Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Kevin Kielty
Many people in the United States are finding themselves out of a job and also without valuable health insurance. When costly medical procedures are needed, they cannot afford to have them done in the US. Therefore, many people are traveling to foreign countries to have the procedures done. This is called "health tourism".
In the past, people usually traveled outside the US for non life-threatening procedures such as cosmetic surgery or dental surgery. However, the growing trend is for people to seek foreign treatment for more life-threatening conditions such as heart bypass surgery, heart valve replacements and spinal surgeries. In some cases the cost can be as much as 90% less than it would be in the United States. Popular destinations are Thailand, Costa Rica and India.
As many as 85,000 Americans travel to foreign countries for medical procedures every year. Companies are springing up to meet the needs of this new foreign traveler. In South Carolina, Blue Cross and Blue Shield has started the "Companion Global Healthcare" department to assist clients seeking foreign healthcare. They help with travel arrangements, transportation between airport in hospital and coordination of care.
A Worldwide Trend
People from many parts of the world, not just America are traveling to other countries to receive healthcare for various reasons. People from Europe travel due to long waiting lists at home, some come from the middle east because they believe the medical personnel are more highly trained and some people travel from Africa because they do not have access to these services in their own country.
What To Consider
While traveling abroad for healthcare procedures can be beneficial, there are a few things to consider first. For example, traveling a great distance to and from the other country can be hazardous, depending upon your condition. Anyone considering a foreign medical care should consult with their physician first. Some conditions such as cancer are best treated by a doctor in your own country with whom you have an ongoing relationship.
Investigate Ahead Of Time
Thoroughly investigate the hospital or facility you are considering travel to. Check to make sure that they are accredited with the Joint Commission International, to ensure that they meet US standards. Also talk with the physician to find out how many procedures they have done and where they received their training.
Meet with your physician before you go and make sure they will provide your medical records to the overseas doctors and to make sure both sides have the other's contact information. Also arrange aftercare before you leave. Make sure you have everything in place for your care when you get home.
If you require a costly surgery and do not have adequate health insurance, traveling to a foreign country for your treatment may be an option. Contact a reputable company to assist you and meet with your own physician to discuss the possibility of a foreign procedure. Thoroughly investigate the foreign facility and doctors your self. Make sure that they are an accredited facility and meet basic guidelines before you go.
About the Author:
Kevin Kielty lives in North Carolina and writes articles on health insurance. If you are looking for rate quotes on health insurance in North Carolina, visit BCBSNC, also known as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina at: http://www.ncinsuranceplan.com/
Read more of Kevin Kielty's articles.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
How To Reverse Engineer My #1 Google Rankings
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Willie Crawford
To many online marketers, getting a #1 listing on Google for your target keyword phrases is "heaven." It does lead to many times more traffic than being even #2 or #3. If you're not on the first page of Google, you may as well forget getting any significant traffic in many niches. At least you should plan on generating your traffic via other channels since few searchers look past the first page of search engine results.
Google the terms "joint venture expert" or "land for $100" and you'll see that I rank #1 for both terms and have for a VERY long time.
Yes, people do search on those terms, regardless of what you might think, and they both generate substantial incomes for me, but they are not my most profitable keywords. They are just keywords that I will use to prove to you that I have a clue about how to get top Google listings. You really shouldn't listen to "experts" who can't back up with they teach with proof.
Next, I invite you to try to reverse engineer what I did. Actually, I'll share much of my secret process with you. Not all of what I do is very obvious.
Here are the things that I do:
1) I target specific, long-tail, buying keywords. It's easier to rank for 3-5 word phrases, and people entering those phrases into the search engines are looking for something very specific. This is the traffic that you want to attract.
2) I use article marketing extensively to generate massive backlinks. All things being equal, the one with the most backlinks from relevant quality sites WINS.
3) I use video marketing, submitting to top video sharing sites using titles and descriptions optimized for my keywords.
4) I use pod casting, submitting my audios to numerous podcast directories, as well as offering them from numerous websites. People who hear your audio message, and click through to your site, arrive pre-sold on your and ready to follow your recommendations.
My pod cast submissions are also keyword optimized!
5) I use my keywords in anchor text on my blogs, and in article directories where allowed.
6) I generate a LOT of content, and repurpose that content regularly. I publicize that content on social networking sites, on other resource sites that allow me to publicize my content, and even in press releases.
