Viral Marketing Made Simple

by Michelle Boyd Walters

A virus is 'the causative agent of an infectious disease'. That doesn't sound good does it?

A cold virus spreads by self duplicating and spreading from person to person. A computer virus does the same thing. Your computer gets it, duplicates it and sends it on to the next computer. If bad things can spread virally, doesn't it seem obvious that good things could be spread the same way?

That is the idea behind viral marketing anyways.

Rather than create something sneaky that implants and duplicates in secret, a viral marketer creates something good. So good that others like it well enough to want to spread it around. If it is good enough, the item will get duplicated and shared so many times that it literally spreads like a virus around the internet.

What are some examples of viral marketing tools?

Videos, Audios, Special Reports and Tip Sheets are the most common items created for a viral campaign.

Usually, when you create something to give away for free, you require someone to opt into your mailing list in order to get the freebie. If you're trying to start a powerful marketing virus, you approach things differently. You send the viral tool out into the world without any strings attached and you invite others to do the same.

For example: You have a great shopping cart and site builder with website hosting services built in that you promote as an affiliate. You want to let as many people know about this service as possible, exposing everything to your affiliate link at the same time.

So you grab a free special report provided by the affiliate program owner. She has created the special report for just this purpose and has made it especially useful in that it compares and contrasts four popular shopping carts systems and highlights the important strengths of her own system. Her non-hype approach and common sense comparisons give the report heavy 'pass it along value'.

You brand the report with your own affiliate link and then start to spread it around.

How do you spread it far and wide?

-First, send it out as a freebie to your mailing list.
-Post it as a free download on your website
-Post it as a free download on your blog.
-Link directly to it from your email signature.
-Link to it from your forum signatures
-Add a link to it from your related autoresponders.
-Mention it when you're chatting and networking with others.

In every instance, you want to be sure to tell others that they should feel free to give the report away to others - as is - as much as they like, with your blessing.

If the viral tool is very special, you may want to use it to build up your mailing list. So instead of giving it away freely, you can ask people to opt into your mailing list to receive the item. Then follow the download up with a few short emails that refer to the special report and offer to answer any questions that they may have had about it.

Good affiliate programs will provide you with these kinds of marketing tools. A smart affiliate will take full advantage of the opportunity and do their part in spreading the marketing virus.

Michelle Boyd Waters helps Work At Home Moms take their home businesses ideas to reality with her ecommerce software and hosting services at http://www.ShopKitP lus.com. She offers support and business advice for her clients at http://www.waterswe bshops.com.

Grab a website and get start-to-finish training as a bonus! Visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html
Full support!

Three free gifts--no foolin'! (3 complete e-books that will help you to prosper in your online business):
www.jeremyfive.com/optin.html

Don't miss out on the free e-book that everyone is talking about--"Dotcomology-the Science of Making Money Online" Get your free copy here www.jeremyfive.tripod.com/freebook .

Directory Submission And Its Benefits For Online Marketing

by Aviva

What Are Directories?

A directory is a collection of information pertaining to
various websites. This information is hand picked and chosen by
directory editors and website inclusion is dependent on the
quality and relevance of each particular site. Directories are
divided into categories and, in most cases, subcategories; each
contains links to relevant websites. Once information has been
collected and collated it is then searched by human visitors.
The major search engines use directories to help determine
relevance. As well, a listing in a directory may count as a
link to the listed websites.

There are a very large number of directories on the Internet,
and while some are multiple or general category directories
there are also a large number of topic specific directories
available. Submitting to directories has long been considered a
powerful online promotion tool for several reasons.

Directory Submission And Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO for short, is often
considered to be the most important and beneficial form of
marketing a website. By optimizing the pages of a website and
other, off page factors, it is possible to influence the
positioning of your website in the search engine result pages.
One of the major off page factors that contribute to your
site’s performance in the search engine results is your inbound
link popularity and the quality of those links.

Search engines deem links from quality directories to be very
beneficial links. The manual process by which a website is
chosen gives an indication that your site is both good quality
and relevant to the given category. The major search engines
look very highly on quality directories and give a link from
one of these directories a lot of weight when determining how
well your site will perform. At the very least, quality
directories are indexed regularly by the major search engines,
giving you a powerful way to ensure that your new website is
indexed quickly by search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

Directory Submission And Direct Traffic

Of course SEO isn’t the only method of online promotion that
pays dividends. Directories are popular with surfers because of
the structured and easy to navigate fashion that they arrange
their results. As well as being able to navigate through the
categories, many directories also include a keyword search
function for added ease. Getting a prominent listing in a
popular directory can directly generate reasonable amounts of
targeted traffic straight to your site.

Choosing The Appropriate Directories For Your Site

One of the most difficult aspects of submitting any website to
online directories is choosing the most effective ones. There
are a large number of directories but while some offer the
advantage of being heavily populated and considered search
engine friendly, others cannot boast the same advantages.

In terms of search engine promotion, the most beneficial of all
directories to submit to is the Open Directory Project, also
called the ODP or DMOZ and located at http://www.dmoz.org.
Several major search engines quickly pick up new listings from
the Open Directory Project even though your site may not
receive much in the way of direct traffic. The Yahoo directory,
located at http://dir.yahoo.com/, is also very popular and used
by search engines other than Yahoo. If you have a B2B website,
you should also submit to http://www.business.com/.

After that you should turn to submitting your website to
smaller general directories. It is best to start by submitting
to the best directories you can. You can find an independent
and objective ranking of directories at:
http://www.avivadirectory.com/strongest-directories/

It is a good idea to start at the top of the list and work your
way down.

The next step in making directory is to look for directories
that concentrate on, or around, the topic of your site. A quick
search on any search engine will give page after page of
directories to choose from and, as a general rule, those that
appear at the top of the listings will be the more popular.

Check Your Site Before You Submit

Before you submit to any directory always ensure that your
website is complete and easy to navigate. Don’t forget that
directories, unlike search engines, use human eyes to view your
website. It absolutely must be appealing and clean for human
visitors and should be directly related to the topic under
which you are submitting. Check for broken links and ensure
that information is factually correct and easy to read.

Submitting

Once you’ve checked your website, find the directories you will
submit to. Every directory has a “Submit Resource” link or
something similar. Some directories will require you to first
navigate to the bottom level category that is most relevant to
your content. This means you should be as specific as possible
when choosing the category.

An Accurate Submission Is More Likely To Be A Successful
Submission

In the case of this page, we should submit to something along
the lines of “Business – Internet Business – Internet Marketing
– Directory Submission” and not to the “Internet Business” or
even “Internet Marketing” category. The more specific you are,
the more likely it is that your site will be accepted. You will
need to complete the submission form, which will require simple
details regarding you and your site. The final step is to wait
for an editor to assess your site.

Is Directory Submission Beneficial For You?

Directory submission is by no means a new Internet marketing
trick but it is still a widely viable one that can help to get
a site indexed by search engines, drive traffic directly to
your site, and increase your performance on search engine
listings. Try to find the most relevant directories and always
ensure that your site is ready for inclusion. Also make sure
that you submit to the appropriate category.


About The Author: Aviva recommends that you promote your
website by submitting it to http://www.avivadirectory.com/

Directory submission works great if you have a truly state-of-the-art website to submit! Find yours! Full training and support! Visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html
Full support!

Free e-mail course--learn from the masters of affiliate marketing. Just send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com. (This info is sent via autoresponder--you'll need to confirm your request in a separate e-mail which will be sent to you).

Three free gifts--absolutely no obligation! A treasure trove of information! (3 full-length e-books that will help you to proper in your online business). Pick up your copies here:
www.jeremyfive.com/optin.html

Key Mistakes To Avoid When Starting A Home Based Business

by Khemal Dole

Are you thinking about starting a home based business? Read this before you do anything else. Starting a home based business can be overwhelming and baffling for the inexperienced. The fact that there are a lot of 'business opportunities' on the internet does not make it any easier for those wanting to choose the right home based business. You can easily succeed with your home based business if you just avoid some common mistakes which people make.

1. Not having any plan. A lot of people start their business with no plans, and this is a huge mistake. It is essential to take the necessary time and effort to plan the business and clearly state the objectives you intend to achieve. Some people start their home based business like a hobby and treat it like one. Do not expect to make millions with your online home based business if you treat it like a hobby.

2. Thinking that you can make money overnight. This is a common misconception which people have, which is also the reason why many people fail and give up easily. Your online home based business is like any other business - you will need to apply the necessary effort and dedication to make it work.

3. Trying to reinvent the wheel. Some people starting a home based business make their learning curves very hard and long. The internet is full of proven money making business models. You can succeed easily by identifying the business type that you would like to have your home based business focused on, try to find someone who has succeeded with that business and learn from them, and duplicate what they have done to succeed. It is also important to have the necessary support network, which can be a relevant forum where you can learn more about running your home based business successfully.

