Marketing Web Standards And Accessibility Compliant Websites

Writen by Neil Glover

Increasingly we are gaining a lot of new business through both startups and those well established firms that are seeking to revitilise their business. This in itself is an exciting arena to work in as often you get a "clean" sheet to start on. This enables strong foundations to be built that enable any future marketing plans to be highly successful.

However there is one key area of the plan that always seems to come to disagreement and potential issues arise. That is the area of the website, Coasis insist that all websites are designed using XHTML Strict and CSS (all tableless designs except where tabular data is required to be displayed). This ensures maximum compatibility on all operating systems and browsers, maximises search engine listings and lays the basis for any user with disabilities not to be discriminated against while wanting to browse your website content.

This approach for the majority of our clients does not pose a problem, they embrace the design methodology and appreciate the rewards it will later bring. They also realise that they have a moral duty to represent their company or self by adhering to government legislation for Accessibility compliance, something that Coasis have been incorporating in client sites for a number of years now.

The other side is those that have had websites for a long period of time or have at some stage in their careers been involved in websites, though not always on the technical design side. It is these clients that have a total lack of understanding as to why it is important when conducting a marketing campaign that the website has to be an efficient conduit that reinforces the marketing message. To often sales leads are lost from a successful campaign by the fact the website does not deliver.

We are trying to educate and help lead through this barrier all companies we now not only work with but also speak to. We at Coasis are more than happy to field questions over this subject matter that we feel is at the forefront of current strategic marketing.

Making Money Out Of Your First Effort

Writen by Chen Zarza

Have this phrase broken through your life at least once? I think so, most of us want to be paid when we are sleeping, resting or on vacations. Is there a way to turn your dream into a reality? As a matter of fact, it is possible…

Here is the answer you are waiting for: Passive income. You get money for your previous efforts. "You earn money while you sleep".

Let me explain what I mean; in general we have two categories of income:

- Active income
- Passive income

Active income means: You get money from business participation (salary, dividends, interest, capital, bonuses…)
Passive income means: You get revenue that does not demand your direct involvement, at least after your first work.

Would you like to have more time to do the things you love? Passive income comes and rescues you, giving you the chance to begin a quality life. It offers you economic freedom, and much, much more. What are the benefits?

1.- Requires from you only a first effort
2.- After starting, it works in auto pilot
3.- Decide when, and where you work
4.- Multiple income streams
5.- Free time, used it as you want
6.- Secure your life...

Some sources of passive income include:

- Royalties (from patents…)
- Network Marketing
- Income from a standalone business
- Property rentals
- Investments
- Creative Work
- Insurance renews
- CD (Audio, Video) Sales
- E-book Sales
- Software Products...

Whether you're just starting a business, or running it from time now, start shifting your model to create more passive income, and soon, you can achieve personal and financial freedom.

Passive income is more common in the off-line world; people says "around 80% of passive income scenarios stem from real estate investments". Despite this fact, there are interesting alternatives if you are running an online business.

1.- Affiliate Programs – Look for companies that offer large commissions, and track clients for multiple sales over a long period of time, preferable lifetime commissions .

2.- Your own informational product - You can create an e-book and sell it on the Web. It is a fact; People needs and wants information.

3.- Software products – Are you a software developer, or have a developer team, or have a good idea and hire someone else to carry out it? This is your golden chance.

4.- Do You have a site that attract visitors? You have some advantages: Rent space for banners or links

5.- Include Google Campaigns (AdWords, AdSense): the number of visitors that click on the advertising says how much you earn.

6.- If you are an expert in your field, create a membership site, and charge for your services.

7.- Resell services: such as hosting, domains…

You have different choices to create passive income across a diversified amount of opportunities. It may be income coming from the same customers, or revenew from new customers. It may require no personal involvement whatsoever, such as an e-book, or software sold on a web site.

Building multiple passive income streams is the best way to secure yourself for the future. Protect yourself against eventualities, plan for the coming events.

Chen Zarza Webmaster and Project leader, 20+ experience in the information technology world. He has developed financial systems for several years. Background: Databases, Web , Finances http://www.kaizensoft.com

Internet Business Marketing Through Website Design

Writen by Todd Lavergne

Internet marketing doesn't just involve advertising. Internet marketing also involves making sure a website is properly set up and designed so search engines can locate that website and sequence it in search engine listings. If an internet business website can't be located online that business will likely fail. Marketing a business website by designing it with specific keywords in mind will help that business website become a marketing success.

If you're an internet business owner who designed your business website using HTML programming, otherwise known as hypertext markup language, you may be aware of the importance of meta tags. Meta tags contain keywords and phrases hidden within the coding of websites that contain them. No one viewing a website can see the meta tags, but search engine spiders and meta tag crawlers can read them. Meta tags help search engine technology appropriately place websites on search engine listings. Without well written and properly placed meta tags, an internet business website may never be found online.

There are free search engine tools and meta tag generators for website designers and internet business owners wanting to save money while marketing their website. Free meta tag generators create meta tag codes based on keywords and phrases entered. The meta tags can then be copied and pasted into the HTML coding of the website.

In order for meta tags to be efficient in helping search engine spiders and meta tag crawlers identify a website in search engine listings, a website must contain keywords and phrases. Enough of these keywords and phrases must be contained within website text in order for the website to be sequenced and found online. This is known as keyword density. Five percent keyword density is a good percentage to try and attain. A higher percentage of keywords contained within website text usually result in text that doesn't read well. Marketing a website should begin with marketing a site that makes sense. Don't forego quality of content in exchange for high keyword density.If the content is too redundant and isn't valuable, potential customers will go elsewhere.

There are free keyword density tools that enable website designers and owners to check the keyword density of their websites. Many keyword density tools work by copying and pasting website text directly into a text box and typing the desired keyword in another box. One click of the mouse and the keyword density will be accurately calculated. This free service allows website owners and designers to add the appropriate percentage of keywords to bring density up to the desired number.

After a business website has been properly equipt with meta tags and keywords,website designers and owners can use one of the many free search engine submission services. Free search engine submission services enable people to easily submit their websites to the major search engines. Most free search engine submission services ask those using their service to place a link back to the search engine submission service. This is a nominal request for using this valuable free service.

Marketing an internet business through proper website design is the first step in marketing an online business. Without proper design including meta tags and keyword dense textual content, a business website may end up at the end of search engine listings - if it is even listed at all. Before proceeding with the usual internet marketing methods and techniques, check the internal design of your business website. Good internet marketing begins with good website design.

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3 Easy Steps to Work at Home Now
http://www.EarnBonus.com/
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Banner Exchange Secrets

Writen by Corey Morehouse

Banner exchanges are not as effective as they once were but hey free advertising is free advertising. Especially when you don't have to go out of your way to advertise it exclusively. What do I mean? Well I use banner exchanges only on traffic exchanges at the very bottom of my ads. For those of you who are not familiar with banner exchanges, they are virtually the same as traffic exchanges.

I put banner exchanges on the bottom of my ad in the traffic exchanges and put a caption like, "Banner Exchange Sponsor Ad." You are killing two birds with one stone here. You are clearly telling your visitors that you are using a banner exchange on your ad so they don't click thinking you are the owner of the banner.

You are also don't need to do any extra advertising to use banner exchanges. You can look at an example of a banner exchange on one of my traffic exchange ads here.

You can probably get away with putting two banner exchanges on the same page. This way you will produce credits in the traffic exchange and you will also be racking up banner impressions somewhere else on the web!

It takes some browsing and research to find the right banner exchange to match your business. This way you are more likely to get a higher click thru percentage (which is a good thing). You can see around a 1% conversion rate for your clicks with a good exchange. A huge banner exchanges usually have different categories to choose from to fit your business.

Best Banner Exchanges

I currently use the 3 best banner exchanges that distribute my banner impressions the quickest. I usually get a ratio for about 30 clicks on my banners from each three exchanges per month. Obviously you not going to light up the traffic charts but remember that banner exchange click thrus are of higher quality.

Here are the 3 best that I use and pleased witht the results…

* Banners Go MLM- this banner exchange is by far the fastest at showing your banner on other peoples pages. For some reason I also get a higher click thru ratio from them as well.

* Rx2 Super Banners- Rx2 is ranked very high as far as quality traffic and click thrus

* TDH Banners- I know the owner personally on this exchange and she does a really great job keeping your banners showing smoothly.

Simply put the banner html for each exchange into your traffic exchange ad. You can look at one of my ads for example (TDH Banners On Ad). Now that you have done that, make sure that you have your own banner uploaded on their server so that you can get click thrus. You can use a banners that a business you are promoting provides or you can create your own at Free Addesigner.

Read the full article with active links at my blog!

Author: Corey Morehouse
Freewebbizsolutions.com

Finding Hot Internet Niches A Newbies Guide 2006

Writen by Rolph Smith

Where then, can You start to Find What The Internet Buying Public Crave?

Many people have a good or brilliant idea but the greatest challenge is often how to perpetuate those ideas into a profitable reality. Fortunately, development on the internet has perpetuated its own set of sites, instruments, and tools to help You identify niche opportunities and verify the potential of good ideas. Using some of the following tools to research a market and then qualify the markets potential in terms of its needs set can be a Key difference between your success or failure in the internet business market place.

