Been Burned, Scammed, Taken for a Ride…

Been Burned, Scammed, Taken for a Ride…

by: Rachel Gawith

BEEN BURNT, SCAMMED, TAKEN FOR A RIDE……..
Well don’t worry, we have all been there. I doubt there is a single network marketer or homeworker out there who hasn’t at some point in their career fallen for an envelope stuffing scheme, been talked into selling potions and pills, tried chain letters etc. But the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and take something from every experience.
My first venture into working from home came when I answered an advert in a local paper which stated I could be earning £2000 a week part time, all I had to do was call. So I did and ended up trailing along to a meeting about how much money one could make from selling herbal diet supplements and how easy it all was. So I signed up and paid the £200 for the starter pack. Full of enthusiasm I started my 68 year old gran off on the diet. Well the first week she lost a few pounds and all was going well. I paid out another £100 to have a load of leaflets printed and spent hours putting these on car windscreens. By the second week, gran had given up on the diet as the stuff ‘tasted funny’ and she was bored with a milkshake three times a day!
Then I decided to try selling the products via the internet. It was a slow process but I taught myself html coding and built my first website. Then came the hard task of trying to market my site and get people to visit it. This is when I discovered that you could apparently make thousands very easily and with no effort online, simply by signing up for a website and placing a few free classifieds. So I joined every ‘next big thing’, every site promoting untold riches, only to find that the program disappeared after a few weeks, along with my money. But along the way I learnt what I should look for in an online business, the best ways to market online and my web design skills improved drastically. At times I became very disillusioned and felt like giving up when yet another program folded, or sponsor failed to get in touch and offer support but I learned valuable lessons. And after one such online opportunity disappeared and having convinced a number of people to join me in this, I thought enough was enough and started my own online program. Even that involved a steep learning curve, the site had to be revamped numerous times, parts of the program changed but I put the knowledge I gained from being a ‘newbie’ into building a good stable program. People need support, they want to see proper products and a realistic and achievable pay plan.
So don’t give up, from every bad experience you will learn something, be it a new skill, what to avoid next time, what advertising works or doesn’t and so on…Like life home based business, especially on the internet, is a learning experience which you must embrace.
© 2004 Rachel Gawith

About The Author

Rachel runs her own online business at http://www.earnmoneyhere.com as well as publishing a weekly newsletter at http://www.freedailycash.com Other opportunities can be seen at http://www.computerincome.net You’ll also find a vast array of free tools there to help you market any business effectively online and you can post your classified ad free for 7 days.

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 03, 2004

by Rachel Gawith

Children in the Home Business Environment

Children in the Home Business Environment

by: Stone Evans

Operating a home business is seldom easy and interruptions come in all shapes, sizes and forms.

Between the family, friends and neighbors who call or come by, and the telemarketers who insist on ringing your number off the hook, getting through the workday can be a real challenge.

When you introduce children into the home office environment, your productivity and patience can be seriously tested.

For example, right now my threeyear old daughter is pulling on my shirt and begging me to read her a story. Clearly, Im in the middle of something important here, but how can I say no to those eyes? Ill be right back…

Ok, that wasnt so bad was it? Shes happy, Im happy (having bonded with my daughter) and now Im back to continue my conversation with you 🙂 Whats the lesson here? Flexibility is a major key to balancing your home business priorities with your familys needs.

I can tell you from firsthand experience that maintaining a deep level of concentration on work in a home business for long periods of time is next to impossible. Naptime does offer some reprieve, but any break from the kids is usually short lived.

Even with older children, summertime introduces new challenges with kids running in and out of the house all throughout the day.

I would like to share with you some of the tips I have discovered to help manage your home office with children in your midst. Since children of different ages pose different challenges, I will present my tips in terms of age groups.

OLDER CHILDREN AND TEENS

We will look at older children first since they pose the least challenge to our work productivity.

Children, who are old enough to understand the idea of schedules and chores, are old enough to understand the needs of your home business. Explain to your children that you do your work at home so that you can be near them when they need you. But also be sure they understand that you must do your work so that you will have the money necessary to keep your house, feed the family and to provide them with money for entertainment.

Once your children understand the necessity of your work, then outline a work schedule and explain it to them. Do make sure they understand that emergencies are definitely an acceptable reason to interrupt your work. Then make sure they understand that between hours x and y, you will be doing work and then hold them to respecting your schedule.

