What if

What if, What if, What if. This question comes at us every day. What if I said this, What if I did that or what if I didn’t. It comes down to decisions. We all have decisions to make every day of our lives. We all make good and bad decisions. That’s life. When you look back on your life you can think of some really great decisions that you made, decisions that have altered the course of your life. You can also remember some really bad ones that have affected you in a negative way. Life is never static, it’s always changing and opportunities come and go. Doors open and we have to decide whether to step through and seize the opportunity or not. When you are standing in front of that open door of opportunity the question arises “What if?” do I or don’t I. We need to make a decision. How do we make decisions? This depends on our background, education, life experiences and sometimes advice from others. We don’t know each other, but I would like to give you some advice. Suppose I said that I knew something that could change your life forever for the better. Would you be interested? Suppose I said I knew someone that was showing other people how to acquire something like real estate for free. Suppose you could also learn how to build on your “land” something like a five star hotel. You would also learn how to market your “hotel” and collect rent from guests that pay to stay. Would you be interested? What am I talking about? It’s called virtual real estate. Your own space on the World Wide Web or Internet if you prefer. If you own a space there it can turn out to be very valuable property. The most expensive house in the world is a 12 bedroom mansion in London England for which an Indian steel tycoon paid $128 million. The most valuable web page in history, to date, will probably be thesixmilliondollarpage by Alejandro Saavedra and Robert Kanaat. Now here’s the difference. The tycoon paid $128 million for the house. How much did these two guys pay for the page. Next to nothing. Maybe a couple hundred bucks at the most depending on how they went about it. I am going to open a door for you that could literally change your life. The only cost is your time and effort. Now you must decide! Ask yourself the following question:- “What if” I click on this link: It could make all the difference.

Learn the top 5 strategies and cool tools you need to know about to start your online business