4. No market study before creating a product or starting the business. Yet another very common mistake. For your home based business to succeed, you will need to have a market for whatever you will be offering. Demand for your products is the most important factor that determines the success of your home based business. A market study on the current market size and future potential of the product or service is therefore very important.

5. Thinking that your online home based business doesn't need any capital. This is another very common misconception. If you think you can start and develop a home based business without spending a dime, you are misleading yourself. Be prepared to spend some money to get all the resources you will need to develop your business. Although it varies with the type of the home based business you want to set up, you would need some initial resources that you have to invest in the business. This can be for setting up your website, just as an example. You may also need to buy some resources to make your online home based business fully set up.

6. Lacking commitment. Your online business will need a lot of effort for it to succeed, especially during the first two years. You must therefore be prepared to give your business your total commitment.

If you want to succeed with your home based business, simply avoid the mistakes outlined above.

Khemal Dole owns and operates
http://www.Paycheck sDirect.com, a completely FREE
service which helps many first-timers and even
experts find their perfect Work At Home job. Visit
www.paychecksdirect .com right now and see for
yourself why so many are flocking to his site.

One of the keys to starting a successful home business is to have a program that will support you every step of the way, with complete training. Visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html
Full support!

Start your business off right--receive money-making guidance conveniently in your e-mail. Just send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com. (This info is sent via autoresponder--you'll need to confirm your request in a separate e-mail which will be sent to you).

Three free gifts--no kiddin'! (3 of them, actually--complete e-books that will help you to proper in your online business):
www.jeremyfive.com/optin.html

Internet Marketing Advertising Options

by Darren Chow

As a webmaster of several quality sites, I often have to decide
how I want to promote them, especially when they are new. There
are several common options available to webmasters, but first,
let's try to understand more about why webmasters need to
advertise the sites.

Many new webmasters make the mistake of building new sites and
leaving it alone for the search engines to come and crawl it.
Assuming that the search engines somehow managed to find these
new sites and index them, chances are they will never be able
to rank well. And that usually means no traffic, and a website
is nothing without traffic.

In order to get some traffic, webmasters must advertise their
sites. There are a few options that I would like to discuss in
this article.

First, webmasters can buy banners. These are usually
prominently displayed across the top fold of the websites. If
the site is a popular site, it'll generate awareness over time
and also some traffic. The problem I have with this option is
that awareness is hard to measure and it may be hard to justify
paying for a banner month after month without being able to
justify the return on investment.

Another method of advertising that brings more predictable
results is Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. PPC has been around
for years and is already a very much accepted advertising model.
This can take some time to find out what works and what doesn't
but when done right, conversions can be great. However, this
method can also burn up cash pretty quickly.

The third option is to buy text links. Text links can be bought
either through a monthly subscription or a one-time payment.
Many webmasters buy text links for search engine optimization
purposes. Usually, the higher the page rank, the more costly it
will be. There are warnings flying around recently that some
websites use a sneaky 301 redirect to fake a page rank.
Therefore, do not rely solely on the toolbar for the page rank.
I've found this tool to be most useful
(www.database- search.com/ sys/pre-check- en.php). Also, when
paying monthly for links, try to select sites that have a good
chance of bringing in some traffic.

My personal favourite is to buy permanent text links or links
that require a one-time fee. Many web directories accept free
submissions. The more popular ones will charge a one-time fee
but this fee is usually an affordable one.

My recommendation is to have a mix of PPC advertising and text
links advertising. PPC advertising can bring in some initial
traffic when the site has not been indexed by the search
engines. This will help bring in some profits. Eventually, when
the search engines start sending organic traffic, cut down on
PPC advertising but do not stop completely. That's because PPC
still offers the best form of predictable earnings, which makes
planning easier. So start promoting those sites now, before your
competitors beat you to it.

About The Author: Darren Chow owns a network of quality sites.
He also owns a couple of unique web directories.
http://www.awardtro phy.net and http://www.suggestl inks.org

Got a website? Need one? Find out how t set up (or improve) a website--visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html
Full support!

For money-making lessons on developing an online income, send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com. (This info is sent via autoresponder--you'll need to confirm your request in a separate e-mail which will be sent to you).

Claim a free gift here (3 of them, actually):
www.jeremyfive.com/optin.html

How to Make Search Engines Happy in 3 Easy Steps

by Kalena Jordan
Copyright: Copyright © Kalena Jordan 2006

Does your web site make search engines happy? Despite all the negative hype lately, it's pretty easy to design a web site that search engines will accept with open arms. All it takes is 3 easy steps:

1)Follow the Search Engine Guidelines
Nearly all search engines publish their own guidelines regarding the submission of sites, the type of sites they will accept and recommendations for optimized content. Google recently updated their Webmaster Guidelines - http://www.google. com/webmasters/ guidelines. html - which cover the most common forms of deceptive or manipulative search engine behavior that they consider to be "spam". They also published SEO Guidelines http://www.google. com/webmasters/ seo.html – advice for webmasters to heed when choosing an SEO. Google was the first search engine to publicly acknowledge search engine optimizers in this fashion. It's not just Google publishing anti-spam guidelines. You'll find them at the following search engine sites as well:
- MSN Search webmaster guidelines -
http://search.msn.com/docs/siteowner.aspx?t=SEARCH_ WEBMASTER_REF_GuidelinesforOptimizingSite.htm
- AltaVista terms of use (AltaVista is a Yahoo-owned company) http://www.altavista.com/about/termsofuse
- Yahoo terms of service
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
- Yahoo guidelines on search engine spam (covering AltaVista and AllTheWeb as well) http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/ deletions/deletions-05.html
- Yahoo definitions of search engine spam (covering AltaVista and AllTheWeb as well) http://help. yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/deletions- 04.html
- Yahoo content guidelines http://help. yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/index.html
- AskJeeves / Teoma terms of service and spam policy http://about.ask.com/en/docs/about/terms_of_ service.shtml
- AskJeeves / Teoma editorial guidelines http://about.ask.com/en/docs/about/editorial_guidelines.shtml

2) Avoid Spamming the Search Engines
Often, webmasters will use search engine spam techniques without even being aware that they are doing so. Or worse, web designers can – advertently or inadvertently - integrate techniques that could cause a site to be penalized in the site's rankings in one or more engines, without the site owner's knowledge of such penalties. The key to avoiding spamming the engines is research. Keep track of the various search engine guidelines via the links above. Watch for any changes they make to these guidelines and tweak your site accordingly. Trawl the various webmaster and search engine forums regularly to ensure your site doesn't use any of the latest methods that appear to be penalized. If you suspect your site has been penalized, remove the offending content, contact the engine concerned and ask to be reinstated. Google actually encourage you to file a re-inclusion request via their Help Center - http://www.google. com/support/ bin/request. py - and this post http://www.mattcutt s.com/blog/ reinclusion- request-howto/ by Google staffer Matt Cutts outlines what should be included. Alternatively, here is a sample email template you can use instead:
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
Sample Re-inclusion Request Email Dear [search engine name], I am the owner of [your site URL]. I did not realize that participation in [spammy method] and [spammy SEO name] programs could cause problems for my website. I was assured that these techniques were search-engine- friendly by [your source for using spammy method]. I now understand that the practices used are not acceptable. I apologize for having allowed them to be placed on my website. I've removed the questionable pages and links from the site. I promise not to repeat such mistakes. I am asking you to please consider reinstating my website, [your site URL] into the [search engine name] Index.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -
To assist them to provide a high quality service, search engines encourage people to report search results they are dissatisfied with. If you spot some content spam or techniques that are clearly in breach of the search engine's public guidelines, you can report it using these links:
- Google spam report or via search-quality@ google.com
http://www.google. com/contact/ spamreport. html
- AllTheWeb relevancy problem report (AllTheWeb is a Yahoo-owned company)
http://www.allthewe b.com/info/ contact/relevancy
- AltaVista search results manipulation report (or via Yahoo's spam report) http://www.altavista.com/help/contact/search
- Yahoo spam report http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/deletions- 06.html
- AskJeeves spam report or via information@ask.com
http://webk. ask.com/contactus

3) Build Sites for Visitors Rather than Search Engines
The methodologies may have changed over the years, but the same principles have always applied to "good" or "white hat" SEO. Build sites for humans, not search engines. Make the site as user friendly as possible, avoid the bells and whistles and include high quality, relevant content. Wherever possible, include text-based content and navigation menus with simple, descriptive, well-written copy designed to convert your visitors into customers. Include keywords and phrases your audience would logically type in to search engines to find sites like yours. Only link to sites that are relevant to your target audience and spend some time on usability, making sure all your forms and shopping carts work. Remember that what pleases a visitor is almost always what pleases a search engine too.
------------ --------- ------
About the Author: Article by Kalena
Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running her own SEO business, Kalena manages Search Engine College - http://www.searchen ginecollege. com - an online training institution
offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing subjects.