INFANTS

Infants will never understand your needs for work. But fortunately, babies do well under a schedule or routine. Instead of expecting your child to work around your schedule, schedule your work around the needs of your baby.

It is simple. Babies eat, sleep and poop. Sometimes they play. Fortunately, babies sleep more than they do anything else.

Naptime offers the best advantage for getting your work done. Get your baby into a routine of eat, sleep and play, and you will experience unexpected levels of productivity.

TODDLERS

If you have a toddler running around the house while you are operating your home business, then you may find that your hair turning gray or disappearing altogether. But, gray hair is a sign of character, right. 😉

I am venturing to guess that the person who devised the door lock for the inside of the house did so because he had toddlers in his own home. Inside door locks should only be utilized when you are making that important phone call and your toddler is screaming for your attention. At all other times, your door should remain unlocked with your door open.

Develop a routine with your children for meal times, naptimes, and play times. Work these times into your work schedule and adhere to them. If you fail to keep appointments with your children, your children will have less respect for your work and do more to prevent you from the completion of your work.

Don’t be afraid to let your children sit in your lap while you are working. It helps them to feel wanted and it helps them to be a part of your daily life. There are times when it is okay for them to be sitting in your lap while you work, and at other times you need them out of your lap. Don’t be afraid to tell them to get down and go play or read a book so that you can resume your work.

Permit your children to have their toys in your office. Often they will sit contently and play while you work. Just knowing you are near is enough to keep them happy.

Be prepared to take an hourly break to deal with your toddler. Try to do potty breaks at your hourly break and to do drink refills. This can help your child grow into a routine that will work well with your home business. At each break, spend a few minutes with your child giving hugs and kisses and talking with your child about what he or she wants to talk about.

Toddlers don’t always do well with the routine, so be prepared to take a few minutes when needed to give the attention that your child so desperately needs in the moment.

IN CONCLUSION

I hope these tips serve to help you in the challenge of operating a successful home business.

My home business permits me to fulfill my financial obligations *AND* see my children grow up. I would never contemplate trading my home business for another kind of business. Even with the added challenges of dealing with toddlers in my home office, the upsides far outweigh the downsides.

Growing my own home business with children around has definitely given me a new respect for all people who successfully run a home business with kids in the work environment. I tip my hat to you… You deserve it!

About The Author

Stone Evans owns the Home Business Resource Directory where you can find everything youกll ever need to start, run and grow a home based business at: http://www.HomeBusiness.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 19, 2004

by Stone Evans

Home Office Tip Part 2…Computer Health Hazards.

Home Office Tip Part 2…Computer Health Hazards.

by: BB Lee

Home office stress related injuries are escalating. Along with carpal tunnel syndrome, eye strains, neck strains, back related problems. Letกs face it, if you are behind the keys more than a few hours a week you will suffer one or more of the above problems.

Neck Strains.

Have you noticed that your neck is stiff after a long day at the computer? Well, the trouble might be your monitor height. Your monitor should be eye level so you will not have to constantly lower, raise, and crook your neck to view the screen.

Exercise Tip:

Try rotating your your shoulders back several times and then forward for several more times to reduce stress. Then slowly turn your head side to side several times.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Also called repetitive motion injury is on the increase. Why? Because of the new technology, computers are faster than ever. This leads to more keystrokes which equals more injuries. That numbness in your wrist or hands might be a warning that you are suffering from this injury. Try purchasing one of the gel pads you can rest your hands on while at the keyboard. This will help tremendously.

Purchase ergonomically made wrist rest and mouse pads available at most office supply stores to help ease tension and chance of injury.

Correct posture will help too. Keep your feet flat on the floor, your kneeกs parallel to the floor, your back straight, your upper arms dropping straight down, with elbows to the side and at the same height as your keyboard.

Exercise Tip:

Try exercising at the computer. Rotate your wrist in circles for several minutes. Give them a brisk massage afterwards.

Back Problems.

Make sure your desk chair is adjusted properly. It should fit the contours of your back and you should be able to move about easily. Many back problems are caused by badly structured chairs.

Exercise Tip:

Stand and stretch gently palms overhead to the sky. Hold for a few seconds and then relax. This will loosen up tense back muscles.

Blurred Vision:

Make sure your light sources are not reflected off your monitorกs screen. Glare and refection off the monitor can cause eye problems leading to blurred vision.