For example, I post announcements of my updated content often to http://www.IMNewsWatch.com, http://www.TeleseminarNation.com and leading industry forums.
7) I use automation. If I had to hand submit all of my content I would only be able to distribute 1/10th as much. All things being equal, he who submits the most quality content wins.
8) I adhere to the rules and terms of service at the article, video, podcasts, and press release sharing sites. It does no good to get great rankings, only to be banned a few weeks or months later (having all of your content removed, and your work go to waste). I use 100% whitehat tactics.
9) I generate quality content. I does no good to throw garbage at the search engines. You'll only attract non-responsive traffic (wasting bandwidth and giving you useless website traffic conversion statistics), and you'll also eventually experience backlash. Write primarily for humans, but keeping good SEO in mind. The simplest way to do that is to use your primary keywords in your titles and descriptions, when creating and uploading content. Also be sure to use your primary keywords throughout your content.
10) I create external links to some of my content posted on sites OTHER THAN my primary sites. Linking to content that then links to your primary sites increases the relevance of external links from that content pointing to your primary sites. That helps the content on your primary sites rank higher longer. SEO experts call that "adding link juice!" If you don't do this, you'll often rank high for given keywords only for a few days, and then quickly drop in ranking. Adding "link juice" helps the ranking "stick."
There you have it - how I get and maintain #1 Google rankings for tons of keywords that my buying customers search on regularly at Google. Model what I do, and you'll get similar results.
About the Author:
Willie Crawford has been teaching people to build a legitimate online business since 1996. He is one of the world's leading website traffic generation experts. His favorite tool is an automated article, video, podcast and press release submission service that you can use too at: http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.com/ Visit them now.
Read more Articles written by Willie Crawford.
Copyright © 2009 Willie Crawford
To many online marketers, getting a #1 listing on Google for your target keyword phrases is "heaven." It does lead to many times more traffic than being even #2 or #3. If you're not on the first page of Google, you may as well forget getting any significant traffic in many niches. At least you should plan on generating your traffic via other channels since few searchers look past the first page of search engine results.
Google the terms "joint venture expert" or "land for $100" and you'll see that I rank #1 for both terms and have for a VERY long time.
Yes, people do search on those terms, regardless of what you might think, and they both generate substantial incomes for me, but they are not my most profitable keywords. They are just keywords that I will use to prove to you that I have a clue about how to get top Google listings. You really shouldn't listen to "experts" who can't back up with they teach with proof.
Next, I invite you to try to reverse engineer what I did. Actually, I'll share much of my secret process with you. Not all of what I do is very obvious.
Here are the things that I do:
1) I target specific, long-tail, buying keywords. It's easier to rank for 3-5 word phrases, and people entering those phrases into the search engines are looking for something very specific. This is the traffic that you want to attract.
2) I use article marketing extensively to generate massive backlinks. All things being equal, the one with the most backlinks from relevant quality sites WINS.
3) I use video marketing, submitting to top video sharing sites using titles and descriptions optimized for my keywords.
4) I use pod casting, submitting my audios to numerous podcast directories, as well as offering them from numerous websites. People who hear your audio message, and click through to your site, arrive pre-sold on your and ready to follow your recommendations.
My pod cast submissions are also keyword optimized!
5) I use my keywords in anchor text on my blogs, and in article directories where allowed.
6) I generate a LOT of content, and repurpose that content regularly. I publicize that content on social networking sites, on other resource sites that allow me to publicize my content, and even in press releases.
For example, I post announcements of my updated content often to http://www.IMNewsWatch.com, http://www.TeleseminarNation.com and leading industry forums.
7) I use automation. If I had to hand submit all of my content I would only be able to distribute 1/10th as much. All things being equal, he who submits the most quality content wins.
8) I adhere to the rules and terms of service at the article, video, podcasts, and press release sharing sites. It does no good to get great rankings, only to be banned a few weeks or months later (having all of your content removed, and your work go to waste). I use 100% whitehat tactics.
9) I generate quality content. I does no good to throw garbage at the search engines. You'll only attract non-responsive traffic (wasting bandwidth and giving you useless website traffic conversion statistics), and you'll also eventually experience backlash. Write primarily for humans, but keeping good SEO in mind. The simplest way to do that is to use your primary keywords in your titles and descriptions, when creating and uploading content. Also be sure to use your primary keywords throughout your content.
