Book Summary: Effective Networking For Professiona

Book Summary: Effective Networking For Professional Success

by: Regine Azurin

This article is based on the following book:

Effective Networking for Professional Success

กHow to Make the Most of Your Personal Contactsก

by Rupert Hart, Stirling Books, 1997

ISBN 0 949 142 09 3

125 pages

We are all ขselfemployedข now.Today there is absolutely no job security. We are living in an age of corporate downsizing, and freelance consultants, or selfemployed workers are growing by the day. Networking is one skill you need to practice to get ahead and survive these uncertain times.

Wisdom in a Nutshell:

1. Networking is essential for both new jobs and business contracts.

2. Effective networking is 12 times more effective than answering advertisements

3. Advertising is becoming ineffective except on a large scale.

4. Networking helps you find hidden opportunities and can set you apart from the competition.

5. An indirect approach is better than a direct one. Use someone you know to introduce you to your target contact. Never go straight to your target without a gobetween who will put in a good word for you.

6. You can overcome your natural shyness, your fear of using people, and your fear of rejection.

The 3 key networking techniques are:

1. Build a network of partners to keep an open eye and ear for new opportunities for You.

2. Reach targeted individuals in two ways: directly or indirectly.

3. Build visibility by raising your profile. Go to every social gathering you possibly can.

Building your network is an ongoing process. You need to increase your range of contacts constantly.

Planning your campaign:

1. Define your objective

2. Select the right technique

3. Understand that ขdeal flowข or your number of prospects must be great in order to bag one new business contract.

4. Identify your target

5. Work out your positioning. This is a short statement of what you are about, what you can offer.

6. Think about what you can do for your network partners in exchange for information and contacts.

Building Network partners:

1. Talk to everyone you know about opportunities

2. Clarify what network partners can and will do for you

3. Know which contacts to build into network partners

4. Find those friendly network spiders, those types of people who just seem to know everyone.

5. Use the telephone.

How to grow and refresh your network:

1. Go out of your way to be where people are.

2. Get into the habit of being talkative.

3. Get the contact details of people you meet. Not just exchanging business cards but stapling information like birthdays, anniversaries, hobby clubs, and key information onto their cards.

4. Choose the right method for the right person.

5. Warm up longcold contacts.

How to find targeted individuals:

1. Focus on what you want to achieve and how people can help you.

2. Use your network partners to find suitable companies.

3. Gather key information on these companies.

4. Figure out who is the one with the power to hire you.

5. Find people connections and common areas of interest.

Reaching targets through network partners:

1. Find and persuade the best partner for your targeted individual.

2. Engineer an introduction.

3. Build wordofmouth exchanges about yourself.

Reaching targets directly:

1. Decide if you should write a letter or not.

2. Be able to demonstrate your achievements.

3. Have a line ready to get you past the secretary.

4. Act as though you expect to be put through.

5. Be ready to leave a short, persuasive message for the decisionmaker.

Your opening line:

1. Be cheerful, confident and straightforward.

2. Exploit connections and recommendations.

3. Mention common interests.

4. Report news of interest to the target.

5. Wait for a response. Know when to shut up.

6. Write down your opening lines before picking up the phone.

How to be visible without really trying:

1. Ask a question at a conference.

2. Make a point in a meeting.

3. Write letters to your industry magazine.

4. Introduce yourself to lots of people at an industry show or ball.

5. Buy people a drink at the bar at a lecture.

6. Discuss a book with an industry leader.

7. Wear bright ties.

8. Make people laugh.

9. Have an opinion on everything. (But keep an open mind)

10. Hand out an unusual business card.

11. Recast your CV to be a little different.

12. Take up an unusual hobby. (But not too unusual)

13. Don’t overlook using the email and Internet to communicate your cause.

About The Author

By: Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla

Regine Azurin is the President of BusinessSummaries.com, a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

http://www.bizsum.com/lite.php

กA Lot Of Great Books….Too Little Time To Readก

Free Book Summaries Of Latest Bestsellers and More!

Mailto: [email protected]

BusinessSummaries is a BusinessSummaries.com service.

(c) Copyright 20012005, BusinessSummaries.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 22

by Regine Azurin

กInternet Marketing Simplified! 2 Pillars For Achi

กInternet Marketing Simplified! 2 Pillars For Achieving Massive Resultsก

by: Jeff Smith

Are you confused by the flood of information on how to improve your internet marketing results?

Mastering the search engines, payperclick advertising, affiliate marketing, website design, writing articles, and on it goes.

Doesn’t it seem more and more complicated to focus in on what really works and what doesn’t?

After working to build many businesses from the ground up over the last 10 years, itกs more clear than ever that there are 2 main principles that will largely dictate your success in any business. All of the other techniques build on these first two principles.

Think of these two main principles as the cement pillars that hold up a bridge without them, no matter how well you construct the bridge, it will still fall down.

Focus your energies, time and resources around meeting these two key principles you will immediately see a big difference in your results.

PRINCIPLE #1

You must have a well positioned product, fulfilling a hot desire within a clearly identifiable and accessible target market.

Letกs break this down.

Making a profit in business is really quite a simple concept, you have to earn more revenue than your cost. Revenue minus cost is your profit.

So where does that cost come from?

