tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31633740396633078702024-02-08T02:19:21.738-08:00Silver ArtThe Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-71012372674974944042009-02-01T02:26:00.001-08:002009-02-01T02:26:41.199-08:00Five Steps To Successful Web Marketing And Sales Process!The basic principles used successfully by brick and mortar storefronts in moving your potential clients through a successful sales process is also the most effective way on the web.<br /><br />But how?<br /><br />You do this by following the five step process in your marketing strategy by attracting potential clients, building trust, helping them choose the right product, presenting the product, and <span id="fullpost"><br />then closing the sale.<br /><br />Step One- Marketing / prospecting:<br /><br />Prospecting is the delivery of qualified visitors to your website. It can be achieved by many forms, such as, search engine marketing, pay-per-clicks, and e-mail advertising that draw people to your site.<br /><br />Once they are there, it's your responsibility to show them how your product can fill the void in the marketplace and what sets your product apart from the rest. Deliver your 'Unique Selling Proposition', USP.<br /><br />Step two- Building trust:<br /><br />Just like in a brick and mortar business where you greet a person when they walk in the door or physically help them find what they are looking for, you can build trust by doing similar things on your website by the elements that surround the design and development of your website.<br /><br />Your visitor is unconsciously judging your credibility by asking themselves the following questions:<br /><br /> 1. Does the website have the feel and look of a legitimate company?<br /> 2. Is it easy to find the company contact information?<br /> 3. How is the copy on the site?<br /> 4. How fast does it download, and are there any broken links?<br /> 5. Is there a privacy policy posted on the site?<br /> 6. Is it easy to navigate? <br /><br />Step three- Help the buyer:<br /><br />If you have done your prospecting right, the visitors coming to your website are hoping to find a solution to their problem. The solution can be a product or a service. Internet marketing studies show that 7 out of 10 visitors are ready to buy. They are only looking for a vendor who they find more helpful.<br /><br />Ask yourself these questions:<br /><br /> 1. Are you helping your visitors to identify and find the solution to their problem?<br /> 2. Are you guiding them to find the solution by easy to find information, and navigation? <br /><br />Step four- Present the product:<br /><br />Before you present your product, make sure that you have already helped the buyer by identifying with their needs in the previous stage. When you present your product or service to your visitor be sure to keep their attention and their interest by motivating them to continue with the sale.<br /><br />Step five- Successfully close the sale:<br /><br />Look at each of the products that you offer and ask yourself these questions:<br /><br /> 1. Are you assuring them by giving guarantees?<br /> 2. Does your description answer all their questions?<br /> 3. Are you giving them feed back and testimonials from your clients?<br /> 4. Do you take credit cards, if so which ones?<br /> 5. What happens after they purchase? <br /><br />Take the guess work out of the purchase process.<br /><br />If you court your visitors by the five steps above, you'll see better conversions, and increased profits. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-16886524537431536552009-02-01T02:25:00.000-08:002009-02-01T02:26:00.291-08:00Increase Traffic with a Good TitleThere's such a thing as taking search engine optimization too far. I'm not talking about black hat versus white hat, things that might get you banned versus staying pristine. I'm talking about keyword stuffing in the title. As far as search engine optimization goes, there's nothing wrong with it. You might very well make it to #1 with a title like "Widgets, Black Widgets, Home Widgets, Cheap Widgets."<br /><br />But who's going to click on that?<br /><br />Oh, I'm sure some people will. But I'm betting the guy who's at #3 with "Widget Information" is <span id="fullpost"><br />going to get more visitors.<br /><br />Sometimes we webmasters spend so much time trying to second-guess the search engines that we forget potential visitors, people, are the ones we really need to impress. Yes, it's important to get onto that first page of search engine results, but once you're there, think of ways to entice people with your titles.<br /><br />I'm not saying to get rid of keywords in your titles altogether; instead, take your main keyword and work your title around it.<br /><br />So, what makes a good title?<br /><br />First off, get rid of the mass of keywords separated by commas. If people were looking for synonyms, they'd grab a thesaurus rather than popping onto Google. Instead, put yourself in the shoes of the person looking for information on widgets. If you were the one doing the looking, what kind of title would attract you?<br /><br />You really can't go wrong with Keyword Information or some variation of that title. After all, that's what most people are looking for, information. However, that can be a bit dry.<br /><br />You may want to consider employing what writers call a hook. This is something that grabs your attention and makes you want to continue reading in order to satisfy your curiosity. Journalists employ this method all the time to increase newspaper sales.<br /><br />Some examples might be:<br /><br />Widgets, Bad for Your Health?<br /><br />Are Widgets Safe for Your Children?<br /><br />Widgets Increase Sales... If Used Correctly<br /><br />Be creative. Whatever you do, make sure your titles are cohesive. Think like your visitors, not like the search engines. Lure the visitor into clicking on your site instead of the nine other sites listed on the search engine results page. You might just be surprised at the increase in traffic you receive. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-73454227172156556012009-02-01T02:24:00.000-08:002009-02-01T02:25:16.712-08:00The BEST Free Internet Marketing SecretIf you have ever wanted to discover how you can use the BEST online marketing tactic to promote your Web Site for free, now it's your chance to learn the amazing tactic that I'm using on a regular basis to generate tons of instant visitors to my Web Site(s).<br /><br />FACT: everyone knows that CONTENT is king online. When using articles as the media of your online marketing, you eliminate the need for high cost advertising.