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September 07
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HOW TO ADVERTISE EFFECTIVELY ONLINE FOR INCREASED PROFITS
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How to Start The Perfect Home Based Business
Day by day people scour the internet looking for a home based business to set them financially free. What happens more often than not is that people end in worse shape than when they started. Why you ask? The answer is not so simple.
The key to finding a home based business starts with knowing yourself. That means knowing what you are good at and what you don't do well. You must also be honest with yourself when doing this. We would all love to be perfect in every aspect of life but the truth is we are not and we have to accept this fact.
This is important because picking a business in which most of the tasks that need to be done are your strengths, will increase your chances of success. For example let's say you're not much of a talker. You don't talk much to people who you don't know and you keep to yourself usually. You are however extremely organized and love to write. It would most likely be in your best interest to be an article writer or ghost writer. They do not require you to do much talking or go to meetings all the time.
The first thing you need to do to avoid failure is to get some training. An Internet Marketing Course should train you to not only start and operate a business but also, what to look for in a Home Based Business. How to spot and avoid scams and teach you all the required steps to building your business. It should cover extensively topics related to advertising, marketing, email, autoresponders, website designing and webhosts.
This is just a brief summary of some of the things you need to know. Believe me, without the knowledge to run a successful internet business, you chances of failure are 95%. I'm sure you heard the statistic that says 95% of all new internet businesses fail. The reason for this failure rate is directly related to the lack of training. It doesn’t matter if your business is in the offline or online world, without knowing how to run a business and what really is involved, you are doomed from the start.
The next thing you need to know is the product or service that you will be offering. The more you believe in your product or service, the more you will sell. Now before I go on there is a handful of people in the world that could sell ice to an Eskimo or sell water to a fish but these people are the exception rather than the rule. For most of us, if we don't believe in what we are doing we will not reach the level of success that we desire.
People will be able to tell if you believe in your product or not. So if you are looking at a network marketing company, try being their customer for a couple of months before you join the business. Once you try the product or try the service then you will know how you feel about it. On top of that you will be more prepared to answer questions about it because you have become familiar with it.
Once you picked a business that relies on your strengths and a product or service you can believe in, you have to choose what your budget is going to be. Remember that most home businesses take at least a few months before you really start seeing results, so it is important to keep within a budget until then. If you decide to join a MLM you may have the type of sponsor that says you should buy this or buy that, it will really help your business. Remembers that you need to stay within your budget. If the recommended items are out of your budget ask your sponsor to rank the items by importance. This way you can stay in budget and get the items most needed first.
Personally, I have tried a few MLM's and never made any money. I actually lost more money and never was able to contact anyone for a refund or if I did, it was always my fault that I didn't profit. I don't like ML's and would never recommend them.
Now that you have your business, your product, and your budget, you are ready to start your business. Just remember that it is a business and should be treated as such. Running a home based business can be more difficult than running a traditional business. Running a business from home offers many distractions; Kids, TV , your bed, etc. You could have followed this guide perfectly but mess this up and you will not succeed. If you do not take it seriously you will just be wasting money and wasting time and since most people start up home based businesses to have more time and more money you would be defeating the purpose. One more thing that you should try to do. Make sure the home office is secluded so that when you are working you cannot be distracted.
Now that you have your business running you must market it. Marketing is how you get customers. Now there are many forms of marketing such as newspaper ads, flyers, TV ads, mailing lists, pay-per-click ads, power-linking, and many others. How you market your business is up to you. Each technique has its own strengths and weaknesses. Obviously you will want to keep your budget in mind when picking a method of marketing. The way to properly use the methods required to be successful, once again, consider investing in a good internet marketing course. The knowledge you gain from a good course will insure your success! I am a firm believer in training and knowledge so I really can't stress this enough. I have wasted so much time and money because I thought I could do what all the guru's promised. it backfired!!
Diversify your marketing as much as possible, and remember... the more people that see and know your business the more business you will do.
About the author:
Ed Rizzo is a professional internet marketer, copywriter who makes it simple for you to get more knowledge to start your own Home Based Business. To learn more about internet marketing visit his website at
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October 07
Starting An Online Business On A Shoestring Budget
Are you starting an online business with a small budget? You are not
alone, most new home based business start ups have little money to work
with when first starting out. Online businesses are one of the lowest
cost businesses to run, if you know what you need to pay for and where
to go.
Follow these suggestions for getting your website set up
inexpensively while not sacrificing quality. There are some things you
need to pay for (and this will tell you how much) and other things you
can do just as well for free.
The first step to starting any type of business is to register your
business. You can usually do this through your local county clerk. If
not, they can point you in the right direction.
You should also consider investing in some sort of Internet Marketing
Course. If this is your first venture into the Home Based Business
arena, there are many things you need to know to make your business a
success. A good course can show you how to start, build and profit
without getting ripped off. Unfortunately, the internet is flooded with
scams and schemes that are designed to take your money. A good course
will also guide you on how to spot these scams and how to avoid them.
You can find good, informative internet marketing courses for under $50.
Don’t spend any more than that until you get going. Advanced courses can
range into the hundreds of dollars and you won’t need an advanced course
until you get to the point that you want to expand your business.
