Wednesday, January 30, 2008

How Proactive Networking Can Dramatically Boost Your Business

Article Presented by:
Christophe Poizat, All Rights Reserved


Dear Friend,

Do you know why most people fail at marketing anything on the Internet? Even though the products or services they are trying to sell are awesome?

Regardless of your present level of success, pause for a minute and try to find out the #1 reason for failure so you can avoid making the same marketing mistake most people make over and over. Found it? It is fairly simple: once they have caught someone's attention, most people will start touting about how great their products or services are: "nothing that you will have ever seen..."

Generally, when you own a "brick-and-mortar" business, you get to meet face-to-face with your potential customers at least once. That's how people get acquainted and how business relationships are established and eventually develop into long-lasting and mutually beneficial rapports.

It's a fact, people are usually more enticed to do business with someone they feel they can trust. Believe me my friend, establishing trust on the Internet is the most difficult and challenging thing to accomplish. Why is that?

Here is the main reason: people don't get to see each other, to feel each other, to see each other's expressions and body language which helps to gauge the person that is in front of us and immediately determine whether we want to do business with that person or not. Don't we say we have 15 seconds to make a good or bad impression?

If you want to be successful online, your #1 goal is to establish a trustworthy relationship with your potential customers. Instead of touting about your products or services right off the bat, you would be better off trying to know people's needs first!

That's were proactive networking comes into play. Proactive networking has become a necessity in today's business world. Pro-active networking is the systematic process of establishing relationships with new people and build mutually beneficial relationships.

Once a relationship is established, it will be easier to offer your products or services to people that are in your network and trust you!

Happy pro-active networking!

All the best,

Christophe


About the Author:
Christophe Poizat is a professional dreamer, a social entrepreneur, guerrilla marketer, mentor, business coach, speaker, author with 20+ years of international consulting experience who has lived on four continents; for more details, visit: http://christophepoizat.com

Christophe is also the founder and administrator of the International Network of Social Entrepreneurs, a global Web 2.0 community for Social Entrepreneurs to connect, share, collaborate and promote social entrepreneurship worldwide. For more details, visit: http://inse.collectivex.com

What's So Attractive About Affiliate Internet Marketing?

Article Presented by:
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV


Affiliate Internet marketing is a great way to earn money at home. With a wide variety of products and services that you can select from, it's easy to find a product or service that is useful, beneficial and in demand; but before you get started, let's take a quick look at what affiliate internet marketing is.

Affiliate Internet marketing is a simply a way of making money selling products on the Internet when you do not have a product of your own to sell. Rather than creating a product of your own, with services like Click Booth you are able to choose a product or service that already exists to market on your own. As an affiliate, you serve as a referrer; with Internet marketing, you drive traffic to the product or service online.

In other words, affiliate Internet marketing isn't about products. It isn't about selling. To a very large extent, if you hope to have a successful home based business with affiliate internet marketing, you also need to understand that it isn't simply about advertising.

That's going to confuse some people. After all, isn't advertising part of marketing - a term that is obviously relevant in that it's in the name affiliate Internet marketing?

Yes, advertising is a form of marketing; however, there's a lot more to it. The reason some succeed at affiliate internet marketing while others fail is simply that they understand the goals of marketing. They know that, in order to reach out to a lead (or prospective customer) they need to:

1. Have a product that is worthwhile to that lead;

2. Work with a product that fulfills a need - whether it's a physical need, an emotional need or a psychological need;

3. Approach their prospects in a way that addresses and appeals to their needs; and,

4. Meet their prospects where they are.

This is why is possible to make money with affiliate Internet marketing even if you do not have a website. Pay per click advertising campaigns can help to get your affiliate link in front of those who are already searching for the product or service that you're promoting - even if you don't have your own website. Article marketing - submitting articles about the product or service to internet article directories - can serve to provide more information for those who are looking for it, even if you don't have a website of your own. Participating in forums where your prospects already go to find products or services that are related to one of their hobbies or that will help them to achieve one goal or another is also an option for marketing an affiliate product when you do not have a website.

That's why many people look at affiliate internet marketing as a way of making easy money: with so many products and services available and with the ability to promote an affiliate product or service online even if you don't have a website of your own, all you need is a commitment to making it work.


About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, writes E-Business articles for people who want to achieve more online success. Learn Today, "How to Start an Online Business in less than 30 Days starting from Scratch"! Free Special Report - Limited Time! Plus, weekly newsletter from Online Empire Secrets (A $400 Value). Click ==> Small Business Ideas To get Your FREE REPORT!
http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html


Make Money with Affiliate Internet Marketing and Click Booth

Article Presented by:
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV


There are plenty of people out there who are trying to figure out how to make money fast. Whether it's the high cost of gasoline (and everything else along with it), the desire for a better life - taking more vacations, getting a nicer car, buying a home of your own - or you're simply looking ahead and want to be sure that you've got money in the bank when you need it, there's one place that people turn more than any other when they are looking to make easy money: the Internet.

Now, it's important to recognize that there are two types of opportunities when you're looking to earn money online. First there's the "opportunity" that's a scam in disguise - the offers and books and promises of great riches in not time flat for no effort at all on your part. Then there's the second type: legitimate business opportunities that allow you to make money online.

Some people read that and worry that it means that, in order to make money, they will have to come up with a product or service that they can offer. Then they think that they will have to learn more about designing websites, things like blogging, social networking, article marketing and pay per click campaigns. For them, the chaos of what they might have to do is often enough to stop them from taking a closer look at what could be their ticket to financial freedom.

Don't be like them.

Instead, take the time to learn more about affiliate Internet marketing - specifically, take the time to learn about affiliate Internet marketing with Click Booth. Advertisers who already have established products and services turn to Click Booth to find publishers to promote those products. From business services to networking sites, from DVD rentals to home security systems, no matter what your interests are, Click Booth's Internet affiliate program offers a product or service that you'll be able to stand behind.