The two big sources of costs are: costs associated with creating or finding your product to sell and cost of reaching your market to sell your product

It only makes sense then that identifying a hot desire within a market you know how to reach will mean much lower costs for your businss. Ultimately, this means more profit for you.

Have you ever run against the wind? Tried to swim upstream in a river? Walk one way in a crowd when everyone else was walking the other way?

Itกs a very tough lesson to learn.

Iกve been brought it to consult with companies that have burned through millions of dollars before learning this lesson.

You cannot FORCE a lowdemand product on a market no matter how much money you spend on marketing.

You cannot hope to reach enough buyers in the entire marketplace even with a very highdemand product in one segment.

In fact, Iกve seen situations where unknown entrepreneurs enter a market, quickly identify a hot desire, address it with a less than perfect product and in a very short time have created wealth 100X higher than anyone else in that market.

An old mentor of mine used to tell me all the time, กfocus on the low lying fruit thereกs far more than enough to go aroundก

PRINCIPLE #2

You must reach your market with a clear, empathetic message that instantly catches your readers attention, interest, desire and moves them to see your product as THE answer to their deepest desires.

If you were reading closely, youกll recognize Principle #2 as the same principles that underly great copywriting.

How do you become a great copywriter and master Principle #2?

1. Research, research and research. I make sure I have a pulse on my target marketกs desires, needs, emotional triggers. Focus in on WHY they want a solution to a particular problem. Research takes many forms…

speak with them

survey them

read what they read

talk to others who do business with your market

test using articles and special reports to guage the response

do what they do

By doing this you should have content for 2030 (at least) different benefits for your product.

Then….

2. Polish your benefit statements. This is where you can use books of action verbs, swap files (samples of great ads, letters and webpages), the services of a copywriter. This is the technical aspect of copywriting which can be learned by reading other great material.

Far too many people go right to #2, as a result their benefit statements seem bland, miss the mark or seem the same as everyone else.

Next time you get distracted by the latest and greatest tip, technique or strategy know that focusing on these 2 fundamental principles: Indemand product ideas and effective copywriting, will make the most difference to your pocketbook in both today and in the future.

About The Author

Discover how to create your own bestselling eBooks, Special reports or books to sell online …AND keep 100% of the profits. Limited time complimentary access to 7Part Minicourse will get you started quickly and easily. Visit: http://www.highertrustmarketing.com/

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 17, 2004

by Jeff Smith

ECommerce Is Back On The Fast Track

ECommerce Is Back On The Fast Track

by: Craig Neidel

How much holiday shopping did you do online this year? If you are reading this, then chances are good that you made at least one purchase online. Over 54% of all Americans did it [1]. A much higher percentage (>80%) of Internet users did it.

Not only did you do it, you liked it! Less than 7% of online shoppers reported a bad experience with 88% reporting they were satisfied or very satisfied [2]. It is clear that online shopping has come of age with such a high level of participation and satisfaction. It appears that past issues of trust, security, and bad ecommerce websites are replaced with good ecommerce sites, higher trust, better security, and just plain better execution and service by online retailers. Quick, easy, and convenient shopping overcomes the concerns people have had in the past.

With a whopping 35% increase in online holiday sales this year, up to $18 billion [3], one analyst calls it ขa fantastic season for online retailers.ข [4] This is the third straight season of record growth for online shopping. This year, 2004, is expected to follow the trend. US online sales are expected to grow from $55 billion in 2003 to $73 billion in 2004 [5].

In searching for some bad news, it was hard to find. The worst news was that 3.6% of online shoppers had a very bad experience where either the merchandise was not delivered on time or was delivered in poor condition. This is a small fraction even compared to traditional retail sales.

Can the news and trends about ecommerce retailing really be that good? The answer seems to be a resounding YES! Some of the more popular online markets have double digit penetration now. That means some online retailers are reaping over 10% of total market share in their industries with a rising trend. In addition, more online retailers are showing profits. In 2002, about 50% of online retailers showed a profit from their online operations while 70% did in 2003 [5].

So, if you are one of those 70% of online retailers making profits in 2003, sit back, breathe a big sigh of relief, and relish the moment. There won’t be much time to relax and enjoy your successes. New business is right around the corner.

If you are a business and don’t yet have an online sales presense, then itกs never too early to get started. To get ready for the 2004 holiday season, itกs best to start now.

Create ecommerce plan – 4/15/04

Select ecommerce software & consultant (NetSource can help) – 5/15/04

Build the website – 7/15/04

Put the website into operation, start selling 8/15/04

Create online marketing plan – 8/15/04

Execute the marketing plan 9/15/04

Ready for holiday sales – 11/15/04

It can be done quicker than the schedule suggested above, but, to do it right requires thought, planning, and time.

References:

[1] Nashville Business Journal, 12/4/03

[2] ASD/AMD Marketwatch ENewsletter, 12/24/03

[3] eSpending Report, Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive, Nielsen/Netratings, 1/5/04

[4] Abha Bhagat, Nielsen/NetRating, COMPUTERWORLD, 1/6/04

[5] ASD/AMD MarketWatch ENewsletter, 10/16/03

About The Author

Craig Neidel has worked for NetSource Communications Inc. for 6 years and has experience in web development, ecommerce solutions and web marketing. NetSource Communications creates custom ecommerce solutions and web applications. http://www.ntsource.com.

