Is Something Missing From Your Keywords Research?

Is Something Missing From Your Keywords Research? (Part 2)

by: Serge Botans

In my previous article, I raised the issue that proper keyword research must take into account countries. The reason for that was that the demand for keywords can vary between countries. I gave examples of that fact using the Overture keyword tool.

To support my argument (that we need to be aware of countries when doing keyword research), I gave 2 reasons:

1. it will help us determine which countr(y/ies) to target, and

2. it will help us know what countr(y/ies) our visitors are most likely to come from.

I would like, in this article, to expand on these 2 reasons. I would also like to add further reasons why any keyword research must be country based.

1. When doing keyword research, we need to understand the limitations of our research. This is necessary in order to remove any assumptions we make about our findings. For example, if you find that the demand for a keyword is very high in the US, you cannot assume that the demand for that same keyword will also be vey high in other countries. You will only know for sure how much demand there is worldwide by doing country specific keyword research. Such research can be done using a tool such as the Overture keyword tool,

2. It will tell you where your visitors are most likely to come from. This in turn will tell you what features you need to add to your web site. For example, if you are targeting a keyword that is in demand in the US only, then obviously most of your visitors will come from the US. This then means that you need to design your web site primarily for US visitors. You will hence need to:

use US spelling such as กcolorก and not กcolourก,

if you sell products, then list your prices in US$,

if you live in the US, then add a fax number so your visitors can place orders by fax,

if you live in the US, you could organise a US free call number for your visitors to ring you should they need to,

if you live in the US and you ship your orders, then you could include shipping costs. You could also include how long it will take for them to receive their order,

if you don’t live in the US, then you will need to make it possible for your visitors to pay you in US$,

if you don’t live in the US and you ship your orders, then you could include shipping costs. And you could include how long it will take for them to receive their order,

and so on . . .

If on the other hand, you are wanting to target several nonEnglish speaking countries, then:

you may need to add a translation service to your site so that your visitors can read your site in their language,

you may need to add a currency exchange service so that your visitors can convert your prices into their currency,

you may need to make it possible for your visitors to pay you in their own currency,

you may need to add other ways for your visitors to pay you apart from credit cards. You could offer international cheques/checks, money orders, direct bank transfers, . . . I once had a customer who wanted to pay me in Euros from Italy and needed my address to do so. The easier you make it for people to place an order, the greater the chances someone will place an order!

if you ship your orders, then you could add the shipping costs to each of the countries you are targeting. And include how long it will take for them to receive their order,

and so on . . . May be you can think of other things you will need to add to your site to accommodate your international visitors.

3. It will help you target the right keywords for the country you want to target. For example, if you want to target Canada, then you will need to use keywords that are in high demand in Canada only. There is absolutely no point doing keyword research in the UK if you are wanting to target Canada as the keyword demand between the 2 countries may vary greatly.

4. It will help you develop a keyword strategy so that you can target several countries at the same time. This can be achieved in several ways depending on the keywordsก demand and supply.

you could use keywords that are in common demand in the several countries. For example, if you sell กwidgetsก with your site and you find that there is a healthy demand for กblack widgetsก in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. Then you could target that keyword with your site as that keyword will help you target 4 countries in one go,

you could use keywords in demand in each country, as long as they complement each other and are highly relevant for your site. For example, using the widget idea, if you found that กcolored widgetsก are in demand in the US, กwhite widgetsก are in demand in the UK, กblack widgetsก in Canada, and กcoloured widgetsก in Australia. Then, you would just target all these keywords with your site which would not be hard to do as all these keywords can easily be targeted together.

Given the right circumstances, you could even use both strategies at the same time.

As I mentioned in my first article, the Overture keyword tool enables you to research the demand for keywords in some 19 countries around the world. To see the countries that Overture supports, go to www.overture.com and have a look at the top right corner of the page. By clicking on any one of the countries listed, you will have access to the Overture keyword tool for the country you selected, and this will enable you to research the keyword demand in that country.

As you may know, keyword demand is only one half of the equation. Keyword demand needs to be looked at together with its supply numbers. One of the ways of determining keyword supply is to use Google. This means that to you need to know how to use Google to research the supply of keywords in your country of interest. This is a bit harder to explain and beyond the scope of this article.

I hope that this second article has convinced you about the need to be country aware when doing your keyword research. The success of your web site may depend on it.

Serge M Botans

About The Author

Serge M Botans is the CEO of http://www.metakeywordadvice.com a web site that provides advice on keywords. Free evaluation available. He is also the inventor of CID, which is an altenative to KEI.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 08

by Serge Botans

Become a More Creative Person

Become a More Creative Person

by: Granny’s Mettle

Used to be when we talk about generation gap, it almost always applies to the difference in thinking between the supposedly adult generation and the younger ones. Then, it was easier to understand because our parents used to say that itกs all about difficult teenagers. Period.

However, the principle of generation gap has evolved in a different meaning particularly in the workplace. The trend nowadays is to have a more vibrant and creative staff working for companies. And who best exemplifies creativity and fun? The young, fine arts degree holders, who else.

A person with a fine arts degree used to have trouble in getting himself employed. But now, itกs the companies who are getting as much as they can; recruiting young people with a fine arts background, believing that with creative staff aboard, they become more creative and innovative themselves. Especially that thereกs a growing belief nowadays that to stay ahead, companies should become more inventive, innovative and creative.

Nevertheless, you don’t need to be a fine arts graduate to get inside the best companies. Or you get your own fine arts staff for your own company. You just need to enhance your creativity to get a crack of the business you have chosen. As the author of Vivation said, the idea that a few people are creative and the rest are not is definitely a myth. All we need is to let some of our infinite creative power leak through from the unconscious so we can apply it to our conscious state.

Or, we could always rely on software and programs available in the market to help us produce a creative and innovative environment for our company and business.

There is a barrage of applications from Adobe, Microsoft, and other software developers, to help us create better and vivid media materials that enhance our corporate identity.