That's a big part of the reason why Click Booth's Internet affiliate program is a valuable resource for those who want to learn how to make money online, but it's not the only reason. Of the wide variety of affiliate marketing programs out there, Click Booth offers some of the largest payouts because they only take a small margin on each sale that you make. Their offers are tested before the affiliates move forward on them and, rather than having a nearly impossible to understand payout structure, Click Booth offers a variety of payment options and reliable payments.

If you want to learn how to make money online, and are looking for a home based business that you can start right away without headaches - a business you can start now in your spare time so that it is established before you leave your current job - you owe it to yourself to discover the opportunities that exist and to choose to work with Click Booth, an affiliate marketing company that you will be able to count on.


About the Author:
Clinton Douglas IV, writes E-Business articles for people who want to achieve more online success. Learn Today, "How to Start an Online Business in less than 30 Days starting from Scratch"! Free Special Report - Limited Time! Plus, weekly newsletter from Online Empire Secrets (A $400 Value). Click ==> Small Business Ideas To get Your FREE REPORT! http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html


Tuesday, January 29, 2008

The Shocking Truth About How To Start An Internet Business - Part 5

Article Presented by:
Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV


Launching Your Plan and Building Momentum

Once months of preparation and planning are behind you, its tempting to focus solely on business as usual. After all, that's what brings in revenue. But as the economy shifts, seasons change and business grows, so should your plans and objectives.

Did you know that the number one reason businesses fail in the first few years is poor management? Management and strategy are key functions in any start-up. Your initial business and marketing plans were created using forecasted or estimated information. As your business matures, this information becomes more predictable. You'll learn who your customers really are, what they want and how much they're willing to spend. You'll also discover actual budget figures, with longer histories giving a more accurate financial landscape.

Revisit major forecasts and strategies annually, if not quarterly, to see where you stand. Then make adjustments accordingly. This includes your business and departmental budgets, your business, marketing and advertising plans and strategies. Ask yourself the following questions to make sure your company stays as effective and efficient as possible.

  • Do you qualify for greater bulk product discounts as a result of new purchasing habits?

  • Can you phase down marketing or advertising and still sustain your current sales momentum?

  • Is your website structure still relevant to your target audience?

  • Could you improve website features or functionality to strengthen your users' experience?

  • What seasonal sales fluctuations can you proactively address to maximize profitability?

  • Do you see any operational or organizational inefficiencies?

  • Does increased or decreased staffing make sense?

  • Could you improve your relationships with key vendors and suppliers?

  • Could you streamline or improve order fulfillment?

    Set your ongoing strategy and continually review your goals on a routine basis. With the right map, you're sure to reach your intended destination.

    Final Thoughts

    Ebusiness freedom has a compelling draw, which is precisely why so many men and women have worked hard creating and developing their Internet company. When you own an ebusiness, you set your own hours, avoid the 'location, location, location' doldrums, living where you choose, working from home if you prefer, keeping start-up costs low and staying at your day job until unnecessary. But perks aside, ebusiness development still requires a great deal of planning, strategy and skilled execution to succeed.

    Keep your customers loyal by paying considerable attention to all of the important bricks-and-mortar service techniques like delivering high levels of customer service, offering valuable products and services, managing complaints and returns effectively, offering various payment options, processing sales quickly and committing to ongoing sales and marketing efforts. Everything you do, whether local or global, start-up or blue chip, should consistently reinforce your initial business purpose and vision. While a strong brand and niche can set your company apart from the competition, you'll need to stay true to your original brand throughout growth and expansion to ensure your founding purpose isn't derailed.

    As visitors use your website and process orders, listen and respond to their needs. Customer service can be a challenge when dealing with electronic correspondence and website interfaces. But remember, every ecommerce website is asking its customer to process his or her own payment, similar to asking a walk-in customer to run the cash register. So make check-our quick, intuitive and easy. Confirm orders immediately via email. Thank your customers for their business. Always remember that they could have chosen many other companies to conduct business with, but they chose you. Ship items quickly and respond to inquiries in a timely and courteous manner within 24 to 48 hours. You'll invest less in customer retention than you will in earning new customers, both in marketing dollars and time.

    Stick to your budget, ensuring your lenders and investors are on the top of your priority list. After all, they had enough faith in you to put their money in your concept from day one. As revenue grows, use these funds to responsibly invest in ongoing promotion while keeping debt low. Give your business a good three years to establish footing, maintaining enough in the bank to cover expenses should you hit a slow week or month.

    Finally treat your employees well. They're company representatives who can make or break customer deals, influence investor opinion, sway the media, cut costs and maximize profits. As you grow from one or a handful of founders into a larger business or enterprise, your employees act on your behalf when conducting day-to-day business. Ensure they have a motivating, pleasant and rewarding atmosphere with which to spend their days. You'll be rewarded ten-fold.

    If you're willing to put the necessary time and effort into your ebusiness dream, your opportunity for entrepreneurial freedom awaits. Move over Ebay, here you come.


    (Author's Note - If you have missed any article in this five-part series, you can find the missing articles here: http://www.thephantomwriters.com/recent/author/clinton-douglas-iv.html)


    About the Author:
    Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about Internet Business. Get his FREE Special Report – "How To Make More Money In Only 30 Days Starting From Scratch", Click Here: http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html

    You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC - If you enjoyed this Article, why not forward it to an associate or colleague who can profit from this information. They'll thank you for it.


  • The Shocking Truth About How To Start An Internet Business - Part 4

    Article Presented by:
    Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV


    Finding People

    As your business grows, so does your need for support staff. Whether that's professional project management, accounting, call center or distribution support, these new employees should align with your core business values and objectives.

    Before you recruit employees, define your business vision and mission. Identify your ideal business culture. Do you support an open-door policy or a more formal structure? Do you want a casual atmosphere or conservative team? Are you looking for progressive or diversified employees? Hire right the first time to ensure long-term loyalty and minimal turn-over.

