Online Business Today

Which is Better - Blogger or Wordpress

2007-04-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

Blogging is very popular today. The two main blogging platforms are blogger.com and WordPress. The platform that will work best for you depends on many factors. Learning the advantages and disadvantages of each will help you make that decision. Blogger allows you to put up a blog quickly and easily. There is no need for you to have a website or a domain name. Blogger hosts the blog for you. Registration is free and takes only minutes. Once you are registered, you can immediately begin to set up your blog. Templates are provided for you to use and can be easily changed at any time to give your blog a new look. When you add a post, you simply name it and, if you have a website, link it to your site so visitors can easily visit your site by clicking on the title. Type in your text and preview it to be certain it looks good. Then publish it. Your blog is now live. If it's this easy, why would you not simply choose Blogger and be done with it? When you get done posting, you need to ping your blog. Let blogging networks know you have just updated your blog. You can do so by going to Pingomatic.com and entering the name of your blog and the URL address of your blog. Click on the websites you want to ping and you're done. If you don't take time to ping, there's a good chance no one will find your blog. This pinging is not hard, but it is an extra step you need to take when you post, unless you are posting for just family and/or friends. The fact that Blogger is hosted at Blogger also means they can delete your blog at any time. You don't have total control over your blog. Chances are this will not happen, but it does tend to make many marketers worry a bit. WordPress, on the other hand, is hosted on your hosting service. You use your domain name and the WordPress blog is in it's own folder. You have total control over your blog. Once setup, it is very easy for you to post to it. You go into the administration area and write a post. When you are finished, you click to publish it. If you have setup WordPress properly and have listed auto posting at Pingomatic, your post will automatically be pinged to the blogging networks. You do not have an additional step. There are also many templates for you to use and it is possible to configure these templates to fit your needs. Once again, you have more control. However, WordPress can be a little complicated to install and, to take full advantage of it, there are many different plugins you will need to install as well. This can be a bit of a daunting task and something you might not want to be bothered with. You do have to have a domain name and you have to have web hosting set up. These costs may limit the number of different blogs you might want to publish, whereas Blogger allows you to make as many blogs as you want on different subjects and you never pay anything. Some people have blogs using both platforms. You need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each and make your decision accordingly. The best way is to dive in and give it your best shot.

Tom Taylor BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com/
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
This article may be republished so long as the resource information is left intact.

Affiliate Marketing with a Twist - The Free Way to Easy Money

2007-04-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

Article marketing is nothing new. But applied to affiliate marketing it is the easiest way to make money online. And best of all, you can do it without spending a dime using only free tools available online. This is all you will need: - A free keyword research tool - A free text editor - A free Clickbank account - A free Blogger account Do a quick search on your favorite search engine and you will find these free tools very easily.

Quick cash blue print:

1 - Keyword research: Using your keyword research tool, search for low competition keywords. Those are keywords that have at least 300 searches a month and that have less than 5000 competing pages in Google (when entered between quotation marks like this "keyword"). Try to find 5 to 10 good keywords related to the same topic. The idea is to focus on keywords for which you can get a first page ranking in Google, Msn and Yahoo. Hint: If you have no idea of which market to target, start by checking popular phrases like: how to, purchase, get rid of, help, cure, tips, etc.

2 - Find a digital product to promote Go to Clickbank.com and find a product related to your topic. Choose one that pays at least $15 to $20. Generate your affiliate link and write it down or save it in a text file on your computer.

3 - Article writing: Write an informative article (approximately 400 words) focused on each of your keywords. Put your keyword in the title and in the first and last paragraph of your article. Also sprinkle it throughout your copy. You can also throw in a few other keywords related to your topic. This will help you rank well. Most important, write a great bio box that will make people want to learn more and click on the link to your blog. Put your keyword in your bio box as an anchor text link to your blog.

4 – Set up your blog. More and more article directories will not let you put your affiliate link in your bio box. So your blog is going to be your landing page. The idea here is to put up a simple blog that will presell (not sell) your product and make people click on your Clickbank affiliate link to go to the sales page. Hint: set up a blog for every product you promote and give it a keyword-focused name.

5 – Submit your articles to article directories. You will need to find article directories with a PR of 5 or more. These are the ones Google likes and it will help you get a first page ranking in the search engines and drive tons of free traffic to your blog. Post one article a day on each article directory and do not post the exact same article to more than one directory. Hint: Your best choice is Ezinearticles.com. You will need good quality articles, but it is the most powerful directory online. Alternatively you can use Goarticles.com.

6 – Rinse and repeat! Article marketing is a game of numbers. The more articles your submit, the more money you will earn. But every product is not going to be a winner. Some will do well, some will not. So test a new product every week putting up 5 to 10 focused articles each time. That is all there is to it. This may seem to good to be true, but it really does work. Off course it will take a couple of weeks for money to start rolling in on a regular basis but the magic of this method is that once you write a money making article it will generate residual income for months and maybe even years -- without ever costing you a single dime.

Tom Taylor
BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com/
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
This article may be republished so long as the resource information is left intact.

Building a Business Selling Other People's Stuff

2007-04-04T07:04:00.000-07:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

Do you want to work online? Do you want to build your own business? Do you have a dream of working for yourself, from home, where you could work as many or as few hours as you like and still make a good living?

A lot of people have that dream too, but what's the best way to make it come true?

Chances are when you start on this journey, you'll end up joining some get-rich-quick schemes and multi-level marketing programs; but you'll soon realize that only a select few make money this way, and unfortunately the odds are against you.

However, there are in fact many multi-millionaires being made online.

Most of them are selling their own products they've developed; but nearly all of them are also selling products as affiliates.

What does that mean? Selling as an affiliate means working as a commissioned salesperson, or making money selling other people's stuff!

While the product owner takes care of billing, customer service, refund requests, tech support and so forth, the affiliate just recommends the product to others, and gets a hefty sales commission for doing so... which can often be as high as 50-75%, and sometimes even 100%, for digital downloadable products.

Why would a product owner offer such high commissions? They do it because 25-50% of your sales, and every other affiliate's sales, add up to a lot more than 100% of their own sales. In other words, they wouldn't be selling those products at all without you.