This article was posted on October 26, 2004

by Craig Neidel

To The Next Level With Google Groups 2

To The Next Level With Google Groups 2

by: Jakob Jelling

If you haven’t visited the Google Labs lately, they have released a beta of Google Groups 2 that you may want to check out. This is Googleกs answer to Yahoo Groups, and theyกve added some new features to make their service more useful.

For those who don’t know, such groups allow anyone to easily and quickly start their own announcement lists and discussion forums. There is no need to install scripts or anything else on a web site, and no technical knowledge beyond email and posting to a discussion board is needed. If you want, you can use Google Groups to post to and read Usenet postings as well.

Of course, nothing is truly free, and Google Groups is no different. In exchange for making the technology available to host your group, Google displays relevant text ads on your groupกs home page on Google. ‘relevantก is determined by the content of your Google Group discussions. This is the same type of technology used by Google to display AdSense advertising on web sites and relevant text advertising on their free Gmail email service.

The process to create a group is fast and painless. Just create your groupกs name and email address, and invite your members to join. You are able to make your group either public or private, and Google has provided a new interface so that you can see your groupกs postings sorted any of several different ways. The Beta 2 Google Groups also features dynamic conversations, with both Usenet and mailing list postings created within 10 seconds, and indexed within 10 minutes from post.

Families, old college running buddies, online communities, and many others may find benefit in using Google Groups, and the Beta 2 release is worth a try.

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on September 14, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

Yahooกs Back!

Yahooกs Back!

by: Shawn Campbell

I was all set to write an article predicting the future of search engines, when Yahoo dropped Google and replaced it with its own engine. Now thatกs big news. In less than twentyfour hours, Google went from about 79% of the market share to about 51%, almost overnight. And what a welcome relief it is too! Being #1 in Google was great, but when you had the misfortune of dropping even a couple of positions you really felt it. Now there will be more stability; if you drop in Google today, your hits from Yahoo will remain consistent.

What is the new Yahoo?

Last year, Yahoo bought the AltaVista, Fast, and Inktomi search engines. The new Yahoo results are none of these. Many people are saying that the results come from a new Inktomi because the results are similar; but the results are also similar to all the other search engines out there. In comparing these engines, it seems to me that Yahooกs results are from a brand new engine. Maybe they took parts and ideas from all the search engines they bought maybe they even took the best parts , but whatever they did, the result is something completely new.

Which search engine is better?

I will be comparing Google and Yahoo for the terms กmusicก, กart prints and postersก, กBahamas real estateก, กmosquito netsก, and กliposuctionก. The other search engines all hold less than 4% of the market share (except for MSN which uses Yahooกs Inktomi), so I won’t be considering them. Here is what I found in the top 10 results for each keyphrase:

Music

Yahoo offers a lot of music resource sites. Information about music from different sources such as magazine, TV and other music news sites are found 6 times in the top 10 results. It also offered downloading and file sharing programs 3 times. The 10th result was an audio player program site.

Google has a lot more diversity. There were 3 music resource sites (but no magazines), one downloading program, one CD store, one radio station (Yahoo radio), one music directory, and the 10th result was an audio player program site. Google also had 2 sites in its top ten that were of no value whatsoever; MP3.com which just has one page stating that they no longer offer the services that they used to (with links to their parent company), and music.com, which is nothing more than an email gathering site for a newsletter (not a single link on the entire page).

Googleกs diversity is a big bonus, but the 2 spam/junk/useless sites really hurt it. The results? Yahoo 1, Google 0.

Art Prints And Posters

Yahoo offers 6 stores, while Google offers 5. The other links are all affiliate spam with no content whatsoever (just links to stores), with the exception of one of Yahooกs links, which has some biographical content about artists. So Google has 5 spam sites, and Yahoo has 3 and a half.

Yet another round goes to Yahoo.

Bahamas Real Estate

For this keyphrase, I found results between Google and Yahoo to be quite similar. The only differences were sites by actual realtors and sites that were simply property listings. Both types of results are useful, with Google having an edge in realtors. Google had some lower quality sites, but the information was just as good even though they did seem less professional. On the other hand, Yahoo did have one site that was nothing more than a links page from another realtorกs site. Big boo boo.

This one goes to Google.

Mosquito Nets

It seems to me that someone searching for กmosquito netsก wants either A) to buy them, or B) to learn about them, so I was expecting to find either stores or information about mosquito nets. Yahoo showed me 6 stores and 2 informational pages. The other results were a search result page (not a good result) and an inner page from a previous result (also not a good result).

Google gave me 7 stores and 3 charitable organizations (one of which was a store as well). The other 2 charitable organizations were a news article outlining what they had done regarding mosquito nets and information about mosquito nets.

So even though I didn’t necessarily want the latest news about what a charity did regarding mosquito nets, I think getting the same site twice from Yahoo (not to mention the search result page) is the bigger nono. Google wins this round.

Liposuction

I expected to find information about liposuction, liposuction organizations and either doctors or centers where you can have liposuction done. What I got was a lot of กhow to find a doctorก sites, with a lot of good information.