Copyright 2006 John Navata #1: Depend on the tried and tested essentials of Internet marketing These key strategies for marketing your business online have always been effective, but are now much easier to apply. Things like... Designing a web site that sells: As in the early days of the 'Net, your web site needs to have clear navigation and a good sales process to be effective; however, it's now much more important for your site to look professional. Today's web surfers have clear expectations of how a commercial web site should look and perform. Luckily, new tools and resources, such as the free web-building software Nvu, make it a breeze for you to create a good-looking, fully functioning business web site. Discovering a profitable niche market: Providing a solution to a problem for a narrowly-defined niche market is still extremely important -- maybe even more so with the increased competition. But now, advanced tools such as Yahoo! Search Marketing's Keyword Selector Tool and Wordtracker can help you pinpoint exactly who your market is and what they're hungry for. Multiplying your profits with additional income streams: If you want to pile profit on top of profit, combine several revenue streams. The host of e-commerce opportunities that are now available mean that you have an almost limitless selection of these profit-boosters: from moving merchandise on eBay to creating free web pages with Google pages that will be quickly indexed by the search engines, to selling on-demand merchandise on sites such as CafePress. Expanding your reach -- and profits! -- with an affiliate program: An affiliate program can still ramp up your income while exposing your site to a wider audience. But instead of recruiting an "army" of affiliates, these days it's more important to attract "super affiliates" to your program -- a few affiliates who will be responsible for generating the bulk of your sales. These superstars can be attracted by a generous commission structure and payouts for sales generated long after an affiliate's referral. Of course, some areas of Internet marketing have changed more than others since our first course made its debut in 1998. Let's take a look at some of them... and the tremendous opportunities they offer. #2: Make sure your e-mail gets delivered... the critical changes you need to be aware of E-mail marketing is still highly profitable. In fact, we made $2.4 million last year from e-mail marketing alone! Not only is it a great -- and inexpensive -- way to establish relationships with your customers, but your promotions and follow-up offers can be completely automated. However, while you used to be able to send e-mail to absolutely everyone, these days you have to be very careful. Spam -- a growing problem on the 'Net -- cost US businesses an estimated $17 billion in 2005 (Ferris Research) and now accounts for 57% of all e-mail (Ipswitch 2006)! The consequences of spamming have grown far beyond a slap on the wrist from your Internet Service Provider or a few nasty e-mails from angry recipients. For example... Internet Service Providers now filter all incoming e-mail for spam by blocking messages that contain particular combinations of words or phrases and shutting out ALL e-mail from the domains and IP addresses of known spammers. So if you get mistakenly labeled as a spammer, as much as 50% of your e-mail may be "filtered" and never reach your subscribers. And it can take weeks or months to resolve the issue! The CAN-SPAM Act (January 2004) introduced laws that allowed spammers to be prosecuted if specific guidelines aren't being met. Under this Act you can be fined, and even jailed, if your e-mails don't meet certain requirements, such as an "unsubscribe" link in the body of each e-mail you send out. The bottom line is that if you want to take advantage of the profit-boosting power of e-mail marketing, you MUST make sure that your e-mails comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. You can read the full text of the CAN-SPAM regulations at spamlaws/federal/can-spam. shtml. Once you've made sure your e-mails will be delivered, you need to think about their content. In the face of overflowing inboxes, your e-mails and newsletters need to be particularly appealing and valuable if you want them to be opened. #3: Keep up with the search engines and take advantage of FREE sources of traffic The search engine landscape has changed dramatically since we published the first edition of our course. We used to recommend getting listed on eight major search engines: Altavista, Excite, HotBot, InfoSeek, Lycos, Northern Light, WebCrawler, and Yahoo. Today, clear leaders have emerged, narrowing our recommendations to the top three contenders: Google: The most important of the three, Google has a 49% share of the search market. Yahoo: A distant second, Yahoo has a 22% market share. MSN: With 11% of the market, MSN is still worth focusing on. With fewer search engines, keeping on top of their ever-shifting algorithms has become critical. If you can get a top listing on Google, for example, you can double your potential customers! A new way to drive free traffic to your site is to write short articles related to your industry and post them on e-zine article directories such as Ezinearticles. Include your tagline at the bottom of each article you write and watch your traffic increase exponentially -- as well as your inbound links (which the search engines consider when ranking your site!). Take advantage of as many FREE sources of traffic as you can to drive tons of targeted traffic to your site! #4: Instantly boost your traffic with pay-per-click advertising Paid search has exploded, becoming a widely accepted way to drive qualified traffic to your site -- fast. And with each passing year, it becomes more sophisticated, allowing you to zero in on your target market with greater precision. Today, the major players are... Yahoo! Search Marketing (searchmarketing. yahoo/): Yahoo's sponsored search lets you advertise your site in the search results of the following search engines: MSN, Yahoo, AltaVista, InfoSpace, AlltheWeb, and NetZero. Google AdWords (https://adwords. google/): With Google AdWords, you can have your ads show up in sponsored search listings for certain keywords -- and you can also advertise on other sites that match your audience. MSN AdCenter (https://adcenter. msn/): MSN has recently entered the arena of paid search with MSN AdCenter. So far, it's the only PPC engine to offer keyword-based demographic targeting. Paid search is one of the fastest ways to drive qualified traffic to your site... and if done properly, won't break the bank. To learn how to profit from pay-per-click advertising in three simple steps, check out my blog post. #5: Promote your business with the technologies that have changed the face of Internet marketing Technology has been furiously advancing since the first edition of our Insider Secrets course -- paving the way for new and highly effective ways to promote your Internet business. Let's look at some that have had the biggest impact: Audio and Video: The Internet has come a long way since its text-only roots! Programming languages such as JavaScript and programs like Macromedia's Flash have allowed for web video and audio, slide presentations, and other interactive elements. Our testing has proven that using audio and video as part of your sales process can now have a dramatic impact on your bottom line -- if done right. Use short audio and video clips of you and your customers to personalize your site and reassure visitors that you are a credible business. Blogging: Blogs are informal web forums that invite feedback and discussion. They're free to set up and use, and so simple that they can be created in minutes using sites such as Blogger. As a result blogging has exploded in popularity over the last few years. With a business blog you can reach a wider audience, generate better search engine rankings, boost your revenue, and develop a rapport with your customers -- to name just a few benefits. And because blogs are updated frequently, search engines LOVE them. Podcasting: Podcasting, the delivery of audio files -- typically MP3 files -- via the Internet, is one of the hottest new technologies to hit the market. It allows you to publish audio content that interested listeners can subscribe to via RSS “feeds” -- so they can automatically receive your audio broadcasts without having to go to your web site. Direct-to-desktop technology: Direct-to-desktop technology is a way to deliver information straight to your subscribers' desktops -- without having to wrestle with e-mail filters, bouncebacks, or your competition! Once your customers sign up, they don’t have to check their e-mail or visit your web site to get your latest news or updates. A flashing desktop icon alerts them as soon as they receive your message -- and all they have to do is click to read it.