Why would anyone offer 100% commissions? Because they want to give you a good reason to promote their product (usually at a fairly low price point so they don't mind giving up the sales money) in exchange for building their list of opt-in subscribers. Everyone who pays you the 100% commission for the product also ends up signing up with the product owner to download it, so it’s a win-win scenario.

Now here's the biggest question: how do you get people to buy products through your affiliate link when it seems everybody online is promoting the same thing?

There are numerous ways to get the attention of a customer, which leads them to buy through you.

1. Pay per Click Direct-to-Merchant

Many people are making great money online by purchasing clicks from Google AdWords or other pay per click search engines, and sending that traffic directly to the product owner's sales page through their affiliate link. This can be very profitable if done right. The main drawback is that only a couple of people can use the same domain name when promoting through AdWords, so rather than using your affiliate link as it is, you should create a redirect link. The other drawback is that the traffic you have purchased may be interested in other products you're promoting, but you don't have contact with those people once they've clicked through to the sales page, so that’s a lost sales opportunity.

2. Pay per Click to a Landing Page

This method uses the same type of pay per click advertising, but sends people to your own landing page first. You can offer a review of the product or some other type of unique content, before offering the visitor your affiliate link to click on if they like your review. Again, once the people click through to the sales page, you won't be able to contact them anymore.

3. Combination of Pay per Click and List-Building

This method is very similar to #2, sending people to your own landing page first. However, the idea is to have them opt in to your newsletter list before they get to see your review or the sales page. Once someone is on your list, you'll be able to send him or her related offers down the road. But be careful that your landing page is not just a "squeeze page" with an opt-in form and no content, which goes against Google’s AdWords regulations.

4. Combination of SEO and List-Building

If you don't want to pay for traffic or worry about operating within Google’s pay per click terms, you can go the natural search way and build traffic through SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization. This takes a different resource – your time -- in order to properly optimize your page. You will also want to research how to do it the most effectively. However, many super affiliates are to the point where all their traffic comes naturally from the search engines, and they get thousands of visitors a day.

To combine SEO with list building, you would once again offer an opt-in form to the visitor so that you can keep contact with them. Otherwise you’re letting them leave as easily as they came, which is a waste of your SEO efforts.

As you can see, there are numerous ways to get traffic to your sites and build your affiliate marketing business. If you choose an option that involves opt-in list building, then you'll also have a growing list of subscribers who know, like and trust you, and will buy much of what you recommend.

Another way to stand out is to offer a bonus or rebate that nobody else offers. You'll make less on each transaction if it's a cash rebate, but not everyone will cash in on your offer, and you'll also have more sales overall.

With a little ingenuity and effort, you can be a super affiliate in no time.

Tom Taylor
BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com/
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm
This article may be republished so long as the resource information is left intact.

15 Tips to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

2007-03-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

There are many factors that make blogs much better than normal WebPages including the speed at which blogs are indexed, ability to submit to blog directories & normal directories, pings and track backs. All these little things can help drive more traffic to blogs. Here are 15 popular techniques you can use:

1.) Create at least four keyword posts per day. Most of the top blogs such as Boing Boing, Daily Kos, and Instapundit (with literally tens of thousands of visitors per day) publish an average of 30 small 100-150 word posts per day according to "Secrets of the A-list Bloggers: Lots of Short Posts" by TNL.net

2.) Submit to My Yahoo! When you submit your own RSS to My Yahoo it is indexed by Yahoo.

3.) Submit to Google's Reader. When you submit your own blog RSS to Google's Reader the Google Blog Search will index your site.

4.) Add a relevant link directory to your blog and trade links like a demon possessed! Although it may take more time than simply submitting to a search engine one time, this method is perhaps the best way to drive traffic to your site. Use software such as Zeus to speed up the link trading process.

5.) Use ping sites like ping-o-matic. Ping your site every time you add a new post.

6.) Submit your blog to traditional search engines such as AltaVista, and MSN.

7.) Submit your blog to traditional directories such as DMOZ. Directories (particularly DMOZ) increase relevance with Google. DMOZ is very picky, but what do you have to lose by trying?

8.) Submit to as many RSS Directories and Search Engines as possible. This is a simple but repetitive process that can be done with software such as RSS SUBMIT.

9.) Comment on other blogs. Do not just leave short, lazy comments like "I agree." Leave well thought out replies that will force readers to wonder "who wrote this?"

10.) Use track backs. If there is a blog that you refer to or quote and it is highly relevant to your subject, leave a track back. It increases your link popularity and may even score a few interested readers from the linked site.

11.) Go offline. Use newspaper ads, public bulletin boards, business cards, even stickers to let as many people as possible know your blog exists.

12.) Ad a link to your blog in your e-mail signature block.

13.) Use Groups (Usenet). Find a relevant group on Google groups, Yahoo groups, MSN groups or any of the thousands of other FREE group services and find like minded people and talk with them. Make sure your use your blog URL like it is your name.

14.) Use Forums. Forums are one of the best places to go for advice. Go to forums and find problems to solve. Make sure you leave your blog name, but be tactful about it; some forums get annoyed with those who selfishly drop a few links to their own site and leave.

15.) Tag your website. Tagging is a new idea that has erupted across the web. Sites like Del.icio.us, Technorati and many others have a social feature that allows you to place your article under keywords or "tags" that everyone interested in that tag can see.

Although these are some of the most popular ways to drive traffic to your blog, do not limit your self to tips and lists. Use your imagination and you will come up with thousands of ways to drive traffic to your blog!

Tom Taylor

BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)

http://online-business-centre.com

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource information is left intact.

Gear Up Your Site for Social Media Marketing

2007-03-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

The year 2006 saw the emergence of social media. If you are engaged in operating a website, you must realign your site to exploit the popular social media sites for increased traffic.

You should also introduce social media components to your site because web users are experiencing these new form of interactions in more and more sites and they may have an expectation of the same from your site also.

If you want to attract repeat visitors and want them to stay longer, your focus this year should be on the social aspects of your site.

Social media use technologies like RSS, blogging, podcasting, tagging, etc. and offer social networking (MySpace, Facebook), social video and picture sharing (YouTube, Flickr), and community-based content ranking (Digg, MiniClip) features.

