http://rss.topix.net/search/?q=flower+gardens&xml=1

Now, once you have uploaded your web page, your site will
automatically pull in fresh information from Google and
Topix about flower gardens. Simply follow this illustration
for any web page you'd like to monetize and watch your
search engine ranking soar and also your bank account!

----------------------------------------------------
Peter Tarrida del Mármol is a spanish internet marketer. To
learn more about making money online go to:
http://www.auctionearnings.com

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Lung Cancer

2005-11-28T23:27:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to getting my site up and running for my business. Research has been done and now products are on display to be purchased. Some are my own and others are from other companies I am affiliated with. I struggled over marketing strategies,finding the perfect keywords,learning how search engines work,email optin lists, payment procedures,etc.etc. It is a learning process that I don't think will ever be complete as long as I aim to stay in business. I would like you to visit my website and see if there might not be something you would be interested in. I am adding new products so you should keep in touch. I have 7 other stories I am presently getting published that will be available for sale in the next month if all goes well. I need some testimonials to add to my site, and am looking forward to my first few received. Come visit me at http://onestopebookshop.ca
Here is an article I found to be perfect timing for me. I was looking for a memorable slogan and then I came across this article. I think it has some key points to help guide you if you are still looking.

Your Business Needs Its Own Memorable Slogan to Make Your Ads, Website and
Yellow Pages Stand Out
Copyright 2005 Off the Page

Your Slogan is the “Headline” for Your Business

Tell people in a short phrase or sentence what you want
them to know or remember about your business. The best ones
conjure up a strong mental image, that will be forever
linked with you in their memories. A little wit, humor,
insight, unusual (yet relevant) spin goes a long way toward
making it stick.

If you don’t stand out during the famous first impression,
(or in a later contact) there won’t be anything for them to
recall later. They’ll draw a blank – which means they don’t
feel any connection to you at all. So few businesses have a
good slogan (also called a tag line), yet it’s an easy way
to distinguish yourself from the rest.

Finding the Phrase that Defines the Enterprise Isn’t Easy –
But is Worth it

Choose one that people will easily relate to and remember.
Don’t make it too long or complicated. And avoid the bland
phrase that’s not unique to your business. Saying, “We aim
to please” could apply to any type of business, and really
doesn’t aim very high.

Imagine a much more potent a phrase like, “On-time Delivery
or It’s Half Price.” That certainly sets you apart from the
competition! People will notice, and they’ll hold you to
it. You can be sure they won’t forget it. Your next
challenge would be to live up to it.

A printer's card showing camels in a row and stating, “We
take the humps out of problems,” emphasized its service
orientation. Notice the words and image reinforce each
other. That’s filed in the brain as an image, rather than
information. Such amusing impressions are much more likely
to be recalled than XYZ Printers.

The Slogan is Your Verbal Logo – Weave the Words and Images
Together

A tagline can be as important as your logo, since it
delivers your most direct message. It should send a
reassuring message that attracts precisely those customers
you can best serve. Weave it into your image (via color or
font) so they appear as a unit. It’s more powerful and
likely to be remembered that way.

Once you adopt one, use it constantly. Put the phrase
everywhere the business name or logo appears.

State your slogan aloud at every opportunity. Have everyone
who works with the enterprise say it in every business
contact, sale, or telephone greeting. And practice saying
it with emphasis and enthusiasm – not just another “have a
nice day” substitute. Ugh!

The up-beat repetition of the words reinforces the message
you want people to recall about your enterprise – with an
emotional charge as well. And it helps for you to take the
words to heart as business policies and decisions are made.
For example, people would note the irony of a slogan
promising good customer services, when they’ve just been
treated poorly.

Kinds of Tag Lines - Statement of purpose, philosophy, or
mission statement - Motto or slogan - Pledge - Policy -
Guarantee - Jingle - Pun, joke, or play on words -
Relevant quote or aphorism - or a takeoff on one

Defining Your Business Slogan is a Rite of Passage

Finding your unique and powerful slogan isn’t easy. It’s
hard to distill a business philosophy or personality into a
single phrase. But it is incredibly potent when it hits the
mark. The public notices those businesses that have pulled
it off in a positive way.

Very few operations have bothered to find an effective
slogan, and it seldom happens until other aspects of the
business “jell.” That’s the true importance of the effort
to find yours.

Businesses that have all their parts working together
communicate to the public in a way that other enterprises
don’t. And one of they things they communicate: “We have
our act together.” You can bet that customers prefer to do
business with those that do.

----------------------------------------------------
--Dr. Lynella Grant Consultant and Author - Promote
yourself, business, website, or book with online articles
http://www.promotewitharticles.com Free how-to. Or let me
write and submit your articles online for you. No learning
curves (719) 359-5575

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Lung Cancer

2005-11-23T19:14:00.000-05:00

It always cracks me up when I check my bank account and see my daily deposits from Adsense. .69cents doesn't even seem worth the deposit per day but it all adds up. The more exposure I get the more those cents will turn into dollars. Although I have been a student of business for the last decade I have only recently started my online business so it is all still pretty new to me. I am starting to see why Marketing is a full business course that takes years to learn and implement.
The following article discusses how to use both Adsense and RSS feeds to your full advantage to get the most for your time.

5 Quick Tips On HOW-TO Build Google Adsense Feeder Pages The Search Engines
Devour
Copyright 2005 The IWE, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Today your in for a real treat. WHY? Because I'm going to
tell you How-To build "Feeder Pages" search engines simply
die for.

And don't worry, these tips won't strain your brain to much
and are very straight forward, even if your New to the
Internet marketing game.

TRAFFIC, as we all know it is the life blood of your
businesses VERY existence online, so wouldn't it be nice if
you could tap into some of that traffic, thats targeted
Search Engine traffic, absolutely FREE Of Charge?

I bet you said YES!

Well... your in luck because that's the sole purpose of a
"Feeder Page".

Now, the question that I found that usually arises with
"Feeder Pages" is How-To build them correctly.

This was the exact question I had myself when I was first
came across this type of website Traffic Generation and is
why I'm writing this article.

So, with that said, I hope by the time you finish reading
this article you'll have a good idea yourself of the steps
neccessary on How-To build quality "Feeder Pages" of your
own that will send you FREE targeted search engine traffic
and generate you some Google Adsense revenue as well.

Lets get started. Go to Tip #1.

Tip #1. Make your "Feeder Pages" theme based.

This is an important tip. You must make your "Feeder Pages"
the same theme as the rest of your website. What I mean by
that is, same template, same navigation, same links,
copyright, etc.

By doing this it won't seem as obvious to your visitor that
its a generated page of some sort and will give you a
better chance of them clicking through to your main sale
pages.

Tip #2. Put quality Keyword Rich content on your pages.

This is yet another important tip you must consider and
that is putting quality Keyword Targeted content on your
"Feeder Pages" that targets your audience.

Why?

Because you are building these pages for the search engines
and since roughly 85% of Internet surfers use search
engines as their primary tool for locating the information
they're looking for your going to want to have Quality
Content related to your Product or Service waiting for them
to draw them in when they find your link within the search
engine listings.

Tip #3. Add links back to your website or affiliate site.

This next tip is pretty straight forward. All you need to
do is put either a Text Ad(recommended) or some Banner Ads
within the "Feeder Pages" in Highly Visible areas and link
them back to your main website or Affiliate website.

This is the whole purpose of building these pages in the
first place.

Tip #4. Placing your Google Adsense code for $$CASH$$.

Since your doing all this work to generate traffic to your
main website why not profit EVEN MORE by adding 3 blocks of
Google Adsense code to your "Feeder Pages" just in case
your visitor decides not to click through to your website
or affiliate site.

And since your "Feeder Pages" have quality Keyword Targeted
content on them, your Google Adsense Ads will display
targeted ads.

The best places to put your 3 blocks of Google Adsense code
is right at the top under your Header graphic if you have
one. The next best place is in the upper left sidebar. And
the last place is either within the content itself or at
the end of the article.

These positions all depend on how you build your "Feeder
Pages", so make sure you plan out where you want to put
your Google Adsense code in advance for Maximum PROFIT!

Tip #5. Add an RSS feed to your "Feeder Pages".

Okay. Here's the last tip I'm going to share and that is,
add an RSS(Real Simple Syndication) feed to your "Feeder
Pages".

By doing this you'll be putting your "Feeder Pages" on
Autopilot, 24/7.

Why an RSS feed?

Simple. RSS feeds deliver and syndicate fresh content, so
if you have an RSS feed on your "Feeder Pages" your content
will be updated 'Automatically' which will then trigger the
search engine spiders to schedule routine visits back to
your website for more indexing.

Well... there you have it in a nutshell folks.

If you follow what I have outlined above you'll be on your
way to FREE targeted search engine traffic and Google
Adsense $$PROFITS$$.

These are just some quality tips I wanted to share with you
from my own experience to help you Maximize your efforts if
you decide to use this type of Traffic Generation, and to
also help take away the Trial and Error process.

Below I have furnished a link to some special tools that
you can download and review on your own time so you can see
whats available to you in making your "Feeder Pages" kick
butt in the Search Engines and most important of all, put
MORE cash in your pocket.

Download NOW! ==> http://special-tools.corys-cbmall.com

(Note: This file is zipped. You will need to unzip it using
Win Zip or a related program.)

----------------------------------------------------
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Lung Cancer

2005-11-15T18:28:00.000-05:00

Do you know what a Pink Spoon is? I learned that concept today from this article. I do go to all the seminars and workshops I can afford to fit into my schedule but never related to what a Pink Spoon was. I have saved all the business cards I collected and always wondered what to do with them all. Now I realize they can be potential customers, as well as I may need their services in the future.

3 Ways to Increase Your List Numbers from In-Person Events
Copyright 2005 Alicia Forest

Do you often attend in-person events, such as workshops,
networking breakfasts, and seminars, and as you speak with
people you collect a handful of business cards, but then
you don't know what to do with them?

Of course if someone's expressed an interest in your
services, you want to follow up with them, but most people
you talk with at these events may not need your services
RIGHT NOW, yet they very well may in the future.

So how do you make sure you're at their fingertips when
they do need you? Get them on your list! That way you'll
have the opportunity to continue to get in front of them in
a subtle way. Remember, though, never to put anyone on your
list who hasn't give you permission to do so.

Here are three ways to encourage people to get on your list
when you meet them in person, without being pushy:

1. Put your Pink Spoon offering (your freebie product that
draws people into your marketing funnel) information on the
back of your business card, or on whatever other materials
you hand out.

Business cards are the standard pass-around marketing tool
at these kind of events, but if the back of your card is
blank, you're losing valuable real estate. There are
several things you could add to the back of your card, and
one of them is the information for your Pink Spoon.

Write a snappy sentence describing the benefit that the
reader will get if they sign up, along with the website
address of where they can subscribe. For example, on the
back of one of my cards it says, "Want to increase your
income and client base by 20%? Sign up for my FREE ecourse
to show you how at www.clientabundance.com."

2. Email each person whose business card you collected
within a week. Send a brief email to each person you met,
reminding them that they can sign up for your freebie
offering at your website. Make sure you include a live link
to make it super-easy for them to click and sign up.

I sent this note to someone I met at a party recently:

"Dear Christine, It was so great to meet you at Cathy's
party last weekend. I enjoyed swapping the joys and trials
of juggling a business and a family, and I'm really
impressed with all you do having three children under the
age of 6!

I wanted to send you the link to my free ecourse and ezine
that I think would really help you in your marketing of
your business. It's http://www.clientabundance.com.

Keep in touch and let me know if there are other ways I can
help you!

cheers, Alicia"

3. If you're a speaker at the event, or if it's your own
event, have a sign-up sheet for the attendees. At the
beginning and end of your talk, make sure you tell your
audience that they can receive FREE valuable information
from you if they will simply sign-up on the form. Ask them
for their first name and email address, and make note on
the form what it is they will receive.

You can give each person a separate sign-up form or have
one that you pass around for everyone to sign. You can also
pass around a basket or bowl for people to drop their cards
into to win a prize, AND to be put on your list to receive
your Pink Spoon. (Most email list services require anyone
signing up to double opt-in now, so you will be giving them
another opportunity to confim that they do in fact want to
be on your list after you've added them.)

You've probably heard "the fortune is in the follow-up" and
that's exactly what this will do for you. If you collect
their names and email addresses at the event, add them to
your list with their permission, or send them a reminder
email to do it themselves, your Pink Spoon will do the
follow up for you. It will keep you on your prospects'
radar screens so you'll come to mind immediately when they
do need your services. And that's exactly what you want!

----------------------------------------------------
Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach™, &
Founder of http://www.ClientAbundance.com teaches
coaches, consultants, online entrepreneurs and solo
professionals to attract more clients, create profit-making
products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live
the life they desire and deserve.
For FREE tips on how to create your own Client Abundance,
visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com

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Find the Perfect Holiday Gift at Amazon.com Gift Central

Lung Cancer

2005-11-14T23:39:00.000-05:00

I am moving from this small town of Belleville, Ontario Canada back to the big city of Toronto where I grew up. Since I am not able to go into the city to look for an apartment due to some commitments I have here for the next 6 weeks I have had to implore some assistance from friends and family, who are themselves busy, to help me locate somewhere for me to dwell when I return.
I am most likely going to be on someone's couch for a week because I can't find someone who can free up the time to assist me. I came across this article and I realized that I am not the only one out there that may be able to use this kind of service.
I have been talking so far to members who have already decided on and set up a home business so far, but I would like to throw in the occaissional article like this one for our new readers who may still be undecided upon the right business idea for themselves.
I don't know if there are any Relocation Consultants in the city of Toronto that I can enlist into my services but I will now be on the hunt for one thanks to this article.

Home Business Start up--Relocation Consultant
Copyright 2005 Shawn Price

The Relocation Consultant Home Business

Vital Information:

• Start-up Investment: $300-$700 (advertising costs)

• Break-even time Two weeks to one year

• Estimate of Annual Revenue and Profit: $15,000-$25,000
Part time $40,000-$50,000 Full Time

Who needs a Relocation Consultant?

• a single parent who has a demanding job with working
hours that directly conflict with apartment or home rental
research, would find the services useful.

• Workers who have been replaced or who are going to
be relocated.

• People who are returning to work from an extended stay
away, due to an injury or illness.

• Companies who are expanding or relocating.

• Companies who have traveling employees.

• People living in heavily populated cities.

What does a Relocation Consultant do?

A Relocation Consultant's duties consists of locating
neighborhoods, apartment and home dwellings, childcare
services, religious organizations and selecting a moving
company for individuals, families, and employees for
relocating businesses.

More specifically, as companies continue to downsize and or
relocate, there's a growing need for the services provided
by a Relocation Consultant.

Often, companies contract with Relocation Consultants so
that the consultant's services are readily accessible in
the event that an employee or numerous employees are
relocated.

The Relocation Consultant will match an employer or an
employees’, living requirements and requests as closely as
possible.

Additionally, a Relocation Consultant's services are
solicited for individual's who are relocating for reasons
other than employment.

Many individual's seek the services of a Relocation
Consultant due to time restrictions which prevent them from
locating desired living arrangements.

Getting started in the Relocation Consultant Business

• Advertising your Business

Run Classified ads and 1-2 inch ads in newspapers and
magazines in both the Metro areas as well as suburban
areas. Good examples are Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, New
York....

Internet Classifieds work well also.

Consider leaving brochures at various Hotels and Motels.

• Tips for running a Successful Relocation Business

One of the keys to success in this business is your ability
to network with others around the country.

Successful Networking will provide you with the ability to
thoroughly examine an area prior to running advertisements.

So...it's important to develop business relations the
country. Of course, the internet and email provide the
perfect vehicle for this type of relationship building.

Understand that your learning curve NEVER ENDS. You will
need to regularly develop your business skills.
Don't be fooled into thinking that "a good product
sells itself.”

"Consumers buy you" is what I used to teach to my
telemarketers.

I've listed on my site, a few Home Business Courses to
get you off to a good start.

Don't stop there. Continue to research and develop skill.

For example, I dedicate at least 5 hours weekly toward
increasing my personal business building techniques.

• Visit the Relocation Council.

This Organization has been in operation for a number of
years. They have a Newsletter and other training
materials to help you to develop your skills.

On their site, you'll notice that there is an option to
become Certified. In the event that you decide that you
want to expand your part time business into a full time
career, having employees...you can prepare for your
certification with the Relocation Council also.

erc.org 1-202 - 857- 0857

Note: When you are ready to begin larger ad campaigns,
visit, Standard Rate and Data srds.com SRDS has a
database of media rates for at least 100,000 publications.

The Relocation Consultant Work At Home Business is a very
inexpensive Business to start. It's fairly straight forward
and it has the potential to create a full time income while
working part time. This one is Really worth considering.

• If you decide that this is the Work from Home business
opportunity for you, continue reading our Ezine for
continued Home Business Start-Up's since there will be
ideas and information in each issue that you can tweak a
little to benefit you within your Business of Choice.

To eliminate some trial and error, in our Ezine, also
provide you with ongoing Small Business support…deals on
business tools, marketing research information, and more.

• You will need to create a Business Plan if you are
serious about creating a profitable Home Based Business.

I found a good Business Plan workbook that you will find
quite useful. Writing Business Plans can be frustrating…
I won’t lie. Thus Using a workbook and/or software is by
far the popular choice for those who don’t want to pay
$700-$1,500 to have one professionally prepared.

• Ensure that you take your business to the internet.
I’ve evaluated a few web hosting Companies and I’ve listed
their advantages as well as their disadvantages. You’ll
also find discount computer hardware locations.

You may find that marketing your business using RSS is an
unthinkable opportunity to overlook. You’re right. I’ve
listed free RSS readers and software that you can use
To get your feeds up and going WITHOUT the need of
studying all the techie stuff. Just visit our Resource
Page.

If you have not read AND STUDIED, the World's Famous,
"Think And Grow Rich", you can receive it Free:

This is a must read. Creating a proper mind-set is
critical. In addition to your studying your business, you
will need to develop a mind for business.

Wealth is NOT about Money. Download it And see for
yourself.

Bridging the GAP between Opportunity and Success,

OwnABizToday.com

----------------------------------------------------
Shawn Price, Author of OwnABizToday's Ezine, due to her
son's severe medical needs was forced to leave the job
market and enter into the world of self employment.
Experience has taught Shawn that one can NEVER predict
future circumstances and thus one should if at all possible
, become financially independent.
In an effort to lead people toward self employment, Shawn
and her partners, regularly evaluate home business start
up's as well as small business resources and tools.
Bridging the GAP between Opportunity and Success
http://www.OwnABizToday.com
RSS: http://www.ownabiztoday.com
Ezine: subscribe@ownabiztoday.com

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Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-13T12:58:00.000-05:00

This following article was an interesting concept for me as well. I like the author, had no idea what Viral Marketing was. Upon reading this article I realized maybe I had been missing out on something I could be using to help promote my business more.
Read the article for yourself and find out.

The Power of Viral Marketing
Copyright 2005 Peter Dobler

When I first heard of the term Viral Marketing I thought
immediately of a virus. No, not the flu, a computer virus.
I avoided viral marketing like the plaque. I’m sure many of
you are doing the same thing. Every email labeled viral
marketing got trashed and I immediately run an anti virus
check on my computer.

It actually took me long time and the convincing words of a
dear friend of mine to change my attitude towards viral
marketing. Call it ignorance, but I just didn’t have the
confidence in something that sounds like it wants to harm
me.

Today my whole world changed and now I’m an active advocate
to promote viral marketing. The concept is not new and it
was created by the brightest minds in the business.

Viral marketing capitalizes in the sharing habits of the
human beings. It’s quite extraordinary. We all tent to
share with friends and family the bargains or freebies we
were able to get. If we can copy the freebie we will do it
and give it to our friends and family. Take the music
industry as an example.

Ok, we established that viral marketing is giving out free
stuff and that this free stuff will be passed around. So
how do you capitalize on something everybody expects to get
for free? You don’t. You just use the freebie as an
advertising vehicle.

See, once you started giving out software or a book for
free, it will snowball from there. Granted that the
software is any good and the book provides some value.
There is no telling on how many copies of your software or
book will float through the internet. The only thing you
now for sure, it takes some time to gain momentum.

Take Hotmail as an example. Hotmail build its empire solely
on viral marketing. Every email you send had a little line
at the end advertising free email from Hotmail. That’s it.
No expensive marketing strategy, no TV ads, nothing but a
little advertising line at the end of every email. It took
years of building momentum, but today Hotmail is a giant
pulling in billions of dollars every year.

I’m not expecting to repeat Hotmail’s success with my
little viral marketing project, but I’m convinced that
sooner or later the profits will come. It is simply a
matter of time. All you need is a good product that you
control and be able to give out for free. Make sure that
you will be able to place your advertising on the front
page of the product.

You can advertise your newsletter, your web site, products
you’re selling, anything you will make a profit if somebody
clicks through the advertising on the freebie. I spare you
with the details why the same ad advertised through viral
marketing is so much more effective than regular
advertising.

Just one thought. Would you click on a single ad embedded
in a software or book send to you by a friend you trust? Of
course you would. There is nothing suspicious about this.
It’s your friend who recommended this in the first place.
On the other hand nobody actually clicks on advertising
popping up on strange web sites you never heard of before.

Now you see why I like viral marketing so much. Quite
frankly I believe in the future it is the only marketing
that works. SPAM filters and popup blockers already make it
almost impossible to get through to our prospects and it
will not get any better.

Prepare your self for the future and implement viral
marketing today. You will be glad you did.

