Three Ways To Jumpstart Your IT Career
February 28, 2010
Three Ways To Jumpstart Your IT Career
by: Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
We all get stuck in ruts from time to time, and that happens on the job as well. You’ve thought about doing something different with your information technology career, but just haven’t quite gotten around to it yet. Sound familiar?
You can make 2006 the best year yet for your IT career. There are several simple steps you can take to accelerate your career - but you have to take the step, not just think about it!
Learn something new. One of the biggest reasons you get tired of a job is that you’re doing the same thing every day. If you happen to love what you do, that’s great, but if not it’s time to break out of the box. Besides, learning a new skill adds value to your career. If you’ve been doing server work for a long time, take the time to learn some Cisco skills. If you’re an Exchange specialist, learn some Linux skills.
Increasing Conversions Through Action-Oriented Copywriting
February 28, 2010
I do site reviews. Needless to say, I see a lot of Web copy. One thing that always befuddles me is the lack of focus many site pages have. It’s as if the writer assumes the site visitor will read the copy and automatically know what to do next. The fact is you have to know what action you want visitors to take before you get them to take that action. That means knowing what the preferred action you want visitors to take is, before you write the copy.
Think About It
Before you pen one word (for the Web or any other marketing medium), stop and think. “After reading this copy, what - specifically - do I want my site visitors to do?” Maybe you want them to click deeper into the site. Perhaps you want them to buy right then and there. It could be that you’d like them to call to discuss your product or service. Make a donation. Subscribe. Download. There are thousands of possible actions. Give some consideration to the question above and choose the action you most want your visitors to take.
Signposts Point the Way
3 Super-tips To Build, Promote And Profit More From Your Website!
February 27, 2010
Are you happy with your website? (Does your business even have one?)
Does it ‘perform’ as well as you’d like?
I’m a professional web designer and I always try to influence the design of a client site with the following three so-called super-tips. If I apply these tips to a new (or existing) site, I always feel that the site will ‘deliver’ much more.
So here are three super-tips, to help anyone get the most from their website:
Tip (1) Make sure your website has a Most Wanted Response
“What do you mean by most wanted response?”
Well, do you know what the main purpose of your website is?
- Does your site sell goods? Then which items do you most want to sell?
- Does your site offer content, supported by affiliate programs? Which affiliate programs do you most want to promote.
- Does your site simply operate a newsletter or ezine? Then do you make it easy for people to subscribe, from any page on your website?
What is the ‘point’ of your website?
How to Increase Sales with Automation Improvements
February 26, 2010
How popular is online shopping? And is there room for improvement? Let’s check out some pros and cons of automated shopping and see.
Digital carts offer convenience for people around the globe 24 hours a day. Yet an estimated 4 percent of shoppers make purchases, up from 3.5 percent in 2003, reported by DoubleClick, an online marketing company.
And approximately 30 percent of shopping carts are abandoned, according to recent surveys by BizRate.com, a shopping search engine.
The main reasons for shopping cart abandonment are*:
- High shipping prices (72%)
- Comparison shopping or browsing (61%)
- Changed mind (56%)
- Saving items for later purchase (51%)
- Total cost of items is too high (43%)
- Checkout process is too long (41%)
- Checkout requires too much personal information (35%)
- Site requires registration before purchase (34%)
- Site is unstable or unreliable (31%)
- Checkout process is confusing (27%)
To decrease shopping cart abandonment and increase sales, simple minor improvements in automation can be highly effective. Here are some tips that work best for clients and workers alike of OhioHelp.net, an Ohio-based company that specializes in helping businesses worldwide with their marketing, public relations and freelance writing services.
TOP TIPS FROM OHIOHELP.NET
Common Sense Approach to Search Engine Optimization
February 25, 2010
Most web surfers start their sessions at a search engine or a web directory. There are a number of different methods you can use to capture their traffic and drive it to your site:
Cisco CCNP Certification FAQ
February 24, 2010
Cisco CCNP Certification FAQ
by: Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
To earn your CCNP, you’ve got to pass some very rigorous Cisco exams, and you also need to know the rules regarding this important certification. In this article, I’ll answer some of the most commonly asked questions regarding the CCNP.