Learn the basics of search engine optimization from the ground up! Training program covers all aspects of this important topic. Build it, and they will come! Excellent home business opportunity! Visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html
Full support!

Pick up your free copy of "Dotcomology-The Science of Making Money Online" -
http://jeremyfive.tripod.com/freebook/

Claim 3 more free gift heres--money-making e-books covering more topics vital to your business success: www.jeremyfive.com/optin.html

For complete FREE e-mail marketing course (no obligation), send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com (This course is sent via autoresponder--you'll need to confirm your request in a separate e-mail that you will receive).

Your Website Can Now Produce Business For You 24 Hours a Day And 365 Days a Year.

by Robert Michael

One of the most important steps for a new business to take is
to build a website. The reason for this is that a website
provides a presence for your business on the Internet 24 hours
a day, 365 a year. Because of this, anyone can access your
company’s information, buy products, and the like at any time
they want anywhere in the world. This is very powerful. There
are many benefits your company will realize from starting a
website that includes saving money, more customers,
convenience, a professional image and staying ahead of the
competition.

You will save money when you start a website because this is
the best form of marketing you can engage in. This is because
your site is always available and can provide information to
customers and potential customers that would otherwise require
making contact via phone, e-mail, or regular mail and issuing a
response. By including a link on your website to a page of
frequently asked questions and answers you eliminate having to
respond to similar multiple questions because the answers are
already provided. This in itself saves time and money.

Having the website available to individuals surfing the web
worldwide at all times means you will have more customers. This
is obvious because with this website you are making your company
and products available to many people that otherwise would have
no way of knowing your existence. The Internet allows any of
its millions of users to become one of your customers.

Part of this is convenience as well. This is because the
Internet is always open, so people and work or shop whenever
they want. This is not the case with a regular storefront, so
by always being available online you attract more customers as
well. Most Internet users today prefer to buy online than to go
to the store and buy the product. This is because there is less
hassle involved with shopping online.

You also present a professional image when you start a website.
This states that you are serious about doing business and
providing accessibility to your customers at all times. When
you show you are serious about doing business then potential
customers will take you seriously. In this day and age of
technology it is very important to have a website and to stay
on the cutting edge of technology.

This is also important to keep up with your competitors, or to
stay ahead of them. If not, your competitors will blow you out
of the water because they are allowing themselves the many
benefits provided by the World-Wide Web. Do not get left behind
in the technological revolution, go ahead and start your website
for your business.

About The Author: Robert Michael is a writer for
http://dwwebsite.com which is an excellent place to find
website links, resources and articles. For more information go
to: http://www.dwwebsite.com

Need you own website? One with tools to profit 24 HOURS A DAY! Visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html
Full support!

Claim a free gift here--3 money-making e-books covering topics vital to your business success: www.jeremyfive.com/optin.html

For complete information and tips from an expert marketer, send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com (This info is sent via autoresponder--you'll need to confirm your request in a separate e-mail which will be sent to you).

How To Make PPC Work For Affiliate Marketing

by Kurt Naulaerts

As mentioned earlier, PPC stands for pay-per-click. PPC is an effective option for affiliate promotion, if it is done correctly. You should be aware of the word 'pay' in PPC. You will be required to pay for every click you receive on your link, and if you don't pay close attention, your PPC costs can become astronomical!

PPC doesn't always work for affiliate marketing. First, you must be aware of the rules at the site where you are getting your PPC. For instance, Google has rules about promoting affiliate programs with Google AdWords PPC program.

Google does permit affiliate links in their AdWords, but they will only display one affiliate ad per search query, and this includes that of the parent company. They also will not allow links to replicated affiliate websites.

So, what you must consider here is that since there are other affiliates selling the same product you are selling, the chances of your ad actually being seen and clicked on are very slim. Second, if you have a replicated website for your affiliate programs, your ad won't show at all.

You must get more creative if you hope to profit from your affiliate programs using PPC. First, don't use an affiliate link. Use your own link for your own domain, and send the visitor to your website first. You should also have them pass through a squeeze page first to collect their name and email address!

Start small with your PPC campaigns. Do your keyword research, and set yourself a budget. Work within that budget to test different ads. Also, avoid using long affiliate links. These links are obvious to people, and many people avoid them. Again, people do not like to be sold to.

Instead of using PPC to sell a product, use PPC to get qualified leads and to build a list. You will find that this is a much more economical and effective use of PPC in the long run. It may take just a little longer to make the sale, but if you are patient, you will earn more money than you would have otherwise.

Even if you use a PPC company that does allow the use of replicated websites, or will show more than one affiliate ad at a time, where your ad does have more potential for being seen and clicked, it is important that you drive your PPC traffic to the right place.

Again, the squeeze page is essential, as this will help you build a quality list of qualified leads. Many successful marketers use PPC for this purpose and this purpose only. If you drive the traffic straight from the PPC ad to the affiliate link, you won't have any way to contact that visitor in the future.

Further more, you will most likely be driving the visitor to a sales page that may or may not convert the visitor. It is better to bring the visitor to your site and prep them for the sale. By the time they click on your affiliate link, they should have their credit card in hand, ready to make a purchase. This typically won't happen if they are going from Google Search to your affiliate sales page.

The majority of buyers do not start out with the intention to buy. This is especially true on the Internet. On the Internet, where everything is free (according to many people), what buyers are looking for is free information or help.

If you can provide these people with the free information that they are looking for, or free tools that help them with their problem, you've won half the battle. Now, you are building a relationship, and you will profit greatly from that relationship over time.
When setting up a PPC campaign, become the customer in your mind. What does the customer want or need? How can you provide them with this free of charge in order to build a relationship? At what point is the customer primed to buy?

Only you can answer these questions, based on your niche, but in answer to the last question, you can bet that in most cases, the customer is not ready to buy when they click on your PPC link! You've got to get them into your process, and groom them for the sale.

Affiliate marketing isn't just a question of signing up and then using PPC to sell the product, no matter what you've read elsewhere. Again, it's about building a relationship with your future customers, so that they become life long customers.

Kurt Naulaerts runs a web site promotion service and also teaches people how to become successful with affiliate marketing. Find out how to start an income online using affiliate marketing programs at http://easyaffiliat emarketing. wordpress. com


To learn more about marketing methods that will work for you, visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html
Full support!

For complete website-building information from an expert marketer, send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com. (This info is sent via autoresponder--you'll need to confirm your request in a separate e-mail which will be sent to you).

Claim a free gift here: www.jeremyfive.com/optin.html

Why Isn't Your Website Working Well?

Copyright © 2006 elf design, All Rights Reserved
Written by: Erin Ferree
Elf Design
http://www.elf-design.com/


One of the biggest problems that small businesses face is
ineffective websites. A website is often one of the largest
start-up marketing expenses for a small business; unfortunately,
many small businesses never see a return on that investment.

Why do most websites have this problem? The average starter
website typically:

1. Is not well designed. Sometimes websites don't match the rest
of your designed materials or, worse yet, are designed using a
template that looks nothing like any of your other materials.

2. Tries to accomplish too many things on each page.

3. Has little or no information of value to your potential
clients. Most websites are written all about you and your
business – not them and their needs and concerns.

4. Lacks calls to action. You have to give your visitors clear
instructions on what to do and how to proceed.


A small business's website should perform a few basic jobs. It
should:

1. Extend your brand.

2. Answer your prospects' most-asked questions.

3. Help you to grow your prospect or contact list.

4. Convert your prospects into clients.


Your site can easily do all of this and more. To get started,
there are three main elements of the website that you have to
address:


Content

Overall, the content, or text, on your website is the single most
important element of your website. This content gives:

1. Interested prospects a place to learn more about your services
and to get their burning questions answered.

2. Current and past clients a resource for at-their-fingertips
contact information and in-depth information about your
offerings.

3. Internet search engines some content to index. The search
engines read only the text part of your website, not the
graphics. So choose a few keyword phrases, and use those
throughout the text on your site. Hopefully, your keywords will
help your site to rank well!


Design

The design of your website should be consistent with the rest of
your brand identity and marketing materials, so that it can
extend your brand identity into the online forum. Be sure to
include, at the very least:

1. Your Logo: This should tell the story of who you are, what you
do, and what makes you different.

2. Your Visual Vocabulary: This is all of the visual elements, in
addition to your logo, that make up your business's look and
feel. This includes the fonts, color schemes, photography,
shapes, backgrounds, and other elements that you use.