Exercise Tip:

Roll your eyes up and then look down. Blink and then close your eyes. Do this several times to relieve strain. Remember to look away from your monitor frequently and to take more breaks to rest your eyes

About The Author

BB Lee is Editor Publisher Of SmallBizBits FREE Home Business Newsletter. Visit at: http://www.angelfire.com/zine/smallbiz

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 16, 2003

by BB Lee

Sharpening Your Sales Skills

Sharpening Your Sales Skills

by: Jay Conners

Making a living in sales can be very rewarding, however, it can also be tough at times. That is why it is very important to stay on top of your game at all times.

Making a sale doesn’t happen by accident or by luck, the sale is made because the person doing the selling has done a good job of explaining and representing their products.

Here are a few activities that will help you and your coworkers keep your sales skills sharp at all times.

Roll Playing

I know this sounds corny, but it really does work, and it puts everyone in the office in a good mood, because of all the laughs you will receive.

Make up a few fake, but realistic sales scenarios for you and a fellow coworker to act out. Take turns playing the customer and the sales person. Repeat the scenario several times until you become comfortable with it. If at all possible, find a third person to observe and critique your mach sales sessions. If this is not possible, than critique each other.

Current Events

During each of your sales presentations with a potential customer, there should be some sort of small talk, or what you would call a relax period, where you relax your customer by discussing something other than your business and the product you are about to sell.

The weather is the most obvious thing to talk about, but it is a very boring subject and comes across fake, because everybody brings up the weather when they don’t have anything else to talk about.

Every day, in the morning, decide on a current event that you will bring up when making small talk with your potential customers; Such as a major news event or a major sporting event that is happening.

This way you will be prepared and won’t run into any snags in your conversation.

Shaking hands

Get into the habit of shaking hands. Every time you meet a potential customer, shake their hand. Most of us are comfortable with shaking hands, but for those of you who are not, here is a tip to help you reach a comfort level.

Each day that you walk into your office, shake the hands of your coworkers that are closest to you. Seriously, every morning, go in, look them in the eye, greet them by name, and shake their hand. They may look at you as though you are nuts at first, but explain to them that it is simply an exercise. Trust me they will get a kick out of it, and will respond with enthusiasm.

Remember, people don’t want to be treated as statistics, they wanted to be treated as people, so treat them that way. Shake their hand, look them in the eye, talk about things other than business, and use their name as often as possible.

By keeping your sales skills sharp, you will ultimately be keeping your sales up. Good luck!

About The Author

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 09

by Jay Conners

A Magic Number for Writing Sales Letters

A Magic Number for Writing Sales Letters

by: Matthew Cobb

When I write sales letters for my clients, one rule I always start with is The Rule of 7.

I learned about The Rule of 7 from one of my good friends who once ran for political office. In his campaign, he made certain that his name appeared seven times in all of his radio spots.

Why? Because that’s generally the number of times required before a name ขmagicallyข sticks in the mind of a prospect. The Rule of 7 is often used in radio and television advertising. But this isn’t an isolated occurrence—the number seven seems to be a bit magical in other areas, like prospecting and linguistics.

Do you know the average number of times experts say you need to make contact with a prospect before they will be ready to commit?

Seven.

Can you guess how many times linguists say a person must use a word before it becomes a true part of their vocabulary?

That’s right—seven.

This ขmagicข is the reason I try to repeat my client’s product name or business name seven times in the sales letters I write for them.

The truth is, we’re not really talking about magic, here. It’s really about generating recognition for a name or a concept. It’s about embedding something in a prospect’s subconscious mind. It’s about branding. I use The Rule of 7 to write sales letters, but the idea can be applied to other areas of marketing, too.

Every person and every thing has an identity—and branding is about more than just a logo. A brand identity is about who you are, what you offer and the benefits of choosing you over the competition. The name you choose to operate under—whether your personal name, your business name, your product name, or your website address—is a link to all of that information. Repetition, which is what makes The Rule of 7 work, strengthens the recognition and recollection of your brand.

Now, all the ขexpertsข may come back later and say that ขsevenข isn’t the right number after all. It’s nine. Or it’s five. Or it’s eightpointthree. But it doesn’t really matter, does it? Seven works well as a general rule. (Besides, it is a lucky number.)

Of course, I know that fulfilling The Rule of 7 is no guarantee a prospect will accept an offer. But I know using the rule increases the chance that a prospect will see my name or the name of one of my websites and think, ขOh, yeah, I remember Seductive Sales Lettersข or ขI remember Matthew Cobb.ข Recognition and recollection—that’s what The Rule of 7 is all about.