• Clickbank : Use http://www.clickbank .com to browse through thousands of products that people have listed on this website using Click bank as their payment processor. This site is a valuable source to identify categories of products that are ranked by popularity. This site also provides a host of affiliate opportunities and references should you find that your Hot idea is already well catered for.

• Traffic Inventories :Use http://www.inventory.overture.com to quantify what the Internet population is searching for. Conduct searches on your idea, interest, or expertise using the Keyword Selector Tool dialogue button. Typing in your keyword/s results in a numerically counted list of indications how many times your keyword/s were searched in the previous month and also lists related word searches to your keyword/s.

• Traffic Rankings: Use http://www.alexa.com to qualify the market penetration and or popularity of a website/s that you have identified as already providing products or services in the target market arena of your idea. Alexa provides a ranking number of the website relative to other similar class websites.

• PayPal.: Use http://www.PayPal.com to search on categories of the product you are interested in. Pay Pal is also a payment processor website for other websites which displays top shops in categories ranked by sales volume. Use the Shops link at the bottom of the page to identify shops with high volumes of sales. These may indicate robust sales and therefore good product areas to enter into.

• Amazon : Use http://www.amazon.com to identify the most sought after books . Click on the seller's button where the most popular items are featured and updated hourly.

• eBay: Use http://www.eBay.com to qualify your idea or area of interest by identifying numbers currently being marketed. Using the search box of the product or idea you are interested in, eBay will display how many items are currently for sale. Clicking on the sell button at the top the home page and then on the seller central link at the bottom of the Sell page. Scroll down and click on the Hot Items by Category link. This is another place where you can find which categories and products are hot in the market place.

• Google: Use http://www.google.com to qualify levels of interest in a product. In the search box type in the name of a product you are interested in selling. The search result should list newsgroups that discuss the product. By clicking on links and identifying how many people are posting to these groups or blogs an idea can be gauged how much interest there is in that product.

• Magazines: Use http://www.magazines.com to identify and qualify levels of interest in your product or idea. Research magazines and articles to measure the level of interest.

Having identified and verified your idea or products target market position and /or potential in the virtual market place now is the time for action. Procrastinate no more. The web is not yet saturated and spiralling into an - information - matrix of quicksand. Far from it, logic of supply and demand suggests to us that there are approx 280 million on - liners today and with the financially growing middle classes of China and India becoming more aware and capable to purchase what the world has to offer, we probably haven't seen anything yet? In fact we might really be entering the growth life cycle of the internet, full of financial opportunities for you internet entrepreneurs of the future! Strong global demand pressures are currently being exerted on physical commodities markets, and it is not unexpected that virtual entrepreneurs will play an increasingly important role in marketing products and services in tune with this trend.

Author: R Smith Budding 2006 Internet Marketing Entrepreneur

By no means is this the most comprehensive or all encompassing list of sites to focus on to help you identify the Hottest Niches or Best Products to market on the internet. It is however, a list of a few of the important consideration areas taught at http://www.InternetProfitMentor.com where over 12 hours of FREE video courses are provided to help walk the Newbie or new Internet Marketer, step by step into the Virtual world of internet marketing.

A Website Is Not Enough

Writen by Neil Anuskiewicz

Your Objective

Your small business needs an appealing and professional website but that is just the beginning. If no one visits your website and--more importantly--if it does not bring in new customers and allows you to sell more to your current customers, then your site is not effective. What do you need to improve your onlin marketing efforts?

The first step is to decide on a primary goal for your website. Is it to directly sell products or services through e-commerce? Or is the goal to capture leads so you can follow-up and make the sale by email and phone?

For e-commerce you need a website design with a shopping cart system, that encourages people to purchase products using the shopping cart. Both the design and written content should maintain this focus.

If your goal is to capture leads, the key is to have the content that provides initial information about your products and services that interests prospective customers. It should be easy for the prospective customer to fill out a contact form and hit the submit button or call your 800-number. The form should be submitted to a contact management system such as Salesforce or SugarCRM.

Getting it Done

Your business needs a professional website, which can cost between $2,000 - $15,000 to design. This is not only more than most small businesses want to spend but also unnecessary to succeed on the Web.

For small business there is usually little need for an elaborate, expensive website. You can get an appealing and professional website design for as little as $250.

The key to a professional website design is to work with a good designer who takes the time to listen to you and translate your vision into an effective website. Your designer must be as skilled in listening as in design.

Once the site is completed there must be an easy way for you - or someone on your behalf--to maintain the website. The designer should provide you with an easy-to-use content management system (CMS), enabling you to edit your website without having to contact your designer. This saves you money.

Once you have a professional website you have the foundation for marketing online. You can build on that foundation and use the Internet as an effective marketing tool.

Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing can be divided into two main categories: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC).

Please do a Google search right now for something pretty popular (e.g., coffee). The results on the left side of the browser window that reach down to the bottom of the page are the organic search results. The top results are generally the more popular sites. The highest ranking sites are those sites that have the most links from other websites (especially other high ranking sites). In a sense, other people have voted for the high ranking sites by linking to them. Often, the high ranking sites are the most popular but there is also a lot of gaming of the system. You cannot, however, pay Google to increase your site's ranking.

On the right side of your search results and, sometimes, up at the top of the page are the "Sponsored Links." These links are paid advertising through a system called Google Adwords. Look for the "Sponsored Links" heading and compare how these links look with the non-sponsored organic links.

Search Engine Optimization

To increase your search rankings in Google (and other search engines), you can do a number of things. We will focus on Google because of its dominant position as a search engine.

The truth is that it is a crowded field out there for most keywords. Your best bet is to find some niche keywords and work on those. It would be very difficult to achieve a high ranking for the keyword "coffee" but if you have a more specific niche you have a better chance of succeeding.

For example - and this is just an example for illustration, not necessarily a good keyword combination - "Guatemalan shade grown coffee" would be an easier space in which to compete. You would have a chance of rising to the top or at least getting on the first page of results.

The primary way to increase your ranking is to have other high ranking sites establish links to your site and have those links associated with specific keywords - such as "Guatemalan shade grown coffee" as in our example. What follows is a few ideas on how to do that in an ethically and effective way. Don't be tempted by gimmicks because Google and other search engines are becoming more savvy, and can penalize sites that try to game the system too much.

Once you decide on the keywords, submit your site to as many directories and other clearinghouse type sites in your industry as you can. That should probably be your first step in SEO.

Submit your site to general directories that are organized by topic. Some sites charge money for fast consideration of your submission, and are probably worth it. For example, Yahoo Directory charges $300/year for expedited consideration of your submission. For other highly prized directories - such as the Open Directory Project--you just have to submit your site and hope it will be considered reasonably soon.

Next, talk to your vendors and people in related industries and see about arranging for link exchanges or perhaps even success stories that include a link. They link to you and, in exchange, you link to them.

Then start writing articles. The key to articles is to write about something you know and that has information that is genuinely interesting to your audience. Publish your article in publications that are related to your industry. If your article is published in web publications, you will not only get direct sales leads from your article but your article will also help your search engine position.

For example, our fictional coffee vendor could write an article on exactly why shade grown coffee is superior to non-shade grown coffee. Or, better yet, why "Guatemalan Shade Grown Coffee" is truly the best. The article would have to include facts to support this claim and not just fluff. Maybe the next article could be on how to make the perfect cup of coffee. I would be first in line to read that one.

The key thing to remember is that SEO is a long process. You rarely get instant results. It can take 8-12 months to see any significant progress. You have to keep at it.

Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

There are a number of PPC providers but we will focus on Google Adwords as they are currently the dominant PPC system.

First, you decide on the goal (called a conversion) of your Adwords campaign. Is it a direct sign-up? Is it capturing sales leads?

A conversion when the goal is achieved and Google Adwords keeps a running tally of your conversions and the cost per conversion. You can see the cost of obtaining a lead or the cost of getting a customer. You can determine if Adwords is working for you, and whether you should make adjustments or discontinue it completely. Generally, it takes a bit of experimentation to get it right but it can be a steady source of business for you. It is worth some effort as once it is set up well it runs and can bring in a steady stream of business.

You set a daily budget (say $35) and a maximum bid on specific keywords (say $2.75). You only pay when someone clicks on your ad click. So if you are bidding $2.75 you might only pay an average of say $2.60 per click. It depends on the keywords and how much you want to bid. Spend some time choosing good keywords. Google Adwords has tools to help you choose the most powerful keywords. You will also need to embed some special code in your website to enable Google to track conversions.

Google Adwords really works. Try it and see if it will work for you. It does not require a big investment to get started. In fact, some web hosting and design companies offer a coupon so you can get started with Adwords for free. Google Adwords is easier to use than you might think.

Permission-Based E-mail Marketing

Spammers have given Email marketing a bad name in much the same way that unethical salespeople have given sales a bad name. This is unfortunate as a knowledgeable salesperson can be an essential part of making good buying decisions. The same is true of good email marketing.

With permission-based email marketing--as opposed to spam--the receiver of the email has expressed interest. Think of spam as the wily salesman in the polyester suit--and think of permission-based email as the knowledgeable salesperson we respect.