    When you're first starting out, it's more financially feasible to outsource work. For instance web and graphic design, programming and IT, copy writing, legal and accounting/CPA/payroll are common services businesses outsource both at the outset and into establishment. Outsourcing eliminates payroll, annual salary increase, unemployment, insurance and retirement benefit, equipment and space expenses while offering improved experience and expertise. You gain the advantage of using services without a costly long-term commitment should your business slow.

    Other alternatives include temporary staffing centers or employee leasing. Cash-strapped start-ups can even hiring paid or unpaid interns. Temporary staffing gives you immediate access, experienced personnel, lower training requirements and overtime fees plus reduced turnover. When your needs extend beyond six months, hire your new temp as a permanent employee, or recruit a long-term, permanent candidate.

    When its in your best interest to expand your team, talk with friends, professional associates, customers, vendors, colleagues and others in your personal and professional network to get recommendations. You can also contact college, trade, vocational or high school placement offices and the local employment agency to find candidates. Trade or industry publications offer targeted advertising, while online job websites and newspaper advertisements are a more traditional and broad-reaching option.

    Once you have a loyal and established employee base, save money on recruiting by implementing an employee referral program. These programs give employees cash bonuses for referrals resulting in a hire. You should also establish a competitive employee retention plan to sustain qualified workers, keep your recruiting expenses low and productivity high.

    Planning and Building Your Online Storefront

    Organization is key to making sales and offering a pleasant shopping experience. Your customer is busy and wants to accomplish tasks quickly with minimal frustration. They also want to find a clean and pleasing atmosphere, layout and design. Once you intrigue your visitor with your main landing page, your goal is to keep them there with simple navigation and fast check-out.

    Jacob Nielsen, Ph.D., a leading website usability authority, User Advocate and principal of the Nielsen Group, explains: "The first law of e-commerce is that if users cannot find the product, they cannot buy it either." Your website is basically just an electronic catalog with a bit more technology. Use design, copy, multimedia and photographs that inform your visitor and help them buy your products. In studies, researchers found that nearly half of all sales are lost because visitors simply cannot use the site. Multiply this by the repeat business lost from the same customers and your numbers grow exponentially.

    While many businesses strive to be unique, websites should use the standard navigation structure and labels of major brands. Pioneering Internet firms like Amazon have set the standard in customers' minds, making it intuitive to visit links like:

  • Your Account
  • Shopping Cart
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Help
  • Search
  • Press
  • Careers

    Before contacting a website designer, analyze your products and audience carefully. Outline your navigation structure ensuring it takes few clicks to reach your intended objective - a sale. Know the expectations and experience level of your user. For instance, teenagers will be more fluent with computers and the Internet in general, though they may also be less sophisticated in reading or research strategies and have a lower patience threshold. They'll further need clever graphics and innovations to keep their interest.

    Jacob Nielsen offers ten important website usability guidelines. These are:


    Make the Site's Purpose Clear: Explain Who You Are and What You Do

    1. Include a One-Sentence Tagline

    2. Write a Window Title with Good Visibility in Search Engines and Bookmark Lists

    3. Group all Corporate Information in One Distinct Area


    Help Users Find What They Need

    4. Emphasize the Site's Top High-Priority Tasks

    5. Include a Search Input Box


    Reveal Site Content

    6. Show Examples of Real Site Content

    7. Begin Link Names with the Most Important Keyword

    8. Offer Easy Access to Recent Homepage Features


    Use Visual Design to Enhance, not Define, Interaction Design

    9. Don't Over-Format Critical Content, Such as Navigation Areas

    10. Use Meaningful Graphics


    Send your planned navigation outline to your website designer. Then, once your website's developed, gather a test group of about 10 people. Let each person run through various tasks on your website without offering help or guidance. Take notes on areas of confusion and make adjustments. If you have heavy traffic, phase in changes gradually to minimize confusion. We've all gone to the grocery store right after a reorganization, only to become even more frustrated when we can't locate the Lays or light bulbs. People get used to the way things are, good or bad.


    About the Author:
    Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about Internet Home Business. Get his FREE Special Report – "How To Make More Money In Only 30 Days Starting From Scratch", Click Here: http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html

    You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC - If you enjoyed this Article, why not forward it to an associate or colleague who can profit from this information. They'll thank you for it.


  • The Shocking Truth About How To Start An Internet Business - Part 3

    Article Presented by:
    Vasrue.com, All Rights Reserved Written by: Clinton Douglas IV


    Creating a Realistic Budget

    Your first three years of business are critical to your success - or failure. Not only do start-up businesses have heavy one-time, up-front expenses, but they're also tight on cash and funding. So your first task is to create a realistic budget. This acts as your blueprint for success.

    Your preliminary budget outlines expected and conservative income figures. Start with broad expense categories like utilities and income, breaking these out into more detailed line items like Utilities: telephone, Utilities: gas, Income: paperbacks, Income: hardbacks, and so forth. Expenses are typically easier to project than income. But income grows more and more predictable as time goes by. For this reason, review and adjust your budget quarterly and annually based on new data. (We'll talk more about this in the final installment of this series).

    Differentiate your one-time expenses (business license, legal fees, signage, sales literature, and so forth) from your ongoing expenses (leasing, utilities and insurance). Project figures out a full three years with growth dependent on market research or educated estimation. Add an extra 25 percent to all expenses to cover unforeseen or emergency events.

    Survive on as little capital investment as possible during your first few years to ensure survival until you reach profitability. Buy and budget only those items necessary to generate revenue. Organize your budget into fixed and variable expenses. Your fixed costs are those which remain stagnant from month to month, including your building lease, utilities, advertising and insurance, while your variable expenses are typically dependent on sales, like commissions, inventory and shipping.

