Business Owner: Does Your Website Need Help?

by Rodney Ringler

Does Your Website Need Help?

There are a lot of small business owners that we talk to that are not happy with the results of the website that they paid a design company to build for them, or the traffic they paid an internet marketer to generate. They complain that the site is plain or is hard to update or that is has received little traffic or generated the few sales.

Development

The blame lies with the small business as much as the web site design company. When small businesses hire web site companies they tell the designers basically what they want but leave most of the decisions up to the designer. This is a mistake. Building a website is very similar to building a house. When building a house you pick out the house plan not the builder. You decide the colors of the walls, the type of siding, color of the shingles, what carpet, which cabinets, and so on. But with a website people leave this all up to the designer.

If you are going to have a website built then you need to take responsibility for a lot of the design and most of the content. The first thing to do is develop a set of goals for your website. Is it going to be used to generate new business or a place to direct existing customers? These types of questions will determine what kind of website is best for your needs.

Then you need to develop a list of functionality and information that you want the website to contain. Also, note what information will need updating and which will be static and will never change. It is important to have an easy way to change information that is changed often. There are to many outdated websites on the internet already.

Next, scout other websites on the internet until you find one that has the look you like or some functionality that would be good for your site to have. Or several that you like parts of. Being able to show a website designer an example of what you have in mind makes it very easy for them to meet your needs.

This is the easy part so far. You have enough info to give your designer a list of functionality and some example websites that look like what you have in mind. Now you have to decide what color schemes you want, what kind of font. The colors and font of a website set its tone. Is it professional or casual? Is it serious or fun? These might seem like trivial details but they matter. No matter how good the designer you need to direct them. You don’t need the exact font, but tell them weather you want a professional or casual font; Soothing or bright colors. All of this extra work will help you be more satisfied with the end product.

Traffic
Next comes traffic. This is usually the job of an internet marketer but most web companies offer both services. We often hear complaints by people who launch an internet business and then do not receive the traffic they expect.

First of all, submitting your website to the hundreds of search engines will not produce a lot of traffic. It is a small part of an overall internet marketing campaign. Also, this is a service that is provided free by most web hosts and you should not be spending money on it. This merely helps get your website listed in the various search engines. To receive traffic you need to gain enough strength so that when a searcher searches on a keyword relevant to you that your website shows up. This takes time and effort and will not be achieve by simply submitting your website. [Editor's note: there are plenty of SEO articles on SR which can help you with just that]

A lot of websites are used as a tool for its organization to spread information or as a brochure for a small business to direct its customers. These kind of sites are not looking to generate traffic and do not need an internet marketing strategy. But if you are running an ecommerce site or a website to generate sales leads for your business then you need an internet marketing plan.

This plan will consist of several parts a search engine strategy for both organic listings and paid listings, a grassroots plan to generate traffic by writing articles, posting in forums, and in general becoming an online expert for you niche. And an online advertising plan for banner ads.

Long term, establishing yourself as the online expert in a field and developing a strong search engine ranking for the keywords relevant to your business is very important. This will allow you to generate traffic without spending advertising dollars. Early you will need to advertise to generate visitors and revenue but over time your advertising dollars should decrease. This should be the long term objective of all internet businesses.

To achieve this you will need a comprehensive plan, and the discipline to stick with it when no one is visiting your website. It is hard to outsource some parts of an internet marketing campaign to an Internet marketing company because you are the expert. It is hard for an internet marketing company to produce your level of expertise in your business. Internet marketing companies are excellent for managing ad campaigns, creating banner graphics, and teaching you search engine optimization and grassroots marketing. In search engine optimization and grassroots internet marketing a lot of the work is producing content(articles, guides, tutorials, etc.) in your niche and becoming known at expert sites in your area and forum boards that you are an expert in this niche and a place to go. You cannot outsource this expertise. You can hire someone to teach you how to do it but you need to do it.

To get satisfaction out of your website and have it generate the traffic and new business that you want, you need to take ownership and be involved in the design, content, and internet marketing. You can have a web company build the site but you need to drive the design and functionality. You can also have an internet marketing company setup a marketing plan and teach you the basics of search engine optimization, but you need to become the online expert in your niche and produce as much quality content for that niche as you can.

Business Owners: To Web or not to Web?

Do I need a web site? That is the question often asked by business owners.

The answer will usually depend upon the type of product or service offered and what the business is trying to achieve. Some products/services are more suited to the web than others. Plus, a well designed web site can be a superb tool for communicating with customers, prospective customers, suppliers and the wider community.

For most service businesses, I'd say "Yes, you do need a web site."

There are many ways to be 'on the net', with ISP's, web designers and web hosting companies offering businesses many options in how this can be achieved. However there are also advertising and sponsorship opportunities that may be cost effective for businesses, either through web sites or email communication.

Is the web for you?

As use of the Internet matures it appears that company/branded web sites are particularly important for products and services that are high-involvement purchases. Examples are cars, finance, computer equipment, and professional services where a buyer will actively seek details for comparison prior to making a purchase.

Conversely, for products that are typically low-involvement or commodity purchases a dedicated web site may not be the best answer. It may be more cost effective to concentrate on building brand awareness via advertising and sponsorships on web pages (or email newsletters) that have content relevant to the target audience for the product.

But the Internet does lure businesses with the potential of trading on a larger scale. It is up to individual business operators to decide how important this opportunity is for them. If you are thinking about creating or expanding your web site it is suggested you focus on being either a major force in your local/regional area, or gear up for servicing a national or global market.

If you decide to join the growing number of businesses using a web site, you must also give thought to the type of site you will use. Apart from the 'look' of the site, content and functionality must be considered.

Your options

Web site options range from a single page (long or short) with contact details, to information sites and brochure-ware layouts that incorporate basic product images and descriptions. At the top end are full scale ecommerce sites that process credit card payments online, track your previous purchases, allow interactivity with the site and other customers, and provide personal login facilities to access data.

In many cases the development costs for hand-coded web sites with custom built shopping carts, custom product database and online payment capability starts at around $8,000. For larger sites requiring complex coding and special functionality it's easy to go over this figure.

However, there are now less expensive options available, including the use of Content Management Systems (CMS). A CMS makes it easy to create a site and make changes. No special programming knowledge is required. The CMS interface is very much like using a word processor. And you usually pay by the month. It's like renting your web site. Depending upon your level of skill, you may still need help to create your own graphics or pictures for use on the site. An example of a CMS is http://www.sitezero.com.au/.

Another option is to use a "virtual" web site designer. These are simply web designers that work on a remote basis (i.e. virtual). The virtual designer will create a site to your your individual needs dealing with you by phone, fax and email. They often offer low-cost monthly update services so you never need to worry about learning the technical side of your web site. An example of this type of service is http://www.bizmagic.com.au/.

Some major web directories (e.g. Yahoo) also offer a do-it-yourself online store facility.

Online payment systems

There are numerous options for accepting online credit card transactions that can ecommerce-enable existing HTML web sites. One example of these internet based payment systems is the Australian service http://www.gopay.com.au/. Major banks also offer payment facilities, as do international services such as http://www.worldpay.com/.

Marketing your web site

Once you have your web site up and running, you also need to make sure it is found on search engines, such as Google. It's a fact that for many businesses traffic from search engines is extremely important, with up to 80% of internet users finding sites through search engines.