At the TypoTechnica 2005 conference, Quark Inc. introduced QuarkXPress 7, an updated version of their page layout program. The program fully supports both Unicode and OpenType. With QuarkXPress7กs support for Unicode, it provides a new feature called Font Fallback that allows users to specify a fall back and alternative fonts when a specified font does not contain a full set of glyphs for nonRoman characters. Furthermore, the program will support a total of around 23 OpenType features, including standard and discretionary ligatures and swashes.

On the other hand, Adobeกs Creative Suite boasts having a complete design environment for print and Web publishing. They add that users will be able to create and publish content for print and the Web faster, more easily, and more affordably. The application has tools for creating artwork, editing images, creating photo compositions, and drawing vector graphics.

Then thereกs Microsoftกs Digital Image Suite 9 and Digital Image Pro 9 that comes with wizards and tutorials that walk you through the process and help you get started right away. The software includes thousands of design templates to help you create projects not only for your business, but also for the home.

There are a lot of ways and means to let our creativity flow. We just have to use our minds to imagine fresh ways or put together already existing ideas and innovate, to make our company click with our target clients. And with new technology to help us, business life is simpler and easier.

About The Author

Grannyกs Mettle is a 30something, professional web content writer. She has created various web content on a diverse range of topics, which includes digital printing topics, medical news, as well as legal issues. Her articles are composed of reviews, suggestions, tips and more for the printing and designing industry.

Her thoughts on writing: กWriting gives me pleasure… pleasure and excitement that you have created something to share with others. And with the wide world of the Internet, it gives me great satisfaction that my articles reach more people in the quickest time you could imagine.ก

On her spare time, she loves to stay at home, reading books on just about any topic she fancies, cooking a great meal, and taking care of her husband and kids.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 07

by Granny’s Mettle

Information Products For Profit

Information Products For Profit

by: Matt Bacak

It is no secret that the internet has created the new generation of millionaires in only a few short years. Every few seconds a person starts a home business somewhere around the world, and the amazing thing is that the market does not seem to be getting saturated anytime soon! Business is booming, and for quick easy cash people are turning to the internet.

However faced with the fact that many of us do not have a product to sell, nor do we have the infrastructure set up or the manpower necessary to distribute products. Nevertheless a growing group of people are selling products right out of their home office or their kitchen table; how? Information products! Now regular bookstores and music stores are getting serious competition from our very own neighbors. The technology available to all of us makes it extremely easy to create your very own information product; whether that is a book, a music CD, a course, you name it! All you need is a computer and an internet connection, some time and virtually no investment!

Here are some products that you can create right now!

Ebooks

Ebooks are electronic books; it is like a regular book but they can be read on your computer, or printed out with a regular printer. Because you do not produce a ขphysicalข product you also do not have any printing costs! So therefore, you can already guess, you will keep 100% of the profits you make. Even more powerful however is the fact that you can sell unlimited numbers of your book, and do not need any inventory. Nor will you be stuck with piled of unsold books. You create something now, and you can profit from it forever! You can write about anything you are knowledgeable about, or anything you would like to research further. If you do not feel comfortable with this you can easily hire a ghostwriter who will do it for you.

CDกs

The only thing you need is a CD burner and the sky is the limit; you can publish your ebook on CD, or a collection of books. You can also record you own music CD or publish a course. If you know how to write simple programs you can even make your own software. Or again; all you need is a good idea because you will easily find a professional willing to develop your product for you!

Audio Cassettes

These go along the same lines as CDกs; you can sell a product people can listen to in their car, on their way to work. You can even publish an ebook and a cassette version of the same product to maximize profits! Generally all you need is a tape recorder that can produce good quality tapes, and preferably one with two tape decks so you can easily reproduce the initial tape you made. Audio Cassettes are a bit more labour intensive than CDกs, but if you truly want to reach your entire target market, they are a must.

Special Reports

These are relatively short ขbooksข, or just a collection of pages on a particular topic. Remember those reports you wrote back in school? Think a few of those bunched together, on a topic people want to learn more about.

Self Help Products

All the products above can be used in this category; people are always hungry for information, regardless of the state of the economy. In fact; when there is an economic downturn sellers who specialize in books on how to save money or make money see their profits grow faster than normal! Knowledge is profit; and you are unique like anyone else.

How to Create a Product

You more than likely possess enough knowledge to create hundreds of information products; however because you are unaware of the fact that there are people out there who do not know what you know, you are more likely to think you do not know anything special or worth selling. Think again! Have your friends ever asked you for advice or help on something? Whether in a hobby, at work, or a relationship? Are you good at your job? Or extremely involved in a special hobby? This little brainstorming session should already give you plenty of ideas that you can put to work right now!

The next step is to think of topics you want to know more about. Itกs likely that if you are interested in something, other people are too. Now all you need to do is some research and then develop the product of your choice; you will be doing all those other people a favor by presenting them with a solution to their ขproblemข without having to do any research themselves.

About The Author

Matt Bacak became ก#1 Best Selling Authorก in just a few short hours. Recent Entrepreneur Magazine’s eBiz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The Secrets http://promotingtips.com.

This article was posted on August 08

by Matt Bacak

Are You Made To Run An Internet Business

Are You Made To Run An Internet Business

by: Michel Richer

Many people would like to have their own internet business. They like the idea of being their own boss. They like the idea to work from their home office. They like the idea of making a substancial income of around $10 000 + a month.

Does this sound tempting to you ?

If yes, it is important to ask yourself some though question before thinking about running an internet business.

Do you really want to work from your home office ?

Many like the benefits of an internet business, but few take into account the hard work that must be made to succeed with a business. Please don’t make this mistake yourself.

Are you able and willing to invest time and effort even when you don’t see direct result for maybe some months? Are you the type to discipline yourself to work every day ? Are you willing to learn and to follow training? Can you motivate yourself every day for month and years to come ?

SELF DETERMINATION

You need to possess the ability to push yourself ahead. Your drive and determination will be reinforced with every new sale.

To really succeed with your internet business you need to have clear goals and a business plan. You need to know where your business is going. You also need to put lotกs of time and effort to excelerate your business growth.

Running an internet business demand a lot of skills like computer knowledge of course. Marketing (copywriting, advertising). Website design & development etc.

By learning and experimenting you will gain lotกs of experience. When you have a lotกs of experience you become an expert in your field, wich is a great thing for your business.