    Avoid optional or unnecessary purchases. Nearly every penny you save goes into your pocket. So don't give in to temptation by spending $1,000 on a new desk. Buy only what's necessary to generate revenue and allocate money toward items receiving the strongest ROI. You can always upgrade down the road once your businesses is better established and income is more predictable. The leaner your organization, the better.

    Finding Funding

    Every business needs start-up capital. These funds help you purchase furniture and fixtures, computers and inventory while still bringing in a livable wage during the first few years when most companies see more red than black. But how much you need and where this funding comes from differs from business to business.

    According to a Biz$hop article for Wachovia, the country's fourth largest bank and diversified financial services company, more than 17 percent of start-ups launch with less than $5,000 cash. So before you develop a funding acquisition plan, calculate how much money your business can realistically generate to finance its own expenses. Then define exactly how much money you need to cover necessities, expansion or possible risks.

    Start-ups have several options for acquiring funding - from mom and dad to venture capital partners. Begin with your own resources including savings accounts or home equity. Next, tap into your family and friends. Next, research venture capital firms. These are companies that finance start-up ventures who have limited access to capital markets but need quick growth. Angel investors are another source of business financing. Angel investors are successful entrepreneurs that have money to invest in other companies. Newspaper ads and person-to-person networking is the best way to find angel funding sources. The Small Business Administration (SBA) also licenses Minority Enterprise Small Business Investment companies (MSBIs) and Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) to help fund critical growth stages.

    Many small businesses have survived the first few years using credit cards and personal loans. Working or investment partners can bring in funding or services that can save your company money. For instance, if you partner with an attorney or a designer, you save a great deal on legal or design fees. When you need stronger financing, you'll need to discuss these goals with a commercial bank, savings and loan or finance company. You may qualify for a small business or SBA loan or line of credit. But make sure you have sufficient collateral to guarantee funding in the event of default. Borrowers want to make sure they give credit to start-ups that have as much confidence in their own success as the bank would be offering in loans.


    About the Author:
    Clinton Douglas IV, teaches people about Online Home Business. Get his FREE Special Report – "How To Make More Money In Only 30 Days Starting From Scratch", Click Here: http://online-empire.vasrue.com/How-To-Start-Your-Online-Business_F.html

    You're reading an article from Vasrue.com, INC - If you enjoyed this Article, why not forward it to an associate or colleague who can profit from this information. They'll thank you for it.


    Why Gratitude Goes BEFORE Happiness And Abundance

    Article Presented by:
    Margie Waters


    Does that sound backwards? Does it seem like it ought to be stated that once you are happy you can feel grateful? Sometimes turning our assumptions upside down brings insight and discovery. Gratitude felt before the happiness, before the manifestation of something we want, before the fulfillment of our dreams is a surprising idea, but in the energetic sense it's the most logical thing we can do.

    How grateful are you? In this sense, I don't mean just saying thank you if somebody gives you a gift, or holds a door for you. That's just politeness, or social convention. Gratitude isn't words, it's emotion. It's an openness of heart to experience that lets your spirit flow out in a particular way. If you think of emotions as indicators of how you are expressing your spirit, you can see that these emotions tell a lot about where you're headed in your life - towards something great that you'll enjoy, or something not so good, that you won't enjoy. Learning to focus on emotions and seeing what they're telling you about your energy is an important step in learning to create the life you want. And learning to nurture and magnify the emotions that serve you is an equally important step.

    So if gratitude isn't about words, what is it?

    Gratitude is an emotional position that makes it easier to manifest those things that you want. This works in two ways. One is just that feeling a positive feeling like gratitude puts you in sync with things that you desire. By being in alignment with your desires, you make it a lot easier to attract them.

    The other is that by expressing gratitude you adopt a posture of assuming that what you want is already here - how else could you feel grateful for it, if it weren't here? In this way you encourage it to move from the level of your spirit into your physical life. To do that you have to become the person who already has/is/does it. You have to become the finely tuned receiver of that thing. You have to step into the reality where you already have it. When you feel what that reality is like, to the core of your being, including the gratitude, that thing or experience can become a material reality. Once you do that with any consistency at all, events, situations and objects will begin to fall into place that reflect that new inner reality.

    One of the best ways to begin this process is with gratitude. Gratitude expresses trust in the process. It makes a leap across time, and in a small way, puts us into the position of already having received that which we've asked for. This opens the energy circuits, so to speak, and allows that thing to come into material form.


    About the Author:
    Margie Waters is a writer and coach for The Universe Of Power - a full-featured website devoted to teaching people how to find inner peace, happiness, prosperity and creative satisfaction using the Law of Attraction. We invite you to come get your FREE copy of our popular 30-page Roadmap to Success Report - sign up on our homepage, and you'll have your report within MINUTES. We also teach these life-changing principles through The Quintessential Guide to Conscious Creation - a simple step-by-step Law of Attraction program that takes only 15-30 minutes a day.

    This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety, provided the author's name, bio and website links remain intact.


    Beating the Stock Market

    Article Presented by:
    Dustin Johnson


    Many people dream about beating the market through their stock investments. However, is this really worth the effort and is it really possible?

    Many have attempted to beat the stock market and only a few have managed. Some pundits have gone a step further to claim systems that guarantee this. Nevertheless, beating the market may not be the best goal that you can set for your stocks. The reason for this is that there are a number of other considerations that should be made.

    People are generally unclear about the meaning behind the word "market", which leads to its different definitions. Different indexes are used when referred to the stock market one of them being the S&P 500. However, this index fails to objectively present all of the stock sizes.

    Beating the market requires the undertaking of various stock deals that enjoy short term benefits. Some experts recommend that you purchase companies that have high customer satisfaction attached to them. There is logic behind this argument, because when clients are satisfied with the product or service of a particular company they use it and become loyal to the company. As a result, the returns increase as well as the popularity among investors. The price of the stock of the company will be also influenced in an upward direction. If you have managed to invest in the company while its price was still low, congratulations you have managed to beat the market.