<br /><br />In fact, article publishing is a profitable tactic that you can use it for free. The paid costs are for various article submission services that help you to SAVE time and money and put your article promotion on autopilot.<br /><br />One thing is for sure - with a well written, content-rich article, you are pretty <span id="fullpost"><br />sure that what you are unleashing is nothing but a surge flow of targeted traffic to your Web Site.<br /><br />Here's why: once your article is published on various Web Sites, you'll notice a constat stream of new visitors hitting your Web Site. With the proper article promotion this can get spread like wildfire all over the Internet because there's a high chance that your article can be picked by others and published on loads of other Web Sites, for weeks, months and even years to come.<br /><br />That's the real beauty of article publishing.<br /><br />Be aware: a poor written article, with typos and errors will not get published on reputable online web site and article directories.<br /><br />I suggest you proofedit your article before you submit it on the Internet. More than that, I highly recommend that you include no advertisement within your article.<br /><br />HINT: articles looking like sales letters won't be published online, trust me on this.<br /><br />If you're serious about writing a professional article that will get picked by major web sites into your niche field, you'd better take into consideration these 3 quick tips:<br /><br />TIP # 1 - Create An Eye-Catching Title<br /><br />A capturing title will always attract attention to your target audience. Make sure you spy on your competitors article titles and come up with better titles.<br /><br />TIP # 2 - Create Killer Content<br /><br />A top-notch article will always start with a grabbing introduction and finish with a grabbing conclusion.<br /><br />Your focus is to keep the article flow from one paragraph to the next. Make it interesting and don't bore the reader.<br /><br />Use short, concise sentences. Take this article as an example.<br /><br />TIP # 3 - Create The Ultimate Resource Box<br /><br />Here comes the most exciting part: if your article is accepted and published by an online web site or publication (e.g. Newsletter/eZine) it's going to bring you FREE traffic to your Web Site. Here's how - the article bio (resource box) that is attached at the bottom of your content (article) contains a brief overview of you, your web site and/or business.<br /><br />Here's a resource box example:<br /><br />John S. is the creator of "Top Marketing Tactics". He publishes a weekly online marketing eZine titled Top Marketing Tricks. Sign-Up FREE Now (A $49 VALUE) at: top-marketing-tactics dot com (here you add your url!)<br /><br />This is a fake example to show you how a killer resource box should look like. This is how you're going to capture your readers interest about you and your offer.<br /><br />Just last month I received over 500 unique visitors to one of my niche Web Sites, so this tactic works like crazy. Try it for yourself and you'll be amazed at how easy it is to get published online for free via article marketing and promotion. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-37254352583991885062009-02-01T02:19:00.001-08:002009-02-01T02:19:51.569-08:00Search Engine Promotion - - - Be Sure To Go Overseas!They call it the World Wide Net, so why just concentrate your firm’s search engine submissions on U.S. search engines?<br /><br />The main reason to get your real estate website listed on the foreign websites is: Good foreign search engine rankings will generate new clients!<br /><br />This is especially true if your firm is located in a major metropolitan area. Here is some of the actual business created directly from our top foreign search engine rankings: Potential new immigrants, business persons considering setting up <span id="fullpost"><br />a business office, foreign nationals considering immigration, and a foreign couple whose son got arrested in Orange County and they needed to contact a local Orange County attorney to help.<br /><br />Why heed my advice? Well, let’s add some real world credibility to back-up my advice. So how does our own main legal website rank on foreign search engines? We have many number one page placements. Below are just a few of our PAGE ONE foreign search engine rankings for the very competitive phrase Orange county attorneys on our Los Angeles-Orange County legal website;<br /><br />http://www.la-orange-county-lawyers-attorney-directory.com<br /><br />AOL-UK - Sympatico (Canada – MSN-UK – MSN-France – MSN Germany Google Mexico - Google UK - Google Germany - Google Japan<br /><br />Check today to see if your website is listed on the top foreign search engines. A good starting point is to check the engines hyper-linked above. Perhaps the best way to obtain high foreign search engine standings is to first achieve top ranking on the major US search engines.<br /><br />Before a quest for higher rankings, you should obtain a comprehensive report on your site’s current page one through page three search standings. You need a base-line or starting point to see if your efforts are effective. An example of such a detailed report can be viewed at:<br /><br />http://www.websitetrafficbuilders.com/lawyer-website-search-engine-standings-report.htm<br /><br />To enhance your report’s usefulness, I would suggest that you run the same report for your biggest legal competitor. This report will then give you not only a benchmark but a set of goals to strive for.<br /><br />The second important report you should run is a link popularity report. Good quality incoming links are vital to top search engine ranking. Here again it is imperative to run this report against your local competitors. An example of such a detailed report can be viewed at:<br /><br />http://www.websitetrafficbuilders.com/lawyer-website-link-report.htm<br /><br />Investing in improving your law firm’s search engines standings could become the most cost effective career investment you make.<br /><br />Copyright 2006 Promotions Unlimited. All rights reserved. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-66305348130872897792009-02-01T02:18:00.000-08:002009-02-01T02:19:08.553-08:00Take a Look Into The Future of SEOYou will always walk one step behind Google. But what if you could guess what Google would do in the future with their algos? Then you're a step further then Google! But how can you look into the future? Well, very simple, just look what Google did over the past.