Online marketing includes: Optimising your site to achieve high search engine rankings Pay-per-click ad's on search engines (e.g. Google and Overture) Listing in directories - Yahoo, DMOZ, industry listings etc Banner ad's on other sites Newsletter (or e-zine) advertising Reciprocal links with other sites And much more, like: - Affiliate programs - Having articles published online - Educational webinars - etc etc...

About the Author:
Stuart Ayling runs Marketing Nous, an Australian marketing consultancy that specialises in marketing for service businesses. He helps clients to improve their marketing tactics, attract more clients, and increase revenue. For additional marketing resources, including Stuart's popular monthly newsletter, visit his web site at www.marketingnous.com.au.

Email Marketing: On Keeping Online Businesses Profitable

by: Eugenijus Sakalauskas

The following article covers a topic that has recently moved to center stage--at least it seems that way. If you've been thinking you need to know more about it, here's your opportunity.

Since the advent of the information technology, the Internet had been a valuable commodity to most people. Here, they find ways on how to earn more money even without having to spend more capital on building a business.

Nowadays, many business people are realizing the importance of email marketing. Through emails, an online business can market their product directly through their customers.

Generally, the main purpose of email marketing is to reach their target audience as quickly and as direct as possible. They need to reach their target market so as to promote their products and services that would benefit their customers.

However, some businesses use email marketing in order to maintain their contact and relationship with their customers.

The reason why email marketing has grown in such unprecedented rate is based on the fact that people in the virtual community are always hungry for information. They subscribe to information that they are interested in.

On the other hand, not all people are willing to subscribe to such information. They may be interested on your products once but may no longer be interested to buy again. Moreover, when you continue to send those emails that do not have their permissions, you can be accused of spamming.

Today, spamming is a serious offense especially in the world of information technology. Because the Internet is such a wild place, most authorities regard the privacy of each person as valuable and they continue to uphold this thinking even on the Internet.

With this, the creation of opt in list had gained tremendous acceptance. Because of its viability and feasibility to most online businesses, a lot of people have realized how important opt in lists are in email marketing.

Basically, opt in list refers to the list of email addresses of people who have agreed to subscribe to your mailing list. In this way, you can freely send emails that entail promotions, brochures, new product announcements, and every aspect of your marketing campaign.

Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable. You might also want to consider the following:

When you build an opt in list, you do not only increase the probability of being successful in email marketing but also boost your sales and profits as well. This is because building an opt in list will give you the chance to stay in contact with your customers by getting their email address.

In this manner, you can continue to promote your products and services in which they are interested in because they have opted to subscribe in your mailing list. Hence, whatever it is that you feed them, chances are, they will most likely respond positively.

In reality, building an opt in list is actually letting the people realize the charisma and magic of email marketing. In this way, spams will be avoided, if not eliminated, and will not ruin the positive image of email marketing.

With spamming, email marketing becomes a disgraceful activity in the Internet. But with opt in list, online businesses can continue to boost their businesses through email marketing without having to worry about being accused of spamming.

In building opt in list, there are two types to be considered. The first one is the single opt-in and the other one is the double opt-in or the confirmed opt-in.

In building single opt-in list, online businesses would simply use a “sign-up tag” in their web sites so that every time a person visits their website, he or she can opt to subscribe in the business’ email list.

On the other hand, a confirmed opt-in list or double opt-in entails a confirmation message after the customer had subscribed to the particular web site’s email list.

Usually, the confirmation takes place by replying on a system-generated message that asks for a confirmation of the subscription or by clicking on a link that entails the confirmation of the customer.

Whatever type of opt in list you would prefer, each has its own pros and cons when it comes to email marketing. But nevertheless, both are designed to give your online business the best solution possible in order to generate emails and permissions without having to get into trouble.

Indeed, email marketing is such a profitable business in the Internet. But it would not be complete and will never succeed without the help of the opt-in lists. These two must always go hand-in-hand in order to be successful in the virtual world of Internet marketing.

As your knowledge about email marketing continues to grow, you will begin to see how email marketing fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important too.

About The Author

Eugenijus Sakalauskas is an established ezine publisherand direct marketer on PNP.com Subscribe to my FREE e-course "Power up Your Profits by Packing Your Email Marketing With More Punch" Send blank mailto:pnplistbuild@getresponse.com or visit http://www.pluginnetproefit.com and
get 18+ free bonuses

Marketing Strategies Success(TIPS 8):The Truth About Direct Email & Email Lists - What`s Unsafe

In today`s we`re getting "back to basics" the basics of direct email marketing AND email lists. This is a lesson you`ll really be able to put into practice!

What you`re about to learn will save you time, money, and frustration. So read carefully.The time you spend today will pay off for years to come and it will put you ahead of most marketers out there.

The Truth About Direct Email & Email Lists - What`s Unsafe

Unsafe Email Marketing

Unsafe email marketing is a method many people foolishly try, thinking it will yield big money fast.When you send an UNSOLICITED EMAIL to someone when you invite yourself into someone`s email box without invitation or permission that`s called SPAM.

If the people receiving your messages have no interest in your offer, or they simply don`t know you and don`t want to know you, chances are they`re tossing your message into the trash bin and you`re tossing your marketing dollars down the toilet.Sending spam and that`s exactly how your unsolicited message will be reviewed, regardless of the value of your offer gives your business a black eye and damages your reputation.and the "kicker" is:it doest`t` improve business!

EMAIL ON STEROIDS - BULKING UP IS BAD

Conducting a marketing campaign using BULK EMAIL will manifest the same results as spam.

You may have seen ads that say, "1000000 email addresses for only $29.95." Don`t fall for that. You`re only going to get spam complaints and your ISP connection may be shut down!

The reason for this is that most all of the bulk mail lists you see being advertised online are nothing but a list of email addresses that have been harvested from websites all over the Internet.These addresses and are then sold again and again as "targeted" bulk email.

WARNING:The only "target" here is your money!You MUST stay away from these bulk lists.They`re a waste. Remember that a list that`s advertised as "Targeted" is probably not accurate, reliable or safe.

If you were marketing a revolutionary new gardening tool, would you send 10000 direct mail pieces to names randomly snatched from the phonebook?

Or ...

Would it be wiser to send your offer a mailing list of people who have recently purchased gardening tools and products through mail order?

BULLSEYE NOT BULL

No legitimate businessperson would ever send thousands of emails to random people culled from the Internet.Bulk mailing is unprofessional and makes you look bad.

Bulk mailing can make your bottom line look bad, too.You want to do more than hit your target, you want to hit a bullseye on that target.Bulk lists aren`t the answer.
When you do a direct email or direct mail campaign to a RESPECTABLE rental list,if the people on the list have never heard of you before (called a COLD LIST), statistically,you`re likely to get a .005% response or less.

Does this mean that email campaigns are doomed before they start? No at all.As long as you use emails that are safe,you won`t be sorry.

So keep your eyes peeled for your next tips the SAFE way to Email.

Till Then da!!

How to Get the Most SEO and Web Traffic Benefits from Blogging

By: Wilbur Corncob

The best way to get people and search engines (which means more people) to your website is by getting relevant inbound links. If you have some spiffy new gimmick on your website this may be easy as everyone will be linking to you.

