Time Your News Release For Maximum Publicity

Time Your News Release For Maximum Publicity

by: David Leonhardt

กCindy, whereกs that story? I need it yesterday!ก

กComing right up, boss. Iกll have it to you soon,ก Cindy shouted back.

กYesterday isn’t soon enough!ก

Cindy clicked on her screen. กYou have mail.ก She looked at the messages. ‘three news releases,ก she murmured. กI don’t have time for this now.ก [delete] [delete] [delete]

Stop! Was that your news release Cindy just deleted? Too bad you sent it to her at the wrong time. You may have heard that ‘timing is everythingก and that is even more true in a newsroom. But how do you know when is the best time to send a news release?

Media relations is an art more than a science, so there is no single rule. If there was, everyone would be a media star. Here are a few guidelines to help you zoom ahead of your competition for the mediaกs attention:

Each type of media and each type of journalist is different. Here are just a few of the variables:

National or local media

TV, newspaper, radio or magazine

News reporter, features reporter or columnist

Consumer magazine or trade journal

Daily, weekly or monthly publication

Print or electronic

Each company or organization is different, as is its news. Here are just a few of the variables:

Local, national or international operations

Prescheduled news release, or lastminute reaction to todayกs news.

Product announcement, policy announcement, financial announcement

Bearing in mind the wide range of news you might announce and the wide range of media targets, 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. tends to be the best time of day to release news. You want to give the assignment editor time to send them out to cover your news. If you hope to get into the noon news, you don’t want to go too late, because you run into TV deadlines. Early afternoon is a secondbest time, but if you get much past 2:30, you will catch Cindyกs [delete] button at most daily newspapers and television stations.

I have been asked about the best day of the week to send out a news release. There isn’t one. I have seen plenty of debates on this. From personal experience, the only difference I ever noticed is when I could pick a slow news day. For instance, if in your city the daily newspaper can be reached on Sunday and not too much tends to happen that day in your subject area, you may find it easier to get into Mondayกs newspaper than if you try later in the week. But on average, there is not much difference.

Best time of month, year, etc? Again, there is no single best time. There is one golden rule. Do not send out a release when the world is wrapped up in some allconsuming event like the death of Princess Diana or the attack on the World Trade Center. Remember how much TV airtime and newspaper print space were devoted to those events? The media and its audiences had other things on their minds than your news. You can’t control events, but you can control the timing of your release (most of the time).

How far in advance should you send out your release? Some book reviewers usually need several months. Others don’t want to see your release until the book is on the store shelves. Many consumer magazines have a sixmonth editorial preview. Features editors often run several weeks ahead of time, but sometimes squeeze things in on short notice. News departments want only breaking news. Yesterdayกs news is … well, yesterdayกs news. Your release is already forgotten.

Does all this sound confusing. It is. The bottom line in any marketing is to know your target market and give it what it wants. Same with the media. The guidelines above give a very abbreviated list of what you need to consider. If you are still unsure, a media coach might be a good investment. But be forewarned – find someone with enough experience and success to coach you in the right direction.

About The Author

After a decade and a half as one of Canadaกs top consumer advocates, often conducting over 600 media interviews each year, David Leonhardt is sharing his knowledge with others. Pick up a copy of his special report กGet In The News!ก at http://www.TheHappyGuy.com/PR.html. Home page is http://www.TheHappyGuy.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 05, 2002

by David Leonhardt

How To Choose The Best MLM Leads

How To Choose The Best MLM Leads

by: Jeff Schuman

What are the characteristics of the Best Mlm Leads? This is a good question to ask before you spend any money buying leads to build your MLM business. Before we get to that letกs take a look at why you would want to buy MLM leads in the first place.

Over the years the multilevel marketing business has gotten a black eye because of the over hyped promises of money and freedom. Very few people have ever achieved a high level of success in any MLM business. And even fewer have ever been able to maintain the level of achievements over a period of time.

That does not make MLM companies bad. Nor does it make the opportunities they afford the average person as a way to make extra money or even as a way to drastically change your lifetsyle. It can be done and using MLM leads is a great way to do it.

There are 2 big benefits to buying MLM leads.

1. It gets you away from approaching your friends and relatives. If you have been in more than one MLM business over the years you may have already approached them and used up your credibility when you were unsuccessful.

2. This is a duplicatible way to build your business that you can pass on to your downline. Any successful network marketing business will tell you that one of the main components of success is duplication. Anyone can buy leads and work them over the phone or thur the internet with the use of an autoresponder.

If you are unsure of how to work a lead over the phone I would suggest getting the book ‘recruit Your Way To Millionsก by Fred Stegge. After reading this book you will be able to explain what you do and what you offer to a new prospect in 30 seconds or less. http://www.teamschuman.com/recruityourway

If you are unsure of what an autoresponder is or how to use one read this article I wrote กHow To Effectively Use An Autoresponder.ก This is an absolutely essential business tool if you are going to succeed online with your MLM business.

http://teamschuman.com/articles/article15.html

Now that you understand some of the benefits of buying MLM leads and how to market to them letกs take a look at what are the characteristics of the Best MLM Leads.

1. How many times are the leads sold? Many MLM lead companies sell their leads over and over. You will be contacting a prospect that has already been marketed to. Personally I like eads that are exclusive to me.

2. How old are the leads? Would you rather contact a prospect that has expressed an interest in the past 48 hours or in the past 48 days. Being able to strike while the iron is hot so to speak is a great benefit of a fresh lead.

3. How many leads do you get for your money? Obviously the more leads you can get for the best price the more leads you can buy at a time. This is especially important when you are first starting or when you are helping your downline get started.

4. What is the quality of the lead? Nothing compares to a lead that contains both a phone number and email address along with a few qualifying answers to questions like กHow much can you invest to get startedก or กHow soon do you want to get startedก or When is the best time to contact you?ก If a prospect is answering these type of questions you are getting a much better quality lead than if you just have a name and email address.

5. What is the response rate? This will improve as your skill level at working your leads improves, but the fresher higher quality leads will give you a better response rate even when your skill level is low.

6. Do your leads come with any extras such as an autoresponder, training on how to work leads, prewritten email marketing letters, phone scripts, your own website, flash presentations, etc.