10) I create external links to some of my content posted on sites OTHER THAN my primary sites. Linking to content that then links to your primary sites increases the relevance of external links from that content pointing to your primary sites. That helps the content on your primary sites rank higher longer. SEO experts call that "adding link juice!" If you don't do this, you'll often rank high for given keywords only for a few days, and then quickly drop in ranking. Adding "link juice" helps the ranking "stick."
There you have it - how I get and maintain #1 Google rankings for tons of keywords that my buying customers search on regularly at Google. Model what I do, and you'll get similar results.
About the Author:
Willie Crawford has been teaching people to build a legitimate online business since 1996. He is one of the world's leading website traffic generation experts. His favorite tool is an automated article, video, podcast and press release submission service that you can use too at: http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.com/ Visit them now.
Read more Articles written by Willie Crawford.
Why Most Affiliate Marketers Fail
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Willie Crawford
Many people coming online and deciding to sell affiliate products never sell a single product. The reason is glaringly obvious, and it's not the unfortunate affiliate marketer's fault.
Think about any job that you've ever held in the offline world. What happened? You were hired and told when to report for work.
When you showed up for work you were entered into training. Depending upon the job, you spent weeks, sometimes even months, with a trainer guiding you and looking over your shoulder.
Compare that with your typical affiliate program that the complete newbie can join.
You fill out an affiliate registration form and are handed an affiliate link. With some affiliate programs you are also directed to an affiliate resource center.
With a few of the better affiliate programs, you are also directed to some affiliate training videos. The affiliate training videos are the exception rather than the rule.
Affiliate marketers are basically left to figure out what works all on their own.
It's really not much better for new people coming online who decide to launch their own product.
They come online and read over and over again that you really need you own product. So they decide to create one, perhaps putting it on Clickbank, or a somewhat better option - decide to use the Rapid Action Profits script.
These new product owners understand that they need affiliates, so they put a link to an affiliate signup page somewhere on their site. They often stick this affiliate program signup link in the worse possible place - right on their salespage where it distracts buying customers.
As a side-note, a better place to put your affiliate signup invitation is on your download page, or you can tell your new customers about your affiliate program in a follow-up email. What better person to recruit as an affiliate than a satisfied customer who actually knows your product?
These new product owners sign up affiliates, give them their affiliate links (and a few tools) and then wait for the orders to come flooding in.
When the orders don't come surging in, the new product own wonders what he did wrong, and concludes that affiliate programs really don't work.
The problem in both of the above cases is simply a lack of adequate training for affiliates in what works in promoting affiliate products.
The sad part is that there is lots of information available on what has proven to work for top producing affiliates. I, as a super affiliate, have written over 1300 article on the topic of ecommerce. Many of those articles outline techniques that work flawlessly for me.
For the product owner or affiliate program operator, there are entire affiliate training programs in a box. One that I looked at recently included 52 weekly autoresponder training sessions. It even included video lessons to SHOW the struggling affiliate how to do many things.
Each of the weekly lessons in that "affiliate training program in a box" taught a skill that the aspiring affiliate marketer needs to understand.
If you are an affiliate program owner and wants to check out that "affiliate training program in a box" it's at: http://WillieCrawford.com/TrainYourAffiliates/
Seasoned marketers and copywriters understand that marketing is not guessing. It's testing until you discover what works, and then USING those things proven to work.
Seasoned marketers and copywriters understand that they are often WRONG as far as what they think will work. Only the market decides what will work. That's why they don't experiment, but instead stick with the "tried and true."
If you are a new (or unsuccessful) affiliate marketer, your solution is simple - learn and stick with what's already proven to work.
If you are a product owner with an affiliate program that's NOT producing, your solution is simple - train your affiliates.
When you train your affiliate, they will experience success selling your products, and having finally figured it out, will double their efforts in promoting your products.
Like any other paying job in the world, affiliate marketing does require training. Make sure that you're not overlooking this critical element of the online marketing puzzle!
About the Author:
Willie Crawford is a leading Internet marketing and traffic generation expert. His favorite method for generating free website traffic is distributing videos, audios, articles and press releases using the automated distribution service at http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.com/
Read more Articles written by Willie Crawford.
Copyright © 2009 Willie Crawford
Many people coming online and deciding to sell affiliate products never sell a single product. The reason is glaringly obvious, and it's not the unfortunate affiliate marketer's fault.