It's important that your Logo and your Visual Vocabulary be used
consistently throughout all of your marketing materials. If your
website looks markedly different from your other materials, then
people who have your printed marketing materials might feel like
they've landed in the wrong place when they call up your
website.

Your site should also have:

1. Appealing information design: Having text content on a site is
key, but your text has to be designed and laid out in such a way
that it's understandable, easily readable, and compelling.
Laying the information in quick bursts, such as bulleted lists,
helps people to read your site quickly. And using headlines,
subheads, and bold text to break up the copy can also keep
visitors interested enough to read all of the text.

2. Consistent navigation design: If your navigation changes from
page to page, it will be difficult for visitors to find their way
around the site – they can't tell where they've already been
easily.


Function

The average small-business website is designed as just an online
brochure. But the ideal website will do something else as well,
such as:

1. Growing your contact list: Collecting the names of the people
who visit your website and are interested in your services is a
great way to create a list of contacts for your follow-up
marketing (such as sending a newsletter).

2. Answering visitors' questions: Including answers to their
most commonly asked questions can help visitors to get instant
gratification from your site. Also, having a contact form can
encourage hesitant buyers to ask the questions that will help
them to overcome their buying doubts and fears.

3. Converting prospects into clients: Using calls to action
throughout the site can help convert prospects into paying
clients, as will giving visitors clear instructions on what to do
next, paired with great benefits to compel them to do so.

If you address all of these main issues, then your website will
be more successful than the average website. Instead of just
being another ineffective marketing tool, your website will
produce results, attract your target customers, and help you to
close more sales. Using calls to action throughout the site can
help convert prospects into paying clients, as will giving
visitors clear instructions on what to do next, paired with great
benefits to compel them to do so.




---------------------------------------------------------------------
Erin Ferree, Founder and Lead Designer of elf design, is a
brand identity and marketing design strategist who creates big
visibility for small businesses. Erin helps her clients discover
their brand differentiators, then designs logos, business cards,
and other collateral materials and websites to reflect that
differentiation, as well as to increase credibility and
memorability. To learn more about defining your difference, check
out our eBook, Stand Out, at http://www.stand-out-branding.com .
For more information about elf design, please visit: Logo design
at http://www.elf-design.com

If you don't have a website now, or would like to get your current website into top shape, visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html
Full support!

For complete website-building information from an expert marketer, send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com (This info is sent via autoresponder--you'll need to confirm your request in a separate e-mail which will be sent to you).

Claim a free gift here: www.jeremyfive.com/optin.html

The Ten Web Site Commandments

Copyright 2006 Jim Edwards

"What makes a good web page?"

People ask me this all the time, though they often
encounter difficulty boiling the question down to so few
words.

You, like any serious website operator, want to know how to
create and maintain the best possible website that nets you
the most sales and subscribers.

The following "commandments" represent the ideals towards
which every new or existing website should aspire.

1. Thou Shalt Have Purpose - Clearly define the site's
purpose and ensure all content, graphics, and text tightly
focus on that purpose.

Discard all extraneous or distracting material and
regularly revisit your site to ensure all changes fit with
the site's primary purpose.

2. Thou Shalt Be Lightweight - Use only fast-loading
graphics and other elements.

If you must use large graphics use thumbnails and image
slicing to diminish the size of every file to lessen load
times.

Though the majority of surfers now carry high-speed access,
avoid any content that requires the user to download
special, non-standard "plug-ins" to view your content.

3. Thou Shalt Load Fast - Each and every entry page on your
site should weigh in under 50-100KB total, including
graphics and navigation.

Interior pages can run larger, but the "front doors" to
your site should not make surfers wait long to start
interacting with the site.

4. Thou Shalt Not Use False Code - You should only use html
or asp to create your web pages.

Never use java, xml, dhtml or other forms of code that
require a surfer to keep their browser set up "correctly"
to accommodate your page.

Unless you sell to "geeks" and "techno-nerds, " this will
only lose you visitors and won't make you any friends.

5. Thou Shalt Respect the Search Engines - If you want
search engine traffic use whole web pages that don't
incorporate frames or large amounts of code unrelated to
your content.

Also, if you want search traffic, actively cultivate
linking relationships with related sites and operate a blog.

6. Love Thy Surfers and Visitors - Design for "last year's"
technology so surfers using older computers and slower
connections can download your content and use your site
quickly and easily.

Designing for the "bleeding edge" will only cut into your
own profits.

7. Thou Shalt Not Annoy - Use only stationary text and
graphical layout elements.

No Scrolling text, marquees, or large Flash animations of
any kind, including those annoying, full-page Flash home
pages that say "Skip Intro."

This "eye candy" rarely adds to a site's main purpose and
often causes your visitors to miss something or leave in
frustration.

8. Thou Shalt Not Scroll Sideways - Design your pages so
they never force a visitor to scroll left or right no
matter what the resolution settings on their monitor.

Sites that read "best viewed at 1024 x 768" really say
"look at it my way because I don't care about your
preferences or limitations. "

9. Thou Shalt Stay Consistent - Include a standard
navigational structure on every page.

Though it may mean a serious challenge for the designer,
users should only need to click once to find every major
section of a site.

This includes using standard link colors in all text links.
Blue: hyperlink; Purple: visited hyperlink; Red: active
hyperlink.

10. Thou Shalt Cultivate Subscribers - Nothing floods your
website with targeted traffic like sending an email message
to your loyal subscriber base.

Whether for a new product launch, affiliate product
endorsement, or holiday sale, that list represents your
most valuable online business asset.

Make sure your website actively cultivates subscribers by
giving them multiple opportunities to sign up and a
compelling reason or incentive to do so.

Then, make it worth their while to pay attention to you on
a regular basis.

Whether you're a home-based business owner or CEO of a
billion-dollar e-business empire, these "commandments" will
guide you to eternal ecommerce happiness and prosperity.

About the Author:

Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the
creator of an amazing course that will teach you
step-by-step and click-by-click. .."A Quick and Easy Way For
YOU to Painlessly Set Up Your OWN Moneymaking 'Mini'
Websites... Without Being a Computer Geek, Buying Expensive
Software, or Paying Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!"
Click Here => http://www.MiniSite Creator.com

If you would like to have your own money-making website set up for you in 24 hours or less (with multiple streams of income, full 30-day training program and a full pre-written autoresponder campaign to do all follow-up work for you), visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html
Put your internet business on autopilot!

For complete information, send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com (you'll need to confirm your request in a separate e-mail which will be sent to you).

Claim a free gift here: www.jeremyfive.com/optin.html

How To Write Google Adwords Ads That Get Clicks

by Ryan Cole

A typical AdWords newbie is often guilty of several
profit-squashing mistakes when setting up his first campaign.
There are dozens of no-nos, but perhaps none so egregious as
writing ineffective ads.

An effective AdWords ad is one that gets lots of clicks —
that's the only thing you should be concerned about when
writing your ads (except, of course, Google’s editorial
policy). If you’ve done your keyword research, you’ll get
impressions; if you’ve got a page that converts to sales,
you’ll get a return on your investment. But getting people to
your landing page is the ad’s job, and there are some things
you can do to pump up your clickthrough rate (CTR), which will
improve your ads' positioning and lower your click costs.

First, some ad basics. Each AdWords ad comprises four lines of
text: the first is the headline, which can contain up to 25
characters including spaces; the next two are the ad copy, 35
characters each; and the last is your display URL, also 35
characters. (There is actually a fifth line — the destination
URL — but that won't display with your ad and shouldn't affect
your CTRs). Obviously, the headline is most important, because
it’s usually the first thing a searcher sees. If you can make
your headline jump out from the rest, your ad will be more
visible. Fortunately, Google makes this pretty easy.

You may have noticed that, when searching on Google, your
search query is bolded when it appears in any of the search
results. The same thing goes for sponsored search results: if
you include the keywords you’re bidding on in your ad text,
specifically the headline, your ad will stand out.

But what if you’ve got hundreds or thousands of keywords? You
can’t be expected to write a different ad for each keyword,
right? Of course not — and you don’t have to. In AdWords, your
keywords can be separated into groups, aptly dubbed "ad
groups." Each ad group should contain a set of keywords and
phrases that all have a common thread. For example, if you’re
bidding on the term “widgets,” you should place each phrase
containing that term into one ad group. You then write an ad
whose title contains the word “widgets” — for example, “Get
Your Widgets Here.” You can even repeat this for terms within
ad groups. For example, in your “widgets” group, you might have
the terms “red widgets” and “green widgets.” You can take these
out and place each in its own ad group, along with any other
similar phrases. Then your ads will be even more focused — for
example, “Get Red Widgets Here.” The more keywords that appear
in your ad, the more relevant your ad becomes.