For example, I am on an email list at a bookstore that I frequent. I look forward to the e-newsletters as they often have interesting content and good discounts. I enjoy receiving this e-newsletter and the bookstore gets more business from me as a result. I rarely go anywhere else to buy books. They have retained me as a customer and I buy more often at least in part because of their e-newsletter.

Email marketing can help you increase customer retention and help you earn more revenue from each customer by cross-selling and up-selling to your current customer base. It can also help you expand your client base.

Email marketing is becoming crucial to online marketing and - when done ethically and well - can be extremely effective. Sign up for a free trial with an email marketing service and see if it works for you. If not, try another service. Find a service that meets your needs.

You can grow your own email newsletter list with a sign up form on your website, and by asking for opt-in in your sign-up and lead capture forms.

What to look for in an Email Marketing Provider

At a minimum an email marketing service should make it easy for you to create eye-catching emails, manage multiple email lists, and place newsletter sign-up forms on your website. There should be powerful list management, robust reporting, and reliability. Your provider must also have excellent customer service.

Your email marketing service should include an easy way to track the results of your email campaigns. Who opened your email, how many times, and when? Did they click on the link you provided? Did they purchase anything or submit a lead? The service should enable you to track message reads in real time, and read detailed reports online or export them to a spreadsheet.

In addition, your email marketing service should give you the ability to manage multiple lists and divide lists into multiple segments.

Conclusion

Obtaining a website and marketing your products or services online does not have to be expensive. An economical way to accomplish these goals is to hire a company to design your website and provide you with bundled web hosting and permission-based email marketing services. It would be an added bonus if they can get you started using Google Adwords with a free coupon.

Neil Anuskiewicz is the Marketing Manager for EZ Publishing. The firm is the creator of the StreamSend permission-based email marketing service.

Are You Content With Your Output 5 Free Tools You Must Master Before Graduating To Guru

Writen by Dina M. Giolitto

Tell me you haven't ever had THIS thought: "I want to build a mailing list for my website, but I don't know how..." Or how about, "There's a glaring mistake on my home page, but my web designer is nowhere to be found!" Instead of being at the mercy of your own incapability, graduate to Self-Sufficient Web Guru. Master these handy free (or nearly free) downloadable web content tools, and you'll be up to speed and fully functional in no time.

1. NvU - the Freeware Web Page Editor

Trim costs significantly with this F*REE, easy-to-use web page editor that will have you designing your own sales letter pages, email newsletters... and with enough practice, maybe even your entire website. Go here for the goods: http://nvu.com.

2. Cute FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

Upload web pages from your desktop to your web hosting server. Cute FTP makes file transfer and server cleanups quick and painless. Download your copy for under $50 here: http://www.globalscape.com/cuteftp/

3. FormMail.com - the Cheapest Form Host on the Web!

You cannot, repeat, CANNOT, expect to convert visitors to paying clients without a gentle nudge in the form of your email newsletter. Download a subscriber form from FormMail.com and start building your mailing list ASAP. A membership currently costs just $24 per YEAR! Check out the f*ree trial at http://formmail.com.

4. Overture's Keyword Tool Selector

Optimize your web articles, blog posts and home page copy. Leverage the power of keywords for better search engine rank, more clicks and more page views. Click here for your handy helper:

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

5. Invisionfree Software - Host Your Own Forum

Build a thriving web community where fellow freelancers can share information... for no money! Forums get traffic and traffic gets you noticed. Play around with your forum's settings and set up your topics by category to encourage visitor participation. Get it now: http://invisionfree.com

I know it'll take some time to familiarize yourself with all of these new tools, some of which can seem pretty overwhelming at first. But trust me, each time you use one you'll get better and better... and before you know it, doing something like creating a new website in a night will be cake! Good luck and enjoy your free tools. :)

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Are YOU Content With Your Content? Get Top Secret Marketing Tips from the Web's Biggest Gurus and Expert Authors on The First Annual Web Content Awareness Day on FEBRUARY 9, 2006.

Liked this article? Have more of the same emailed to your inbox each month. Sign up for the Copywriting and Marketing Ezine from Dina at Wordfeeder.com and learn to write search engine friendly web copy and market your web based business for free.

Viral Marketing 101 Let Your Customers Promote Your Online Business

Writen by Manish Chowdhary

A good virus

Everything that we've been taught online and off says that we should prevent rather than spread viruses…right? Well, when it comes to creating a buzz about your online business, spreading a virus—or more accurately—leveraging the power of viral marketing, could be just what the doctor ordered. Like a sneeze transmits the common cold, viral marketing entices Web sites or users to pass along a marketing message, escalating the growth of the message's visibility and influence. This type of "stealth" marketing can be very cost effective in reaching a large number of people about your website, product, or service

Already an epidemic

Chances are you've already been exposed to one or more viral marketing methods. Countless organizations have already put a wide variety of innovative strategies to work. The ground-breaking example of a viral marketing success story is Hotmail, the Microsoft-owned company that promotes its popular email service by appending an advertising teaser to the end of its user's email messages. Amazon.com, another great purveyor of viral marketing, uses many tactics. For example, the site's order confirmation page let's you input the email addresses of your friends/family and invite them to save 10 percent on an item you just bought. If they go to the site and buy the item, not only do they get a discount, but you get an Amazon store credit for the dollar value of their 10% discount!

Common tactics

Thankfully, you don't need a Microsoft- or Amazon- sized bankroll to deploy viral marketing tactics in your e-commerce site. Many leading e-commerce vendors have begun bundling some of the more popular features into their online store offerings. (GoECart has offered these features for some time.)

Email-a-friend (e.g., "Recommend it" links)   Electronic gift certificates   Gift wrap (i.e., encourages customers to present gifts to friends)   Customer reviews (e.g., ability to provide recommendations right on the order page)

Asking customers to enter the details like birth date or important events upon checkout can also aid in personalizing viral marketing messages and building customer relationships.

Credibility is key

Viral marketing is becoming increasingly popular because of its low-cost (especially when compared with traditional advertising methods), high response rate from targeted users, and ease of execution. The obvious advantage is its ability to obtain a large number of interested people at an affordable cost. Its main weakness is that some tactics and/or overuse can come across as "spam," risking damage to your brand. To avoid appearing as spam, companies should limit the number of techniques they use and choose the ones they do employ wisely.

Here to stay

With its proliferation on many popular e-commerce sites, online shoppers will use (and even come to expect) relevant viral marketing features. Online storefronts should be ready with the features that are most appropriate to their business.

Manish Chowdhary, heads a growing ecommerce solution and offshore outsourcing company – MachroTech LLC. MachroTech specializes in eCommerce Consulting, and Custom Application Development. Visit MachroTech at http://www.MachroTech.com

MachroTech also offers a super-friendly ecommerce solution for merchant willing to sell online. Visit http://www.GoECart.com to learn more

Making Money On The Internet Can Less Be Better Than More

Writen by Douglas Hanna

Online services like Netflix are giving Blockbuster a terrific run for its money. In fact, some experts believe Blockbuster may have to file for bankruptcy sometime within the next six months.

The problem for Blockbuster is that it has to be a mass marketer and stock DVDs that will appeal to the largest number of people possible. On the other hand, Netflix is both a mass marketer and a niche marketer. Because it can offer more than 25,000 tiles (vs. Blockbuster's 3,000 DVDs), it has films for both those who want the really popular new releases and those with special interests. In fact, Netflix says that nearly 20% of its sales/rental are now coming from these "unpopular" special interest titles that are not available at the off-line stores.

Another example of this is Amazon.com It has found that nearly 25% of its sales now come those "unpopular" special interest books that are not available at brick and mortar stores.

What lesson is to be learned from this?

What this suggests to me is that one good path to success for an Internet marketer is not to compete with the big boys, but to sell less – by which I mean by selling a small number of hard-to-find products to a specific market niche.

In fact, I think in today's competitive Internet marketplace, the smart marketer almost needs to find a niche within a niche. Again, take Netflix as an example. You can bet it wouldn't be offering 10 pages of military documentaries (a niche within a niche) if there weren't enough people out there who want to rent or buy these documentaries.

Sell less for more

Big online retailers like Amazon.com often have to compete on price since a popular book is essentially a commodity item. On the other hand, marketers who have found a very specific segment can charge whatever the market will bear as competition is not that much of a factor.

For example, suppose you decide your market niche is books about the Korean War. There may not be as many potential customers as there as would be for books on WWII, but you can bet those people who are really interested in this "police action," will happily pay full price for books that cater to their special interest.

So, if you're looking for a way to make money on the Internet, don't try selling more. Try selling less.

Have your heard about the new technology called HD Radio that enables AM and FM radio stations to broadcast their programs digitally. This is a tremendous technological leap from today's familiar analog broadcasts. These digital broadcasts provide listeners with radically improved audio quality, more radio channels through multicasting, and new data services. To learn more about this amazing new technology, just go my Web site, http://www.hd-radio-home.com, to get all the buzz.

Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of numerous articles on HD radio, the Internet and family finances.