The next thing you need to do would be to register a domain name for
your website. Try to make your domain name relevant to what your
business is going to be. For example, is you decide to sell pet supplies
make your domain as specific as possible. Something like petshampoo.com
or dog grooming.com
There's no reason to pay more than $10 for a domain name, so feel
free to shop around. Domains are important because they give you
credibility as a business.
If at all possible stay away from free websites. Free websites do not
enable you to have your own domain name so instead you end up with a
long URL like: 'mybusiness.freespace.com' instead of mybusiness.com. See
the difference? Your customers expect you to put some money into your
business and this is a clear tip off that you are not doing that - and
for $10, why shouldn't you? Another quick note about free websites is
they usually come with sponsor ads and links that will take traffic from
you.
Next step is to find a webhost. Hosting plans vary considerably. Much
of what you pay for will be determined by the features your hosting
account provides with its service. If possible, try not to skimp on a
webhost. Choose a host that offers plenty of space, allows hosting for
more than one website and has tools for a growing business.
Are you setting up a simple, one page site? You could probably use a
low cost host for $5 per month. Do you need some extra help with
templates and layout or expect a high amount of traffic or downloads?
You may have to pay more but it can be well worth the extra expense to
have integrated webpages already set up or to ensure your host is
providing you with enough bandwidth to handle the traffic on your site.
Many hosts also include HTML editors so you can build your own website
easily and with little effort. This alone will save you on hiring a
website designer. If you build your own site, this will also save you on
purchasing an HTML editor.
Never use a free host, unless perhaps you want to start with a blog
or similar format while you get your own website up and running. Free
hosting usually means you pay in other ways, lack of a domain name or a
lack of quality. Many free hosting accounts are for personal use only
and do not allow commercial accounts. Try to get recommendations from
others when looking for a good host.
The next step is designing your website. As previously mentioned you
can find professional templates on some hosting services. These can give
your website a professional polish without the expense of hiring a
designer. You are limited, however, on the look you choose depending on
the variety of designs available.
Templates are also available to others so your site may have the same
appearance as someone else. If you need custom work done consider hiring
a freelance web designer or ask a local student studying web design.
Freelance sites often put you in touch with new designers who will
charge less while building on their experience and adding to their
portfolio.
There are many, many places on the internet where you can find
website templates. Look for templates where you purchase the template.
This will ensure the template is not being used by other designers or
folks building websites. It also allows you to customize the template
for your particular needs.
If your website is set up for making sales, you will also need a
merchant account or some other means of accepting credit cards. You must
be able to take credit card payments if you want to be successful.
Merchant accounts can be expensive to set up and if you make lots of
sales, can be time consuming processing individual payments.
There are many companies that will do the processing for you. Some
have no set up fees and charge a percentage of each sale for the
service. This is the best scenario when you are starting out. Many of
the big marketing guru’s also use these processors. They are easy to use
and set up. Just do a search for payment processors on your favorite
search. Use the most respected companies and you will have no worries.
There are many things you need to know when starting any business
venture, but with the right guidance it is also the most rewarding
opportunity to be involved with. Once everything is set up and in place,
the possibilities are endless. And so is the income!
Spending money wisely is important when starting any business, but
some free services will cost you in reliability or image. On the other
hand there are some cheap deals you may not hear about so don't give
your hard earned money (or worse - your credit) for a service you can
pay less for and get the same results.
About the author:
Ed Rizzo is a professional internet marketer, copywriter who makes it simple for you to get more knowledge to start your own Home Based Business. To learn more about internet marketing visit his website at
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NOVEMBER 07
Getting Targeted Traffic To Your Website
Now that your site is ready and you want to make sales, you need to get targeted traffic. That may sound easy, but to get good quality targeted traffic takes time, patience and effort. Driving traffic to your website is a much discussed and much misunderstood venture.
There are a million schemes out there that claim to drive tons of new visitors to your site daily. There are services that say they will increase your traffic by an enormous percentage if you will only pay them their small fee over a period of fifty years. There are so-called experts who will place your pages on all the best search engines on the net. They claim that with this kind of blanket exposure, your traffic numbers will explode within days. It just doesn't work that way.
Don’t buy into these schemes. The only sure-fire way to draw productive traffic to your website is through targeted marketing. The important word to notice here is "productive." You can draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to your site every year by hosting a giveaway of some kind. Services that search the internet for freebies will have people clicking a link to your site like crazy. But these people are not there to buy anything from you, quite the opposite. They are empty clicks. There is nothing productive about this kind of traffic.
People looking for free stuff will rarely make you any kind of money. And that's what you're after, right? So target your marketing to the people who really want to buy what you have to offer. How? Start by trying these basic steps...
Most important to targeted marketing are the keywords found in your title and the meta tags in the website's code. You can enroll in pay per click search engines. Obviously, Google.com is one of these, but most of the most popular keywords are already taken. If you can think of some original phrases that people use to search for your products or services, you can post your ad next to the text that comes up when people search for that phrase. Use a keyword suggestion tool. You can find a good one at Yahoo Search.