Think about any job that you've ever held in the offline world. What happened? You were hired and told when to report for work.
When you showed up for work you were entered into training. Depending upon the job, you spent weeks, sometimes even months, with a trainer guiding you and looking over your shoulder.
Compare that with your typical affiliate program that the complete newbie can join.
You fill out an affiliate registration form and are handed an affiliate link. With some affiliate programs you are also directed to an affiliate resource center.
With a few of the better affiliate programs, you are also directed to some affiliate training videos. The affiliate training videos are the exception rather than the rule.
Affiliate marketers are basically left to figure out what works all on their own.
It's really not much better for new people coming online who decide to launch their own product.
They come online and read over and over again that you really need you own product. So they decide to create one, perhaps putting it on Clickbank, or a somewhat better option - decide to use the Rapid Action Profits script.
These new product owners understand that they need affiliates, so they put a link to an affiliate signup page somewhere on their site. They often stick this affiliate program signup link in the worse possible place - right on their salespage where it distracts buying customers.
As a side-note, a better place to put your affiliate signup invitation is on your download page, or you can tell your new customers about your affiliate program in a follow-up email. What better person to recruit as an affiliate than a satisfied customer who actually knows your product?
These new product owners sign up affiliates, give them their affiliate links (and a few tools) and then wait for the orders to come flooding in.
When the orders don't come surging in, the new product own wonders what he did wrong, and concludes that affiliate programs really don't work.
The problem in both of the above cases is simply a lack of adequate training for affiliates in what works in promoting affiliate products.
The sad part is that there is lots of information available on what has proven to work for top producing affiliates. I, as a super affiliate, have written over 1300 article on the topic of ecommerce. Many of those articles outline techniques that work flawlessly for me.
For the product owner or affiliate program operator, there are entire affiliate training programs in a box. One that I looked at recently included 52 weekly autoresponder training sessions. It even included video lessons to SHOW the struggling affiliate how to do many things.
Each of the weekly lessons in that "affiliate training program in a box" taught a skill that the aspiring affiliate marketer needs to understand.
If you are an affiliate program owner and wants to check out that "affiliate training program in a box" it's at: http://WillieCrawford.com/TrainYourAffiliates/
Seasoned marketers and copywriters understand that marketing is not guessing. It's testing until you discover what works, and then USING those things proven to work.
Seasoned marketers and copywriters understand that they are often WRONG as far as what they think will work. Only the market decides what will work. That's why they don't experiment, but instead stick with the "tried and true."
If you are a new (or unsuccessful) affiliate marketer, your solution is simple - learn and stick with what's already proven to work.
If you are a product owner with an affiliate program that's NOT producing, your solution is simple - train your affiliates.
When you train your affiliate, they will experience success selling your products, and having finally figured it out, will double their efforts in promoting your products.
Like any other paying job in the world, affiliate marketing does require training. Make sure that you're not overlooking this critical element of the online marketing puzzle!
About the Author:
Willie Crawford is a leading Internet marketing and traffic generation expert. His favorite method for generating free website traffic is distributing videos, audios, articles and press releases using the automated distribution service at http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.com/
Read more Articles written by Willie Crawford.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Buying Expired Domains Tips - The Issue of PageRank
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 John Khu
Every webmaster tries hard to promote web site on to the top most pages of Google search engine. All of us understand that Google has a system called Google PageRanking that allows it to index web sites on search engine pages. With this system, Google also decides how popular your web page is among search engine users. Higher PageRank means that your web site is more popular than many other web sites and it commands some authority among web users. PageRanking is an important index for expired domain buyers because the web page that has good PageRank is always beneficial to them.
Finding an expired domain with good PageRank is obviously very advantageous, because the inherent commercial value of an expired domain with PageRank, will go up among interested buyers. Finding such domains was very difficult sometimes back, but it is quite easy now. Earlier, a long and boring process took hours of precious time. You had to collect the names of thousands of expired domains, choose interesting ones and check them manually for PageRanking by using a manual tool. It was acutely difficult to separate out good ones from the bad ones. In the end, one could extract just few of them!
Recently, things are changing very rapidly, as several web sites help you find expired-domains with Google PageRank in double quick time. These web sites allow you to search through an extensive database and create a big list. You can even choose efficient filters to filter unwanted expired domains. Another significant aspect of these web sites is that you find out the sources where you can buy those expired domains. Google PR is an excellent indicator of segregating good web sites from bad ones. PR is a sum of quality and quantity of incoming links coming into a web page. An expired domain that owns lot of incoming links is the domain that you can buy and own.