Chris McNeeney, author of "AdWords Miracle," has some great
copywriting tips. Chris used to write classified ads for a
living, and his mastery of the art is evident in the techniques
he outlines in his book. For example, he talks about a method
called "stop them in their tracks." To stop potential customers
in their tracks, you've got to come up with ad copy that tells
customers to do the opposite of what they're trying to do. In
keeping with the widgets theme, you could write an ad whose
headline says, "Don't Buy Any Widgets!" Follow that up with
some relevant ad text that entices people to buy your widgets
rather than someone else's, by including the benefits your
widgets offer; e.g., "Check out ours first. Better, cheaper,
and guaranteed." This kind of ad will get people's attention
right away, and getting their attention is all you need to do.

And now, an experiment. Pretend you want to buy something
online. Head over to Google and do a search for whatever it is.
See the sponsored links? Look at the headlines. Which one jumps
out at you first? I’m betting it’s the one that seemed most
relevant to your search because it contained the exact
information you searched for. What’s the headline look like? I
bet at least one of the words is bolded (if not all of them),
and I’ll bet the rest of the ad lets you know exactly what
you’ll get when you click on it. This is the best way to figure
out how to write ads. Put yourself in the place of your target
market, and then actually do some searches and check out the
ads. Which one makes you want to click? Ask people you know to
do searches and tell you which ads grab their attention. You’ll
probably find it’s the same kind of ad every time.


About The Author: Find more articles by Ryan Cole at
http://www.theinternetmarketingblog.org. Read more about Chris
McNeeney's
http://www.theinternetmarketingblog.org/2006/08/30/chris-mcneeneys-adwords-miracle/


Want a successful home business? Looking for the right internet opportunity? Need a program that offers amazing potential for online profit for you? With step-by-step training to get you up and running asap? Visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html

For complete information, send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com (you'll need to confirm your request in a separate e-mail which will be sent to you).

Start & Own Your Online Business For $1.20 Per Day

by Roy King

Many of us have thought about it as we sit around at home after
a long forty hour workweek.

The thought of owning our own business on the Internet has
captured the entrepreneur spirit in many of us.

The available probabilities for making money on the Internet
has never been better. Everyday, more and more people
throughout the world are connecting to the Internet with the
sole purpose of creating a Internet Home Based Business.

To consider starting an Internet business from home, you must
first assume the active role of "Entrepreneur" .

An entrepreneur is one who "Organizes a business undertaking,
assuming the risk for the sake of the profit".

Before establishing any business, you must clearly understand
that there is potential risk that you will be acquiring, to
possibly make a profit with no guarantee.

Risks can be considered as; money spent, precious time
consumed, loyal dedication, shortage of regular sleep, absence
of social activities, and any other sacrifices that might occur
when building your business from the ground up.

Profits can be considered as; wealth, successfully achieving
your goals, being able to forsake working for an employer,
spending more time with loved ones, or just being able to
clearly establish a successful business.

Everyone must understand ahead of time the phrase, "Paying your
dues". Sometimes the challenges of effectively starting a new
business may initially appear overwhelming, but you clearly
need to take it on, one step at a time.

Starting an Internet business without any prior experience can
be one's biggest challenges.

One of the simplest, and most profitable Internet businesses
today, are the ones that supply demanded pertinent information.

Most people today who log onto the Internet are seeking
relevant
information on, how-to answer their questions, or, how-to
resolve their problems.

Supplying relevant information to your established clients is
worth its weight in gold. Think about it for a moment. Have you
ever had a question regarding an important matter? When you
successfully found the information that resolved your problem,
you were most likely satisfied with that source who provided
you with that knowledge.

Starting a content home-based Internet business is fairly easy.
First, you clearly need to choose a particular subject that you
may have some knowledge about. Do some research to find out the
popularity of the subject you selected.

If you are not actually well informed on any particular
subject, here again, do some research on the Internet. Select a
particular subject that you may obviously enjoy that will
provide relevant information for your website visitors.

Lets say that you are not great when it comes to writing
informative articles, and clash with the thought of writing
articles by yourself. No problem! There are literally hundreds
of article websites that will provide you with excellent
relevant content for free. The topics and authors are
plentiful, they will be more than delighted to supply you with
excellent informative articles for you website content.

When using article supply websites, keep in mind that you will
be required to follow their publishing guidelines. The
guidelines mostly consist of contributing attributes to the
author's article that you may utilize. One of the most
important guidelines you will especially need to follow and
observe is the rules and regulations regarding SPAM. Each
article distribution site has their own publishing guidelines,
make sure you read and acknowledge their requirements.

Creating a website will be your next task to undertake. This
subject may seem a little challenging to someone who
understands little about creating a website for the first time.
Presently, there are many user friendly web hosting companies
that will adequately provide a novice with all the tools they
will need to successfully create a professional looking
website. The vast majority of these hosting companies also
provide excellent twenty-four hour customer support, along with
informative on-line tutorials to professionally assist your
building process.

Most website hosting providers also supply you with a large
selection of templates, which will allow you to select a theme
for your website that reflects your business plan.

After you have successfully accomplished creating your website,
actively focus your efforts on selecting relevant articles that
pertain to your website. Keep in mind, that you will regularly
be able to update and tweek your site when required. Select
your articles with care and a definite purpose. Remember,
people are searching the Internet to resolve their problems, or
to efficiently acknowledge their questions. If you site can
successfully support these people and resolve their problems,
you will have a client that will return.

The next step is to how do you effectively earn money
furnishing information? One of the simplest ways is becoming a
registered affiliate. An affiliate is an individual or website
that markets other companies products. Example, as an
affiliate, you will have banners or text links on your site,
when clicked by a client, they will be redirected to the
advertisers site. If that client purchases a product from that
site, you will receive the commission that was agreed upon.

Selecting the proper affiliate programs are very important to
the well being of your business. Make sure to consider your
selections carefully. The advertisers that you select for your
site should be well established and creditable, plus be willing
to assist your affiliate needs.

Next, you will clearly need to promote you website. The least
inexpensive way is to creatively write informative articles
that are relevant to your site. Take some time to think about
your future customers, what questions might they have? Write
articles on themes of particular interest, that pertain to your
website. The articles should be informative and beneficial. When
writing articles, try to reflect your personality within the
article, people have a tendency to follow authors because of
their style, flair, and relevant knowledge that they
demonstrate.

The articles you write can be submitted free to most article
supply sites. When these sites approve your article they will
ask you to provide your attributes, this is where your site
will be linked. People seeking more information will click the
link and visit your site.

The next step to promoting your site will be to submit your
website to the search engines. There are some free submission
sites, but most will ask you to upgrade for a fee. Most upgrade
programs are well worth the small fees charged. They typically
will submit your website address to all the major search
engines, plus, assist you with keyword selection tools, and
supply you with information on how to improve your rankings
within the search engines, which is very important.

The last subject to discuss, the importance of an
autoresponder. An autoresponder will become a twenty-four hour
attendant for your website.

Most good autoresponder programs will adequately provide
numerous functions to assist you to manage your website
efficiently.

First, autoresponder programs normally provide: daily
subscription management, reports and statistics, opt-in form
templates, integration of CAN-SPAM compliance checks,
newsletter message campaigns to opt-in subscribers, message
personalization, ad tracking, and a host of other features to
professionally assist you while developing your subscriber
base. Many autoresponder companies offer toll-free phone
support, plus free tutorial video's about using their program.

Autoresponders are great tools and a must-have if your are
considering an E-business. The precious time saved by
automation, plus, all the significant information that will be
adequately furnished to you regarding your clients, is all
worth the cost.

The Bottom Line:

RISK........

---Will-power to focus....... ...$0.00
---Persistence for success....$ 0.00
---Information for strength...$ 0.00
---Article sources..... ......... ....$0.00
---Affiliate programs.... ......... $0.00
---Web hosting..... ......... .......$13. 00/month
---Search engine marketing..$ 8.00/month
---Autoresponder. ......... ........$ 15.00/month

TOTAL RISK........ ......... ......... .$36.00/month = $1.20/day

PROFITS----- --------- --------- ---$ UNLIMITED $-------

Final Word: Your success will depend on your will-power to
focus on your goals, maintaining your persistence for success,
and ultimately, being able to acquire as much information that
will provide you with the strength to overcome all challenges.

Your business venture as an entrepreneur has just begun.