YOU ARE THE MASTER OF YOUR DESTINY NOW

Isn’t it great to be your own boss ? Working for yourself and taking all the decision. You are the master now.

You have the drive, you have the determination. You have the patience to see your business grow day by day, month after month.

If something bad happen, you have the humility to see whatกs wrong and learn from your error. You are the only one now responsible for your self.

Treat your business as a serious, fulltime business, and it will become one.

IN CONCLUSION…

Think of your first six months primarily as a training period. Don’t expect large earnings until after youกve educated yourself.

Don’t be a negative thinker and don’t let the negative attitudes of others (even if they’re family members, friends, or peers) influence you.

All the great men and women in history had to overcome the naysayers who said it couldn’t be done—and then went out and did it. Think for yourself!

As long as you think positive and focused on your business target you’re on the right way to a rich life, which is directed by you and it will lead you to tremendous success.

PERMISSIONS TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in its entirety free of charge, electronically or in print, provided it appears with the included copyright and author’s resource box with live website link.

Courtesy of: http://hombyz.com

About The Author

Michel Richer is the Business Manager and Webmaster of http://Hombyz.com

With over 10 years experience in home based internet business and a SOLID REPUTATION in the industry. He is dedicated to helping you SUCCEED on the Internet.

You can take a look at his website at: http://hombyz.com for Your HOME BUSINESS SUCCESS !!!

This article was posted on February 05

by Michel Richer

Publishing Great Content To Boost Your Link Popula

Publishing Great Content To Boost Your Link Popularity

by: John Taylor

Before we get started, thereกs a couple of things that I ought to point out…

1. You really should have a fairly good knowledge of your subject material and enough time to write high quality articles. Alternatively you should be able to invest at least $40 per month to pay someone else to research and ghostwrite some articles for you.

2. You will also need to have sufficient time to submit your articles to the main article directories or alternatively be prepared to pay at least $40 per month to have someone else distribute them for you.

Writing and distributing articles, while not especially glamorous by any means, it’s a very effective way to get links back to your site.

The proven system:

1. Decide on a topic for your article and either write it yourself or, as mentioned above, get someone else to write it for you. I prefer to use http://www.Rentacoder.com to hire good writers, simply because they have an escrow system that allows the payment to be held until the work is finished. Take plenty of time to write a detailed project specification to make sure that you cover precisely what you expect the writer to provide. You should also pay particular attention to the individualsก feedback score before choosing a writer.

2. Once you have a completed article, or set of articles you need to buy a subscription to one of the article distribution services such as:

http://www.submityourarticle.com

http://www.iSnare.com (Highly recommended!)

http://www.thephantomwriters.com

http://www.ezinetrendz.com/articlesubmission.htm

If you don’t want to pay for the distribution of your articles, then you will need to invest your time in submitting them manually. Once you have done that a couple of times, itกs virtually certain that youกll find the cash to pay for one of the above services!

3. Make sure that you write a compelling signature line with the landing page URL that you want these new links pointing to. You need to decide in advance where you want all your articles to link to. Your home page will give you the best results if you are looking for Page Rank and a dedicated optin page will generate the highest subscriber sign up rate. Set clear objectives for your campaign before you start.

4. Once youกve completed your signup, submit your first article through the Submit Your Article service. Generally, the article will post out from the system within 72 hours. From this point, submit at least one new article each and every week, more if possible.

6. If your article is well written many publishers will pick it up and publish it to their newsletters and online databases.And, if your signature line contains a compelling call to action you should also enjoy lots of targeted traffic.

You can be sure of one thing, once your article has been distributed you will enjoy lots of incoming links to your chosen URL.

About The Author

To learn more information about Link Popularity I strongly recommend that you visit http://www.LinkAdvantage.com.

Copyright John Taylor PhD August 2005 All rights reserved.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 11

by John Taylor

Writing a Business Plan After You Buy a Business

Writing a Business Plan After You Buy a Business

by: Sandi Schneider

Business plans are usually written when you want to start a new business; however, writing a business plan is an excellent way for you to lay out on paper exactly what the company is about, and understand what it does best, what its weak points are, etc. This will prove very helpful when you’re trying to work out how to go about adding a new service. Be open to advice from anyone in your company who might have a good idea.

How well does the service you want to add fit in with the current functioning of the company? If it’s an extension of areas the company is already involved in, is it a service that existing customers will need? Or will you need to spend money to market the new facets of the company?

If you’re venturing into an entirely new area of business, do you have the workforce and infrastructure in place to handle the changes, or will you need to hire new talent, purchase new equipment etc.?

Share your thoughts with your employees and take their feedback very seriously. They are the ones who will ultimately execute your ideas and make them work.

What Do the Customers Want?

Your business sense aside, the customers’ ideas are easily your most valuable pointers to what your business needs. If you find several customers asking you whether you offer a particular service, that’s a clear indication of the natural direction in which the company can grow. Your existing customer base will provide sufficient momentum to your initiatives to ensure that they get a fair chance. If you please your existing customers, wordofmouth referral alone will help the new areas of your business grow and you may find that you don’t need to market yourself aggressively at all.

Share Your Enthusiasm

Being a new boss, it’s important that your first few big ideas don’t fall flat, so err on the side of caution. Be a dynamic communicator so that you have the support of your employees and customers. Set realistic goals and motivate your employees into attaining them. Constantly revise progress with your team members, so that they feel that they’re a part of the change, and have a stake in making it work. The company’s enthusiasm will be passed onto the customers, giving any sensible business plan a good chance of success.

Timing is of the utmost importance, so be prepared to put your plans on hold until the company is ready to go through a change. When you buy a business, the period of transition can be somewhat unstable so any changes you plan need to be planned out to the smallest detail possible.

About The Author

Sandi Schneider

Get help from experienced business brokers to help turn your business dreams into reality. At Vested Business Brokers we have enough experience in putting together successful deals. Our web page is www.vestedbb.com.