Although buying an expired domain with lot of incoming links is a good idea, you cannot be too sure of the quality of those links. Sometimes, the quality of those links may not be real. There are occasions when you can even buy expired domains at higher prices than their real worth. Given the nature of the internet, it is almost impossible to find out whether the seller of the expired domain is trustworthy or not. To avoid such situations, you can use a number of PageRank-checking software to know about the scope and authenticity of expired domains that you want to buy. The quality of backlinks and inbound traffic is also very important when you buy an expired domain. Top quality and premium backlinks are always beneficial to a domain expiring, while you can even pay bigger amounts to buy such domains. In the end, you may wish to conduct a simple online check to find out, if an expired domain has a valid PR. Just type the following into your browser window - info:[the name of the expired domain] plus the extension without the www prefix. If you are to find valid PR, then you can consider buying that domain.
About the Author:
John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web sites called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com and http://www.expireddomaingains.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.
Read more Articles written by John Khu.
Copyright © 2009 John Khu
Every webmaster tries hard to promote web site on to the top most pages of Google search engine. All of us understand that Google has a system called Google PageRanking that allows it to index web sites on search engine pages. With this system, Google also decides how popular your web page is among search engine users. Higher PageRank means that your web site is more popular than many other web sites and it commands some authority among web users. PageRanking is an important index for expired domain buyers because the web page that has good PageRank is always beneficial to them.
Finding an expired domain with good PageRank is obviously very advantageous, because the inherent commercial value of an expired domain with PageRank, will go up among interested buyers. Finding such domains was very difficult sometimes back, but it is quite easy now. Earlier, a long and boring process took hours of precious time. You had to collect the names of thousands of expired domains, choose interesting ones and check them manually for PageRanking by using a manual tool. It was acutely difficult to separate out good ones from the bad ones. In the end, one could extract just few of them!
Recently, things are changing very rapidly, as several web sites help you find expired-domains with Google PageRank in double quick time. These web sites allow you to search through an extensive database and create a big list. You can even choose efficient filters to filter unwanted expired domains. Another significant aspect of these web sites is that you find out the sources where you can buy those expired domains. Google PR is an excellent indicator of segregating good web sites from bad ones. PR is a sum of quality and quantity of incoming links coming into a web page. An expired domain that owns lot of incoming links is the domain that you can buy and own.
Although buying an expired domain with lot of incoming links is a good idea, you cannot be too sure of the quality of those links. Sometimes, the quality of those links may not be real. There are occasions when you can even buy expired domains at higher prices than their real worth. Given the nature of the internet, it is almost impossible to find out whether the seller of the expired domain is trustworthy or not. To avoid such situations, you can use a number of PageRank-checking software to know about the scope and authenticity of expired domains that you want to buy. The quality of backlinks and inbound traffic is also very important when you buy an expired domain. Top quality and premium backlinks are always beneficial to a domain expiring, while you can even pay bigger amounts to buy such domains. In the end, you may wish to conduct a simple online check to find out, if an expired domain has a valid PR. Just type the following into your browser window - info:[the name of the expired domain] plus the extension without the www prefix. If you are to find valid PR, then you can consider buying that domain.
About the Author:
John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web sites called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com and http://www.expireddomaingains.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.
Read more Articles written by John Khu.
The Hidden Costs of Freeware
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2009 Anne Sych
You are tasked with looking for software and in your research you stumble upon 'free' software. Can this be? It sounds too good to be true! How can they do that? It is very tempting - most of us at least take a peak. After all, why would we buy something we can get for free?
Or perhaps you start out looking for a good solid solution that will meet all of your needs, but your budget is tight and you begin looking at trimmed down or free solutions that may be available. You think that it may be good enough to get you by for now, and you can just purchase something better at a later date when things improve.
While this is tempting, one must consider the hidden costs of 'free' software. In the end, you could be spending more for a 'free' version, than a reputable, well built affordable solution.
Here are a few considerations when considering free software:
1. Many 'free' software solutions are not actually free. Essential components needed to use the software are additional - sometimes the components are minutely priced, but when you plug in your volume needs the prices really add up.
2. Does it really fit your needs? - With 'freeware' there is no product specialist to guide you with your selection, so you are forced to figure out on your own if it will meet your needs. Often once implemented you may learn that it does not meet needs after all or that certain parts do not work the way you need them to. Time lost in business is money lost.