However, with a basic, solid web page the process maybe much more difficult and slower. How do you get people to link to you?
The best way is to empty your wallet! Ok, just kidding, but first we will learn how easy that is.

For example there is a pay for blogging service that will cost you at least $5 per blog post (ie: per link) and maybe $25 or more. Now that will eat up your budget, and fast. These paid blog links don't come with any guarantee. You might get lots of visitors and you might not get any at all.

Pay per click is another great option for spending all your money. This will bring you visitors for sure and you'll know how much each one costs. That's it. There is no long term benefit. The ads show for only as long as you pay for them. When your money isn't on the table, you don't exist!

You can buy links all over the place and again this may end up costing you a pretty penny, you may or may not get suitable results but when you stop paying the results (good or bad) stop. You gain nothing for the future.

Now blogs are a great way to get visitors and develop a long term return. Blog posts tend to stick around for a long time. The trick here is to get people to blog about your website without forking over a bundle of your hard earned cash.

A great idea is to become a guest blogger. This would be where you write blog posts for other people's blogs. Read: your links on someone else's website for free!
This puts you in the drivers seat for a couple of reasons. First you have control over exactly what is said. Secondly, if you do a good job you may have the opportunity to make regular blog posts. That will build an audience on the blogs for your writing and turn into more and higher quality traffic for your website.

The key to being a great guest blogger is to write short (3 to 6 or so paragraph) posts that are interesting, informative, humorous and relevant to the topic of the blog (and your website). Of course they should have a link to your website. Don't over do the linking. Don't make it sound like an advertisement or something you just cut and pasted from your website.

A few minutes to compose a couple of well thought out paragraphs could do wonders for your web traffic. Keep looking for guest blogging opportunities and never use the same post for more than one blog. One post could bring a lifetime of traffic.
This may well be your most effective way to developing quality web traffic and enhancing your the SEO for your website(s).

Article Source:Reprinted Articles.com

About Author

Wilbur Corncob has made a list of almost 100 blogs that welcome quality posts from guest bloggers. Guest Blog List www.glrsales.com

7 Rules To Live By When Choosing An Affiliate Program Or Work at Home Business

By: Marianthi Iatridou

So you've decided to become financially independent! You've chosen to work at home. Congratulations! I'm sure this is a decision that can turn your life around and lead you to financial freedom.

But that is going to happen only if you're careful enough to let it happen! There are a few things you should really look out for when deciding to work at home.

When you set out to give the work at home business thing a try, you'll find out that this was just the easy part! The hard part is to discover which one is right for you.

With all these so called "opportunities" that flood the internet, you should be very careful in choosing a work at home business. To help you, I have put together a few simple rules :

Rule #1 : Try to avoid "get rich quick deals"

Now that's a golden rule! Usually, when something sounds too good to be true then it probably is!

Oh, I know these sound appealing and of course you would like to get paid for doing nothing (so would the rest of us!). But don't you think that if these people had the magic solution to making big money they would use it instead of trying to sell it to you for whatever price?

It's sad to know that so many people end up feeling frustrated when they realize that they have wasted their time and hard earned money. There are no magic tricks! Commitment and hard work instead, can make you rich.

Rule #2 : Find a program that you really like and can work with

Another rule that's essential! Say that you come across a program that requires you to sell life insurance. You hate insurance people, you think they're full of hype.

So what, the compensation plan looks great! What would you do? Would you join the program? Could you picture yourself selling life insurance even if you hate the very idea? The answer is that you're never going to make any money doing something you don't like!

The point I am trying to make here is, that you should go on and find out everything there is to know about the program you are interested in. Just spend some time doing an essential reading through the available material (company website, related articles etc). Try to get an overview of how the system works and if you need more information or if you get confused , go ahead and ask the person who referred you to the program for help. Doing your homework always pays off.
Rule #3 : Make sure you know exactly what you're getting for your money

There are just too many companies out there that present you with sales letters as long as a book but not even a hint as to what you are actually getting in return!

If the product they're selling is that good and is going to make you so much money, why hide it? Why only mention it in the last few paragraphs?

Ok, I know, it's the way sales are closed. Still, you would like to know exactly what you're buying. It could save you a lot of grief!

Rule #4 : Perform a background check on the company

The longer it has been around, the better. This way you know that you're dealing with an established company that will not go bankrupt 4 months after you join!

It has been known for people to lose their online businesses and commissions owed to them for this very reason. Choosing a quality company is essential but can prove critical to the survival of your work at home business.

Rule #5 : Make sure you're going to get all the help that you need

It's just typical for someone to join a program, pay his membership fee or buy a product and then be left in the dark, not sure what on earth to do next!

Again, I'm repeating myself here but this is important, try to get an overview of how the system works, who your upline people are and how they can help you.

If you need more information or if you get confused, go ahead and ask the person who referred you to the program for help. In this way not only will you get an idea of how the program is structured but you would also be testing your referrer to see if he/she will respond promptly to your need for help.

But first, you have to have an idea of how the program works.

Rule #6 : Check out the compensation plan

Ok, so you've joined a program which ,hopefully, is going to make you rich. Do you know how this is going to happen?

It's not necessary that you know every detail about the compensation plan from the first day that you join. But still, wouldn't you like to know if you're getting 5% or 60% commission on an average sale?

After all, it takes the same amount of effort to generate a sale. Wouldn't you like to be paid more?

Rule #7 : Do not spend much at the beginning

A legitimate work at home business should be able to operate at a minimum/low cost. You should not have to invest a lot of money in any home business. At least not in the beginning.

When you do decide to invest some money into your own home business, this should be your own decision, not someone else's and must arise from your understanding that a business is what you make it.

There are more rules that I can add to these and make a really long list but this is not my goal. My goal is to provide a clear path, a few steps that should be easy to follow through the minefield of schemes and "get-rich-quick" deals to a company you can really trust.

Using your own common sense is as important as having these rules in mind when looking for an opportunity or a work at home business.

Your decision to join a program should be the result of considering facts and should not in any case come from mere curiosity. Keep in mind that there are very few true work at home opportunities out there and you have to find the one that's perfect for you!

About The Author

Marianthi Iatridou is the editor of http://www.work-at-home-businessoffer.com/where she puts leading internet and affiliate marketers under the microscope to uncover the strategies and tools they use to build successful internet businesses.

Advantages of a Multilingual Website

By: Kausik Dutta

You are a business owner and your have your website in English. It does pretty well and your online business goes pretty smoothly. You are satisfied with results, but you really want to grow your company and expand it internationally. Yet, your website is still in English. Why? Why not to change it? This article tries to explain advantages that multilingual websites have over conventional single language.

First of all, English is not a predominant language in the Internet any more. As the Internet grows, the more people from developing countries such as China, India, Russia and Brazil gain steady access to the web. They browse websites, look up for information, and, of course, make purchases, lots of purchases! They prefer to browse websites in their own language such as Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Japanese, Korean, Russian, Hindi and so on. Variety of languages is huge. If you can deliver your website in all of those languages. This means you will be able to sell much more to those new customers. There are plenty of ways to receive online payments to US bank accounts from foreign countries, and, therefore, merchants’ opportunities for sales are big. Great buying audience is a first advantage of having a website in several major languages.