One word of warning, though. Just because seven times is good doesn’t mean that seventy times is even better. Repeating the same name over and over again can grow annoying and cause prospects to quit reading. And then, you may not even be able to fulfill The Rule of 1.

About The Author

Matthew Cobb is an independent copywriter/consultant who operates Seductive Sales Letters. Visit SeductiveSalesLetters.com and sign up for the official monthly publication, The Seductive Sales Letter Clinic.

This article was posted on March 11, 2003

by Matthew Cobb

Coming Soon to a Website near You…

Coming Soon to a Website near You…

by: Jane Mark Phil Basten

A paradigm shift is taking place…
Itกs coming…
Are you ready?
Will your website be in the spotlight or will it stay lost in the maze of failing online businesses?
All over the net a paradigm shift is taking place as online businesses get ready to reap a new harvest of sales and signups.
What is this unique new way of doing business?
How will it help small business owners transform their ailing business in to superior profit machines?
Let Your Website do the TALKING…
Video, the new wave in technology, has exploded on the scene ,in recent months, and top business people and ezine owners all over the net are working at a frenzied pace in order to position their businesses to take advantage of this powerful new medium.
Why is Video so Important?
Letกs look at an example with an online newsletter.
Why is the Webpro Times, an online newsletter with 72,000 subcribers, on a mission to get the word on out on this remarkable technology?
Go to www.google.com and enter the word กnewslettersก and youกll get over 23,000,000 entries!
Of these, virtually all have a huge problem that The WebPro Times no longer has: They cannot TALK to their subscribers.
All they can do is email them. If you’re familiar with newsletter formats, they almost all look alike. Net result: Lower readership and abysmal response rates.
But not for WebPro Times! Now thanks to 2 of Worldprofitกs new high impact video and webcast products, The WebPro Times is one of the few publications on earth effectively combating these problems.
At The WebPro Times, we think of ourselves as pacesetters, and thanks to Worldprofitกs Instant Video Recording Studio we can talk to our subscribers and customers, facetoface, any time we want.
This amazing tool is unique to Worldprofit and enables you to record up to 10 HOURS of video each month, 120 hours a year!
Recording these videos is a snap, literally as easy as 123:
1) Sit down in front of your webcam and hit the record key. Say what you have to say. (While you can record videos of any length, an optimum length is about 15 minutes per video.)
2) Click the stop key when you’re finished. Then replay to see what youกve recorded. If you don’t like it, rerecord; if you do, hit save.
3) Click a button to create a link to your video. This link can be used in:

your newsletter
individual ezines
signature file
on any page of your website
in advertisements, etc.

Set up on your Instant Video Recording Studio is automatic. In Ten MINUTES you can have your first video online or in your newsletter and email!
Video + Websites = Sales
Since we added video to a number of our sites our sales have gone up 20 to 30%. Visitors like knowing who they are dealing with. They are tired of website owners hiding behind their sites.
Now you can give your websites a way to talk and that will have a direct impact on the number of larger sales you make.
Now you can talk directly to your clients, describe the product or service you offer, give a tour of your website,follow up with training and run a business in a way that will keep your customers coming back to you.
Make Video WORK for You.
You have a choice. Put your website in the spotlight or risk having the lights go out permanently.
To find out more about this profitgenerating technology… http://shmyl.com/oslison

Phil Basten and Jane Mark run a well known online ad agency http://jpeadvertising.com They have been helping people succeed on the net for more than 8 years.
For further information: mailto:[email protected] and put Instant Video Recording Studio in subject, along with your name, business, address, phone… or: Subscribe to the WebPro Times: http://webprotimes.com Where Professional marketers meet weekly.

About The Author

Phil Basten is President of JPE Advertising. This well known Online Ad Agency has been operating online since 1997.
Mr Basten has 37 years of advertising experience working for some of the worldกs most prestigious ad agencies, Ogilvy and Mather, Fortune Advertising and Leo Burnett.
He is known as the AD Man called on frequently to write persuasive, direct response, ad copy for literally thousands of clients off line and online.
Jane Mark is the CEO of JPE ADvertising and has 35 years of business experience under her belt.

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 02, 2004

by Jane Mark Phil Basten

Persistant Advertising Will Do No Harm!

Persistant Advertising Will Do No Harm!

by: Martin Lemieux

From my experience, Iกve been on many discussion groups and have spoken to many other like minded people. The one topic that always seems to arise is how to get massive sales right away.