----------------------------------------------------
Peter Dobler is a 20+ year veteran in the IT business. He
is an active Real Estate Investor and a successful Internet
business owner.
Collect more software and bonus content for your own web
site at http://www.peterdobler.com or send a blank email to
mailto:pdobler@getresponse.com

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Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-12T16:58:00.000-05:00

Last year I worked for a call center troubleshooting printer and computer issues. Then Hewlett-Packard decided they wanted us to add sales to our calls. We were not impressed. For the first few weeks most of us didn't do very well, even with the bosses threatening to fire us for not fulfilling our job requirements.
After awhile we brought in a special instructor to help us generate a sales tactic. Some people benefitted from it and others didn't. What I found was when I fixed an issue successfully, explained the benefits of products that could improve their performance and better their company or personal lives throughout the call, the customer more than often asked if I knew where he/she could purchase such an item for a good price. That was my opening to slide in the fact we had what he needed and I could set him right up at the end of the call. But I didn't push a sale. I didn't even ask if they were interested. I didn't get a sale on very many calls compared to some of my colleagues but the sales I did make usually amounted to enough to keep me on par.
The following article should give you some tips on how to change your selling technique.

The Ultimate Sales Tip - Give Up the Need to Sell
Copyright 2005 Ike Krieger

Most business people will tell you that selling is not
their favorite activity. Let’s explore a way to look at the
process of sales a bit more favorably.

Whether we like it or not---“we’re all in sales”. Most of
us have an internal dialogue about both selling and closing
that is less than positive. Most of us approach the sales
portion of our business hoping we’re not “coming off like a
salesman.”

Most of us hate to be sold to. Most of us have to sell to
live. Most of us realize that in order to keep our business
afloat, we need to sell. I suggest that you give up that
need to sell.

Please notice that I didn’t ask you to give up the
commitment to sell, but rather the need to sell. The
hardest time to do anything is when you need to.

In the revised edition of his book “Man’s Search for
Meaning”, the noted psychiatrist and author Victor Frankl
coined the term “Paradoxical Intentionality”. He defines
“Paradoxical Intentionality” as “The twofold fact that fear
brings about that which one is afraid of, and that
hyper-intention makes impossible that which one wishes.”

In other words, if you need to do something it makes the
task much more difficult. Frankl’s thesis can best be
illustrated by an example with which we all can identify.

The last time you needed to get to sleep because you had
something important to do the next morning… how easy was it
to get to sleep? The last time you needed to stay awake for
the end of a film… how easy was it to stay awake?

So I repeat… give up the need to sell. Be committed 150% to
making the sale but avoid becoming tied to the “outcome” of
making the sale.

This is contrary to what many of us have been taught.
However, if you view yourself as a “problem solver” rather
than a “maker of sales” this concept will make much greater
sense.

I define a problem as, “something that exists when there is
a difference between what you have and what you want.” My
definition of business is, “The ability to solve other
people’s problems and get and make a profit.”

Closing is “the ability to create an environment in which
the prospect can come to the conclusion that our product or
service will solve his/her problem.”

Based on these definitions, our job becomes a process in
which we first uncover whether the prospect has the type of
problems our business solves. Next we have to find out if
the prospect truly believes that a problem exists (and it’s
important to let the prospect be the judge.)

If the prospect believes that there is a problem, and that
the problem is likely to cause monetary or emotional
sacrifices, he or she will be more open to having someone
who can be trusted help solve the problem. In other words,
the prospect begins to close the deal.

Your prospect will begin to convince and influence you that
there is a need for your help. He or she will become the
source of the sales presentation and the close. As
backwards sounding as this may seem… it’s really the way it
works.

Because the responsibility of convincing and influencing is
assumed willingly by the prospect nearly all of the stress
and negativity we associate with selling literally
disappears.

Use this approach to selling and you’ll see a big
difference. Instead of a day filled with trying to sell
things to people, you will get to solve people’s problems.
This is a much more enjoyable way to approach the selling
part of your business.

In summary… give up the need to sell and think of yourself
as a magical problem solver.

----------------------------------------------------
Ike Krieger is a speaker, author and mentor. Ike provides
tips, tools, ideas and resources that focus on sales and
business networking success. Ike will help you get in front
of more of your ideal contacts, and then turn your contacts
into contracts...or clients... more easily and more often.™
- Subscribe to Ike's mailing list
http://www.BusinessSuccessBuilder.com

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Lung Cancer

2005-11-12T00:08:00.000-05:00

Do you sell articles on eBay? I have a brother who makes a healthy living doing that. He sells computers, parts, software, ipods, and other assorted products. Of the people I have talked to who sell on eBay, they all say it can become an addiction. They enjoy it immensely. Now doesn't that sound like the best kind of job?
But sometimes selling on eBay is only one stream of income. As small business owners, we need to be open to as many multiple streams of income we can manage. The following article should give you some tips on how to make eBay work for you to generate more traffic to your own site. Follow the guidelines though or you may break some rules and regulations.

How to use eBay auctions to drive traffic to your site
Copyright 2005 Peter Tarrida del Marmol

Many eBay auction sellers rely only on eBay for generating
100% of their online income. Many of these people are
running a successful auction business; however, they could
do even better. They are missing a huge opportunity to
turbo-boost their business profits and reduce their listing
fees at the same time. If you feel you are one of these
people, these are the steps you should follow to optimize
your net auction business:

1.Create a website. If you can write an eBay ad, then you
can design a website. It is not rocket science. You can
download many free web templates from the internet and
customize them easily with any HTML editor. If you type the
words “free web templates” in Google, for example, you will
get more than one million results!

2.Register a domain name and hire a web hosting service.
These services start at about $40 per year, depending on
the web space and special services you require. Once you
have set up your hosting account, you must publish your
site.

3.Register an account in Paypal in order to allow online
payments from your website. Paypal’s payment buttons and
shopping cart options are easy to use and allow you to set
up your site very quickly.

4.Use allowed strategies in your eBay auctions to drive
traffic to your website. You don’t have to pay listing fees
and commissions for the sales that come from your website,
so your objective should be to use eBay only to generate
traffic and monetize your sales from your own website.

But everybody knows that eBay does not allow placing
outbound links in the auction ads, so how can you turn the
massive eBay daily traffic into a continuous stream of
visitors to your site?

Here comes the interesting part…

The first method is to put a link to your site on your
“about me” page and then link your auction ad to it. This
is allowed by eBay. Your auction visitors will be directed
first to your “about me” page, and then driven to your
website. A second way to gain traffic is advertising your
business using a picture or logo on your auction ad that
includes your website’s URL. By doing this, you will be
using eBay as a very cheap way of advertising online. All
your auction visitors will see the name of your site and
will be invited to type your URL in their web browser.

To optimize the number of visitors to your auctions, make
sure to use popular words in your auction’s title.

Another easy technique is to write your site’s name without
the “http://” or “www” in a paragraph of your eBay ad. This
should be done carefully. The paragraph should not look
like an ad for your site, but as a natural explanation. For
example, let’s say your website is www.auctionearnings.com.
You could include a paragraph like this in your ad:

“You can find more information regarding this product at
AuctionEarnings.com, as well as free articles and free
e-books that will contribute to increasing your knowledge
on your subject of interest.”

Finally, and in my opinion, the most efficient way to gain
massive traffic is to create an information product and
give it away on eBay. Sell it for one penny and send an
email to your customers with a link to your download page.

Attention - very important!

You MUST capture your customer’s name and email address in
order to build your own customer list, so that you can
promote other products in the future using auto-responders.
At this point, you will be taking control of your own
business and you will not have to depend on eBay anymore to
monetize your sales.

----------------------------------------------------
Peter Tarrida del Mármol has succeeded on using eBay to
generate traffic for his affilliate internet business. To
learn more, click on:
http://www.auctionearnings.com

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Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-10T19:11:00.000-05:00

The newest thing to hit the market, or help the market, whichever way you would like to interpret it, is what is known as Customer Acquisition Exchange. That is where two merchants or affiliates will purchase products off each other to help the flow of business.
The following article will help explain the system a little more and give you a heads up on some things to be aware of.

7 Customer Acquisition schemes your competitor is hiding from you.
Copyright 2005 Michael Lever

Customer Acquisition is beyond doubt the number one
priority for all serious business owners. Whether you're a
merchant or an associate/affiliate of a merchant, your goal
is to grow sales. That is why the best in your industry are
closely guarding their customer acquisition techniques.
Regardless of what they're telling you, they will not give
up their competitive advantage and will hide their
techniques and true motives behind "smoke and mirror"
tactics.

Things aren't always what they seem.

Two men are walking in a forest when they come across a
deep hole in the ground. "Wow, that must be really deep",
says one man after throwing in a pebble and listening for
the sound. "Lets throw in one of those large rocks and see
how deep it goes." The men throw in a football-sized
boulder and wait anxiously for the sound... Nothing! "There
is a railway sleeper over there in the bushes", said the
other man. "Help me throw it in, it's definitely going to
make a sound". The two men heave the railway sleeper into
the hole and watch it disappear in the darkness...again,
Nothing! Suddenly a goat appears from the forest. It runs
full speed between the men, leaps into the air and falls
into the hole". Just as the men exchange looks of utter
bewilderment, a farmer comes running out from the trees
yelling "Hey, have you guys seen a goat around here?" "Sure
did", replied the men. "It was the craziest thing. It ran
right past us and leaped into that hole". "Nah, can't have
been my goat", said the farmer. "My goat was tied to a
railway sleeper".

The moral of the story is, "Don't believe what you
perceive". Many successful businesses will guard their
customer acquisition secrets by trying to convince you
they've got to where they are by good honest hard work.
Others will distract you by trying to sell you their unique
system, packaged and guaranteed to generate you overnight
success.

So what are your competitors really doing? Listen closely,
I am about to reveal to you, the top 7 schemes they're
using to boost their sales and baffle their industry peers
like yourself, making you wonder what the heck you're doing
wrong.

#1) Perception Management. Online businesses in particular
are excellent perception managers. You've seen them before,
professional looking web site with images of sexy sales
people ready to take your order. Often however, they're
one-man operations run from the spare bedroom. No
insurance, enforced customer privacy, or quality merchant
processes. But on the surface, it's intimidating to
competitors and assuring to new customers.

#2) Strategic alliances. Most businesses do not make it on
their own. Joint Ventures, and behind the scene business
deals are often the true reason for rapid customer
acquisition. Alliances are generally only revealed if
customer acquisition can be further enhanced through brand
alliance.

#3) Puppet Masters. Many businesses are in fact just small
branches owned and controlled by a larger third party. They
can afford to run without profit while lucratively
appearing cost-effective. The business often exists not for
profit, but as a strategic tactic to ensure the parent
company has a finger in that market segment pie.

#4) Leveraging. Most of today's technology would not be
here without yesterday's inventions. Imagine your home if
plastic was not invented. Business is the same. Competitors
will invest their time and money on safe, fast and
cost-effective outcomes. Innovating new ways from scratch
is risky. Leveraging existing customer acquisition services
is favorable. For example, by creating incentives for your
customers to recommend you to their network of contacts, is
a viral marketing technique that leverages the customers
you already have.

#5) Super-leveraging. You cannot use leveraging alone, as
your competitor will have the same advantages you have. So
unless you have the funds to buy out the customer
acquisition service before your competitor discovers it,
you need be creative and innovate smart methods before
them. These are your intellectual property and competitive
advantage, so guard them well. For example a merchant with
an affiliate program would super-leverage it using a
"customer acquisition exchange" service. This delivers a
new sales channel (customer reciprocation) that can be
competitively used in many creative ways to boost business.

#6) Intelligence and surveillance. Not only do successful
business super-leverage known services for customer
acquisition, they also super-leverage as a strategic
intelligence move. For instance, online merchants will use
Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising services like Google and
Overture not to bring customers directly but to learn about
their competitors and how much they pay for customer
acquisition. Remember, they're in the game to win and the
more they know about their opponent the easier it is to
manipulate them.

#7) Precision systems. A market leader will use targeted
and measurable strategies. Every element is monitored and
adjustable. Through trial and error, your competitor will
tweak the customer experience for profit and growth. It is
a systematic approach to customer acquisition that
successful organizations like McDonalds use to thwart their
competition.

So there you have it, just a few of the secret happenings
that go on behind the scenes at your competitors business.
Look out for more information about how to decipher your
competitor's business model to take the lead.

Regards

Michael Lever

----------------------------------------------------
Michael Lever is a co-founder and CEO of
SpinningTornado.com, an independent company offering
unbiased tools and services to help affiliate and network
marketers build profitable online businesses.
http://www.SpinningTornado.com
Partnering affiliates the world over.

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-09T18:13:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed when you are browsing through sites how many of them look similar to another? Sure they all have different content and idea concept but the pattern is generic. You have to browse through the whole thing to find the originality. Most people don't want to do that when they are surfing. They want to click on a main page, see something new that entices them to read on and then hopefully purchase something unique they can use.
The following article came across my desk and I thought it was perfect. Too many times we over look an idea that could be a best seller only because we think it may be too simple. You never know unless you try.
Like my ex husband who wanted to build a prototype before he sold his patent and then since he never finished any complete models, never submitted his designs for patenting either. There are several products out there in the market place today that he could have made serious money off of as the original developer if he had only taken the plunge. Don't let this happen to you. If an idea comes to you with enthusiasm, let it ride. Don't take the chance of someone else coming up with the idea later and taking what could have been yours. What have you got to lose?

A million dollars in 4 months?
Copyright 2005 Richard Grady

As with so many things, the ideas that really 'work' on the
Internet are often the most simple. In fact, they are
often the ideas that most people would just discard as
being too ridiculous to even try (this doesn't just apply
to the Internet of course - many great
inventors/entrepreneurs have been laughed at in the past
only to have the last laugh themselves...).

Anyway, I have been following the story of one such idea
over the past couple of months and although I am sure many
of you will already be familiar with it, I wanted to share
some thoughts with you.

The site in question is called the Million Dollar Home
Page. This site was the brainchild of an English guy by
the name of Alex Tew. Alex is 21 and back in August was
about to start university. Being only too aware of the
fact that many students end up finishing their education
with huge debts to repay, he decided to try and generate
sufficient funds to cover his expenses whilst studying
using the power of the Internet.

The basic concept of the Million Dollar Home Page is that
website owners can buy advertising space on the home page
of the site at a cost of $1 per pixel. The smallest
advertising block you can purchase is 10x10 pixels, hence a
cost of $100. There are a million pixels available for
purchase, thus if Alex succeeds in selling them all, he
will have raised a cool $1million!

On the face of it, this is a crazy idea - why would anyone
want to pay to put a tiny graphic on a page of thousands of
other tiny graphics on the off-chance that someone might
click on it? If you had asked me 3 months ago (ie. prior
to the site being launched) if I thought it was worth
doing, I would have said 'no' (as indeed, I think most
people would have done). How wrong I was....

Alex launched the site at the end of August and right away
started to try and generate press interest. This approach
worked superbly and he has had International press coverage
over the past couple of months which has helped to spread
the word about his site in the viral manner that is only
possible via the Internet. Result? At the time of writing
this article, Alex had sold over half a million pixels -
yup, that means he has generated over $500,000 in income in
just 2 months! At this rate he will achieve his target of
selling a million pixels by the end of the year and even if
he doesn't sell another pixel, he has still done superbly
well.

So what can we learn from this?

Well the first thing is that even the wackiest ideas can
work and it doesn't matter how simple a theory may be, it
is worth giving it a shot. You don't get much simpler than
the idea for the Million Dollar Home Page - in effect, this
could have been a one-page site. As it is, Alex has added
other pages such as a blog and press release info which
helps to make the site even more appealing as people like
to read stories such as this as they happen.

Clearly you don't need a 1000 page website with lots of
complicated programming running in the background to earn
half a million dollars - one page will do it! :-)

The second thing to note is that the way in which the
Internet can spread the word about a website is hugely
powerful. Admittedly much of the PR that Alex obtained was
via television/radio and newspaper articles/features but an
enormous amount of the traffic and customers that he has
received will have been via people emailing his link to
their friends and by hearing about the site from articles
such as this one. Remember, all of this 'advertising' is
completely free and it doesn't get better than that.

Of course it didn't take long for the copycats to show up
and there are now several hundred similar websites online -
many of them haven't even bothered to change the style or
wording from the original site and have just copied and
pasted Alex's work. How lazy can you get? It is a fact
that if you have a good idea that makes money on the
Internet, sooner or later someone will copy it. I know
this from my own experience! What all of these copycats
miss is why an idea such as this works - it is a one-off
and the only person that is going to make any serious money
from it is the guy who was first to the table, ie. Alex.
You see this so often both on and offline - how many people
are still trying to set up online auction sites that are
never going to work because eBay is already too far ahead
of the game?

I have even seen several people selling scripts that
automate the admin functions of a 'pixels for sale' page so
that you can set up your own pixel site without having to
manually add graphics/links etc! At least this shows a
little imagination and doesn't rip off the original idea
completely :-)

In summary, Alex has to be commended for coming up with a
brilliantly simple idea and for actually seeing it through.
The advertisers will almost certainly be seeing increased
traffic since the very nature of the site encourages
visitors to click on a couple of graphics 'just to see'.
Of course, this traffic won't be targeted and for the most
part therefore, will be pretty poor quality but as they
say, there is no such thing as bad traffic.

The Million Dollar Home Page is a perfect example of how a
basic idea can be let loose online and allowed to generate
a small fortune from nothing in a very short space of time.
The best ideas are yet to come and to repeat a quote that
I used a few months ago, 'Most of the people that will
become Internet millionaires don't even have a website
yet...'

Three months ago Alex fell into that category, today he has
a website and I willing to bet that in a few months time he
will also have the $1m to go with it. Will it be your turn
next....?

----------------------------------------------------
Richard Grady has been helping ordinary people earn online
since 1998. He writes a free newsletter which is published
every two weeks. To subscribe (and claim your free gifts),
visit: http://www.thetraderonline.com/newsletter.html

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

T'is the season to be jolly. Ho Ho Ho. We'll for the Amercians out there I guess you still have Thanksgiving to go through.
Christmas is the holiday that everyone looks forward to all year. It is the most commercialized holiday out there. There are some businesses that make more money in the three weeks before Christmas than they do all year. It is the time of year when everyone needs some kind of inspiration for gift giving. All the merchants out there can sell any of their products with the right pitch and incentive. If you can convince someone to shop at your store and throw in an added bonus they would really enjoy, they will do so if it means one less store they have to hunt through.
That is why I love places like Walmart because they are a one stop shop with good prices and always something on sale. Why not? How many stores can you shop at where you can get clothes, electronics, office equipment, toys, furniture, tools, and food?
I have never had to return anything for poor quality, and the customer service has always been informative and helpful.
The following article will give you some pointers on how to prepare your business for the holiday season to maximize your profits.

New Ideas For Small Business Holiday Marketing
Copyright 2005 Marketing Comet

2 seconds after Halloween it seems that all the retail
stores put up their Christmas decorations - trying to
capture as much of the Holiday market as possible. Typical
ways that retail stores use to capitalize on the holidays
include extended hours and sales. This is all well and
good. Today I want to give you an early present by giving
you some novel ways to think about holiday promotions.

Many people are fed up with holiday crowds, which is
reflected in the growth of online sales and the decline of
some traditional retailer's sales. There also seems to be a
trend towards buying fewer gifts, but those gifts tend to
be higher-ticket luxury items.

In the type of marketing we all should be doing ,we start
with the customer in mind. What do we know about people
this time of year?

- Time is a commodity - there's too much to do and too
little time. - People have more shopping to do than they
usually do. - People are under a tremendous amount of
stress. - People tend to clean and decorate their houses.

These are just some of the factors affecting people during
the holiday season. I'm sure you can think of many more.
Take these things into consideration, and take the stance
of being a giver.

Here's an idea I've never seen (so I want credit if you use
it). If you own a store, offer free gift wrap - nothing new
there. While people are getting their gifts wrapped, they
get a free chair massage? You could partner up with a local
spa, or even a massage school who could also give every
customer a promotional coupon. You save your customers
time, take away their stress, and create a fusion marketing
partnership with the spa.

If you are in a household service business, offer to do
additional winterizing services for your customers to save
them time. Offer a free holiday housecleaning. If you
aren't in the cleaning business - again team up with a
cleaning service.

Give-aways are great. Give away free Christmas trees -
depending on where you are you could buy a couple hundred
for $10 a piece. The deal could be - spend $100 and take
home a free tree. Give away turkeys, or complete turkey
dinners - a lot of grocery stores have this promotion.

Everybody gives away calendars, aim for something different
but still useful. How about ice-scrapers if you live in the
north? Blankets, sweatshirts, caps - are all good
promotional items when the weather turns cold.

Holiday cards are great. People enjoy getting them and
displaying them. Hardly anybody sends Thanksgiving cards,
definitely consider it. In this politically correct age
(gasp) you have to be sensitive to people's religious
sensibilities. Send Happy Holidays cards and not Merry
Christmas Cards - unless you are absolutely sure your
customer celebrates Christmas.

If you have any kind of retail business, think about add-on
gifts that might be used as a second gift. A florist might
include a free gift-wrapped ornament with a certain level
of purchase that can be sent to a different address. Two
gifts for the price of one. Buy one get one free offers are
great at holiday times.

Use your creativity this holiday season and think about how
you can solve your customers' problems.