Second of all, if your website is translated to many languages, it receives not just many new orders, but it enjoys a bigger flow of traffic. Your website will receive more visitors per day, per week, per month. This is also great. If you know how to put this traffic to work, then you will probably use AdSense ads more efficiently and will receive more CTR and will increase overall dollar amount per day. More traffic means more clicks. Similarly, more clicks means more AdSense revenue. This is a second advantage of a multilingual website.

Third of all, Multilanguage website brings credibility to a company. Since professional language services are not cheap, having a website professionally translated to many languages brings respect to its owners. I am not talking about a cheap free machine translation of a website. I am talking about a professional human approach to translation when each sentence is conveyed to the foreign language correctly, when each image or button is translated well. All errors may hurt reputation of a company. Poorly done, machine translation may erode a company’s reputation completely. But thorough human approach to translation of a website may help to avoid such pitfalls and problems. Thus, credibility that can be established by a website that is translated to many major languages. Multilingual website brings credibility and respect to its owners. This is the third advantage of having a website translated to foreign languages.

Contemporary Internet shifts toward globalization. This word has strongly gotten to our vocabulary. There are new people coming to the web each day. Internet grows and matures. New laws are being implemented and old ones get challenged. English is no longer a number one language on the web and it will never be. English is even challenged here domestically in the United States of America where it gets a lot of competition from Spanish, Chinese and Russian. The future language will become a mix of languages and having your website translated to most of them will secure your small business in the long run and will ensures its steady source of income. Website translation is not an expense, it is an investment, probably the most cost-efficient you will ever make.

If you feel convinced about your website translation and would like to find out more about this, please visit our website for more information. www.translation-services-usa.com Translation Services USA is your reliable language partner for all your language needs.

Affiliate Marketing vs Google Adsense: Let the Battle Begin

By: John Farina

Lately there has been a lot of discussion on how to make tons of money with Google Adsense. In fact, many people are making the claim that Adsense sites can earn a higher revenue then an affiliate-marketing site.

So that brings us to an important question: Which is a better online business - Affiliate-Marketing sites or Google Adsense sites?

Let's explore each one and then find out which online business is better option:
Google Adsense

How do you like the idea of earning money without dealing with customers or answering emails. This is possible when you run a Google Adsense site. With Adsense sites, you can have a virtual passive-income that requires little maintaining. But is this the best option for an online business?

Here are the positives of Google Adsense sites:
* They are perfect for people who run information sites that have no related affiliate product
* You can set it and leave it. With Google Adsense, you can create a content page, and there is little need to update the content.
* Adsense sites are easy to scale. Since they require little upkeep, you can easily create multiple websites that each make a nice income.
Here are the negatives of Google Adsense sites:
* They are not a great long term solution. Instead of getting your visitors to subscribe to a mailing list, you are focusing on getting people to click on ads. Real online businesses concentrate on building assets that can use for long-term growth.
* These sites are dependent on search engines. Most Google Adsense sites make the mistake of depending on search engines for the majority of their traffic. If the SE algorithms change then your income might drop significantly.

Affiliate Marketing
Being an affiliate marketer is great for those who want build a theme site. With this type of business, you can easily create web pages around a topic and get people to buy products through your products. If done correctly, you can easily build a loyal following that will help you make money for years to come.

But can affiliate marketing make you more money then Google Adsense?

Here are the positives of affiliate marketing:
* A great advantage of affiliate-marketing is that you can build a long term business that will bring in a revenue stream for years.
* With affiliate-marketers you need to focus on building an email list. This list is a major asset of your business. Every time you have an offer, you can go to your list and increase your profits.
* Unlike Google Adsense sites, which only concentrates on high paying keywords, an affiliate marketing site can be centered on a topic that you have an interest in.
Here are the negatives of affiliate marketing:
* You have to learn how to write persuasively and get people to purchase the product that you are recommending. For many people this is a difficult skill to learn.
* Each affiliate marketing site requires a lot of effort. You must spend a lot of time writing product reviews, building your email list and creating web content.

So which is better: Affiliate marketing or Google Adsense?

The answer is that both are great solutions for an online business. Instead of choosing one over the other, you should create websites that can take advantage of both.

Here is how you can do this:
1) Create a content site on a topic that you are interest in, while paying a good amount per Adsense click.
2) Integrate your Adsense into the menu bars and the top of your web content.
3) Add web pages for affiliate-products and your opt-in email list. But, make sure that you leave out the Adsense blocks on these pages. This way you are ensuring that you are building your long-term assets.
4) Create optimized web page articles that focus on a specific keyword phrase. Place your Google Adsense in these blocks.
5) Provide your email list with good content and product recommendations. Once in awhile, email your list and provide a link to some of your web articles. That way, you can earn a little bit of m*ney from your subscribers while giving them good content.

By focusing on both affiliate products and Google Adsense, you will be building both short-term and long-term profits.

John J Farina is a writer and a successful affiliate
marketer. He also provides expert reviews on which affiliate programs to join and ones to avoid like the plague. If you would like to take a look at the affiliate programs he is currently involved with please do so at: www.johnnysreviewsite.com

Earn A Fulltime Income Working Partime

It is not the amount of hours that you put into a working day as much as the amount of work you put into the hours.Far better to plan your day so that you can maximise your resources,instead of jumping from one task to another and end up doing nothing efficiently

Working" is described as the obligation to regularly attend and perform a designated task. An obligation that usually consumes 8 or 9 hours of one's daily life. "The Rat Race", it is humorously called. Yet, most people must depend on such jobs to finance their basic necessities of life. Often, just barely.

There are those who through manipulation, inside knowledge or proper timing have acquired a windfall.

Why become a member of the rat race if you can work a few hours a day and earn a full time
income.

It is not the amount of hours you put into a day, as much as the amount of work you can put into the hours.

There are many opportunities for anyone to make a lot of money without relying upon luck, high education or special abilities.

Someone with a wise observation noted, "Working won't make you rich." So - let's review some of the methods others have used to become wealthy, and ways which you too, can acquire riches that a salaried job will never provide.

To make a long story short,Go where the money is - get your share. BECOME A "FINDER". This is perhaps the easiest way to earn big money.

A finder in this case is a person who brings two oportunities together and makes a commission out of the deal.

Why not look at a market that encapsulates three of the most exciting phenonema on the internet. This market is the online games and entertainment industry.The demand is in place to allow peoples ever increasing leisure time to be spent in cyberspace .Even in less developed countries where PC ownership is quite small,internet cafes are commonplace,heavily frequented and open around the clock at prices affordable to customers.

Seeking out online entertainment is no longer an exclusively western pastime.Internet
technology now reaches even the most remote villages in the world,and non western populous
countries such as India have a burgeoning middle class with even more disposable income.

To illustrate the appeal of this industry internet cafes derive 30-40% of their income from
people playing games online .Imagine a business growing four times faster than the internet. To
give you an idea of what it means and to put it into context ,recent figures from DFC
intelligence said that the worldwide online games market is forecasted to grow from $3.4 billion
USD in 2005 to over $13 billion USD in 2011.

A wide variety of users see the internet as a primary entertainment medium,and casual games
comprise a main staple of the entertainment value of the internet. As the audience for online
content grows ,so does the amount of money spent in space.