The central theme of these sites is user generated contents used for sharing among the end-users. The social aspects of these sites are to allow users to setup social communities, invite friends and share common interests.

You don't have to change your site completely within a month or so to take advantages of these new technologies. Introduce small changes incrementally through out the year and you will be on your way to meet these new challenges.

The first step is to declare who you are to the online community. People should be able to relate to you. Unless they know more about you, you will be just an unknown identity and most people don't like to deal with unknowns. Create an About Us page and list your achievements and skills.

Create a MySpace page and link your bio in the About Us page to the MySpace page. Also provide a link back from the MySpace page to your website. Spend an hour every week to develop your online social network in MySpace. Invite a few of these new friends to write blog articles at your site about your products or services.

Install a free blog software and start publishing at least one article in your blog. Provide an easy bookmarking feature to social bookmarking sites like delicious. This is done by providing an action button for each article in your site. The action button takes users to the submission page of the bookmarking site.

Also, provide an action button for direct posting of blog articles to digg. Digg is a popular news ranking site. A well dugg article will bring thousands of visitors to your site.

Provide a forum at your site for users to discuss your products and services. Don't delete negative comments because they provide insights into the improvements needed to serve your visitors better. However, censor hate speeches and meaningless bantering. Register your forum at BoardTracker. BoardTracker is a forum search engine.

If you are offering products, allow users to review and rate your products. This will help you in inventory management because you may want to discontinue low rated products.

Provide RSS feeds for your new products, blogs, forum postings, etc. An RSS feed provides teasers of your contents. Users will use RSS readers to scan your teasers and visit your site for more information if the teasers draw their attentions.

Publish all your feeds at feedburner. Feedburner provides media distribution and audience engagement services for RSS feeds. They also provide an advertising network for your feeds. If you have quality contents, you will be able to monetize your contents using their services.

Create short how-to or new product videos and post these videos in social video sharing sites like YouTube, Google video. Provide a few start and end frames in these videos to introduce your site with your site url. Post these videos using catchy titles, teasing descriptions, and appropriate tags to make them discoverable.

Provide embedded links to your posted videos in your site. This will save your bandwidth and storage space because the videos reside in the video sharing sites.

Besides videos, use social photo sharing sites like Flickr to share pictures related to contents in your site. Use the same title, description and tag techniques discussed earlier for social video sites.

Provide a Send to Friend feature for all products and services you offer. This feature is a link that sends the article, product description, etc. to a recipient via e-mail.

For starter, Yahoo provides a service called Action Buttons (search for Yahoo Action Buttons) that add links to your website for users to share, save, and blog about your website. The Yahoo action buttons use delicious for social bookmarking, and Yahoo blog site for blogging. It also has a print feature.

The social media is not a fad. It is here to stay and bring in profound changes to web surfers' experiences. It is the right time for implementing features that will make your site social media friendly. Also, using marketing techniques that utilize popular social media sites, you will be able to bring traffic to your site.

Tom Taylor

BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)

http://online-business-centre.com

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource informationis left intact.

How to Boost Your Traffic and Profits with Content!

2007-02-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT is to your online business? In fact, content can do more to build your business and profits than just about any other resource or service available.

Following is a list of 5 key ways that content can help build your traffic, subscribers, and customers starting today!...

1. Boost your search engine ranking and daily visitor count by posting keyword rich articles and content on your web-site. For example, if your business involves offering products and services related to fitness, posting fitness related articles and content will attract unlimited prospective customers on a regular basis!

2. Generate double or even triple the number of newsletter subscribers you do currently, simply by offering content in the form of "special reports" or manuals as bonuses for subscribing to your publication. People love freebies, so give them what they want and watch as your results increase!

3. Create an automated cashflow by using content to formulate multi-part email training courses with related web-site or affiliate links "sprinkled" throughout each course. Use an autoresponder service to automate the delivery of your training course (such as a 5 part training course delivered over a 5 day period).

Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus offers for your prospective newsletter subscribers.

4. One of the most important keys to a successful online business is not JUST having a list of mailing list or newsletter subscribers... It's about building a trusting relationship with your subscribers (ie, "cultivating" your list)...

By sending informative articles (content) to your list on a regular basis you will establish yourself as an expert on your topic of business, as well as gain the trust of your subscribers over time. As a result, your subscribers will be EAGER to take advantage of your "paid" product and service offers. (Just make sure that you NEVER take advantage of the relationship you develop with your list by offering products or services of poor quality just to make a quick buck!)

If there is one "constant" in Internet marketing, it's this: A cultivated list of subscribers is as good as money in the bank. Write that down and never forget it!

5. Another excellent way to generate no cost traffic is by submitting ready-made articles to "content hungry" web-site and newsletter publishers with your "resource box" attached. A resource box is nothing more than a little 3-6 line "bio" about you and/or your web-site - including a link to your site (or even instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter)...

When submitting or offering your article(s)
for reprint purposes, just make sure to
specify that each article is to be reprinted
"as is" with your resource box attached.

...Even one article can go a LONG way towards generating no cost traffic and visitors for you. Just imagine your article being sent out to a newsletter subscriber base of 100,000 individuals - many of whom will be reading YOUR included resource box and clicking on your URL to learn more about what you have to offer!

Well there you have it, 5 sure ways to build your online business exponentially with the help of articles and content...

With the declining effectiveness of many of the online advertising methods that we've relied on in past years, content is only strengthening its position as the ultimate KEY to generating unlimited traffic, subscribers, and customers!

Tom Taylor

BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)

http://online-business-centre.com

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource informationis left intact.