    If you fail to walk away of the stock market when the right time has come you may put your money at risk. And what actually happens is that instead you beat the stock market you are beaten by it.

    Beating the market requires you to know when is the right time to enter it and when to exit it. You should learn its indications and not only notice them, but also understand the signals that they send to you.

    No matter how good you may be at such things, you should consider whether it is worth risking your money for such a goal. Beating the market may reward you very well, but you should never forget that its punishment can be even higher. Winning several hundred dollars from the stock market today may result in their loss tomorrow. Because, even if you have done it once, beating the stock market twice cannot be guaranteed for sure. No matter what formulas the pundits have offered and techniques applied, it is a game in which only a few have succeeded.


    About the Author:
    Dustin Johnson is a successful investor who writes articles about Stock Trading Strategies and Systems to help people educate themselves more about the investment world and particularly in the stock market field. Learn more stock market advices and tips at: Stock Market Advices and Tips


    Why Should I Invest In Mutual Funds?

    Article Presented by:
    Eric Krammer


    Hoping that the lottery will make you rich is as unreasonable as waiting for the aliens to visit your town. It may happen or it may not. However, mutual funds have proven that they are a good investment tool that has been successfully used by many, which has resulted in accumulation of a real fortune. But, what exactly is a mutual fund?

    A mutual fund is a financial intermediary which pools that money of a large number of investors together and invests them in different securities. You buy shares of the mutual fund and immediately become one of its owners. The investors that participate in a particular mutual fund tend to share a common investment objective.

    Investing in a mutual fund will significantly reduce your costs. However, you should have in mind that certain mutual funds carry loads, which requires you to make a preliminary research to see whether these costs are worth incurring.

    One of the biggest advantages that mutual funds offer is diversification. This term means the allocation of your money among different types of investments. Thus, if the price of one security falls, it will be compensated by a rise in the price of another security.

    Another advantage of mutual funds is that when you become a shareholder you automatically benefit from professional management of your assets. Thus, you save time from researching, which investment will be next best ?deal?. Additionally, if you lack the knowledge to invest the team of expert mutual fund managers will do the job for you.

    Another advantage of mutual funds is their high liquidity. This means that if you need money in a short time frame, you can easily sell shares of you mutual fund and get the money. Additionally, an increasing number of mutual funds have started to include in their services check writing privileges. You write a check and the money for its coverage come directly from your mutual fund account.

    If you are averse to risk, this is another reason to consider mutual funds as a candidate for investment. This is so since they carry much less risk than the other investment solutions, such as stocks. Since a mutual fund usually holds securities of as many as 4000 companies or even more, the chance that they will all go bankrupt is approximately equal to zero. However, there are many examples of the company going bankrupt in stock investing and the investor being left with great losses.

    Investing is not an easy game that everyone can play. However, mutual funds will greatly facilitate your achievement of a brighter financial future due to their many benefits and ease of investing. You should carefully consider this option, because you are betting your hard earned dollars and you probably don?t want to end up with nothing and having to start from a scratch.


    About the Author:
    Eric Krammer is a successful investor who writes for Mutual Funds Advisor to help people educate themselves more about the investment world and particularly in the Mutual Funds field. Learn more about the Mutual Fund basics and how to invest in a mutual fund at: Mutual Fund Basics http://www.mutual-funds-advisor.com


    The Morality of Paid Links and Google's 'Intent Algorithm'

    Article Presented by:
    Bill Platt


    It is Google's fault actually. No one can be blamed for this matter more than Google itself.

    Google came up with a brilliant plan for determining the best web pages to show in their search engine results. And then without telling us the intimate details of their plan, they told us about part of their algorithm by explaining the importance of inbound links --- the Google PageRank (PR) system --- in their calculations.

    Google itself planted the seeds its own future headaches. Nobody did it to them; they did it themselves.

    I am sure the fault really lies in Google's marketing department. They wanted to tell the world what made their search engine algorithms more powerful than the competition. It probably was an innocent mistake on their part. But once the genie is out of the bottle, it is impossible to put the genie back in the bottle.

    So, now the whole world knows that if you want to get good search rankings in Google, you must have links pointing to your website from other websites on the internet. Everyone also knows that if you want better search rankings in Google, then you should strive to create even more links with the appropriate keywords in the anchor text of those links.


    Building Links

    There is always more than one way to skin a cat. There are many methods that people can employ to build links to their websites.

    1. Register free websites so that you can create inbound links back to your own site.

    2. Register new domains where you can place other links back to your website.

    3. Leave comments on blogs.

    4. Link Exchanges.

    5. Getting your own listing in any of the directories that are available (dmoz.org, yahoo.com, etc.).

    6. Signature File - getting involved in discussion forums and actually adding value to the discussions.

    7. Submit product and service testimonials to those product distributors and service providers.

    8. Social Networking - bookmark web pages through social bookmarking sites.

    9. Link Baiting - creating a resource that people will want to link to for the benefit of their website visitors.

    10. Article Marketing - writing an article and giving webmasters the opportunity to use your content on their website, IF they agree to post your link on the page with the article that they are using.

    11. Press Releases - writing and distributing press releases online.

    12. Buy advertising on a website.

    13. Buy Link Placements on a website.


    Good Links Versus Bad Links

    I have always focused my attention on practicing White Hat Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques, instead of Black Hat SEO techniques.

    Most of you know what I am talking about, but I have been surprised a number of times when people did not understand what was meant by "white hat" and "black hat." So, for those of you who do not know what I am talking about, here is a brief description. "White hat" and "black hat" are references to the old serial cowboy westerns. The good guys always wore "white hats," and the bad guys always wore "black hats."

    By far, the link building techniques I employ most often are article marketing, press releases, and link baiting. I still frequently participate in forums and buy advertisements on other websites, but I do those for public exposure and not for search marketing.


    A Black-and-White Issue

    I have always been extremely concerned with White Hat techniques for building links to my websites and from my websites.