----------------------------------------------------
J D Moore - Marketing Comet
Small business marketing coaching that gives you more
customers, higher profits, and a lot more fun in your
business.
http://www.marketingcometcoach.com
blog - http://marketingcomet.typepad.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-07T18:25:00.000-05:00

How's the business going? Have you created your spectacular sales letter that is bringing in the masses? How's your optin list going? Finding enough content for your ezine? Do you find the prices you have set for your products are fair and agreeable with your customers while still staying in the competition? All these things are part of maintiaining your business.
If you are still organizing and rearranging your sales package to create the best effective strategy here is an article that may help you get on the right track. I found it useful in getting my prospective package all sorted and honed to perfection.

Creating a “Knock-Your-Socks-Off” Prospect Package
Copyright 2005 Jennifer McGroary

Before planning a direct mail campaign, it’s important to
take some time and carefully put together your sales
material. This is what I refer to as your Prospect Package.
Depending on the sales situation, your Prospect Package may
be built with several different components.

1. Sales Letter - Keep it simple and not too "techie".

Another key point is to write down the objective of your
sales letter. Are you trying to sell a new service to
existing customers... announce a sale to potential
clients... create greater demand for a service you already
provide? Your letter should then be developed around that
single objective for maximum effectiveness.

The body of your sales letter should achieve three
different things:

o Maintain the readers attention;

o Calls the reader to action;

o Informs the reader that you are skilled enough to handle
their needs.

98% of this can be accomplished by filling your sales
letter with benefits, benefits, and even more benefits. The
more benefits you can offer, the better your offer will be
received. Remember, the reader wants to know what's in it
for them. They want to know that you can improve their
current situation.

2. Enclose a Portfolio CD

If you design web sites/graphics, you'll need a way to show
your work to potential clients. Placing your sites/work on
a CD is a great way to do this.

This gives your prospects an opportunity to see what you
offer, without them having to connect to the Net, and type
in your URL's.

3. Price Sheet - (optional)

Your price sheet simply outlines what your rates are, as
well as what's included with each service. If some of your
services are geared towards specific target audiences, then
do mention this within the descriptions.

4. Bid Sheet

Include a form that prospects can fill out to get a quote
for your services. Ask all the relevant questions needed to
respond with a quote.

5. Business Card

Don't forget to enclose your business card. If they aren't
in need of your services now, they will know who to contact
when they are ready.

This is only a condensed plan for a Prospect Package. A
detailed description of of an “Knock-Your-Socks-Off”
Prospect Package can be found in The Web Hosts and
Designer’s Marketing Guide at http://www.webbizinfo.com

Order your copy today to move yourself and your business
ahead of your competition.

----------------------------------------------------
Article by Jennifer McGroary
The ideas in this article are based on the e-book, "The Web
Hosts and Designer's Marketing Guide." If you'd like to
gain IMMEDIATE access to 100+ strategies and tactics for
promoting your web site design or hosting business, get
your copy today.
http://www.WebBizInfo.com
REMEMBER, successful marketing is the main ingredient in
most profitable web service businesses.

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-06T19:11:00.000-05:00

Have you thought of a weekly or monthly ezine? When you browse through all the other online businesses, one thing you may notice is the signup form on the side to subscribe to thier ezine. In your ezine you could let your subscribers know if and when you have any specials going on, any news withing the company, or any quick tips or other info they may be interested in.
The following article may help you decide how to setup your own ezine.

How to Use Ezines to Market Your Services
Copyright 2005 Stacey Morris

One of the most effective ways to promote your website is
through an ezine, or electronic magazine. In a previous
issue I discussed effective ways to build a list, but here
I want to return to the advantages of distributing an
ezine—my favorite permission-based marketing strategy.

An ezine allows you to proactively build a list of
subscribers and prospects.

Most people will not immediately sign up for your services,
but they may want to be kept in the loop. By offering a
complimentary subscription, you’re giving your prospects
the option of staying abreast of your offerings. By signing
up, your subscribers are giving you permission to market to
them over time.

Coaching Question: What could you offer your list as an
incentive to sign up for your ezine?

You can maintain varying levels of contact with your list.

One of the less talked about wonders of having a larger
list is the ability to divide it into different types or
levels of prospects—almost impossible with traditional
mailing lists.

You could have a list made up solely of clients, another
list exclusively of buyers of your audio course, another of
prospects that haven’t bought anything from you yet. By
dividing your lists, you can target your base more
effectively, and you avoid irritating people with repeat
offers (think of realtors who deluge mailboxes with offers
to SELL NOW!).

Coaching Question: Develop a funnel model of your
offerings, with your ezine at top and your most expensive
service at bottom. What products and services could you
provide within the funnel?

You can continually add value for your subscribers.

Magazine subscriptions are limited in the ways they can
promote their publication. Sending out gifts is
prohibitively expensive, so a free sample issue and an
introductory low price are the most common incentives for
subscribing to a new publication. We’ve become used to this
overused tactic, and now expect it. But what if your
magazine could occasionally supply you with relevant
information about your specific interests? And what if it
did this without trying to sell you anything? Just as a way
of adding value to your subscription?

Surprise your subscribers with free reports, links to audio
programs or member-only teleclasses. The internet is a
fantastic tool for allowing us to provide tons of helpful
information and assistance, with little cost. There is no
better way to stand out than to give away something of
great perceived value.

Coaching Question: What complimentary / low-cost products
or services could you offer your subscribers? What about
long-term subscribers? Or past clients? Brand new clients?

Think about how you can build an ezine that helps your
readers while positioning you as the expert.

----------------------------------------------------
Stacey Morris, Focus Coach
Want to Build a Huge List of Subscribers? SIgn up for my
free report "12 Steps to Marketing Your Services Online" at
http://www.ServiceBusinessCoaching.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-05T18:36:00.000-05:00

We have spent alot of time discussing online home business ideas of setting up a website and selling things online by way of ebooks and such. I thought I would find some info for the businesses that supply products whether they will be purchased virtually(online) or in person.
The following article should provide you some tips on where is the best place to look for wholesalers.

Three Killer Strategies For Finding Wholesale Products
Copyright 2005 Jeff Yancey

Finding good wholesale products and sources for your
business can be one of the most difficult tasks that you
face when starting a new enterprise.

It can cost you a ton of time and money. But there are some
things you can do in your search for wholesalers,
liquidators, drop-shippers and other wholesale companies to
make sure that your searching doesn't leave you
empty-handed.

There are lots of ways to locate wholesalers, but here are
three great strategies to get you started:

STRATEGY #1: Start At The Top and Work Your Way Down.

If you already know the manufacturer of the product that
you are searching for at wholesale, then the manufacturer
is the first company you need to contact.

Now, maybe you are just starting out and your company is
too small to deal directly with the manufacturer or maybe
you don't have the money to buy wholesale in large
quantity. That's OK, you still need to contact the
manufacturer first. Even if you want to buy directly from
them, they may not sell to you, they may send you to their
authorized wholesale distributors.

They may also be able to send you to a dropshipper who
could dropship the products directly to your customers so
you don't have to stock any inventory. It will depend on
the company. Either way, your goal is to find out where you
can purchase their products at wholesale prices.

When you call them, be sure to tell them the name of your
business. They don't sell to individuals just looking for
"good deals." That's why they have retailers.

For example, your conversation might go something like
this: They Say: "Good Morning, ABC Manufacturing how may I
direct your call?" You say: "Good Morning, This is YOUR
NAME with YOUR COMPANY NAME. I'm in charge of wholesale
purchasing and we are looking to add some of your products
to our store. Who would I need to speak with?" From there,
you should be well on your way to finding out where to get
those products at wholesale.

STRATEGY #2: Contact Deptartment Stores and Retail Outlets
About Their Overstocks.

Depending on what type of merchandise you are looking for,
strategy #2 may be very beneficial for you. The first thing
to do is to contact the home office of the stores that are
retailing the product lines you are interested in. This may
take you several phone calls to get somebody who knows (or
who cares) but it will pay off for you.

Persistence is the key here. At first you will be talking
with the receiptionist (who may be more interested in doing
their nails or getting back to that trashy novel they are
trying to read on company time.) But keep after it until
you get the department that you need. What you are wanting
to find out is who purchases their overstocks, liquidation,
returns and closeout merchandise.

Many department stores sell to wholesalers and "jobbers"
who in turn will sell to you on a wholesale level. The
wholesaler / jobber will likely buy in bulk for way below
wholesale and that's why they are able to still sell to you
at wholesale prices. In some cases you may be able to buy
the overstocks directly from the store if that is what you
want.

STRATEGY #3: Attend A Wholesale Trade Show.

Yes, this one will cost you some time and money. Believe
me, I know. I've attended more than one and I have the
receipts to prove it. But if you go to a good show, the
contacts that you come away with could be priceless to your
business.

You will also return with many new product ideas that you
never even thought of. And best of all, if you go to an
industry-respected show, you know you will be getting real
wholesale contacts. There are several wholesale tradeshows
throughout the United States during the year.

If you don't have the time or money to visit a wholesale
trade show or do all the research and phone calls, then I
have some good news for you.

You can access my wholesale sources and dropshipper
database on my website right now at:
http://www.wholesaletoyouremail.com

In conclusion, With some persistence, phone calls and some
leg-work, you will start to build a list of wholesalers
from which to begin your business. I wish you much success!

----------------------------------------------------
Jeff Yancey is the author of the highly-acclaimed "How To
Build A Website In 5 Days" at
http://www.vaultdatacenter.com/html.htm Jeff also operates
several websites including a very popular online wholesale
directory at: http://www.wholesaletoyouremail.com You may
contact Jeff Yancey at: info@hiddenvault.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-03T17:59:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought I was finally getting a grasp on running an online business I have to come across another article that reminds me of just how much more I need to learn. This really is a business that requires alot of research,practice, and testing.
This article will introduce to you some programs available to help you get organized and keeping track of your business endeavors. Some of you may recognize one of them called GotoMyPC.com from their tv commercials. I am going to sign up. I have been in a need for it when I go out of town and can't bring my laptop but find I need something from my computer. It has already been a few times I could have benefited from a service like that.

Top 10 Tools to TurboCharge Your Business Productivity
Copyright 2005 Donna Gunter

If I asked my clients about their most valuable commodity,
without a doubt they would tell me that it's their time.
Many are solopreneurs and are wearing the hats of CEO, CFO,
Director of Marketing, Director of Sales, and IT Director,
just to name a few. When they discover a product or
service that helps them reclaim time, they feel they've hit
the mother load, as time is money to them.

I love to find new technology or new services that help
automate my business or enhances my productivity and makes
the daily chores easier and faster. How many more clients
could you follow up with and add to your business if you
freed up 30 minutes, 60 minutes, or as much as 2 hours a
day? Here are my top 10 tools that I use to turbocharge
my productivity:

1. AcqURL: AcqURL makes managing a moderate to massive
amount of bookmarks very easy. You create any number of
categories in which to file your favorites, and adding a
favorite website is as easy as clicking a button.
http://www.acqurl.com

2. AddressGrabber Business: Address Grabber Business
helps small business owners capture names and addresses
from sources like email signatures, web sites or documents
into a chosen database (ACT, Excel, Outlook, etc.) in just
one click. http://www.addressgrabber.com

3. Argali White and Yellow: Argali White and Yellow
searches multiple telephone and email directories so you
don't have to. The found listings are combined, formatted
in uniform way and displayed as if they came from one
integrated metadirectory. You can also do a reverse search
for a phone number and search for area codes. And, the
program updates itself with any new listings every time you
open it. Both a free version and a paid version are
available for download. http://www.argali.com

4. Evernote: With EverNote you can easily store and
quickly access typed and handwritten memos, webpage
excerpts, emails, phone messages, addresses, passwords,
brainstorms, sketches, documents and more! A free version
or a 30-day trial of the paid version is available for
download. http://www.evernote.com/en/downloads/

5. GotoMyPC: Need access to your files but don't want to
drag your laptop with you on vacation or on a business
trip? A subscription to GotoMyPC.com will enable you to
log into your office computer and retrieve whatever you
need, just as though you were sitting in front of it. A
free 30-day trial is available for download.
http://www.gotomypc.com

6. MaxEmail: I bought a fax machine and it sat unopened
on the floor of my office for over a month, and I
eventually returned it. Why? Because MaxEmail,
www.maxemail.com lets me send a receive faxes through the
Internet/email and made my need for a fax machine obsolete.
The faxes arrive in PDF format, so you can easily share
you faxes with others as needed.

7. Practice Pay Solutions Merchant Account: If you're not
taking credit cards in your business, you're missing out on
sales. The coolest feature that they offer in this service
is the ability to do batch uploads of charges, so if you
have a number of clients on retainer that you invoice every
month, you can simply create a spreadsheet and batch upload
the data rather than entering each client's information
individually.
http://www.profcs.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=127926

8. Roboform: This program is the top-rated password
manager and web form filler that completely automates
password entering and form filling. You'll never have to
remember a password again! I maintain both my passwords and
user info and that of my clients in this program.
http://www.roboform.com

9. Tidy Start Menu: As time goes by, the list of the
programs in the Start Menu becomes too long. As a result,
each time you want to launch a program, it takes too much
time to find it in the menu. The "Tidy Start Menu" program
will help you to put the menu in order and make your work
comfortable. Thus, after using the program, you will have
a compact menu, which will contain nothing but categories'
names and you'll have no trouble finding a necessary
program. A freeware version and paid version are available
for download. http://www.tidystartmenu.com/index.shtml

10. XDrive: Xdrive is your personal hard drive on the
Internet. Whether you are managing files for yourself or
your business, Xdrive enables you to store, access, share,
and backup your files anytime, anywhere. You can also send
others a link to a file that's too large to send through
email. http://www.xdrive.com

----------------------------------------------------
Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps self-employed
professionals make more profit in less time online. To
sign up for more FREE tips like these and claim your FREE
ebook, TurboCharge Your Productivity: 50 + Tools To Help
You Automate Your Business and Make More Profit in Less
Time Online!, visit her site at
http://www.OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-02T17:56:00.000-05:00

It is a competitive world out there isn't it? Everyone searching for a new way to attract the customers over their competition. It gets harder and harder with each passing day to find something unique.
I just started working in a Sears call centre part time for the Christmas rush . I take catalog orders over the phone. I enjoy it because it is a great way to learn marketing and promotional tips. Sears is one of the biggest retail companies in the country. They are well known the world around for their quality products, long lasting warranties,fair prices, and friendly supportive staff.
During our calls, we have opportunities to upsell, cross sell, and promote various offers we have for our products and services. There is always an opportune time to inform your customer of something available that could be an added bonus to them or a loved ones life. All our callers are loyal customers who have been dealing with Sears for years. They know that they can rely on us to provide them with prompt delivery service, a reliable,useful or entertaining product,and courteous,understanding customer service.
Sears is the perfect company to model my own company ideas after. I hope to gain great insight into how I can become a reliable, well known name people will remember when they are looking to buy.
The following article I found goes with the theme of my thoughts on selling and the concerns therein.

The Art of UpSelling: Three Tips to Generate More Sales Effortlessly and 3 Ways
People Blow It
Copyright 2005 UpLevel Strategies

Here is the good news. The hardest sale you will ever make
to a customer is the first one. With the first sale, if you
deliver on your promise to the customer, you establish a
mutually-beneficial relationship. The customer gets what he
or she wants, and you get what you want. Also, once you
have received a "yes" commitment from a customer, it's
easier to continue the positive pattern of continued
"yeses". The customer finds it hard to break the
affirmative sequence. You then will have the opportunity
to Upsell them.

Upselling refers to when you help a customer decide to buy
a little extra or “up-grade” slightly the final purchase. A
car dealer, for example, might inform customers at the time
of ordering about upholstery protection and undercoating. A
shoe salesperson might suggest that when you buy a pair of
shoes that you also use some weather protectant spray.
These are usually small purchases that the buyer doesn’t
have to put a lot of thought into. The bonus is they can be
extremely profitable for you as the sales person and for
your organization.

Following are three key tips to effectively upsell your
customers.

1. Up-sell where it makes sense. Say a customer purchases
an e-book from your website. Instead of trying to upsell
your customer on a $3,000 seminar, ask if he'd considered
purchasing a $97 teleclass that teaches the work from the
e-book.

2. Use sales incentives. Once you've received the first
sale, offer a discount on the second item. Give the
customer a 10% discount off their first teleclass.
Sometimes a very small price break is enough to get that
extra sale.

3. Identify buying patterns. Take note of how many
customers who purchase e-books also buy teleseminars. This
kind of information tells you what items to pitch and when.
Your grasp of market research will impress potential buyers
as well: telling consumers that 90% of the people who buy
e-books from you also buy seminars might tip them towards
making that extra purchase.

The best part of upselling is that it’s practically
effortless. Since it’s done after the customer has decided
to go ahead with a major purchase, the hard part of the
sales conversation has already been done. You’ve already
established rapport, identified needs, summarized,
presented benefits, asked for the order and handled
objections. Upselling is just presenting the information in
a “by-the-way” assumptive manner.

Also, make sure that you include an upsale opportunity in
your autoresponder within your shopping cart. For example,
someone buys an e-book. In your autoresponder, thank them
for their purchase and ask them if they would like to
register for the teleclass on the same subject for a
discount.

So if it is so easy, you might be asking, how can I go
wrong?

The 3 biggest mistakes in upselling:

1. No attempt is made to upsell. I can hear it now as I
write this article. “I hate to sell”, “I don’t want to
bother people”, and the ever popular “They are probably
going to say no”. This upselling business might all sound
a bit contrived, but let me introduce another perspective
to look from assuming that you only provide top notch
products and services that can make your customers life
easier and more enjoyable.

If you had information or a product that could help people
improve the quality of their life, wouldn’t you actually be
doing a disservice to them to not offer it. You would
actually be withholding valuable information from them.
And here is the thing… they do have the right to say no.
AND you are in business. If you don’t offer or ‘sell’ your
services or products to prospects, you won’t have a
business much longer and then all the people who need you
won’t have access to you.

2. The salesperson comes across as being pushy. How can
you avoid this? Being assumptive is the key. You’ve got to
assume that the customer will naturally want your product
or service. Begin the upsell with a brief benefit, and then
if possible, add something unique about what you’re
selling. To avoid sounding pushy, particularly if the
upsell requires some elaboration, ask for the customer’s
permission to describe it.

3. The upselling is made in an unconvincing manner so the
customer generally refuses. This issue really links back
to the objects made in number one, which is you don’t feel
comfortable ‘selling’, so you don’t really make an effort.
If you believe in your products and services, let the buyer
see your passion. If you don’t…it is time to go back to
the drawing board.

----------------------------------------------------
Kelly K. O’Neil, Chief Strategy Officer, UpLevel Strategies
Business & Marketing guru Kelly O’Neil is passionate about
helping entrepreneurs succeed in business through her
Business Mastery Success System. She is the lead author of
“Visionary Women Inspiring the World: 12 Paths to Personal
Power” (Skyward, 2005) and is writing her second book
Guerilla Business Strategy with mega-marketing genius Jay
Conrad Levinson. Kelly’s company received several awards
for her exceptional work including the PR Compass award for
outstanding Public Relations, The ADDY Award for Branding
and recently received the Purple Cow Award acknowledging
her company as one of the Most Innovative Companies in
America by best-selling author Seth Godin.
For more information, or to subscribe to O'Neil's Arrive!
E-newsletter filled with countless tips and resources for
creating more profit in your business, visit
http://www.uplevelstrategies.com Please contact UpLevel
Strategies at (408) 615-8150 for a Complimentary 30 Minute
Strategy Session.

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-11-01T19:58:00.000-05:00

As we are all becoming aware, Affiliate marketing is the newest rage of online business owners the world round. There are enough companies out there to help almost everyone it seems, along with Adsense and Adwords as some other means of gaining income to your site. But sometimes it can still be an issue to get visitors to your site, even when you have found the perfect keywords and have a good promotional strategy going.
The following article I found to be the idea of what I was recently scouring the internet for. I have just signed up and I am anxious to see the benefits this new program will have for my business while I can be helping other business owners as well.

How I amazingly got WordTracker for free, and will get any other product free
too.
Copyright 2005 Michael Lever

Hi, my name is Michael and I'm about to share an astounding
breakthrough with you.

Don't scroll down to see the price. You won't find it. I am
sharing this knowledge with you for free. Why would I do
this? Because as you're about to discover, the strategy I'm
going to show you is dependent on an ever-growing community
of participants who partner with each other to obtain
win-win outcomes. The results are comparable to online
dating services, the more participants there are, the
better the results for everyone. I therefore encourage you
to show this strategy to all your relevant friends and
colleagues.

Before I show you in detail how I got WordTracker
absolutely free, you need to understand the mechanics of
what makes this clever purchasing strategy work.

The strategy is not exclusive to WordTracker. I have simply
chosen WordTracker because it is the resource I talk about
in my testimonial. The strategy can be used to get any
product subsidized or free , and you can purchase from any
of your favorite web sites (any of the ones you are
normally happy to shop at). The amazing benefit is that you
will now be subsidized a cash amount for your purchases.
This subsidy may be so large that it may even surpass the
cost of your purchase, making the product or service
absolutely free. The fact that you can purchase from
anywhere online is partially what makes the strategy
successful.

There are 3 things you need to understand about the
strategy.

Firstly, the online store merchants you are intending to
purchase from do not miss out on their profits. You are not
breaching any of their agreements, terms or conditions. In
fact, from their perspective you're a 100% normal customer
with all the normal privileges. You will even receive a
receipt that you may be able to contribute towards a tax
deduction.

Secondly, there are no losers with this strategy. It is one
hundred percent legal and does not involve pyramid schemes,
purchasing matrix, or anything of that nature. No scams
here. Everybody wins.

Thirdly, you are still receiving the product you want
direct from the merchant of your choice. So you can expect
the same product quality, customer service, and shipping
that you are accustomed to. You're simply getting what you
had already decided to purchase at a massive discount.