Try to use words that are in the middle of the list. Now open a browser and type in some of those words. Now look at the top right corner and look for the number of sites that use those keywords. You want to target keywords that don't have the most competition. When someone clicks on your ad to go to your site, you pay Google.com or any other Pay Per Click search engine you are using, a nominal fee.
Submit articles to free ezine sites. This is especially helpful if you are a service provider. You can write, or hire someone to write, an article for you about your area of expertise. Give some free tips, offer your experience, and be accessible in the text. Then at the bottom of the article, you get a link to your website advertising your services. Every time someone publishes your article in their ezine or newsletter, they must use your web address at the bottom.
These are just a few of the many ways to ensure you get "productive" traffic. Empty clicks are just that, empty, and your wallet will stay that way, too!
About the author: Ed Rizzo is a professional internet marketer, copywriter who makes it simple for you to get more knowledge to start your own Home Based Business. To learn more about internet marketing visit his website at
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December 07 Articles
Multiple Benefits Of A Home
Based Business
If you're seriously interested in
knowing about Home-based business opportunities, you need to think
beyond the basics.
Taking advantage of a home-based
business opportunity can afford you many benefits. There are not only
the monetary benefits, but lifestyle benefits as well. Whether lifestyle
or monetary, these benefits can be far greater than what you will ever
receive working for an employer.
If you are already working in your own home based business or just
entertaining the idea, be sure to evaluate your options and consider the
value of the benefits you will receive. Home based business
opportunities can provide you with independence and financial freedom if
you make smart decisions.
There are also multiple tax
advantages for a Home Based Business as well. You will need to do some
checking on the tax advantages as each state is different. When you have
a Home Based Business you can definitely take advantage of the tax
savings you are entitled to.
It is not always money that motivates people to start a Home based
business. Sometimes the intangible benefits are more important factors
when considering home based business opportunities. One of the more
powerful draws to working from home is the
sense of freedom you
gain.
You can set your own schedule, work
the hours that are most convenient for you, and have time available for
family obligations and leisure activities. Parents with children in
school often think about what home based business opportunities may be
available to them.
Teacher conferences, after school activities and the ability to be home
when the children are out of school are strong motivators in making the
decision to start a home-based business. Working from home gives you the
benefit of flexible hours and the freedom to adjust your schedule
according to the needs of your family.
Stress reduction is another benefit of operating a home-based business.
Any business will likely produce its own kind of stress, but certain
stressful factors can be avoided when you take advantage of the more
promising home business opportunities that are available to you.
You will have no daily commute, you
will save money on gas and automobile expenses, and you will have the
extra time in the morning and evening to relax and interact with your
family instead of spending that time getting to and from work. If you
plan properly and budget your time wisely, being your own boss can
reduce the stress you feel due to constant demands and co-worker
interruptions.
A home based business opportunity cannot only give you the benefit of
earning money while working from your home it can give you many other
benefits as well.
A home-based business is the perfect
chance for you to attain financial and personal freedom.
There are numerous home based business opportunities available to you.
Research each one carefully and make sure you are willing to put forth
the effort that will be required in order to succeed. One more very
important point to consider.
If you do decide to start your own Home Based Business, get training. So many people try to start a Home Business and fail. As a matter of a fact, 95% fail. The reason is training, so consider a good marketing course before you spend loads of money on Home Based Business opportunities.
Ed Rizzo is a professional internet marketer, copywriter who makes it simple for you to get more knowledge to start your own Home Based Business. To learn more about internet marketing visit his website at
http://www.dpdhomebusiness.com How to Profit on the Internet
Over 50 million people have access to the Internet, and yet it is still in
its infancy.
Every month sees millions of newcomers and thousands of businesses setting
up online.
Combine this huge, expanding audience with the fact that marketing and
advertising can be done on the Internet at a fraction of the costs of
traditional methods . . . and you have a situation where the potential for
online success is unlimited.
Here is a 7-step guide to ensure that you will cash in on this growing boom.
1. DECIDE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SELL
The online business opportunities that you will come across can be neatly
divided into two areas: (1) Products (2) Services.
Selling Products
When you sell a product you can either carry out the whole operation of
handling orders, stocking and shipping the goods, processing the payments or
simply market for a company that will handle all the administration for you.
Your job is merely to get the orders to the company and then receive
commission.
What product sells well on the Internet ? The item that has been hailed as
the number one business product of the future is, INFORMATION.
Examples of highly successful information products are the 'how-to' and
self-improvement books. If you are knowledgeable about a particular subject
you could consider writing and developing your own product and delivering it
via Email.
Selling Services
One advantage of selling a service is that you can often generate a
'residual' commission - a monthly income all the while that the customer
continues to use the service.
What service is suitable for online selling ?
As the Internet boom continues the most obvious candidate is any service
which assists companies in using the Internet. A prime example is a web
hosting service: a web host will provide the space to put up a web site, the
tools to manage it and technical advice.
HOW TO ADVERTISE
The 2-STEP Approach.
The usual method of advertising is to have short Classified Ads which leave
the reader in a state of enticement, so that he then asks for the full
detailed information in your sales letter, ideally sent by autoresponder.