These sort of numbers cannot be ignored.

Marketing Strategies Success(THE WAY): 10 Ways To Promote Your Web Site While

Let jump the way!!

1. Have a bumper sticker printed up with your web
site address and other business information. Place it
on the bumper of your car. People will see it when
you're driving.

2. Have some t-shirts made with your web site
address and other business information. Your family
or friends could wear them almost anywhere.

3. Have some ball caps made with your web site
address and other business information. Wear them
to keep the sun out of your eyes and promote your
business at the same time.

4. Have some business cards printed up with your
web site address and other business information.
Pass them out to people you meet or that might be
interested in your business.

5. Have a magnetic sign made with your web site
address and other business information. Place it on
your car door or roof when you are traveling.

6. Have some flyers printed out with your web site
address and other business information. Keep a few
with you to hang on bulletin boards you see.

7. Have some jackets printed with your web site
address and other business information. Give
them away to family and friends. When it's too cold
for t-shirts, you can wear jackets.

8. Have some duffle bags made with your web site
address and other business information. Give them
to family and friends as gifts or use them when you
travel.

9. Have some pens imprinted with your web site
address and other business information. When you
are done filling out your check or signing receipts
leave it there for the next person to use or keep.

10. Have some mugs imprinted with your web site
address and other business information. Use them
when you have company or give them away to
friends and family as gifts.

That way we jump!!
Regards,
T_0 2007

Three steps to success in Affiliate Marketing

By: Dave Holloway

If you are considering starting an online business in Affiliate Marketing there are basically three prerequisites to success. It is possible to make thousands of dollars per month, so called “super affiliate marketers” boast monthly sales in the tens of thousands of dollars. So, what essentials are required to add your name to the list of super affiliates in the world of online marketing?

I have compiled the three key elements that you will need to start your new career in Affiliate marketing.

Step 1.

The first item required is a “product” to market. For those of you who are not familiar with how affiliate marketing works, the basic idea is as follows: The affiliate marketer directs or refers prospective customers via the internet to merchants’ web sites where “products” are for sale. An example would be: The Merchant (Jim) has a website called “sportingwaresonline.com” where various sporting goods are available for online purchase. The affiliate marketer (Bob) has a website called “prosportsproducts.com” where he has links to various sporting goods websites. A web surfer browses Bob’s site where they see Jim’s online store advertised, usually by means of a banner or informative text describing the goods available. Clicking the link on Bob’s site directs the prospective customer to Jim’s online store, if the customer makes a purchase at Jim’s online store; Bob receives his “affiliate commission”. So we can see here that Bob’s “product” is sporting goods, even though he has no real stock to sell.

Step 2.

If you are planning to start an affiliate marketing online business, you’re going to need a website. This is where the “Bucks” are made. There is no chance of success if your website is not up to scratch. The main or “Home Page” must possess sufficient impact to keep the attention of web browsers once they arrive at your site. The site needs to provide instant interest and contain information unique to your “product” or line of products. You should create individual web pages for each specific product. An example would be: At Bob’s prosportsproducts.com website he would have one page dedicated to sports shoes, another page for tennis products, another for golfing goods and so on. Always include product reviews on the website to provide visitors with an initial understanding on what the product can do for those who buys them. It is also a good idea to include testimonials from users who have used the product.

Step 3.

The third step is to vigorously promote your website to attract a high level of “traffic” to your online “affiliate marketing store”. Without visitors to your site, it will be impossible for you to receive any affiliate commission. Initially you should use “Pay Per Click” (PPC) advertising through the various search engines like Yahoo, Google and MSN to get your website seen by more web surfers. You should also write articles, listing information specific to the products available on your website and include a link to your site somewhere in the article (be sure to follow the Article and Author guidelines specific to the publishing site). Submit your articles to e-zines and receive traffic to your website from readers. It's as simple as that. Be sure to write several articles and post them to as many article directories as possible! You never know how many hits you could receive from article readers, and remember if they are reading your article they must already have an interest in the product you are promoting and there is generally no cost for the service as most article directories offer a free service. Writing and submitting high quality articles to article directories is an excellent way of promoting any product or service online. Article marketing offer you a two fold benefit, firstly, establishing your product knowledge and expertise to readers, secondly, increasing the traffic to your site via your website address in the articles you have written.

The key to successful affiliate marketing and earning a genuine income is selecting the right product or opportunity, and following proven information or guidelines that will produce online success and financial reward. Affiliate marketing will require time and effort on your part, however getting started is a fairly simple process. By using these tips you will be well on the way to earning your first of many “pay checks” from internet affiliate marketing. If you are interested in starting your internet home business you can find more information here at workathomeasy

Dave Holloway has successfully promoted home business options from his website www.workathomeasy.com providing information to anyone looking for a genuineHome Business Opportunity

Make Money From Internet Writing - TOP 5 TIPS

You can make a lot of money by writing and self-publishing your own material, if you are willing to write ebooks, articles, reports or newsletters that millions of people across the United States, and throughout the world for that matter, desperately want to buy.

Today, more than ever before, is the age of information. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, there continues to be an incredible demand for information throughout the world. There is an astronomical demand for information-packed ebooks, articles, reports and newsletters of almost every imaginable kind. You can start putting a price on information you have no doubt been giving away.

1. FIND YOUR MARKET-THEN WRITE YOUR MATERIAL

Anyone who can communicate an idea to another person, should be able to get their same message across on a written page. If you are either an expert on some subject, or are interested enough to obtain the information needed for a project, you have what it takes to go from having an idea, to self-publishing your own material in whatever format it develops into.

There are hundreds of publications filled with ads by people just like yourself, who discovered they could make a lot of money writing and publishing their own work. Looking through opportunity magazines, Article Directories on the web or other publications that cover the field you are interested in, is a good place to start looking for ideas.

Review all the advertisements in the magazines or Directories you have chosen to see what popular topics and subjects are being written about in ebooks, articles, reports and newsletters. Then ask yourself if you can come up with a better way, or have equally interesting information you can present from a different angle, or with a different twist that would also be of interest to the readers in that market. If the answer is "yes," then you can enter that market and also make some money!

2. HOW TO PACKAGE YOUR INFORMATION

After you have written your material, you will have to decide on how you will package the information to make it sell-able. Depending on your market, some packaging will sell better than others. For example, you can print your information in a series of publications, print it in a ebook, article, report or newsletter.

One thing is certain, people are paying billions of dollars to obtain well-packaged information! There are ebooks that sell for up to $100 and more, with articles coming in a close second. There are reports that consist of 10-12 pages selling for up to $10 or more, while some seminars can cost as much a $15,000 for a single weekend. It may sound incredible to the average person, but people are willing to pay top dollar for information. However, the "packaging" must be perceived as being worth the price you are asking.

But before you decide on how to package your information, you must first consider who your primary audience is, and cater to those people in everything you do.

3. FOCUS ON SUBJECT MATERIAL THAT IS SELL-ABLE

Information for your subject matter can be found in various places. For the very best results, start with your own field or expertise and turn it into a ebook, article, report or newsletter.

Focus on providing your targeted market with simple, understandable, and helpful information. It must overwhelmingly appeal to your customer's wants and desires.