These are the top qualities of the Best MLM Leads. Be careful when choosing a place to get your leads. Not all MLM Lead companies are created equal. It is going to be the single most important decision you make when trying to grow your MLM Business. Make the wrong choice and you will waste your time and money as well as the time and money of your downline. Make the right choice and you can be building your business successfully for years to come.

Copyright 2004 Jeff Schuman

About The Author

Jeff Schuman has made over $35 Million Dollars in sales in his 20 year sales and marketing career. His Best Mlm Leads website contains the best mlm leads companies available today. His TeamSchuman.com website contains the best make money, and make money online websites anyone can use to get started making money from the comfort of their own home.

http://www.teamschuman.com/bestmlmleads

http://www.teamschuman.com

This article was posted on November 01, 2004

by Jeff Schuman

Can You Write Naturally and Get Good SE Ranking?

Can You Write Naturally and Get Good SE Ranking?

by: Francisco Aloy

The most effective way to write for your website is to keep the subject matter of your web page under tight focus. Notice I didn’t say website; thatกs because the search engines don’t spider websites, they spider web pages.

The search engines will look to see how well the related page title, keywords and body text apply to the subject matter. This means that if you are talking about widgets, your title, keywords and body copy should be tightly focused only on widgets. Stray from your main subject only when secondary ideas have very high relevancy and keep it short, sweet and get right back to your main subject matter.

To begin with, pick out your web page title and then a set of keywords that relate to your subject. After this, start to write the body copy in a style you’re comfortable with and do your first draft.

While working on your first draft, use this guideline:

Use a rough outline to get your point across. Have a start, a middle and an ending. Make your points in the very middle of the body copy, as Iกm doing right here.

Don’t limit yourself to a mechanical formula for creating a keyword density because it will get in the way of your natural style.

Do your best to write in a free flowing manner as if you are talking to a good friend. Stay away from words or expressions that would make anybody reach for the dictionary.

If you can get your style to loosenup, have some fun as you write for readers and visitors. Do your best to have the real you come through in your chosen writing style. This is something that will come on its own the more you do it.

For the second draft, do this:

Go over your writing and eliminate any fluff and revise it to make your meaning come through better. It could be there is an idea that needs expanding or perhaps you need to restructure a paragraph. Maybe there is another word that could provide a better description of an idea or term.

Finally, your third draft should include this:

Look at all the elements of your near finished piece and see how logical and smooth the transition is from opening, middle and closing paragraphs. Do they all seem to fit together well? Are you fully informing your readers on the subject without leaving out crucial information?

If you are satisfied with your results, itกs time to go live! Upload the web page to your server and take a look at it; use this little web based utility Iกve found very helpful, the Submit Express Meta Tags Analyzer: http://www.submitexpress.com/analyzer/

The above utility will give you lots of information about your web page. Once you enter your URL look at the results and compare the relevancy numbers. Use the single keyword and double or triple keyword phrase to adjust your final results. Most of the time, you don’t have to adjust your writing, only your particular choice and order of keywords.

Adjust your keyword choice and do your best to get good to excellent relevancy and keyword fit. Notice that this is the last step in the process since you want to preserve as much of your natural style as you can. If you do your best to stay focused on the subject matter of your web page, you shouldn’t have to do many changes.

by Francisco Aloy

(C)2004 Francisco Aloy

About The Author

Francisco Aloy is the creator of The Newbie Business Guide. High quality resources to start your new Internet Business. Discover the marketing punch of original content. Visit: http://www.newbiebusinessguide.com/writing_and_copywriting.html.

This article was posted on January 12

by Francisco Aloy

Search Engine Optimization: Site Structure and Pop

Search Engine Optimization: Site Structure and Popularity

by: Milena Sotirova

In the Global Internet era the industry presence is undoubtedly related to the company online presence. Where is the scope of the online presence limitations and does it refer only to the search engine optimization aspect or it broadens into many related components.

Following the user experience line, it is easy to describe what the most important levels of access Internet popularity are and how it can be achieved.

Site organization

Well, the site organization is always the first after choosing a domain name that comes up as a decision in the design process. Organizing of the structure is a basic of the level of importance web promotion means. It requires following of simple and comprehensive rules that have proven results.

Home page is communication center of your site and it presumes availability of the basic structure and content implications. Good example of site navigation is PromotionWorld.com http://www.promotionworld.com/ site with well defined link structure and intersection navigation accessibility. List properly your basic content units, keeping the topic and title structure clear. Golden rule:ก Simple is bestก is totally applicable here and as you will see in the design. To keep simple means not to overload the home page with unuseful information and links. Structure inner index pages, where you can develop the structure and content and which will allow better search engine optimization and indexing.

The navigation should be clear and to be applied to all the pages. Generally users before going to your site have Internet experience and their expectations will follow the impression from their previous visits to other web sites. A good example of site structure is the Microsoftกs http://www.microsoft.com/ design decision with areas clearly defined and structured by families and content destinations. To find out what your industry competitors do, you can perform a research by your main keywords in the search engines. The site organization for a specific industry is generally kept in well defined frames.

Design

Following the best examples will allow your site to perform better. If you are trying to change the design, you can set a survey question about the user experience within your site. Use the feedback to learn how your users feel the change and ask specific questions to reach to weak points of the new implementation. The design should keep the industry line and to be a step ahead with following the best examples. Do your search here again to find out how the best industry sites are designed. Developing of your own design concept is very important for your site success. Concept elements are: the small design elements in the headers, table formatting, and link and title styles.

The images can be kept simple and used only where appropriate. The buttons can be replaced with table structure and links where over effect can be presented through style. This will allow you to achieve a double effect: site better indexing and positioning in the search engines and fast loading of the site pages.

Keep the colors easy to perceive without teasing the eyes. The colors should follow one line and to be corresponding in saturation and color schemes. One of the best examples is the Sunกs site design http://sun.com/ where the colors are used only to frame the content areas. The color choice should correspond to your industry sphere and keep the general site concept clear. Using too many effects can cause your users to abandon the site. The styling is also applicable to links and titles. The link font colors should be readable and corresponding to the basic methods of the successful internet marketing.

Generally the best design structure is a step ahead to improving your web presence. Using this powerful means you can achieve better web visibility and user retention.