"So what makes it work?"

The key ingredient is a process known as 'Customer
Reciprocation'. Customer Reciprocation is facilitated by a
'Customer Acquisition Exchange'. It relies fundamentally on
merchants using affiliate programs for customer acquisition.

"Are you confused? Don't worry, I was too."

In a nutshell, merchants with online stores pay people like
you and me sales commission to find them customers. You can
generally join the online merchant's affiliate program for
free, and immediately commence earning commission as an
affiliate marketer. You earn by directing potential
customers through a unique web link issued to you. This is
your 'referral URL'. The link identifies you to the
merchant so they know that you are the referrer of the
customer and must be paid commission.

So basically whenever you are intending to purchase
something, there's an affiliate marketer out there trying
to catch your attention and direct you transparently to
your chosen merchant through their referral URL. When you
purchase something, the affiliate marketer can earn upwards
of 50% in commission.

Customer reciprocation is defined as the process of two
parties (affiliate marketers) partnering to become each
other's customer. "I'll be your customer, if you'll be
mine". When you want to purchase WordTracker like I did,
why not purchase it through an affiliate marketer who is
willing to purchase at one of your affiliated merchants?

"Do you see the obvious benefit?"

You will earn an instant commission when your partner
purchases from your affiliated merchant. The commission may
be more than the cost of WordTracker or it may be less. But
it is beyond doubt an instant subsidy. Your merchants will
love you for bringing them a customer, and you'll have a
legally acquired copy of WordTracker and extra money to use
on anything you like.

"So where do you find affiliate marketers ready to shop at
your merchant's online store?"

Affiliate marketers are already seasoned Internet shoppers
who've overcome the trust hurdle and embraced online
purchasing. There are so many around that you need only do
a search for anything in Google or MSN to find them
fighting over the highest positions in the search results.

The trick is finding someone affiliated with the merchant
you intended to shop with, who is intending to purchase
from your merchant. (Customer Reciprocation).

This is where a Customer Acquisition Exchange comes into
play. (See the references at the bottom of this article or
search for "Customer Acquisition Exchange" in your favorite
search engine.).

A Customer Acquisition Exchange allows you to manage your
portfolio of referral URLs. I am a member of six different
affiliate programs even though I only actively market one
of them. Whenever you want to purchase something you simply
submit your purchase intention (in the form of the
merchants website address) to the Customer Acquisition
Exchange.

In my case I wanted to purchase from
http://www.WordTracker.com. The system immediately
commenced searching for affiliate marketers of WordTracker
who had a purchase intention for one of my merchants. This
submission process literally took me less than one minute.
I received an email containing my exchange partner's
referral URL and proceeded to click on it and was taken to
http://www.WordTracker.com, where I purchased my copy.

When I returned to the customer acquisition exchange I
noticed that my portfolio showed a sale at one of my
affiliated merchants. "Fantastic", I thought. My commission
report from my affiliated merchant revealed that my
exchange partner had indeed purchased something. In fact,
the commission I earned from the sale totaled $24 more than
what WordTracker cost me. Meaning I got WordTracker for
free and received $24 for my one-minute effort.

So now that you too know this simple no-risk strategy, I
hope that you will use it to your advantage and derive
previously unheard of discounts. I trust that you can see
the benefit of recommending Customer Reciprocation to your
peers, because as the community grows there will be more
participants partnering rather than viciously competing for
new customers.

Regards

Michael Lever

----------------------------------------------------
Michael Lever is a co-founder and CEO of
SpinningTornado.com, an independent company offering
unbiased tools and services to help affiliate and network
marketers build profitable online businesses.
http://www.SpinningTornado.com
Partnering affiliates the world over.

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-10-31T23:31:00.000-05:00

One thing I have had a hard time trying to perfect is keyword succession. I have submitted my four blog sites and two websites to numerous search engines and rss sites. I think I spent half an hour trying to think up 16 key words that were best suited to my content to draw in visitors for the first couple sites I submitted to.
The following article I found had helpful tips to guide me along to a better understanding to finding the proper keywords so I can get the maximum exposure I can manage.

Keywords And How To Use Them To Ensure Search Engine Visitors
Copyright 2005 Mal Keenan

What are keywords and why are they so important in
optimizing your website?

Keywords, basically, are the words or phrases that are most
associated with the subject of your business. These are
the terms that people will most likely use to search for
information about the topic of your website.

For example, your website is dedicated to the general
subject of “cat care.” The keywords that are applicable
for your business should be:

cat care
care cat
care of a cat
cat care clinic
cat care society
care of my cat
take care of my cat
take care of a cat
cat health care
to take care of a cat
how to take care of a cat
care for a cat
care of cat
care for cat
care of your cat
to care for a cat
how to care for a cat
taking care of a cat
cat dental care
persian cat care

There are more, most definitely, but these examples should
give you a good idea on how to come up with the most
effective keywords for your online business.

You could manually think of 1000s of applicable keywords,
but such would be a brain buster. Instead, check out the
tools found on the following websites:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordSandbox

http://www.inventory.overture.com

http://www.goodkeywords.com

The features on these sites will give you a lot of
suggestions for possible keywords which you can use. Once
you have selected your keywords, it’s time to put them to
good use. Here are the things that you should do with them:

Populate your website’s content with the keywords. Try to
insert 2 to 4 keywords per 100 words. This will give you a
2 to 4 percent density level, which many experts believe is
the optimal amount of keywords to attract the attention of
the search engine spiders without compromising the logical
integrity of your content.

Remember, just because you use the keywords in your
content, doesn't mean that the readability of your content
should be sacrificed. Always keep in mind that you have to
keep your content informative.

Insert the keywords in your meta tags. Meta tags are HTML
codes that help the search engine spiders to identify your
web pages. Simply include the following tag in your source
code:

Please Note: In each of the HTML instances below, to create
PROPER html tags you will need to replace [ with < AND ]
with >.

[META name=”keywords” content=”(place your keywords here
with each term separated by a comma)”]

Meta tags should also be present for your title, with the
use of the tag [title] , as well as your headlines, with
the use of the tag [h1], [h2], [h3] and so on and so forth.

Here’s an example of a title tag for your source code:

[title]An Introduction To Cat Care[title]

And here’s an example of a headline tags:

[h1]Why Should You Care For Your Cat?[h1]

[body](the appropriate part of your content goes here)[body]

[h2]How To Start Caring or Your Cat[h2]

[body](the appropriate part of your content goes here)[body]

Use your keywords in your ALT tags. ALT tags is the
alternative text that appears every time the mouse cursor
passes over an image. It is advisable that you have a
working knowledge of HTML for this, though most HTML
editors like Microsoft Front Page and Macromedia
Dreamweaver have features that will make this easier.

It is important to note how search engine spiders read your
website. Once they have pinpointed your page, courtesy of
the meta tags in your source code, the search engine
spiders will read your content from the uppermost left part
of the page going to the extreme right, and back left in
the next line, much like how a web surfer will view your
site.

It is therefore essential that the uppermost left portion
of your webpage contains your keywords. This can be done
by including the said keywords in your title.

Your first paragraph is critical. Make sure to include
your keywords in the very first sentence, and also try to
mention your keywords at least twice in the rest of the
paragraph. Succeeding paragraphs need only mention your
keywords at least once.

Divide your content into paragraphs, and introduce a shift
in subtopic with a sub-headline. The sub-headline should
also include your keywords.

Lastly, about the bottommost right portion of a web page,
many people are actually having a hard time figuring out
how to include the keywords in this section. Here’s a
simple trick. The bottommost right portion of a page is
usually reserved for your copyright notice. In our running
example of a business involved with cat care, where “cat
care” are the primary keywords, you could use the copyright
format below:

© 2005 cat care

That should do it, right?

Keyword research and website optimization are only a small
part of getting high search engine rankings. I will cover
other strategies in coming articles.

----------------------------------------------------
Mal Keenan is publisher of Home Business Tips newsletter:
http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com
Download his FREE Report with Loads More Search Engine Tips
and other Strategies for Running a Successful Online
Business:
http://www.homebusinesssuccessvehicle.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-10-30T21:47:00.000-05:00

There are so many new things in the technology world today. The newest thing to hit the internet is called podcasting. Podcasting is a means of distributing audio and video programs via the Internet that lets users subscribe to a number of files, also known as "feeds", and then hear or view the material at the time that they choose. A feed is usually in the MP3 audio format.
If you would like to know more on podcasting you could go to http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting
The following article explains how use you could use podcasting to add to your business.

Home Business Exposure on Yahoo!
Copyright 2005 Ron LeBlanc

Everyone who has ever been on the internet has heard of
Yahoo! If you haven’t, then quit reading and go visit now.
Yahoo is such a popular site that my website ranking
toolbar from Alexa shows a number “1” under website
ranking…that’s popular. So it would probably be a good
idea to get some exposure on Yahoo! for your home business.

Here is a great way to get in at the beginning of a trend.
If you’ve never heard of a podcast, then you should
definitely get up to speed on what they are. In brief,
they are archived audio files usually in mp3 format that
you can download into your player such as an iPod. Hosting
those files is called podcasting. People can listen to you
whenever it is convenient for them.

Podcasting is in its infancy as of late 2005. Yes, there
are a lot of podcasts, but users are very few compared to
the total number of internet and iPod users. So how does
Yahoo! fit in? Well, one of the things about podcasts is
that they have usually been hard to find or search for.
None of the major search engines had done much with them as
of this writing.

Enter Yahoo! You can now go to podcasts.yahoo.com and
search for whatever you want. Many of the podcasts are
vocal in nature such as instruction or the old teaching
tapes. Here is your opportunity – home business is a very
frequently searched topic on any search engine, so it is
only a matter of time until it is frequently searched on
the Yahoo! podcast site as well. You can get traffic to
your site by making your own podcasts and submitting them
to a site that Yahoo! searches such as iPodder.

There probably won’t be an incredible amount of competition
for your home business for some time. Meanwhile, you have
the opportunity to be a step ahead and be seen as an
expert. You will be an expert by the time everyone else
figures out that they should get into podcasting too.
There is a great article on how to get started in
podcasting at the website MCPromotionsPress.com

This time in podcasting is like the times in the mid 90’s
when you could easily get great search engine ranking with
just a little effort. Your home business can get some
great exposure - Don’t miss the ride!

----------------------------------------------------
Ron LeBlanc, PE spent 20+ years in science and engineering
when woke up to his true potential and began working from
home. He lives in Boulder, CO and works out of his home.
He enjoys helping other people learn to do home based
businesses. Get his tip-filled newsletter and some special
offers at http://www.be-do-have.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-10-29T18:53:00.000-04:00

I was discussing domain and hosting sites to join yesterday. Today I would like to mention that you don't need any special html, java script or perl knowledge to create your sites on any I mentioned yesterday. I did take html a long time ago back in the year 1996. So needless to say I don't recall much of it. So it is a good thing it isn't necessary.
One thing I have noticed though since I have been doing affiliate ad posting is it does become easy to pick the html code up. I have misplaced a few of my codes and had to scan through and see what is missing. Once you get used to the layout it is easier to define and build on from there.
I have decided to open an online ebook store. For this purpose I decided to try out http://www.netfirms.ca and see how I like that hosting site. When I joined, they sent out a website starter cd that helps you build your site to completion implementing all the features they have to offer. I am looking forward to learning more new things to brighten my future!
The following article talks about 4 mini websites that you can choose to build quick and easy to start selling your product today.

The four types of mini sites you can create and make money from.
Copyright 2005 Emmanuel Segui

Mini-sites are growing up all over the web because they are
so easy to set up and fast to provide a stream of passive
income. You can become a webmaster in a couple of weeks and
learn how to create many mini websites for fun or for
profit.

A mini-site is a two or three page website that is designed
for a specific task: either to sell something, get a
subscription or to make money as an affiliate for somebody
else.

There are four types of mini-sites you can create, without
knowing any code, which can bring you four different
streams of internet income.

1. Creating a "1-page" sales letter mini-site. Obviously,
this is the first type of website that you will think of. A
"1-page" sales letter mini-site’s main purpose is to sell
your own product, whether it is an ebook, some software or
multi-media product. When finished, your mini-site
contains your sales letter page and your order page where
people can download the product they just purchased. If you
already have templates of these two, you can create your
mini-site in 10 minutes flat.

2. Creating an "affiliate showcase" mini-site. An
"affiliate Showcase" mini-site is an organized page where
you offer a list of products people can buy. An affiliate
is where you advertise someone’s product and when someone
buy’s it, thanks to your publicity, you get a percentage.
The products you recommend to your potential clients need
to be related to each other. For example, If you are in the
health and fitness industry, you will recommend a weight
loss ebook or a good fitness equipment guide. You can
include private sites to get a coach and/or a specific
program on fitness.

3. Creating a "simple newsletter" mini-site Newsletters
serve several purposes. A newsletter will help you position
yourself as an expert, help you build credibility and
rapport. Setting up a simple newsletter mini-site has one
purpose only: get as many subscribers as possible. When you
position yourself as an expert through the different issues
of your newsletters which you send out every week, two
weeks or even every month, you can recommend products or
services related to your niche market. That's how you
create another stream of income through newsletter or Ezine
marketing.

4. Creating an "about me" page mini-site. An "About Me"
page mini-site is simply a site where you will tell the
world about yourself and your interests. On this page, you
will set up links to your products, or newsletters to your
affiliate's products. By getting traffic to this kind of
site, you can convert people into buyers and make another
streams of internet income.

You don't need to know programming. You don't need to be a
computer geek, buy expensive software, or pay outrageous
fees to a webmaster. With professional-looking templates,
you can set up a mini-site with graphics, headlines and a
mini sales letter in about 3 hours. If you want to
elaborate a more complicated mini-site with a long sales
letter, some compelling graphics, powerful headlines and a
subscription box that will help you generate leads like
crazy, you would spend 2 to 3 days.

----------------------------------------------------
Create a simple mini-site in 10 minutes flat with Jim
Edwards' wildly successful course. With
professional-looking templates and all the software you
need, you own everything possible to create as many
mini-sites as you want, quickly, painlessly and fast.Check
out at http://www.minisitecreatorreport.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-10-28T21:08:00.000-04:00

You know, when you are starting out looking for the best place online that offers everything you need for your domain and hosting services, it can be a little overwhelming. You may not know what to look for in a service. What seems to be a good deal, later may turn out to be not so good. So what do you need? How much is a good price and how much is too much?
I had a little debate with my mother, my grandmother, my brother and my dad. We are all in one internet business or another and we all use a different service. So today we went to a couple sites together to discuss the likes and dislikes of each site.
My brother likes http://www.doteasy.com
My mother likes http://www.readywebsites.com
my grandma likes http://www.netfirms.ca
I like http://www.faststartwebsites.com
my dad is just starting out so only has gone to a domain listing at http://www.namespro.ca
I could start and explain to you the pros and cons of each site but it would not be sufficient. You should check out each of these sites yourself and see what features you are looking for. Readywebsites has a complete package with autoresponder, email, newsletter, and other neccessary components needed. But netfirms.ca promotes adwords as part of the offer which could save you a few bucks there. Check them out.Think about it. Ask around and see if anyone you know has any of those or what they would recommend.
I may just sign up and create another website through netfirms as well. Then I can do tests and see which one will take me further.Just a thought....
I'll leave you to check those out and make a decison.

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-10-28T01:04:00.000-04:00

There really is so much to learn about business isn't there? All the terms and annotations. Some days I go to bed so full of what I have just studied that I know it will be a full few days before it all sinks in, and by then I will have added new stuff on top. But I take such joy in learning all this new information that can better help me to be the best I can be in my own business.
The following article I found useful with a touch of wit to it. It sounds ridiculous but I could see it really being true. I was introduced to a new concept called polarization.

Why Jerks Win At Direct Marketing
Copyright 2005 Willie Crawford

Have you ever noticed that some very successful direct
marketers go out of their way to be cantankerous? Have you
ever wondered why? Today we're going to discover their
secret? It makes many of them millions!

Studies have shown that people buy on emotion and then
justify it with logic. We buy new BMW convertibles because
we know we'll look good in them. Then we rationalize that
"BMW makes a very good car that will prove to be a great
long-term investment."

Those direct marketers that come across as cantankerous, or
even total jerks, are deliberately tapping into the
emotional side of their market. They're doing something
called polarization.

Polarization is the art, or science, of getting members of
your market to take an emotional stance. You want to get
them to either really like you - or dislike you. Those who
are neutral rarely buy your products. Remember, people buy
on emotion, even though they ‘re often not conscious of it.
Getting people emotionally charged INCREASES your chances
of making a sale!

One marketer that understands this concept and uses it
brilliantly is copywriter Gary Halbert. Gary will tell you
that he is the greatest copywriter alive, and he charges
for his services accordingly. If you visit Gary's site at:
http://TheGaryHalbertLetter.com you'll see that he is very
politically INCORRECT. Gary goes out of his way to insult
his audience, delivering smack after smack as he educates
you on what good copywriting is.

Gary understands that not everyone is his market. So he
creates strong feelings, and this drives away those who
would never buy from him... and really endears him to those
who appreciate his work. This tactic is very effective,
and Gary has no shortage of customers making him rich.

Another marketers who understands this concept very well is
Jay Abraham. I watched Jay Abraham, Stephen Pierce, and
Rich Schefren orchestrate a teleseminar in 2004. Leading
up to this teleseminar, they sent out a barrage of
emotionally charged, very informative emails.

Their numerous joint venture partners also sent out a
tightly orchestrated barrage of emails to their lists.

Those who saw the tremendous value in the free information
provided in all those emails were charged up. They were so
charged up that many could hardly wait for the teleseminar
to take place. I was one of those nudged to sign up for
this $497 teleseminar through all of those emails :-)

A final example of a marketer brilliantly employing
polarization is a guy who calls himself "The Rich Jerk." I
won't reveal his identity, but will tell you that coming
across as a jerk is making him millions on the Internet.
He is a very good marketer in his own right (he recently
sold a website on Ebay for $379,000).

This "Rich Jerk" uses emotionally charged copy on his
websites and it's very effective. Part of what makes his
copy so effective is that he also incorporates proof of
what he says. Reading this copy, you get emotionally
charged up, and at the same time, you realize that you've
encountered someone who can really help you succeed. You
can see how he does this by reading his copy at:
http://WhyJerksWin.com

By studying the examples above, you see that using
polarization, or even coming across as a jerk, can be a
very powerful marketing tactic. It can touch your reader
at a deeper psychological and emotional level than many
other marketing techniques. However, don't forget that
another reason this works in the examples above is that
these marketers also deliver tremendous value to their
customers. They also PROVE their points.

Without also incorporating proof into their copy, this
tactic probably wouldn't work. Without proof they would
just turn prospects off. So now you know... jerks win at
direct marketing because they employ polarization and proof.

----------------------------------------------------
Willie Crawford has taught PROVEN Internet marketing
techniques to thousands of successful Internet
entrepreneurs since late-1996. Subscribe to his free
weekly ezine, which helps you cut through the clutter and
time-wasting hype.
Subscribe now by visiting: http://WillieCrawford.com

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Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-10-26T19:33:00.000-04:00

As always I am researching new ways to make money with as little income going out as possible. Yes, I know it takes money to make money, but some of us have a little less money than others but still a strong desire to branch out and try to make it in the online business world.
Most of us who would like to work from home online have no extra money to be trying out every new idea available out there that offers to help us ten fold for $30 a shot(or more). So, dig deep and dig far. There has got to be a cheaper way, right?
It is so tempting to just give up when you see no income coming in yet. It seems like there is constantly still something else you need to make the business better and more noticed,and bringing in the customers. But the number one lesson taught in business school is that in the first year of business EXPECT to lose money. Just because society has evolved a little and we can now have the freedom and ease of conducting business online in ways we never could before, it doesn't mean that the rules have changed altogether.
Just as you can't lose 50 pounds of excess weight in one month for long lasting results, you can't expect to get rich quick in business. It is all a process. You test some things out, change this and that, and have faith and perseverence. If after 2 years you still don't see a single penny and are still losing money, then maybe you should seek professional help.(professional business help that is).
Think of all the writers out there. How many publishers do they have to contact before someone thinks them worth the bucks. Even before that, how many rewrites have to be done. It is a process. But one that can not be given up on if you have the passion and desire to succeed.
The following is an article that I jumped right on to help increase my flow of business. The researching has been done and I recommend you email him to get the list he is offering.

HOW TO GENERATE TARGETED WEB SITE TRAFFIC WITH THIS SIMPLE TACTIC
Copyright 2005 Robert Evans

There is no excuse for NOT employing this marketing tactic.
It will not cost you any money and it can be duplicated as
many times as you like and once you have set it up it will
go on sending traffic to your site for months, even years
ahead.

The tactic I refer to involves placing as many keywords as
possible on Pay Per Click Search Engines. And I will show
you how to get up $500 worth of free targeted traffic just
by following the guidelines below.

As well as the more popular PPCSEs such as Kanoodle,
Overture, Sprinks and FindWhat there are a number of newer
ones that offer sign up bonuses in the form of a starter
balance in your account. These range from $1 to as much as
$250.

Bids start as low as 1 cent, so if you get a $1 bonus you
will receive 100 visitors to your site. There is usually no
limit to the number of keywords you can list. I have over
1000 keyword phrases listed on 30 engines and every visitor
"costs" me 1 cent.

By the time I have used up all my credits I will have
generated many thousands of hits to the four sites I am
promoting. And all for free. This is genuine, quality,
targeted traffic. How do I know it is targeted? Because I
employ a simple but effective tactic to ensure that the
visitors I get know what they are going to my site for. On
one of the sites I am looking for freebie hunters and on
the other three I am selling a product or service - and I
state as much in either the title or description or both.