The purpose of the ad is not to try to sell the product - it is simply to
get interested people to respond.
As your ad may be competing with dozens of others in the same publication
you must aim for a winning headline to make it stand out. Use key words
which attract readers such as . . . Free, How, You , Money, Secret.
Using a Signature File.
A Signature File is a section of text that you place at the end of your
articles or Email messages. It should contain contact details and a brief
summary of what your company offers.
WHERE TO ADVERTISE
Where to place Classified Ads?
Online Services Classifieds, such as AOL, CompuServe, Delphi, Genie, Prodigy,
MSN have sections for placing classified ads.
Ezines (newsletters)
Ezines are Email magazines which you can subscribe to - usually for free.
Most Ezines offer low cost advertising and are also an excellent source of
marketing tips.
You can set up your ads at web sites for free or at low cost.
Using Signatures in Discussion Groups
A discussion group is a group of people with a common interest in a specific
topic. If you participate in discussion groups with useful contributions or
helpful articles you can add your signature files at the end of your
posting. Here are examples of discussion group areas.
Mailing Lists
There are thousands of mailing lists available on every conceivable topic.
You become a member of a mailing list by sending a simple 'subscribe' Email
message to the list. You can post a message to the list and it will be
distributed automatically to all the subscribers.
Newsgroups
Newsgroups (also known as Usenet) are similar to mailing lists except that
you need to access the newsgroup with a newsreader online (whereas mailing
list posts are sent to your Email box).
Online Services Forums which are similar to newsgroups, usually better controlled and
organized.
There are forums where ads are acceptable: try looking for forums which have
sections with titles such as 'Opportunities', 'Marketing', 'Business'.
Direct Mail
Direct mail is the sending by Email of your advert or sales letter to a list
of people who are looking for the product or service that you are offering.
Such a list can be purchased from a mailing list broker.
4. PUT YOUR WORK ON AUTO-PILOT
Here are some software tools which can automate your work and reduce time
and money spent online.
Autoresponders
An autoresponder spends 24 hours a day responding to enquirers with
information such as sales letters, price lists, catalogs, order forms.
If you have ever had to reply manually to 100 responses to an ad you will
realize the importance of an autoresponder to any business setting up on the
Internet.
Free Agent (for Newsgroups)
Free Agent is a powerful and easy-to-use newsgroup reader. It allows you to
browse newsgroups both online and offline.
Waytogo (for AOL users)
If you want to post ads on AOL classifieds then, instead of manually
navigating the various menus and options, you can automate the task with a
program called "Way To Go".
SET UP YOUR OWN WEB SITE
Once you have developed a Information Product you will want
to bring all the information about them together on your own web site. The
website will provide you with a 24 hour international presence and a means
for people anywhere in the world to obtain free reports about your products
or services instantly, especially when complemented with autoresponders.
Make your site easy to navigate. Don't clutter up your pages with information. Ensure that there are no long delays in loading web pages (the chief cause
of this is the use of large graphics)
Make a good first impression with your front page, make it interesting and
let it show clearly what the rest of the site contains. You may only have
ten seconds or so to keep your visitor's attention.
Offer free information and useful articles. Ensure that the content of the
site continually changes, consider a weekly column of hints and tips.
6. HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR WEB SITE
When people are scanning the Internet for a specific product or service they
use 'Search Engines' to feed in a 'keyword' to specify what they are looking
for. You can submit your site to these search engines specifying the key
words that make up the site, so that your site can then appear in such
searches. There are over 20 major search engines, some popular ones being,
Google, MSN and Yahoo. There are literally thousands of other search engines
but these are the major players.
Publicity
Now that you have a web site you can include it in your signature and
therefore publicize it
whenever you send an Email, when you contribute to discussion groups, when you contribute a posting to an Ezine.
You can advertise offline by including your web address on your company
stationery, business cards, letterheads, envelopes etc.
7. BECOME AN EXPERT
Learn how to find information.
Master the use of search engines. Learn from the work of others and study other ads, other web sites, other signature files.
Visit newsgroups and forums, and subscribe to mailing lists. You will find
excellent marketing tips from Ezines and membership sites.
This is a short summary of how to profit online. For a complete step by step, take you by the hand, no bull 'system' to making an honest income, you must click this link http://www.l1nk.com/DZr/bfz.html NOW!!
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January 2008 Articles
Finding Profitable Keywords with Google
If you're like me, you have interests in Hunting
Fishing and dogs. And not just hunting dogs but also mans best friend.
www.my-labrador-dog.com
It's pretty easy to think up groups of people who share a common interest or
have a common problem. What isn't so easy is to discover which of the many
potential markets will provide an
entrepreneur the best monetary return for an investment of time and energy
building a website and promoting it.
People who are forced to move suddenly are a niche market. They have a
problem and they need a solution right now. They are looking for help. If
you are an internet marketer, you want them to find YOU.
That's where the Google Keyword tool can come in handy.
You need to have an Adwords account to make use of these tools, but an
Adwords account is free until you run an ad. The tools are well worth the
time to sign up.
Once you have an Adwords account at adwords.google.com, you can then proceed
to adwords.google.com/select/Tools.