5 Sure Fire Ways To Send Visitors Away For Good

Writen by Michael Cheney

Way No. 1 - Clog Up Their Internet Connection

Imagine it. They're happily surfing around on Google looking for your 'widget' and everything's going smoothly. Your website appears in the first page listings (congratulations you must have employed magnet4web or another highly-esteemed website marketing company!) and they click through to you. Then their internet connection starts to clog up. It is positively groaning and creaking under the strain of downloading your homepage which has so many images on it takes over 30 seconds to appear. They look at the progress bar at the bottom of their screen. It reads '20%'. They look at their watch and then click on the little 'X' at the top right of their screen. Well done - you've just sent away a visitor - for good.

Way No. 2 - 'I am not a number - I am a free man'

Along come some more visitors. They lick their lips in anticipation of viewing your widgets which they are very interested in buying - they have their credit card handy.

They land on your homepage and all is well, at first. "The benefits of choosing Widgets Inc. are as follows..." Your homepage is laden with customer-focused benefits and selling points - excellent. But wait a minute. What's that at the bottom of the page? It's not what I think it is, is it? Oh dear, there in black and white is one of the fundamental no-nos in web design that is guaranteed to send the message "This website was built by my dog":

"Welcome - you are visitor number 102"

Regardless of the number (and let's face it 80% are either you or your family!) you will be sending away people in droves. Well done - your site is becoming less busy by the day. Let's move on to way number three..

Way No. 3 - "Help me buy from you - please..."

They're lost. You have built the site around what seems a logical approach but your visitors are lost. You've given most prominence to testimonials but they just want to send you an email. They click on three, four and sometimes five pages but can't find your phone number or email address anywhere. But it's okay - of course they have a spare quarter of an hour to hunt through your website (that doesn't have a site map) to find your contact details when they already have another window open with your competitor's website - complete with email address, phone number, fax number, street address, mobile number, map and GPS coordinates..

Yes - you've guessed it - you're one step closer to that ghost-town..

Way No. 4 - 'Please Let Me Watch Intro'

Yes, admit it - you once thought the best thing on the planet was a website that started up by having a revolving animation of the company logo that exploded, span round a bit to an 80s sounding techno tune and then re-constituted itself in the centre of the screen with the immortal words:

"Click here to enter site"

Strange that - "enter site". That's what all your visitors were trying to do when they typed in your web address or clicked on your link but instead they were faced with Jean Michelle Jarre and some possessed bit of code that replicated the effect of someone regurgitating your business' corporate identity over the screen. Nice. Flash intro = trash intro. Use em (the intros) and lose em (the visitors).

Way No. 5 -"I am five years' old - I like things that flash"

One day in the future a law will be passed that will make it illegal to use scrolling text, flashing images, rotating heads, animated animals and bouncing cursors on a website. Your website is here to do business. It is supposed to be a serious tool in your marketing armoury. It should be used to convey useful information to your visitors and convince them that you are worth doing business with.

Dress it up with flashing icons, swirling graphics, flashing logos and spinning pictures and the merry-go of visual delights will just make your visitors sick. They will leave your glitzy fairground never to return..

Michael Cheney is Author of The Website Marketing BibleTM. Take the Free 7-Part Course "Internet Marketing Made Easy" and get your free sampler of 'The Bible' here: http://www.websitemarketingbible.com/marketing/

Survival Of The Fittestbuilding Your Business

Writen by Livvie Matthews

With all the other businesses out there you must find a way to market your business uniquely (a niche) causing it to stand out from among the rest.

Be prepared to work at building your business. You must build relationships with your customers and fellow netpreneurs by building a good reputation, one customer at a time.

So what does this have to do with the Internet? Or maybe you are thinking, "How does this apply to me. I don't even see or talk to my customers, it's all automated."

Even with the overwhelming size of the Internet and the online businesses, business still boils down to people, people make decisions based on 'relationships', and relationships are made, one-on-one.

Know Your Customers…
This one-to-one marketing is also known as customer relationship management. Online, I call it Internet relationship management and it's accomplished by providing absolutely outstanding service to your online customers.

Lay A Solid Foundation…
Start by building a good reputation. Present yourself as reliable, honest and trustworthy, a person who knows what you are doing, be a person of your word, and foremost…always put your customer first.

Enthusiasm is exciting and contagious! Be confident and competent in your business. The customer will get caught up in your enthusiasm.

Build relationships with your customers and fellow netpreneurs. Make your web site, ezine and products "user friendly" by asking for their participation and their opinions. Let them get to know you and your business. On the Internet, you can build both personal and business relationships without actually "meeting" someone.

E-Mail Priority...
E-mail is to the online line customer what the telephone is to the storefront business...It is the lifeline.

Answer all your e-mail inquiries as soon a possible. Try to make it a priority to respond within 24 hours. This demonstrates a lot about you, your business practices and it also reflects your character. Be as helpful and as personable as possible.

Remember you once needed help too. Most of the time these people will become customers and subscribe to your ezine as well.

Publish Your Own Ezine…
This is one of the best business-building tools on the Internet and it is not hard to do. There are sites that offer free Ezine templates and many sites from which to get "free content" articles for placing in your Ezine (use WriteBusiness.net free content articles).

Ezine publishing allows you to market to your database of customers and prospects, with new offers, updates on your site or products, resources and any other information you have to make available. At the same time sending a timely ezine keeps your name and information in front of your customers and prospects.

Write and Submit Articles…
By far the best business-building resource and most powerful form of free advertising on the Internet! Share your knowledge, experience and expertise and receive free publicity by writing articles.

Writing is the most important skill you can learn for online marketing. This establishes you as an expert in your field while building your reputation and business, plus giving you author status. This is another way of keeping your information in front of people.

Writing articles is not as difficult as it sounds. You don't have to be a professional writer, just write your article as if you were talking to a person sitting there beside you, one-on-one. Research your subject information and share what you know.

Write short articles around 500-1000 words. Then market your articles in different areas. Post you article on your web site, publish it in your Ezine, Submit your article to other ezines, offer as "free content" to other web sites, and/or compile a series of articles into a "free e-book bonus".

Networking…
Network through message boards, discussion groups and newsgroups. Become part of a question and answer group or get involved in conversations and become known and trusted in your in your field.

This builds your reputation and establishes you as being reliable and trustworthy. Subscribe to and read other peoples ezines of similar interests. Good quality ezines contain a wealth of information and resources.

Ask For Help and Never Stop Learning. ..
If you not sure how to do something or have a problem, ask someone. In my 7 years online, I have "met" some of the nicest, most helpful and friendliest people online since building my first web site, bizybodies.com through my current web site www.WriteBusiness.net. (A word of caution: Do be careful online!)

Setting Goals…
Determine your main goal, and make small "mini" goals under that. Then work toward reaching one smaller goal at a time. Setting smaller goals that are attainable make your large goal easier to reached.

When setting your goals, put a date or time limit on them. Having an open-end goal can cause you to lose focus. Do not listen to negative remarks and those who say you can't do it. Set goals you can stick to and reach. The only person stopping you is...you!

With each smaller goal you reach, you will gain confidence and become more excited and focused on the next goal. Work at it, never loose faith in yourself and before long you will have reached your main goal!

Organize and Plan Your Time…
There is a lot of time and work involved in creating and marketing your business. Writing a schedule will help you with keeping your time organized so that you can get everything done.

Not having a plan can cause you to feel overwhelmed and then you are more likely to become discouraged and give up.

Don't Be Content To Stay Where You Are…
Things are always changing and moving on the Internet. Keep on top of things. Continue searching and reading new information.

Remember to do something every day…send an e-mail, write or send out an article, post on a message board, send a letter and brochure to a business….do something.

As you change and move with the Internet and your business grows…be prepared to learn new and exciting skills and techniques along the way to your business.....Survival of the Fittest!

Livvie Matthews, Freelance Writer Services, Brochures, Web Site Content, Newsletters Americanized Content and more. Visit http://www.WriteBusiness.net or Livvie@writebusiness.net

Improve Your Online Network With A Powerful Ezine

Writen by Mark Barnes

Many online business owners and marketers use a variety of tools to make their business successful. Good strategies include maintaining a web site, publishing an ezine, joining affiliate programs, advertising on other people's ezines, and much, much more. As any good Internet "guru" will tell you, getting your name and product "out there" is the most important part of your success. So, the general rule is: Use as many strategies as possible.

What I suggest is that you take this rule one step further. What I think works best is combining as many of the strategies together, as possible. In other words, when you can, build your own network, using the tools you already have in place. And I'm using the word network, as it relates to networking your online systems -- not in the sense of a prospect or client network, though I have some tips on that, near the end of this article.

So, let's break down this concept. Suppose you have a web site that promotes a product or service. You probably have a sales letter, some testimonials and a merchant account, so people can buy your product. Now, what I would suggest next, if you don't already have it, is your own ezine (online magazine, operated by an e-mail autoresponder).

You get visitors to subscribe to your ezine, using a pop-up or another type of FREE subscription form on your web site. Now, you add them to your autoresponder list, which is how you send them your weekly ezine. The ezine offers great information but also promotes your business.