About The Author: Roy King, is the editor for Ecom Newspaper
which is dedicated to provide Ecommerce news, information, and
articles of interest for home-based internet businesses. Tips,
Tricks, Techniques, and Secrets are revealed by the guru's of
the ecommerce world within our online newspaper. Stop by and
visit us at: http://www.ecomnews paper.com Have a Great
E-Commerce Day.... Roy King

To Learn More About How to Set Up Your Own Profit-Generating
Website for FREE, Visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html

Or. . .

For complete money-making FREE information, just send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com (I use an autoresponder to deliver this information, so be sure that you respond to the separate confirmation e-mail, or you won't receive it. You'll be glad you did!)

7 Simple Tips to Top Search Engine Rankings

Use these non-techie secrets to move up in the world of search
engines. Search Engine traffic is one of the best kinds of web
site traffic. Targeted traffic is pre-qualified traffic that's
already interested in your website content. In other words, they
see your site on a list of results because they were searching
for information about the subject of your website.

These are strategies and are not guarantees that I have used
with my own websites with success. To increase your site
visitors' leads and sales; implement these simple search engine
techniques to rise to the top:

1. Register Your Keyword Rich Domain Name - Use your keywords
or a keyword phrases in your domain name. It creates brand
awareness. Use these resources for your wholesale priced domain
names.

2. Learn Basic HTML - A lot of search engine optimization
techniques involve editing the basic HTML code. At least you
should be able to view the source code of any page and
understand what it all means, and basically edit it as necessary.

3. Create a Top Notch Page Title: Title tags are key because
all search engines give the tag a lot of weight. Put your
keyword phrases into this tag. Avoid using extra words linking,
non-descript company name or home page. Think of this tag as the
"Title Keyword Tag". It should reflect exactly what your page is
about. Focus on using the keyword phrases people might be using
in the search engine to find your company.

4. Description Meta Tag. Some search engines will include the
description below your title. Carefully choose 20 of your most
important keywords and write a 200-500 character sentence about
your site. Don't just repeat your title but write with different
keywords. Some search engines prefer just the description Meta
tag and some will use both title and description tags.

SEO TOOL TIP: Here are a few tools:
http://www.instantm arketingsecrets. com/keyword. htm
http://www.smtek. info/cgi- bin/keyword- tool.cgi
http://www.goodkeyw ords.com

5. Keyword Meta Tag. Since keywords you or I think might be
great keywords for your site may not be what people are actually
looking for. To find the best keywords for your site, look for
the highly searched and target keywords/keyword phrases related
to your site and put them in a list.

Power Marketing Tip: Leave out the commas between your
keywords, so the search engine can group the words into any
phrases someone is looking for. This way your words take up
minimum space with maximum combinations.

6. Keyword Density. The ratio of keywords on your page to non-
keywords is called Keyword Density. For example, you have 100
words on your page and three of those words are "piano" or
"pianos", then you will get a keyword density of your text for
the word "piano". Aim for a keyword density on your site from 3-
20%. This will offer you a good range.

SEO TOOL TIP: You may analyze your page density by using this
online tool: http://www.keywordd ensity.com/

7. Header Tags. Search engines place emphasis on the header
tags so make sure you have your H1 tag on your web page. Use CSS
(cascading style sheets) to avoid the problem of your text
appearing too large when using html for this tag. Use the other
header tags (H2, H3, and H4) throughout your web page.

If you want long lasting traffic that will come back for more
again and again, implement the above simple SEO tips. Aim for a
simple clean look and design for your web site. Develop your
site with premium and keyword rich copy, according to how it
will benefit your visitor. Use these powerful but simple SEO
tips and rise to the top to get the best traffic.

------------ --------- ---------
© Earma Brown, 9 ebook author, web developer and business owner
Helps small business owners and writers who want to market
effectively online! She also mentors other writers and business
professionals through her bi-monthly ezine Passion to Profit
With Ebooks & More. Send any email to
passiontoprofit@ clickeasyebooks. com and receive monthly free
ebook or visit her on the web at http://www.clickeas yebooks.com
for more Internet Marketing tips.

Intrigued by search engine optimization, but don't have a website yet? Learn all you need to know from the ground up--and develop multiple streams of income with your own website! Custom built for you! Real wealth possible! Visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html

Would you like more eye-opening information on how to build wealth sent conveniently to you via e-mail? Just send a blank e-mail to jeremyfive@getresponse.com and you will receive some of my best tips and tools! You will be asked to confirm your request in a separate e-mail, make sure you do so, or you will not receive this money-making information! (Absolutely no obligation--unsubscribe conveniently via link provided if not delighted.)

Again, just e-mail: jeremyfive@getresponse.com

5 Sure-Shot Ways to Build Traffic to Your Blog

With 70 thousand new blogs being created everyday (source link:
http://technorati.com/weblog/2006/02/83.html) getting traffic to your blog can be an overwhelming task, and many new bloggers abandon blogging because very few people turn up to read their posts. A decent amount of traffic is essential for many reasons. Some bloggers want to disseminate their pioneering ideas and opinions. Others publish content to generate advertising revenue. Many entrepreneurs use their blogs as PR platforms. The more your ideas spread, the greater impact they can create. In different, shorter articles I'll be listing steps you can use to create effective blogs and generate relevant traffic to them. This article can seem like jumping the gun; I haven't yet covered the creation and maintenance of an ideally effective blog and I'm already talking about
generating traffic.

There are a few a reasons.

The first reason is personal. I myself am studying ways to increase traffic to my own blogs. I've been blogging for more than 3 years now and I've never made a concerted effort to increase traffic. Consequently, my blogging has always been haphazard. You are motivated to write more if you know people are reading your thoughts and are sharing their own opinions with you. For this you need lots of traffic because only 3%-4% of your visitors leave genuine comments on your blog. Even if they don't leave comments, a steady increase in traffic means your audience are increasing. So this post is also, sort of, a recent manifestation of my
(relevant) traffic building efforts.

The second reason is logical. When you start a new blog, the biggest hurdle after "what to write?" is "how to get people to read it?" So once you know how to get traffic to your blog, you can create your blog with confidence. You can also work parallel: you can initiate at least some actions that can build a decent traffic by the time you've got a solid blog under your belt.

So here are the 5 sure-shot ways to build traffic to your blog:

==] Visit other blogs and leave comments [==

I mention it as the first most point because it puts your name, and your link in front of many blog readers, especially if you interact on a popular blog. Don't just leave comments for the sake of leaving them. Think about the post carefully, and then think about what more you can add. In the beginning it seems difficult because you feel like an outsider, but once you start interacting regularly you feel like a part of the discussion. I'll stress, only leave comments when you have something
really to say. Randomly leaving your links in the comment boxes is a "sure-shot way of not getting traffic to your blog".

==] Put others' links on your blog [==

Just as you want your link to appear on other blogs, other bloggers too want their links to appear on your blog. Again, don't just randomly select the links; they should some way or the other be related to your blog's topic. For a few months it may seem like a one-sided affair (you putting everybody's link and nobody linking back to you) but as the traffic on your blog gradually builds and as you regularly post interesting topics, the other bloggers will recognize the worth of linking to you.

==] Write optimized posts to get relevant traffic from search engines
[==

Search engines can be a good source of traffic once you have enough number of "optimized" posts. When I say optimized it doesn't mean stuff your post with key words and key phrases and turn it into a nonsensical rumble. Just use the keyword once in your title/heading and twice or thrice in your post body.

==] Post reply-comments when people leave comments [==

You get lots of repeat traffic if vibrant interaction takes place on your blog. I think repeat traffic is the best traffic you can get because it shows people are not just accidentally bumping into your blog — they are consciously coming there. When you post replies it also shows you take interest in others' ideas and value their opinions. If they blog too, to it encourages them to put your link on their blogs.

==] Claim your blog at Technorati [==

Technorati is a large blog ranking engine and a majority of bloggers use it to find the blog content they're looking for. After you've created an account for yourself, simply "claim" your blog and then choose the right categories for it. Also make sure you click the checkbox to select "Include this blog in Technorati's Blog Finder". If your blog gets a good ranking in Technorati there is a greater chance of it showing up when people search for your blog's topic or a category existing under your
blog.

So these are the 5 immediate things you can start doing even if you've got just 3-4 posts on your blog, or even if you've just created it a few minutes ago. Good content and traffic building effort should go on hand-in-hand. Once you've surpassed the critical mass in traffic, you can focus more on content because after that the traffic is, somewhat, self generating. The traffic after that takes care of itself provided you keep publishing quality posts, at regular intervals.

About the author:

===============================================

Amrit Hallan is a freelance copywriter,
and a website content writer. He also writes
optimized content for better Search Engine
Ranking. To know more about his services,
visit his website site at
http://www.amrithallan.com or his
blog at http://www.website-content-writer.com

===============================================

Is it time for you to get serious about making money online (and make serious money)? Visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html

e-Riches, Easy Money To Be Earned Selling E-books

by Tom Lindstrom

Can you get rich selling e-books? While Bill Gates' type money isn't guaranteed, you can earn you a very nice income selling e-books online.