Not only massive sales but quick sales. Well let me clear something up for you. Creating MASSIVE sales takes much dedication, persistence and especially patience. Not to mention planning & money!

See the unfortunate part is that people give up. Not only do they give up but they usually give up right before they succeed. I have a friend whoกs tried 4 times to start a roofing business and keep it going. I asked him, what kind of marketing plan did you have?

He said กwell none actually, I was trying to rely on word of mouth advertising to get me started and a few ads here and thereก.

Now, don’t get me wrong, if you can get a fantastic กword or mouthก campaign going then you won’t have any problems. See the problem wasn’t that my friend couldn’t do the work but that his กsphere of influenceก was very small. Hence he was having problems getting word of mouth working for him!

So I suggested to him that he place a very small ad in the newspaper around the surrounding area. It turned out that he had already tried an ad in the paper but, he had placed a one time ad almost the size of the whole newspaper and hardly got any business out of it. Which never mind cost him a fortune.

I explained to him that persistence is the key, yes a lot of people will see the ad, but as soon as they are done reading it, they will forget it ever existed. So I said to him, grab a small 1520 word ad and put it there for the rest of the year!

So moving on a little, his ad started off small but then grew more and more profitable! See it takes about 21 times for your visitors to see your ad until you make a sale.

21 times Martin???

Yes about that… we are so saturated with ads it has to be imprinted in our minds before we can even remember just one specific one. So the reason for having my friend put out a small ad instead of one massive full page ad was to allow his potential clients to get used to the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere and his business seemed legitimate and profitable.

Itกs all about getting into your prospects subconscious and staying there until they are ready to buy!

So just remember when you’re trying to decide between a one time shot that might cover coast to coast or a smaller ad that will cover coast to coast 12 months a year, always stay with persistant advertising!

About The Author

Martin R. Lemieux

owner

Smartads Information Centre

Canadian Entrepreneur Advertising Resource & Research!

http://www.smartads.info

Read over 200 articles on advertising!

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This article was posted on June 24, 2003

by Martin Lemieux

Marry Your Marketing Plan

Marry Your Marketing Plan

by: Joy Gendusa

Make a vow to keep up your marketing schedule in good times and not so good times.

I have said it time and time again that marketing, no matter what type you choose, is a building process. Here is the whole thing summed up in one situation:

Assume for a moment that you had never heard of this thing called กColaก. You go to your mailbox and get your mail only to find a postcard that says กNew Fizzy Drink! Youกll Love It! A Taste Like Nothing You Have Had Before!ก You might run right out and try it, but more than likely, not. Most people won’t.

So you get a second postcard.

Still you do nothing.

Then you are talking to you’re a friend from across town who says กHey, have you tried this Cola thing?ก It turns out that after he got his second postcard he went out and got a bottle to give it a try.

Now the Third postcard shows up and you’re thinking กOK, fine, Iกll give it a try.ก And you do, and you do love it, and it is like nothing else. So now you have to tell your brother about it.

You see where this is going. If the makers of กColaก, whoever they are, had sent cards to the whole town one time and then abandoned the marketing due to a lack of response they would have missed out.

So, now that you can no longer argue with the fact that you need to keep up a steady stream of marketing to the same people multiple times you are obviously thinking กHow do I keep up with the whole thing while I am closing the customers that I am already getting?ก The honest answer is get a direct mail company to help you.

Whatever size your mailing list is I suggest that you have enough pieces printed to mail to them at least three times. Usually once every 24 weeks is sufficient depending on your industry. You can set the dates for your mailings to go out and let the marketing company take care of the rest. That means that with one phone call you can take care of all of your marketing for 3 months or more. No worrying about remembering, no hasslefilled trips to the post office. All you will have to do is run your business the way that you know how and let them take care of your marketing.

Stop worrying about the steady flow of business that you need to survive. Do something about it. Create a marketing plan, date it for a while, then if it really works out, say ขI do.ข

If you need more information on testing out your new marketing beau, read my article Don’t Assume, Just Test and Track.

Best wishes and a prosperous life together!

About The Author

Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; her only assets a computer and a phone. In 2004 the company did close to $9 million in sales and employs over 60 persons. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. Now she’s sharing her marketing secrets with others. For more free marketing advice, visit her website at www.postcardmania.com.