First, take a look at the "Keyword Tool." You may want to prepare a list of
keywords in a text file before you go to the Tools. Then you can simply cut
and paste the list into the keyword tool box. Be sure to check the box "Use
Synonyms" to get the most complete list of keyword suggestions.
For example, say you'd found some great affiliate programs for dog products,
but know the main dog market is oversaturated with heavy competition. You're
looking for some nice niche markets
where your products will still be big sellers, but the competition will be
less. So you type the word "dogs" into the keyword tool.
128 keywords show on the returned list. Most of the major dog breeds are
included, such as Pugs, Papillons, Corgis and Cockapoos. Owners of specific
breeds may form markets you could
pursue. And in addition, there are such prime niche markets as dog tags, dog
crates, dog electric fence, dog insurance, dog costumes, dog medication, dog
boarding, dog names, dog training etc.
The only question is whether any of these niches has monetary value.
Your next step is to go to the drop down box near the top of the page and
change "show columns" from "keywords only" to "keyword popularity." You do
not need to run the search again; the page display will change when you make
your selection.
When you get your results, be sure to notice that at the bottom of the page
is a link you can click to export your results to a spreadsheet like Excel,
as well as looking at them on the webpage.
Now you will see one column which shows you how much competition there is
for the keyword and another column showing how many people are looking for
that term. The information is presented in nice graphical form so that with
a glance you can really understand just how tough a market "dogs" really is.
It is nearly totally saturated. Maybe you'd be better off into the ferret
market, or pot bellied pigs. When you look closely, you see a possible
opening in "heated dog beds" and when you look even more closely you can see
a pattern emerging which might be
useful. Electronic collars, electronic fences, heated dog bed, heated dog
houses, etc. all show a slightly lower competition factor. Now all you need
is the domain name ElectricDog.com and
you're ready to go. (Sorry, it's already taken.)
But wait, there's another option on the drop down box for "show columns".
Now set it to show you "Cost and position estimates" and set the value for
"Calculate Values using Max CPC" to the maximum of $100. Click Recalculate.
The results you see show you how much people are bidding to be in the top 3
positions for an Adwords ad (which is also a good indicator of how much
relatively you can make for the percentage of revenue Google pays for
Adsense ads for the keyword used in your website's articles and content.)
You immediately notice that electric dog fence is a $5.10 keyword,
electronic dog door is $12.26, and electric dog collars is $5.20. At the
same time, you notice an even smaller niche with great potential which you'd
overlooked, "dog insurance" with a bid value of a whopping $15.38, but when
you bounce back to the page with "keyword popularity" results, your
excitement backs off
a bit, because that keyword appears to be totally saturated. More research
may be in order there, or perhaps simply an opportunity to add a few
articles and garner some Adsense revenue.
So now you know a possible slot and you know that to promote it you may need
to steer away from expensive Adwords ads in favor of other advertising, but
you may be able to make good money from your site's content through placing
Adsense ads on your pages.
With over 11 years working from home, Ed Rizzo has explored many niche
markets. The dog niche market is just one of the many niches Ed is involved
with. If you too have an interest in Mans Best Friend, check out
www.my-labrador-dog.com
Find Your Niche -
the Internet Marketer's Goldmine
If you haven't heard the word 'niche' being batted around by Internet
Marketers then you haven't been listening. Finding a niche has become
the antidote to competing in overly saturated online markets.
What is a niche?
A niche is a subject or activity for which a person or thing is best
fitted... a specialized market".
Have you noticed that despite the closing of many businesses in these
harsh economic times, the local hobby train store is still around? That
the 'hole-in-the-wall' eatery is thriving? Or that trends such as scrap
booking can start with a bang and still close within a year when four
similar businesses start up in the same
area?
The online business world reflects the same trends as experienced in the
offline world - often with faster turnover and startup rates. Those who
promote a product or site that targets a small, select audience can tap
into a market that is otherwise not being served. Despite the
limitations of the client base, the targeted nature of the business
creates a devoted and active market, the aim of any business.
HOW DO I FIND A NICHE?
Finding a niche requires diligent research. Whether you have access to
software that harvests and sorts information or you take a manual
approach you must first start with ideas.
With a pen and paper, or computer, if that's more comfortable,
brainstorm a list of businesses, products and industries. Create a list
of keywords and phrases you think would be used by individuals looking
for these items online.
Use a software program such as Wordtracker or a free resource such as
the Overture Keyword Selector Tool to find keywords for your niche that
have a high amount of traffic.
Although a program like Wordtracker makes it easy to find details such
as how many sites compete for that market, you can also do your own
research.
Concentrate your attention on question phrases such as "how do I..." or
"where can I...". These questions will clue you into potential markets
that need servicing.
Next, look in Google Answers. Type one of your keywords into the search
area. What questions are being asked and how much are people willing to
pay for answers? If you find a group of keywords with a high number of
questions then enter these words in your browser's search engine.
What sites come up? Do they provide answers or solutions to the problem?
How are they making money? Can you see an opportunity to service these
individuals?
Finding a niche can open the door to a profitable online business.
Research the market and be certain that your product or service is
valuable to this group. Find forums or groups that
target this audience and pay close attention to their concerns.