5 Tips on Using Private Label Content

2007-02-12T06:58:00.000-08:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

Private Label Content is becoming increasingly popular
as people join the rush to fill their websites with high
-quality information. Admittedly, you can have articles
written by freelance writers at sites like Elance or
Rentacoder, but it gets expensive. For those who are
not yet generating a high income through AdSense or
affiliate sales, Private Label Content (PLC) provides a
welcome alternative.
=== What is Private Label Content? ===
PLC generally refers to articles, e-books and manuals
that are free for subscribers to
use as they wish. There are a few restrictions,
however: you cannot claim copyright to PLC, or
submit it to article sites, unless you change the
content significantly. (Interpret 'significantly' as
'unrecognizable as the original article'.) The cost of
membership varies, but typically ranges from around
$24 to $67 a month. For this you might receive
anywhere from 150 to 300 articles per month. Some
sites also offer graphics (e-book covers and site header
graphics) and even ready-made sales letters. To use
PLC to the best advantage, you need to be aware of a
few things.
=== 1. How Can You Use PLC Articles? ===
The most common use for PLC articles is to provide
useful, interesting content for websites. There are
other uses, however. Think about your immediate
needs. If you require an incentive for people to sign
up for your newsletter, you can offer an e-book or
training manual made up from PLC articles. It's easy
to tweak these to be more relevant to your website
and your clients. (As well as putting yourself in
Google's shoes, put yourself in your clients' shoes.
What do they most need to know?) You could also
create an e-course (anything from 6 to 52 articles -
a short e-course, or one that offers an article for each
week of the year). This gives you an excellent reason
to stay in touch with your clients.
=== 2. How Can You Alter PLC Articles? ===
Submitting articles to public article directories along
with your resource box is a great way to generate
traffic to your web-sites. However, many directories
don't allow you to submit duplicate content - ie, you
have to submit your own unique article. Therefore,
when submitting an article that you obtained from a
private label content resource, it's advisable to first
alter the article before submission. Here are a few tips
in that regard... (a) Change the title of the article. If
you are using keyword-optimized articles, make sure
you keep the keyword in the title - but be creative
about the words that surround it. So if your article is
based on the keyword "Mongolian Guinea Pig", your
title might be "Where to Find the Mongolian Guinea
Pig" or "Taking Care of Your Mongolian Guinea Pig"
and so on. (b) Change the opening paragraph. All you
need to do (usually) is make sure that your keyword
appears once. Take a look at the rest of the paragraph.
How can you say the same thing in a different way?
Look for synonyms - using your thesaurus - or alter
the tone. Perhaps you can adopt a more casual
approach (this might work better for your readership
anyway). You might prefer write a different
introduction altogether. (c) Work through the article.
Add a sentence here; subtract one there. Present the
facts in a different order. Expand by adding some new
points. Break a long article into two shorter articles.
(If you do this, make sure each article seems complete
in itself.) (d) Rewrite the ending. When you do this,
think about what you want the reader to do. Is this a
good place to put your own affiliate link, or write a
lead-in to your own product or services?
=== 3. Blend Several Articles Into One ===
You can get a whole new look if you take two or more
PLC articles on the same theme and blend them into
one longer, fact-packed article. Sometimes you might
find you HAVE to do this, if an article seems a bit
'lightweight'. Not all PLC articles are created equal!
Sometimes it's obvious that the writer was low on
inspiration.
=== 4. Think Outside the Square. ===
Most PLC articles are presented in batches relevant
to one niche. For example, you might find that over
the course of a month you get 20 articles on golf, 20
on cell phones, 20 on credit cards and 20 on travel.
Let's say that you are busy building a golf site. It
might seem at first glance that only 20 of the 80
articles are relevant to your needs. Not so! Golf
vacations, for example, are very popular. Could any of
your travel articles be massaged to fit the theme of
golf vacations? It's very likely that they could. And
what about communication while you travel - or while
you play golf? Does the golfer need a new cell phone
that will easily adapt to overseas communications?
How will the golfer pay for a new set of clubs or a golf
vacation? Might he need to explore credit card options?
You see how it's done. Be creative in your use of
Private Label Content, and you will definitely get your
money's worth. === 5. One Final Tip - Hold Out For
Quality! === Now that Private Label Content is
becoming popular, more and more PLC sites are
opening up. You can afford to be choosy. Check out
the quality of the articles on offer, and especially the
niches being targeted. Niche areas like golf and credit
are popular, and that's exactly what you want. You
want to go where there is an *existing* demand. You
do NOT want obscure niches where there is little
activity. You WANT to go where there is competition.
Naturally, the profitable niches will always have
competition. Where there is competition, there are
buyers! So you want to look for demand, look for
competition, and carve your niche! Finally, consider
being a member of more than one PLC site. Is it worth
it to you to spend $150 a month on quality, no-strings-
attached content? That would get you membership of
3-4 sites and upwards of 400 articles each month.
Even if you can use only 50 of those articles, you're
getting them for $3 each - a bargain!

Tom Taylor

BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)

http://online-business-centre.com

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource informationis left intact.

8 Ways to Gain Expert Recognition

2007-02-11T15:02:00.000-08:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

No matter what business you are in it always helps to be seen as
an expert. If you were calling someone to fix a drain or sell your
house you would approach the person you saw as most credible
and reputable in that area of expertise. To become an expert
takes hard work and experience. It can involve study or the
honing of practical skills. It demands high standards of work. But
after all this effort will you be perceived as an expert? If you feel
you've earned the mantle of expert but are not recognized as
one, here are eight ways to start establishing your reputation.

Publish a book or series of reports or articles The internet has
made this much easier. You can now create an ebook that can
be downloaded without having to involve a publisher. There are
ezine owners always looking for good quality articles and reports
for their ezines. A well-written book or series of articles will
establish your reputation as an expert in your field. Publish a
newsletter Set one up on the internet and distribute it to your
customers. This is an excellent way to regularly keep your name
in front of your prospects as an authority on your subject.

Write press releases Used correctly these can gain you a lot of
positive publicity. Make sure the press release looks like
newsworthy information and not like an advertisement. Create
a website Set up a user-friendly website that will appeal to
customers and you have expanded the reach of your reputation.
Keep it timely and informative, and people will continue to return
to your site. If you don't know how to set up a website there are
plenty of web designers who do. Alternatively enquire at a college
teaching web design. Some students might want to build a portfolio.

Join associations If you are a member of an association it will
enhance your credibility. But don't just be a member. Be an active
member. This will build your reputation among your peers and
lead to useful introductions. Membership can have many benefits,
and it will certainly keep you up to date in your field. Networking
You can boost your reputation and influence by speaking to the
right people. Keep your name in front of your prospects. Organize
mutually beneficial ventures.