This article was posted on September 08

by Sandi Schneider

How To Beat The HomeBased Burnout Blues

How To Beat The HomeBased Burnout Blues

by: Mary Rosendale

I went to visit a friend who had quit the corporate world to start his own artbased business. This was a guy who wore, if not a suit, at least a tie and jacket to work every day for a decade. All the curtains in his house were drawn and his bed was littered with color samples, catalogs and all the assorted detritus of a homebased business. With his unshaven face and sunken eyes, he bore a frightening resemblance to Tom Hanks in ขCastawayข. He leaned over and, with a wild glint in his eye, whispered ขI haven’t taken a shower in three days.ข That close to him it wasn’t difficult to believe but I couldn’t figure out why he felt the need to tell me.

A couple of years later I got it when I too had swapped working for the man for the pleasantly unstructured life of a homebased entrepreneur. I was on my way to a Networking luncheon and slipped some dress shoes on only to find that my feet had apparently grown two sizes. My sneakers and my fluffy slippers fit just fine but they didn’t go with my little black suit. I understood then that his confession had been more than a need to share his personal hygiene issues with me. He felt compelled to share the horror of what he was becoming.

At some point every back bedroom entrepreneur has an epiphany that they might be a little too far gone along the doityourself continuum. For me it was the shoes. For my friend it was the orange water pouring out of his groaning shower head when he finally found a reason to shower.

If you’re just starting out with a homebased business and still euphoric over getting to conduct business in your pj’s or being able to take a Judge Judy break – be aware that there is a dark side. One day you, too, will run slap up against a moment of clarity when you see your formerly civilized life slipping away from you and realize that you may have taken the ball and run with it just a little too far.

It’s a tricky thing to get the balance just right. There’s so much to do in setting up and maintaining a business. And, mindful of the fact that 80% of all small businesses fail in the first year, you’re probably anxious to do as much as you can as fast as you can in order to start bringing home the goods. There are several balances to be worked out – all of them tricky. When do you outsource and when do you do it yourself? How much can you work and still have a life and a family at the end of it? What do you absolutely have to do first and what can wait? There are many excellent books and articles on what to do to set up your business. This isn’t one of them. This is about how to be as you do those things. How to be kind to yourself; available to your family and friends and enjoy life even amid the uncertainty and stress of creating your dream from scratch. How to profit the whole world and keep your soul.

So here are a couple of tips to keep you present and focused. Some are practical; some more touchyfeely. All of them useful. Six things you can do to avoid singing the HomeBased Burnout Blues.

1.Find your Purpose. This may sound pretty basic but it’s so basic many people don’t do it. Your Purpose is not the same as your goal. Your goal is what you want to do; your Purpose is why you want to do it. Your Purpose is larger and inclusive of all aspects of your life. Why do you want to do what you want to do? Why are you uniquely qualified to do it? If you don’t know this and can’t explain it to yourself how are you going to be able to market yourself? (Are you still laboring under the illusion that you won’t have to market yourself?) Your goal may be to sell $200,000 of widgets this year. But your Purpose may be to sell $200,000 of a fine quality product with such integrity and appreciation for your customers that they will provide you with return business which will in turn provide for a good living for you and your family. Once you find your Purpose write and post it everywhere. Stuff it in your sock drawer so it’ll surprise you when you least expect it. Definitely stick it on your TV. Read it every day. Don’t lose your Purpose in the minutiae of daily tasks. Don’t go unconscious to it. Everything you do is a structure to either move you towards it or away from it. Ask yourself periodically. Am I in line with my Purpose? Is playing with your kids in line with Purpose? Sure, if it keeps you sane and healthy and nourishes your family. Is watching back to back episodes of Cops in line with your Purpose? Probably not if you slump on the couch and come to three hours later wondering where the time went.

There’s an old Buddhist saying: ขIf you seek enlightenment do not waste your time by day or by night.ข Switch success for enlightenment and you’ve got a pretty good mantra for business. But if you’ve been working your rear off and you decide that some mindless TV is just what the doctor ordered to rest your brain and give you a rare treat then vegging on the couch may actually be in line with your Purpose. It’s really about whether you choose the couch or the couch chooses you.

2. Once you find your Purpose plot a road map to it. My husband and I once took a road trip which went through 8 beautiful Western states including Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah . I had exactly two weeks of vacation and knew when I could leave and when I had to be back. In order to get back in time we had to budget a certain minimum amount of travel time per day and there were things we wanted to do along the way. We went to AAA and, with maps of all the states we’d pass through, we plotted the best route. We also scheduled in time for detours and hiking and just lolling around. It was a great trip. Had we just set out on the fly without a plan we could have ended up stressed out hundreds of miles away from home the day before we were due back or we could have zipped through some beautiful scenery and found ourselves with time to spare in Vegas. Not an appealing possibility.

So plan the best route to your Purpose. Take your day planner or a long sheet of paper and break your day up into appointment blocks. Two hour increments work great. These appointments are not negotiable so be on time and ready to go. Make appointments with yourself to do the tasks you have prioritized. While you’re at it make appointments to clean house, do yoga and walk the dog. Write them down. Otherwise time will seduce you. These are contracts with yourself and you need to keep them with as much integrity as you’d keep any contracts with clients. No matter how much fun you’re having doing a task it should end when it’s supposed to end. It shouldn’t take on a life of its own. In fact, the more you like doing it the more structure you need surrounding it. We all like to do pleasant things that we’re good at. But they may not be what needs to be done right now. Have definite starting and ending times for your day. Make yourself an appointment for something active every few hours so you’re not sitting on the phone or computer for 12 hours straight. If you have a problem with forgetting to eat or drink enough water – schedule those too. I might schedule two hours of writing on my articles then a half hour appointment to clean the kitchen which would stretch me and get my circulation moving (and get the kitchen cleaned!). Back to the computer for answering emails and client paperwork and bookkeeping. Another hour scheduled for a quick lunch and walk in the park with the dog. Client phone sessions would be scheduled with ten minute breaks in between. Finish work at 6 PM. I could easily work until 11 PM and have done many times. But that’s not healthy and not sustainable especially as I share my life and home with others. My particular Purpose includes having the energy and peace of mind to enjoy the results of all my hard work at the end of the day.