Mark Barnes is an investment real estate and real estate finance expert. Get his free mortgage finance course at http://www.winningthemortgagegame.com and also learn how to gain financial independence through proper real estate investment strategies. He also runs several successful ezines. Mark is also the author of the new novel, The League, a shocking, sports-related conspiracy. Learn more about his suspense thriller at http://www.sportsnovels.com

Linking Strategies For Newbies

Writen by Erich Sweaney

One of the most crucial mistakes I made when I first started Internet Marketing was not completely understand the importance of proper back linking, anchor tags, keywords and the title tag. The most important things to search engines is providing relevancy to search results using keywords in the anchor tags and back links. Back links to your website has become one of the most or if not important aspects to better Search Engine Result Positioning (SERP) using your keywords in your anchor tags.

One of the most common mistakes that I personally made with my website was in the title was:

Title: Succeed Online with ES-Solution

The problem with that title was; What does that have to do with my website and keywords? Search Engines base a lot of importance on the keywords and the anchor tag contained in the back link. Additionally, I submitted my website to many directories and search engines using that title. What I am telling the search engines? That my most important keyword or keyword phrase is "Succeed Online with ES-Solution." How many possible searchs do you believe would have that exact phrase or keywords? Zero.

My rankings for my keyword phrase "Internet Marketing eBooks" were even more horrible!

Steps to avoiding this same mistake:

Step 1: Never using a descriptive title

Step 2: Choose the most relevant Keywords for your Title

Step 3: Create back links using the appropriate anchor tag.

My actions:

1. I changed my title to "Internet Marketing eBooks". Another important idea behind your title and keywords is that the search engines will shift around your keywords to make more phrases. I only have 3 Keywords but using different combination, I have 3 good keyword pharses:

(1) Internet Marketing eBooks

(2) Marketing eBooks

(3) Internet Marketing

2. And I began re-submiting my website to directories and search engines with the proper title (anchor tag): "Internet Marketing eBooks"

My results:

(1) I have several back links with the anchor text "Internet Marketing eBooks", but unfortunately I still have some of the old back links with the anchor text "Succeed on with ES-Solution" dropping my overall relevancy to 54% when it should be 100%.

(2) I have managed to achieve the number one ranking as of 6 December 2005 for the keyword phrase "Internet Marketing eBooks" in MSN and the number two ranking in Yahoo.

About The Author

Erich Sweaney has been marketing online since 1999, and is the owner of ES-Solution.

Internet Marketing eBooks

SEO Friendly Directory

How To Make Money Online With Your Website

Writen by Joan Masterson

So you have a website that has been a white elephant up to now, zero traffic and no sales and you are wondering how everyone else seems to be able to make money excepting you?

Relax, there is way that you too can make money online even if you are not selling anything. If you don't already have Adsense ads on your site, head over there right now and go and apply for it! If you don't know what Adsense is, what planet have you been on for the last three years?

It is not as difficult to get your site Adsense approved as you may think. Here are some tips help you get your site approved:

1. Your site must at least have some valuable content and not just be a sales site.

2. It does not have to be the most beautiful site on earth but it must look presentable and not have too many images, flashing banners, pop-ups or animations.

3. It has to have at least 15-20 pages.

4. It must not be under construction

5. It must not have any broken links

If your site does not have the required 15-20 pages, you can easily find articles related to your site content from:

· http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/
· http://www.goarticles.com
· http://www.ezinearticles.com
· http://www.ideamarketers.com
· http://www.marketing-seek.com/articles/

Just select some articles that are appropriate for your site, copy it into your site template and ftp your new articles to your server. Make sure that you link to them from somewhere on your site though!

Once you are approved for Adsense you will want to make the most out of it. The best way to make money out of it is to find the best (and highest paying!) keywords/keyword phrases related to your site and building content pages around those keywords.

Tip: If you write a really good article around your keyword you can submit your articles to any of the above places. Articles are an excellent way to get listed high on the search engines. Other people will want to use your articles at their sites and this will result in a higher page rank as well as more visitors! I wrote an article a while ago on how to add random rss content to websites. If you do a search on Google for random rss content, you will see my article at the top of the list as displayed at: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Add-Random-RSS-Content-To-Your-Site&id=26228 The article posted on my own website shows up third! Magic, huh?

To find good keywords for your site, you can use this nifty little tool: http://www.set-4-success.com/tools/goodkeywords.exe

Tip: instead of trying to find just keywords, you should look for keyword phrases - that is the way most people do searches on the Internet. E.g. instead of using just "money", use "how to make money online" - you will get a whole lot of alternative search phrases that people use on a daily basis.

Once you have a good couple of keywords, I would suggest that you now try and find out how much these keywords are worth to you. One of the best ways I have found is to use my Google Adwords account to see how much people are prepared to pay to have their ads displayed in the highest position on the page. Signing up for Google Adwords will cost you $5 but I promise you it is on of the best investments you will ever make. You will be using this account mainly for researching the highest paying keywords, so it will not cost you anything more, unless of course you want to use it for advertising.

So, once you have a Google Adwords account, all you have to do is set up a mock Adwords Campaign. (You can learn more about how to do this at the actual Adwords site.) Once you have set up a campaign, all you now have to do is copy the list of keywords (you can also use the Adwords Keyword tool) and past it into the space for your keywords in the campaign you have created. Click on Save Keywords.

This will take you to a page where you have to enter how much you are prepared to pay for the keywords. Don't worry, you are not going to pay for anything, so just enter any amount here. Now click on Calculate Estimates. The next page will show you how many searches there are for your specific keyword, the average cost per click, etc. The average cost per click is basically what other people are bidding to get high listings and this is the information that you are after.

I would suggest you copy this page, and paste it into an excel spreadsheet so that you can manipulate and extract your information.

Once you have it in your spreadsheet, you can delete the columns that are unnecessary, e.g the cost a day, average position etc, but keep the columns with your keyword descriptions, average clicks per day, as well as average cost per click.

You might want to delete the rows of keywords where there are no clicks for that keyword, or where the bid is only $0.40 - these keywords will not be worth anything to you. After weeding out all the useless keywords, you now have a list of gold!

You will now be able to see what the highest paying keywords are, and of course which phrases are getting the most clicks! You should now select the keywords that are the most searched for (even if they are not the highest paying keywords!) and write content around that phrase. The reason why I don't always use the highest paying keywords is that there might be very little searches for it - and you won't make money if no one is searching for that phrase - you want to use phrases that lots of people are searching for!

Once you have written your content, upload it to your website. If you have content that is suitable for an article, submit it to the article directories as I explained earlier on.

Do this on a regular basis, keep on regularly submitting articles, keep on adding content to your site, and watch how your income steadily increases.

Now you have no excuses not to make money online!

About the Author
Joan Masterson is the owner of http://www.set-4-success.comwhich is aimed mainly at teaching women effective ways on how to make a living on the Internet. She is also the owner of http://www.womenatwork.co.za

Secrets To Successful Selling Online

Writen by J. E. Burke

What is the secret to selling online? This is a significant question on the mind of anyone who has ever attempted to market a product or service via the Internet. Some say that communication is the key factor in making a sale, while others argue that finding the right product should be the primary goal. In reality, both of these options are correct, and there are additionally a few more tips that can be practiced to help you succeed in the world of online sales.

The user-friendly website is essential for those who intend on selling online. Navigation should be smooth, and categories featuring your products, clearly identified and easy to browse. Top websites are praised for their clean design and organization. Fonts should be large and simple to read. Provide your customers with crisp, quality images equipped with descriptive details. Also make sure that the images load quickly; customers will leave if they get bored and tired of waiting. It is crucial for you to display your privacy policy, usually on the homepage, of your website. This assures customers that you will never sell or trade the information they have given you with a third party. You should also provide a link on your categories section for your shipping and return policies, as well.

Selling online revolves around a viable marketing plan. There are numerous ways to market your product online, with many of these choices very reasonably priced. To sell, you must advertise. Buy links on high traffic websites that are similar to yours. Advertisements that target a specific group of individuals are a certain way to build sales. You may also want to consider purchasing banner ads. These ads are expensive, but are a proven method of leading customers to your online store. Your advertising campaign does not have to be entirely devoted to the web. Make your venture known through newspaper ads, newsletters, and brochures. Your website address should be clearly posted with a brief description of your product, and a catchy title enticing customers to visit.

Excellent customer service is a necessity for selling online. Supplying your customers with the highest caliber of service is extremely important, especially on the web. Inquiries from customers should be answered quickly, within a few hours if feasible. It is beneficial to have a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page on your site for queries requested often. It is up to you as the seller to make sure that guests to your website have all the information they need, and that the data is delivered instantly.

With Internet sales booming, selling online is fantastic choice if you are hoping to make some extra cash. The right tools, a marketable plan, and just a few secrets can get you farther than you ever imagined.

Dr. J. Elisha Burke

Copyright 2005 Burke Publications All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2005 Elisha Burke

Dr. J. E. Burke, an educator and entrepreneur, has been involved in various business enterprises. Dr. Burke is an educator, writer and motivational speaker on a variety of topics. Dr. Burke can be contacted at http://burkepublications.com or jeb@burkepublications.com

How Villa Rental Or Vacation Rental Websites Work

Writen by Paul Cris

There are many vacation rental websites and more and more are coming up. These websites are of great help for people who wish to go for vacations. There is huge competition in this field.