<br /><br />The past<br /><br />Google liked inbound links to your website, if you had a lot of good links to your page it would get a high ranking. Then webmasters thought <span id="fullpost"><br />of something, some kind of deal between websites: linkexchanges. Website A linked to Website B and Website B linked back to Website A. This way they could manipulate the search engine result pages by exchanging links with eachother.<br /><br />Googles reaction<br /><br />Google's reaction on this new sort of marketing was to decrease value of inbound links from linkexchanges.<br /><br />You can do this action-reaction thing with multiple SEO happenings of the past and see that google always decreased or increased the value of other factors in search engine optimization.<br /><br />So let's look into the future now...<br /><br />The future<br /><br />It's always a race of SEO's against the search engines. And the SEO's have found something new right now, automated linkbuilding. The coop (http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/ad-network/?s=14566) and linkvault (http://www.link-vault.com/?ss=1237) are well known by many people and is no black hat SEO. It's simple and effective. Because with only one link per page on your site you get a lot of links to your site back from other domains. But most of those links are not really relative to your site. So what Google probably would do is decrease the weight of irrelevant links and increase the weight of relevant links. They allready done that but the gap would probably become bigger.<br /><br />And if you speculate a little more you will come to a conclusion that age is going to be a bigger factor in Google because it's the only thing webmasters can't manipulate.<br /><br />Also, Google will probably give more weight to 'in-content' links then to those link lists at the bottom of your page.<br /><br />So, be aware of Google's and YOUR future as a SEO and think forward. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-13730895100453609962009-02-01T02:17:00.002-08:002009-02-01T02:18:24.641-08:00The Power of Article SubmissionIf you're a webmaster, one of the best and most cost effective ways to generate traffic to your website is through article submission. Sometimes one well written article is all that it takes to propel your website to new heights, as is the case with one article I wrote called "Achieving Optimum Health".<br /><br />After almost five years of webmastering a website for self improvement and doing all kinds of things to get my site noticed, this article literally transformed my online life from one on life support to a progressively profitable online business.<br /><br />I wrote this article sometime back and submitted it first to SelfGrowth.com and a few other sites. From there, the article was picked up by <span id="fullpost"><br />other webmasters who posted it on their websites. From these new websites, the same process repeated itself... other webmasters picked it up, posted it on their sites and more webmasters picked it up and it goes on and on. It has a viral effect.<br /><br />How does that benefit me or my website?<br /><br />For a start, since every webmaster who posted my article on his or her site is required to retain my website link on the resource box, it increases my in-coming links. As you know, more in-coming links to my website means better ranking with Google since it is an indicator of my site popularity and relevancy.<br /><br />In addition, all these in-coming links increase my website visitors and traffic, and therefore increases my ranking with Alexa.<br /><br />The best part is that all these increased traffics increase my Google Adsense earnings as well as my affiliate earnings. In addition, all these exposure also increase my visibility on the Internet and raised my profile as well as my authority in the area I wrote about. Also, my newsletter subscriber base expanded.<br /><br />To actually see how powerful all these are, do these 3 simple steps:<br /><br />1. Go to Google Search at Google.com.<br /><br />2. Cut and Paste these search terms into the search box (including the " at the beginning and the end).<br /><br />"Achieving Optimum Health"+"Tim Ong"<br /><br />3. Click on the search button.<br /><br />The results generated will show you that this article - Achieving Optimum Health - of mine is presently being published in more than a hundred websites and directories all over the Net.<br /><br />Can you imagine what that kind of exposure can do for your online business? <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-30239162822061771872009-02-01T02:17:00.001-08:002009-02-01T02:17:44.682-08:00A Novel Free-For All IdeaAlmost anyone who has tried submitting to free-for-all sites will say that they are no longer worth the effort as a traffic generating tool.<br /><br />Automated FFA submissions to "millions" of sites are also not that useful as most of these sites are only ever "visited" by automated submission scripts and not by human eyes. The only thing these auto submission tools achieve is to get <span id="fullpost"><br />your e-mail address bombarded with "confirmation" e-mail from the FFA page owners.<br /><br />Many unsuspecting users who submitted their personal e-mail address to these submission tools have suffered incredible frustrations because of the "spam" they receive. (Technically they are confirmatory e-mail that the submitters agreed to receive.)<br /><br />However. one previous "victim" of confirmatory "spam" managed to turn the tables around with a very ingenious twist to the process.<br /><br />He basically submitted his web site using the FFA auto submission tools and agreed to get the "millions" of confirmatory email...but submitted an e-mail address that led to an autoresponder that replied back to these emails with a "thank you for your offer which I'm considering...please have a look at my web site in the meantime" type e-mail.<br /><br />Incidentally, Outlook Express also has message rule function which we can use to achieve a similar effect. Simply click on "tools", "message rules", "mail", "mail rules", "new", "where the message is from the specified account"(the e-mail account you intend to receive confirmatory "spam" with), and "reply with message", then specify the message you want to reply with.<br /><br />Don't forget to also freely distribute your e-mail address to multiple mailing lists, classified ads sites, and anywhere that is likely to get your address "spammed" The best part is when "spambots", and bulk e-mail address harvesters etc. pick up your e-mail address and it gets included in those "e-mail 100000 prospects for $49.95" offers, you'll be promoting your site to many people with absolutely no effort on your part at all!