I realise this breaks the established rule of advertising
in that you should not reveal the price in the ad itself -
but remember, this is a Search Engine with a difference
because we are "paying" for the visitors I get.

For the products and services I am promoting I either
reveal a price or make it clear that something is for sale
- that way we keep the freebie hunters from wasting their
time and our account credits!

So what do you need to kickstart your PPCSE marketing
campaign? First of all you will need an Excel spreadsheet.
If you don't have Excel then you can pick up a streadsheet
here:

http://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/spreadsheet.html

Divide your spreadsheet into 5 columns:
In column 1 type in your keywords or phrases, as many as
you can come up with relevant to your site.
In column 2 put in your bid price. We recommend 0.01. Make
sure your spreadsheet programme does not enter a comma, or
the PPCSEs will NOT accept your listing.
In column 3 type a title or headline. Make this short but
interesting and if relevant mention a price or something
like "under $30" or "at a competitive price" etc so the
visitor knows you are selling something.
In column 4 type in the URL of the site you are promoting.
In column 5 type a short description.

Here is an example of one of my listings:

marketing resources
0.01
Free internet marketing action plan
http://www.market4profit.net/free_marketing_action_plan.html
Build your downlines in several programmes quickly and
easily

Use a resource like Word Tracker to find relevant keyword
combinations. Then prepare your spreadsheet as in the
example above.

Next, find some PPCSEs and create your accounts. (For a
list of PPCSEs I employ simply send a blank email to:
ppcse@market4profit.net) Before you sign up make sure they
are still offering the bonus credits on your account. Once
you have signed up, simply log in, click on Manage
Listings, then Add Listing, then on "Click here if you have
multiple listings" under the form.

Go back to your spreadsheet, copy the entire contents and
paste them into the box on the Multiple Listings page.
Click the button. Your listing will then either be added
instantly to the database or you will receive a
confirmation by email some hours later.

You can keep adding keywords for other sites, but try not
to duplicate any given word or phrase as this might be
classed as spamming. To check your ranking on any PPCSE you
have an account with just do a search on a keyword or
phrase.

The great thing about these engines is that you can check
your stats in real time. You can find out which keywords
are clicked on, how often, how much it has "cost" you and
how much there is left in your account.

----------------------------------------------------
Bob Evans has been marketing on the net since 2000. His
GET-IT-DONE! Marketing Action Plan includes a whopping 1000
personalised listings for you to copy and paste right into
these PPCSEs
http://www.market4profit.net/marketing-action-plan.php

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-10-25T19:18:00.000-04:00

Todays subject, product development. What makes a good product? Why does one product sell better than another one when they both appear to have the same features? Is it the advertising promotions? Is it the cost detail? Or is it the life time warranty offered?
It could be any or all of those things combined. But an excellent end result starts with the perfectly laid out and thoroughly thought out preplan.
Would you purchase a house just based on a designers colourful spiel and a picture of the completed project? No. You would demand a complete layout of the electrical, plumbing, foundation structure, materials being used, support beam alliance, etc.
You would call in the professionals to verify all regulations were being met, and that all inspections would pass. Nothing left to chance. You don't want to worry or wonder about anything, after all this is your dream house! In order to give complete confidence in their abilities, the developers know this and would most likely have everything available for you. That's good business.
The same goes for your product. You need to have a solid well developed design. The following article should give you some pointers to verify that you are on the right track to providing the best business you can.

Master The First Step Of Successful Product Development:
Copyright 2005 Coco Fossland

Ready to create and launch an information product that will
have a indelibly positive affect on your business? ...a
product that brings you recurring passive revenue,
pronounces you as an expert in your field, and produces a
lower entry product to get prospects into your marketing
channel?

If you are, then put on your seatbelt, because you're in
for the ride of your life! A ride that can be exciting,
empowering, exhilarating, and life-changing!

The first step of any successful product creation, and
often the step forgotten and minimized, is the step of
creating a well thought out Product Definition Blueprint.

A Product Definition Blueprint describes in detail, what
your product is, what it does, and who it's for. It tells
you what your product is, and what it is not.

A well written Product Definition Blueprint offers several
key benefits:

First, it helps you stay focused, on track, and committed
to a clear, tangible goal. Without clear boundaries about
what your product is and what ultimate benefit it provides
customers, you might get stuck in the trap many first-time
product producers fall into... the trap of never
completing... It only makes sense that if you don't know
what you're completing up front, how do you know when
you've finished it??

Second, it enables you to effectively describe your product
to others. Chances are, when launching a new product, you
will enroll the help or support of others during the
process. Whether you decide to get input from experts,
enlist a sales copywriter, or hire a web designer, having a
clear, concise description of what your product is, what it
does, and who it's for will make enrolling the support of
others seamless.

Third, it lays the foundation for excellent marketing
messaging. If you begin product development with a well
defined audience and a specific ultimate benefit, you've
made marketing a cinch! So often inexperienced product
developers build a product first and then find an audience
later. This can lead to having a product that no one
really wants to buy. However, by considering your audience
from the get-go, you can deliver the message and value
throughout the product development process. At the end,
building your marketing materials is an easy, seamless
process.

To build your own Product Definition Blueprint, answer the
following twelve questions:

1. Name five reasons you would like to create an
information product.

2. What subject(s) would you like to explore in your new
information product? List 5 possible subjects.

3. What solutions or benefits could you provide to your
audience in an information product format? List at least
10 possible solutions and benefits.

4. If you could only create one information product in the
next 4 months, which one would be most exciting and
rewarding for you to produce?

6. Who is your target audience? Who is your audio product
for? Describe them in as much detail as possible.
Describe their demographics, psychographics, interests,
career, hobby, gender, marital status, etc.

7. What needs does your target audience have, that your
product could in some way solve? Why do they need your
product now?

8. What ultimate benefit or result will your information
product deliver to your target audience?

9. What will your customer expect from this product?

10. In what format would you like to deliver your
information product? Downloadable PDF files, downloadable
mp3/wma files, software system, online accessible webpage,
physical CD's, workbooks, special tools, reports, eMail
delivery of content, other?

11. What is the name of your product?

12. By when will your product be complete?

Now that you've answered the twelve questions and built
your Product Definition Blueprint, take a moment and feel
the excitement of knowing that you have taken the first big
step in bringing to life your information product!! Let
yourself taste all the success, fulfillment, and
possibility that will come right along with it!

----------------------------------------------------
With her primary mission being to facilitate and guide
individuals in sharing their gifts with the world, author
of the forthcoming book, The Power of Trust: Trust
Yourself, Transform Your World, Coco Fossland coaches and
consults clientele who are passionate about creating
world-changing businesses. After years of working in a
corporate setting, providing strategy and technology
consulting for large multi-national businesses, Coco craved
the opportunity to build something authentic. Coco Fossland
successfully founded a business that blends Fortune 500
best practices with a spiritually conscious approach. While
this concept may confuse some people, Coco Fossland Inc.
masters the art of balancing these two often opposing
ideals in the business world, graciously assisting quality,
spiritually-conscious businesses that make our world a
better place to live.
http://www.cocofossland.com

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Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-10-24T17:18:00.000-04:00

Another tool one can find to use to better your online business is called a forum. What is a forum, and why does it help? I wondered about those same questions myself so I decided to take a browse through one of the forums found in the site for affiliates of the company SBI that I joined yesterday.
I must say, it was very interesting and informative. I could see how it will become very useful to me along the way to my success with this company. One of the benefits is, the people who share in this forum posting are both consumers and business owners as well, thus giving the perspective impressions from both sides to any queries or concerns brought up for discussion. Everyone wants to be successful and all are there to help in anyone else's success as well. The benefits of team work with the bonus of personal professional gain.
The following article should give you some more information on what forums are and how they can better help you to take one step further in being the best success you can be, while still enjoying yourself.

How Can Joining a Forum Help Your Business?
Copyright 2005 Ryan Ginster

Online forums are a fantastic reminder of the influence the
internet has had on society. Using forums to connect with
your market is a natural progression.

Forums are online communities where individuals can discuss
topics ranging from fly fishing to breast feeding to
internet business. Discussions are conducted by posting
notes to the forum. A single discussion is called a
'thread' and most forums have several - even hundreds - of
threads going at any time.

What is truly remarkable about the use of forums is the
personal quality of the discussions. Read some of the posts
on forums such as ivillage.com and you'll soon see that the
members become more like neighbors (and even friends) than
strangers connected only by the keyboard and monitor in
front of them.

Where brick and mortar businesses used to prosper based on
their involvement in the community - online businesses now
have a neighborhood all their own - online forums.

How can participating in a forum help YOUR business?

NETWORKING:

Online forums are a fantastic place to connect with others
who are knowledgeable about your business. You probably
cater to the same audience and share a common interest. If
your businesses compliment one another you might just find
a highly profitable partnership or joint venture.

Even if you don't find a working relationship you may find
the referrals or discussions highly beneficial.

TRAFFIC BUILDING:

Along with the referrals you may get when you've developed
a trusted online presence with other members of the forum,
you are also likely to attract targeted visitors to your
website.

If the forum permits you to post a signature (your website
URL) onto the posts then you can be sure that some of the
members and quite likely some of the 'lurkers' (people who
view but don't post) will come check out your site.

EDUCATION:

Using the forums wisely can open you up to a great
education. Whether it is from fellow entrepreneurs in your
field or experts and other posters - you are participating
in an 'inner circle' type discussion that may open your
eyes to new developments and opportunities in your business.

ADDICTIVE:

The only downside is the highly addictive atmosphere. With
members posting from all over the world it can be difficult
to reign in your viewing time on forums.

On the flip side, other members are hopefully as interested
in what you have to say and you may quickly develop a
reputation as a reliable source for information.

Be very cautious to follow forum rules. Never spam a forum
- your aim should be to participate in a conversation, not
interrupt it. Have fun and watch your business grow!

----------------------------------------------------
Not long ago, I didn't know ANYTHING about Internet
marketing...
However, within just 2 weeks, I launched my own website AND
learned how to profit from an opt-in list, pull in sales
with ezines, make money with Google Adwords and setup my
own BLOG!
Here's how: http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10193 http://www.ginsterprofits.com

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Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Lung Cancer

2005-10-23T18:52:00.000-04:00

I was reviewing this latest affiliate program that I joined last night. It is for the SiteBuildIt or SBI. It is a wonderful program with the most information and support I have seen in a program yet. The products to sell are also top of the line and I have just puchased the complete package so I can design my own website and get products selling myself.
The one thing though I noticed was the free products and information packages available to offer to help get sales boosted. All useful information that is easily passed on to the perspective buyer that he/she can use in their business on a daily basis. I realized that that was one of the true keys to success. There are all the promotional offers of "buy one, get one free" deals out there but you still need to buy to get it. With the bonus free informational or useful product option though it allows the perspectives to feel they can still enjoy something for nothing. They will remember that. There are several reasons why people don't buy right away. They are unsure of the product/service and need more time to research and think, they don't have the money right now, or are just browsing for useful tidbits to keep in mind for later when they need something specific.
Offering a free useful product allows them to taste what you have to offer, try it out and keep them thinking of you for the future(especially if the free offer benefits them).
The following article came across my desk today and I thought it was perfectly timed. I hope it will get you thinking of something you can incorporate into your daily strategy.

Give Them Something Useful - A Small Business Marketing Tip
Copyright 2005 Marketing Comet

Naturally my wife wanted a new Burberry purse when my
father in law asked her what she wanted him to pick up in
Europe. She's all about purses. He bought her a beautiful
purse in Rome and sent it to her when he got back in the
States.

Along with the bag, there was a card-stock envelope
containing the receipt and something very interesting - a
map of Rome. It was one of those little tourist maps and it
had all the Burberry stores in Rome marked off so you could
find them.

Absolutely brilliant. First the map is useful, a great
marketing tool is something people will keep around. This
is why magazine advertising is so effective. It's also
something you might pass on to people you know who are
traveling to Rome - and now they'll know where to get a
nice purse just like yours. Also, while you are in Rome you
might just decide to pick up a second purse for Aunt Clara
and now you can find your way back to a shop.

Companies of all sizes have used giveaways in marketing
forever. Gillette had the brilliant idea of giving razors
away, and then charging for disposable blades which you had
to throw away frequently. Cracker Jacks are known for the
toy surprise inside. Food vendors give away free samples to
get you to buy more.

The psychological urge to reciprocate when somebody gives
us something is so strong that Cialdini wrote about it in
his seminal book on Influence. That urge is stronger the
more valuable the giveaway. Reciprocity is not the only
factor that can make giveaways useful small business
marketing tools.

Some of the features of great giveaways:
-They are tools or information that customers will use
repeatedly
-They have a positive emotional component
-They can be passed along to others building the marketing
effect
-The benefit of the giveaway is overt
-The giveaway builds a strong mental link to your business
-The giveaway helps the customer buy from you.

I personally believe that well-tailored informational
products are probably the best giveaway ever. Kraft foods
sends out a free monthly magazine full of recipes (all
using Kraft foods). That giveaway has all of the above
features. So does the tourist map of Rome.

If you're in business in 2005 you need to take small
business Internet marketing very seriously. The Internet is
a great medium for giving away information products. If you
run a lawn care business, maybe you have a printable
planting calendar on your web site. If you own a restaurant
near a theater district, maybe you publish a calendar of
upcoming shows with your phone number for pre-theater
reservations.

I love to go to conventions and walk the floor with a bag
picking up tons of free stuff. Honestly, most of it goes
right in the trash. I keep pens and other useful stuff, but
who has time to look through 500 company brochures? While
they are cute, wacky toys and stress relief pillows just
clutter up my office. That stuff is very expensive, and I
think the marketing value is very small.

This year I went to the Boston wine expo - two days of
drinking wine! Some pear grower's association was there
giving out samples of pears. Their giveaway was a cardboard
wheel that you could use to match a varieties of pears with
a types of wine and types of cheeses. This is particularly
useful if you are a chef looking for ways to put a menu
together.

My friend who owns a car repair shop is pricing out travel
mugs. This is a pretty good giveaway. Ideally, when people
have car trouble they'll have their coffee with his phone
number on it in front of them.

What can you give away that is useful? It may just be
information in a form that costs you nothing, or it might
be a something you budget for. Remember the list of
features when you look at your giveaways.

----------------------------------------------------
J D Moore - Marketing Comet
http://www.marketingcometcoach.com
Get More Profits From Your Small Business Marketing

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Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Make money 15 minutes from right NOW! 100% Automated System - Affiliate Cash Vault!

2005-10-22T13:52:00.000-04:00

One thing that can become a concern while doing business online is credit card fraud. We have all seen the commercials, we are all aware of the dangers. But how can we still do business with credit cards and prevent this from happening to us?
There is a way, there are companies and other people out there who care and have provided us with the imformation and the means to help us be proctected and to be able to maintain a healthy,wealthy, profitable business so we can take part in the business community.
Here is an article that will give you some added insights and tips to help you decide how you would like to set up your account for recieving income.

Credit Cards and Your Business
Copyright 2005 Brad Eden

Any business will cringe at the thought of what the banks
put them through to use credit cards. If you do not know
what I mean, then this article is for you!

The fact is that everyone online wants to use a credit card
or debit card to process their order. It is very true in
our society that the credit card is a way of life, and if
you do not offer that ability to accommodate them,
customers will move on to another website that does allow
them to use their cards. This society has become driven by
instant gratification and expects to receive their products
immediately, either by a download or a short shipping
duration. Taking credit cards as a form of payment on the
internet or offline should be thoroughly understood. Read
on to see what I mean and how to protect yourself.

The fact is that any merchant taking in payments is
immediately at risk for whatever amount is charged and
MORE. The banks will take the charge disputed along with a
"charge back" fee right from your merchant account, and you
better have enough in there that has cleared to pay your
own bills or you will be charged more for "overdraft
charges". Some banks are waking up to the fact that it is
not always the merchant at fault and most merchants are
more than honest in their dealings. There is so much credit
card fraud out there and since the merchants are ALWAYS
liable, you need to realize this and take action to prevent
as much disaster for your business as possible.

First, if you have your own merchant account, then you have
a lot of work to do when you receive a credit card order.
You must verify as best you can that the card, the name on
the card, the address, the cvv number verification, and the
quantities are all in order. You need to verify the IP
address of every order and see if it is within the location
of the card holder. A person living in Toronto, Canada,
probably would not be in Las Cruces, New Mexico, charging
products. This is a red flag but not a deal breaker, some
people DO travel. Caution needs to be taken to protect your
cash flow. As a merchant you must get money safely into
your account for any goods or service you provide, so that
you can become a larger or more substantial independent
business.

Do not just take in cards and believe that everything is
going to be just fine now that you have the money in your
account, because it can come out just as fast, or faster,
than it went in. There is a real need for you to understand
a lot more than can be mentioned in this article.

The best way to receive all the tools and services you need
to protect yourself and to make your voice heard is to
check this website:http://www.merchant911.org This is a
group of dedicated individuals who have been working for
years to try to change banking and processing company rules
and regulations as relative to merchants, both large and
small. If you need any more proof of their dedication, just
read some of the press releases and look at the tools they
have assembled for merchants to use.

Right now is the time to start to protect yourself from
credit card fraud. If you have read any of the newspapers
or listened to any of the news reports, then you already
know you are at risk. There are reports of over 40 million
cards in the hands of criminals and thieves and they will
sell these cards or will use them in various illegal
methods. It's not hard to imagine that some day soon you
will be approached and asked to spend your time and money
to ship a product or provide a service with these
fraudulent cards.

Do your part to keep America strong and allow your business
to grow and prosper, not be destroyed by thieves and credit
card sharks.

----------------------------------------------------
Brad Eden is a Entrepreneurial Sciences expert with 14
years of industry experience in real estate, marketing and
technical communication. He currently consults with IBM in
CA. Brad owns & operates a free traffic resource for
entrepreneurs.
http://www.amercanfreetraffic.com

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Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

2005-10-22T00:48:00.000-04:00

You know the old saying "Rome wasn't built in a day."? Well, it applies to online business or any business for that matter as well. With the ease of the online business capabilities of today we tend to forget that. We get our business up and running in a relatively short time these days but then get discouraged when after months we still haven't acheived everything we thought we would.
We start to doubt ourselves, or product, service or marketing strategies. What we felt so confident about when we first set out we find ourselves rethinking the whole thing. Why does it seem others are doing so well when we know we have a comparable product/service? We have researched other business websites and it doesn't appear that they have any better features. So, what is it?
The following article may shed some light on the issue at hand.

Why Does Nobody Visit My Web Site?
Copyright 2005 Peter Dobler

After endless hours of writing, designing and programming
your brand new web site is ready for prime time. You tested
your shopping cart software and you made sure that all your
external affiliate links have your affiliate id. You’re
making sure that you will get the commissions you deserve.
This is a very exiting moment. You will expose your writing
skills and your ability to design an attractive web site to
the whole world. All of you who have a website know what
I’m talking about.

Your web site is online and you’re open for business. Ready
to take as many orders as you can possibly handle. A day
goes by and there are no orders. Another day goes by and
there are still no orders. You give it a week. People need
to warm up to your new business. Still nothing, not even a
single visitor. Well, you are about to experience what
thousands of webmasters experienced before. Nobody even
knows that you are in business or what you’re selling.

What is your first reaction to this? Submit the website to
as many search engines as possible. We all did this before.
It takes weeks, even months, before you appear on the major
search engines and your ranking stinks. There are ways to
achieve great success with search engine optimization. This
is a very complex topic and I will devote another article
series to this topic.

Ok, search engines are not the solution you’re looking for.
The only effective way to instantly create traffic to a
brand new web site is through email subscriptions. Of
course this is not a free ride, but there are many opt-in
email lead providers who offer great service at a great
price. My favorites are listed at the end of this article.

You’re anxiously waiting for the first list of email leads,
delivered by your leads provider. Also you made sure, that
you are not spamming. The good news is that all the people
on the list want to hear what you have to offer. You could
manually send an email to every one of them. This works for
a couple of emails, but you probably will get hundreds of
email leads. The solution for this problem is called
autoresponders. Autoresponders are email robots
automatically sending out emails to a pre-defined list of
recipients on your behalf. They’re taking care of the
initial welcome letter and send follow-up emails. My
favorite autoresponders are listed at the end of this
article.

Now you’re on your way to unbelievable traffic to your web
site, right? Wrong! What are all these people subscribing
to? You are in desperate need of something you can offer to
your subscribers. You might have a killer welcome letter,
but nothing else. Most of your emails will never be opened,
because they never passed the spam filters. The words
you’re using are not convincing enough to attract readers
to your web site.

Worst off all, your headline is so lame that nobody even
opens your email. Keep in mind, that most people are using
free email accounts for their subscriptions. That’s right!
The same rules you apply for your own email habits apply to
your prospective subscribers. Would you subscribe to
newsletters or online offers with you primary email
address? Of course not, you guard your primary email
address like your bank account. Most free email accounts
don’t offer preview panels like you’re probably used to
with your Outlook Express email program. So the headline is
your most important asset.

There are many reasons why you still not getting the
results you’re looking for. This is frustrating, but the
name of the game is persistence. Learn as much as you can
about effective marketing strategies. Apply proven
strategies to your business. Don’t try to reinvent the
wheel. Stick to what’s working for others to achieve the
results you’re looking for.

The topic on writing effective marketing emails is very
complex and is definitely out of scope for this little
article.

As mentioned before here’s my list of great email services
to supercharge your business.

Autoresponders:

- Getresponse, a free autoresponder with great service.