3.Put it in writing. Put what in writing, you ask? Everything. Purpose. Ideas. Outlines. Lists. Deadlines. Goals. Studies show, by the way, that only 3% of us write down our goals. But of the 3% of entrepreneurs who do write down their goals a stunning 97% achieve them. Get this stuff out of your head and onto paper. Make it real. You’ll save energy because you won’t have to worry about forgetting things or keeping track of ideas. So find a system and run with it. Get a Daily Planner. Don’t forget to write down your Mission statement, Vision statement and Business and Marketing Plans. Look at them weekly.

4.Value yourself. Figure out your hourly rate and factor that in to every decision you make. I mean every decision. It’s great to be able to build your own website. You can save a bundle if you’re already computersavvy and there are many excellent softwares which will help you. I made my first with a program I got from my website host. I put $14.95 on my credit card, downloaded it and within minutes was working on my site. I did it myself and it looked decent. But it took me close to six weeks. I wasn’t working on it fulltime but when I wasn’t I was thinking about it. It was a lot of fun and a major distraction. There was a learning curve so I first had to learn the software then implement it. I knew nothing about color or fonts or placement or keywords or metatags. I lost time that I should have been using for marketing and in the end the whole exercise was more a character building exercise than a website building exercise. I survived and so did my site. But had I added up all the hours I worked on it (including the ขhiddenข hours when I got up at 3 AM to fiddle with it) and paid myself I probably didn’t save any money and I would have gotten a more professional looking site with a designer. When you decide whether to do something yourself or outsource it be sure to also factor in the time it takes to learn the software. This can be substantial. Add up the missed marketing and promotional opportunities and add in the stress and aggravation factor. If you want to outsource design work try a community bulletin board like Craigslist.org ( a stomping ground for many unemployed web designers). There’s now a Craigslist in pretty much every major city. Remember, too, that you don’t need to even have a web designer living in your home state unless you plan on suing them over the end product. elance.com. is also great for home entrepreneurs. You can post your project online and receive bids from vendors. Check out their portfolios; interview them and go with the right one. If you’re good with graphics and hellbent on designing your site and cards, letterheads etc. yourself set a deadline and stick to it. When I was starting out I figured out my hourly rate was about $75.00. I got in the habit of calculating how long it would take me to do something; learn the software and experiment by trial and error. I tried to factor in the frustration factor to me and the lost time to my family and other areas of my life. If I could hire a professional to do it for less I farmed it out.

5.Which brings us to money. Don’t get caught in the ขI can’t afford itข trap. You may not have much money to spend but everyone has a little. Allocate it wisely. You have to spend money to make money. Maybe this is a Universal law because it thins the herd right at the outset. If you don’t invest in yourself why should anyone else? Most of us have an ego mind which has mixed feelings about our success. One way to put a tripwire in front of what should be our stunning rush to success is to tell ourselves we can’t afford to do what we know we need to do. Then it’s not our fault if we don’t make it. We didn’t make the cut because we didn’t have the money to start our business right not because we were afraid or unwilling to risk.

If you don’t have the money to pay for something – barter it or ask for terms. Get a credit card and use it specifically for startup expenses. Getting into a little debt isn’t so terrible. If you have equity on your house take out a home equity loan or refinance it. Talk to a relative and ask them to swing you a shortterm loan. There are many organizations out there which will loan to small businesses with a Business Plan. (You do have a Business Plan, don’t you?) Try Charo. The SBA is also a great resource. Come from a place of abundance (hope) and not scarcity (fear). Assume and believe in your success. Then take the steps you need to take to be successful. There are certain elemental things you’ll need for startup. Website. Business cards. Phone line. Make a list of bare necessities and find a way to pay for them. Don’t buy or invest in anything else no matter how interesting or fun it might be until you’ve covered the basics.

6.Build a team and a support system. A one man band can usually play many instruments passably but none of them well. Find out what you do well and get help with the rest. Even if it’s only online. Find people you can network with locally. There’s probably a professional organization you can join. If not – join Toastmasters or your local Chamber of Commerce. Ask for help. Get a Coach. If funds are tight do a Google search for Training institutions for Coaches. Contact them and say you would like some pro bono coaching and ask to be put in touch with a student Coach. Most Coaches starting out need all the experience they can get and it’s difficult getting people to pay you when you don’t have a track record. In addition, if Coaches are going to go for ICF certification they need a ridiculous amount of verifiable Coaching hours to qualify. If you’re persistent you should easily find a Coach who will offer pro bono or at least a substantial sliding scale discount.

Get out of the house and rub shoulders with people who are doing what you’re doing. Ask for feedback. Do you know how many people would like to help you to succeed? Do you know how good it feels to give support to someone struggling to make something of their lives? Give your friends, and even strangers, this opportunity. Find someone you admire in your field and write or call them. Tell them you would like to be where they are. Ask if they have any words of advice. If they respond be sure to send them a thankyou letter. Then followup and let them know how their advice has helped you. Don’t fall into limiting belief scripts that they wouldn’t be interested; you’re bothering them etc. Don’t make their decisions for them. Think how you’d feel if your expertise helped someone and they took the time to thank you. You breathe the same air as your mentors.

Finally, when you hit a roadblock be kind to yourself. Setbacks can hurt. Faith in anything, God, ourselves, the future is a solitary pursuit. Keep in mind that every moment is a fresh one and carries within it the seeds of tremendous fortune and change. The next contact you make could turn your life around.

Your life isn’t wallpaper to your daily grind. It goes on whether you pay attention to it or not. Might as well be aware and alive to all possibilities. Best to stay awake if you want to reach your dreams.

About The Author

Mary Rosendale is the proud mama of The Constructed Life. A unique Holistic Coaching service rooted in Buddhist psychology and ideal for the busy, overwhelmed Western mind. Sheกll work with anyone with a pulse but particulalry loves working with women in transition; entrepreneurs and people living with ADHD or BiPolar. Design and Build the Life You Want.

http://www.TheConstructedLife.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 18, 2005

by Mary Rosendale

Changing Your Position When Thereกs Competition

Changing Your Position When Thereกs Competition

by: C.J.Hayden

Are you finding many of your best prospects already working with competitors? When you pursue a new opportunity, is someone else capturing the prize? Maybe itกs time to reevaluate your positioning.