Yahoo results included 3 sites doubled. This is a problem that killed AltaVista in the late 90กs. Hopefully they will have it fixed soon. Other than the 3 doubled sites, the results included 4 informational sites, 2 sites for finding doctors and one poorly written article about the history of liposuction.

Google gave me 4 good informational sites, 2 good กfind a doctorก sites, one recent article about liposuction for people in the industry, one site with very poor information one written by a single doctor and one site that was nothing more than a directory.

Google gets this round as well. Overall, it looks like Yahoo needs to fix its doubling of sites and Google needs to clean out some spam (poor sites).

And The Winner Is…

You! Having two good search engines to choose from makes searching that much better for everyone. It also makes getting listings better. It also makes marketing better. It also makes traffic to your site steadier. The only way this could have been worse is if Yahooกs results sucked, and they don’t. They seem just as good, if not better, than Googleกs.

So rejoice, and enjoy a more dynamic world of online searching!

Shawn Campbell

About The Author

Shawn Campbell is an enthusiastic player in the ecommerce marketplace, and cofounded Red Carpet Web Promotion, Inc. (http://www.redcarpetweb.com/). He has been researching and developing marketing strategies to achieve more prominent listings in search engine results since 1998. Shawn is one of the earliest pioneers in the search engine optimization field.

Contact: [email protected]

This article was posted on April 05, 2004

by Shawn Campbell

7 Secrets to Explode your eBook Sales! Part 2

7 Secrets to Explode your eBook Sales! Part 2

by: Bluedolphin Crow

Secret #2: Creating your Marketing Timeline for Success!
Aho!
You can increase your sales and free time by creating your own marketing timeline. Marketing timelines are essential for all Internet businesses. They provide not only organization but a truly well defined goal sheet as well.
To understand your timeline is to understand your business. Can you really know where you are going if you don’t have a goal? I think not! Can you really tell how well you are doing if you are not logging your results? I think not again! Can you really tell what your profit margin is at this moment and will be next month at this time without tracking your sales, goals and future plans?
Well I think you know my answer by now.
There is tons of internet marketing กHow Toก infiramtion online. However have you noticed very few people teach you how to organize your information? Well, now you will know.
My marketing timelines include: goals present and future, Action plans for today and tomorrow as well as next month, and last but definitely not least you have a sales tracker as well.
Ok. Now take out a sheet of paper, and for computer lovers, open up your word processing program.
Letกs begin with our goal sheet.
On top of the page in BIG letters type:

Goal Sheet Short Term
Now grab another piece of paper, or another page, and on the top of that one in BIG letters type:

Goals Long Term
Next page write in BIG letters:

Action Steps Short term
And another page in BIG letters:

Action Steps Long term
One last page in BIG letters write: SALES
Now you have the foundation you need to begin really understanding your ebusiness as it grows and matures.
Grab a file folder, or on the computer, make a file folder that says: กMarketing Timeline.ก This folder will hold all your files.
Page one: Short term Goals: Make 3 columns.

Column 1: Date

Column 2: Goal

Column 3: Date completed Goal
Page two: Goals Long Term: Make 3 columns.

Column 1: Date

Column 2: Goal

Column 3: Date Completed Goal.
Page 3: Action Plans short term: Make 3 columns.

Column 1: Date.

Column 2: Action Steps.

Column 3: Date Completed Action Steps.
Page 4: Action Plans Long term: Make 3 columns.

Column 1: Date.

Column 2: Action Steps.

Column 3: Date Completed Action Step.
Page 5: Sales tracking Make 3 columns:

Column 1: date

Column 2: Sales

Column 3: Continuing Total.
I can hear a lot of you out there groaning, ‘there must be a way to automate this!ก and yes there is! However, I want you to do it manually when you first start your ebusiness. I have found that this will not only show you how you are doing and where you are and what has to be done to get to where you want to go. It also helps to seat all the information in your unconscious brain. Walla! Automating the Brain!
Really, I am serious. By doing this manually you will learn a lot more in the beginning and not have to learn it as you go along. For those of you that can’t wait to automate, I have included links to a lot of automated services and software in my eBook: กeBook Marketing Secrets Revealed.ก
Have a great week!
Blessings
Bluedolphin Crow
Copyright 2004 Bluedolphin Crow All Rights Reserved.

About The Author

Bluedolphin Crow Ph.D. is a Native American with 6 years internet Marketing Experience and 20 years Sales and Marketing experience. The above article is an excerpt from her upcoming eBook: eBookMarketingSecretsRevealed! To reserve your FREE copy before publication (A $49 value) send a blank email to: mailto:[email protected]

กHow to eBooks Free eZine: mailto:[email protected]

http://www.lostdazedandconfused.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 28, 2004

by Bluedolphin Crow

Can I Really Make Money At Home Filling In Online

Can I Really Make Money At Home Filling In Online Surveys?

by: Nicole Boles

It’s true, this is a very viable approach to many stay at home moms, and dads, college students, retirees, and you name it. No one really believed you could actually earn a monthly income just from getting involved with survey companies and focus groups. It is a simple approach to earning an honest income at home. Most people who desire to work at home, don’t have 8 to 9 hours a day to devote to working, therefore filling in surveys and participating in focus groups is the perfect job. The reason for this is that you can accept whatever assignments you choose and work on them, whenever you choose. The beauty of this job is that when you put your kids to bed at night, you can actually go sit down at your computer and fill out 2 to 3 surveys and earn about $80 to $100 for your time. To give you more assurance that this is a career you can have at home, take today for example, I got a phone call this morning to invite me to participate in a focus group – the pay is $85 for one hour, when I went to my email I had a consumer review survey, paying $15 for 30 minutes. I also had invites to 2 surveys that paid $5 for 10 minutes each of my time. So for one day, I made $110 for less than 2 hours’ work. It is a beautiful thing!