Some famous websites are greatrentals, vrbo, rentalo etc.

These websites are one of the best and have been serving the industry for many years. These websites charge some fees from the homeowners for listing their property. While registering with these sites they are provided with a webpage for uploading photos, rental rates, contact information etc. The vacation rental websites advertise with major search engines and also maintain their own database.

The more people visit the website the more the value of a website. A vacation rental owner can list his properties for $30 for 3 months to $100 for 3 months listing and it depends on the vacation rental websites. For homeowners it is a very good source to advertise in vacation rental websites as thousands of unique visitors daily check the website for booking vacation rentals.

Villa rentals can be booked through vacation rental websites. The homeowners advertise in villa rental websites to get more booking for their villa, home, condos etc. The more they advertise the more they could receive response.

Paul has been providing answers to lots of queries through his website on a wide variety of subjects ranging from satellite phones to acne. To learn more visit http://www.askaquery.com/Answers/qn1615.html

You are welcome to republish the above article only if you add our hyperlinked URL.

Why Some Minisites Keep Making Money All The Time

Writen by Murtuza Abbas

Have you ever seen a cash-machine ? Once it is created it keeps on spinning out dollars once the switch is on.

What if I showed you how to create a similar cash machine ?

Once you apply this simple 3 block formula, I bet your website will turn down into a similar red-hot cash machine, spinning out dollars even while you sleep or move around with your girl friend.

Check this out...

1. Website Automation.

Make sure you automate each and every aspect of your minisite to free up yourself on important stuff that will expand your internet business.

Get some powerful tools to do all this stuff...

* Autoresponder - This will follow-up your prospects automatically.

* Ad Tracking System - This will track your website sales, visitors, ads, etc.

* Order Processing System - This will collect money from your visitors via credit card.

* Affiliate Management System - This will track your affiliate sales.

* Website Templates - This will design your site fast rather than creating it from scratch.

Make sure you save your time by automating everything you can.

2. Test Your Minisite to Increase CR.

Make sure you keep testing your minisites every now and then.

Keep track as to how many visitors are visiting your site, how are they navigating on your site, what is your visitor to sales conversion ratio, what is your visitor to lead conversion ratio.

Keep track of your net profits that you make with each and every promotion.

Once you have your numbers, keep tweaking your minisite to increase its conversion ratio.

Once you do this your profits will keep on increasing without putting in any additional efforts.

3. Traffic, Traffic and MORE Traffic.

Make sure you promote your minisite each and every day.

Here are some top free traffic generation tactics...

* Write Articles and submit them to article directories, ezine publishers and website owners. Include your resource box with your website link below every article to get free publicity.

* Participate in discussion forums with a killer ad below every post.

* Blast ezine or newsletter to your subscribers every week to get repeat traffic.

Here are top paid traffic generation tactics...

* Attract traffic using pay per click search engines.

* Purchase classified, top sponsor and solo ads in high circulating ezines.

Make sure you keep track of your conversion ratio while promoting your site.

Once you apply this 3 block formula, it will not only increase your website profitability but also automate the entire process thereby increasing cash in your bank account.

Murtuza Abbas specializes in creating simple 'Profit Pulling Minisites'.

Churn out simple, effective Profit Pulling Minisites in 3 Hours or Less. Grab your FREE $147 'Minisite Creation Pack' & learn how to start an internet business today.

Heres A Quick And Simple Way To Find Hot Niche Markets

Writen by Patrick Mahoney

"Here's A Quick and Simple Way To Find Hot Niche Markets"

In This Article You'll Learn..

* How To Increase Your Chance For Success 100 Fold
* Why Using One Keyword Is Better Than Using A Phrase
* How To Let The Market Place Come To You
* Finding PPC Ads For As Little As 5 Cents Per Click

Dear Online Business Owner,

Have you been finding it extremely difficult building your online business, and trying to grow your list?

Well, if you have, then I've got a solution that's going to make building up your web business as fast, and simple as can be.

Before you do anything else, you need to first find a hot niche market that you know something about and can get involved with, without spending months of your time doing research.

Never build, create, or try to sell anything until you find an existing niche market first.

I can't stress this enough. To many people start with an idea, then they go and try to find or create a market for their idea.

This is totally the wrong way to do it. Find a hot niche market first, then create a product that niche market is looking for.

Your chance of success will then increase by 100 fold!

Find That Hot Niche

Now, let's find that hot niche your looking for...

Go to the "Overture Keyword Selector Tool" here: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Type in "one" word that summarizes your area of interest you want to get involved with.

It could be cars, homes, boats, fishing, whatever, just focus on one word for the moment.

This will bring up a giant list of search phrases that people are using that word in. The key here is to find a hot niche market that you know something about, and is of interest to you.

Rather than trying to focus your efforts on long search phrases, and hoping people are searching for those phrases, use your main keyword (one word), and let the market come to you.

The search tool will show you what people are searching for, and this will save you hours of messing around.

Enter your single keyword, and click the search button, and let's find a hot niche market.

So, to do that, click on the phrase that matches as close to your area of interest as possible. This will in turn bring up even tighter "niche" phrases.

Depending on how large the search terms turn out to be, this could be done several times.

Let's Look At An Example

Let's look at an example:

A search for "boat" brings up the phrase "boat online trader", and at the time of this writing, there are 6944 searches for that phrase every 60 days.

That means that there are approximately 115 searches every day for this phrase.

The tighter the phrase, the better, but you also want to try and stay in the range of 3000+ searches performed every 60 days as a rule of thumb.

Also at the time of this writing, there was only one Google ad running for this search phrase, so that means you could start running ads right now for as little as 5 cents per click!

Can you say Cha-Ching!..?

Okay, so maybe you know nothing about boats or boat trading and selling, but I'll guarantee you someone does. And, that someone could take this market and really do something with it.

Start a boat trader newsletter, and start building a list of super targeted boat buyers, sellers, and traders, and you have a buying niche market in the palm of your hands.

That's gold!

Now all you have to do is some simple market testing to make sure that this market is going to produce the results you want.

If it does, then start putting together a powerful website, and newsletter list, and start giving these people want they are looking for. Information!

Now that you know how to find super hot niche markets, go search with single keywords that are of interest to you, and see what you can find to start building your hot online business with today.

To Your Success,

Patrick

This article was written by Patrick Mahoney of http://www.PMMG-Marketing.Com.

Patrick is an online entrepreneur with extensive background in website development and PHP programming. His latest program is the Niche Business Builder, a PHP program that helps you create niche business websites with point and click ease. You'll find it at: http://www.pmmg-marketing.com/

This Article Is Copyright 2005 | PMMG-Marketing.Com

You may use this article on your website and in newsletters provided this and the above content boxes remain at the foot of this article.

Online Advertising 10 Flaming Hot Ways To Heat Up Your Sales

Writen by I-key Benney

If you have a website but not making a lot of sales, I can understand how you feel.

So, I want to offer you 10 flaming, online advertising hot secrets to heat up your sales.

1. Create an email discussion list. The list should be related to your web site's subject. Place your ad on all posts and it will remind people to visit your site.

2. Prove your product is a bargain. Add a lot of free stuff to your offer or, if you've sold the product for a higher price before, show them the difference.

3. Make your web site more useful. Sell ad space, generate hot leads, answer visitor questions, offer free content, be news friendly, etc.

4. Make the most of each visitor. Sometimes your price is to high. You should provide a variety of similar products at different price ranges.

5. Test and redesign your banner ads till you get your desired click through rate. Once you do, join many banner exchanges and buy ad space.

6. Use holidays as a reason to get free publicity. Write a press release or article about the current holiday. It'll have a high chance of being published.

7. Utilize the free content on the internet. Publish one article on a single web page and your main web site link then upload it as a doorway page.

8. Test your new products on the bottom of your home page. You don't want to take away hits from your best selling products until others are proven.

9. Make commissions without joining an affiliate program. Just propose a joint venture offer to web sites that don't have affiliate programs.

10. Persuade other web sites to link to yours. It can improve your search engine ranking. Just offer them something of value in return.

May you succeed in your online advertising and make a lot of money.

May these online advertising secrets help you to make a lot of money.

Warmly,

I-key Benney, CEO

I-key, a Millionaire CEO from New York City is the creator of "Mscsrrr: Millionaire Secret Cash System", (home business) program, which has helped thousands of ordinary people from all over the world to attain financial security and shining success during the past 2 yrs.

Mscsrrr Millionaire Cash System helps you to generate $1,500+/Week for life, from home or office, part time or full time. No large investment or hassles. Win $1000-$2000 free "cash"…

The Anchor Tag Another Great Keyword Tool

Writen by Richard East

In this article series about keywords and their importance in your overall marketing strategy, let's talk about some "off-page" optimizing.

What is the difference between "on-page" and "off-page" optimizing? Well, on-page is the keyword tool we've already discussed in prior articles.

· Listing your keywords in your meta tags
· "Peppering" your keywords throughout your content and in your HTML code
· Making sure your keyword density is not too high to be considered "keyword stuffing" which may cause your site to be grey-listed by the search engines (causing your site not to be indexed or served up in the search engine results).