Email Leads:

- ListOpt, pay per lead generator. Seamlessly integrates
with Getresponse’s autoresponder.

- ListBuilder, another pay per lead generator. Very high
quality email leads. They even offer triple opt-in (three
confirmation emails before address is send to you and
you’re billed for it, now that’s quality!).

- PushButton leads; unlimited email leads for one low
monthly fee. If you write a very deceptive ad for your
newsletter, this will probably be the cheapest email leads
you can get.

Armed with this knowledge and a killer newsletter for your
product, you’re on your way to enormous business success.

----------------------------------------------------
Peter Dobler is a 20+ year veteran in the IT business. He
is an active Real Estate Investor and a successful Internet
business owner.
Learn more about the concept of residual income at
http://www.fl-home-biz.com or send a blank email to
mailto:pdobler@getresponse.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

2005-10-19T20:19:00.000-04:00

So, what have you learned so far about the keys to making your business successful? We have discusssed choosing a product or service, on your own or in conjunction with affiliate programs. By now you are familiar with surfing the net to find these programs. You have set up your websites or blog sites and have chosen your links, banners, and marketing strategies. You have submitted it all to various search engines,traffic swap sites, and any other sites you found to help promote. You have searched out keywords to help you get top ratings on those sites, and you may have dabbled in adwords or other like programs to help increase your daily revenue opportunities options.
But the fun is just beginning. There are still numerous ways you can try. That is the best thing about the internet and the vast resources we have the capacity to come across every day. It is always fresh and new. When you find something is not working for you, open up your browser, type in some words and see what you can find to give your business a whole new lift. But then that is they key, it is a daily working progress like any other job you have had before. You need to actively do something every day. Networking, marketing, newsletters, blog posts, research, shopping, etc. I don't know about how you feel, but for me, knowing it is all for my benefit and no one else's, I am more than keen on keeping up with my many duties, no matter how discouraged I can feel some days when the money is tight.
Read the following article and make sure that you are unique and have what it takes to make a customer take that second look which buys you your business.

Time To Move Up From the Worn Out Sales Brochure
Copyright 2005 John Jantsch

I got another one of those calls the other day. . ."Can you
make me a brochure?" Many business owners have been sold on
the notion that they need a tri-fold brochure or they are
not in business. Forget it...everybody's got one and no one
uses it.

Your potential clients need an education. They need to know
how you are different. (The typical tri-fold brochure
simply confirms that you are the same.)

Every small business should create the following pieces of
information and format them in a way that allows them be
printed inexpensively and updated often. I like to call
this approach, the Marketing Kit. Your marketing kit starts
with several professionally printed pieces that are the
framework for up to 10 or 12 different educational
documents. The core components are:

1. A pocket folder - A multi-use workhorse, this piece
alone, if designed well, can send the message that you are
in business to stay. (This one will cost a little but it
has many uses)

2. A marketing kit template page - This should be a
professionally printed piece that carries your logo and
contact information but is different than your letterhead.
This is the base piece for the pages described below that
insert into your pocket folder. (Your actual marketing
files can be MSWord type documents that are laser printed.
This gives you the ability to change and update your
content and also allows you to tailor your marketing kit
content to specific prospects.)

Some combination of the following pages should be created
for your marketing kit.

+ The Difference Page - Hit them with how you are different
and shower them with benefits of doing business with you.
Don't tell them what you do. I like to keep this one to the
top 3 or 4 things that you do that your target market will
value. Think benefits that are unique

+ Deeper Differences - Now take each core difference and
tell the reader in greater detail why and how that
difference is important

+ A list of services/products - Okay, now tell them what
you do or what you offer.

+ Deeper Product/Service Descriptions - Go into detail on
each of your product or service offerings

+ Case Studies - Pick representative clients or industries
and outline how your product or service solved someone
else's challenge. People learn in different ways and case
studies allow them to see themselves getting relief. I
think this format works well. State the situation, the
problem, your solution, the result. Over time you can
collect more and more of these and draw upon the ones that
fit an industry or problem that in relevant to your
prospect.

+ Testimonials - Get quotes from real live clients and
create a page titled - "See what others have to say about
us." These quotes can be some of the strongest selling
tools you have. New technologies make it easy to create
audio and video testimonials too.

+ Client List - In some cases, just simply listing who else
you do business with can present a compelling case.

+ Process Description - Show them how you do what you do.
Create detailed checklist and flow charts that show them
how you keep your promise. In many cases you have these
anyway but by making them part of your marketing you can
demonstrate how much more professional your organization
is. These also help you justify why you charge a premium
for your services. Many people underestimate how much
really goes into delivering a quality product or service.
So show them.

+ Your Story - Many companies have interesting or even gut
wrenching histories. Tell them your story in an open,
honest, and entertaining way and you will win their hearts
as well as their heads.

All of the above pieces can, in many cases, be word
processed files that are laser printed onto the template I
described above. You can learn even more about how to use
this unique tool here

This format allow for very inexpensive printing and a great
deal of flexibility when you need to update, change or even
personalize your magnificent marketing materials.

Want to quickly create your own magnificent marketing kit?

Join me as I coach other small business owners through the
process of creating marketing materials that educate and
sell. Once a week for 3, 1-hour sessions I will meet, via
teleconference, to create and critique your written
marketing kit content based on the above article. Each
participant will also receive workbooks, audio recording of
each call and real-life example marketing kits produced by
me for my clients. Find out more by visiting the
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/Ultimate-Marketing-System.h
tm

----------------------------------------------------
John Jantsch is a marketing coach and creator of the Duct
Tape Marketing System. You can get more information about
the Duct Tape System and download your free copy of How To
Create the Ultimate Small Business Marketing System in 7
Simple Steps by visitinghttp://www.DuctTapeMarketing.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Earn $750 – $2500 P/T, $5000 - $10,000 F/T. Get your FREE Training Package! Home-based business!

No gimmicks, no empty promises, just good business. We are looking for individuals interested in starting their own legitimate home business. $50,000+ first year income potential.
If You Promote Or Advertise ANYTHING - Please Read This NOW!

There's a brand new site that will reveal to you, step-by-step,
"How To Double Your Business & Profits EVERY Month"! Plus, this
month only, you can pick up a $49 "Web Advertising Course" for
FREE. Just go to http://www.adminder.com/go.cgi?id=mellybaby

http://payloadz.com/go/jump?id=94251&a=melb_71@hotmail.com

2005-10-18T17:26:00.000-04:00

Help! There is just so much to do when you set up your own business!!! How will I ever get this all straight and stay on top of it all? Do these thoughts ever go through your head? Don't despair. We have all been there. This is the crucial time when you have to bite your lip and revisualize your dreams. You know, kind of like the moments before a big wedding day. Where you wonder if this is the biggest mistake. Whether you truly are ready. It is just jitters, second thoughts. Your psyche's final attempt to breathe and maintain composure. But, if you relaxed, you would realize you spent months, if not years planning carefully, re-evaluating and making sure everything is done right. Deep down you know that this is the most special person in your life and you are doing the right thing.
Well that is the same as business. It was for me. I have thought of nothing but having my own business since I was 12 years old. I went to college to gain a diploma in business management and have researched and taught myself everything I could get my hands on regarding how to properly market and network. It is alot of hard work, sometimes I do have to remind myself that this is truly what I want and I can't afford to give up or it means giving up on one of my dreams; I would wonder for the rest of my life how it could have been. Can you really afford to give up? Can you really afford to cheat yourself? Even if you failed at one attempt, you would still have learned valuable lessons to apply for the next proposal. Even like most successful authors, everyone needs a little failure to make a success truly a success to be proud of.
This article helped me out when I was wondering about how to go about getting started and had no idea what an autoresponder or optin lists were.

Are You About to Begin Your Own Online Business?...Here are a Few Basic
Essentials for Your Success.
Copyright 2005 Sandi Clements

The internet is a place where people are looking for a
quick fix, overnight sensational kind of magic success
which almost never materializes. I say almost because there
is a way to really be successful,... yes on the internet.
It take careful consideration, time and effort. Many times
we expect people to just happen onto our crisp, clean
happy little plot without realizing that unless we have a
real strategic plan in place no one and I mean NO one will
ever even find your little nook let alone hound you with
sales requests. And remember this: No matter what you have
for sale or how much it is in demand, you simply must have
a well thought out plan or nothing going is going to
happen. You have to create a certain kind of presence.
Something they can not only see but a felt presence. Hmm!
How to do this... Well there are a few things that will
really begin to get you noticed! Ahhh yes good ole SPAM.
That will surely get you noticed and kicked off all
reputable websites. NO! There are much better ways.

1: A really well designed, professional looking website in
my opinion is #1 (Your reputation is at stake here.) It
can make or break your online business. If their first
impression is a bad one they may never be back.You need to
think about where you are going to set up your humble abode
(or not so humble.) Nothing much is really free these days
and if you want quality don't settle for what appears to be
a good FREE website until you have thouroughly checked out
the facts. They do not always display the quality that you
are looking for nor do they have sufficient space to
properly organize what you will want to do with you site.

2: Hosting Service: You need a good, reliable place to host
your website. A plot of land (hosting server) to build your
house (website) on.

3: A reliable source for content (You can either learn to
write which is really rather fun and not as hard as you
might think or use some really well written articles from
article directories. When you become a member of IGR, you
can use their articles as they are, combine parts of
several and create a whole new article and even put your
own name as author as long as you abide by a few simple
rules.(a reputable article directory with great benefits
you can find here: http://www.InfoGoRound.com

4: Opt-in list and Traffic: Oh yes...we have heard it a
thousand times...the $$$ is in the list...that all
important list which begins the flow of "traffic" (No
list...No traffic...No traffic...No sales. It is just that
simple.We must find a way to get a good reliable targeted
list of names of people who are really interested in what
you have to offer. Once you build a good solid opt-in list
better still (double opt-in) meaning that they not only
have shown interst in your newsletter or ezine they have
confirmed again by answering to an email saying yes I do
want to receive this newsletter.) you can then send them
great content and super offers for ever as long as they
stick with your newsletter.

That is why it is so important to give your prospects
excellent content and great information that will help them
solve their problems. They need to feel that you really
care about what they want and be able to trust that you are
not some scam artist out there just taking what you can
without ever giving back.

We need to reach out and give, give and give some more and
it should be of utmost quality. People are tired of every
other email holding out its wretched hand for yet another
dollar. Seemingly cold and unfeeling, just another pitiful
cry for whatever you are willing to fork over for the best
-ever -whatever. They don't know who you are and you need
to make them feel comfortable and show them they can trust
you. Let every produt you offer leave them with a good warm
feeling about you and your business and you will never lack
for warm and willing to buy customers.

5: Contact: You need at least one good autoresponder which
is an excellent way to get your info to your subscribers in
an orderly and timely fashion. Never make the mistake of
thinking that your customers will remember you if you only
contact them every few weeks or months. They need to hear
from you on a regular basis at least once a week with good,
valuable information that they can benefit from in their
everyday life and a super offer like a free ecourse or
ebook or even a useful digital product once in a while. It
will benefit you much to establish rapport with those whom
you deal with online or off. Once your customers begin to
trust you and your business thru your constant giving them
what they need and want they will become open to your
suggestions and referrals thus in turn giving you what you
need and want.

6: A blog is an excellent way to provide your customers
with information at their fingertips, just a click away.
Keep it fresh and alive by searching out useful info and
writing great interesting articles on a variety of everyday
subjects (not just business...people like to get away from
that once in a while) and update it regularly.You need at
least one good autoresponder (a great time saver) to run
your online business efficiently. Just think what kind of
frenzy you would be in if you had to manually send out all
that great info. Once your list is built to a substantial
number it would be impossible to keep on top of it.

----------------------------------------------------
Sandi Clements can help you start your own profitable
online business...To learn how visit:
http://www.SandizMoneyMaker.com/pips.html

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Earn $750 – $2500 P/T, $5000 - $10,000 F/T. Get your FREE Training Package! Home-based business!

No gimmicks, no empty promises, just good business. We are looking for individuals interested in starting their own legitimate home business. $50,000+ first year income potential.
If You Promote Or Advertise ANYTHING - Please Read This NOW!

There's a brand new site that will reveal to you, step-by-step,
"How To Double Your Business & Profits EVERY Month"! Plus, this
month only, you can pick up a $49 "Web Advertising Course" for
FREE. Just go to http://www.adminder.com/go.cgi?id=mellybaby

2005-10-17T22:53:00.000-04:00

There are so many sites out there now designed to work with you to sell products if you have alot to sell but don't have the time,know-how or money to create a website of your own to promote. One well known company is ebay. I was reading of one lady who made a living of going around to garage sales and finding items that are listed in a directory with a value of profit. She then posts the items on ebay to see if she can get the proposed amount. In alot of the cases she has exceeded the value and then some. You would be surprised what some things go for online. And it is a fun venture to get into. My brother made a good living selling laptops and accessories online before graduating to greater things a couple years later. Do you like ipods? You can check out my brother Matt's site for purchase or repair. http://ipodshop.ca
I would like to share the following article with you regarding ebay tips if you are thinking of getting into selling on ebay.

Beware: The Dangers of Selling on eBay 101
Copyright 2005 Brad Eden

It's obvious that eBay provides internet users with an
online flea market where buyers and sellers from around the
world meet to conduct trade.

However, like most traders who are faced with an innovation
of this sort, the first question will always be: It is safe?

The answer is yes, but devious scammers seem to be plotting
daily to forward their dastardly schemes and take advantage
of eBay's power.

So, what is the user's recourse? The users of eBay must
learn to gather information and take meticulous care in
dealing on eBay. Only then can they be less gullible to
scammers.

A common consensus is that bidders are often scammed by
sellers. But it is possible for things to be the other way
around.

Here is a list of the common problems sellers encounter and
the means to handle them.

Fake Escrow Services

A winning bidder may request that an escrow service be used
to assure both parties of a fair transaction.
Unfortunately, the seller is sometimes duped into using a
fake escrow system.

To avoid this situation, the seller must always verify the
authenticity of an escrow service. eBay recommends the use
of escrow.com. If the bidder insists on his or her escrow
service, chances are, that person is a scammer.

Victims of this fraud find it difficult to reclaim their
items. They may, however, appeal to the legal system
afforded by the state they live in. They must also contact
eBay regarding the matter for any assistance they may be
willing to offer.

Deadbeat Bidders

Deadbeat bidders (a winning bidder who doesn't pay for an
item at the auction's close) are more common on eBay. If
the winner of your auction does not pay, you may leave that
person a negative feedback.

As for the listing fees the seller shells out, eBay lays
out a four step procedure that sellers can use to
potentially recover lost selling fees. If sellers complete
the process to eBay's satisfaction, they will receive a
Final Value Fee credit and a re-list credit. Filing out an
Unpaid Item dispute is the first step toward eBay
reimbursing such fees. A person can report an unpaid item
up to 45 days after an auction's close.

Trade Dispute

This occurs when the seller and bidder disagree on some
terms of the sale. This may also happen if there is a
purported violation of any of these agreements.

If communication between both parties does not help, they
may consider availing of a third-party dispute resolution
outfit to help. SquareTrade.com is one of these outfits
that eBay recommends.

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

A seller's life may be made terrible because of the
constant scamming attacks unscrupulous individuals
undertake. But, with proper information and care, he or she
can continue trading on eBay with relative safety.

Payment Methods on eBay

Gone are the days when only cash (or cattle in some cases)
was the only accepted mode of payment for trades. As the
concept of trading evolved, so did the means of paying for
items.

Today's electronic world pushes the envelop further. With
the advent of online trading systems such as eBay, many new
forms of payment have flourished.

First of all, on eBay, the mode of payment depends on the
agreement between the buyer and the seller. Most often, the
seller will specify his or her desired payment method. In
these cases, the seller often has primacy in the decisions
regarding payment modes. However, the buyer may still
communicate with the seller regarding a viable alternative
if it suits both parties.

The following is a list of common eBay payment modes.

Cash On Delivery

Cash is, after all, still cash. This payment method can be
done through a third party courier system or by the buyer
and seller meeting each other at an agreed place. The
advantage of a cash transaction is that the exchange of the
item for payment is done in the presence of the buyer and
the seller (or the seller's representative). However, some
people will not accept the risk present when two strangers
meet.

Personal Check

One popular method of payment is personal check. Writing
checks is easy and safe. However, many sellers do not like
accepting check because they are easy to cancel.

PayPal

PayPal is the payment of choice on eBay. In fact, eBay owns
PayPal.

Using PayPal is easy, convenient, and relatively safe.
PayPal acts as like an internet 'wire transfer.'

After signing-up for PayPal, one may send cash to anyone
with an email address using the PayPal system. PayPal also
has security features that safeguard against fraud in case
there is a dispute between the seller and the buyer. This
system is best for transactions up to $1000.

Escrow.com

Escrow.com is the payment of choice for purchases over
$500. Escrow.com holds the buyer's money from the seller
until the seller delivers the item. Only then will the
funds be released to the seller. This system makes for a
very safe, although highly procedural transaction.

Wire Transfer

This is the payment of choice for countries that do not
carry the PayPal service. Wire transfers are risky because
the buyer usually has to wire over the funds before the
seller sends the items. The chance for non-delivery of
items is high.

Other Payment Systems

The number of third party payment services is steadily on
the rise. Their systems for payment vary. However, to be
successful they must be convenient to use and safe as well.

----------------------------------------------------
Brad Eden is a Entrepreneurial Sciences expert with 14
years of industry experience in real estate, marketing
and technical communication. He currently consults with IBM
in CA. Brad owns & operates a free traffic resource for
entrepreneurs.
http://www.americanfreetraffic.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Earn $750 – $2500 P/T, $5000 - $10,000 F/T. Get your FREE Training Package! Home-based business!

No gimmicks, no empty promises, just good business. We are looking for individuals interested in starting their own legitimate home business. $50,000+ first year income potential.
If You Promote Or Advertise ANYTHING - Please Read This NOW!

There's a brand new site that will reveal to you, step-by-step,
"How To Double Your Business & Profits EVERY Month"! Plus, this
month only, you can pick up a $49 "Web Advertising Course" for
FREE. Just go to http://www.adminder.com/go.cgi?id=mellybaby

2005-10-16T15:57:00.000-04:00

Signatures. Do you use one on your emails? I do. They are a great way to introduce yourself and your business to people when you correspond with them via emails. Here is an article that will help you to set one up if you don't already have one.

Turn Your Email Sign-Off Into Results: Seven-Step Checklist for Success
Copyright 2005 Kathy Gulrich

Okie dokie. The basics. What exactly is an email sign-off?

Your sign-off is the part of your email -- with your name,
company, phone, etc. -- that comes right after your text
message.

To be honest, I find most email sign-offs pretty boring.
(And I find some of them pretty annoying!)

Most often, however, I see lost opportunities.

In this article, we'll be taking a look at how just a few
simple changes to your email signature can make a BIG
difference to your business.

Let's explore....

1 - NO SIGN-OFF, NO RESULTS

I think it's incredible -- since most of the emails I get
are from coaches and small business owners -- but I get at
least a couple of emails a day with absolutely no sign-off
at all.

That's right. No company name, and no contact information.
Emails sometimes even arrive without the sender's last
name!

This is not only a waste of a perfect marketing
opportunity, it's pretty bad business. There's nothing
professional about a business email without basic business
information.

2 - START WITH THE BASICS

Every email you send out should include basic information
about you and your company:

* Your name (first and last)
* Company Name
* Business phone
* Email address

Tip: Why include your email address here, when the reader
can see it at the top of the email? Simply because it's
easier for the reader to have all of your contact
information in one place -- especially if he decides to add
it to his address book or contact manager.

A basic email signature might also include:

* Your title or business designation
* Company logo and/or tag line
* Your photo
* Fax and/or cell phone number
* Website address

Tip: If you include any graphics (photo, logo, etc.) be
sure to use small files that will download quickly and
easily for the reader. (For me, any file I need to wait
for falls into that 'annoying' category.)

3 - WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?

Here's the deal. Your email signature is the perfect place
to include information about your business, your products,
or your services. Why?

* You're writing -- or responding -- to someone you know is
already interested in you, or your business
* You know your message will be seen
* Email is a natural place to describe something new, or
interesting
* It's totally non-intrusive
* It's easy
* It doesn't cost you a thing!

So, take a minute to think about something about your
business -- or your products -- that you'd like to tell
people about. For example:

* Your upcoming workshop, seminar, or teleclasses
* Your book or audio product
* An improvement you've made to an existing product or
program
* New business location, or expanded business hours
* Your new website

Choose one of these ideas now, and take it through the next
few steps in this article....

4 - WHAT'S IN IT FOR THEM?

To illustrate, let's say you decide to use your email
signature to tell people about an upcoming teleclass.

I can imagine several answers to the question, "What's in
it for you?"

* new business leads
* 'live' interaction with solid business prospects
* revenue (if you're charging a fee for the class)
* opportunity to introduce participants to your other
products and services
* getting your name out into the business community
* opportunity to shine as an expert in your field
* word-of-mouth advertising from your teleclass participants

If you'd like your email signature to attract new clients
-- and sales -- be sure to focus on "What's in it for THEM?"

Going back to the teleclass example, what will participants
get out of it? (information, fun, interaction, difficult
to find facts or tips, a plan/strategy, etc.)

What problem do they have that this teleclass will help
resolve? Where are they struggling? (stress, frustration,
ill health, isolation, financial troubles, need more
clients, lack of confidence, etc.)

Jot down at least two benefits your reader will get from
your product. And then write a sentence or two that simply
tells them this -- and shows them how to order or sign up
(live links, please!).