Your market position is the place you occupy in the mind of your prospective clients. Itกs how they think of you as compared to your competitors. Adjectives like established or cuttingedge; highquality or inexpensive; convenient or fullservice are all relative terms. When applied to you and your business, they distinguish you from the competition.

Your clientsก impression of how your business compares can determine whether they work with you or not. Try conducting some competitive research to find out what it is that clients like about the people you compete with. Are those qualities you can emulate? In what areas are clients not as satisfied? Could you offer more satisfaction there?

Ask your current and former clients about their experience with the competition. They may be quite candid with you about what they liked and didn’t like, and give you some valuable insight into why they chose you. Check out how your competitors are positioning themselves by surfing the Net. Mission statements, lists of features and benefits, etc. will often be posted on their web sites. You can also have a friend request their literature, or hire a professional market researcher.

Target market research can help if prospects are telling you they don’t need what you are offering. If you think they need a teambuilding retreat, but they are looking for more skills training, you won’t make a sale. If you learn more about how prospects view their own challenges, you can develop a new market position to better match their mental, or reallife, purchase order. Your retreat might fly if you called it กan intensive threeday training program in the critical skills needed for effective teamwork.ก

Ask your satisfied clients for a testimonial letter. The way they describe the work you do and benefits they received from it can give you valuable clues in how to sell it to others. An evaluation questionnaire can be used for the same purpose. Try asking, กHow would you describe my service to someone who could use it?ก

Your research might uncover that your service isn’t packaged in a way that prospects want to buy it. Developing a better service package could make what you offer more attractive. A marketing consultant who has been charging by the project might find clients more receptive to a monthly retainer they can budget for. An interior designer encountering resistance to his hourly fee might instead raise his commission rate on furnishings, and no longer charge by the hour.

Sometimes just naming your service package can make a difference. An image consultant might be much more successful selling the กOneDay Makeoverก than asking clients to buy six hours of her time to revamp their whole look. When doing your market research, try asking your prospects how they prefer to buy services like yours, and tailor your offering to their preferences.

You may make the discovery that youกve chosen the wrong market the perceived need for what you offer isn’t strong enough, they aren’t willing to pay what you need to charge, or the size of the market is too small. In this case, itกs time to position yourself for an entirely different market.

A career counselor who can’t find enough individuals who will pay her fee can market herself to companies who need outplacement services. A software trainer who discovers that large companies prefer training firms that can serve them nationally might find a better market in midsize organizations. Keep asking the question, กWho is MOST LIKELY to hire me?ก until you find the right fit.

About The Author

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of กFive Secrets to Finding All the Clients Youกll Ever Needก at http://www.getclientsnow.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 12

by C.J.Hayden

How To Increase Your Website Traffic With Zero Cos

How To Increase Your Website Traffic With Zero Cost

by: Nas Romli

How to increase your website traffic with zero costก. Itกs a bold statement don’t you think. But, believe me itกs true. You can increase your traffic by 1000% with no cost involved if you do it the right way. Continue reading if you want to know how.

Iกve outlined 5 ways to reach your target. But, please keep in mind that these are not the only ways that you can do to increase your traffic. There are hundreds of techniques to increase traffic. But these one are the proven one. Iกve used it personally. More importantly, these techniques can get you FREE traffic. You’re money is saved in your pocket. Letกs go to the first one.

Technique #1: Linking strategy

Linking strategy is the easiest way to get free traffic. When I say ‘the easiest wayก it does not mean that you can ask everybody to link to your site and do nothing after that. Compared to other techniques that youกll discover, this one will take less time to do.

Hereกs how to do it. First select the site in your niche market. Be selective. Choose one that has a high traffic. Usually a high traffic site is pretty stingy to put link to your site. So, the key here is to be persistent. Ask them how many visitors do they received per month and if they could link to your site. If they don’t answer your request, email them the second time.

Be persistent. If they don’t want to link to your site, ask them to trade link instead (reciprocal link). This is the last resort you want to have.

Word of warning: Don’t crowd your site with too many links. Only accept link trading if itกs really worth it.

Technique #2: Offer Free eBooks or articles

Youกll fall in love with this technique if you see what it can do to your site. This technique can create an excellentกViral marketingก effect. It can multiply the no of visitors to your site in a matter of days.

This most important thing about this technique is that to offer something that is really useful to your visitor. So useful that they can only get that information from you!

You need to the กwantsก in your need market. What problems do they encounter? Solve these problems and you have a killer articles or ebook that you can give away for free. Remember, don’t sell it. Give it away for free. If you feel really reluctant to give your article or ebook for free, you can give your visitors a partial of it. But, make sure itกs really useful. Don’t forget to put your name and your contact information in this article or ebook. Usually, if you write an article, you need to include your resource box at the very bottom of your article.

The most important task in this technique is to offer a reprint right to your visitors. What this mean is that your visitors can publish your articles or ebook to anyone in any medium; email, Ezine, website or anything. But please state your condition: Include your contact information or resource box. This will create viral effect to your visitors.

Before I forgot, there is one particular ebook compiler that is good in doing this kind of task. The name of this ebook compiler is กEbook Edit Proก. With this compiler, you can offer your visitors a customizable ebook. This is a great incentive for them to distribute your article or ebook since they can put their name and information in it. If you like to know more about the excellent compiler, please visit:

http://www.ebookedit.com/

Technique #3: Classified Ad

This is the most time consuming technique compared to all 5. While it is time consuming, it is really worth it.

Tips This technique should be used together with the above technique. Let me explain:

First, you need to write an ebook or article that you can give it away for free. Then, you need have an autoresponder. If you don’t have an autoresponder (your hosting company should provide this service for free), you can get one for free. Just type กfree autoresponderก in your search engine and youกll get hundred of sites that provided free autoresponder. If you’re searching for excellent autoresponder, Iกd like to suggest these autoresponder:

http://www.getresponse.com Most online marketers used this service. You pay monthly to them for providing service. The most important feature is that you can personalize your autoresponder with your visitor’s name. They also provide a free service. The only catch is that there will be an ad in your email.

http://www.aweber.com One of the first companies to provide autoresponder service. Try to visit their site if you want to learn more. Basically, it offers the same kind of service as getresponse.com.

http://www.autoresponseplus.com You only need to pay onetime fees for this service since the software will be installed on your server. Itกs great in you don’t want to pay high monthly fees. The only drawback for Autoresponseplus is that you need to have a little bit skill on how to install cgi (Common Gateway Interface) on your server.