"Off-page" optimizing is what you do with your keywords to tell the search engines that OTHER sites think your site is an authority in your niche market.

These "other sites" that link to you increase your popularity rating, or Page Rank, and give you more preferential treatment when being listed in a keyword search result. We do this using a keyword tool called the "anchor tag." It's not as blatant as "brown-nosing," but the results are the same.

Let's say you have a site that promotes your pet store.

You've done all the on-page stuff you've learned, and made sure your keyword density is just right.

Now that we've tightened up our site and made sure the search engine spiders will eat up your site, we need to start getting some links TO your site. This shows that others care about what you are saying about your pet store, as well as value the content of your pages. And it also is a great way to get some natural traffic coming to your site.

One very effective keyword tool is to use articles such as this one to increase the awareness of your site, as well as draw traffic to your site. Ah, but this keyword tool does one very important thing: it tells the search engines that your site is known for whatever particular keyword phrase you use in your article.

What is this great keyword tool to which I'm referring?

It's called an Anchor Tag, and it is a very powerful little tag.

It only has one job…to tell the search engines about this link you're referring to (in this case, the one to your pet store site). This is the tag that will probably have the greatest impact on what keywords your site will develop a reputation for.

How does it work?

Well, any time you are on another web site not your own, and you link back to your web site, (the underlined text people read and click on is the Anchor tag), you're telling the search engines that URL is known for whatever the underlined (hyperlinked) text says.

A perfect example of getting a reputation for the wrong keywords because of the anchor text is Adobe Acrobat. Do this: right now pull up another browser, and do a search for the keyword phrase "click here." Who is the top website served up for that phrase? And, how many pages have that keyword phrase in it? Over 6 BILLION!! Poor Adobe Acrobat is best known for the anchor text "Click here" which has NOTHING to do with its product!

So, you can see what a powerful keyword tool the anchor tag is. What do the links back to your web site say? "Click here" or "Visit us" are anchor tags you really do want to avoid! Besides….I don't think you could ever compete for top billing on the "click here" keyword!

In subsequent articles, look forward to discussing another keyword tool and other strategies using that tool.

Learn the 5 Keyword methods and strategies that the masters of marketing have been using for years to dominate their marketplace. To receive your 5-part course click: keyword tool

Your Internet Home Based Business Be Transparent Not Invisible

Writen by Elaine Currie

Part 1 - Be Transparent.

Note the title: "Your" Internet Home Based Business, not just anybody's - yours. You alone will be to praise or blame for its success or otherwise. If you want to create a successful home based business you need to make sure it is visible on the Internet and that you, as the owner, are also visible. Running an Internet home business gives you plenty of opportunity to make yourself known to your potential customers without much effort on your part. Grab that opportunity when you first start building your home internet business and make the most of it. Your business might be home based but your website has an Internet presence and, if you don't want it to get lost in the crowds of other Internet home business websites, you need to stamp your identity on your website. Make sure potential customers know there is a real person at the heart of your home business.

If you are new to the Internet home based business scene, you might feel that you would prefer to remain anonymous because you are still learning the trade and have no expertise to share. The idea that someone might email you and ask you a question about your product will probably start you panicking. The suggestion that you place your photo on your home business website might fill you with horror.

So, what to do? - Answer: embrace all of the above!

The first issue is transparency: you might be new to work on the Internet but so are countless numbers of other people who want to start a home based business and are still looking for ideas, you will have a start on these people. Take the opportunity to communicate honestly with them - they are your potential customers and, if they don't convert into customers, they might become friends or Internet business colleagues. If you have only just started work on the Internet, don't put inflated claims on your website about the extent of your knowledge or the vast profit you are making, stick to genuine comments. You can make good use of testimonials from other people who are members of the same programme or have used your product and can speak from experience.

One important truth you need to remember when you are building a home Internet business is that most people are not stupid. If you go online as a freshly hatched Internet work at home newbie and pretend to be a guru with masses of knowledge and experience, people will see right through you to the very things you were trying to hide. Being transparent in your Internet business dealings is about being honest. If you lie to someone once, they will never trust you again and the value of trust in your home based business dealings cannot be over emphasised. Be honest in your dealings from the start. If somebody asks you about a programme you have only been in for a couple of weeks, don't make up a story to impress them. Tell this person that you are new to the programme and already love it, tell them you have a mentor who is making a good living from the programme, point out the things that made you want to sign up, just tell them the truth. People will respect you for your honesty and feel they can trust you and that is the best foundation for any relationship, online or off.

Don't try to avoid email contact from potential customers. Have a big bold "contact me" link on your website, communication is vital. Sometimes potential customers will just want to ask a simple question. Indeed, some people make a point of emailing website owners to make sure they are dealing with a real live person who will take the trouble to reply to enquiries. There is no need to be terrified in case you are asked a question you can't answer: if you are involved in any sort of decent work from home business programme, you will be able to get advice and help from your own sponsor or from a members' forum. The need to find answers to questions will help you to increase your knowledge of your business and you will realise one day that you can answer questions without needing to search for the information. Anyone who is building a home Internet business should expect to follow a huge learning curve - remember nobody is born knowing everything about anything.

When Benjamin Franklin said "Honesty is the best policy" he wasn't lying and Mark Twain had a point when he took the idea one step further: "Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it".

Copyright 2006 Elaine Currie

Elaine Currie has a Work At Home Directory http://www.huntingvenus.com Full of Ideas, Programme Reviews, Articles, Tips and Free Resources for everyone who wants to work at home.

The State Of Paidtosurf Programs After The Stormpay Crackdown

Writen by Mark Flavin

What a difference a year can make. 12 months ago, auto surf programs were at their peak. More and more people were investing some serious cash hoping to multiply their money by as much as 12 times within a few months. At the center of this craze was Stormpay, the payment processor of choice by most of these paid-to-surf programs. Stormpay, you see, caters to a more global market. Whereas PayPal operates in selected territories, Stormpay has a wider reach. At that time, it was the best choice for auto surf companies, given the fact that Stormpay would open the doors for more people to join their programs.

And it worked.

The auto surf industry became a bustling field, where the companies as well as the investors enjoyed unbridled success. Investors were able to recoup the money they have expended, with profits soaring to fantastic rates in such short periods of time. And the companies were able to amass enough capital to finance their operations.

But that was then.

2006 welcomed the paid-to-surf industry with the grimmest news. Stormpay froze the accounts of auto-surf programs, and up to this writing, a lot of investors have yet to receive the money that have accrued to them. For those who managed to receive their pay in their accounts, they cannot withdraw the same as such amounts are traceable to the auto surf companies.

Why did things come to this?

There are two sides to the story. Stormpay claims that some of these paid-to-surf companies are using the pyramid model, which is generally outlawed since such companies do not have real assets. The auto surf companies are claiming that Stormpay is merely using the alleged irregularities as a smokescreen when the truth of the matter, according to them, is that Stormpay doesn't have enough funds to cover the withdrawals from the auto surf companies' investors.

If you would conduct your own research on the matter, you're bound to get more spins to these tales. Which is true? We'll never know until formal investigations conclude and a judicial decision is reached.

Hardest hit in this controversy is 12dailypro.com. We could even say that 12dailypro.com is the epoch of the issue, as they are the ones who were targeted by Stormpay's sudden crackdown.

But here's the deal: why penalize the innocent investors? If Stormpay wanted to cut its ties with the entities it perceives as unlawful, why bring down the investors as well, when such investors under such reasoning would be considered as "victims" rather than "accomplices?"

Again, the matter needs to be resolved before we could derive some conclusive answers.

Nonetheless, a lot are wondering what the state of the paid-to-surf industry is today, after the Stormpay crackdown.

For starters, more people are warier about auto surf programs. They are now afraid to invest their money, since, as Stormpay has demonstrated, their funds could be frozen at any time, without notice at that.

But the crackdown on some paid-for-surf programs have opened the doors for new players, as well as established ones that weren't affected by the controversy. Investors who have tasted the potentials of an opportunity like this have quickly jumped to other programs offering the same system but without the frightful possibility of getting killed. You may have received unsolicited emails advertising emergent paid-surf programs. Though spam mails like this are quite irritating, they may point out to a resurgent industry.

The question in everyone's mind is this: is the auto surf industry dead?

No, it is not. It suffered a setback, from which many lessons can be learned. But it has, almost instantaneously, made a comeback. The current players are a mixture of old and new parties, but the concept remains the same, albeit with more caution against possible attacks. This caution is now borne by both the companies as well as the investors.

The Stormpay-12dailypro incident may not be pretty. But it did leave us with something that will prove beneficial in the long run: the moral of a tale that would make the industry sturdier.

Mark Flavin is an online marketing expert. Mark specialises in website traffic generation, affiliate program promotion & email marketing. You can find out his secrets for free at http://www.markflavin.com

Mark recommends The Business Professional for increasing your profits online - http://www.markflavin.com/business.html

The Key Ingredients For Internet Success

Writen by Shelley Lowery

The Internet has opened a whole New World of opportunity for even the smallest home-based business owner. There are countless numbers of new self-made millionaires that achieved their newfound success on the Internet. These new millionaires are no different from you and I. They started their Internet businesses from the ground up, found a niche and built their success one day at a time.