About The Author

Milena Sotirova is Editor of DevStart, Inc. She has publications on web promotion, search engine optimization and web hosting industry news coverage and analyses. PromotionWorld.com is one of the most popular sites for web promotion and contains tutorials, tools, articles and search engine news. Subscribe for DevStart Channel http://www.promotionworld.com/informer/

Send your feedback to [email protected]

You can reproduce this article on your website, or in your Newsletter provided that you include the resource box.

This article was posted on November 26, 2004

by Milena Sotirova

How You Can Finally Make Instant Profits and Leave

How You Can Finally Make Instant Profits and Leave the Scams Behind at Last!

by: Rhonda Wilson

If you are financially and emotionally spent from joining all the wrong, deadend programs, then this is the program you need to be part of.
Just by only using the FREE promotional tools that are provided to you, I am making incredible money already in 3 weeks time.
Program gives you Free Lead Capture pages and automatically follows up with your prospects with unlimited autoresponders, and closes all sales for you.
You only need 2 people to sign up under you to be in infinite residual profits!
Included, FREE, is the Super Affiliate Finder(sold for $97 normally), plus over $500 worth of valuable, effective promotional bonuses.
You are never left to fend for yourself and grasp your way through the dark again.
No monthly Fees.
Just check it out. End your bottomless, fruitless frustration and start to see profits today, paid directly to you. No more waiting for program to cut you a check and mail it out.
http://www.gotpaidagain.com/marketing/lc2a.php?id=4416
**As a bonusI will give, for FREE, to my next 25 subscribers, a whole whack of effective links to Free Advertising to explode your income immediately. These links are taken straight from the countless GURU programs I have purchased and tested thoroughly. email me after you sign up, and if you are one of the first 25 people, I will give you the best of my best!

About The Author

My name is Rhonda Wilson, and I have been at the ‘tryingtomakemoneygameก for over a year now. I have purchased all of the GURU ebooks and joined all of the emptypromise programs out there. I have been compiling a list along the way of what works and what is poop. For people who join my team, I am happy to share my secrets for FREE(secrets that, combined, would be worth thousands of dollars). I am willing to do this because I benefit and you benefit. It is a winwin situation. My team grows, and yours does too. More money for everyone!

[email protected]

This article was posted on May 28, 2004

by Rhonda Wilson

Discover How To Attract The Help You Need To Build

Discover How To Attract The Help You Need To Build Your Network Marketing Business

by: Fernando Soave

Positive thinkers dare to believe that the biggest and best men or woman in the world can be attracted to their cause or project. Try for the best man or woman in the world and you can secure his help.

How do you attract the help of the best man or woman you need ?

1. Be prepared to pay for the help you need.

Watch out for that negative money trap : ขYou probably can’t afford not to spend the money to hire the help.ข Be prepared to pay top price for the top man or woman. The best man or woman are usually worth more then they are getting. It almost always pays to hire the best.

2. Be a team builder, not an empire founder.

Successful man or woman are those who have a ขteam complexข, not a ขstar complexข. Positiv thinkers are team builders, not empire founders.

3. Forget about ขstatusข, credit and glory.

Statusseeking, creditgrabling and gloryhunting executers generate unimaginable jealousy. Instead of inspiring their associates to really produce, they stimulate negative emotions that contribute to a terrible letdown. The smart and successful men or woman finds joy in watching his associates get ahead. They never allow themselves to view their associates as threats to their own proud position. They know that this very thought will be the beginning of their downfall. You can surround yourself with skilled specialists if you will establish a ขsharethecreditplanข. As the proverb says : ขTake good care of your people and your people will take good care of you.ข

4. Offer your people a unique pacesetting challenge.

Promise them the chance to join in creating something bigger and better than has ever been done before. Great men or woman are attracted to great challenges.

5. Give your teammates great freedom.

The greatest men or woman are attracted by a great challenge coupled with the promise of great freedom. Promise them freedom :

to plan

to dream

to imagine.

Great freedom generates maximum energy and extracts unbelievable dedication.

6. Make up your mind not to lose a good man or woman once you have him on your team.

Any man or woman you hire will have his weaknesses. Try to strenghten them where they are weak. If that fails, fill the gap in the job by rearranging and reorganizing.

7. Learn to live with difficult people.

Learn from them and learn to work with them. Some of the people you may need to help solve you problems or develop your dreams may be the kind of people who are not always easy to go along with. These are people who seem to like to argue. Try to keep your differences with them on the plane of disagreement. Try to prevent these disagreements from becoming violent arguments.

Find and hire people who are smarter then you are. Whether your business is building a business empire, your success will be enhanced if you learn how to be a team builder.

Fernando Soave

CEO CUTTING EDGE MLM

http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

Free Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter.

mailto:[email protected]

This article comes with reprint rights. Feel free to reprint and distribute as needed. All that we ask is that you do not make any changes and to be sure that the web site address http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk and mailto:[email protected] is hyperlinked correctly.

About The Author

Fernando Soave is the author of กCutting Edge MLM News.ก He has been in marketing for 20 years and is helping individuals succeed online. Visit his site to find out how you can get free reports. http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk or Subscribe to the Free Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter and receive your +$585 MLM Value Pack. mailto:[email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 18, 2003