If you can help these people you WILL make money. The best of both
worlds!
by Ed Rizzo. Ed has been involved with Internet Marketing for over 11 years and has written many articles and courses on the subject. To find out how to start your own successful Internet Business, check out http://www.dpdhomebusiness.com or http://www.dpdmarketing.com
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February 2008 Articles
Selecting and
Registering
A Domain Name
by Ed Rizzo
Before you even begin building a website you should have already chosen
your niche market. Once you have that, start building a list of
keywords. Both Google and Yahoo have excellent keyword research tools.
Once you have your keyword list that best describes your particular
niche, it's time to select the best domain name, preferably from your
keywords. It helps getting better search engine ranking having a highly
targeted keyword in your domain name.
Of course, you may have a great
idea in mind just to find out that it is already taken, but most of the
time you will be able to find an alternate name that will work just as
well. Try choosing a couple of different names or combination of names.
Next you need to do a search for your chosen domain name. This can be done by visiting any number of sites that offer
domain name registration. When you are performing a domain name search
you are trying to find out which names are available and which ones have
already been taken by somebody else.
After completing a domain name search and finding something that suits
your needs you will be able to proceed forward with the
registration process. This consists of verifying that the name you want
is correct, and then purchasing the domain name. A domain name transfer
is then made, and you will then have your very own domain name. You can
keep your new domain name 'parked' at the registrar while you are
looking for a good hosting company.
Domain name hosting companies are also available all over the internet.
There are hundreds of sites that will be able to host your newly
purchased domain name.
While running a domain name search, be sure to keep in mind the message
you will be trying to convey to your audience. Remember, this is the
site that they will be visiting to purchase your products or services.
You want to make sure that your domain name is appropriate for the type
of site you will be running.
Also, when looking for a domain name hosting company be sure to do your
research. Each company offers their own distinct advantages and
disadvantages, and each company will offer a different level of service
for a different cost.
Your website's domain name is so
important that you should really give it some careful thought. A good domain name will
help you get more visitors to your website, and better results from
them. The ideal domain name is something that is easy for people to remember.
If you can make it short and to the point, while related to what your
website offers, that's the ideal situation.
Long, complicated domain names create too much chance of people
misspelling it and ending up on the wrong site or forgetting it
completely.
Your domain name should be relevant to what you offer on your website.
If you're selling swimming pool filters, something like poolfilters.com
would be a good option - easy to remember and relevant.
Using your company name as your domain is not always the best option. If
you want your offline customers to be able to find your website, it's a
good idea to use your company name.
If you're looking for new customers on the internet, a domain that is
more descriptive of what you offer will be a better choice. (And for
most of us, our primary reason for a Home Based Business is to do
business on the internet not off.)
After all, which would you be more likely to visit if you were looking
for pool filters - poolfilters.com or abccompany.com?
Most short and simple domain names are already taken, so it can take
some searching to find something suitable. Many people choose to use
hyphens in their domain names.
This can make it difficult to verbalize your domain name. If you're
telling someone about your site or advertising it on the radio, you'd
need to say "pool dash filters dot com". Again, it creates an
opportunity for error that you probably should avoid. I'll admit though,
I like using hyphens.
Using numbers in your domain name can also make it easier to find a
suitable domain, but don't resort to "cute" names like
poolfilters4you.com. In this case, you'll again have problems trying to
verbalize the domain. "Pool filters, the number 4, you (y-o-u) dot com"
is a mouthful and just begging for mistakes to be made.
Ideally, you should use a separate domain registrar and register your
domain name yourself rather than doing it through your web hosting
company.
Most web hosting plans include a free domain name, but domain
registration is inexpensive and paying a little more to do it yourself
can save you a lot of future hassle.
If you ever want to change web hosts and your domain is registered
through your host, it can be a lot of work to get them to transfer it to
the new host. Plus, some less-than-honest hosts will register the domain
in their name instead of yours.
To build a successful online business, it is essential to own a domain
name. It increases a website's visibility. Customers or targeted
prospects can locate the company online and reach out for its services.
A highly relevant domain would establish credibility and
professionalism.
by Ed Rizzo. Ed has been involved with Internet Marketing for over 11 years and has written many articles and courses on the subject. To find out how to start your own successful Internet Business, check out http://www.dpdhomebusiness.com or http://www.dpdmarketing.com
Fundamentals of Having and Creating
Your Own Website
by Ed Rizzo
Do I Really Need A Website?
Websites have become a necessity to almost everyone.
Companies, businesses, individuals, even young adults have created personal
websites with their respective purposes, be it for profit, or for
entertainment.
What you must consider, however, before creating a website, are the factors
in which must be put to thought before doing so, such as the cost,
maintenance, use, web host and so forth.
Firstly, associating with the cost, we must always try to find an affordable
host, not spending too much, nor too little. A cheap host does not exactly
symbolize a credible reliability rating, but we must always look for value
for money deals. Also, regarding the efficiency and server/web host
reliability, there are many cases of web hosts not providing the service
they had assured other people, some had even shut down and were nowhere to
be seen. Keep this note in mind, as if you would like a long-lasting
website, this would be the first thing to look for.