Never forget that this is the age of specialized information. People are completely willing to spend their money for tens of thousands of different forms of information, provided it is useful to them. Your job is to either find a need and fill it, or create the need and supply it.

One of the best ways to get started is to sit down with some paper and write down every subject you have some degree of knowledge about. Your list of subjects doesn't have to be in any particular order. Don't force it. When ideas for headings no longer come easy, stop and start up again at a later time. When you feel comfortable that you have covered most of the areas you know, start picking out the topics that interest you the most. Then you can start researching more material for your writing projects. A great place to find material for articles is in Article Directories. You will find lots of these on the internet.

4. BASIC ADVERTISING RULES

Effective marketing is a vast field. It includes using marketing tools such as: direct mail; classified ads; signs; internet marketing; radio and TV commercials; business involvement, and more. In fact, the approaches you can take and the methods you use are only limited by your imagination and resources. There are basic rules that do not change, however. They are as follows:

Rule No. 1 - You must get a prospect's ATTENTION. The Headline is very important.
Rule No. 2 - You must create reader INTEREST.
Rule No. 3 - You must arouse the reader's DESIRE.
Rule No. 4 - Your ad must move them to ACT.

It is essential that you have a plan before you take action on developing an advertising strategy. Your plan must be based on an objective analysis that has resulted from your knowledge and research. It doesn't matter what your background is, you can learn to master the type advertising that is needed to launch a self-publishing business.

Through research and careful planning you can become familiar with the writing skills you will need to create effective adds. Obtain all the information you can from the masters in the business. Read and study every ebook, article directory, report, newsletter, ad, article, and publication you can get your hands on that will help you in developing your own successful strategies and techniques. Then bring all of that knowledge together to obtain winning results.

5. How to Make Money

You can make money from your writings in several ways. You can sell you writings in the form of an ebook or report on Ebay. You can sell it in the form of a newsletter on your webpage and ask people to subscribe for a small fee.

Another alternative method is to write your article for free but attach a link to it for some product which the article is promoting. There are lots of products on the web which you can sell for other people and earn a good commission. Sometimes up to 70% commission. Examples of such websites are Commission Junction, and Click Bank. You can submit this article with the link to hundreds of Article Directory websites for free.

The advantage of this is that you will have loads of links on the internet promoting your product. This in turn will lead to sales and profits!.Please don't blatantly promote the product in your article and don't include links to it in the body of the article. Most Article Directories will decline such articles.

Marketing Strategies Success(TIPS 7): Triggers That May Cause Email Filters To Delete

Hi guys,

Even though you may have the perfect marketing plan, along with the perfect email sales letter, you still have to overcome the obstacle of the dreaded spam filters. Spam filters are automatic and unrelenting, and what they do is irreversible. When your message is snatched up before it reaches your prospect`s inbox, it`s gone for good.

What an unfortunate fate for of all that beautiful sales copy! To keep from having your messages go down the drain,you need to know the words, phrases, and characters that will cause your email to be treated like it has The Plague - isolated and left to die alone.

In today`s lesson you`re going to learn certain words and numeric characters that activate spam filters. If your email or subject line contains these "hot button" words, it`Good-bye consumer and hello trash bin.

Let go..

Triggers That May Cause Email Filters To Delete

Foolish, short-sighted marketers have created a "crisis" in email in much the same way unscrupulous telemarketers gave THAT business a bad name. (There`s nothing wrong with telemarketing, per Se, just with shady telemarketers and the ones who interrupt dinner!)

By sending millions upon millions of unsolicited messages,"bulk marketers" have turned consumers into enemies and their email boxes into barricaded fortresses with fortified perimeters. Utter the wrong word - one of the "dreaded"TRIGGER WORDS that email filters know and hate - and you`re wasting your time.

Your message will be deleted instantly and your carefully crafted offer - with all those brilliant headlines and benefits, the terrific bonuses, the zero-risk guarantee, and the irresistible post-script...none of it will ever be read!What a waste.

THE HALLS OF JUSTICE

The U.s. Congress has even gotten in on the act (pardon the pun) of trying to cut down on the garbage truckloads of unsolicited email that`s flying through cyberspace. In2003, the CAN SPAM Act became official, with laws dispersed state spam laws and fairly clearly spell out what is and is not acceptable and required when it comes to sending email.

So how can you ensure that your emails make "safe harbor" in a cold, cruel, and unwelcoming cyber-world? Good question.

The best way to help your message reach the eyes that you want to see them is to familiarize yourself with the TRIGGER WORDS AND CHARACTERS that activate filters and get your message a one-way ticket to the trash. Get to know them and then never use them.

Here`s the trick: JUNK AND ADULT CONTENT FILTERS work by looking for specific KEYWORDS, key phrases, and key characters (like the dollar symbol, for example). Filters check the To and From addresses for these keywords. Then they go hunting for those words in the subject line and the body of the message, or in a combination of the two to see what`s being used and over-used.

USE WITH CARE

"Over-used" is an important part of the trigger word equation. A single use of the word " free" (as an example),probably won`t "raise an eyebrow" on a common filter. But use the word a dozen times and it`s "Goodbye Charlie."

THE "Z" LIST (as opposed to the "A" list)

To serve you better, i has compiled an up-to-the-minute list of common "trigger" words and combinations that when used - or overused - activate spam filters. Use this information to wrap your messages in protective "force field" that even the most powerful filter swill pass right over.

Triggers That May Cause Email Filters To Delete Your Email AKA: The "Z" List

- First 8 characters of the From address are digits
- Subject contains "advertisement" or "adv"
- Body contains "money back"
- Body contains "cards accepted"
- Body contains "spam removal instructions"
- Body contains "extra income"
- Subject contains "!" AND Subject contains "$"
- Subject contains "!" AND Subject contains "free"
- Body contains ",000" AND Body contains "!!" AND Body contains "$"
- Body contains "Dear friend"
- Body contains "for free?"
- Body contains "for free!"
- Body contains "Guarantee" AND Body contains "satisfaction" OR "absolute"
- Body contains "more info" AND Body contains "visit " AND Body contains "$"
- Body contains "SPECIAL PROMOTION"
- Body contains "one-time mail"
- Subject contains "$$"
- Body contains "$$$"
- Body contains "order today"
- Body contains "order now!"
- Body contains "money-back guarantee"
- Body contains "100% satisfied"
- To address contains "friend@"
- To address contains "public@"
- To address contains "success@"
- From address contains "sales@"
- From address contains "success."
- From address contains "success@"
- From address contains "mail@"
- From address contains "@public"
- From address contains "@savvy"
- From address contains "profits@"
- From address contains "hello@"
- Body address contains " mlm"
- Body address contains "@mlm"
- Body address contains "///////////////"
- Body contains "check or money order"
- Body contains "click here" or "click below" (try using "visit here" instead)

THINKING CAP TIME

It`s going to take a little more creativity on your part to write emails that won`t be deleted by filters. You`ll need to replace trigger words with equally effective non-trigger words. But don`t worry - that`s why the Thesaurus was born!

Today, you`ve learned how to protect your messages from being deleted by spam filters. Next time, we`re going to talk about how to make sure your messages are hitting the right target audience to ensure a "bulls eye" for selling.

Da!!