    "Providing good quality content as the foundation for my linking activities" has always been my golden rule. And, it still is that main driving force behind everything that I do.

    I like a black-and-white world where everything makes sense, and I had no reservations about my thoughts on this topic.


    The Morality of Paid Links

    A couple weeks ago, I was reading Matt Cutt's thoughts about paid links on his blog. Most folks in internet marketing know who Matt Cutt's is, but if you don't, he is a software engineer that works behind the scenes with Google in their quality department.

    Generally, if Matt Cutts says anything at all about improving your rankings in Google, you can take his words to the bank.

    Now, Matt has made it more than clear that we do not want to buy "paid links" to our websites as part of our link building campaigns. Paid links are a big no-no according to Matt. That is his advice, and I have always trusted it at face value.

    That is why I have focused my entire link building activities towards "content-driven linking."

    I was reading a discussion of paid links in Matt Cutts' blog at: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/text-links-and-pagerank/

    After I read Matt's thoughts, I continued reading the comments on the page. Many good points were made and responded to by Matt. It was an interesting read.

    And then, my black-and-white world was turned upside-down when I read the comments presented by Dan Thies of SEO Research Labs at: http://www.seoresearchlabs.com/

    Here is what Dan said:

    Search engines are free to develop their algorithms as they see fit. They're free to decide which links they want to trust. Maybe I'm the heretic here, but I don't see anything wrong with Google identifying sites that are selling text links, and dealing with that however they like.

    I just hope Matt and his co-workers aren't expecting this to solve their problem. He's already seen that people are looking for better ways to game the system. I hope Matt and his co-workers don't seriously expect the entire web to start labeling paid links for them.

    The Google ideal may be that "the best links are earned and given by choice," but what does that mean?

    If I add text links to my favorite florist, favorite online casino, favorite unlicensed pharmacy, favorite travel site, etc. will Google decide that my site isn't worthy to participate in developing their "democratic" search results? If I "vote" for George Bush or Michael Moore as a miserable failure, am I no longer qualified to vote?

    What's the algorithm for determining intent, Matt?


    Intent Is Abstract and Important At The Same Time

    There is the rub. How can Google know the heart of the webmaster? They can't, unless the webmaster pointedly describes their intent.

    If the webmaster calls those links "paid links" or "sponsored links," then Google can know that webmaster accepted money to provide those links.

    If I buy advertising on a website, to attract potential buyers to my website, how does Google know my intent? Did I do it to get traffic from that website, or did I do it to game the Google results? They cannot know my heart.

    Even if the webmaster does not call the shown links "paid links" or "sponsored links," does the suspicion of the pay-for-placement model label the webmaster as a "bad egg?" How does Google really know if Dan is linking to a site because he wants to, or whether he has accepted payment for that link? They cannot know.

    And the final example on this topic comes from a poster named Shelley who participated in the discussion at: http://weblog.philringnalda.com/2005/08/19/

    Shelley stated that she allowed two "paid links" on her well-respected blog, because she had a car payment to make. She traded on her brand name to get enough cash to make the car payment in tight times. Will she be penalized for selling "link space" to advertisers on her website?


    In Conclusion...

    Based on the comments that I have read from Matt, Shelley should not be worried about her acceptance of "paid links" on her website. If I have interpreted his comments correctly, her site will not be hurt by her outbound links.

    However, we are meant to believe that if you and I were to buy links on her page, then we should be concerned about our future in connection to the Google search results.

    So these questions remain for the search companies to figure out...

    Webmaster's Intent:

    1 Which links are paid links, and which links are freely given links?

    2 Who is selling links to pass on their PageRank value, and who is providing a useful or valuable link for their visitors?

    Link Buyer's Intent:

    1. Who is trying to game the Google results, and who is trying to attract buyers to their website?

    2. Who should be treated as a spammer, and who should be treated as an honest performer?

    This last question is the tricky one. We all know a spammer's website when we see a spammer's website. But, how can the search engines deal with the spammer's, without damaging the innocent in their quest for search results perfection?

    Yes, that is their problem, not mine. But, if Google's paid links policy hurts my own placement in the search engines, then the paid links equation becomes my problem too.


    More Questions Than Answers...

    Yes, it is true. I have posed more questions than what I have presented answers. But sometimes, the questions are more important than the answers. This is one such case.


    About the Author:
    Bill Platt has been involved in article marketing professionally since 2001, as the owner of http://www.thePhantomWriters.com. He and his staff have literally ghost written 1000's of articles for their clients. Learn about their low-cost ghost writing services, or you can learn more about link building here: http://linksandtraffic.com/seo-services/link-building.html


    Understanding Inbound Links --- The Good, Bad And The Ugly

    Article Presented by:
    Bill Platt


    All links are not created equal. There are worthless, good and great links. So, what is the difference between each one? I can sum it up in one word, "clicks".

    The most worthless links are those that appear on pages that will never be read by a set of human eyes.

    Some pages may be "seen" by human eyes, but they will not "read" by anyone. Bad formatting, no formatting, hard-to-read text, unorganized content, unorganized links, scraped search engine results, and pages with more keywords than content, are a few of the factors that prevent a webpage from being read by real people. You know the kinds of webpages I am talking about... You don't read them either. And, you can bet no one else will want to read at those pages either.

    Google is getting pretty good at identifying these trash websites and removing them from its database, so your link on this kind of website will not provide any real value to you at all. They will not give you human visitors, and they will not give you search engine placement value.

    There are two criteria necessary to define a good link. A good link is on a page that has content that people might want to read, and it is on a page that real human beings will be reading.

    A great link is the same as a good link, but it could have hundreds or thousands of people looking at it in a single month.


    THE EVOLUTION OF ARTICLE MARKETING AS A LINKING STRATEGY

    Article marketing has evolved dramatically since the early days of 2005.