Q: What exams do I need to pass to get my CCNP?
A: You have two options, a three-exam path and a four-exam path. Currently, the four-exam path consists of rigorous exams on advanced routing techniques (BSCI), advanced switching (BCMSN), remote access methods (BCRAN), and advanced troubleshooting techniques (CIT). The three-exam path combines the BCMSN and BSCI exams into a single exam, the Composite exam.
Q: Do I have to take them in any order?
A: No, the order is up to the candidate. Most CCNP candidates take the BSCI exam first and the CIT exam last, but again this is up to the candidate.
Q: What else do I have to do to get the CCNP?
A: You must earn your CCNA before you can be CCNP certified (as well as passing the exams, of course).
Q: Is there a recertification requirement?
Visibility Equates to Higher Profits
February 23, 2010
One of the greatest challenges businesses face is how to market cost effectively while gaining a good return on investment (ROI). Regardless of what industry you are in, the size of your organization and how long you have been in business, you must continually look for ways to gain and maintain your visibility to your market.
Gaining visibility is one of the most important, and yet often most overlooked, aspect of running a business. Perhaps you don’t run a company, but you are in sales. Visibility applies to you as well.
Before you begin to aggressively position yourself and gain visibility, think about what the vision for you and your organization is. Gaining a vision of what the organization stands for, the impact you want to have on your customers or clients, the quality of products and services, your contribution to your community, and where you want the organization to be in the future is essential as you move forward.
Your vision is your ideal future state. The statement includes what you desire your organization to be like. Again, it doesn’t really matter the size of the organization. Included in the vision are your values. What is really important to you?
The Wave of the Future
February 23, 2010
The Wave of the Future
by: Scott Bianchi
With gas prices higher than a year ago and most likely not going down, and people’s schedules being busier than ever it is easy to see why on-line shopping is growing in popularity. Virtual Malls, or on-line shopping malls, offer you the same products as you get in the store, and in some cases even more than that same local store would carry. If they are out of stock you can place your order and they will ship it when it comes in or you can go to the next store and see if they have it. You aren’t wasting time and gas on driving from store to store or making a second trip back only to find out they didn’t come in or sold out again.
10 Magic Ways To Multiply Your Orders
February 22, 2010
1. Use reward programs to keep people revisiting your web site and buying your products. You could reward gifts or discounts for revisiting or buying.
2. Publish ezines for other web sites to increase your traffic. You could do it at no charge and in return just ask for a sponsor ad in each issue.
3. Trade endorsement ads with other ezines. They pull more hits and sales than just trading classified ads because it gives your ad instant credibility.
4. Test your ad copy before you start taking orders. Tell your visitors to email you if they want to be notified when you launch a new product.
5. Get your visitors excited about your product by letting them know how excited you are about it. Tell them why you’re excited and use exclamation points.
6. Use incentives to gain referrals if you don’t have an affiliate program. Tell people when they refer customers you will award them with free products.
7. Tell your visitors the reason why you’re having a sale so they don’t think your products are cheap. It could be a holiday/seasonal sale or clearance sale.
Now You Have a Web Site - Have You Ever Heard of Accessibility?
February 21, 2010
An accessible Web site is easily approached, easily understood, and useable for all. There are accessibility standards set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium, which all sites should adhere to as much as possible.
Web site owners should be aware of accessibility standards, because most designers and developers often ignore them. It is a waste of your investment to develop a great site that many Web surfers may not even be able to use.
While personal sites can get away with more innovative technologies, most commercial sites should not go overboard. If you do business internationally, or with customers who are located anywhere but in a city, the user’s bandwidth is a big issue. If it takes longer than a few seconds to open a document from your site, users are likely to move on, to another site that will work faster. Sites that receive a large amount of traffic will also save on hosting fees by keeping downloads to a minimum.
Not all browsers are created equal. Check your site for compatibility on as many computers as you can. It’s wise to consider that some people don’t allow JavaScript, cookies, images, or Flash and some people use text readers. By viewing your site on many machines, you often will find issues with the way your site operates or looks.