3. You are on your own - typically freeware does not include any implementation assistance, training or support. At best you may get a 'guide', but no one to answer questions or help you with your system environment.
4. No training is provided - how will your employees learn how to use the new software? There are no best practices to follow, and you are left to learn on your own. In addition to time lost, often mistakes are made along the way that are hard to correct because you have done so much already "the wrong way". Again, time lost.
5. Is it cross user friendly? - Some companies may have an employee smart enough to 'rig' a freeware to meet their needs. Once this employee leaves or moves on new folks can't figure out how to make it work the same way.
6. Will it grow with you? - What will you do when you outgrow your application or your needs change. Will you force your business tasks around the app, or be forced to start over? Many hours, weeks, months are spent implementing a "free" system, processes are built around it, training is conducted - much man hours and internal costs. Starting over can be very costly. All of the time spent and resources used are now wasted as you look for a solution to replace this "free one".
So be on guard not to get caught up in the "free" hype, which in the end can cost much more. Take the time to do the due diligence now and select what you need for both now and for the future. Choose a provider that has a quality reputation, offers assistance, provides support, and a solutions that is scalable and can grow to meet your needs long term.
About the Author:
Written by: Anne Sych, Marketing Manager for Novo Solutions, Inc. Novo Solutions, Inc., is an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) in Virginia Beach, Virginia specializing in Customer Support Software. Free trial versions of the Novo Help Desk Software, Knowledge Base Software and suite of web based Customer Support Solutions. Contact: sales@novosolutions.com for more information. http://www.novosolutions.com/
Read more Articles written by Anne Sych.
Copyright © 2009 Anne Sych
You are tasked with looking for software and in your research you stumble upon 'free' software. Can this be? It sounds too good to be true! How can they do that? It is very tempting - most of us at least take a peak. After all, why would we buy something we can get for free?
Or perhaps you start out looking for a good solid solution that will meet all of your needs, but your budget is tight and you begin looking at trimmed down or free solutions that may be available. You think that it may be good enough to get you by for now, and you can just purchase something better at a later date when things improve.
While this is tempting, one must consider the hidden costs of 'free' software. In the end, you could be spending more for a 'free' version, than a reputable, well built affordable solution.
Here are a few considerations when considering free software:
1. Many 'free' software solutions are not actually free. Essential components needed to use the software are additional - sometimes the components are minutely priced, but when you plug in your volume needs the prices really add up.
2. Does it really fit your needs? - With 'freeware' there is no product specialist to guide you with your selection, so you are forced to figure out on your own if it will meet your needs. Often once implemented you may learn that it does not meet needs after all or that certain parts do not work the way you need them to. Time lost in business is money lost.
3. You are on your own - typically freeware does not include any implementation assistance, training or support. At best you may get a 'guide', but no one to answer questions or help you with your system environment.
4. No training is provided - how will your employees learn how to use the new software? There are no best practices to follow, and you are left to learn on your own. In addition to time lost, often mistakes are made along the way that are hard to correct because you have done so much already "the wrong way". Again, time lost.
5. Is it cross user friendly? - Some companies may have an employee smart enough to 'rig' a freeware to meet their needs. Once this employee leaves or moves on new folks can't figure out how to make it work the same way.
6. Will it grow with you? - What will you do when you outgrow your application or your needs change. Will you force your business tasks around the app, or be forced to start over? Many hours, weeks, months are spent implementing a "free" system, processes are built around it, training is conducted - much man hours and internal costs. Starting over can be very costly. All of the time spent and resources used are now wasted as you look for a solution to replace this "free one".
So be on guard not to get caught up in the "free" hype, which in the end can cost much more. Take the time to do the due diligence now and select what you need for both now and for the future. Choose a provider that has a quality reputation, offers assistance, provides support, and a solutions that is scalable and can grow to meet your needs long term.
About the Author:
Written by: Anne Sych, Marketing Manager for Novo Solutions, Inc. Novo Solutions, Inc., is an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) in Virginia Beach, Virginia specializing in Customer Support Software. Free trial versions of the Novo Help Desk Software, Knowledge Base Software and suite of web based Customer Support Solutions. Contact: sales@novosolutions.com for more information. http://www.novosolutions.com/
Read more Articles written by Anne Sych.
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