Enough talking. Letกs continue.

After you have your own autoresponder, place your free article in this autoresponder. Now, you need to advertise your autoresponder address in the classified ad website. Don’t put your email address but your autoresponder address. The best part with this technique is that you can capture you visitor’s email. You can contact them again and again if you have any offer in the future.

Technique #4: Deliver informational pack Ezine/newsletter

People surf the net to look for information. Out of 100, only 3 people surf the net to buy something. But others are doing some research or try to find something informational.

With this keep in mind, you can attract people to come to your site if you can deliver them timely information. By producing timely information, you glued these visitors to your site preventing them from going elsewhere. This can be done by giving them free newsletter or Ezine.

This is not an easy task because there is abundance of free information on the net. You need to give them something different from these กfreeก stuff. Try to provide something unique in your Ezine. For example, if you’re publishing music Ezine, try to make a deal with music label so that you can give special price to your subscriber. Make sure your subscriber cannot get this of kind if deal in other place. If you can create this unique proposition, you’re already on top of the world. Your Ezine will spread like fire. More people will come to your site to subscribe your unique newsletter.

Technique #5: Offer affiliate program

This is the greatest FREE traffic generator technique out there. With this technique both parties win; you and your affiliate program participant. You get more traffic and sales, they get more money from referral commission.

This topic is really a large topic. I can write a whole ebook about how to create a successful affiliate program. But, Iกll discuss the basic thing about affiliate program in here.

Basically, to create an effective affiliate program, you need to create an interest for your visitorกs to join your affiliate program. You can do this by giving them high referral fees and marketing tools for them to use. Above all, you need to make them easy to promote your product or service. Don’t make them do all the hard work. It is your job.

The next thing you need to do is to motivate them to spread the word about you. Contact them in a timely manner. Don’t forget them after theyกve joined your program. Make them feel special. In fact, they are special since they are the one who will do the promotion and advertising.

A well designed affiliate program can increase your website traffic and sales by unimaginable amount. But again, you need to devote all you effort in this technique if you want to have a successful affiliate program. Don’t do it half way. Even if youกve to work 18 hours a day to create your own affiliate program, itกs really worth it in the future. The payoff is going to be thousand times your initial effort.

All of these techniques are free. You don’t have to spend a dime on them. Try it on your site. Iกve tried all these techniques. And they work!

About The Author

Nas Romli runs a site that help people to start their own home based business within 24 hours.Many have benefited from this service.Drop by at his site for more information about this amazing service: http://www.cashflowsecret.net

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 21, 2005

by Nas Romli

Tap the Ultimate Source of Abundance: How to Put M

Tap the Ultimate Source of Abundance: How to Put More of YOU into Your Business

by: Amanda Murphy

Corporations ignore consumers’ real needs…Company leaders engage in questionable business practices…Business owners and employees do work they don’t enjoy simply to pay the bills…such is the state of today’s business world.

The key to bringing the world back to life will also bring you abundance in your business. The world needs people who are vibrantly alive and ready to build a new kind of business. We need businesses that express our missions as human beings and make a contribution to the planet – and thrive in the process.

You will create a magnetic attraction when your vision, your values, and your vocation are perfectly aligned. When planning a business, very few people take the time to look inside, to align their unique natural gifts, talents, and desires with the product or service their business provides.

Answering the following questions will help you attract abundance through your business. When you have done this, you will thrive in ways you cannot imagine.

1. Why do you do the work you do?

Most owners are in businesses because they saw an opportunity or because they have some professional experience they can conveniently sell. Their business is simply what they do and does not necessarily reflect their greatest talents or passions.

However, if you take the time to examine your gifts, your talents, and the particular message you have for the world, you will discover inspiring ways to earn money by sharing those talents. When your business expresses who you are, clients instinctively recognize that you are sincerely and personally committed to their happiness and success. No one can fake true concern.

2. With whom do you want to work?

Most business owners have customers or clients they dread dealing with, yet they continue to do business with them month after month. Whether you realize it or not, your customers know what you’re thinking about them.

Therefore, it is in everyone’s best interest for you to be proactive and ขfireข clients who are not a good fit for your business. This will free you to focus on the people you care about. When you do business with people you like, they will naturally bring out your best work and inspire you to become better at what you do. Your better efforts will attract more perfect customers who will inspire you further. From there, your ability to thrive is unstoppable.

When the right prospective customer crosses your path and you can clearly and simply describe exactly what they are feeling, they are captivated. They feel understood and validated, and they will trust you to take care of their concerns.

3. What do you do for your clients?

Generally speaking, a customer’s primary concern is to find someone who can solve their problem and make their pain stop. Therefore, you need to see your business from your customer’s perspective.

For example, instead of saying, ขWe provide accurate, professional bookkeeping services,ข say, ขWe make sure you have the precise financial information you need, when you need it.ข Rather than making a statement of fact, such as, ขWe are attorneys who specialize in small businesses,ข present your service through their eyes, as in, ขWe take the mystery out of protecting what you’ve worked so hard to build.ข Make a list of the benefits your customers will receive as a result of working with you or buying your products. Make sure each one is stated in specific terms a client can identify with, and then market this to your customers.

4. How do you set yourself apart?

Becoming an expert in your field is the best longterm way to attract abundance. You don’t need to have all the answers to be an expert; in fact most experts rely on many other professionals in and out of their field. What makes you an expert is your will, your drive, your passion, your confidence, and your ability to create solutions for your customers’ needs.

Remember, people draw conclusions about things and about each other within a matter of seconds. You may have 20 seconds to convince a potential client or customer that you are the solution to his or her problem. After that, you become lost in a current of information overload. So set yourself apart from the crowd, and watch your business soar.

5. The Final Key To Building an Abundant Life: What Permission Do You Need To Give Yourself?

You already know deep down what you want to do. You have an idea what changes you need to make in your business. You know what’s not working.