<br /><br />Have fun with this one. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-56389953283227993602009-02-01T02:14:00.000-08:002009-02-01T02:15:27.105-08:00What Are Pay Per Click Reports?A pay per click report will inform you of how many visitors you have had to your website, what keyword they used to get there, and some monitor how long they were there. These reports can be daily, weekly, or monthly. There are free pay per click services however they do not give you all the information that you can get from a paid service.<br /><br />Companies mainly use a monthly report on the traffic to their websites. In order to utilize the pay per click service to it’s utmost ability, they<span id="fullpost"><br />must report data from web marketing as well as other crucial information. This will allow the user to examine their marketing strategies to decide if they are working.<br /><br />Some pay per click companies put a tracking code in your website to monitor sales. How many customers have signed in and what they are interested in is also tracked. Most will prepare a report that is easy to understand. It will contain information about the sales generated by the people using pay per click, visitor breakdown, and anything else they think is of particular interest to the website owner.<br /><br />The benefits of using pay per click are invaluable to companies that want to use their website to generate more income for the company. With so many people having access to the internet, it is the number one way that customers seek and find the company that they want to use for their needs. These reports will allow you to see how well your company is doing by how many internet visitors you have each day.<br /><br />One of the benefits of using a pay per click report is the tracking of keyword use. When advertising your business, keywords are used to direct traffic to your website. When you use pay per click the reports you get will show which keywords worked the best and which ones you need to replace. A good keyword will have more hits on it and the keywords with the least hits means you need to find another. By doing this you will know the difference.<br /><br />The reports can show you how to optimise your initial web site page to get more visitors. There are certain items that people look for when going to a web page. With the reports from pay per click, the ones that work the best will be suggested so you can get the most from your website.<br /><br />Pay per click reports can help you to know for sure how many people have logged into your website. It is the best way to be aware of just how well your advertising is doing. You could advertise in the newspaper, on a billboard, or by direct mail but how are you going to know the number of people who have seen your advertisement? Plain and simply, you are not.<br /><br />By using pay per click you will know the exact number of visits to your website. This report will become an important tool to help you make the most of your web page and give you the knowledge you need to optimise the site you use for generating income.<br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-3537989979551911152009-02-01T02:12:00.002-08:002009-02-01T02:13:24.519-08:00How to Watch Movies on Your PSIf you’re like most people who own one of Sony’s beautiful PlayStation Portables, you’re probably in love with it. But you also want to be sure you get the most out of your investment and enjoy every one of its incredible features. And that includes the ability to watch all your favorite movies.<br /><br />Sony’s PlayStation Portable or PSP, built primarily for gaming, comes fully equipped with superb multimedia features. So if you thought it was just for playing games, think again. Not only <span id="fullpost"><br />can you play multiplayer games over the Internet, you can also watch movies, listen to music, browse the Internet, and more. It uses a small, yet powerful, Memory Stick PRO Duo, and the performance is superb due to advanced technology using Mp4 encoding.<br /><br />Mp4, also known as MPEG-4, is the global multimedia standard defined by the Moving Picture Experts Group that delivers professional-quality audio and video streams over a wide range of bandwidths. Mp4 enables DVD-quality video to be delivered at lower data rates and smaller file sizes, and that’s very important on smaller devices with limited storage capacity.<br /><br />Your PSP comes ready to play music and movies in Mp4 format. Transferring music and movie files to your PSP is easy. First, download the files you want from the Internet to your PC. Second, ensure any movies are in mp4 format. Third, transfer the files to your Memory Stick PRO Duo. Your PSP instruction manual offers several ways to do that. Finally, insert the Memory Stick PRO Duo in your PSP and select either video or music from the home menu.<br /><br />This is a beautiful device and it would be a shame to use it only for one purpose and to miss out on all its other uses. So I guess now you’ll be watching movies, listening to music and playing games, all day long. Who’s going to get any work done? <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-87747247559069917262009-02-01T02:12:00.001-08:002009-02-01T02:12:35.080-08:00Just What Is Surveillance Technology?The technology of surveillance equipment is continuing to advance at a very rapid pace. As a result surveillance equipment has become almost ubiquitous in retail stores, public schools, gas stations, and airport terminals all across the United States. There is a wide range of surveillance technology that is available on the market. Surveillance equipment ranges from wiretapping phone and internet based equipment to high tech facial feature recognition computer software known as biometrics.<br /><br />Surveillance equipment makes the <span id="fullpost"><br />world infinitely more manageable for people who need to protect their belongings and protect people and make its far more difficult for people who actually want to commit crime. As more of the high-tech surveillance equipment becomes more and more easily available to the general public and small business owners, more and more people will reap the benefits.<br /><br />The basic concept that underpins a piece of surveillance-equipment is one of 'you will be seen'. The gist of it is that criminals may well think twice about committing a crime if they think they might be seen, identified and then found later on and be charged with a crime. Although it is unlikely that everything can be caught on surveillance camera at one time, on the occasions when surveillance does pick up activity, it does provide enormous help to security and police in identifying the offenders.