Good Credit Management Skills Are More Important Than Ever

Consumers have many options when it comes to selecting a credit card that best fits their needs. For instance, some people may use credit cards strictly for big-ticket items, while others may use them for all their everyday purchases; some may carry a balance while others pay it off every month. Even though people use credit in different ways, one fact remains the same: good credit card management is important to everyone.

“Consumers who focus on good credit management are likely to have greater control of their finances overall,” says Margo Georgiadis, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Discover Financial Services. “Today, more than ever, consumers are actively looking for straightforward ways to increase their financial confidence.”

To hone their credit management skills, Georgiadis recommends people consider the following steps:

1. Develop a consistent payment routine

Years ago, it was possible to tackle household bills on a certain day each month. But today's billing cycles rarely match up, which can mean several different due dates throughout the month.

People can more easily manage their monthly credit card payments by choosing a card that enables them to set their own payment due date based upon what works best. Developing a consistent payment routine can really pay off.

Sometimes even literally. The Discover Motiva Card provides cardmembers who make on-time monthly payments six times in a row their next month’s interest back -- twice a year, every year when they pay on-time each month.

2. Pick a convenient time and way to pay your bill

For many, checkbooks are a thing of the past. In today’s wired world, there are more payment options than ever making it easier and faster to pay bills.

Do your homework on what options are available and pick the method that's most convenient to your lifestyle or when you get paid each month. For example, some credit card companies allow cardholders to set up automatic direct payments online or by phone for recurring monthly bills. Others allow cardholders to schedule their payments in advance to align with their pay periods or let them pay their bill for free by phone or online -- even on the payment due date.

3. Use account management tools to save time and money

Many credit card companies offer account customization tools that enable cardholders to keep close tabs on their account and budget. To avoid fees, some companies allow cardholders to set up reminders to let them know that their payment due date is approaching, or if they’re close to exceeding their credit limit. E-mail reminders can also be set to alert them when a large purchase has been made or help track when a return, credit or balance transfer is posted. In addition, cardholders are able to access their account summary information online to help them track spending, create a budget, and sort transactions by date, amount, description or category which can be helpful for tax preparation.

4. Use your credit card rewards to help pay down your balance or reduce expenses

Some credit card companies allow you to redeem cash rewards in the form of a statement credit, which helps you pay down your balance faster, or you can have the money deposited directly to your bank account. You also can take advantage of other redemption options such as the ability to double their rewards when redeeming for places where they already shop.

For more tips on good credit management and other information, visit www.discovercard.com.

Marketing Strategies Success(TIPS 6): 8 Steps to Irresistible Email Copy Every Time

Hye new tips arrive

Step #1 - WHO DO YOU THINK YOU`RE TALKING TO?
Before you sit down to write your email sales letter, you`ve got to determine exactly who your audience is.
This is a master key to getting results from email marketing. Ask yourself these questions:-

What do your prospects/customers want?
What frustrates your prospects/customers most?
Who else is selling something similar to you?
Why should your prospects/customers believe you?
Why should prospects/customers respond to you instead of someone else?
What kind of appeals will your target market respond to?

Step #2 - A GREAT SUBJECT IS YOUR OBJECT
Before an email can generate results, recipients need to open it. But what can you do to spark their interest and get their interest "motor" revved up?Your SUBJECT LINE is the key.There are four types of email formulas you can use as a guide in crafting your email.

Each has a different PSYCHOLOGICAL APPEAL that works like magic on consumers.Here are some examples:-
State a powerful benefit "Satisfies Your Need for Leads"
Pique curiosity "We Has Uncovered the Secrets of Success"
Write your subject line with a news angle - "{company name) Launches RSVP For Those Who Want to Double Their Money Fast!"
Offer Immediate Gratification - "With (company name) RSVP, you can start the money wheels turning before the sun goes down tonight"

Here`s an important "homework assignment": Write at least25 SUBJECT LINES before you decide on which one to use. Take the best two and test them against each other in your marketing campaign. (Save the "losers" to use for other purposes or spruce up later.)

Step #3 - WHAT`S IN IT FOR THEM?
Sit down and write every conceivable benefit your product has. Don`t know the difference between features and benefits? Features describe the product; benefits describe the results of using the product. Features appeal to logic...logic justifies emotion...emotion drives sales (see below).

Here`s a rule of thumb for benefits: ask yourself "What can my product or service do for my customer?" Then begin to write your letter telling your reader WHAT`S IN IT FOR THEM.Tell them how much better life will be for them after they buy from you.

Tell them how much better they`ll feel. Tell them how their peers will respect them more.

Step #4 - AN EMOTIONAL APPEAL
When promoting anything to anybody, you must remember that buying decisions are based upon emotion and later backed up by logic. Before you write a single word, determine what emotional hot buttons you need to push to "jump start" your prospect.

Selling health supplements? Go for the "fear of illness"button with "A Natural Way to Save Your Eyesight." Selling political bumper stickers? Hit the "anger" button with:"Let the President Know What You Think of His Policies."Other buttons include: curiosity, greed, ego, vanity, hope,and/or fear of scarcity or security

Step #5 - A NAME YOU CAN TRUST
To convince people to buy your product or service, you must make them believe that your offer is credible and that you(or your product) will deliver as promised.How do you do that? Here are three ways you can build credibility with the readers of your sales letter:-
Provide testimonials.
Include endorsement letters from authority figures in your industry.
Make your offer and promises sincere and believable.

Step #6 - A GUARANTEE
Nowadays, trying to sell without some type of guarantee is losing proposition. You`ve got to have one. And the stronger your guarantee, the better your response will be. And,believe it or not, although most people will NOT ask for are fund, they`ll trust your offer knowing that you stand behind it.You can offer a 24-hour, 30-day, 60-day, 90-day, or even full-year.

And here`s an interesting fact: The longer the time period, the fewer returns you`ll have! It`s human nature to procrastinate, so the more time someone thinks they have to get a refund, the more they`ll put it off or forget about the refund altogether.

Step #7 - DON`T FORGET TO ASK
It happens all the time. Someone makes a fantastic sales presentation, and then doest`t close the deal because he/she didn`t clearly ask for the order or made the process confusing rather than simple.

From the Research Department: Statistics show that you need to ask for the order at least three times to close substantial sales. (Some studies put the number at 7!)If you can, offer several ways for your prospects to order consumers love choice. It tells them, "You`re talking directly to me and meeting my unique needs." If you only offer one way to order, make it crystal clear how AND how easy it is. Describe it in detail and ask for the order. Then ask again

Step #8 - THE EYES HAVE IT
It`s a well-known fact: Large blocks of copy are intimidating and will often send people running for the hills or at least the Delete button.The solution? Break up paragraphs into two to four sentences. Use several subheadings throughout the email letter.

And use asterisks, dashes, and ellipses (...) to give your copy more rhythm. Bullet points are excellent eye-catchers - use them whenever appropriate.That`s a wrap for this lesson.

Next time we`ll be saluting"Triggers." No, not horses named in honor of Roy Rogers old steed -- trigger WORDS that will have consumers begging you to take the money out of their wallets.

Sound good? Stay tuned!

Building Small Business Issue: Backup (LAST ISSUE)

By Dan Evans

Points Of Interest.
1 Should we back up or archive?
2 Use tapes or discs?
3 What about network-attached storage?