E-books are electronic versions of printed material that can contain text, sound, and images. The profit potential from selling them is high because start up and operating expenses are very low. The biggest expense is purchasing books for sale.

You can earn even more money if you write some of your own e-books. Your writing skills don't have to be stellar. There are online sources that will take your research and craft an e-book for you. Some of these companies even take care of marketing, payments, and shipping.

Buying e-books for Sale
You can purchase e-books from authors online. eBay is another source for e-book buying. Purchase e-books with resell rights. This allows customers to sell the e-books they buy from you themselves thus providing an incentive for them to do business with you.

Make sure the e-books you buy (or write yourself) are full of useful information and resources. Some e-books are nothing more than ads and sales pitches for the writer's products. These "ad books" will turn off customers and decrease repeat business.

Do your research to determine what types of information people are seeking. Getting rich selling e-books will depend on the topics covered, customer base, and marketing campaign.

Before buying an e-book for resale, do an online search for the title. If lots of web sites are selling the book, it's probably a popular title and will be a good seller. It also helps to sell e-books that cater to a specific market niche. Search online forums and other group sites to locate potential target markets for niche titles. Contact these groups with a short email inviting them to visit your site. Offer an incentive such as 20% off first purchase to increase site traffic.

E-books about current trends or hot topics will generate more income. Your income will really get a boost if you can spot the "next big topic" and write or purchase e-books to sell before the competition saturates the market.

Marketing Extras
You can use a common template for your e-books web site or sell them on an existing site you already have. However, to stand out from the competition, create you own web site to sell e-books. Always add new titles to your stock to keep old customers coming back and to attract new ones. Use email to notify customers of new titles and special sales. Offer discounts on slow moving titles.

Affiliate programs are another way to get rich selling e-books. The affiliate pays you a commission for of its e-books you sell. To earn extra cash from e-books you write, start your own affiliate program.

There are plenty of online and print books that will help you learn how to get in on the e-book sales bandwagon. A good place to begin reading is "Make Your Knowledge Sell," by Ken Evoy and Monique Harris.

Sources
"About Making Money with E-Books," (about-the-web. com)
"Make Money Selling Ebooks," (christianet. com)
"Make Money Selling Ebooks," (homebusinessmag. com)
"Is Your Dog Selling eBooks Too?," (marketingsource. com)

Tom Lindstrom is a online marketer with over 6 years of experience. To learn essential rules for effective marketing that explodes your
traffic, and quickly generates sales, visit:
http://www.tlmarket ing.net

Looking for a great source of online income? Learn from the best! Great for newbies and old pros alike! Visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html

Do We Really Need Domain Names?

by Robert Michael

Many Internet service providers provide subscribers with web
space, however this is not the same as having your own domain
or domains. So, if you are an individual using your Internet
service provider’s web space to host your web pages, realize
that you have more potential and can reach a considerably
larger number of people by buying real domains. The best thing
to do when thinking of a domain to buy is a name that relates
to whatever you are hosting on your web page and that is easy
and catchy to remember.

When you change your domain name you will be upgrading your
site from an amateur site to a professional site, even if the
web pages stay the same, just by having a real web site. People
will take your web page seriously if you take your domain name
seriously.

Fortunately, registering domain names is really very easy and
something you can do when you have some spare time. All you
need to do is search the web for your favorite domain names and
ones that apply to your web pages. You will be able to search
for .com, .net, .org and a variety of others depending on what
you are looking for. If the domain you want to buy is available
in all of the .com, .net, .org and the like then it will be best
if you buy all of the available web site.

The reason for this is that you will be able to gain more hits
if you have a variety of domain names linked to the same web
page. This will not cost you a significant amount of money
either because it is rather inexpensive to register domain
names. In fact, some domain names are free while others cost up
to $100. However, the majority of domain names are very cheap in
comparison to the returns you will receive.

Also, do not worry if you already have a web page and want to
buy a domain name. This does not mean that you will have to
redesign your entire web page and start from scratch. In fact,
you will simply have to transfer your new domain name to your
web page with the help of your new host server. This usually
takes a few days, and sometimes longer, depending on your
domain host, but it will be well worth the wait.

So, to get your web page noticed and part of the professional
side of the Internet, go ahead and buy a domain name today that
relates to the items on your web site. Go ahead and start
searching for your perfect domain name today, when you find it,
buy it and start getting more visitors to your web site today.


About The Author: Robert Michael is a writer for Domains Named
which is an excellent place to find domains links, resources
and articles. For more information go to:
http://www.domainsnamed.com

To get started the right way. . .

. . . by having a quality website set up for you (with an eye-opening training program to start using your new website effectively) in order to dramatically increase your income, visit:

www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html

Web Content Is Vital To Having an Effective Web Site

Copyright © 2006 Kate Smalley


An appealing design will pull people into your web site, but
it's the content that will make them stick and become buyers. In
other words: Pictures tell, but words sell. That's why your
content is one of the most important elements of your web site.

Outlining a clear strategy for your content is the initial step
to creating effective content for your web site. First, identify
what you want to accomplish, what information it will include and
how the content will be organized.

Your site should provide information your prospects need to know
to buy from you plus information you want them to know that will
convince them to buy from you. Need-to-know-type content for
potential customers might include information about your company,
products/services, customers and testimonials.

Information that you want them to know might include work
samples, frequently asked questions, press releases, reports,
articles and other material that can educate them about your
business. And don't forget to include a clear and effective
marketing message that will convert visitors into buyers. After
all, isn't that the primary reason for having a web site?

While your content must cater to site visitors, it should also be
strategically developed for the best performance with search
engines. So be sure to include the right keywords in your regular
text, meta tags, headings, etc. The goal is to make your content
appealing to site visitors and search engines. If you optimize
your content effectively, you can keep a steady stream of free
traffic flowing to your web site.

Web Content Writing Tips

One of the most important things to remember when writing content
is this: Keep it simple and clear. Most people find it 30 times
harder to read text on a computer screen than on paper. Also,
site visitors tend to skim over web content, focusing on
headlines, bold text and links. So be sure to format your web
content so the information is easy for people to find, read and
understand.

Here are seven smart ways to create effective Web content:

1. Be concise. Cut out extra words in sentences, get to the point
and express what you need to say quickly.

2. Be conversational. Don't use complicated words or business
language no one outside your industry will understand. Just write
the way you talk, so your copy will convey a friendly,
comfortable and confident tone.

3. Write in small chunks. Group ideas by topics and present them
in small, manageable chunks of information. Keep your sentences
as short as possible and vary the lengths so you hold readers'
interest. Then add descriptive, bold headings that will make the
content easier to scan.

4. Give good information. Most people go online to find
information about their hobbies, products or other interests.
Don't waste their time by placing useless, self-serving content
on your site. Make sure you provide information that's not only
interesting, but also educational and enriching. (In fact, many
search engines won't consider listing sites into their databases
if they lack useful information.)

5. Use descriptive links. Go beyond the typical "click here"
link on your Web pages. Try something like: "Take our demo," "Get
a sample," or " Order now!" Not only is this more engaging, but
it can enhance your performance with search engines.

6. Link to complementary Web sites. Include links to Web sites
that offer supplementary (not competing) information. This will
not only benefit your site visitors, but it also can boost your
search engine ranking.

7. Keep your content fresh. Keep the information on your site
interesting and updated so visitors will have a reason to come
back.


=============================
Copyright 2006, Kate Smalley
Connecticut Secretary
Transcription Services and Secretarial Support
http://www.connecticutsecretary.com
kms@connecticutsecretary.com
=============================


Read More Articles From Kate Smalley:
http://thePhantomWriters.com/free_content/d/
index.shtml#Kate_Smalley


If you would like to have your own profit-generating website set up for you, with More Than 5 Streams of Auto-Pilot Income, ready to take orders for you 24 hours a day, get started today and visit:
www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html

How To Advertise Free and Effectively

by Stefani Partin

Have you joined a business opportunity but don't have the funds to place online ads? Well, the truth is, you don't need money to advertise. Don't get me wrong, using paid advertising is good and will bring results, but when you don't got it you don't got it.

My first recommendation to gaining free exposure to your website is participating in online forums and message forums. I own 4 message forums myself and use them to my maximum benefit. They are fun and they are a good way to get your name out there. If you haven't used forums before you are surely missing out on traffic to your websites. Most forums, not all, allow you to use a signature file at the end of your posts. So the more posts you make, the more times your link will be shown. I don't recommend going out to forums and making unwanted posts though. Join forums that you have interest in and submit posts that have value and meaning. If you are on a forum and see a question that you know the answer to, be sure to make that post and submit your answer. The person that posted the original post is most likely going to read your response and visit your link. This goes the same with readers reading the post and responses.