    Prior to March of 2005, the only people who really participated in article marketing were those who understood the value of providing good quality content in order to get their articles published.

    With the combined introduction of article submission software, dirt cheap services and the Adsense revenue generation system, the quality of article content collapsed.

    Suddenly, people who were engaged in hiring $5 an hour ghost writers to write keyword-dense articles for their website, decided that those same keyword-dense articles that they had constructed for their websites, could also be used as a tool in article marketing.

    Within just about three months, the publishers and webmasters who utilized third-party reprint articles in their publications went from having to pick through 200-300 good quality articles per month, to having to sort through 2,000 questionable articles per month to find the 200-300 articles that they would actually want to consider for use.

    For someone like me who was entrenched in the article marketing industry, this would have seemed to be a good thing. But, with the introduction of the "Adsense article marketing mentality", the quality of content just about disappeared.

    I still believe that a good article marketing campaign is predicated by good quality content. I might be stupid, but I still make good money selling several products and services through the use of quality content in my own article marketing endeavors.

    One of my friends operates an article directory. He told me that for every seven articles sent to his site, he must delete six of them to maintain his website's quality standards! He is feeling the pinch of poor quality articles, because 86% of the articles he is moderating must be deleted, creating an environment where he wastes more time than should be necessary to maintain his commitment to a good quality website.


    ARTICLE MARKETING ONLY WORKS WHEN IT IS A DEMOCRACY

    The Adsense article marketers want to believe that they can send any piece of carp, keyword-optimized article through the distribution systems, and hundreds of websites will reprint their article.

    But, it does not quite work that way.

    Websites that will post absolutely anything sent to them do not survive. Some of you may think I am full of it when I say that. You might think that I just have an axe to grind. You are entitled to your own opinion. But, I could actually give you supporting examples, if I wanted to fill this article with links to websites that are no longer operational.

    Here is how it comes down. Websites that have no standards, cannot keep their readers happy. If they cannot keep their visitors happy, then they will not make any money. If they cannot make any money, they will not renew their website for the second year. Sometimes they will do a second year, but they will seldom if ever do a third year.

    The websites that have standards will survive, because they do have "content standards".

    Think about the highest quality websites you visit regularly. Then think about the kind of content that they use on their sites. Great websites do not print articles that are glorified keyword-optimized articles.

    Think about sites like:

    * http://www.SiteProNews.com - PR6

    * http://www.Publish101.com - PR6

    * http://www.Site-Reference.com - PR6

    * http://www.NationalBusiness.org - PR6

    * http://www.HardwareHell.com - PR5

    * http://www.AddMe.com/nlpast.htm - PR6


    What do each of these websites have in common?

    1. They are great websites that develop good and great links.

    2. They all have an excellent reputation for providing great quality content.

    3. They all have good PageRank.

    4. They do not publish keyword-optimized articles that focus more on keyword density, than on quality information.

    5. They have all published articles I have distributed.

    6. NationalBusiness.org has published articles written by members of my writing team. The other five sites have published articles that I have written myself... Many of them have published my own articles more than once.

    Quality content delivers quality results.


    QUALITY MATTERS

    No one wants to put your keyword-directed articles on their site, unless they have no standards of their own. And, if they have no standards, why would you want your link on their website?

    Personally, I am thrilled not to get those worthless links to my websites, because the website giving me that worthless link is considered by Google as a "bad neighborhood" or "spammy neighborhood".

    If you have never heard of Matt Cutts, he is a Google employee who shares some of the Google inner-workings with interested webmasters. Take a look at this post and pay close attention to his comments about "spammy neighborhoods" under the section subtitled "Bigdaddy: Done by March".

    If you want to get a good feel for Matt's take on "bad neighborhoods", do a search at Google for: neighborhoods site:http://www.mattcutts.com .


    IN CONCLUSION...

    All links are not created equal.

    Personally, I strive hard to generate good and great links to my websites.

    That sometimes means that I spend several hours writing an article like this one. When I hire writers to work for me, I don't pay them $5 an hour. Good writers don't work for $5 an hour or article. It just doesn't happen.

    Remember, my goal is to educate my reader and to provide good quality information to my readers.

    The very nature of putting your reader first, will enable you to begin finding your articles placed on better quality websites. The better the website your article appears on, the better the quality link you will find from that website.

    If your purpose in using article marketing to build links to your website is being done in the "great PageRank chase", then you really should know that Google only cares about the placement of your link on sites that have good PageRank --- sites that reside in "good neighborhoods".

    If your purpose in using article marketing to build links to your website is so that human beings will use them to find your website, then getting your article placed on good websites will best serve your purpose.

    When all is said and done, if your links appear on good pages, on good websites, in good neighborhoods, then you have done well. You will see traffic from those links, and you will see better link popularity and search engine placement as a result of your good links. And finally, worthless links are just that... worthless.


    About the Author:
    Bill Platt has been involved in article marketing professionally since 2001, as the owner of http://www.thePhantomWriters.com. He and his staff have literally ghost written 1000's of articles for their clients. Learn about their low-cost ghost writing services, or you can learn more about link building services here: http://linksandtraffic.com/seo-services/link-building.html


    Improved Website Sales Conversion Is The Best Answer

    Article Presented by:
    Bret Plummer


    When I first started learning how to make money online, I read that "content is king." Well, I am here to tell you that "content is not king." It is an illusion (a mirage) that traps many online business owners in the quick sand of failure.

    "Content for the sake of content" is pointless.

    Now, don't get me wrong here. Content is a good thing, so long as it will help deliver a potential customer to your sales page or the sales page of your advertisers. Any content that does not deliver a potential customer to a sales page is content that has not lived up to its true purpose, plain and simple.

    A Number's Game

    No web page or website will ever deliver a 100% conversion rate, so it is imperative for a website owner to devise some method for tracking patterns and sales conversion results on their websites.