Internet marketing online

Strategies for cyber jungle survival (tips for online retailers) In the organizational landscape, the novel and logical means that is perhaps the most encouraging of all drivers is E-commerce. It seems to have revolutionized the manner in which business processes and procedures are being undertaken. Some of the goals that it has been able to effectively carry out is the improvement of the dealings among buyers, vendors, and suppliers, greater cost-efficiency and widening one's scope in the global economy. This has accorded businesses more opportunities for growth and expansion. Through an advocacy of more personalized approaches in business, it has given a new definition to competitiveness. Customer information and data are now being yielded by vendors from their consumers. The significant volume of data also allows these individuals to leverage on promotional offers and the best buys. Online trading has been successful at endorsing price competitiveness and compels online vendors to work towards this end goal. Within the retailing industry, the increased availability and accessibility of cyber trading has been the key to its immense popularity and steady rise. This also implies high cost efficiency, without the necessity of expenses such as rent, manpower cost or labor. The intense competition in physical markets and the very high fixed costs are just grateful for this innovative solution. The broad array of products and services are appreciated and patronized by consumers. The substantial volumes of online data also compel online vendors to leverage on cost. The relative ease accorded by online shopping has allowed consumers to optimize their management of time. Numerous online vendors have adapted the online store and a novel online shopping experience as concepts on the new online age. An outcome of this occurrence is the birth of the terms "cyber shops, virtual shops, e-tail, and online shops" were brought forth. Physical vendors are pressured to cope or run the risk of being tagged obsolete. This resulted in the mushrooming of websites. A contemporary investigation conducted by the World Trade Organization has indicated that a specifically promising future is waiting for firms who are engaged in trading products and services through cyber trading. These encompass organizations that are into the sales of computer software, printed news, magazines, music, and film. Numerous industries, including brokerages, tourism, telecoms, and consumer / media advertising that are yielding the benefits of cyber trading. One overall international work of the industry has projected to attain a US$1 trillion value in 2003. Attributing to the high expenses of operating as a start-up business, difficulties in daily routines, uncompetitive volume of sales, cutthroat competitors, and unpredictability of the arena, Internet players in retail are starting to lose hope and to lose money. In summary, to sustain its leadership, leading online vendors should to maintain their niche in the following three areas that have been proven to be the leading factors considered by Chinese online consumers: 1) Improve brand equity - The major dynamic to cyber buying for customers are security and trust elements. Online vendors should to solidify their brands so that products purchased from them are perceived as trustworthy. 2) Alliance partners - Alliances and networks are critical in the digital economy because of heightened efficiency for transactions and a variety of offerings to the company. Therefore, the addition of alliance partners expected to generate better performance of dot retailers is a priority area. 3) Integrative advertising and promotions program - Vendors online must launch intensive marketing efforts to gain visibility. If possible, the online vendors involved in the study should to convey to customers their integrity, honesty and trustworthiness in all these online transactions. This will help address the doubt or uncertainty of online consumers to transact online because of trust issues. The use of banners may not be effective in encouraging customers to purchase online. In the cyber jungle banners are quickly implemented; however, they present low impact. People are inclined to shrug off these banners. Online marketers ought to leverage on these strategies to put in more into their coffers. In the end, a synergistic combination of marketing efforts, support from partnerships and persistent and effective advertising will win consumers’ mindshare and trust. And, ultimately this will be reflected in his buying decisions.