This article was posted on March 03

by Joy Gendusa

Failure is Not an Option

Failure is Not an Option

by: Diane Hughes

I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that online businesses just like brick and mortar businesses have a very high failure rate for startups. Ever wonder why that is? There are several business consultants, success gurus, and motivational experts who can tell you. The problem is: Most of us don’t listen.

How many times have we heard the กsuccess secretsก of the multimilliondollar pros? Countless times we have all been preached to about setting goals, having a defined plan, giving it all we’ve got, and aiming high. Yet still, take a look around. The statistics of small business failures have not changed. In the first five years of starting a new business, the odds say that you’ll fail.

Ready for the good news? There is one thing I can tell you from personal experience, and from the experience of wellknown, successful online business owners that I know. More important than setting goals, more than following a plan, more than shooting for the moon, is your mindset. Ask people who have succeeded online how they did it, and they are sure to tell you that they had to. That’s right they HAD to. Why? Because failure is not an option.

When you set your sights on something as grand as starting your own business, you simply have to have the mindset that, regardless of what happens, you will not allow yourself to fail.

When difficulties come, the กfailure is not an optionก attitude will drive you to overcome them. When things aren’t going as you originally planned (and many times they won’t), กfailure is not an optionก will keep you from folding. When everybody else tells you that you can’t make it, you will be able to tell them you can because กfailure is not an option.ก

Those whose thinking allows them an กout,ก those who begin a business with the idea that if it doesn’t work out กoh well,ก are the ones who will most likely falter. However, on the other hand, those who have no choice but to succeed will do exactly that.

Are you considering starting a new business? Do you have a business that isn’t performing the way it should? Take a look at your attitude. Yes, it is important to set goals and follow through with them. It is vital that you have the knowledge and funds to operate a business the right way. However, those things won’t carry you very far if you allow yourself to think that it’s OK to fail.

Take some time this week to doublecheck your thinking. Are you กhopingก your company will make it? Do you กwonderก if everything will work out all right? When you eliminate the option of failure, you open up the flow of creativity, you boost your level of willpower, and you energize your thinking so that only those things that lead to success can control your mind. Once you accomplish that, the only viable alternative is to make it, and make it big!

Copyright 2004 Diane Hughes

About The Author

Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com

FREE Report: Amazingly Simple (Yet Super Powerful)

Ways To Skyrocket Your Sales And Build Your Business

Into A Tower of Profits! ==>> http://madmarketer.com/diane

This article was posted on October 19, 2004

by Diane Hughes

กDon’t Call Meก

กDon’t Call Meก

by: Charlie McCoy

The March, 2004, issue of Psychology Today reports on an experiment involving identical business negotiations between test subjects. The only difference was that half started the transactions with a brief phone call and completed it with email. The other half used only email.

The transactions beginning with a phone call turned out much better.

So we should all foster our business relationships with more phone calls, right?

Well, maybe not.

See if this script sounds familiar. You’re watching Jeopardy (or whatever your favorite TV show is) when the phone rings. You answer it and get tied up with a telemarketer, your sister, your business associate, or a wrong number. Itกs fairly easy to get away from wrong numbers and the telemarketers. Your sister and your partners, however, require your attention for more time. As Alex Trebek starts the Double Jeopardy round, you’re stuck listening to your sister describe her latest drama or to your associate prattling on about some inconsequential matter.

If this happens once a night, you can handle it. If it happens twice a night, you can still handle it.

But what if this happens many times every single evening?

You can probably regulate how often your sister is allowed to bend your ear, but your business calls have to be handled as they come in. You become increasingly resentful of the intrusions, and your Pavlovian response to a ringing phone becomes a growl instead of a drool. You start screening calls. You feel beseiged in your own home. You start to like email more and more.

So other than being less intrusive why do I prefer email to telephone conversations? Let me count the ways.

For starters, I can handle a LOT more volume with email. Most of us can read about ten times faster than even a speedtalker can speak. With an email you can quickly reread questionable material that you didn’t understand the first time through. Both you and your customer have a written record of what is discussed. And thereกs less unproductive chitchat. It might bring you closer, but do you really care what color they’re painting their kitchen?

Have you ever finished a phone conversation with an impression of what was going to happen only to find out that the other party had a different impression? Thatกs not uncommon.

It doesn’t happen as often with email, does it?

Beyond the personal hassles of being constantly available to anyone with phone access, however, is whether this is a system you can convince others to adopt. You’re hoping that the people you recruit will handle business the same way you do. (Actually I hope they handle it BETTER than I do. Hey, I can dream, can’t I?) So they see that you are getting hammered with calls all the time. Conversations with you are constantly broken by your taking cell phone calls and being interrupted by callwaiting. They figure out that, if they can call you any time, they too will have to take calls from people when THEY’re trying to watch Jeopardy.