"Can I really make money on the Internet?" The fact of the matter is that you really can make money on the Internet --a lot of money. You simply must take the necessary steps to make it happen. You must have a sincere desire to succeed and the attitude for success.

If you are sincerely passionate about your success, you will succeed -- it's that simple.

The true secret to creating a successful Internet business, is pure determination. Most people fail just at the moment they are about to succeed. Why? -- Because they give up. They lack the true passion that it takes to succeed. As long as you keep trying, you'll never fail.

Below, is list of what I feel are the most important ingredients for Internet success:

Sincere Passion

In order to be successful, you must be completely passionate about your business and your success. If you don't have a "sincere" passion, you won't have the necessary personal drive that it takes to succeed.

Your Own Domain (www.yourdomain.com)

Businesses hosted on a free server are not taken seriously and are generally considered to be unprofessional. If a company doesn't care enough about its business to get its own domain name, potential customers may not feel comfortable doing business with them. A company with its own domain name and a professional looking website will have a much higher rate of success when compared with most business sites hosted on free servers.

Professional Website

Your website is a direct reflection of you and your business. Creating a professional website designed to sell will take a great deal of time and effort, as there is much more to take into consideration than design. You must look at a much broader picture and specifically design your website to sell.

Quality Content

In order to create a steady stream of traffic to your website, you must give your visitors a reason to visit and continue to visit in the future. You must provide your visitors with fresh content on a continual basis.

Targeted Traffic

No matter how great your website is, unless you're receiving quality, targeted traffic, it will be useless. Your website may receive hundreds of visitors each day. However, if they aren't interested in the products or services you're offering, your web traffic won't mean a thing. You must drive a continuous stream of targeted traffic to your website.

Opt-in List (Ezine)

Having your own publication is an absolute essential part of your success. They not only provide you with a direct line of communication with potential customers and enable you to promote your products or services, but they also build credibility.

Your Own In-Demand Product

Although marketing affiliate programs can provide you with a nice income, true Internet profits come from marketing your own in-demand product.

Killer Sales Copy

Your words are the entire foundation of your business. Your product, website and marketing strategies all depend upon your words. You must learn how to write persuasive words specifically written for your targeted customer. You must feel your customers needs and write your copy with passion, excitement and benefit.

Killer Marketing Strategy

Developing a successful marketing strategy is an essential part of your online success. In order to succeed, you must develop and implement a strategic plan that includes all of the following:

• A great product
• A website specifically designed to sell
• A killer marketing strategy

Each step plays an important role in your overall strategy and must be developed to its fullest potential. If even one step fails, your chances of success will be minimal.

Instant Product Delivery (downloadable, instant access, etc.)

Internet users are starving for information, as that is what the Internet is all about. They have a sincere desire to learn and want the information they desire right now.

The best products to sell on the Internet are those that can be instantly delivered over the Internet.

Accept Credit Cards

If you're doing business on the Internet, accepting credit cards is an absolute must. You must provide your visitors with an easy online ordering process and the ability to pay for their order right online.

Credibility

As an Internet entrepreneur, it is your personal responsibility to ensure that your visitors feel very comfortable with you and your website. In order to gain your visitors' trust and confidence, you must build your credibility.

Your attitude is the MOST important factor in determining your success. You MUST think positively and be willing to tackle any obstacle that comes along. The fact is, you CAN do whatever you put your mind to. You simply have to believe you can and believe in yourself above all else.

Copyright © Shelley Lowery

About the Author:

Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, "Web Design Mastery" (www.webdesignmastery.com) and "eBook Starter - Give Your eBooks the look and feel of a REAL book" (www.ebookstarter.com)

Visit www.Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to eTips and receive a copy of Shelley's acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing Strategies."

You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook, or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author bylines are included.

A Simple Way To Make Money Online

Writen by Colin Evans

Most people believe that making money online only involves putting up a website selling a product or service, and then promoting it.

Wrong answer! On many counts, but we'll concentrate on two of them which are closely related:

1) People don't buy products, they buy solutions to their problems...

As a general rule, people don't like the thought that their hard earned money is ending up in somebody else's pocket. They will figure out if you're only in business to make money out of them and they will NOT buy your products.

But...

If you're genuinely trying to HELP people and happen to make money while you're doing it, they won't mind and will buy from you (and remain lifelong customers).

In order to do that you must have 'empathy' with others. You must understand them, what they fear, what they like and what they dislike.

You MUST make the effort to understand them and when you do you'll find a lot of ways you can help them and make money too.

You might not be interested in developing your own products and services. In that case you will want to align yourself with a company, as an affiliate, that shares this mindset, the attitude of 'helping people' and 'making money'.

2) Promoting a product or website is not easy, but it can be simple...

If it was easy everybody would be making a fortune. The truth is most of the people you put your website or affiliate link in front of will not be interested.

In fact they'll ignore it, some people will go out of their way to ignore it.

Poof! That's you promotion efforts gone up in smoke.

Consider this scenario: You have found a solution to a problem you've had and you know that there are other people facing the same issue. If you told them about the 'cure' for their problem, what do you think they are most likely to do?

You got it! They will take a look at the solution you provided and won't mind spending money, sometimes huge amounts of money, on the 'solution to their problem.' The fact that it was your product or an affiliate product, and you made money from their purchase won't bother them in the slightest.

Now how simple is that?

It's not easy, sure, but the concept is real simple. Identify the problems people face and offer them solutions.

How can you do this?

One effective way is to build a list. Offer people solutions to their problems in exchange for their contact details. The solutions you offer will be your own products and affiliate products.

Just make sure you don't 'sell' your products to your list. Let me put it this way... people won't buy a drill because they want a drill, they want a hole. Don't sell them drills, offer them 'holes any where they want and in any size they want.'

Colin Evans is webmaster of http://www.opti-income.com and editor of CAtZ, the newsletter that teaches you how to earn your living online.

Discover The Incredible System That Gives You A Positively Unfair Advantage In Making A Living Online!"

Click Here => http://www.opti-income.com/make-a-living-online

Web Marketing And Website Traffic Analysis

Writen by Mark Nenadic

Among the best ways to get the very most out of your web marketing is to analyze the traffic that you already have on you website. You need to develop an understanding of who is visiting your website, what they want from your website, and what they're doing once they're there. Unless you have this information, it is challenging to improve it in a way that will better meet the expectations of your visitors.

In order to analyze your website traffic, you can choose one or many of the following four techniques:

» A webpage counter
» A statistical package from your ISP
» Web traffic analysis software
» Hire a professional to audit your website traffic

Counters are one of the oldest tools that have been added to websites. They can be visible to your website visitors, or invisible to them so that only you can see. A web counter is a very basic addition to your website that simply registers the number of people who visit any given page on your site. Of course, showing this isn't exactly the most professional way to run a website. Sure, they're alright for personal pages, but for a business that is trying to develop a good reputation and make a good impression, this probably isn't really the way to go.

With the statistical package from your ISP (Internet Service Provider), you'll be able to have a look at a log of every visit your website has received. This will be available to you in the form of either a webpage or a graphic for your analysis. The information is often registered in raw NCSA combined log file format, which is rather challenging to use for the average user. It is full of complicated coding that must be deciphered for each individual "hit" that your webpage has received. If you know what you're doing, however, this method does indeed provide you with a good amount of information, such as the way that people are getting to your website (for example, by way of a search engine or a link from another site) and what they are doing at your site once they have arrived. If you are using a good quality ISP, then you will likely have a freeware version of a popular statistical analysis package available to you. There are many good ones from which you can choose, and you'll find the results very useful. You can have your ISP produce a daily, weekly, monthly (etc) report for you to use. They can either be posted on a webpage for you, or emailed directly into your inbox. You'll need to contact your ISP to find out exactly what services they offer in this regard.

If that doesn't work for you, if you want a better detailed report, or if your ISP simply doesn't provide that service, then you may wish to purchase a web traffic analysis software program. There are tons of these programs available at affordable prices that will provide you with a broad range of analysis options for the traffic you receive on your website. To use these programs, you simply need to download access logs from your ISP using an FTP program. You'll need to ask your ISP about the directory in which those logs can be found. The software will then parse (interpret) the raw log file information one line at a time to provide you with results in various combinations and formats for your use. Though the more high-end programs can cost over $5 thousand, there are many software packages that are available to us "normal folk" with varying degrees of options and abilities, but at much more affordable prices. You can easily obtain a good quality software package at around $300.

So why do you need these stats so badly for your web marketing? The fact of the matter is that they give you a goal for your marketing. They show you:

» Which web pages on your site are most popular
» Which pages on your site are least popular
» Who is visiting your website
» Which browsers they are using to view your website
» Which search engines are sending the most visitors
» Which banner ads are sending you the most visitors
» Where the errors and bad links may exist on your website.

Copyright 2006 Mark Nenadic

Mark Nenadic Mark is the director and face behind FifteenDegrees-North http://www.15dn.com, where you will find articles and resources to help with SEO, marketing and Web design.