<br /><br />These days the more advanced surveillance equipment operates in the same way in an effort prevent crime from occurring, so it has not veered from its original intent. Indeed many small businesses decide to install dummy cameras that don't actually record anything, indeed don't even turn on, but act more as a preventative measure for potential offenders.<br /><br />One of the main reasons for the establishment of surveillance equipment is to prevent the theft of merchandise from stores and warehouses. Usually offenders come from outside the company and so the theft can be caught on tape and referred to the police. But on occasion the offender will actually come from within the company and then employee policy needs to be implemented. Upon discovering the internal offender that employee will usually find themselves without a job.<br /><br />Apart from the examples outlined earlier, shopping malls, parking garages, office buildings, and warehouses and financial institutions all now commonly use video based surveillance equipment in order to protect their wares and to also to limit the costly losses incurred by dishonest employees. Major department stores who have high internal theft rates use these video surveillance systems to actively prosecute thieving employees. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-38034633748891021502009-02-01T02:10:00.000-08:002009-02-01T02:11:35.511-08:00Theft Prevention Accessories for PDAsProtect Your Investment, Your Data, and Your Privacy With These Theft Prevention Accessories for PDAs<br /><br />Losing a PDA through theft is one of the biggest challenges owners of personal data devices face. As the prices and capabilities of these units increases, so does the market for stolen PDAs, year after year. Of course, locking the unit up in a drawer and never taking it out is about the only<span id="fullpost"><br />certain way of making sure a PDA is never stolen, but that limits the usefulness. Attaching a heavy chain and a wheel hub may help, but it won't fit in your pocket. Instead of taking these sorts of extreme measures, consider one or more theft prevention accessories for PDAs.<br /><br />Permanent Markings Scare Away Thieves<br /><br />If you're a little handy and have a steady hand, you can try the tried-and-true method of etching. Grab your rotary tool and lightly carve an identifier into the back of the case, like a phone number or email address. Doing this will probably void your warranty. Don't try this unless you have a steady hand and neat handwriting.<br /><br />A less extreme option is a security sticker. A sticker may not seem like much of a deterrent, but what if peeling off that sticker announced that the PDA is stolen? That's the idea behind security sticker theft prevention accessories for PDA units. The self-adhesive sticker is attached to the back of the unit, and gives an 800 number to call and report the PDA. The sticker also advises them that by reporting the unit, they can avoid prosecution.<br /><br />However, if the sticker is peeled off, the phrase "STOLEN PROPERTY" and the 800 number are left behind in large, very obvious lettering of indelible ink. This type of theft prevention accessories for PDA units stops theft from those who want to snatch the item while you're not looking, and turn around and sell it on the street. Few people, regardless of how dishonest they are, will buy an item that announces it has been stolen.<br /><br />Tracking the PDA With GPS<br /><br />The GPS functionality built into many modern PDAs is usually used for convenience for the unit's owner, but with tracking security software, it can also be a way to find a stolen PDA. This form of theft prevention accessories for PDA units consists of software that is installed on the unit and a subscription service. The software installed will be linked to the unit's built-in password protection, and will automatically broadcast an emergency signal after an incorrect password has been entered. The subscription service will then pick up the signal and start tracking the PDA, informing the authorities where to find it.<br /><br />Common Sense<br /><br />Probably the best theft prevention accessories for PDA units, however, is our own common sense. Don't leave it lying unattended on a table, even for a moment. If you put it down and look away, someone else will probably pick it up. Don't leave it in plain sight inside a vehicle, even a locked vehicle. Make sure you use the built-in security functions of the unit itself. A password can, at the very least, protect the information on a unit from prying eyes if it is stolen. Think about that if you keep your kids' pictures and contact information for your kids' school on the unit.<br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-17140579759726016902009-02-01T02:09:00.000-08:002009-02-01T02:10:27.459-08:00What to look for in a web hostFinding a web host can seem like a daunting task, but it really doesn’t have to be. I’ve filtered through no less than a dozen hosts in my 4 years online, and have been with one host for about 2 years now. For me, the important features of a prospective web host:<br /><br />* Reliability<br />* Support<br />* Affordability<br /><br />Reliability is a very important thing if you’re running a website for profit. It would be difficult to keep a membership if your web site was consistently unavailable. I had 2 web hosts <span id="fullpost"><br />that were plagued with downtime. One of them was great for the first few months, almost no downtime - but then it’s like the bottom fell out. Support started getting backed up, 20 minutes to 2 hours of downtime every few days. . . Eventually the company was gone.<br /><br />Support is crucial. If you are trying to run a business and you’ve got a problem with your website - you want someone to talk to or someone to respond in short order. There are so many web hosts around that you simply do not need to choose one that only offers email support. My current webhost offers 24×7x365 support by phone, email and live chat. They are available whenever you need them, and most of the times when I have a question or issue (and send an email versus using live chat) it’s normally handled within an hour or so. You can’t beat dependable support.