Does this make it likelier that theyกll want to duplicate your system? Probably not.

Yes, I know that we could just let an answering machine take the calls and return them all during a period we choose. This doesn’t work for me. Leaving a message on an answering machine is probably at least as offputting as leaving an email, and in these days of wideranging business activity, the time zones become problematic. Playing ‘telephone tagก is no fun, either. Perhaps your customer is also setting times when she will answer calls. If this isn’t the same time you’re answering, you can go for days just trading messages to respond.

Getting back to that Psychology Today article, probably making at least one telephone personal contact to start a business relationship will improve that relationship. You can make this call to your customer without necessarily inviting any calls coming in from her by giving her only your email address. Encourage her to stay in touch with you through this email contact. This is less likely to offend if you make it clear that you check your email many times a day and can give her a fast response every time she contacts you. (Of course then youกll have to actually do it!)

Eliminating telephone contact may cost you some very lonely business associates, but these needy folks are unlikely to be your best producers, anyway. Sticking with email for routine interactions may be the best way to go. Even (or maybe especially) with your sister.

So if Alex questions ‘the best way to handle business communications,ก Iกd answer กwhat is email?!ก Don’t call me; Iกm giving my ear a break.

About The Author

Charlie McCoy markets the best line of health products in the world at http://www.boostmyimmunesystem.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. His telephone is out of order.

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 10, 2004

by Charlie McCoy

WebSafe Fonts for Your Site

WebSafe Fonts for Your Site

by: Mario Sanchez

Choosing the right typeface for your website copy is important, since it will affect the way your readers perceive your page (serious and formal, or friendly and casual). Aside from this, there are also important usability concerns. For example, some font types are more easily readable than others, and some are more widely available.

You want to choose font types that:

fit the character of your site,

are easy to read on a computer screen, and

are widely available across many browsers and operating systems.

There are basically two types of fonts: serif and sans serif. Serif fonts are those that have fine crosslines at the extremities of the letter. Sans serif (กsansก being the French word for กwithoutก) are fonts that don’t have serifs. The most common serif font is probably Times New Roman. Arial is an example of a common sans serif font.

Letกs go briefly through the most popular font types and evaluate their availability, readibility and character:

Arial:

Availability. Thoroughly available. It is probably the most common sans serif font. It is the default font for Windows, and it first shipped as a standard font with Windows 3.1.

Readability On Screen. Not the worse but definetely not the best, especially at small sizes, when it becomes too narrow and the spacing between characters too small.

Character. Has a streamlined, modern look but is also plain and boring.

* For Mac users, the equivalent of Arial is Helvetica.

Times New Roman:

Availability. Thoroughly available. It is probably the most common serif font. It is the default font for web browsers. It was first shipped as a standard font with Windows 3.1

Readability On Screen. Acceptable for font sizes of 12pt. and up, but terrible for smaller sizes.

Character. Serious, formal and old fashioned.

For Mac users, the equivalent of Times New Roman is Times.

Verdana:

Availability. A widely available sans serif font, Verdana was first shipped with Internet Explorer version 3, when the exponential growth of the Internet demanded a new font that was easy to read on the screen.

Readability On Screen. Exceptional. Itกs wide body makes it the clearest font for onscreen reading, even at small sizes.

Character. Modern, friendly and professional.

Georgia:

Avaliability. Good. It is a serif font introduced by Microsoft with Internet Explorer version 4, when the need for a serif font which much better readability than Times New Roman became evident.

Readibility On Screen. Very good. It is the best serif font for online reading, since it was specifically designed for that purpose.

Character. Modern, friendly and professional.

Microsoft has also popularized two more fonts: Comic Sans Serif and Trebuchet.

Comic Sans Serif was launched with Internet Explorer verion 3 and mimics the hand writing used in comics. It is easy to read and is informal and friendly, but it is not considered appropriate for more serious, professional sites.

Trebuchet is another sans serif font, similar to Arial but with more character, although it can be difficult to read in small sizes.

Finally, we can mention Courier New, a serif font that was widely popular with old, mechanical typewriters, and that is now used only to present simulated computer code (if you need to present snipets of sample HTML code in your web pages, this is the font to use.)