Storage is the cheapest it's ever been. The software is easier than ever. And there are several quality hosted options if you don't want to keep it on-site. There's simply no excuse for a business not to have a data backup plan. Heck, backup even may be mandated by the federal government, depending on the industry you're in—health care and finance are good examples. So a good backup system may not only keep you out of trouble, it might keep you out of jail.

When you back up your data, it's usually for short-term reasons, and you'll overwrite this data with updates very soon. There are three types of backup:

1.Full: Backs up everything regardless of whether it's changed.
2. Differential: Backs up only what has been changed since the last full backup.
3. Incremental: Backs up individual files that have been modified since the last backup.

Archives, on the other hand, contain static data, such as tax returns and old e-mails, which won't be overwritten.

Traditionally, IT managers archived data using tape systems, but recently businesses have been using discs for both archiving and backup. It takes much less time to recover data from a disc than from a tape. Software such as Symantec Backup Exec ($500 street, www.symantec.com/backupexec), which walks you through both archiving and recovery, is worth the money. For burning backup discs, we like the Sony DRU-710A (sony.storagesupport.com); it's only $110 (street) and will burn dual-layer discs.

Another popular backup option is network-attached storage, or NAS. NAS devices attach easily to your existing network. We like the Buffalo TeraStation Pro II ($850 street) for its ease of use and its terabyte of disc space.

Above all, no matter what system you chose, you must have some form of off-site backup, even if it involves mailing a complete backup disc once a month to your mother in Idaho.

11 Tips for Pay-Per-Click Success

This list details some very important points to keep in mind when creating or managing any pay-per-click campaign. Is this all there is to know about pay-per-click advertising? Absolutely not, but for those new to PPC it should serve as good place to start. Additionally, pay-per-click veterans or at least the moderately-seasoned will want to touch upon these points now and then to brush up on their fundamentals.

1) Do your keyword homework.

Use Google's free Keyword Tool or sign up for a WordTracker account to find out which keywords are the most competitive. The more competitive the keyword, the more expensive your clicks will be. While you're finding out which keywords are too expensive you'll come across some that aren't being targeted heavily by advertisers. Take a good look at these - they may be your keys to a successful niche campaign.

2) Don't bunch your ad groups.

You should be striving to separate your ad groups by keyword. Whatever your target, separate your keyword lists into closely related groups containing the same target words and write ads geared specifically to those words. Your ads will show up higher in results based on their quality, and search terms show up bold in results - a click-through rate booster.

3) Drive home your selling point.

What's your offer? Why are you better than the others? Remember that your ads are going to display with your competitors. The difference between a user clicking your ad and clicking a competitor ad is about 100 pixels on the screen - or a millisecond of time. You need to convince them that you are the one they want. You are better. Grab them.

4) Don't send users to your home page.

This is perhaps one of the worst things you can do to your Pay-Per-Click campaign. Internet users are notoriously impatient. Send them to your home page when they were searching for a specific product or service and see how fast they leave. Don't waste your advertising budget - send them to optimized landing pages.

5) Optimize your landing pages.

Your landing pages need to drive something home immediately for your users: "you have landed in the right place." They need to know that, yes, this is what they were looking for, here it is, here is why it is better than the rest and here's the easy thing they need to do to get it. In most cases you'll need to create multiple landing pages based on your different ad groups and keywords, but look at it this way - if your users aren't landing at pages geared exactly to their search phrases they'll leave and take your advertising budget with them.

6) Don't lie in your ads.

People aren't dumb. If you promise something in your ads you had better well deliver. Otherwise you'll not only waste advertising dollars but damage your brand. Be honest, and focus on points that make you stand out from the competition. Grandiose ad text might bring in clicks, but if it isn't the truth it won't bring in conversions.

7) Your domain name counts.

In most cases you can display a domain name that you own as the "display domain" but point the ads to a page on a different domain. Why does this matter? If you own a domain name that contains the keyword text it will show up bold and increase conversions. Enter the optimized domain as the displayed domain, point the ads to your landing pages and you can expect higher CTRs in most cases.

8) Utilize negative keywords

Google has a new Negative Keyword Tool that will allow you to find negative keywords that you should specify for your ads. Negative keywords are those that you don't want your ads to display for. For example, if you're selling "blue widgets" you don't want to display your ads to those users searching for "free blue widgets." If you don't use negative keywords you are missing out on a chance to get more targeted traffic to your landing pages, and this can really hurt your conversion rates.

9) Test, test, and test some more.

The greatest thing about internet advertising is the ability it grants you to measure your success. It's easy to create A/B split tests with Pay-Per-Click advertising. Change one word, add a comma, include a value proposition. . .just make sure you only change one thing for each split or you won't know which variable it was that made the difference! You'll find out right away that this is a great way to optimize your click-through rates - just don't forget that clicks aren't everything!

10) Don't focus too heavily on CTRs.

Getting tons of clicks isn't always the name of the game. In fact, if you aren't using proper techniques to ensure that you're getting targeted traffic and sending it to well-optimized landing pages you can blow through your advertising budget in no time flat. Remember that the success of any advertisement is getting back more than you put in. It's an investment, not a cost - so do all that you can to better your rate of return!

11) Don't pigeonhole yourself.

We all know that Google AdWords is the most popular Pay-Per-Click service out there. Your competitors know it, your users know it - even your grandma might know it. It would be foolish to ignore Google as a venue for advertising, but don't forget that there are other search engines out there who offer similar services. Yahoo!'s new Panama search system is catching on, and Microsoft's adCenter is nothing to sneeze at either. Both companies are currently offering sweet promotional deals to new Pay-Per-Click advertisers to stay competitive so take advantage and diversify!

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About the Author: Mike Tekula handles SEO, SEM, usability and standards-compliance for NewSunGraphics, a Long Island, New York firm offering Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, W3C-Compliant web design using full CSS layouts and all things web design/development.

Building Small Business Issue: Networking

By Dan Evans

Point Of Interest
1 Does a small business need Gigabit Ethernet?

Small companies can get big networking for little money these days. Wired, wireless, and Internet connection speeds come faster and cheaper than ever.

It makes good sense for you to pay a little extra to purchase Gigabit Ethernet rather than Fast Ethernet switches. Smaller companies will find Web-managed switches from companies such as Belkin, D-Link, Linksys, and Netgear for around $10 per port. Even small companies are moving around bigger and bigger files (video, graphics, and more), and Gigabit will really help also when you are performing over-the-network backups.

For wireless, 802.11g is the standard, but the time has come to consider draft 802.11n products, which offer five to ten times the performance and better coverage in a building. You'll find the routers and access points available for $100 to $150 from the same companies, and many new laptops have the option of including a draft 802.11n ExpressCard or PC Card. Make sure you run a secure wireless network by choosing WPA2 rather than the less-secure WEP option.

Using DSL or a cable modem typically provides enough bandwidth for most small businesses. Today's prices are impressively modest, but you might want to explore replacing the standard modem that comes with your service with product that supports VPNs for remote access. Ask your carrier about upgrade options.

Finally, although Wi-Fi can be found in many airports and cafés, mobile broadband provides connectivity almost anywhere you are. For $100 to $150 for the card and about $60 per month with preexisting voice service from AT&T or Verizon, you won't have to hunt around for a Wi-Fi hot spot.