<br /><br />Finally - Affordability. Having a great web host won’t do you any good if you can’t afford to keep them. Web hosting companies abound. There are so many that if you just do a tiny bit of searching you can find a good hosting plan with great support for between $5-$10 per month. The web hosts that charge $20 per month for 500MB storage and 10GB bandwidth are most likely either small reseller hosts (where their support might lack) or they are catering to the people that don’t know any better. You do not have to pay an arm and a leg for good hosting.<br /><br />My suggestions for finding the best web host for your money:<br /><br />1. Only choose a web host with a $0 setup fee. There is no point in paying a setup fee unless this particular host has something unique to offer.<br /><br />2. Only choose a host that allows month to month payments. Just because your service starts out great with your web host, doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way. Things change and it could happen to your host. Keep your options open in case things go south.<br /><br />3. Only choose a host that offers true 24×7 support. If the web host states 24×7 support but doesn’t provide a phone number, send them an email in the middle of the night. See how quickly they respond. If you don’t get the response for a day or two - Stay away.<br /><br />If you stick by these basic guidelines you should be able to find a web host that works without losing a bunch of money in the process. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-1332980767673137772009-02-01T01:47:00.000-08:002009-02-01T01:48:06.297-08:00How To Host Several Websites Under One AccountIf you operate several websites, each with its own domain name, signing up of separate hosting accounts can be an expensive proposition. Even if your hosting company offers the add-on domain feature (which will allow you to add different domains to the same hosting account) you will be charged a monthly fee for each domain you add, sometimes costing almost the same as your full hosting fee.<br /><br />The solution is to open a reseller account. Reseller accounts were created to allow web designers to offer hosting services to their customers, to create a one-stop-shop for all their web <span id="fullpost"><br />design and hosting needs. However, you don't need to be a reseller to buy a reseller hosting plan.<br /><br />Reseller accounts are usually slightly more expensive than regular hosting accounts, but they will allow you to host different domain names without incurring in the add-on domain fees, making more efficient use of your space and bandwidth.<br /><br />You want to choose a reseller account that offers:<br /><br /> * no limit to the number of domains you can add.<br /> * the possibility of hosting your main website free, without using any of the space and bandwidth in your hosting plan. If you are a reseller, your main website will be your business website, and the space and bandwidth will be reserved for your customers. If you are not a reseller and just want to manage different websites, you can designate one of your domains as your main website (usually the largest and/or most popular, since you won't accrue any space or bandwidth for it).<br /> * the possibility of upgrading to another plan without any penalties or fees. <br /><br />To find out how much space and bandwidth you will need, first determine how many sites you are likely to host, how many pages each site may have, and how many visits will those sites most likely have. If you plan to host 10 sites with 20 pages each, at an average of 50KB per page and 100 page views per site per day, you will need 10MB of space (10 x 20 x 50KB) and 1.5GB of bandwidth per month (10 x 100 x 50KB x 30).<br /><br />As far as pricing is concerned, there are reseller accounts costing as little as $10 / month up to several hundreds (or even thousands). It all depends on your requirements and the hosting company you choose, so shop around to get the best possible deal in terms of cost and reliability. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-44149252933144249102009-02-01T01:26:00.000-08:002009-02-01T01:27:09.024-08:00Money Doubler MadnessAfter being around in the background for a while, money doublers suddenly became a huge craze on the internet. Forum message boards sported hysterical testimonials like "I Cycled!" and "I Got Paid!"<br /><br />I wonder if they call it a craze because it only crazy people fall for it. Well, I’m certainly not crazy, on the dull side of sensible I’d say if I was pressed on the subject. I am not given to trusting people and you won’t find me accepting a free lunch.<br /><br />So why did I get involved? I put it down to an unattractive little green mean streak of greed. Once that little green fellah gave me a nudge, there <span id="fullpost"><br />was no stopping me; I went from weakness to weakness.<br /><br />I thought that it would be safe to join one of the established programmes, so I joined the Easy Chair Club’s My Magic Doubler. I invested $100. Their server crashed and they closed to new members with bewildering suddenness. I wondered if I was their last ever member to sign up.<br /><br />My natural mistrust of human beings became even deeper and I resolved not to make a similar mistake in future; I would not be tempted to join another money doubler.<br /><br />Some days later, I received $120 back from Easy Chair Club. I had not doubled my money, but I was in profit. I began to like the human race a little better and to think maybe money doublers were not such a bad idea.<br /><br />Double Bot caught my attention. People were getting paid out and, best of all, they had what they called a "spam" section on their forum where members could discuss money making opportunities (ie other doublers). I invested $50. After my success (I did not see it as a lucky escape) with My Magic Doubler, I was feeling confident.<br /><br />At this time Matrix Twisted was about to launch. This was my chance to get in at the very start of a doubler and make some big money, so I funded my account with $50. The difference in time zone meant that I would have to buy shares in the middle of the night. Regrettably, I slept through the excitement of the launch. I also missed the trauma of the instant crash and the first howls of "Scam!" I began to feel less confident and more like a Jinx.<br /><br />Cycle It Fast had already been re-launched and people were getting their money doubled within hours. Strangely, once I had taken the plunge and invested, things changed and I reckon it would have been better named Cycle It Extremely Slowly. Instead of cycling times being expressed in hours, they rose to days and then weeks. Cycle times are no longer mentioned. I think the wheels fell off the day I joined.