Do you send email? Are you using your signature file? Make sure you are using a signature file with all emails that you send no matter if it is personal or business. You just never know who will see your email, especially if you are the type of person that sends and forwards jokes to everyone in your address book.

Have your own domain or website? Be sure you are participating in link exchanges. Each link exchange is a link back to your site. If you have joined a business opportunity and cannot add links to your site, create another site that you can use as your reciprocal linking page.

Create a blog on a free blogging service such as Blogger and begin posting about your business. You could post your sales and specials. You could also create product reviews on your blog and allow others to comment. Blogs are known to be indexed fairly fast with the spidered search engines to post to your blog often.

Host an online chat or chats and teach others how they can work from home. There are plenty of places and forums you can post your free online events. Even if you host a party and nobody buys anything, make sure you get your guests info so you can email them later.

There are definitely more then enough ways you can advertise and get your name out there free. Once you get your name out there you can then advance from the free methods to the paid advertisements such as magazine ads, newsletter ads, etc.

© 2006 Stefani Partin, a work at home mom of three from CA who owns a network of sites for moms, blogs, a newsletter and more. Stefani dedicates her time to helping moms find ways to make money at home. Visit Stefani's blog at http://www.StefaniPartin.com or visit her main site at http://www.MommyEnterprises.com

Hungry for more info?
30 Days to Success
Your Step-By-Step Guide to Earning Auto-Pilot Income on the Internet from Your Own Home! Find out more at
www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html

How To Force Your List To Buy 60% More From You

Copyright (c) Dylan Loh

The money is in the list, the money is in the list. How many times have we heard of that? I am getting so sick of it; I am going to say the money is not in the list! Find out, at the end of the article, why I say so…

Having a list of 100,000 or even 1,000,000 subscribers is of no use if you can’t coach, coerce, bride or force them into buying something from you! They are of practically zero value if you convert them to paying customers. I present to you 4 ways to making your list buy more from you then you ever though possible.

Forceful Method #1

“The offer”- This is one of the most powerful motivating factors for your list to buy. Make an offer they simply cannot refuse! You simply have to understand what your list wants, deliver what they want (free content), build up your relationship with them (trust) and then market your primary offer – an offer that they cannot refuse!

Note that it must be of a quality product and it MUST be able to solve most of their problems. If you are worried they won’t need you anymore after they have something like this – don’t be. They will learn to trust you even more! Bundle some super benefits to your offer that compliments your core product.

Forceful Method #2

Give them a reason. A strong reason to open your mail, read your mail, click on your link and stay on your sales page. Look the steps one has to go through to actually make a purchase. The numbers dwindle further and further as they go down the sales path. You need to have a strong headline, an engaging email copy and a strong call to action.

Let your sales page do the talking, do not try to sell to them in the very email itself.

Forceful Method #3

Build up anticipation. Send 3 or 4 “pre-selling” content emails before you send out your actual promotional piece. Use these “pre mails” to warm up your list. Build up their need for this product and then in the penultimate email make them shiver with anticipation by "hyping" up your next mail and telling them that “this is it” they cannot afford to miss this “big one”

Remember, people love to buy; they just don’t like being sold to.

Forceful Method #4

Follow up with your initial message. And do that quickly! Once you send out the initial piece of promotional message, contact those who have bought and send them a quick message, urging them to use it and give them an extra bonus for their “comments”.

Follow up with those that didn’t buy with this social proof (testimonial). Real buyers, like them, who have bought and used it to a great degree of success. Their resistance will drop significantly!

In short, the money is not only in the list, it is in a hyper responsive and laser targeted niche list.

To find out what other “sneaky” techniques Dylan uses to command sales from his list, head over right now to http://www.ListProfitMachine.com Hundreds of real, hardly-known email marketing and list building techniques.

If you need to learn how to build your own money-making list, visit: www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html

This powerful program provides excellent training to help you develop your own responsive mailing list (the secret of the pros!)

Affiliate Marketing is Low Risk

There is absolutely no doubt that Affiliate Marketing is becoming more and more popular every day. On a daily basis more and more would be entrepreneurs are turning to affiliate marketing as a way of making an online income. There are obviously many compelling reasons for the popularity of affiliate marketing. Near the top of that list has to be the fact that affiliate marketing is considered a low-risk opportunity for many people looking to make money from the comfort of their home. Now many people believe that low-risk also means low-reward. I however, am not one of those people! In the case of Affiliate marketing, I believe it falls into the low-risk category because the potential losses are relatively small and the potential for earnings can be huge.

Affiliate Marketing affords many ordinary people the opportunity to not only start an online business, but to also keep their financial losses to a minimum.

As an affiliate marketer you are truly not involved in the hard selling of a product, service, or program. Your main responsibility is to promote quality products, services and programs. Compensation is earned when the prospect makes a purchase from the merchant's site after being directed by your affiliate link.

I have included four very important reasons why affiliate marketing should be a low-risk business venture for you.

1. Minimal or Low Set-Up Cost

Unlike brick and mortar businesses that need structures such as offices and showrooms, setting up an affiliate marketing business does not involve large expenses. There will be no offices to fill up with tables, chairs, and filing cabinets. There will be no showrooms to fill-up with products. A little corner of your den or small office above your garage will do the trick. Obviously you will need a computer and internet connection, but if you are reading this article you already have those items. Now, does this make affiliate marketing similar to any other online business?

Unlike other online businesses, would-be affiliate marketers do not need to invest a lot of money to conduct affiliate marketing. Most affiliate programs are free to join and the online company or merchant that established the affiliate program may even provide you with the promotional materials and websites that the affiliate will need. Therefore, the set-up cost of affiliate marketing is truly negligible.

I do recommend that you purchase your own web hosting, so that you may set up your own site. Why? It will be important for you to differentiate yourself from the many other affiliate marketers who are involved in promoting the same products, services, and programs that you are. With your own website you create a uniqueness that will help separate you from your competition. With your own website you will also have the opportunity to send any and all potential customers to your site first rather than the merchant site. This is a golden opportunity for you to get prospects to subscribe to your newsletter or other free offers you may have. List building is the life blood of any affiliate marketer, but that is an article for another time.

2. No Inventory

As an affiliate marketer you do not own the products you are promoting on your website. Your main job as an affiliate is to give your visitors compelling reasons why they need to click on your affiliate link and go to the website of the merchant you are promoting the product for. As an affiliate for a product or service you are not responsible for taking orders from your visitors. The order process is done on the merchant's website. What does this mean for you? It means you don't have to worry or think about product inventories.

In affiliate marketing, the affiliate does not handle the purchasing or delivery of the products. In a nutshell, as an affiliate marketer you do not have to worry about the costs or time involved in stocking, buying, delivering, or taking inventories of the products.

3. No Employees

In affiliate marketing, there is no need for regular employees. Most affiliate marketers are a one man or woman operation. Many of the tasks that you must complete as an affiliate marketer can be done on your own. You might enlist the help of a spouse or other family member, but there really is no need to hire a staff. Without a staff or regular employees, the affiliate is no longer burdened by the financial pressure of providing wages.

There may be times where you don't feel you have the expertise of handling certain aspects of the work you must do as an affiliate or you just don't have the time. You may need to outsource some of your work. What is outsourcing? Very simple, getting others to do the work for you…at a cost of course.

4. Minimal Customer Service

As an affiliate marketer you are not involved in the manufacturing or delivery of products. The responsibility for maintaining quality products does not fall on your shoulders. This means that keeping the customers happy is also not your major responsibility. That responsibility falls on the merchant, who deals with the paying customers.

Now, this does not mean that you totally remove yourself from the customer service aspect. What it does mean is that in order to avoid unhappy customers, it is very important that you stand behind the products and services you are promoting. Make sure you are recommending quality products, programs, and services that you use yourself. After all, many people are going to buy the product you are promoting based on your recommendations. How can you make an honest recommendation if you have never used the product yourself?

Always remember, a customer that purchases from you one time is more likely to purchase from you again. If they have had a positive experience with the merchant and product you recommended you have gained a customer for life.

David Cooper is the editor of the Affiliate Marketing Articles Newsletter. David specializes in helping people with their affiliate marketing efforts by offering real world tips and strategies. Subscribe to his FREE newsletter at: http://www.affiliatemarketingarticles.com

Learn more about how to develop income from a small grouping of the best affiliate programs by visiting:
www.jeremyfive.com/pips.html