Next, would hiring a professional be affordable? Is it the best option? For
simple websites, we could always pick up the coding, or even use programs,
as it is relatively simple. However, when it comes to more complex coding,
and when you want it to do a tad more than just providing information,
hiring help in doing so would be the best way. Not only in terms of design,
but security is also a key factor in assuring a quality website. If the
website also acts as a portal for businesses, security would definitely be
the issue here.
So, having considered the things to do before building a website, do we
actually NEED one? If creating one would boost sales or promote positive
implications for you, then by all means, go ahead and do what’s best. Yet
again, planning is the key to success, in everything we do. If you are
planning on doing any kind of business online, yes, you most definitely must
have a website. Even if you are to do affiliate sale, a website is still a
good idea.
Is It Easy to Create our own Website? What is HTML?
Creating a website is not as difficult as you may think, if we compare it to the education
of other technical skills. Most people tend to give up and pack their bags
as soon as they hear the word “programming” and “technical”. They think it's
too much of a hassle to actually learn a whole computer “language”. HTML,
the most basic computer language in building websites, is actually pretty
simple to understand, as long as we have the interest in learning new
things.
What is HTML?
HTML is the acronym for Hyper Text Markup Language. For learning purposes,
just think of it as a language that the computer understands. For example,
as humans, we were taught different languages. HTML as a language, is
mostly and specifically used to create a website. The web browser, such as
Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, will then decipher and
interpret the code or rather, language (HTML), and display it in a way we can
understand it, just like in a basic webpage.
Coding the HTML language might be a bit tough for some people, so we can
actually purchase programs, such as Macromedia Dreamweaver, or even
Microsoft Frontpage. These programs are solely created to help individuals
in designing professional webpages/websites.
My personal experience is exclusively with Microsoft FrontPage. It is the only program I have ever used. It is fairly easy and with a little playing around, anyone can build a website using FrontPage. These programs are also known as HTML editors. You basically type in your information and there you have it. A basic website. Dreamweaver is also another excellent HTML editor and the people I know that use it say it's similar to Frontpage in it's ease of use. There are many HTML editors available but these two are among the best. Using either one, you don't need to worry about learning the HTML language or have to know any coding.
Furthermore, one could also gain access to online web-builders, website
builders that are inbuilt and can be directly controlled from the net. There
are many different and specific builders online.
Books and magazines contain guides that can help in offering tutorials and
ways to put up our own websites. Even online tutorials are credible, as in
the modern world, information technology is the best and most cost efficient
way in retaining knowledge, especially in this particular field.
So, you could start and build one right away. If you enjoy coding, it might
even become a favorable past-time.
Before you get started building your website, first you need to decide
it's purpose and who your targeted audience is going to be.
Understanding the type of people who visit your site is a very important
task because you can use that information to enhance your site to suit them.
As a result, you will gain more loyal returning visitors that come back
again and again for more.
What is the age level and what kind of knowledge does your audience have? A
layman might linger around a general site on gardening, but a professional
botanist might turn his nose at the very same site. Similarly, a regular
person will leave a site filled with astronomy abstracts but a well educated
university graduate will find that site interesting.
Take your audience's emotional state into consideration when building your
site. If a very irritated visitor searches for a solution and comes across
your site, you will want to make sure you offer the solution right up front
and sell or promote your product to him second. In this way, the visitor
will put his trust in you for offering the solution to his problems and is
more likely to buy your product when you offer it to him after that.
When you design the layout for your site, you have to take into account the
characteristics of your audience. Are they old or young people? Are they
looking for trends or are they just looking for information served without
any icing on the cake? For example, introducing a new, exciting game with a
simple, straightforward black text against white background page will
definitely turn prospects away. Make sure your design suits your site's
general theme.
Try to sprinkle colloquial language in your sites sparingly where you see
fit and you will create a sense that your audience is on common ground with
you. This in turn builds a trusting relationship between you and your
audience, which will come in useful should you want to market a product to
your audience.
When it comes to your website, extra attention should be paid to every detail to make sure it performs optimally to serve its purpose. Here
are seven important rules of thumb to observe to make sure your website
performs well.
1) Do not use splash pages
Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They
normally have a very beautiful image with words like "welcome" or "click
here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- pretty vases with no real
purpose. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the "back"
button! Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.
2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements
Even the least net savvy people have trained themselves to ignore banner
advertisements so you will be wasting valuable website real estate. Instead,
provide more valuable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your
content, and let your visitors feel that they want to buy instead of being
pushed to buy.
3) Have a simple and clear navigation
You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so
that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated
Flash based menus or multi-tiered dropdown menus. If your visitors don't
know how to navigate, they will leave your site.
4) Have a clear indication of where the user is
When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to
make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That
way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any
section of the site easily. Don't confuse your visitors because confusion
means "abandon ship"!
5) Avoid using audio on your site
If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your
content, you will want to make sure they're not annoyed by some audio
looping on and on on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure
they have some control over it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.
Also, allow the visitor the option of a play button.