by Fernando Soave

Why Ebay Is The Best Place To Make Your First $100

Why Ebay Is The Best Place To Make Your First $1000 Online

by: Tukshad Engineer

I’d like to begin with a question – and I’ll bet the answer is going to surprise you (it sure did surprise me!).
Q. What percentage of the worlds population do you think is online?
A. Under 1%!
Just think about that for a second – 99% of the world haven’t even gotten online yet. And yet the internet is already making some people – not large companies, but individuals like you and me – a FORTUNE. Don’t for a minute think that this happens easily – it takes time to find your own little niche online, to develop and perfect it – but it’s something you can do on a total shoestring budget, and over time anyone that really wants to can carve out a nice little earning online. And looking at the bigger picture, as more and more of the worlds population comes online, imagine how successful your business will become as your potential customers grow by leaps and bounds, every single year.
Earning online is really quite beautiful when you think about it – here’s a chance for ANYONE with a PC and internet connection to plug in and start making money…enough to pay your bills, sure – but in some cases much more. And lets not forget the comfort factor – your own hours, not having a boss to answer to, not having to travel and more time with loved ones…. the list is endless.
Ok so what does this mean for you? For those of you still trying to take that first step, today’s newsletter is all about trying to get you to think about ways of starting online. And if you cant find something then I’m going to suggest to you a proven way of making a money online, quickly.
The one question I get asked a lot is ‘What’s the best way to start an online business?’ Now while I do have my own website which now brings in most of my online income, I still believe by far the quickest and easiest way to earn money online is by selling on ebay. That’s how I first started, and I still do post at auctions to squeeze money whenever I feel like it. The reason I moved into selling on websites is because I’m lazy and don’t like making trips to the post office J . But if you’re starting out online, ebay is by far the BEST and QUICKEST way of making money NOW.
Think of these facts – ebays gets a whopping 9000 new customers signing up every day and gets 1.5 billion page views every month. And for a few pennies, you can promote your product to literally an endless source of customers – see that’s the great thing about ebay…they GIVE you the traffic that would be very difficult and expensive to get by yourself. All you do is plug in your advert click on send and a week or so later collect money from your customers.
Of course there is a right way and a wrong way of selling on ebay too – You need to know what to sell. You need to create powerful interesting adverts. You need to devise a strategy – and above all you need to find really good wholesalers for selling your products. But let me tell you, one of the sweetest feelings I’ve ever experienced was winning my first ebay auction – I may have made a lot of mistakes to get there, but once I perfected my techniques and found the best wholesalers I started to win auction after auction.
To check out quality wholesalers that can make you a tidy profit on ebay check out the below:
USA:
http://www.globalebooks.com/US_WHOLESALE_PAGES.htm
UK:
http://www.globalebooks.com/UKWHOLESALEPAGES.htm
http://www.globalebooks.com/UKGovAuctions.htm (government auctions)
OK so there you have it – a surefire way of starting out online with minimal risk and funds. If you’ve never explored the wonders of ebay, please PLEASE do so – go and find 5 items you don’t need and sell them on ebay what the hell, come round to my house and take stuff if you want! ….It could be the start of a wonderful and profitable adventure!
Till next time,
Tukshad Engineer.

About The Author

Free information on wholesalers, government auctions & saving/making money online plus the biggest internet loophole that can make you $100 a day with the click of a mouse: http://www.myonlinepowerpack.com/subscribersite.htm. Get $1,800 of free eBooks/bonuses/software/exclusive material on saving & making money online by joining my free newsletter mailto:[email protected].

[email protected]

This article was posted on May 13, 2004

by Tukshad Engineer

Work At Home, Go Bankrupt At HomeItกs Your Choic

Work At Home, Go Bankrupt At HomeItกs Your Choice

by: Isaiah Hull

If you want to make an income working at home, you must mitigate spending in the early phases of your venture. If you spend wildly, you will never make money. I can promise you this now. It happens to almost every person who tries to work at home; it happened to me and I nearly gave up, too.

It is fine to set high goals, but you must always be grounded in reality when it comes to your finances. You must record your expenses and you must plan to buy certain products and services at certain times. If you do not do this, you will overspend and you will fail. This is a guarantee.

Part of careful budgeting is learning what works and what does not. As annoying as it may seem, it is essential to track the results you get from all forms of advertising and expenses. You will have to slash unnecessary costs if you want to succeed. If your marketing plan is to purchase every opportunity you find, operate on a high outofpocket budget, and hope that throwing money at your problems will fix them, you wont see the results you want. You will slowly lose money and confidence.

I do not care how much money you are willing to lose: your success will be directly related to your patience and the economics of your business modelnot an opportunity you might happen to stumble over one day.

Patience is something you either have or will develop quickly working at home. If you do not have the patience to work out problems, to find the best products and services without buying each one, and to buy only when you need tonot when you feel the impulseyou will waste a lot of money; however, this problem will work itself out: either you will go broke and give upor you will learn to have patience.

The economics of your business model is also something that you will shape over time and continually change. When you begin your work at home venture, it is essential to research your field, find the best opportunities, verify them through multiple independent sources, and then create a budget based on your best judgement. It is also essential to be selective when you alter your budget. When you find an opportunity or service that you really want to purchase, write it down. Find more information about it. Come back to it at the start of your new budget period.

If you want to get the highest possible consistent return on your spending, you must maintain a focused, dynamic budget. This means you must concentrate your spending, track the results, and then be ready to change your budget for the next period to reflect your analysis of the previous monthกs outcomes. Do not shift from service to service during the same budget period. This will only obscure your results.

Joining a group of people who want to work at home is one of the best ways to artificially shape your budget model faster. You can find hundreds of these groups on the Internet alone; and in each of these groups, you will find people who are more experienced than you are, have tried some of the things you plan to try, and can tell you what has and has not worked for them. If you want to maximize your spending, this is one of the best places to start. There is no better resource than real, live people, who have succeeded in your field and are willing to tell you how you can do the same.

In summary, working at home offers opportunityseekers flexibility and unlimited income possibilities, but if you do not apply the correct business model to control your spending, your statistical chance of succeeding is low. If you do the following things, you will succeed:

Keep a dynamic, focused budget.

Remain patient.

Track your results.

Find mentors and friends in your field to help you.

Remember: You can go broke at home or you can retire early working from home. The choice is yours: be patient and economical and you will see results; or act spuriously and reap failure.

Copyright 2004 Isaiah Hull

About The Author

Isaiah Hull is the webmaster of http://www.workathomerightnow.net . Email him personally at mailto:[email protected] to receive free, personal, stepbystep instructions to build a home business online for an investment of $0 to $300/mo.

This article was posted on October 05, 2004

by Isaiah Hull

Comparison Shopping and Starting an Internet Busin

Comparison Shopping and Starting an Internet Business

by: Don Berthiaume

Stop for a minute and think about how much we are, by nature, comparison shoppers. How many times a day do we compare things and make a decision based upon this comparison? It is so much part of our daily lives that we tend to overlook it or not really think about it.

When we shop for groceries, clothing, computers, vacations, hotels, airfare, automobiles, gas stations, insurance and investments. Where we eat out, when eat in, watch TV, go see a movie – and all those choices lined up along the wall at the local video store!

And it really doesn’t stop there, does it? Think about if you have ever had to hire someone or promote someone to work for you or with you. Didn’t you have to ขcomparison shopข then as well?

The list goes on and on – we are faced and expect numerous choices. Sometimes our decision is a ขnobrainerข and sometimes it may be among the most important decisions of our life.

Aren’t we always looking for the best value for our money, the best look, the best feel, the best taste, the best experience, the best person, the best enjoyment, the best…whatever?