Adsense is it all that the hype says it is

We’ve all seen the hype surrounding AdSense, contextual advertising on your web site, and heard the stories of people banking thousands from this groundbreaking concept. But… for every person banking $1,000’s there are many, many more who are banking less than $50 per month. There are many reasons for this so let’s examine a few. * Value of the ads – despite the hype over the high paying keywords, many keyword pay only a few cents to the advertiser (that’s you). The high paying keywords are fiercely fought over by both bidders and advertisers. That’s a fierce arena for someone with little experience and little traffic to their site. So forget about throwing up a “meso” or credit web site and then sitting back and banking your new found fortune. That is probably not going to happen. * Your business model – there are two ways to profit from AdSense – a few web sites with loads of traffic or numerous web sites with average traffic. The concept is the same as with any business – it’s “bums on seats” or “people through the door” that make the money. Looking at the first model – plainly the problem is to get many interested people to your web site – preferably those seeking information so that if they don’t find it on your site, they click on one of your ads and move onto another site – leaving you with a few cents as they leave you. Traffic, as any internet marketer will tell you, is not only the life blood of your business, but is also very expensive and time consuming to build up. Shouldn’t you be looking at capturing emails for your mailing list or selling them something rather than letting them go leaving you a few cents in tips. Of course if you merely look at AdSense as a secondary income, then these few cents are more than welcome. Let’s look now at the second model – the pile it high concept. You need numerous very large sites, all attracting high paying words with thousands of pages, to make a good living with AdSense. There is a place for this, and indeed we sell large batches of densely keyworded AdSense article sites ourselves – because we know they work. But… here is the problem. In order to make them work – you need not only a lot of domain names, but also a serious amount of hosting and we are talking paid hosting, not the no cost stuff. Many packs sold have over 100 sites and tens of thousands of pages. 100 sites means 100 domains – that is about $1,000 a year and a lot of time finding good ones. Of course you could use sub domains, but then you have problems getting them all into the search engines and pay per click advertising. 10,000+ pages and 100 domains – that’s a server you need to rent, be it virtual or actual. That is serious money each month – and you have still not earned a dime! You have to earn a serious number of click thrus to cover your annual and monthly fees. * The ads themselves – just as banners are no way as effective as they once were, then surfers are growing weary of AdSense ads. This is especially so of those ugly sites that just throw up the maximum 3 sets of ads in the default colors, not caring if they are messy and detract from the site. Many of these sites contain minimal information and are spoiling it for those that make much more effort with their internet business. Google knows it has a cash cow and a virtual monopoly with the AdSense business, I can’t see it letting this happen for too much longer, but sadly it will take a long time to clear up and, as this happens, surfers will get more and more immune to the ads. It’s not as if you can encourage your visitors to use the links, or disguise the ads, or even place graphics around them – all forbidden by the Google Terms of Service. So what can you do to keep making a secondary income from your web sites? Well if you want to stay with Google and why not? Then; understand that it is a business and be prepared to spend out on advertising, test your product, refine your web site, tailor your advert design to your web site and lastly offer good value to your surfers. Lastly look elsewhere – we found a great software program that lets you provide contextual adverts on your web site derived from the 1,000’s of high commission paying products in ClickBank. The beauty is that you can merge these ads into your web site, draw attention to them, encourage people to click on them and add graphics to them. Better than that, although you don’t get paid when someone clicks on the ads, your Clickbank name is added to the link, so if someone buys from the powerful sales page you send them to, you make a very large commission – up to about $75 from some sites? So AdSense is a great system, but what about looking at other methods? – Just a thought! ------------------------------------------------- © Copyright 2006 Biz Guru Services Ltd Lee Lister, writes as The Biz Guru, for a number of web sites including her own sites. With over 20 year’s management and business consultancy experience with businesses large and small as well as being a serial entrepreneur, she now helps others set up, develop and market their businesses. If you are intrigued about this new software then go to our site clikkads – if you want to build your AdSense Empire then have a look at AdSenseSites. biz This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