Mistakes To Avoid When Using Web Templates
Website templates are very affordable and they save you a lot of effort and
time when you want to create a new layout for your website. However, a lot
of people make mistakes in the process of choosing and using a web template
and end up with something that was unlike the image they had in mind. Here
are some guidelines to help you avoid those mistakes.
The first obvious mistake you should be aware of is using a template that is
very popular. If many people use the same template, your website will not
appear unique at all and your credibility as a solid, different website will
be tarnished. In other words, you will appear generic just like your
next-door neighbors.
The point of using a web template is to save time and effort. You just
change the title and appropriate details and you're done. The biggest
mistake one makes is to customize the template beyond recognition. While
that may be good in the sense that you're creating a unique graphic, you're
defying the very purpose of using a web template -- saving time and effort.
However, on the opposite side, if a template you purchase is suitable but
some changes must be made to suit your site's theme, then you will have to
take some time to make the changes. For example, you can find a very nice
template that suits your hobby site except the original designer has put an
image of stamps in the header. You can find images of garden plants and
spades to replace the stamps for your gardening hobby site. However, do only
make the necessary changes and don't redesign the whole template.
In some circumstances, some people simply make the wrong choice of
templates. This is a very subjective issue but you have to be careful in
selecting templates to suit your audience. Do not choose templates just
because they are pretty, choose them because they serve your purpose.
There are many sources to find great looking templates,
from free to purchased. Look before you leap. Take a little time and chose a
few different templates that suite your niche. Then narrow down your
choices. A good template will make a big difference on your visitors and
ultimately, your customers.
Search Engine Friendly Pages
There is no point in building a website unless there are visitors coming in.
A major source of traffic for most sites on the Internet is search engines
like Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Altavista and so on. Hence, by designing a search
engine friendly site, you will be able to rank easily in search engines and
obtain more visitors.
Major search engines use programs called crawlers or robots to index
websites to list on their search result pages. They follow links to a page,
reads the content of the page and record it in their own database, pulling
up the listing as people search for it.
If you want to make your site indexed easily, you should avoid using frames
on your website. Frames will only confuse search engine robots and they
might even abandon your site because of that. Moreover, frames make it
difficult for users to bookmark a specific page on your site without using
long, complicated scripts.
Do not present important information in Flash movies or in images. Search
engine robots can only read text on your source code so if you present
important words in Flash movies and images rather than textual form, your
search engine ranking will be affected dramatically.
Use meta tags accordingly on each and every page of your site so that search
engine robots know at first glance what that particular page is about and
whether or not to index it. By using meta tags, you are making the search
engine robot's job easier so they will crawl and index your site more
frequently.
Stop using wrong HTML tags like <font> to style your page. Use CSS
(Cascading Style Sheets) instead because they are more effective and
efficient. By using CSS, you can eliminate redundant HTML tags and make your
pages much lighter and faster to load.
Navigation
One of the primary implications of a well-organized / good website, is to
keep your visitors in the website. A website is definitely created for a
purpose, unless intended for personal use, which is the minority. For
example, a portfolio website would want to be visited and it’s content
viewed. For companies and internet businesses, your website certainly aims
to provide product information, to make sales, or somewhat similar. However,
most individuals undoubtly prefer visually captivating designs, so on and so
forth. It is undeniable that this causes no harm, but one must put
himself/herself in other people’s shoes, as to understand how a visitor to
the website might think, do and react.
1 ) Navigation
As I said, a web designer has to learn how to think the way your visitors
think.
Situation A : Website with good navigation ( 2-3 hyperlinks to target page
), well planned in terms of placement, and design.
Situation B : Website with poor navigation ( takes forever for the visitor
to reach his/her target page ), hard-to-read navigation fonts and poor
placement of the navigation buttons/bar.
In Situation A, a visitor will always want to be able to access his/her
target page. For example, the individual comes across your website, and is
interested in the product sold, but wants to find more information. He/she
finds the navigation with no trouble, and enters the particular product
information page.
As for Situation B, a visitor stumbles into the website, and would also like
to find out more information about the product. Unfortunately, due to bad
placement and fanciful font-types, the visitor takes forever, or even fails
to find the navigation bar. Even when he/she does so, links to the product
information are nowhere to be found, (example : home > about > products >
product image > etc…[a few more clicks] > product information ).
Analysis : In both situations, wouldn’t a website with characteristics
similar to the Situation A be more rewarding ergo better?
Design
To put the wonders of a good design into
perspective, imagine purchasing a T-Shirt. First of all, what
do we look at? The design of the T-Shirt, of course. Well most people do,
other than the material factor. But let’s assume the all other factors are
constant, wouldn’t the design or looks, become the key aspect then?
2 ) Design
Putting oneself in another individual’s shoes, as usual. Here are another
two situations.
Situation A : A website with good design and breathtaking graphics. (Good
color schemes with matching theme), pictures. (Optimum resolutions and
relevant) and proper fonts and word sizes.
Situation B : A website inversely equipped with hideous graphics and
pictures in terms of resolution, quality and relevancy. (Red pictures with a
bright green background) Fonts used were not matching.
(Too small, artsy font-types)
Situation A, visitors that enter the website are immediately awestruck by
the design and artwork. T