We want what we want

And why is that? We could sit here and rattle off a number of reasons. But it comes down to one thing – perceived value; how it looks to us, how it feels to us, how it tastes to us, how it fits, how it rides, how much we enjoy it, how much money it will make for us, what we want to do at that very moment.

This perceived value is the result of the comparison of more than one product, service, or professional against another. A choice we make based upon our individual tastes, desires, moods, feelings and expectations. Is it what we want?

If we only had one choice there would be no decision other than yes or no.

Good, best, better

It’s as simple as a product or service claiming to have a specific set of features or benefits over another and each of us having a sense of what it is we feel fulfill our needs and desires.

Yet it’s as complicated as a trying to match the features and benefits offered by one party, with the needs and expectations of another; to find the right fit between what is being offered and what is needed.

Information overload – too many choices

We have 4,952 channels on television and nothing on! We have 24 varieties of peanut butter, 57 versions of the ขsame productข; low sodium, no sodium, low fat, no fat, regular, lite, ultra; 14 aisles of breakfast cereal. We have junk mail, we have SPAM, and as of my last check 7,930,000 search results in Google for ขstart internet businessข (but it only took 0.36 seconds to compile this list – impressive!).

The power of persuasion

Let’s face it, most of us still work hard for our money and we don’t want to see it go to waste. When we know we have a choice, we often take advantage of these choices and choose what we feel is right based upon the information we have at hand, or our knowledge base.

It is only when we are afforded no choices, given the impression or made to believe there can be no other product that would benefit us more, made to believe time is of the essence we will lose out if we don’t act immediately – we abandon our ขcomparison shoppingข.

It is then we can be more easily persuaded into believing what it is we ขthinkข we want or need.

Seek advice

Sometimes we relinquish the responsibility of ขcomparison shoppingข to others; a committee, a professional in the field, or someone who has done the necessary research to help us decide. We ask the waitperson what they recommend, we look for specials, we employ brokers, and we send someone else to the grocery store!

Sometimes we gladly pay to be able to be advised ขwhat we wantข or at least have the field narrowed down so we don’t have to spend as much time choosing.

Your Internet business

Here you are today, wanting to start an online business or make an existing one more profitable. But perhaps you lack the specific knowledge on how to do it. So your first step and every step thereafter is to seek out the knowledge that you lack.

Your decision to start an Internet business is not of the ขnobrainerข variety. It is one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. It is one that will cost you time and money.

The averages predict it is unlikely you will score the big one on your first attempt or any subsequent attempt. Sobering as it is, less than 5% of all Internet businesses survive.

ขBut to try when there is little hope is to risk failure. Not to try at all is to guarantee it.ข (Anonymous quote – not mine!)

I would say a success rate of less than 5% qualifies as ขlittle hopeข. But it doesn’t say ขno hopeข does it? And even if it did, to change your way of thinking, I recommend you pick up a copy of Napoleon Hill’s timeless treasure, ขThink and Grow Richข.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it

Experts and socalled experts abound and are more than willing to get you to spend your hardearned cash on their advice, their solutions. So what do you do?

With 7,930,000 search results with Google on ขstart internet businessข you need to somehow narrow down those choices and select from a smaller field of proven and profitable ways to start or expand your internet business.

You need to narrow down your selection to a smaller field of experts who are included within the less than 5% who have actually succeeded with their Internet business.

There is not one expert out there that, on their ขsales pageข, offers comparison information for other, competing programs. Their ad copy is intentionally made to make you believe you have no other choice and you need to purchase their plan and do it NOW, or at least before Midnight tonight!

But you can wait. You don’t have to fall for the sales hype or sense of urgency. That is what the ad copy is intended to do, and that’s OK. You will find there are people out there who earn a sixfigure income coming up with this ad copy and you will be using it yourself with your Internet business.

The point is, in all likelihood the same offer will be there tomorrow, you do have more time than Midnight tonight!

So, in order to narrow down your selection, you need to maximize your efforts – your time and your money. You need to ขcomparison shopข.

Selecting an expert you can trust

No, you don’t have to click on each of the 7,930,000 links that Google provides! Just make up your ขlong listข. Make a list of 75100 ขexpertsข that are out there promoting their strategies and solutions and visit and read each of their websites.

Then, once you’ve visited each site, your task is to keep narrowing the field. After visiting the sites, many of the socalled experts will become apparent and can be taken off your ขlong listข.

Here is a partial list of what I recommend you check out with your long list:

Understand the topics of information covered

How informed does the expert really seem to be on his / her ขexpertiseข

What is the expert’s background

Program cost

Guarantee

Affiliations / Commissions

Provision for customer assistance / support

And finally, learn to read ขbetween the linesข of the ad copy.

Once you have the field narrowed down, come up with your short list. Revisit the sites of your short list and review the information provided on the sites once again.

Think about the different expertise each expert possesses. Not all of the strategies and techniques will be used in the early stages of your Internet business, but rather later on as you grow it. Keep these experts in mind as resources for your growth.

If you have questions or concerns, I recommend you email the expert to see if you get any type of personal reply, and not just one from an autoresponder! Make sure your questions and concerns are addressed.

Do realize, however, many of the true experts have busy schedules and may not get back to you within 2436 hours…but despite how busy they may be, the good ones WILL get back to you! They have learned well, the value of a lead and potential customer.

Your goal is to narrow down your long list of 75100 to a short list of 1015.

Will it be time consuming? Yes it will but it will be time well spent. This list of 1015 experts will be your Internet business shopping list and the list from which you will have all of the resources to have the potential to make your Internet business a success.

The final key will be your desire, your willingness and most of all your commitment.

About The Author

Don Berthiaume is the owner/webmaster of ขInternet Marketing Plans – A Beginner’s Guideข and publisher of the ขInternet Business Start Guideก. He spent many years as a multimedia developer and has designed and developed numerous websites. If your swimming in a sea of กInformation Overloadก and arenกt quite sure where to turn to learn the fundamentals of Internet marketing, visit his website at http://www.thebeginnerguide.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 16, 2004

by Don Berthiaume

Marketing Using Minisites

Marketing Using Minisites

by: Paul Jesse

When it comes to making money online, there are a wide variety of web sites with different graphics and copy with some being very detailed and some not. The important thing is that both generate cash. If you have a home based internet business and are interested in marketing and selling your product, but don’t have a lot of money to invest in a fancy, professionally created Web site, then you should consider setting up minisites for your various products.