You cannot predict what may come from a contact so make as
many as you can. Public Speaking Even speaking to a local group
of people can establish you as an expert and get you referrals
that may lead to a wider audience. If you are not sure you can
speak in public, preparation and rehearsal are the keys to success.
Make sure your presentation is aimed at the right level, follows
a sensible sequence and will not sound like a dry textbook-like
monologue. Write your main points on small cards so you are
not relying solely on your memory and start in front of a small
audience. Teach workshops or seminars If you have knowledge
that people would like to tap into you can pass on your expertise.

If your presentation is well planned you will be seen as an
authority in your subject. You will also meet people who are
likely to recommend you to others. If you are teaching a hot
topic you will also be gaining a useful income stream. Any of
these methods will start building your reputation as an expert.
Use them all correctly and you will gain the sort of reputation
that will have potential clients approaching you without having
to seek them out.

Tom Taylor

BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)

http://online-business-centre.com

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource informationis left intact.

What is a Niche Market Anyway?

2007-02-08T06:59:00.000-08:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

You are interested in starting a home-based business. You also
want to use the Internet for your work-at-home idea. However, you
are not sure if you can make money online. To make matters worse,
you are confused about what home-based business opportunity to
pursue.

If this sounds like you, rest assured that money can be made
online with a home-based business. You don't need to study for
years until you can reap rewards. There are sound business
concepts that have been taught and proven to be true by some of
the most highly successful marketers in the world. What is the
top sound principle that will ensure your success? It is choosing
the right niche market.

You might be wondering what is a niche. A niche is simply a group
of people with similar interests and needs. They are very
passionate about their topic of interest. Think of a small pond
packed with starving fish and you have the bait specific to their
needs; they will like what you have to offer the best. This, in
essence, is a niche.

Why a niche market? Well, unless you are a huge corporation with
bottomless pockets, niche marketing is the way to go. You see
most of the large corporations blow off niche markets because
they are not trying to make an additional $1000 to $15000 per
month like many home-based business entrepreneurs and other small
business owners. They are seeking to make millions per month,
which is good for you because you don't have to compete with
those companies that have massive marketing budgets.

It really is easy to find potential customers in niche markets.
Here are some examples:

Motor Home Owners
Carpet Cleaner Business Owners
Restaurant Owners
Winter Camping Enthusiasts
Siamese Cat Owners
Dentists
Landscape Company Owners

You get the picture.

Before you decide which niche market to target for your home-
based business, here are four important points to consider:

1. Is the market easily defined and reachable? Do you know where
they hangout? What kind of trade journals or publications do they
read? Do they have clubs or are members of particular
organizations?

2. Is the market small enough that you will not have tons of
competitors, but still large enough for you to make a good
profit?

3. Does the market have the money to spend?

4. Does the group have an insane passion for their hobby or topic
of interest? Do they eat, sleep, and breathe their hobby? Are
they constantly seeking more information related to their
subject? A great example of this would be golfers and NASCAR
enthusiasts!

Doing research related to these questions will help you pick the
perfect niche market for your home-based business.

As you think about starting a home-based business and what market
to target, follow the above suggestions and you will be way ahead
of many other home-based business opportunity seekers who want to
start a work-at-home business.

Tom Taylor

BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)

http://online-business-centre.com

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource informationis left intact.

New Strategy for Inbound Links

2007-01-25T07:37:00.000-08:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article revisits the oldest Web marketing strategy - inbound
links. The importance of inbound links to your Web site
never diminishes. Search engines still value quality inbound links to
a Web site for higher rankings. However, the emphasize is now on
the quality, not the quantity of links. A dozen quality links to
your site from useful sites are more valuable to a search engine
than 700 links obtained through a link exchange program.

Before going into the details of how to obtain quality inbound
links to your site, you should know some don'ts of inbound link
strategy. Never participate in an automated or manual link
exchange program. These programs are useless; they don't benefit
you and sometimes the search engines may even penalize your site
for such links. Also, stop soliciting link exchange from other
sites where your links will be placed in a link farm on a page
along with hundreds of other links. The two don'ts are - link
exchange program and link farms.

The number one strategy is to write articles with your resource
box attached. Your resource box should mention your expertise in
the subject and only one link to your site's home page. If you
have already started frowning on the idea of writing articles to
promote your site, you are not alone. Most probably, you already
know that writing article for site promotion is not a new
strategy and it has been going for the past few years.

Thousands of articles are written everyday and distributed
through article directories and submission services. You can
still continue promoting your site using article directories and
submission services. However, this article will discuss a few new
twists to the old article publishing idea to distinguish you from
the pack.

Write original articles. If you buy private level rights to an
article, rewrite it to make it unique. You don't have to buy the
rights to private level articles to create original article.
Using the Internet, find good quality articles on the subject
that interests you and read those articles. It requires a few
hours of time commitment every week.

On the weekend, take an additional few hours and write in your
own words what you have read in the preceding week. Voila, you
have a good quality original article. Remember, you can always
write in your own words the ideas that you have read in other
articles. You cannot simply copy verbatim from other articles.
That will be copyright violation.

If you are good at writing humorously, do exploit that skill
while writing on any subject. Humor is very powerful and it
attracts more readers. People love a bellyful of laughs. If
possible, say something bold or controversial without being
a hate monger. This will also attract others' attention.

Once you have your original article written, find a few quality
content rich site (not article directories) and offer them your
article for free with your resource box attached. You are not
asking for any link exchange, you are just giving away your high
quality articles for free to a few selected sites.

Once you have a few good articles on the same subject, compile
them into an e-book. Write a short bio(less than 300 characters)
with your Web site link and ask a few selected site owners to
distribute your e-book for free to their visitors. You can also
ask other site owners to include your e-book as a free bonus in
some of their prime selling products. Ask the site owners to
distribute the e-book from their sites with courtesy notes and
links back to your site.

If your Web site has a forum, offer other sites to use it from
their sites. Setup your forum so that it has almost seamless
integration from other sites. Ask other sites to directly link to
your forum from their main menu. In return, tell them that
you will write nice reviews of their sites and their offerings and
publish those reviews in your site.