    Many people use and recommend Google Analytics for tracking website sales conversions (http://www.google.com/analytics/). The best benefit of using Google Analytics is the cost... it is free.

    Personally, we are unsatisfied with the results that we get from Google Analytics, and we feel there has to be a better way. A few similar products worth considering include:

  • http://www.metasun.com/
  • http://www.sales-n-stats.com
  • http://www.onestat.co.uk/

    Real Numbers For Consideration

    The Internet Retailer website compiled some interesting information back in 2005 and 2006. You can buy the 2006 data on their website, and they provide a good portion of the 2005 report on their website for free. This information comes from its 2005 report of the Top 500 online retailers: http://www.homebizcowboys.com/2005-net-sales-stats

    In 2005, the top 500 online retailers completed 523.9 million separate sales at an average ticket price of $118. This in itself is a number that can encourage smaller website owners to have confidence in their future, but it is not the number I am most concerned with sharing with you today.

    This article is about "sales conversion", so it is imperative that I show you what you should expect from your own sales conversion.

    The Internet Retailer report shows us how the top online retailers are performing as far as sales conversion on their own websites. As you will see in this breakdown, sales conversions based on monthly visits (by visitor) varied widely, even within the same industries.

  • Chain Retailers ranged from 0.45% to 23% conversion;

  • Catalog and Call Center Operations ranged from 0.39% to 23.5% conversion;

  • Web-Only Merchants averaged between 0.10% to 31% conversion; and

  • Consumer Brand Manufacturers ranged from 0.75% to 20.2% conversion.

    Web-Only Merchants stand out in two ways: they scored the lowest conversions and the highest conversion rates at 0.10% and 31%.

    Closer To Home

    One of our "cowboy" friends has been working on his conversion rates with our help, through his free report and online newsletter. It is always easier to give away information than it is to close a sale on someone's first visit to your website. So, he has adjusted his approach to build his email list first, and then to use good content to drive his sales down the road. (Yes, good content does have its place in the world.)

    He still uses the old methods of promoting his websites that he has used for years. But now, he is trying out different advertising models to strengthen his opt-in numbers.

    Banner Advertising

    We have all heard about how bad banner advertising is, but my cowboy friend had read someone's eBook, where they said that they are making tons of money with banner advertising.

    Willing to try anything once, my cowboy friend undertook his first banner advertising promotions with the AdBrite Network (http://www.adbrite.com/).

    In his first run at the system, his banners only generated 0.0005% CTR's (click-through's) to his website. So he readjusted his banners and took another pass. With his second run, he generated 0.0054% CTR's. Again, he redesigned his banners and took another pass at the system. This third time out, he had managed to raise his banner clicks to 0.0695%.

    On his third run of 144,000 banner impressions, he generated 101 clicks to his newsletter sign-up page. By spending one-third less money than he spent on his first run, he generated 100 times more CTR's than he did on his first pass.

    These numbers only reflect how many of his banner displays generated a visitor to his website.

    The industry conversion rates shown previously in this article only reflect the actions people took once they were at a website. For my cowboy friend, once people landed on his website after clicking a banner ad, he was able to convert 3% of his visitors to subscribers.

    Co-Registration Marketing

    Co-registration is a process by which one company will offer a subscription to its visitors, and then on its "Thank You" page, it will offer other subscriptions to similar but non-competing publications.

    At the end of my friends' banner advertising campaign, he started a co-registration campaign. He started running his campaign in small increments, so that he could tweak his system as it progressed.

    In his first 5,000-exposure pass, he generated a 0.5% CTR to his subscription page and converted 4% of his visitors to subscribers.

    So, he tweaked his landing page and was able to increase his conversions to subscribers to 12% on his next run.

    The next time through, he tweaked his co-registration advertisement. He saw his CTR increase to 2%.

    He checked his stats, and then tweaked his system again. With the latest tweak, he is jubilant about his results. On his fifth pass, his results were so promising that he kept the system moving forward unabated.

    With his last 4926 co-registration exposures, he generated 104 clicks to his website (2.11% CTR). Although he is still running about industry average on his CTR's from the co-registration page, he is getting a 55% visitor-to-subscriber conversion rate (58 subscribers from 104 visitors).

    Good Statistics Are Integral To One's Success

    Without good conversion statistics, it is nearly impossible to know how one can improve their overall conversion results.

    Good tracking stats can show you when you have improved your conversions, and they can show you when you have diminished your conversion rates. Every time you make a change to your advertising, you should keep a backup of your original copy, just in case your changes produce poorer results instead of better results. If you see your conversions go down, then go back to the copy you had used prior to your last change.

    By using his conversion statistics as a measure of his success, my friend was able to increase his results from banner advertising 100-fold in just a few weeks. When he took the same process to co-registration, he was able to increase his conversion results again, getting 58 times more subscribers for the same cash investment.

    Learning From Our Friends...

    We are working to duplicate the success of our friend. We had always thought that our own 10% visitor-to-subscriber conversion rate was pretty good, but 55%? Wow!

    Going forward, my point is simple. Before investing great sums of money into driving traffic to one's website, the first and most important task should be to drive enough traffic to your website to get some real conversion data and to tweak and improve your conversion results. Once you know that you are converting well on the traffic you are already receiving, then and only then should you consider stepping up your investment into driving traffic to your website.

    If I had called this article, "Increase Your Sales by 5,800%," you would have assumed me to be a hype-salesman, and you would have skipped over my article altogether. But, if you ask my friend, he would tell you in his own words, "If he can do it, then anyone can do it." And that includes you, my friend. If he can do it, then YOU can do it too.


    About the Author:
    Bret Plummer is one of the Home Biz Cowboys. Learn Today, how to successfully start your own Online Business and start generating a sustainable income within a few short weeks. Visit our website now, and sign up to receive our FREE 8-Week Training Course. Be sure to also confirm your subscription right away, so that you will not miss a single day: http://www.HomeBizCowboys.com


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