If you don’t know anything about website creation, this might sound a little intimidating to you. However, there really is nothing to worry about because setting up a minisite to market and sell your product does not require a lot of web page knowledge or experience and best of all it will not cost you very much.

First you will want to find a company to host your minisite. There are many companies online to choose from, so the best thing to do is search for ones that support the kind of web page you want and are within your budget. Then you can read reviews on them and find out which one will be the best fit for your minisite. Then, you need to register your domain name with them. Generally, you can register any domain name of your choosing, as long as someone else has not already registered it. If they have, be creative and come up with a new one that is just as pertinent to your product and also easy to remember. Then, you will pay a monthly hosting fee, which are generally under $10 a month if you find a good company. There are companies that host for free, but you will want to compare all of the services before you make a choice.

If you are not good at creating web pages on your own, then you probably want a hosting company that also has a web page builder included in their services. This will walk you step by step through the creation of your mini web page and it is easy and quick. You will have your very own mini web page before you know it with little investment and little to no stress.

Don’t let yourself get over excited however and think that you need multiple links and pages and the like. You will want to keep it simple, especially if you are just selling one product or service. You will want to have a description of the product and a ขplace order nowข link. That is all you need. Once the order has been placed, it is a good idea to have Paypal or some other payment web site that accepts a range of payment options in a variety of currencies so you do not limit yourself to one particular region of the world or people with credit cards.

Setting up a Minisite will not only increase your web traffic, but will also increase your business. Set up a minisite today and watch as your business grows.

Copyright 2005 Paul Jesse

About The Author

Paul Jesse is a retired government employee, private pilot and author of numerous home business articles. It you are interested in starting a Internet home business visit: http://www.sheamarketing.com.

This article was posted on August 03

by Paul Jesse

Hosting Your Own Web Server: Things to Consider

Hosting Your Own Web Server: Things to Consider

by: Ant Onaf

Are you disgusted or disappointed with your current web host? Have you switched web hosting companies too many times? Have you thought of hosting your own website(s)? Do you have the ambition to control and manage your own web server?

If you answered กyesก to the questions above, then you may be ready to host your own sites. This article will give you things to consider while making the switch.

When being your own web host you should be technically inclined and have basic knowledge of operating systems, understand technical terms, understand how to setup a server environment (such as: DNS, IIS, Apache, etc.) have basic knowledge of scripting languages and databases (PHP, Perl, MySQL, etc.), be familiar with current technologies, and have a basic understanding of hardware and server components.

You should realize the pros & cons. It is one thing to say, you want to host your own web server and it is another thing to actually do it.

Pros:

Own sense of responsibility

Awareness level raised (you are at the frontline of all server happenings)

No monthly hosting fees/accounts

Incompetence no longer exist

Nonshared environment (dedicated server)

Unlimited websites, databases, content, storage, etc.

More bandwidth

No more waiting on someone else time

Complete control

Cons:

Exhausting at times

Faced with server/hardware problems

ISP business account (monthly business/broadband expense)

If server goes down then the website is offline

No technical support team

Software, hardware, and network expenses

There could be many more pros & cons but I’ve pointed out some of the major ones. Managing a web server starts as a full time job, you must constantly monitor its performance and security. This can sometimes be an exhausting task, especially if you currently have other responsibilities. Though, the control you will have over your website and its performance is rewarding enough. You no longer have to wait for technical support or approval to install a script onto the server. You can have as many websites and databases you want, as long as your hardware can handle it. You no longer have to go into the discussion forums and search for the best web host or rant about how much you hate your current host. You can even begin hosting family & friends personal websites.

Ask yourself, how technically advanced are you? Many times you do not have to be a tech guru or anything of the sort, but you must be very resourceful. You must know how to find resolutions and answers to problems, quickly and efficiently. This means you must be internet savvy. Not just the average surfer, who surfs aimlessly, but you must be the surfer who can always find what they are looking for. This is key, because with any server environment you are going to run into problems and finding the answers are most accomplished online, using multiple resources, search techniques, and engines. Sure you can hire someone to fix your problems, but as we should have learned from the กweb hostingก, having someone do it for you isn’t always the best option. Here is a test to see if you are ready to find solutions. I need a solution to a Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Event Error กEvent ID: 1056ข it’s a DHCP Server Error. How would you search? Go ahead find the solution.

Did you first go to Google? If you did, that was a nice effort and common for most, plus a good place to start, but usually it is best to start at the developersก website. In this case กmicrosoft.comก would have been the first option. Why? Google would more than likely provide you with the answer from Microsoft and other sources, but you don’t want to get inaccurate information from other sources. It is common to get information from Microsoft that would not specifically resolve your problem, but the developer should always be your first place to search for the answers. Now search the error again and go to the Microsoft site and find the solution.

You should had found this link: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;enus;282001 (Event ID 1056 is Logged after installing DHCP)

What search phrase did you use? It should have been Event ID: 1056, because the Event ID is the exact error, it pinpoints your exact problem without broadening your search. Sometimes the error description is also appropriate to search, just the error description by itself or in combination with the Event ID. It depends on your error, your search feedback, your ability, and technique. For this example I did not include the error description.

Google or Yahoo! should have been your second option (the two largest search engines). Then search other smaller and niche search engines. A good search site which makes use of Google’s operator tags is www.soople.com. Next you should search within forums and discussion groups. If you are pretty internet savvy and have a plentiful or few forums and discussion groups which you frequent then you might actually visit those places before visiting Google or Yahoo!. You can even visit those before visiting the developer site since it is a trusted source, but I wouldn’t recommend it, I still would go to the developersก site first. Okay, so now we have planted our feet and have familiarized ourselves with being internet (search) savvy. We are ready to purchase a server!

When making a server purchase you need to consider a few things before doing so. What to buy? A top of the line, quadruple processor, and super fast turbo server is always ideal, but many times it is not logical or affordable. Therefore, you need to weigh your options (sensibly).

What to buy?

First determine your budget. Be realistic and expect to spend at least $2,500 for a lowend server. For a lowend, quality server with other needed equipment and services I spent a little over $4,500 easily.