<br /><br />I decided Cycle It Fast would have to be a long term investment. I still had Double Bot for quick profit. I was surprised to note, when I visited the forum, one day that the popular "spam" section had been removed and posts along the lines of "10 days and I haven’t cycled" and "Where is my money?" were appearing. I started to feel a little uneasy. I was disappointed but not surprised when the Bot hit the rocks. How strange, it had been doing so well before I joined. I asked for a refund but I think admin were too busy baling out.<br /><br />Anxious to recover my losses, I invested $50 with Profit Sharing Hits. Money doubling with advertising hits on top. What could go wrong? I was stunned when the members’ forum disappeared overnight and Admin announced that a re-launch was necessary. I again got that eerie feeling of being the last one in before the doors closed.<br /><br />After several emails from me, a reply arrived from Double Bot. As admin had not got round to refunding my money before they re-launched, they were offering me a choice of paying them a 35% fee to process the refund or reinvesting in the Bot even though doubling had stopped.<br /><br />That is the absolute end! Pass me that albatross and call me Jonah. It seems that any doubler that takes me on board will immediately sink. I might as well go and throw my money straight into the sea, at least I’ll get some fresh air at the same time. I have learned my lesson. I’ll concentrate on my Plug In Profit Site and will not waste any more time or money on these stupid doublers.<br /><br />Wait up! I just got mail and there’s a money tripler about to launch. Now that’s different… <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-59412310999046009452009-02-01T01:24:00.000-08:002009-02-01T01:25:24.533-08:00Wise Words On Website ContentWise words on website content.<br /><br />Websites come and websites go; it’s a fact. It’s also a fact that websites which have exceptional website content don’t go very often. In order to win and retain business you need to be able to attract, keep and excite people’s attention but for many that isn’t always an achievable target. However without website content that can do this and do it quickly you are losing visitors and potential customers to your competition so <span id="fullpost"><br />if you can’t create the website content that will achieve this and more you should consider getting someone who can.<br /><br />Website content for visitors.<br /><br />In bygone times keyword cramming your website content was the order of the day; it got you ranked high on search engines affording you plenty of hits to your website but in due course people realised that the visitors they were winning weren’t actually taking advantage of the offers on site or clicking the affiliate links. Search engines also cottoned on pretty quickly to the art of keyword cramming and eventually devised a cunning plot that penalises you for the excessive use of keywords within your website content. This article uses a keyword density of just over 6% for the keywords ‘website content’ and that is just about right. You need to get the balance just right; not making readers obviously aware of the over existence of the term website content but including it often enough that it will get you brownie points with search engines.<br /><br />Website content for search engines.<br /><br />Search engines don’t employ millions of people to trawl through the millions of websites and then judge how good the content is, instead they use robots or spiders that will crawl your website and measure the use of your keywords in order to ascertain the relevancy and usefulness of your website content. If they find it has too high a percentage they judge you to be a keyword crammer and you will be penalised. If it’s too low they determine (rightly or wrongly) that your website content isn’t relevant to potential visitors. Again you get penalised. You have to get the balance just right.<br /><br />Website content that sells your product.<br /><br />Your website visitors are your potential customers and they should be treated as such, but the average online shopper is very different in temperament to the high street shopper. They want to see useful content surrounding your products and they want to see it on a relevant topic. The latest and most common way to do this is through the use of a number of articles; these articles serve a couple of very useful purposes that we will discuss in a minute.<br /><br />You should use website content that informs, excites and compels people to purchase your product and it should do so quickly. The average website visitor will give you 3 or 4 seconds before they decide whether to read on. If you can hook them within those few seconds then they become very strong leads; you know they are interested in what you have to say. That gives you the first sentence, possibly two to get your message across.<br /><br />Don’t forget that it can take up to four times as long to read off a computer screen as it can on paper so your website content should be restricted to a minimum of 300 words on a informative page to 1000 words on a page. Any less and you may struggle giving them anything useful but more than this and they’ll stop reading. The optimum word count is between 500 and 700 words.<br /><br />Articles that give value to your website content.<br /><br />Used well a number of article pages on your site will serve as keyword specific website content pages and also to give your visitors even more information. If you have 50 keywords you want to use you could use 1 article for each keyword. This article would then act as a separate page of website content that will rank on the search engines for that one keyword. Each well written article that your visitors read will move them one step closer to purchasing your product so use them well.<br /><br />A final word on website content.<br /><br />The final thing to remember about website content is that it HAS to be unique. Copied or plagiarised website content will see you heavily penalised by the search engines and where a few dollars may have got you high up in the rankings with very well written website content, using stale copied website content will see you plummet to the bottom end of the search results. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-71364092021843300432009-02-01T01:00:00.001-08:002009-02-01T01:00:29.460-08:00Discover Online Discount Coupon Codes - Why Pay Retail!Clever Internet shoppers continue to improve their search tactics of the broad directory of online retailers with the focus of finding the best price on the product or service they are interested in purchasing. At the same time, online retailers are doing their best to bring those shoppers to their store. How you ask? With online discount coupon codes. Countless premier online retailers, travel companies, and merchants providing<span id="fullpost"><br />consumer services, grant coupon promotional codes to online partners (advertisers) to place on their web site for their visitors.<br /><br />So where do you find a web site that will provide you with a direct link to all of these discounts? The discount coupons will often be hosted on partner web sites as a method of advertising for the store or retailer. The coupon links may offer either a percentage off the sale price, free shipping, a free gift with purchase or in some cases, a combination of all.<br /><br />Discount coupons for "free shipping" can save the shopper a generous amount of money for shopping directly with the retailer's warehouse location as compared with shopping traditional brick and mortar stores. In other words, they pass the handling savings onto you!<br /><br />"Percentage off" promo codes can be as high as 50%, with deals such as $25 off a $50 purchase. Almost all online retailers have a space to enter a promotion or discount coupon code generally during the final check-out process.<br /><br />So how do I shop with online coupon codes? Launch your favorite search engine directory and execute a search for the specific coupon you are looking for, i.e., "merchant name + coupon code or promo code". There will be thousands of results, so it is up to you to access which coupon offers are current. Bookmark those web sites which offer up-to-date discounts for future shopping and for sharing the coupon site with your family and friends.<br /><br />After you find the coupon you would like to use, click on the link provided and shop the merchant's site. Take note, if a coupon code is provided with the link, you will need to enter this code during the final steps at check-out. If there is no code provided, then the discount is embedded in the link and will be applied automatically for you. Coupon offers are subject to change and can expire at anytime. Verify that the savings have been applied to the shopping cart before finalizing your purchase.<br /><br />Online promotions and discount coupon codes will often change weekly with most offers changing monthly. Holidays, special occasions, i.e. the beginning of the school year, will increase the number of online coupon offers available on partner sites and often prompt other merchants whom rarely offer online incentives to review their current promotions and advertising strategies. The months of October, November, and December are also the busiest shopping months of the year, so expect an increase in coupon code offers and promotions.<br /><br />Always look on your favorite partner site for new discounts before you complete that next online purchase, and remember to share those sites and savings with your family and friends. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3163374039663307870.post-65737996417570428432009-02-01T00:54:00.000-08:002009-02-01T00:55:34.539-08:00Internet And Business Online – The Act Of InterdependenceThe best role of business online is that of interdependency. We’ve all heard the old saying, “No man is an island.” When it comes to online business this is especially true.<br /><br />If a business owner who takes their business into the online world determines they will be self reliant and never accept the help of anyone then that individual will not be in business long enough<span id="fullpost"><br />to change their minds.<br /><br />It is accepted fact that the greatest tool for long-term exposure to your website is through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Without it potential customers can’t find you. It is unreasonable to expect that you can adequately develop a website without optimizing your website for the best possible search engine ranking.<br /><br />Search engines also place a high value on sites that have links placed on existing sites. These ‘backlinks’ demonstrate to search engines that others trust your site. By placing your link on their website these other businesses indicate a trust and recommendation for your site.<br /><br />In effect the two strategies listed above rely exclusively on what others can do for you when it comes to your online business.<br /><br />Shirley Temple once proclaimed in her movie Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, “I’m very self-reliant.” American westerns are filled with lines dealing with pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and holding down the fort. Many of us have grown up to believe if we want something done right we have to do it ourselves.<br /><br />This thinking is in opposition to the rules associated with an online business.<br /><br />The online world can only exist because people share. Individuals share technology, but the also share links, reviews, blogs, forums and a wide range of other marketing strategies that find a commingling of interdependency.<br /><br />In online business you are as dependent on others as they may be on you. Unlike the word ‘dependent’, the term interdependent indicates a mutual dependency. In other words you are depending on others to help provide links back to your site while they are equally dependent on you (or others) for the success of their business.<br /><br />Have you really taken a proactive approach to networking? It’s possible you are reading this today and you’ve never considered asking someone else to place a link to your site on his or her online business site.<br /><br />It can feel awkward depending on others to achieve online success especially if you’ve been lead to believe reliance on others is also a sign of imposing on their otherwise brilliant generosity.<br /><br />I suppose it could be a deep-seated sense of pride that makes it hard to consider the need to ask others for help. However, the truth is depending on others is really what has made the Internet possible. The growth of this online world is comprised of a link of computers, networks and servers that are connected in a way that provides the maximum benefit for all.<br /><br />Building an online business can feel a bit like trying to build a house of cards. Without the ability to rely on the other ‘cards’ around you it is virtually impossible to build.<br /><br />Interdependence. This is the essence of online business. <br /></span>The Art of Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16364014258339134755noreply@blogger.com0