Therefore, from a usability perspective, the clear winner is Verdana. If you are inclined to use a serif font, Georgia is the best option. Arial remains a good option for specific parts of text, like headlines and titles, where a different font must be used and you can use larger sizes.

You can freely reprint this article. Just include the following resource box at the end:

About The Author

Mario Sanchez publishes The Internet Digest ( http://www.theinternetdigest.net ), an online collection of web design and Internet marketing articles and resources. You can freely reprint his weekly articles in your website, ezine, newsletter or ebook.

This article was posted on July 31, 2003

by Mario Sanchez

High Google Rankings: Frequency vs. Positioning

High Google Rankings: Frequency vs. Positioning

by: Ulli G. Niemann

Thereกs an assumption that the higher a ranking or positioning you have with major search engines; the more people will beat a path to your web doorstep. But based on my experience, thatกs simply not true! Thereกs another factor that is just as important and may actually drive more traffic to your site.

This big secret is frequency: The number of times your name appears when someone enters a key word in a search engine. I believe that the more times you appear in a search, the greater the likelihood of someone actually clicking through to your site.

How do you get frequent listings in search engines? Write quality content articles.

I’m an investment advisor and a while ago I started a second web site (www.successfulinvestment.com) to promote my weekly mutual fund newsletter, capture potential prospect names and house a library of my published articles.

To get people to the site, I naturally wanted to move up in the search engine food chain. I did the usual meta tag things, but that didn’t cause my rise in the rankings. What did cause it surprised me.

One of my first articles (ขDo lifestyle funds provide greater security?ข) was submitted to some 30 article banks and web sites. Many of them reprinted it, which increased the number of appearances of my name associated with the topic. Since many of these sites were already ranked high on the search engines, I rode on their success.

Searching Google for กLifestyle fundsก produces over 3 million results. On the first page of results my article is listed four times, on the second page three times and on page three itกs listed three times, and so on. If you were searching this term, with that much presence you would not likely overlook me.

In addition to generating hits on my web site from potential clients, my frequent listing in search engines yielded another benefit: I was invited to CNNfnกs Hollywood studio to discuss my article ขHow to evaluate load vs. no load mutual funds.ข They found me by searching Google for กload vs. no load.ก That produced almost 5 million results and on the first page my article appears three times, on the second three times and on the third three time as well—and some included my company listing. I was an authority!

In the past six months I have written and published 17 articles with the key search terms being part of the title. I pretty much get similar results with all of them. Why? I believe quality content is a key.

My core business is กpersonal investment management.ก If you search that on Google you will get about 11 million results. I currently rank number 8. And thatกs among the ‘who’s who’ in investment management, companies that invest big bucks to manipulate getting high rankings on search engines.

Can I improve on that? Probably not by trying to manipulate positioning, but definitely with frequency. And that comes from writing articles.

Now, maybe you like this idea but think you can’t write quality articles. Iกm not a writer, but my articles get picked up by ezines and article banks all the time. How does that happen? Itกs actually simpler than you think.

There are two aspects to writing; 1. the actual content and 2. the writing style. If you’ve been in business for any length of time you have a wealth of information that you take for granted but others would love to know about. You should be able to write a 300 to 800 word article about your product or service area. Don’t worry about the style; just write quality content that will be helpful to your potential customers.

Although my writing skills are pretty sharp because I do a lot of writing, I would not consider them to be on the same level as a professional writer. So I have a second secret to success.

One of my clients is an award winning Hollywood writer and he ขenhancesข my articles. It’s usually not a lot of work, but at times I need a better transition from point A to point B. Since the content is clear and basically organized, he doesn’t have to spend any time researching or กdoing the heavy lifting.ก He can devote his attention to enhancing the quality of the presentation, and that doesn’t take long or cost much.

[If you need help with writing you may contact Laren Bright ([email protected]) and tell him I sent you.]

I think you will find that writing articles becomes a lot easier once you have that kind of assistance. It certainly became stressfree for me when I didn’t have to worry about form and could concentrate on my long suit: content.

It’s hard to beat the results that my articles have produced for me in terms of exposure, Google rankings and new clients. Given these facts I propose that frequency beats positioning anytime. Try it and see if it boosts your rankings and your business.

About The Author

Ulli Niemann is an investment advisor and has written about methodical approaches to investing for over 10 years. He is stepping out of his comfort zone to write about different areas in which he has gained experience that can assist others. You can reach him at: www.successfulinvestment.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on October 23, 2003

by Ulli G. Niemann