How to Advertise on the Internet
December 15, 2007
Do you want to reach millions of potential customers for FREE? Well you can if you know how. The Internet, that massive network of thousands of computers around the world, also known as the "Information Super Highway," is your ticket to generating free leads and sales. As with any other medium, there is a correct way and an incorrect way to advertise online. One correct way is to post your message to various newsgroups that welcome advertising. If you dig around, I’m sure you’ll find a couple of newsgroups that fit this description. Posting your ad to these newsgroups is a good way to start your advertising campaign because they are seen by millions and it didn’t cost you a dime. Your ad will last for about two weeks and then you will need to repost your ad. Keep track of your ad response and focus your efforts on the ads that bring you the best results. Another source of free advertising is publishing articles that others can reprint freely. People such as webmasters and e-zine publishers are always in need of fresh content. Write about something you are interested in. If you have a certain area of expertise, write an article about that. Place a resource box at the end of your article with all of your pertinent contact information. Don’t attempt to sell your product here. Do that when you get contacted for more information. One more source of free advertising is ezines. Some ezines allow their subscribers to advertise for free. Different ezines have different rules regarding their advertising. There are a lot of directories online that list ezines that offer free advertising. Just go to any search engine and type in ezines and you should find a considerable amount of ezines listed. You can also create what is known as a signature file. A signature file is a footer that goes at the bottom of any email that you send out. Your signature file contains information such as your company name, email address, and website. You should also include a short sales message in your signature file. Now that you know the correct ways to advertise for free online, here are a few incorrect things to do when advertising online. Don’t be tempted to post ads in any newsgroup that you see. Follow their posting rules to the letter. If they say NO ADVERTISING, don’t advertise. This is a good way for you to get thrown out of the group. Additionally, don’t write articles that serve as sales letters. Editors will spot this rather quickly and they will not publish your article. There are many places to advertise for free online. If you utilize them, you will be well on your way to building your business online.
Fixed Point of Reference
December 14, 2007
According to author Frank Peretti, “A fixed point of reference for human beings is always something that is found outside themselves. It has to be something to which we can always come back. If we try to haul our point of reference around with us, we have lost it because it has been moved and we can never refer back to it.” He tells a story of being in a dark room with only a chair. As long as the chair stays put, it can be used as a point of reference. If it gets picked up and carried around, it no longer serves that function, because it isn’t where it used to be.
In our personal lives, having God as a fixed point of reference means that whenever we need guidance, we can turn to the Bible for advice and know that the advice we get today will not change tomorrow or next week or next month or next year. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He is our “fixed point of reference.” The rules stay the same; the Ten Commandments have not changed. There are still ten of them and they have not weakened into “suggestions.” AND, God still makes the rules.
Keep Your Passwords Safe on Public Use Computers
December 13, 2007
Keep Your Passwords Safe on Public Use Computers
by: Garnet Bailey
As you no doubt realize, passwords are the keys to our resources, our belongings and our online accounts, including our finances. While using our own home or office facilities, most of us work hard at keeping the possibility of having our information monitored or stolen at as low a level as possible. But the threat is still quite real. Part of our protection armor must include the use of protection software such as virus scanners and spyware scanners. It really is a very bad idea to use any internet connected computer today that does NOT have any means of virus or spyware protection. Almost all new computers sold today come equipped with some form of protection pre-installed. And a variety of alternate programs and services are available, many of them at no cost.
But what do you do if you are not at your home or office? This poses a much greater security risk to your password and account safety. Examples and accountings of hijacking of passwords, of tracking surfing activity and of capturing screen information of a user seem to be a common occurrence.
Some Practical Guidlines for Getting Involved with Internet Marketing
December 12, 2007
This article addresses the ‘how’ and ‘when’ of getting involved with internet marketing.
In this country we have been saturated with myths of instant wealth and fortunes made overnight.
Everyone has heard stories of someone who has gone to Las Vegas and ‘bet it all’ and won. People are encouraged to act impulsively with their business investments on the chance that ‘Lady Luck will smile on them.’
I personally believe that most people who gamble impulsively with their money lose it.
I believe the same thing is true of people who act impulsively when they get involved with internet marketing.
When is the best time to get involved with internet marketing? When you are still employed and already have a steady income, not when you are out of work or up against the stops financially.
I believe succeeding as an internet marketer takes time, persistence and investment. I believe there is a science to internet marketing and it involves a learning curve. When I started getting interested in internet marketing, I decided I would spend up to a year learning about it before I invested much money.
Top Ten Ways to Increase Web Sales - Part 2
December 11, 2007
You have only 10 seconds to impress your potential buyer.
Your Web site visitors don’t care about you. They care what you can do for them. Give them a reason to buy. If you haven’t reaped the sales you deserve apply these ten tips:
Part one of this article is available at http://www.bookcoaching.com/freearticles/article-56.shtml.
6. Make your layout clear, clean, and consistent.
An unorganized, unclear site tells people you didn’t do your homework by writing excellent copy to convince visitors to buy. If you don’t know how to do this, contact a copywriting coach or web writing coach. Take advantage of the smaller priced teleclasses. These professionals can show you how to write the best copy, and help you put in your personality rather than a “one size fits all” kind.