Determine your ISP (broadband) provider. Research and speak with several different vendors before deciding which broadband solution best suit your needs. Each provider plan is different and has different benefits, determine the best one which fits your needs. Bandwidth should be put into consideration when choosing your ISP.

A backup device should be purchased before implementing a server install. The backup device should be double the server storage space. This could be a standalone unit like an external hard drive or network storage device or the backup device could be multiple devices such as: backup tapes, disc, etc. The reason the backup device should be larger is because you want to be able to have months worth of backups and not just weekly or monthly backups. You should have at least 24 weeks of backups without the concern of storage space. The backup device or safe deposits should also be external, removable, and portable. This is so the backups can be stored in a remote location. Usually for safekeeping, in event of a theft or disaster.

Determine your daily traffic goal (the daily traffic which you hope to see within 1 year – be realistic), divide that number by the daily traffic you currently receive, and then multiply that number by 5. That is the total number of GB space you need.

Example:

Daily Traffic Goal: 10,000 (Divided by) Current Daily Traffic: 500 (Times X) 5 = 100GB

In the example you should purchase a 100GB Hard Drive, it is best to buy 2 or more drives oppose to 1. In this case, since 50GB drives do not exist or harder to find, you would buy two 60GB drives giving you a total of 120GB. 2 or more drives are usually needed in a server to configure the proper RAID option, in some cases 3 or more are needed. Your backup storage space should be a minimum capacity of 200GB (or 240GB, optional).

Determine your memory. If your web server daily traffic goal is 500,000 then I would recommend at least 2GB worth of memory. If it is a shared server, meaning it also has other server services running on the machine, especially a mail server or database server (which is not recommended) then your memory should at least be 3GB or more. Otherwise you can think small and upgrade as needed, a 1GB memory stick should be fine for starters.

Determine your network components, which NIC card best performs under high traffic levels and which router best performs for your LAN / web server. It is best to get a router which has a builtin firewall (commonly known as a ขhardware firewallข). Your ISP may provide you with a router or hardware firewall, this is how they are able to authorize your traffic on their network. Like a cable box does for cable television. The router also shares your IP address with other clients on your network. This enables you to share your internet connection without having to get a different IP from your ISP. The hardware firewall is simply a router with a builtin firewall, which means it shares your IP address as well as provides added protection to your network. It blocks bad addresses and ports at the forefront, before it can even make it to your computer. It is not recommended to rely only on a hardware firewall for security, this is just the first step. It is recommended to also include a software firewall (firewall software which installs on your computer) and it is recommended to continue timely security practices, such as updating and patching your system on a scheduled routine.

Determine your processor speed and power. Regardless of the amount of traffic you are expecting I would recommend a dual processor or greater. A dual processor or greater is best because if your website unexpectedly take off then you will be well prepared and if you host other server options or websites on the same server then you will have better performance. At the time of this writing the 64bit platform is the processor direction. 3.8GHz is the most available speed. If your pockets can afford the latest technologies then that is ideal, but keep in mind at this particular time a 64bit compatible processor is not necessary, without having many applications that require or deliver on that platform. That is a lot of speed going no where fast. Also, remember the power of the 64bit platform and the greater the processor speed the more heat it produces, therefore it must be cooled much more rapidly and efficiently. At this time a dual 32bit, 2.8GHz – 3.2GHz processor will suffice (even that is way more than enough). Though, if your pockets can afford it then the latest and greatest would be fine, you will be well prepared. Otherwise, do like most people and upgrade when the time comes.

Make sure you have a CD/RW drive. A floppy disk drive is not needed, but I do recommend it for making system restore disk. The CD/RW drive is needed because you need some type of removable storage device. You never know when you need to install a driver from a different location…like a ethernet driver. An external CD/RW drive is the best option, especially if you have multiple machines.

Choose your operating system carefully. Choose the vendor which you are most comfortable with. Do not choose a MAC if you never used a MAC before. Just because your friend suggests it and says it is a piece of cake does not mean it will be for you. You are trying to get a web server online not relearn a whole new system. Stay focused and grounded. If you are comfortable with Microsoft then go with Microsoft, regardless if the IT person at your job says Microsoft products are unsecure, Linux or Unix is more secure and much better for a web server. If you have never used Linux or (especially) Unix then you will be in for a ride of your life. Your web server experience will soon become a nightmare and you will have wasted thousands of dollars on equipment. Go with what you know, not what you are told. Each platform has its pros and cons: Microsoft is the userfriendly of them all; Mac is the web/graphic developer of them all; Linux is the opensource/developers paradise of them all; Unix is the most secure of them all. Each of them can be tweaked in ways to provide a solid, quality platform, it is best to stick with what you already know.

You should install on your system all the web services (such as: Apache, IIS, etc.), applications (such as: backup device software, RAID (Array) Manager), scripting languages (such as: PHP, Perl, etc.), CGI, Database (such as: MySQL, Microsoft SQL, etc.), and a web log analyzer (such as: weblog expert, nihuo, etc.). It is also recommended to perform system updates, security patches, and firewall installs and configurations. It is sometimes best to leave the security installs and configurations for after you have the system functioning properly to avoid any uncalculated problems. This way when you install the firewall and something stops working properly like connecting to your website from outside your network, you can troubleshoot assuming that it is the firewall, therefore you would begin by opening port 80 on the firewall. This method can save you a lot of hassle, but can sometimes be considered the unsecure method, especially if you don’t have a hardware firewall already in place.

Next, there are a few things to consider before installing and configuring a server. Where to put it? A secluded, cool location is ideal, but if this cannot be accomplished then adjustments can be made.

Where to put it?

Locate a location within your home that is staticfree, we do not want to put the server on the carpet, near curtains, or anything else that can produce a static reaction. The reason for this is that you do not want the server internal components to receive a static charge and short circuit.

The location should be a cool environment, preferably below room temperature. The reason for a cool area is because servers (as well as desktop computers) produce large amounts of heat, the more heat it produces the more it needs to cool off. If the server is not kept cool, then this can lead to the server hanging and then eventually crashing. Itกs the same result of when a car overheats, it stops running. You can keep a server internal components cool by keeping the room cool, additionally you can add more fans to the server which cools the server internal components, you can also position a standalone fan directly at the server back panel and constantly have the fan cool the server internal components. Depending on how cool your room is and how much heat your server produces, getting more fans for your server may be a must and not an option.