Develop a tips and tricks section on the subject of your Web site
and update it regularly. Allow other sites to publish your tips
and tricks for free with courtesy links to your site. Make the
process automated (using RSS other techniques) so that when you
update your tips and tricks page, all sites publishing your tips
and tricks are also updated.

Whenever you get an opportunity, use your cell phone to shoot
short videos and take pictures. You need to get a good cell phone
with a camera. Give your pictures and videos to other sites for
free. Ask them to put links back to your site below every video
and picture they publish in their sites.

Join a few social networking sites like MySapce, etc. Create your
Web pages on those sites with videos and pictures. Provide links
back to your site from those pages. Update your Web pages in
social networking sites periodically with fresh videos and pictures.

Publish link to your articles in community based popularity sites
like digg. A well "dugg" story can generate thousands of hits to
your site. If you have a controversial or humorous story, the
chances are even better for "digging" your articles from these
type of sites.

Write reviews of products and services, related to your site's
subject, that you have used and publish those reviews on different
review sites with a clever way to put links back to your site. Some
creativity is required to achieve this feat. You cannot simply spam these
review sites. Be genuine and at the same time marketing savvy.

Network and build good rapport with a dozen or so good site owners.
Help each other in site promotion, idea and content exchanges. For all
content exchanges, don't forget to include resource boxes with links back to
your site.

Tom Taylor

BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)

http://online-business-centre.com

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource informationis left intact.

Learn How You Can Overcome Procrastination Immediately

2007-01-24T04:44:00.000-08:00

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

Problem:
People procrastinate because many are paralyzed with fear of
failure, loss, pain and some, success! What we fear becomes our reality.

Solution
1. Fear is “False Evidence Appearing Real.
2. 90% of what we fear never becomes reality.
3. The best way to overcome fear is to do what we fear.

4. It helps if you visualize the worst case scenario and accept it as
a possibility and realize it will probably never come to pass.
5. Our imaginations exaggerate negative fears completely out of
proportion and in most cases never occur!

Problem
Few have a strategy to accomplish their goals.

Solution
1. Make a contract with yourself.
2. Identify specific
rewards for positive action.
3. Establish certain penalties for procrastination.
4. Break your goals down into small steps.
5. Schedule
a time segment for each activity.
6. Give yourself rewards for correct action and penalties when you do
not follow through.

Problem
Many have a lack of discipline. It takes 30 days to break old
habits and establish new ones.

Solution
1. Create a Success-Habits-Reminder card with boxes for
checkmarks to record your daily activities.
2. Tape it to your bathroom mirror.
3. Stick it on your desk to keep track of your actions.

Problem
Most people do not have a plan or assign priorities.

Solution
1. Create a “To Do” List.
2. Determine immediate, intermediate and long-range goals.
3. Plan the goals that are in immediate reach of your abilities and
assign priorities: Important & urgent, Important but not urgent, Not
urgent or important.
4. Do the urgent & important tasks first.
5. 80% of your activities are not important to your goals.
6. Only 20% are urgent & important.
7. Learn to eliminate the 80% activities that do not help you attain
your goals.

Problem
Many try to complete the most urgent & important activities
at the last moment.

Solution Every day schedule a block of prime time to work on an important

activity that is due in the future. Soon you will find the time to
analyze and polish your projects many times before they come due.

Problem
There never seems to be enough time to contemplate your decisions

Solution
Schedule quiet time to make important decisions. Listen to relaxing
music that balances both brain hemispheres. If you do not schedule

time for exercise, rest, entertainment, fellowship and prayer your
will spin out of control.

Problem
You are overwhelmed.

Solution
Learn to say, “No!” to activities and individuals that do not contribute
to the attainment of your goals. Often, people take advantage of your
kindness and generosity without ever realizing you have better things

to do with your time.

Problem: Most people do not have a master plan.

Solution
1. Create a master list of all personal, spiritual, physical, emotional
and financial goals for 1 year.
2. Assign priorities for each.

3. Predict a date for completion.
4. Write everything in pencil so you
can change it.

Problem: Few people use an organizer or daytime planner to coordinate

their activities.

Solution
1. Transfer the things on your master list to the correct dates in your
organizer.
2. Check off each item as it is completed.
3. At the end of each day, reschedule the things that were not completed.
4. If an item is rescheduled twice, you are procrastinating.
5. Ask yourself, “What if I never do this?”
6. If the answer is, “No big deal!” Delete it.

Problem
Some people suffer from perfection paralysis.

Solution
1. Make the decision that you are not perfect and never will be.
Everything you do will be imperfect in some way.
2. Realize that if it is worth doing, it’s worth doing wrong until you get
it right.
3. Stop judging yourself according to your accomplishments.
4. Learn to trust yourself by developing intuition and following your hunches.
You will find your first premonition is usually the correct one.
5. Discover just how right you are by making predictions and observing how a
high percentage of them are correct. (Predict the line at the supermarket or
bank that will move the fastest and take action accordingly.)
6. Make quick decisions in 20 seconds or less.
7. Make your decisions the correct ones by believing in your choices and
acting with confidence.
8. In difficult situations, flip a coin, choose heads or tails and then observe
how you feel about the outcome of the toss. Your response to the coin toss will
help you make the right decision.

Tom Taylor

BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)

http://online-business-centre.com

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter

http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource informationis left intact.

If I Had Only Known Then What I Know Now!

2007-01-23T05:08:00.000-08:00

Hindsight, we all know only too well, is a wonderful thing. For
example, if we had only known that the ceiling on membership at a
popular site was going to be subscribed so quickly - we would have
joined up the minute we heard about it.

If we had only known that niche marketing was going to be so
wildly popular we would have focused on that instead of MLM.

If we had only known that Google was going to change its algorithm and
the rules of AdWords were going to change we would have...

Stop. Stop, stop, stop.

In the world of Internet marketing, you can safely bet that the
only constant is the rate of change! There's always news of the
latest product dropping into your email inbox. There's always another
promise of quick and easy money. Google will keep changing its algorithm,
and new search engines are quite likely to pop up to challenge Google.

What can you do about this?

Four main things:

(1) Continue To Educate Yourself.

Understand that those who rise to the top of any field - whether
it's internet marketing or something else - are good at what they do.
This means that they never stop learning. There are always new
materials, new techniques and probably new 'experts' showing the way.