Organize each page in the same layout-such as left centered, right centered, or centered. Go to other Web sites and choose a design that resonates with you. Keep every page in the same format.
7. Use color on your Web pages that doesn’t jar your visitor.
Effectively Using Robots Meta Tags
December 11, 2007
The “robots” meta tag, when used properly, will tell the search engine spiders whether or not to index and follow a particular page. For the purposes of this article, we will be using the “( )” symbols to represent the “< >” in html coding.
Some examples of robot usage are as follows:
(meta name=”robots” content=”index,follow”)
(meta name=”robots” content=”noindex,follow”)
(meta name=”robots” content=”index,nofollow”)
(meta name=”robots” content=”noindex,nofollow”)
Let us first examine what these terms mean before we explain the usage for each one:
“index”- This directive tells the search engine robots (or spiders) that it is okay to index the page. Another words, you are allowing the search engine to include your page within their search directory.
“noindex”- Using this tag, you are informing the robots that this page should not be indexed. Simply put, this page will not appear in their search directory.
“follow”- When you use this tag, you are telling the search engines that you want their robot to follow any links that are found on that page.
“nofollow”- The opposite of the above definition, this directive will tell the robots not to follow any links on your page.
7 Must Knows for Measuring Web Site Activities
December 10, 2007
Record keeping measurements for Internet marketing
Record keeping tracks money — where it goes, when it comes in. Internet record keeping is also required for success. Yet the statistics show that only one out of a hundred people who own web sites do any type of record keeping on how much it cost them to be there A system that works hard for you when you don’t still requires monitoring and periodic reviews. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it, then it manages you.
The top keys to making money on the Internet are working smart, planning, testing, immediately stopping when something isn’t working, reinvest in new techniques and approaches that improve and then keep testing. For every success there are usually 10 to 15 try, sometimes more, that weren’t successful. Even prolific writers create a number of drafts to get to the end result that works.
Here are nine terms you want to become very familiar with and that you want to use to measure your success. As a past CPA, these terms aren’t just for an Internet site, they too are usable in other services or brick and mortar operations.
Buying Safely On The Internet
December 9, 2007
Buying Safely On The Internet
by: Robert Young
Despite the many concerns, some now argue that it is actually safer to buy online than buying over the phone or handing your credit card over to someone in a shop. This is because if the online payment is handled properly, your banking details will be “encrypted”, which means they cannot be viewed by anyone other than those handling the transaction - usually the banks.
If you’re still unsure, Card Watch, a banking group that works with the police and retailers to stop credit card fraud, offer the following “top ten tips” when buying online:
1. Make sure your web-browser (that’s the software that you use to view websites, most commonly Internet Explorer or Netscape) is set to the highest level of security notification and monitoring. These options are not always automatically activated when your computer is set-up, so check your manual or the “Help” option.
2. Check that you are using a recent version of your web-browser, as they often include better security features. Up to date versions can be downloaded free from the Microsoft or Netscape websites. If you have a different browser or use on-line services such as AOL or CompuServe, contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or software supplier to find out how to activate their security features.
Link Building: To Link, or Not to Link, That is the Question
December 8, 2007
Lately, there have been a lot of heated discussions regarding link building. Is it ethical to create a link building campaign? Does Google or any other search engine penalize for "link farms" (a bunch of non-related links created for the SOLE purpose of increasing search engine ratings)? Is the "link building era" over?
Link Farms
Many webmasters claim that Google penalizes websites for link farms. If this is so, why are a link farm sites that have a page rank of 5 on their link farm page? Let me give you an example, go to Google.com, type in any popular keyword(s) and append the word "links" to it. For example, "ABCD Links." Notice you’ll get tones of websites that are linking to unrelated sites, but still have a great PR. I do not encourage link farming in any way or form, but building valuable partnerships is something I do encourage. If you’re a jewelry site and you’re exchanging links with an antiques site, I think this is a great thing. It’s very possible that someone searching for jewelry may have an interest in antiques. I own a few sites and the hits I receive from partially related sites are phenomenal. Most of my websites are targeted towards webmasters so I receive hits from all sorts of sites. Remember, many webmasters claim to know the truth regarding search engine algorithms, but no one knows the EXACT TRUTH except the programmers at the search engines. Webmasters may have been penalized in the past for link farms and doorway pages (pages created around certain keywords for the sole purpose of redirecting surfers to the main page), but who’s to say why some HAVEN’T been penalized.
13 Killer Ways To Multiply Your Sales
December 7, 2007
1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the customer. You could follow-up with a “thank you” email. That way, you could follow-up every few months and build your own lists and include an advertisement for other products you sell.
2. You could upsell to your customers. When they’re at your order page, tell them about a few extra related products you have for sale. They could just add it to their original order.
3. Trigger your reader’s emotions in your ad copy. Example, if you sell a book on gambling tips, tell them the feelings they’ll get when they win money. Hypnotic sentence like :”The more you keep reading our ad the more you feel it would be a waste to let this opportunity slip by” will usually trigger prospect’s subconscious mind to bring out these feelings or actions.
4. When you sell a product, give your customers the option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product. This will multiply the sale you just made.
5. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to your products. You could include an ad on or with the product for other products you sell. You could make sales for the reproduction rights and sales on the back end product.