It is suggested that the server is at a higher level within your house (midfloor), because if it is in the basement and a flood occurs it could ruin it. If it is in the attic and the sun beams on the attic for hours the server could overheat. Midfloor level is usually the cooler place within the home, but these recommendations is optional and you should put the server in the most comfortable and convenient space following the rest of the guidelines.

Be sure the area you choose is not damp or wet (no leaks, moisture, near any liquids, or near a window ขespecially openข). We all know what can happen when electrical components get wet.

The server should sit at least 4ข inches from the ground

Be sure a working electrical outlet is near. It is an important to have a power supply, a good brand is APC. Having a power supply can save you from electrical outages, blackouts, and brownouts. Having a power supply helps the server keep its power, remain stable, and unaffected when there is an outage, as well it protects your server against electrical shock. If your outage remains more than 5 minutes it is recommended to begin backing up anything deemed important and shut the computer down voluntarily as well as any other electrical attached devices.

Have a LAN line near and also a phone jack (if you plan on using the server for any dialup services). It is not recommended to use your web service with a dialup connection. A broadband connection or greater is recommend for optimal performance. The LAN line should never come from your wall and plug directly into your server, it should plug into a hardware firewall (usually a router with a builtin firewall).

Depending on the size of the server and the internal components the server may be extremely noisy and loud, especially with the fans going. It is suggested to have the server in a secluded location which is not near any peaceful area of the house, such as: bedroom.

Those are all some basic things to consider before hosting your own server. Hosting your own server is not an easy task, but once you have had some time and experience with it, it becomes a breeze. You will have a better web hosting experience, you will be more in tune and reliant to your customers, and you will gain greater technical aptitude. Hosting your own web server is rewarding, useful, and gives you the opportunity to host unlimited websites, databases, services, etc.

If your web traffic becomes too great for your server then it is recommended to choose an offsite web host. It is recommend to purchase a dedicated server with a quality web host. If you choose a server with the above recommendations then your server traffic should be fine for at least up to 25,000,000 page views per month. It could be greater or less depending on your operating system, your server configuration, performance, applications, and services. The point is you should be well in a position to purchase dedicated server space by the time your traffic gets too high, because if you are getting anything close to 1,000,000 page views a month you should have some competitive advertising or ecommerce income. And plus, with the knowledge you will gain from the experience you will be able to support your own server at a dedicated server (remote) location, thus cutting more overhead.

The biggest disadvantage of hosting your own web server is the uptime reliability. If your web server powers down for any reason then your website is offline. Usually web hosting companies have methods and networks to prevent this failure from affecting your website. Usually if the system goes down they have a mirror location where your site is rejuvenated and doesn’t experience much downtime. Some web hosts do not practice this method or any other fault tolerance. Imagine if a blackout or power outage occurs, then your web server could be down for hours or even days, this can affect your business greatly. There are some hosting companies who provide mirror web hosting for a small fee, I haven’t found one that is reliable yet. Or you could cross your fingers and hope for the best, until you are able to host your server outside your home on a larger network.

Hosting your own server usually is not a moneysaving experience. It sometimes cost more to host your own server, when you total the up keep and maintenance. The benefit of hosting your own server is usually a better platform for your customers, because it is no longer a shared server and it gives you the ability to make global changes almost instantaneously. When your customers request more performance or specific applications, then you will be able to implement this immediately. Customers like to know that you are in control. If you tell your customers that the server will be down for maintenance from 6 a.m. – 7 a.m. then it would be best if that is when your server is down, not from 5 a.m. – 10 a.m. You know how your web host will tell you one thing and then you have to try explaining it to your customer. In the end it will benefit you to host your own web server as a web business, this helps you and your customers.

About The Author

Ant Onaf is an online internet marketer, web advertiser, and IT consultant. Having several years of experience within the IT field Ant Onaf has managed to successfully advertise and market several prominent clients. His ingenuity, dedication, and passion for technology have made him a monumental icon in the World Wide Web. His public blog can be visited at JournalHome.com: http://www.journalhome.com/?u=anthonyon

This article was posted on February 27, 2005

by Ant Onaf

Branding Versus SEO

Branding Versus SEO

by: Kevin Kantola

Branding versus search engine optimization is a marketing dilemma that larger companies will need to come to grips with on the Internet. Often companies will need to decide whether to promote their own brand name as their main keyword phrase or optimize for a more generic keyword phrase.

For instance, one search engine report states that 1.3 million visitors per month search for the term กBest Buy.ก This same report states that the term กelectronicsก is searched for by 1.1 visitors per month. The obvious choice in this scenario is for Best Buy to optimize for their own brand name first and the word กelectronicsก second.

But, take a competitor such as Fryกs Electronics. Approximately 95,000 visitors search for the term กFryกsก every month, far short of those who search for กelectronicsก. Does this mean Fryกs Electronics (a partner with Outpost.com) should optimize for กelectronicsก first and Fryกs (and/or Outpost.com) second?

At this writing (August 2004), a search on Google for กelectronicsก will show that Best Buy does not show up in the first two pages. Fryกs (Outpost.com) is on the third page. But letกs take a further look to see who is in the number 1 position: Sony. And Samsung is a close second.

Sony, with 450,000 searches per month for the word กsonyก, has managed to grab the number one spot for its brand name and the generic word กelectronicsก. A search of the Sony homepage source code will reveal that this page is optimized for both words, กSonyก and กelectronics.ก By optimizing for both words Sony has grabbed a lot of traffic neglected by Best Buy and perhaps even exceeds Best Buys traffic in doing this.

Another issue in branding is trademark infringement. Courts have upheld that websites using another companyกs branded name in its meta tags is engaging in trademark infringement. For instance, a site about cats would be infringing if it put the name Best Buy in its meta tags in hopes of gaining traffic from this trademarked word. Large companies have to protect themselves from others stealing traffic that is rightfully theirs. These companies cannot however protect a generic term such as กelectronicsก as that is fair game for all electronics companies.

So in order to create the largest return on investment, large companies need to optimize their websites both for their own brand names and for the generic, hightraffic keywords and keyword phrases relevant to their sites. Otherwise, they are letting tons of online business just slip away.

About The Author

Copyright © 2004 SEO Resource

http://www.seoresource.net

Kevin Kantola is the CEO of SEO Resource and has published many articles over the past 20 years.

This article was posted on August 10, 2004

by Kevin Kantola