Most of us learn in three main ways:

(a) from experts who specialize in a certain niche related to our field;

(b) from others who are following the same path as we are, and

You will find that the more you immerse yourself in the world of
internet marketing, the more you will be able to analyze which
products, services and opportunities are right for you.

(2) Focus. Pick One System And Give It A Fair Go.

Countless people who start out on the internet with high hopes follow
the same pattern. They get excited about a new product or system. They
throw themselves into it and invest long hours (and potentially quite
a bit of money) in getting it up and running. It might be e-books sold
from mini-sites; it might be setting up an eBay business; it might
be directory-type sites with text manipulators; it might be AdWords
or content sites optimized for AdSense.

Then one day they get wind of another new system (probably one created
by someone who claims "the gurus are angry with me for giving away all
their secrets..."). Discouraged by the lack of results with the
first "opportunity", they decide to let it rest for a while and try the
new one. Back they go into the cycle of
try-the-new-product, get-discouraged, discard-it-and-try-the-next-thing.

And so it goes on. Months pass. Perhaps years pass. They struggle to
pay the credit card bills mounting from buying into every new system
that comes along... with very little money coming in to offset their
'investment'. As they look back, they start muttering "If I had only
known then what I know now..."

If you can recognize yourself in this scenario, the good news is this:
Now you DO know better. You don't know what the next new product will
be that's going to set the internet world abuzz, but you do know
enough to choose a system that's right for you and stick to it.

(3) Take The Time to Plan.

Give yourself from two to four weeks to regroup. Go through all
the products you have on your shelves or on your computer. Make a
list. Decide which products you now know (so wise with hindsight!) to
be worth keeping. Then analyze the 'keepers' and pick on the best
system for YOU to use at this time. (This will depend upon your level
of knowledge and which one you would enjoy most. Work with
your strengths.)

Finally, devise a game plan. You are going to focus on this ONE method
and devise a practical time-line to achieve results. Don't be in a
rush. Make sure you give yourself enough time to see it 'take hold' so
the money starts flowing in. That will give you the motivation to
continue.

Clear the decks, physically as well as mentally. Put all the products
that don't fit in with your plan in boxes or on disk for safekeeping.
You may return to them one day, but if you've chosen the system that's
right for you, you probably won't.

4. Don't Get Distracted by New Products.

Resolve to buy ONLY products or services that will save you time or
money in implementing the system you have chosen. Never buy anything
on impulse. Print out the sales letter, read it through, then put it
aside. Read it through again the next day. Does it still seem so
appealing? Check out a few forums to listen to the buzz. If a product
doesn't deliver, you'll soon hear about it. If it is exceptional
value, you'll hear about that, too.

Some questions to ask: "Will this help me to streamline the business
I have chosen? Is it worth the money? Will it make a
significant difference?" And above all, "Do I need this, or is it just
another distraction?"

Resolve to make this the year you will succeed. No more pocket change.
No more "If I had only known..."

You DO know.

So make it work.

Tom Taylor
BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource informationis left intact.

How to Boost Your Traffic and Profits with Content!

2007-01-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

Following is a list of 5 key ways that content can help build
your traffic, subscribers, and customers starting today!...

1. Boost your search engine ranking and daily visitor count by
posting keyword rich articles and content on your web-site. For
example, if your business involves offering products and services
related to fitness, posting fitness related articles and content
will attract unlimited prospective customers on a regular basis!

2. Generate double or even triple the number of newsletter
subscribers you do currently, simply by offering content in the
form of "special reports" or manuals as bonuses for subscribing
to your publication. People love freebies, so give them what they
want and watch as your results increase!

3. Create an automated cashflow by using content to formulate
multi-part email training courses with related web-site or
affiliate links "sprinkled" throughout each course. Use an
autoresponder service to automate the delivery of your training
course (such as a 5 part training course delivered over a 5 day
period).

Training courses can also serve as excellent bonus offers for
your prospective newsletter subscribers.

4. One of the most important keys to a successful online business
is not JUST having a list of mailing list or newsletter
subscribers... It's about building a trusting relationship with
your subscribers (ie, "cultivating" your list)...

By sending informative articles (content) to your list on a
regular basis you will establish yourself as an expert on your
topic of business, as well as gain the trust of your subscribers
over time. As a result, your subscribers will be EAGER to take
advantage of your "paid" product and service offers. (Just make
sure that you NEVER take advantage of the relationship you
develop with your list by offering products or services of poor
quality just to make a quick buck!)

If there is one "constant" in Internet marketing, it's this: A
cultivated list of subscribers is as good as money in the bank.
Write that down and never forget it!

5. Another excellent way to generate no cost traffic is by
submitting ready-made articles to "content hungry" web-site and
newsletter publishers with your "resource box" attached. A
resource box is nothing more than a little 3-6 line "bio" about
you and/or your web-site - including a link to our site (or even
instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter)...

When submitting or offering your article(s) for reprint purposes,
just make sure to specify that each article is to be reprinted
"as is" with your resource box attached.

...Even one article can go a LONG way towards generating no cost
traffic and visitors for you. Just imagine your article being
sent out to a newsletter subscriber base of 100,000 individuals -
many of whom will be reading YOUR included resource box and
clicking on your URL to learn more about what you have to offer!

Well there you have it, 5 sure ways to build your online
business exponentially with the help of articles and content...

With the declining effectiveness of many of the online
advertising methods that we've relied on in past years, content
is only strengthening its position as the ultimate KEY to
generating unlimited traffic, subscribers, and customers!

Tom Taylor

BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com

Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource informationis left intact.

Writing Articles that Captivate Your Readers

2007-01-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

You've heard it time and time again: if you want to get your name
out there, write articles and allow them to be freely reproduced
(with a resource box pointing back to you, of course). Largely,
that is true. A well-written article can:

- help you build your profile as an expert

- draw traffic to your site, and

- help you to build a database of potential clients through
associated e-courses or a newsletter.

So far you probably haven't heard anything you didn't already
know. What YOU are likely to be struggling with is the process of
actually writing the article. Sure, you can come up with the
content - but how do you really grab those readers? How do you
keep their attention all the way through? And most importantly,
how do you make them want to come back for more?