Add your contact information, and you've got a powerful
email signature!

Tip: To improve your results, add an offer -- or a reason
for the reader to take action NOW.

5 - SHORT AND SWEET

Remember I said that email signatures are totally
non-intrusive? I was describing clear, concise,
well-written email signatures; yours, I hope!

Take a quick peek into your email "Sent" box. If you're
anything like me, most emails you send out are 10-20 lines
long. Many are probably only 2-3 lines.

Don't write an email signature that's longer than most of
your emails!

I'm a member of several email list-serves (coaching,
writing, publishing) and not suprisingly, every one of them
has rules about email signatures. The maximum 'suggested'
length is between 7-8 lines.

Use this length recommendation as a guide when developing
yours. Think 3-4 lines to get your marketing message
across, and 3-4 lines for your basic contact information.
That's all you need.

6 - THE TECH OF IT ALL

Okay, one question that often pops up is whether to use a
"text only" or "html" email sign-off (often called
'signature' in your mail program).

In my mind, that totally depends on your audience.

If you work with a fairly tech-savvy group of people, and
would like to add the graphics and formatting that are
possible with html, go for it. For some audiences,
however, html is a mistake -- since it'll show up as an
unreadable mass of code if they don't have the software to
decode it properly.

Not sure? Stick to simple text email messages and
sign-offs.

In the past couple of years, email signatures have become
incredibly simple to do (technically, that is!). Here's
where to find basic instructions from two of the most
popular email programs:

Outlook: Tools > Options > Mail Format > Signatures
AOL: Mail > Set Mail Signatures > Create

For other mail programs, check the Help menu, or write to
customer support. These days, virtually every ISP will has
a way for you to add an email signature -- with or without
a marketing message -- quickly and easily.

Tip: Take a minute or two right now to write a new email
signature, and get it into your email account.

7 - KEEP 'EM FRESH

Ever have this experience: You drive past the same
billboard day after day, and after while, you literally
don't see it at all?

The same holds true for email sign-offs. After several
emails with the same sign-off, your readers won't 'see' it
any more. So write several sign-offs -- for the same
product, or for different products or programs -- to keep
them fresh and new.

Each time you write one, ask yourself:

* Does it meet your marketing objective? (What's in it for
you?)
* Does it offer a real benefit to your reader? (What's in
it for them?)
* Is it clear and concise? (7-8 lines, including your
contact information)

Use these three questions as guidelines, and you'll be well
on your way to creating email sign-offs that'll attract
customers -- and increase sales.

----------------------------------------------------
Best-selling author Kathy Gulrich helps clients get from
idea, to action, to results - more quickly, and more easily
- whether they're looking to write a book, develop a new
product, or market their product or business. Clients love
her direct, no-nonsense approach - and her gentle
insistence on great results. Find out for yourself: Check
out one of Kathy's teleclasses, or pick up a free
worksheet, at http://www.smARTbusinessCoaching.com

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Earn $750 – $2500 P/T, $5000 - $10,000 F/T. Get your FREE Training Package! Home-based business!

No gimmicks, no empty promises, just good business. We are looking for individuals interested in starting their own legitimate home business. $50,000+ first year income potential.
If You Promote Or Advertise ANYTHING - Please Read This NOW!

There's a brand new site that will reveal to you, step-by-step,
"How To Double Your Business & Profits EVERY Month"! Plus, this
month only, you can pick up a $49 "Web Advertising Course" for
FREE. Just go to http://www.adminder.com/go.cgi?id=mellybaby

2005-10-15T15:42:00.000-04:00

2005-10-15T13:21:00.000-04:00

We are exploring several different kinds of ways you can make money through a business online or offline. We have discussed several key ways to start marketing your business once you have decided what line of business you are going to branch off into. There may be some of you out there though that at still unsure, or would still like another stream of income. You can choose as many multiple streams of income you find you can handle. I personally love to multi-task and shake it up a little by having 5 streams of income I am working with every day. As long as you are organized, informed, educated, confident, dedicated, and persistent, you have the makings of a successful home owner. As long as you realize it is consistent work that requires a daily effort, a few dollars, and a positive attitude even in the face of resistance, you should come through over time with a winning, viable business you will be proud to tell your friends about.
The following is another article which introduces you to a new idea for a stream of income source.

Get Paid To Autosurf - An Easy Way To Make Money At Home
Copyright 2005 Elaine Currie

Considering that the great Studio Traffic had been running
for nearly two years when I made my debut, I was a
latecomer to the get paid to auto surf scene. When I first
started to take notice of the get paid to auto surf sites,
I looked at the possibilities, did a double-take, looked
again and wondered where the catch might be. Surely, I
thought, there must be a catch, or can it really be that
simple? I'll spare you the suspense and tell your right
from the start that the answer was yes, it really is as
simple as it appears. Before you go rushing off to spend
money with auto surf for cash programmes, let me just
stress that it is simple but that is not the same as saying
that every get paid to auto surf site is safe. Crossing
the road is pretty simple but, if you fail to look out for
approaching traffic, it certainly isn't safe. Jumping out
of a plane is simple but, if you don't get a parachute and
a course of instructions, it's far from safe. So don't try
auto surfing for cash at home until you have read the rest
of this.

Of course, at the start, I didn't know the answer and I
toddled off into the realms of get paid to auto surf,
taking baby step investments and breathing sighs of relief
every day when the get paid to auto surf sites appeared and
I knew my tiny investments were still safe. Considering the
idiotic abandon with which I embraced the dreadful money
doubler phenomenon, it might seem strange that I was so
wary when it came to the auto surf for cash experience.
Maybe I learned my lesson from the amount of money I wasted
on the money doublers. (By the way, if you happen to know
my husband, there is absolutely no need for you to mention
to him anything about me and money doubler programmes.
Really, no need at all.)

Don't get the wrong impression through me mentioning money
doublers and get paid to auto surf programmes in the same
article. The auto surf for cash sites are in no way
related to the money doublers or run by the same people.
The one thing the two types of programme have in common is
that they are very easy to do but, whereas money doublers
were pure scams, get paid to auto surf sites are real
online businesses where you can make money at home. The
webmasters and webmistresses who own get paid to auto surf
sites are, in the main, honest hard-working people, who
want to have a thriving business which will bring them an
ongoing income for the future. I'm not saying all auto
surf for cash sites are run by saints, the owners are just
ordinary people who want to make a living on the Internet,
and the industry (like any other) has its share of rogues
and thieves who will take your money and run, plus a few
inept webmasters who just have no idea how to run a
business and lose everyone's money.

So, you might ask, how do I take sensible precautions
against getting stung? The answer, like most things, is
simple! Investigation is the answer. If you like the look
of a get paid to auto surf site, join as a free member and
check out the forum (if there is one). Surf to test the
quality of surfing and don't invest if the surfbar is
unpredictable. Email the owner to ask about the site. If
you get no reply, drop the site there and then: any website
owner who takes a pride in his business will respond to a
member's enquiry. If you get a terse reply, pointing out
that the answer to your dumb question is in the site faq's,
this is still good: an abrupt reply probably means the
owner is busy or has got sick of answering the same stupid
questions. The point is that he is human and bothered to
respond. Don't even think of giving your money to someone
who ignores you from day one.

Do an Internet search for forums concerned with making
money online, make money at home, auto surfing, get paid to
programmes etc. Read what the members are saying about the
sites you are thinking of joining as this is usually a good
indicator of whether the site is growing or declining.
Don't, however, totally rely on the opinion of forum
members because the posts often tend to be a bit hysterical
and they are, of course, the voicing of personal opinions
and not a handing down of the wisdom of gurus.

Check out get paid to auto surf review sites. I don't mean
the one page free websites that have been built simply to
advertise one person's choice of programmes and build a
downline. Look for serious reviews which are regularly
updated, these are more likely to be written by dedicated
surfers. There are some very good ones around now: I came
across one just this week, where you can sign up for a
course of get paid to auto surf lessons and a weekly
newsletter. This sort of service takes real energy and
commitment. If you read a few of these get paid to auto
surf review sites, you will get a feeling for which of them
belong to dedicated surfers and which are the work of
sloppy amateurs who half the time don't even notice when
their recommended programmes have closed down.

Another thing you can do to make life as an auto surfer for
cash safer is to tread the path which has already been
smoothed out, tiptoe in the footsteps of the people who are
already making money from auto surfing. If it is working
for them, copy what they do and listen to their advice.
The foremost piece of advice any decent auto surfer for
cash will give you is "don't ever use cash you could not
afford to lose", the second most valuable piece of advice
is probably "spread your investments". If you are prepared
to be patient, you can build up a decent income from small
investments spread over several get paid to auto surf
programmes. This way you can enjoy the get paid to auto
surf experience and make some money without living in fear
of your life savings being carried out to sea on the
virtual surf.

----------------------------------------------------
Elaine Currie has a Work From Home Directory and Auto Surf
Review at her Plug In Profit Site:
http://www.Huntingvenus.com
for people who want to make money at home.

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Earn $750 – $2500 P/T, $5000 - $10,000 F/T. Get your FREE Training Package! Home-based business!

No gimmicks, no empty promises, just good business. We are looking for individuals interested in starting their own legitimate home business. $50,000+ first year income potential.
If You Promote Or Advertise ANYTHING - Please Read This NOW!

There's a brand new site that will reveal to you, step-by-step,
"How To Double Your Business & Profits EVERY Month"! Plus, this
month only, you can pick up a $49 "Web Advertising Course" for
FREE. Just go to http://www.adminder.com/go.cgi?id=mellybaby

| |

2005-10-14T23:22:00.000-04:00

What do you recall the most from advertisments or commercials? Is it the loud noises,vibrant colour schemes, the subtle hints, or the ideas that the ad companies paint for your imagination to expand on? I remember a few commercials trying to guess through the whole thing what it was they were trying to promote, and at the end crying " That was a car commercial?!" Not one picture of a car, not one mention of a car at all. Just an idea was sold of a family life. Which does make sense since cars are a necessity for family life these days. But it wasn't bold and in your face annoying. There are those annoying commercials that make me glad I have a mute button. Or the ones with the tune that gets stuck in your head the whole day. We can all relate, I'm sure. Here is a useful article to help you get on the right track to promoting the way you really want to to succeed.

How Not To Fail In Network Marketing
Copyright 2005 David Pineda

My friend Mike said that, 'people fail in mlm, network
marketing, internet marketing, or home business
opportunities for two main reasons.

1. Most people start with a shoe string budget, but since
they don't know how to effectively advertise and promote
their businesses, they run out of money without having the
opportunity grow and explode their business.

2. They pitch their mlm, network marketing, internet
marketing, or home business opportunities to their family,
friends, and co-workers. Then they run out of people to
talk to, and out of money to advertise.' That's a sad
scenario.

The key to not fail in mlm, network marketing, internet
marketing, or home business opportunities; is to implement
a franchise system with a proven marketing strategy that
works. Sort of like Mc Donald's, the casinos in Las Vegas,
movie theaters, and others.

For intance, do you think Mc Donald's is in the hamburger
business? How about Las Vegas' casinos? They advertise,
"what happens in Vegas stays in vegas." Movie theaters, Do
you think they could stay in business by merely selling
admission tickets?

Let me tell you why Mc Donald's can afford to sell a burger
for a $1 dollar. Because it knows that when you buy that
extra slice of cheese, fries, and soda, it will make a huge
profit margin on them.

Las Vegas casinos lure you with their entertainment
advertising, but they don't tell you that they want you to
lose all your money in gambling which is where the real
money is made.

The same with movie theaters, you take your family to watch
a movie, and you easily spend $40 bucks in popcorn, sodas,
and candies, not including the admission tickets!

Do you see what is going on here? Do you see the marketing
strategy at work? If these businesses did not a have a game
plan, they would go out of business or they would have a
hard time staying in business.

The question that must be popping in your mind by now is,
what does that have to do with my mlm, network marketing,
internet marketing, or home business opportunity? It has a
lot to do with it, if not all of it! The strategy is based
on the ABC business model. Once you understand it and apply
it to your mlm business, network marketing
business,internet marketing business, or home business
opportunity__viola! Your business will explode!

What is this ABC business model, and why is it vital to
your, mlm business, network marketing business, internet
marketing business, or home business opportunity? Let's
just say that part A, part B, and part C, all three parts
compliment each other.

Part A is the most important of the three parts, yet most
people only use part B and C. Especially if you are
advertising your business on a shoe string budget! Do you
see now why people fail in business? Can your mlm
business, network marketing business, internet marketing
business, or home business opportunity survive on parts B
and C only? Sure it can, but it will cost you a fortune in
advertising, and I guarantee it!

Part A is designed to help you fund your advertising, and
generate prospects for your business.

Part B is designed to put quick cash in your pocket to pay
bills or to invest to further grow your business, and part
C is your long-term residual income.

How does part A help you fund your advertising so you don't
run out of money? Simple. Sell a low cost high volume item
that is closely related to your mlm business, network
marketing business, internet marketing business, or home
business opportunity. Something easy to sell whether you
are an expert or not. It could be a nutrition product, a
service, or an affiliate program, but it has to be closely
related to your mlm business, network marketing business,
internet marketing business, or home business opportunity.
The reason for doing that, is that it is a lot easier to
sell $500 dollars in retail products than it is in building
a $500 residual income, do you follow?

Just to give you a perfect example, as a network marketer,
would you buy a business that is worth $1,000 to $2,000
dollars without thinking about it,or would you be more
inclined to buy an inexpensive book that shows you how to
be successfull with that business? If you are like me, you
would buy the book and educate yourself first. A book like
this would be a retail product that sells easily.

By implementing Part A which will lead to Part B and then
to part C, your mlm business, network marketing business,
internet marketing business, or home business opportunity
will always be up and running, and no longer worried about
running out of advertising funds.

Part B in mlm business, network marketing business,
internet marketing business, or home business opportunities
comes in the form of fast start bonuses aka "bread and
butter." As you continue to implement part A it will not
only fund your advertising campaings, but also will
generate endless prospects for your business. Remember,
Part A has to be closely related to your main business.

Do you see now why part A is so vital for your business?

When you do your advertising, vary your advertising. Do not
rely solely on one form of advertising. My wise friend
Mario said, "a table can not stand on one leg, (a
conventional table) and neither will your mlm business,
network marketing business, internet marketing business, or
home business opportunity be able survive on one form of
advertising alone.

Apply this ABC business model in your mlm business, network
marketing business, internet marketing business, or home
business opportunity and you will never ever have to worry
about running out of money,or failing in this industry
again.

----------------------------------------------------
David Pineda is an active Magnetic Sponsor. To request a
free generic 10 day boot camp training email me at:
networkmagnetism@sbcglobal.net
To visit my website go to:http://www.davidhpineda.ws

Are you at stay at home parent looking to make some extra cash? Check out this site for cool ideas. Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Earn $750 – $2500 P/T, $5000 - $10,000 F/T. Get your FREE Training Package! Home-based business!

No gimmicks, no empty promises, just good business. We are looking for individuals interested in starting their own legitimate home business. $50,000+ first year income potential.
If You Promote Or Advertise ANYTHING - Please Read This NOW!

There's a brand new site that will reveal to you, step-by-step,
"How To Double Your Business & Profits EVERY Month"! Plus, this
month only, you can pick up a $49 "Web Advertising Course" for
FREE. Just go to http://www.adminder.com/go.cgi?id=mellybaby

2005-10-12T12:35:00.000-04:00

What are the key components most employers look for in an employee? Passionate, self-motivated, attentive to detail, flexible, team-savvy, confident, personable,proactive, and multi-tasking. These are the keys to being successful for yourself as well as for an employer. As long as you make these an active part of your life, you will succeed in all aspects of life. Throw some computer skills, marketing skills, and customer service expertise into the mix and you have a dynamite business package.
Now here are some key tips to help you organize and prepare a winning business plan you can put into action.
Making Your Home Business Work
Copyright 2005 Heidi Chartier

http://www.MakingMaximumWealth.com/pips.html

Running your own home based internet business is a piece of
cake. Right?

You have probably heard how easy it is to rake in tens of
thousands of dollars practically over night, and how you
can have all kinds of "free time" and extra cash for
traveling and shopping at your favorite store...

Just throw up a web site, add a few affiliate links, post
to some forums and presto - you're in the money!

But the reality is this. If you want to succeed in your own
home based internet business, whether it's affiliate
marketing or selling your own products, you will have to
work at making it successful. You have to make it your job
to succeed. You must treat it as your job, not as your
hobby.

It's great to think that with just a few easy strokes
you'll be running on auto-pilot, bringing in loads of cash
and then on to the next venture. But without some simple
planning and consistent effort you're setting yourself up
for failure.

Here are a few tips to help you get started.

STAY ORGANIZED

Set up folders in your email client.

You should set up a folder for each contact and keep
important correspondence while deleting what you don't
need. If you belong to membership sites that require
passwords, keep the "welcome" letters where you can find
them.

Set up folders on your desktop.

If you download a lot of software, ebooks or PDF books from
specific individuals simply name a folder on your desktop
after the author or site owner. Then when you download
something you can place it in their folder.

Make your own HTML home page.

For quick and easy access to all your important sites make
up an HTML page with hyperlinks to your most frequently
used sites along with a brief explanation of each site.
Keep it on your desktop for easy access.

STAY FOCUSED

Set aside a specific time for work.

It could be from 7pm-9pm every day or whatever time's good
for you. During this time do not get distracted from doing
only what needs to be accomplished for your business. Try
to use the same time slot every day so you get into a
routine and get used to the working mindset. Save the
surfing for another time.

Set aside a work space.

Make sure that all your friends and family know that when
you're in your work area you're off limits! No one's to
bother you.

Finish one task before starting another.

As the old saying goes, "Put one foot in front of the
other." Don't start working on something new until the
first task is completely finished.

BE CONSISTENT

Work the ideas that "work."

When you find something that works well for you work it
hard and get as much out of it as possible. If you're
submitting articles to a certain site and they're paying
dividends, keep feeding the cycle.

Learn from failure.

Don't get discouraged. Each failure's just a learning
process. Use any failure to your advantage by taking the
lesson and applying it to your next venture.

Test, test, and more test.

Always test headlines and ad copy. A small change can reap
huge rewards.

With these few simple steps you will stay organized, stay
focused, be consistent in your efforts and build a solid
foundation on which you can build your internet empire!

After all, you are the one who will ultimately determine
the success or failure of your business!

----------------------------------------------------
Not long ago, I didn't know ANYTHING about Internet
marketing... However, within just 2 weeks, I launched my
own website AND learned how to profit from an opt-in list,
pull in sales with ezines, make money with Google Adwords
and setup my own BLOG!
Here's how:http://www.PlgInProfitSite.com/main-10071

Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

There's a brand new site that will reveal to you, step-by-step,
"How To Double Your Business & Profits EVERY Month"! Plus, this
month only, you can pick up a $49 "Web Advertising Course" for
FREE. Just go to http://www.adminder.com/go.cgi?id=mellybaby
No gimmicks, no empty promises, just good business. We are looking for individuals interested in starting their own legitimate home business. $50,000+ first year income potential.

2005-10-11T22:41:00.000-04:00

Getting traffic to your site when there is so much comptetition these days can feel like a hard task for sure. Keywords are the clue to getting the top number spots in search engines. But there are so many words that can be used. Have you ever typed in various words and seen the difference between the order of articles that pop up by even the difference of one or two words?
Here is an article that should clear up any concerns you may have regarding keywords.
Marketing your Online Business – Effective Search Engine Optimization
Copyright 2005 Jon Peckham

It is a fact that few web search surfers will click beyond
the first two to three pages of search results looking for
what they need. If they do not find it within the first few
pages of search results they will either search again using
a different search engine or they will search on slightly
different search terms.

The goal of search engine optimization is about creating a
web site that reaches the first page of the search results
for the particular keywords or keyword phrases you are
targeting. Search engine optimization or SEO is becoming
more and more important as the competition increases for
top placement among on the search engines. Hundreds, if not
thousands, of new web sites are being added to the World
Wide Web on a daily basis and they are all competing for
top placement.

Search engine optimization does not have to be complicated
or elusive. In fact, you are probably better off staying
away from some of the more questionable search engine
optimization strategies and sticking to the basics. The
foundation of basic search engine optimization is to weave
relevant keywords into your web site throughout your
internal and external links, the URL addresses of each
individual page, and most importantly, content.

You can significantly increase the effectiveness of your
search engine optimization efforts by carefully choosing
the right keywords.

The most important part of search engine optimization is
choosing the right keywords and keyword phrases to use in
optimizing your web site. You need to know what keywords
web search surfers are searching for when searching for
your products or services. Once you have a list of popular
search terms you then need to determine how much
competition there is for each particular term and possible
choose keywords where you have a realistic chance of being
competitive.

For example, let us assume your keyword is “search engine
optimization” You may find that this term is very
competitive. In fact, at the time of this article, there
were 83,600,000 search results returned on a search using
“search engine optimization.” While you certainly want to
optimize your site for this keyword you should also seek
less competitive keywords. For example, at the time of this
article, if you were you to search Google on the phrase
“search engine optimization strategies” you would return
approximately 29,600,000 results. This is certainly going
to be less competitive. There are likely going to be
hundreds more keyword alternatives using the phrase search
engine optimization. The question you may have is how do
you do research on what keyword phrases are best to use.

There are some good tools available on the Internet for
doing keyword research for your search engine optimization
purposes.