Companies in United States and Canada spend an average of $250 billion in advertising. These companies need to know what the public wants and what they will buy. They also need to know which of their marketing campaigns would encourage consumers to purchase their products. This is where the survey fillers come in. These companies need your opinion and will pay you handsomely for it. It is imperative to their business to have an everyday persons’ opinion on their products and services. For these companies and for the paid survey filler, it is a winwin situation.

Think you would be interested in getting paid for your time, opinions and observations? Read on…

HOW DO YOU GET STARTED EARNING MONEY FILLING IN SURVEYS?

Letกs get started with how to start an at home career by filling in surveys, to do this you need to follow these steps:

Step1: REGISTER WITH ALL THE COMPANIES: This can seem like a long task, but take our word for it, it will pay off. The more companies you register with the more invites to participate in surveys, and thus…more money for you. Even if a survey only gives prizes as rewards, register with them anyways. You would be amazed how many of our members have earned big rewards by winning those survey draws.

Step 2: BE HONEST IN YOUR OPINION: Companies are looking for individuals from all walks of life to fill surveys, there is not one mainstream demographic that they are searching for.

Step 3: CHECK COMPANIES FREQUENTLY: There are several companies that don’t send out email invites to every survey, make sure to browse these companies often to see if there is any paid surveys to participate in.

Step 4: FILL IN THE ADDITIONAL PROFILES: There are several companies that urge you to fill in additional profiles (i.e.: what vehicle you drive, your spending habits online, etc.) I too, urge you to fill in these additional profiles, as they will qualify you for even more surveys, and you will get more invites.

STEP 5: WORK FOR YOURSELF: You are now working for your own income, and it is up to you how much you earn. Your effort in this process is what will pay off, be determined in your surveys, and you will see the benefits!!!

For more information on working from home opportunities or surveys, please visit us at www.popularpay.com

About The Author

Nicole Boles is the creator of popularpay.com, small businessowner and author of many articles on at home employment, paid surveys, and mystery shopping. She is a professional on กat home employmentก and also publishes a popular quarterly newsletter on working from home. For more information on surveys or more work at home opportunities, please visit us at: www.popularpay.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on November 30, 2004

by Nicole Boles

The Jigsaw Virus

The Jigsaw Virus

by: Gary Durkin

Stay with me on this, the ‘penny may drop’ about halfway into the article!

Target in very general terms, this article is targeted at anyone involved in business, whether it be offline ‘realworld’ business, or online ‘cyber’ ebusiness.

Let’s define the title.

ขjigsawข a puzzle with multiple parts which requires some element of skill to correctly piece them all together in the right way, making one complete ‘picture’.

ขvirusข an infection which grows, replicates and spreads.

Make sense yet? No!

One of the key fundamental basics in business starts with this. Business is based on the law of ’Supply and Demand’.

In simple terms, this means that if people have a demand (need or want) for something, then someone (perhaps you, or other businesses) supply them.

In simpler terms…. Have a product or service that customers want, then provide them with it.

JIGSAW…. Now has 2 parts / pieces…. Product (or service) and customers (people who want / need it).

If YOU are the business supplying customers with what they want, you may look at other products which complement or contrast. You may also look at adding new ways to deliver your product or service, perhaps new markets / countries / demographics…..

You may also want to have different versions / types of your product…. Plus you may want to promote / market your company in new / additional ways.

Also, you may want to have added computer systems, take payments in different forms, different currencies….. translation (remember stay with me on this!)

You have seen competitors using ‘800’ Freephone numbers….. You’ve read about faxback services, callcenters, fulfilment services….. You want to get involved in these.

JIGSAW….. From the original (and simple) 2 parts / pieces….. Your jigsaw now has many more, even dozens (or more) of pieces. The simple puzzle is infected. It’s spreading and growing. .. It’s out of control.

The original focus you had, is now a distant blur. Even if you had as many arms as an octopus, you still wouldn’t piece together THIS puzzle.

Let’s take just one piece of a small, simple jigsaw puzzle, and call it ขAdvertising, Marketing, Promotionข. They all mean the same…. ‘spreading the word’.

This single piece can start like this. Put a simply poster in the back of your car, on a notice board, in a shop window.

Then, get business cards, then marketing ‘postcards’…….then leaflets, a brochure, a fullcolor glossy brochure….a catalogue…..CD Rom business cards, interactive multimedia…

Advertise in the local ‘free papers’, then a small ad in the town newspaper, then a halfpage….fullpage ad…. Full color……. Then a 10 second ad on radio….. Then 30 seconds…..

Then 20 seconds on local / cable TV….. Then 60 seconds….. And on…and on.