Let's assume that you understand the basics of constructing and
editing an article (it has a beginning, middle, and an end and
you know how to check the grammar and spelling.) Most of us can
manage that. But if you're not content with simply "getting
something out there" - if you want to WIN readers - then you need
to start thinking about what they want to know, rather than what
you want to tell them.

Put your readers first - every time. Give them what they want,
and they'll be queuing up to read anything you produce. Give them
something bland (or worse, blatantly self-serving) and they'll
blast by you so fast you'll be spinning in the back draft.

The following four steps will give you a blueprint for writing
articles that captivate your readers - whatever the topic.

== 1. Find Out What Your Readers Really Want ==

Sometimes you'll know what they want because you're an expert in
the field, and understand the problems. If you don't know the
subject area well, you'll have to do more research. Look for
forums on your topic and see what people are discussing. What are
the problems that need solving? Can you provide an answer? ("If
they have a headache, give them an aspirin.")
== 2. Start With An Attention-Grabber ==

Spend time working on your opening. Try to avoid trite questions
like "Have you ever wondered why so many people find it difficult
to lose weight?" Firstly, it's dull. Secondly, it's not targeting
the person reading the article - what do they care about the
difficulties "many people" have with losing weight? They only
care about THEIR weight problem!

Try to come up with an opening paragraph that gives the reader
that warm "Hey, this is about me!" feeling right away. Better
still; try to generate a rush of excitement - "This could be the
answer I've been looking for..."
Example: "The diet gurus make it all sound so easy: to lose
weight, all you have to do is expend more energy than you take
in. Huh! If it were that simple, the "Big People" stores would be
out of business in a heartbeat. Luckily for those of us who are
tired of diets, gyms and dull group meetings, there is a
back-to-basics way to tackle this. A way that won't cost you
a fortune or leave you feeling deprived."
== 3. Write As You Speak... Then Edit! ==

The sample opening above also illustrates the importance of the
tone you use in your article. You need 'meat' in each article, of
course, to make it worth reading - but make sure it's not
indigestible!

You're better off writing your article in a natural, relaxed
style that's akin to normal conversation. It doesn't matter if
the first draft is a little too informal - you can fix that when
you edit. Naturally you don't want to irritate your readers with
a too-breezy style, but too-formal is worse. Readers may want
facts, tips, and strategies, but they hope to be entertained,
too! Let your personality shine through.

== 4. End On A High ==

What's one of the biggest problems with most articles? They
fizzle out! Writers often don't know how to end on an upbeat
note. They either just stop dead or they come up with a trite
ending like: "So what are you waiting for? Get started today!"

The beginning and the end of your article are the two parts that
make the biggest impression. Start by creating a feeling of
anticipation... and leave them feeling satisfied (or excited)
when you finish.

If you are offering advice to help them solve a problem (like
obesity) gives your readers a reason to feel optimistic and good
about them. Don't make rash promises... but do offer hope. If you
are giving hints on marketing or business, sum up the benefits of
acting on your tips. You can also experiment with using a
pithy/humorous quote, or giving readers a specific action to get
them started. Be creative - and don't rush it.

Here's a final tip: create an article-writing cheat-sheet for
yourself. Divide it into beginnings/middles/ends and add more
useful strategies as you think of them. (For example, using the
tips in this article, you might write: ENDINGS - end on a high,
offer hope, use funny quote, suggest action to get
started.)

Do this, and you'll be steadily cranking out articles that
everyone wants to publish!

Tom Taylor
BSc, MSC, PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://online-business-centre.com/
Editor of "The View From The Cabin" newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

This article may be republished so long as the resource informationis left intact.

Internet Marketing Is DEAD!

2007-01-22T04:58:00.000-08:00

INTERNET MARKETING IS DEAD AND YOU MUST EVOLVE!

Internet Marketing has kicked the bucket! The Internet, having gotten saturated with Marketing Ads, has drowned in its own filth.
There is a word for what Internet marketing spews forth...theword is GARBAGE! And it's a mess cleaning it up, often requiring spam filters, ad-ware & spy-ware removers, and pop-up blockers.
Internet Marketing worked for a while, and we put up with it fora while longer. The Internet was new, and everything about it was a novelty. We'd not only read spam, but actually get exited about buying from the money mongering website linked to it. It's a bit like never having watched TV...you would probably get mesmerizedeven by the commercials!
The thing about television commercials is they sponsor the REAL products which are shown. Internet spam on the other hand,doesn't support anything beyond the greed of the advertiser.
IT'S OUTRIGHT, OVERT, OUTRAGEOUS INSANITY!
While spam is filling up our "inboxes" and taking up space on ourcomputers, the friends, relatives, and co-workers we need to hearfrom can't get through.
Who should be blamed for all this? Internet Service Providers andISP's are doing what they can about the situation, but the viral parasites are still there. It's up to each one of us to resist as best we can, recognizing that Internet Marketing is not the get-rich-quick scheme some may say it is.
Learn how to spot internet advertisements by the words in their headlines. Then you will be less apt to waste time reading there maining ad copy. The advertisement can be put where it belongs...in the email delete folder!
WHAT INTERNET MARKETERS CAN DO ABOUT THE PROBLEM
If you are an Internet Marketer you can increase sales and starthauling in the extra cash! It's easy.
Just give people what they really want. Then you're no longer seen as a seller, but as a friend, a helper and someone that can be trusted.
This can be accomplished by answering people's questions, as on forums, where "How To" explanations can be provided. Put for thsolutions to problems. Reveal news that is of interest to your market.
Once you start to freely provide people with information they become open to what you have to say, open to what you have to sell. Soon you will be back in business big-time.
So, summing it up, you need to provide reliable written content to your clients. This will jump-start your business and promote trust in both you and your business.
Now that you know where to get content, it's up to you to deliverit in a responsible way to your customers. And, most importantly,to deliver the information without spamming!

Tom Taylor
BSc, MSC,PHD (School of Hard Knocks and Real Lessons)
http://www.online-business-centre.com

Editor of The View From The Cabin newsletter
http://www.online-business-centre.com/lan/newsbiz_blog_perm.htm

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