Can you really get rich quick

The answer is yes and no. Of course there are many individuals who’ve created a considerable amount of wealth in a short time period, but let’s be realistic, that’s not going to happen to most of us. Today, many online marketers claim to offer “easy” strategies to earn income, when the truth is like any other way of making money, it takes WORK. The only difference is that with this type of work you don’t have a clock to punch and the most physically demanding task required is typing. You have to understand that most people (including myself) are generally lazy. We all want something for nothing, we dream of having the lifestyle of wealthy people, but few are willing to do what it takes to actually make it happen. Marketers know this, and they simply capitalize on this truth by creating advertising that appeals to our greed, and many of us led by laziness and sheer desperation fall victim to such claims--because we want to believe them. I know because I’ve done it!! I mean, who wouldn’t want to make money by barely lifting a finger?? Well I’m here to let you know if you think it’s that easy, you’re kidding yourself. Now obviously I’m not stating that all claims of wealth creation online are false, however I do believe that too many marketers oversimplify the task. The truth is that there are thousands of ways to make money online; the hard part is finding a strategy that works for you and sticking to it. Lots of people end up spinning their wheels for months jumping from idea to idea or quitting if desired results aren’t achieved with a short time, and eventually give up after pulling their hair out and become discouraged. Don’t pull your hair out, find something that you have an interest in; for example if you want to become a drop-shipper, only focus you efforts on drop-shipping research and strategies. Adequate research is the key to making it online. Once you find your niche, conduct research on it. I also strongly encourage finding others who are in the same field, as it will benefit you to seek the guidance from vets who’re making money already; you can have all the motivation in the world, but without any direction, you’re left turning circles. Lastly, don’t just stop at one source for information-which is how a lot of people set themselves up for disappointment. Instead, use different sources related to your topic in order to provide yourself with a solid foundation; once you have a starting point search other resources as well in order to develop a well-rounded strategy to start your business. For more articles and free information on how to earn a living with online income you can visit: e-wmn.

The advantages of multimedia marketing on the internet

Many marketing campaigns for products hook a potential customer in with a catchy advertisement. The hook may come in the form of a slogan or picture. While snappy text and pictorial design might make a customer take a second look, it does not always convert a customer lead into a sale. What Internet marketing tools can you utilize to convert more sales leads into actual customers? The answer is multimedia marketing. What is multimedia marketing? Let’s define “multimedia”. Multimedia is media that involves an advertisement that “talks and moves”. For example, multimedia contains more than just text and/or pictures. Multimedia advertisements contain audio and video elements. By adding audio and video ingredients to your marketing campaign you will see your sales conversion rates soar. What exactly are audio and video multimedia marketing elements? Audio elements include voice-overs, sound effects, and music. For example, when a potential customer visits your web page the first thing that catches their eye is the beautiful graphics and text information. At this point your customer needs to feel an emotional connection with your company, products, and services. This is where audio elements play a role. You can provide music that sets the tone for your product or services. Perhaps you are in the party planning business and you have an advertisement about planning children’s birthday parties. You can play fun, upbeat music to mimic the atmosphere of a birthday party. You could also add in a button that allows website visitors to listen to your actual voice. You can demonstrate your passion for your product and money back guarantee through your voice. Potential customers will feel that their experience has been more personable. This allows them to feel more comfortable with your company, services, and products. A wonderful side effect of this safe feeling is increased customer sales. Video elements are another tool you can employ in your marketing campaign. You can create your own Internet commercial. You can demonstrate how to use your product through a video. You could even video testimonials from happy customers. A video will allow potential customers to attach a “face” to the product or services you are selling. You are building a relationship with your customers when you make their Internet experience rich and satisfying. Plus, did you know that adding an audio element to your website can increase your response rate by 300%. Wow! That is a massive increase that you just can’t ignore. Another great benefit to creating audio and video components for your website is that you can build CDs and DVDs from these files. You could create reports on specific topics and burn them to CDs and DVDs. Then you can sell these products to customers. The Internet is ready to handle sophisticated audio and video files. Plus, Internet technology is improving every day. You can create these audio and video components in the comfort of your own home or office. It really is that simple. The effort you put into creating your own multimedia marketing campaign on the Internet is well worth it when your sales conversion rate skyrockets.