Get a domain name, a website, software, design, hosting, auto responders, mailing list, Flash, Audio, Video, Keywords, Meta Tags, Keyword Density, Pay Per Click, Search Engine Optimization…

Ask a few friends to hand out some leaflets for you, create a reseller program, an affiliate program, an introducer scheme, get the software, the systems, Advertising Agencies, Copywriters, Professional Marketers, International Business Promoters…..

Where will it all end? With an army of Armani suited Harvard Graduates jetsetting all over the planet, trying to sell your widget?

Once the virus infects, it spreads, it grows and it can get out of hand very quickly.

Your ‘Jigsaw Puzzle’ is infected, the infection has spread, and grown and replicated the couple of pieces you originally started with, and turned into something unmanageable.

Just as you cannot take antibiotics to cure a virus in health, there is no simple cure in business.

Prevention is the best cure.

Your Jigsaw Puzzle should start with the simplest of forms…. 2 pieces (remember the 2 parts to basic business? Supply & Demand have a product or service which people want or need, and give it to them (well…. Sell it!).

Make sure the first two pieces of your puzzle fit together perfectly, before you even think about adding pieces.

Once the first 2 are set, then perhaps consider expanding your jigsaw puzzle but ONLY ONE PIECE AT A TIME.

Once that third piece fits, then move on. Don’t try adding multiple pieces all at the same time, and trying to fit them altogether in one go.

If you’re first few (2, 3 or 4) pieces of your puzzle don’t fit, then STOP.

Stop right there. Reassess the situation.

If you cannot get the pieces to fit correctly before moving on, then perhaps that piece of the jigsaw, doesn’t belong to your puzzle.

Many people fall flat on their face by ignoring this point.

If they cannot fit the pieces, they put them to one side, and get more pieces to try….. And some of them won’t fit, put them aside…. Get some others…

INFECTED!!!

The final part of the article goes back to our army of Armani Suited Harvard Graduates… remember them?

The point of that paragraph was to illustrate how the ’infection’, if unchecked, will go on and on… where will it end?

Is your Jigsaw Puzzle ’infinite’? How far will you push your business? Is there a point where it’s just too much?

You may have carefully put together your jigsaw puzzle completed finished….. And you may not even realize it!

Know when and where to STOP… and BLOCK the Virus.

© Copyright 2005 All Rights Reserved worldwide.

About The Author

Gary Durkin

Founder of the Internet Advice Center®

http://www.InternetAdviceCenter.com

Gary has more than a decade of offline international business success behind him, and has been doing business online for 6 years.

If you would like to join thousands of subscribers to his newsletter ‘Delivering Success’ send a blank email to [email protected]

© Copyright 2005 All Rights Reserved worldwide.

You are free to distribute this article, providing it remains unchanged and with this box attached.

This article was posted on April 23

by Gary Durkin

The Quickest Way I Know To Secure Your PCSafety I

The Quickest Way I Know To Secure Your PCSafety In 7 Easy Steps

by: Rogel Dias

Can You Prevent Spyware, Worms, Trojans, Viruses, … To Work When You Switch Your Pc On ? I Can And I Do It On A Proactive Basis.

Surfing Means More And More To Stay Invisible, To Be Clean From The Inside And To Prevent Installment Of Malicious Software (So Preventing Unwanted Communication From Inside To Outside And From Outside To Inside).

How do you stay invisible while surfing? Of course by installing a firewall. How do I get one free? Thatกs the easy point.

You like to stay invisible. But are you? And how do you know? You could do a test from someone out there trying to get in. But who can you trust?

Suppose you are doing a test. Do you obtain objective and reliable information about your PCvulnerability (for free)?

Now even if you stay invisible, you will visit websites leaving cookies in your PC and you will download software. By doing so you will get spyware, viruses, …

How can you detect them and delete them? Thatกs also the easy point: you have to install an antivirus program and antispyware programs. Research on the internet makes it clear that you need 2 antispyware programs. Why 2? Because a great fish may be caught by the net but a small fish can swim through the holes. Using 2 makes the holes smaller. What are those 2 free programs you have to download?

Can you prevent spyware to install on your PC? Maybe, maybe not. There is one free software that might prevent it (but not with 100% guarantee).

And even then you need an additional freeware program to prevent a piranha to install itself on your PC (just enabling itself to start up whenever you switch your PC on). This freeware program is overlooked by many and gives you an additional feeling of relief and security. It gives you also a hint whether some new downloaded software is good or bad (and thus giving you the chance to delete it anyway before it becomes too malicious).

Now you owe it to yourself to maximize the safety of your PC for surfing. You need a firewall,an antivirus software, 2 antispyware programs, one spyware preventing program, a trusty guard preventing installment in your startup files and even 3 musketeers. And last but not least do a safe test to get an objective idea about the vulnerability of your PC.

Everything is free. It only needs your attention. So look after the fully simple and logical steps in:

http://startwithoutadime.blogspot.com/2005/02/firstthingsfirstpcsafety_13.html

http://startwithoutadime.blogspot.com/2005/02/firstthingsfirstpcsafetyii.html

After all, preventing a disease is better than curing it !!

About The Author

Rogel Dias

Finally. Discover A Lifetime Of Amazing Simple And Free Web Marketing Strategies, Tips And Resources. Subscribe to my Monthly Newsletter. Reply To My Survey And Receive A Free Software And Ebook! Go to http://startwithoutadime.blogspot.com

CopyRight 2005 Rogel Dias, Antwerpen,Belgium

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 09

by Rogel Dias

How to Spellbind your Prospects in 10 Seconds!