Yahoo Search Marketing is an excellent tool that is
available for free. This particular search engine
optimization tool s located at the following URL address.

http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/srch/index.php

To get started simply go to the box near the middle of the
page and Enter a keyword to see how many searches were done
on that keyword within the last month. Not only will you
receive the number of searches for that particular search
term but also all of the possible alternatives. Simply by
paying attention to the number of searches done on a
particular term you can have a pretty good idea of what
kind of competition exists for each term. It is generally a
good idea to target keywords or keyword phrases that have
less than 50,000 searches.

Another excellent tool for doing keyword research is
available at Wordtracker.com Wordtracker is not free but
is probably one of the best keyword analysis tools
available on the Internet. If you are serious about search
engine optimization you will want to check out Wordtracker.

Choosing the right keywords is the foundation of effective
search engine optimization and will be the key to getting
your site to the top.

----------------------------------------------------
Jonathan Peckham can help YOU start your own profitable
business on the Internet within the next 24 hours... To
learn more, visit:
http://www.jpktmarketing.com/pips.html

Bizymoms.com

Magnificent Money Affiliate Program

Earn $750 – $2500 P/T, $5000 - $10,000 F/T. Get your FREE Training Package! Home-based business!

If You Promote Or Advertise ANYTHING - Please Read This NOW!

There's a brand new site that will reveal to you, step-by-step,
"How To Double Your Business & Profits EVERY Month"! Plus, this
month only, you can pick up a $49 "Web Advertising Course" for
FREE. Just go to http://www.adminder.com/go.cgi?id=mellybaby

2005-10-10T18:00:00.000-04:00

Information overload?! It is great starting up your own online or small business venture, but the information and education process can be a little overwhelming. Especially when you have to learn terminiolgy as well. There is so much to learn and so many things to sign up for and secure. I have lost count of the amount of times I have read "rules and regulations" and signed my name. Every site requires a password and username. Then you need to keep track of which is which and what for. Organization is the key though. Now adays, you don't need to have a huge filing cabinet to keep everything in either, which saves on space. I have everything in named folders on my desktop as well as on a floppy for backup.
Here is some more information to help you get your business reciving more exposure and get you on your way to making multiple streams of income.
How To Get Free Website Traffic
Copyright 2005 East Tech LLC

A free traffic exchange is one of the best ways for
webmasters to get free website traffic to their sites or
affiliate marketing campaigns. Free Traffic Exchanges allow
you to surf other members websites, and for each viewing,
you get so many of your own URLs and banners added into the
rotation for other members to view. There are hundreds, if
not thousands of free traffic exchanges online today, and
each traffic exchange has thousands of members surfing each
and every day. That’s a lot of potential traffic you can
get for little or no cost for your advertising efforts. All
you need to do is spend some time surfing the exchanges to
get credits for your websites to be viewed by thousands of
potential customers.

You do need to find which traffic exchanges work best for
your website and/or promotions. No two free traffic
exchanges are created equal and the most active ones are
not necessarily the best ones for your needs.

Free traffic exchanges are a great marketing tool for a
variety of reasons. The most obvious reason is that you get
lots of people looking, and hopefully clicking on your
website or promotional pages. But there are hidden benefits
to free traffic exchanges you may not have even considered.

Search engines love free traffic exchanges because of all
the incoming and outgoing links they generate. Plus the
rapidly changing content is another reason the search bots
love these things. Exchanges that have more content also
generate a higher page rank, and therefore more traffic,
and increased memberships. The key is to find exchanges
that are very active and have lots of members. The more
members they have, the more potential customers you get
looking at your offer and your chances for sales
conversions are that much better. But bigger isn’t always
better.

Some free traffic exchanges may convert sales like crazy
for one person, and be a complete waste of time for
another. If everyone promoted the same website or affiliate
program in the same traffic exchange for example, then your
chances of making sales would not be very good. Even if you
were promoting the #1 best product or service on the
internet, the fact is if everyone promoted the same
program, your chances are much lower that someone will
purchase through your website or link to make you any
money. Also, when people see the same ad over and over
again, they get desensitized to it. Don't fall into this
trap. It's one thing to try and sell a very popular
product/service/ebook etc, but it's another thing when a
thousands of other people are doing the same thing.
Competition is a good thing, because it validates your
market, but too much competition is tough and it's time to
move on to something else.

We all know clicking on ads in a free traffic exchange can
be very boring, monotonous and can take a lot of time.
That's why you need to make the best of your opportunity or
you will just be wasting a lot of your time and effort on
something that just isn't working. If you have your own
niche website, then you already differentiated yourself
from the pack. If you are an affiliate marketer, then you
need to find products/services that everyone else isn't
promoting, especially within that particular traffic
exchange.

One way to use free traffic exchanges to your advantage is
to join a few at first, and see if your sales pick up. If
your sales aren’t doing well, then test out a few more.
When you do find a few traffic exchanges that appear to be
generating sales for you, then narrow those down until you
find the one, or two that are working best for you. Now
concentrate your efforts on those because they’re the ones
you want. At least for now anyway. Things may change, so
keep an eye on your campaigns and if sales seem to be
falling off, then it might be time to change your offer or
find another traffic exchange that could pick your profits
up again.

As I mentioned, your individual promotions are key to your
success. If you're trying to promote something everyone
else is, I don't care what traffic exchange service you're
using, your sales conversions are going to be very low, or
nothing at all. You cannot always blame the exchange.
Sometimes you have to look at yourself and think if you're
doing all you can to make sales. The same goes for any
advertising methods such as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) services
like Google AdWords.

If you're going to be using multiple free traffic
exchanges, and I recommend that you do, your first priority
should be to pick up a multi-tab web browser. Many of these
browsers are free and run on PCs and MACs. The tabs feature
allows you to have one web browser open with multiple tabs
each going to a separate website. You could easily put a
half dozen of your free exchange sites in these tabs, and
earn credits for all of them at the same time. So instead
of surfing for 1/2 an hour or an hour earning 200 hits for
one exchange, you could earn 200 hits for 5 or 6 exchanges
in the same amount of time. This is a huge time saver and
multiplies your earned hits by 5X or 6X and increase your
sales conversions.

Getting free traffic to your website is a lot of work. If
you don’t have the money to spend on full blown PPC
(pay-per-click) campaigns like Google AdWords, free traffic
exchanges are a great way to get the free website traffic
you need.

----------------------------------------------------
Andrew Daigle is owner and creator of TrumpTraffic.com, a
Free Traffic Exchange http://www.trumptraffic.com , Free
DXInOne E-Currency Exchange Training Site and Forum
http://www.dxout.com and Free Google AdWords Training
http://www.adwording.com

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2005-10-08T19:14:00.000-04:00

Are you a creative person? I was recently reviewing some work at home ideas others have gotten into. One I found was a really cool idea. Bizymoms.com is a cool site where others just like myself have home businesses up and running. One of the latest programs you can get into is the Santa Letter business. This is a fun opportunity to allow your creative writing talents to be expressed at the same time you can reach out and make a child feel good. This is just one of the many opportunities that are out there to explore. Some of these ideas may be seasonal but it gives you the opportunity to have some variation in your business if you like to be creative and do new things every season.
Here is some more tips on marketing and getting quality leads through targeted traffic.
Getting Quality Leads Through Targeted Traffic: Hot Lead Generation Tactics
Copyright 2005 Jack Humphrey

If you are one of the tens of thousands of people searching
for quality leads for your business everyday, you know how
hard it is to find the precious few perfect business leads
among the junk leads people are selling.

Below are some tips for generating leads who are looking
for what you are selling so you can stop wasting bandwidth
on untargeted, disinterested tire kickers and freebie
seekers.

Find Reputable Lead Companies

Getting leads from a lead company can be expensive and
completely useless if you don't do your homework. Use
sites like
http://getting-leads.com to do your research and carefully
pick places that you can test small leads packages before
you make any major purchases.

Keyword Targeting

Really hone in on your keywords and ads that lead people to
your site through search engines and other off-site
advertising and linking.

For instance, make sure when you exchange links or post
your links that you are using the best keyword in your
niche to describe what people are actually going to find on
your site when they get there. It does you nor them any
good to bring people to your site that will have no
interest in your offer.

It might make you feel good to have tons of general traffic
at first, but you could take much less highly targeted
traffic and triple (or more) whatever a general traffic
site could make with the same product or service.

Say your market keyword, the best one you can possibly
isolate for your target market, is "cactus gardening." You
need to exchange links with other sites and use "Cactus
Gardening" as the link itself in order to gain in the
search engines for that term.

It will help you generate leads and sales with people
coming from the search engines who are only interested in
that topic and nothing else at the time they are surfing.

If your product is selling something or generating leads
around cactus gardening, you are going to generate more
sales from less traffic than if you simply grab any traffic
from the engines on generic words like "gardening."

Take that and go from there. Add another page to your site
that is optimized for "desert gardening" and so on. No
unrelated information should be on your site to your main
product or service. Keep everything highly targeted and
refrain from adding too much side information to distract
your visitors from your number one goal which is lead
collecting and making sales.

Once people see that your site is dedicated to a tight
theme, and it ends up being exactly the theme they were
hoping for, your optin ratio will go up and you will get
more sales.

----------------------------------------------------
Jack Humphrey is the author of Power Linking. Jack is a
linking and internet marketing expert with close to 7 years
of internet marketing experience under his belt. Just
Google his name or visit
http://www.power-linking-profits.com for more information.

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2005-10-08T00:12:00.000-04:00

It is Friday. I went out to pay some new bills and to get some office supplies from my local Staples office. Now that may be a Canadian store so some of you may not even know what it is. It is like Office Max. We have one of those as well but I prefer Staples because they are always fully stocked and seem to know intiuitivly what product I need for the week and put it on sale for me. To me that is the number one thing for advertising and getting my business. The customer service I receive is excellent which is another selling point for me. I feel like they really care and know their products and are not just trying to treat me like a number and get a sale off me regardless. I used to work for Hewlett-Packard so I know a good product line. I believed in Hewlett-Packard products and because of that I sold more of those products than any other line of office equipment I did end up dealing with when I worked customer service in Walmart. You have to believe in something; service or product before you can possibly hope to be any good at promoting or selling it.
Here is another article for you to review and gather some good quality tips to help you get focused and market your business properly.

Marketers on RSS: The Best Of
Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

What do savvy marketers have to say about RSS? What are
their top tips?

We set to find that out end of 2004 to collect the best
possible insights on RSS marketing from top marketers and
RSS developers and leaders, for Unleash the Marketing &
Publishing Power of RSS.

Let’s get started …

1. How can RSS be fully integrated in our marketing and
communications mix
Answered by Robin Good, MasterNewMedia.org

"From what I can see RSS is an effective marketing channel
in that it allows easy and extended distribution of your
core news and information channels to the widest possible
audience with very low costs, maximum compatibility with a
great number of media devices and with the added ability
for the customer to take on this information and reuse it
to hir (his + her) benefit.

That allows customers to further become marketers and
promoters of your own products and services. If we openly
allow the content of public RSS feeds to be freely
subscribed, syndicated, re-aggregated and republished we
will only find that new and greater value can be extracted
every time someone goes about doing this.

So it is important not to keep RSS newsfeeds under locks.

RSS is one of the purest viral marketing channels. Its
virality being spelled clearly in its acronym: Really
Simple Syndication.

Yes, you need to make these three words make sense to you
in order to leverage the maximum out of this content format.

Allow syndication. Don't limit it.

Let others take your RSS feed and do things with it.
Encourage them to do so. Have them use it to republish your
news (among others) on their home page. Help them achieve
that. Write and explain with short stories or simple
tutorials how easy it is to search, filter and aggregate
content from different RSS feeds and to create dedicated
niche newsfeeds on most any topic you can think of. Explain
openly that if you do create such dedicated newschannels
they can be as easily republished as news Web site, which
can carry contextual ads (Google AdSense) from day one.
Very sustainable if not altogether profitable.

Look for example at the work being done by Waypath with
their Blender experiment and see other useful and
complementary uses of RSS that can be economically
profitable."

And another great tip from Robin: "Create as many RSS
newsfeeds for your content as are the topic/themes that you
cover. Do not pack all of your content under one generic
RSS channel."

2. What's really going to drive readers/customers to adopt
RSS? Buyers of what products and services are most likely
to adopt RSS?
Answered by Bill French, MyST Technology Partners

"I don't think anyone wants to adopt RSS; rather they want
timely information in a controlled and organized way such
that it helps them do their jobs better, or manage their
personal information diet. This is precisely the reason we
adopted (for the most part) SMTP - but none of us
considered "adopting SMTP". Email applications and the
benefits of a store-and-forward architecture with
reasonable assurance of delivery drove us into the realm of
SMTP. And the driving force that seems to be causing early
adopters to use RSS feeds has more to do with the volume of
information and news that we find ourselves awash in each
day.

There's no question; everyone will eventually adopt RSS (or
similar formats) but we'll know that has happened when no
one refers to it as RSS. ;-)"

3. How would you compare RSS and e-mail as content delivery
tools?
Answered by Tom Hespos, Underscore Marketing

"RSS is all about consumer control. How many times have you
thought about subscribing to an e-mail newsletter but
thought, "Nah, they'll probably sell my e-mail address to
spammers" and didn't subscribe? With RSS, consumers can
unsubscribe from feeds at any time, so the risk of getting
unwanted content or spam is virtually nil.

I think consumers have been waiting for something like this
for quite some time. The added control will make them more
likely to want to aggregate content from publishers they
read regularly. As a marketing guy, I think it's
appropriate to mention that moving to RSS is not without
its risks. Content publishers know that it's somewhat
cumbersome to unsubscribe from an e-mail newsletter, so
they've taken certain chances with their e-mail newsletters
that they won't be able to take with RSS – they carry
standalone sponsor messages, load up their HTML newsletters
with animated ads, maybe take a risk with some of the
stories they write.

Since the "unsubscribe" button is right there for feed
subscribers, publishers might not get a second chance if
they screw up. With RSS, there's no broadcasting a "Please
come back" message to people who unsubscribe. If you lose
someone, you lose them until they decide to come back. So
I'm sure publishers will need to handle RSS with kid gloves
until they get a sense of what their subscribers will like
and what will make them run for the door."

----------------------------------------------------
Learn how to take full marketing advantage of RSS and get
all the expertise, knowledge and how-to information for
implementing RSS in your marketing mix, from direct
marketing, PR, e-commerce, internal communications and
online publishing to SEO, traffic generation and customer
relationship management. Including complete interviews with
more than 40 RSS marketing experts. Click here now:
http://rss.marketingstudies.net/book/

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2005-10-06T16:36:00.000-04:00

I was doing some more research,one of my favourite things to do every day with the wealth of information that is available to us now with modern technology. I am trying to learn everything I can regarding affiliate programs. I never realized how many companies out there are looking for affiliates to help them promote their businesses. It is a great way for the new entrepreneurs to learn the ropes and start out small until they get comfortable and ready to move to the next level.
Enjoy this article.
WORKING WITH AFFILIATE PROGRAMMES
Copyright 2005 Robert Evans

Affiliate programmes are springing up everywhere and cover
every type of product or service imaginable. Some
incorporate fully automated systems that sell high volumes
of hard products all over the world. Many have several
thousand affiliates and one or two of the bigger companies
have over one million affiliates.

So what are the advantages of joining an affiliate
programme?

* they provide a ready-made business. This is a very big
plus for those people who want to earn some kind of living
off the internet but lack the knowledge or inclination to
set up a business by themselves

* commissions and rewards are generally good and the more
established programmes offer a real chance of advancement
to higher and better-paid levels.

* other affiliates are usually on hand to offer practical
support

How about the limitations?

* you are restricted in your promotional activities due to
the fact that you do not actually own the affiliate site
they give you. I'm thinking here about not being able to
put such things as banners, images, links, meta tags etc
onto your page

* the URL of your affiliate page is often either too long
or contains such awkward things as question marks, which
many Search Engines will not index

* any promotional literature provided has probably already
been used by thousands of other people and consequently may
have lost its impact, making it more difficult to achieve
sales or referrals

* if the programme you have joined has not yet established
itself (or in some cases even if it has) then you may
encounter problems with payments owed to you not being
honoured, or low quality products, or sub-standard
statistics that do not accurately record how many referrals
or sales you have made etc

* you may also be required to purchase a minimum quantity
of the product on a regular basis before you start to
qualify for commissions or even before you can become an
affiliate

* you may not get the technical or affiliate support you
might expect from the company. This may be due to
inadequate staffing, or perhaps the company just doesn't
care about you!

* other people in your downline do nothing to promote the
programme

* the programme itself ceases to exist overnight

At least four of the above limitations can be overcome with
a little time and effort. You could, for example, come up
with fresher ads to promote the programme (provided this is
allowed).

You could shorten that over-long affiliate URL by using a
free service like tinyurl.com

It might be a good idea to purchase any product you are
promoting anyway. This would then enable you to review its
strengths and weaknesses and would put you well ahead of
the majority of affiliates who know nothing about the
product they are promoting.

With your new found knowledge, you could build a site or
page dedicated solely to the affiliate product. You could
write a review and also produce articles related to the
subject.

If the company supplies the email addresses of people in
your downline then you could offer to help the less active
members. Very often these people are passive not because
they are lazy or apathetic but merely because they don't
know HOW to promote effectively! Your guidance could mean
the difference between no sales or referrals and healthy
downlines and residual incomes.

----------------------------------------------------
Robert Evans has been doing business online since October
2000. He currently writes a blog in the form of a free
tutorial on the subject of how to build a profitable web
site from scratch. http://www.market4profit.net/blog

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2005-10-05T19:25:00.000-04:00

I am so sorry about yesterday.It was Tuesday and I thought all day that it was Monday until my husband came home from work and asked why I hadn't paid a certain bill that was due. The one thing about working from home is if you work 7 days out of the week like I do occaissionally you forget one of those days or mistake it for another day. No harm no foul I guess, as long as it doesn't infringe on missed deadlines. For those I have a calendar up with big red circles on it.
Here is a good article I came across to help with your marketing strategy. Enjoy.
Advertising vs. PR in Your Small Business Marketing Strategy
Copyright 2005 J D Moore

A great small business marketing strategy includes a mix of
tactics. Advertising and PR are two very important tools
that all small business owners need to be using regularly.
Many small businesses I talk to do one of the other, but
don't commit to doing both. Each has its strengths and
weaknesses and are complimentary to each other.

Small Business Advertising Strengths:
-The biggest advantage with small business advertising is
your complete control over the message. You get to focus on
whatever you want, write the text, and choose the visuals.
You ensure that your marketing message is delivered.

-You control placement. You choose the exact timing and
media in which your advertising is placed. This is a huge
advantage because naturally you are going to choose to
place your ads where your target market is most likely to
see them.

-You can repeat your messages over and over again.
Effective small business marketing incorporates a high
degree of repetition and consistency. Advertising can and
should be run on regular schedules.

-With advertising, you (and your budget) control your
marketing saturation. You can run the same ad across
different publications serving the same market, run
matching Internet advertising, put an ad on the radio, do
cable TV, do outdoor advertising, etc. Ideally you need to
be reaching your target market at least 4 different ways
for them to respond.

Advertising Weaknesses
-Advertising generally costs money. Most small businesses
don't have a huge budget for marketing. Sometimes being
creative can help defray costs. Sometimes you can trade for
advertising space. You may be able to do co-op advertising.

-Small business advertising needs to be very targeted to be
effective. Sometimes the only choices you have in your
community are mass-market like newspapers. You still need
to advertise, but some of your marketing dollars will be
spent to advertise to people who don't want or need what
you're selling.

-Most small business advertising stinks. I hate to say it,
but it's true. Many do-it-yourself advertisers don't
understand that there are advertising fundamentals that
work. A good ad will always out-pull a bad one. Here's my
plug: If you can't invest the time and money to learn how
advertising REALLY works, get yourself a small business
marketing coach to help you build more effective campaigns.
It will be money well invested.

PR Strengths:
-It's FREE! OK, you might incur a very small charge if you
hire someone to write and distribute a press release for
you, but this is minimal. I think the reason why most small
businesses don't do PR is that they don't know how it's
done. Again, get some coaching, or pay someone to do it for
you.

-Press is trusted more than advertising. If you read a
review that says that a new restaurant is the best thing in
town, there's some credibility there. We tend to assume
that a person who is writing an article is an expert, and
that they are an uninterested third party.

-You can distribute PR globally. As long as what you are
doing is actually interesting globally, you can distribute
your press releases globally. This isn't necessarily as
targeted as your advertising needs to be, but you're not
paying for editorial. By the way, never pay for editorial,
and don't advertise with media that promises to give you
editorial as long as you advertise. This is unethical and
transparent - and the credibility of the media will always
be in question.

PR Weaknesses:
-You have no control over what the press is actually going
to write or say about you. They may spell your name wrong,
they may get some details wrong, they may choose to focus
on something you don't want to highlight. In general this
isn't a big issue, as long as they are saying good things
about you.

-PR tends to be single exposure. Unless circumstances are
really unusual, the press is not going to run the same
story over and over again. I have been involved with an
exception to that. I was doing something that corresponded
with a current event and the press came to me again and
again over 4 weeks for TV interviews. This was pure timing.
It's difficult to engineer press like that without seeming
mercenary.

-There is no guarantee that you're even going to get
coverage. I was called to do a TV interview once and rushed
into the city to meet the reporter and photographer. On my
way in ,the reporter called me on my cell phone to tell me
they were pulling the story because there was breaking news
that they had to go cover. Depending on what's going on you
may get tons of press or none at all.

You see that small business advertising and PR are
different things. You need them both, and you need to work
at both of them consistently. They are two important tools
in your small business marketing toolbox.

----------------------------------------------------
J D Moore - Marketing Comet
Does your small business marketing stink? Let's fix it!
http://marketingcomet.typepad.com

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