You may be holding yourself back from taking the actions you know you need to take. Somewhere in your subconscious you may be following harmful ขrulesข you’ve made for yourself. You may believe you don’t deserve wild success. You may believe that work can’t be fun. You may believe that you owe it to those around you to maintain the status quo.

When you identify your restrictive beliefs, you can decide to let go of them. Be truthful with yourself. What permission do you need to give yourself to make all of your dreams a reality? Some examples may be: ขFire (or hire) those three people,ข ขTake only the jobs/assignments that I would enjoy,ข or ขMake more money than anyone I know.ข Be specific.

The Sky is the Limit

You now have the tools to develop a business strategy that capitalizes on your unique abilities and interests. Since many people are unable to objectively observe themselves, if you have difficulty answering any of these questions, brainstorm ideas with a business partner or a business coach. This is important, because the sooner you incorporate these abilities into your business presentation, the more prosperity you are able to attract. You will know what you have to share with the world, and this knowledge is your single most powerful wealthattraction tool.

Any of your competitors can read the same business books and articles you do, but none of them can duplicate your heart and soul. Find the right answers to these five questions and you can be certain your prospects will say, ขI have GOT to work with you!ข

‘reprinted from Create the Business Breakthrough You Want: Secrets and Strategies From the Worldกs Greatest Mentors © 2004 Mission Publishing, a division of The Mission Marketing Mentors, Inc., www.missionpublishing.net or www.missionmarketingmentors.com.ก

About The Author

Amanda Murphy is coauthor of the new bestseller กCreate the Business Breakthrough You Want: Secrets and Strategies From the World’s Greatest Mentors.ก To find out how Amanda can help you create the breakthrough you want, visit www.AmandaMurphy.com

This article was posted on August 26, 2004

by Amanda Murphy

Running Your Online Business

Running Your Online Business

by: Jeremy Gislason

I had a very nice conversation with one of our members a while ago regarding her business. She has been in business for 11 years with her current company, which is a traditional business started long before the Internet came around.

She has been successful for those 11 years and is still doing very well. She started her online business several months ago with the same products as her traditional business. The problem was her online business was only costing her money and to date she has made no sales, but has spent over $1,500 in advertising and marketingjust for the online side of her business alone.

Here is a news flash. Business is Business! I do not care whether you are on the Internet or in a shopping mall. The same basic principles apply to both businesses.

You have a product

You need to advertise to get customers to buy your product.

You need to support your customers who buy your product from the advertising you did.

You need to build a loyal customer following, so you can maintain a profitable business.

Many people believe that because they are selling online that some of these steps can either be skipped or they need to go overboard in one area or another. Customer service on the Internet is for the most partnonexistent. Companies that tell you they will get back to you in 48 72 hours might as well tell you they are closed.

The bottom line regarding selling online, whether you have your own product or you are just going to focus on reselling affiliate programs, you will need to advertise, and you will need to take care of your clients.

There is no magic about online selling. As an example, our members purchased an ISOR membership for a reason and other people will purchase for similar reasons. We work very hard at ISORegister, Inc. to ensure our members and treated fairly. We provide tollfree phone numbers, 7days a week support, we answer our emails the same day we receive them. These are a few of the things we do that 99% of the online companies do not.

You do not have to get your own tollfree phone number or work 7 days a week. What you do have to realize is that if you are reselling an affiliate program or your own product that you are in business for yourself.

You have a choice as to how you want to run your business. You can sit back and wait for sales to happen or you can go out and make sales happen. Run your home business like you expect to be treated by other businesses. Do not spam people; do not buy a bunch of worthless hits, do not pay someone to get you posted in the top search engines.

Run your new home business just like a real company because it is a real company and you have a real opportunity to be successful or to fail. The only difference between an online business and a traditional business is location and in some cases inventory. Everything else is about the same. You have a product and you want to sell that product to people who want your product.

Think about this…Remember, building a business takes time and patience. If you are promoting affiliate programs do not sit around waiting for someone to find your affiliate page. In addition, too many people think that once they have put up their own website the traffic is just going to pour in. This is not true as anyone with a website knows but it is a reason so many people get frustrated and quit. You need to go out and promote your website or affiliate program and you need to be aggressive in your approach.

There is nothing magical about running your Internet business. This business is run the same as any traditional business and it will succeed or fail depending on what you put into it.

Read any book or bio from anyone who has ever started and run a business and you will see that everyone put a lot of time and energy into their business. Do the same and treat your own business or affiliated businesses like your own and you will do fine.

Copyright 2004 Jeremy Gislason

About The Author

Jeremy Gislason, Vice President of ISORegister, Inc. has over 15 years of offline and online business experience. ISORegister provides business and marketing solutions whether your business is 100% online or you run a traditional offline business such as a retail store, restaurant, or service.

http://www.isoregister.com/9810354341/jusco/isoregister.html

This article was posted on December 21, 2004

by Jeremy Gislason

Get Thousands Of Clicks To Your Website For Free

Get Thousands Of Clicks To Your Website For Free

by: Vinay Kumar

Do you want to advertise about your website?Wait and have a look here. Don’t just start spending money on advertising because there is a very effective way to increase traffic on your website and the important thing is itกs free. It will boost your bussiness like crazy. Just try it.
The only thing that you need is a little writing talent. If you think that you can write couple of articles a week, what are you waiting for.
Do you know what,there are thousands,ohh sorry,millions of ezines and websites out there,trying to find new articles for their website. Try your talent and send your articles to different websites and ezines. Most of them accept the articles without any problem.
It is really simple what they need is what you have. They need to pass on good,valuable information to their customers. So help them and inturn they will give you free advertising.
Ok here are few steps about what you have to do…..
1. Write an article on something that you like or some topic related to your website.
2. Include two or three lines of text giving information about you and your website at the end of the article. Also don’t forget to give a link to your website.
3. Send the article to ezines and your done.
Look itกs so simple and you will have instant clicks to your website. And if the article is published and reprinted over and over again,there is nothing like it.
Itกs a very simple free marketing tool,just try it and see the results

About The Author

Vinay Kumar is a graduated student from MIT. He is also the founder of www.sourcecode.co.nr. His educational background and work experience is basicly in the field of computer science and programming

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 03, 2004

by Vinay Kumar