How to Spellbind your Prospects in 10 Seconds!

by: Jaruda Boonsuwan

Youกve got yourself 10 seconds to HOOK your prospects or LOSE them!

If you can’t make them interested in 10 seconds, thereกs a good chance youกll lose them forever. So, youกd better shoot it right and กgrabก their attention fast if you don’t want them to go to your competitors!

And how do you do this?

**Just write HARDTORESIST headlines!

It works just like dating online. There are hundreds and even thousands of your potential dates floating on the net, waiting for you to pick for your Saturday dinner. You can’t date them all at once. And you can’t just read all of their ads either!

So what would you do?

IF YOU WERE A GUY, which lady would you กpickก, and which one would you กpassก just by reading what they say in their headlines?

2 ladies post their photos, both looking like Jennifer Lopez. Which lady would you ask out?

Between the one that says ก28 single latin lady, looking for a kind and sincere gentleman!ก

And the one that says กDance salsa with me, and youกll know I was born to surprise you!ก

Wow!! I don’t know about you, but I CERTAINLY like surprises!

NOW IF YOU WERE A LADY, which guy would you choose to go out with?

2 guys post their photos, both looking like Brad Pitt. Which guy would you pick and which would you pass?

Between a guy who says กA friendly, outgoing guy looking for a shortterm relationshipก.

And a guy who says กIf you let me, Iกll make sure you get lost in my blue eyes as I sing to youก.

Whoa!! This guy definitely knows how to turn the ladiesก heads. He knows how to use romance and passion as his กsecret weaponsก.

See the TEMPTING power of headlines??

Now itกs time for you to SEDUCE your prospects! Remember, youกve got 10 seconds!!

DON’t be the กSingle Latin Ladyก. Rather, BE ‘the One to Surprise Youก!!

DON’t be the กFunLoving Guyก. Rather, BE ‘the BlueEyed Who Can Singก!!

Youกll be surprised how easy it is to get all the attention you want from your prospects and make explosive sales!

Iกm going to make this really easy for you…

Here is the list of 111 READYTOCOPY words I make exclusively for you. Make sure you include them in your emails as they will easily turn casual visitors into eagertopay buyers!

1. Use verbs that TURN THEIR HEADS

กunveil, discover, steal, kidnap, explode, shoot, skyrocket, blow, hypnotize, grab, surprise, reveal, expose, spin, increase, generate, stop, turbocharge, supercharge, launch, fire, boost, spark, reverse, bust, hide, arm, jumpstart, score, hit, spill, spell, outsell, outsmart, skykick, burn, avoidก

2. Add words that CATCH THEIR EYES

กfree, guaranteed, magnetic, magic, explosive, shocking, lifesaver, unbelievable, the number one, topnotch, secret, trick, pure profits, cash, nonstop, handsfree, allinone, stepbystep, shortcut, bulletproof, foolproof, no B.S., no hype, how to, instant, breakthrough, formula, frontpage, master, top gear, sixspeed, lightning fast, headachefree, insiders, jawdropping, heartstopping, mindblowing, headspinning, jampacked, power, success, weapon, surefire, kickbutt, sidekick, blackbelt, jealousyguarded, pitfallfree, deadlyeffective, surewinner, warp speed, in a heartbeat, razorsharp, mappedout, armed, turnbyturn, competitors, littleknown, littleused, lifetime, turnkey, ringside seatsก

3. Include specific numbers that STOP THEIR BREATH

กas easy as 1,2,3, by up to 927%, in as little as 7 days, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, 5 days from nowก

4. Use vivid, colorful comparisons that KNOCK THEM OFF THEIR FEET

กas easy as chewing gum, cheaper than a cup of Starbuckกs coffee, sell as fast as fireworks on the fourth of July, sell as fast as icecream in the heat of June, sell faster than frozen turkeys on Thanksgivingก

**Now that you’re armed with this supereasy SHORTCUT, you can easily come up with the SLAM DUNK headlines like….

1. กLegally Steal the Jealousyguarded Secret of the Heavyhitters on the Internet!ก

2. กSkyrocket your Profits with the Turnkey Marketing Tricks the Big Dogs Don’t Want you to Ever Find out!ก

3. กEXPOSED! The Search Engine Sealed Secrets thatกll Sell your Products Faster than Fireworks on the Fourth of July!ก

4. กDiscover Mindblowing Techniques thatกll Explode your $0 Website into a Knockout Worth $14,000 in as short as 8 weeks!ก

Or 5. ‘reVEALED! How to Outsell your Bestselling Competitors with Littleused Pricing Tactics that Don’t Cost you One Single Red Cent!ก

P.S. Believe in the power of words! They can make your business prosper and make your dreams come true.

About The Author

The author, Jaruda Boonsuwan, is offering oneofitskind, deadlyeffective copywriting ecourse at NO charge.

Beat your competitors now at http://www.groundbreakcopywriting.com

This article was posted on October 23, 2002

by Jaruda Boonsuwan

Creating A Quality Web Site Design!

Creating A Quality Web Site Design!

by: Martin Lemieux

In this article, I will attempt to cover the basics of creating a great quality web design template for your site. Now itกs a known fact that the layout or กeye candyก as I put it will determine whether your visitors will stay more than 15 seconds or they will just become another statistic.

Thatกs right, if you don’t catch your visitors attention right away, statistics shows us that your visitors will come and go within 15 seconds or less.

That doesn’t leave you with a lot of time to grab someoneกs attention!

Some of you may be asking yourself:

Well why does this happen????

See when you think about it, 15 seconds to the กbrowsing eyeก is like an eternity. In other words, it takes about 15 seconds for the average person to browse your main page and determine whether they will explore your site further!

So with that being said;

How do we grab your visitors attention????

Every new client of mine is asked to perform the same tasks. I ask them to explore their competitor’s web sites and look for specific triggers that would make them want to click on or buy right away. More times than none, my clients will notice specific กHeadlinesก or กGraphicsก that really peek their interest. In doing this, youกll have 1st hand knowledge on what you expect your visitors will see and possibly expect themselves.

Step 2, Iกll ask my clients to do one more process just like the previous one. Iกll ask them to make a list of all the กeye candyก that really caught their attention and write me a little note as to why it caught their attention. In doing this, it will give your web designer a 1st hand knowledge on what to implement within your site!!!

With these great tasks, youกve made your job and the job of your web designer a lot easier to target your audience.

Sites that sell กWeb Site Templatesก :

You may have seen some sites that sell your the right for a specific ‘template Styleก. There are 100กs of resources out there. I need to clarify something for you, these templates are targeted at web designers only!!! Reason being, the files that you receive will no doubt require some expensive and time consuming software just to open them.

Now being a designer, I’m not about to กknockก premade templates but thereกs a couple of things you may want to consider:

1) Although the templates you may encounter are very impressive, you will be sharing your layout template with 100กs, maybe 1000กs of other sites. The reason why they are so cheat is because those กspecific templatesก are sold and resold as much as possible!

2) Iกve noticed that many template examples out there on the web are extremely กGraphic Drivenก. This will result in กslow loading timesก. Iกm sure weกve all come across a site that seemed to take FOREVER to load!! How long did you actually wait for the site to load????

The best way to get a template is to have someone professional design your web site layout for you! This will ensure that your template is uniquely designed for your business. It will be easier for you to make changes in the future. Typically, a template may cost you between $0$500 depending on the intensity and added features!

Now, weกve talked about กSlow loading pagesก. Iกve found a good กnormก to stick with when it comes to size and speed: Web sites are compiled of 2 elements:

1) Graphics & Layouts

2) Programming & Pages

Both of them require memory from your computer when downloading them. If one or the other is too large then this may result in negative results for your visitors.

Hereกs a good norm to stick with, either you or your web designer should stick with these specs:

1) Graphic Design Layout: Should be no more than: 3050K in size

2) Programming Pages: Shouldn’t be more than: 1030k in size

Giving your entire web page no more than 40k80k in size. Anything drastically more will result in the loss of many visitors from slow downloading pages.

Animation: Last but not least, making กsomeก aspects of you page stand out by adding small size animations. PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT overkill your site with graphics and animation!!! I can’t stress this enough, your visitors will most likely get a head ache from it and won’t be coming back very soon.

Instead, try targeting specific promotions or services you wish to attract your visitors to right away! Many sites exchange กanimated bannersก with other sites to exchange traffic. I personally NEVER take part in adding ANY banners on my site. I honestly feel that banners only take away from the design, not add to it! A typical กBanner Dimensionsก is 468px x 60px. There are many other sizes!

What I will usually take part in, if any, is smaller, more unique banners that are geared to complimenting an article or text with it. This is much more effective because study shows us that กContent (text)ก accompanied by a กgraphic imageก is more likely to be read by our visitors than just text on its own.

That about raps it up to having an effective web site template. Please look for my กcontinuedก issues related to this article.

About The Author

Martin R. Lemieux

President

Smartads Information Centre

Advertising, Marketing Resources & Web Design

http://www.smartads.info

Webmasters Playground

Webmaster Awards & Web Design Resources

http://www.flyinggelatingames.com

In partnership with www.xlinternet.com we bring you: The Web Clinic

http://www.thewebclinic.com

Search Engine Tools & Promotion!

WANT TO REPRINT THIS ARTICLE ?

You may use this article on your site as is but you MUST send me a note [email protected] Thank You!

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 06, 2003

by Martin Lemieux

Is Google Gunning For Directories?

Is Google Gunning For Directories?

by: Roy Thomsitt

Why is it that webmasters are so quick to blame Google if their website falls down the search rankings, or out of the rankings altogether? Can it never be their own fault?

I read an amusing forum post headed ขWhat’s up with Google?ข. The writer had a website just 2 months old, which had only had 2 visits from Googlebot, a Google robot. The poster was a bit grieved, and was blaming Google.

It seems they had extrapolated their own situation into one they had witnessed with other webmasters on another forum. They were also upset, this time by Google’s latest update, as their websites had been badly hit. Of course, the drop way down the rankings had seriously affected their income

About The Author

Roy Thomsitt is the owner and author of http://www.changedirection.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 17

by Roy Thomsitt