This eBook helps you develop a successful eMarketing Strategy.
It combines enduring basics with state-of-the-art, new applications.
In the ever-changing Internet marketing game it has become quite clear that just having a Web site is not enough. Yet, many firms use a simple Web site as their entire Internet marketing program. Instead, visualize your Internet marketing strategy as a Web Universe which incorporates several sites that are interrelated and synergistic.
We will be glad to answer your questions and we are always interested
in expanding this eBook with new Chapters and Success Stories.
1. Click Here If You Already Have An eMarketing Program!
See How Prepared You Are For The eMarketing Era!
Please review your own program, complete the simple form below, and submit it. We will provide you a free consulting report on how to harness the power of the Internet to improve business results.
If you have an ongoing business in place - or you are thinking about using the Internet to promote a new idea - you need to plan before you act!
Below is a checklist that guarantees Internet success (provided you have a salable product or service, of course). If you want help, please contact us. Our consulting services is free!
eMarketing Development
Preliminary Steps
Develop Project MindMap
Write eMarketing Business Plan
Develop Timetable and Internet Project Coop Program
Develop eMarketing Budget
Business Decisions
Decide on Online Reseller option (Network of Online Reps to resell your product). If so:
Decide on available margin, commissions, and single or multi-tier option.
Warning!! Don't Start Without Mapping Your Project!
Your Mind Map Is Your Key To Your Success!
A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid to studying and organizing information, solving problems, making decisions, and writing.
The elements of a given mind map are arranged intuitively according to the importance of the concepts, and are classified into groupings, branches, or areas, with the goal of representing semantic or other connections between portions of information. Mind maps may also aid recall of existing memories.
By presenting ideas in a radial, graphical, non-linear manner, mind maps encourage a brainstorming approach to planning and organizational tasks. Though the branches of a mindmap represent hierarchical tree structures, their radial arrangement disrupts the prioritizing of concepts typically associated with hierarchies presented with more linear visual cues. This orientation towards brainstorming encourages users to enumerate and connect concepts without a tendency to begin within a particular conceptual framework.
The mind map can be contrasted with the similar idea of concept mapping. The former is based on radial hierarchies and tree structures denoting relationships with a central governing concept, whereas concept maps are based on connections between concepts in more diverse patterns.
Mind Mapping innovates the way you take notes, brainstorm, or plan your projects and its main benefits comprise ease of use, online and offline availability, real-time collaboration, and easy sharing.
To see a Mind Map of our eMarketing Program, click here!
Start Using Your Own Mind Maps!
MindMeister — a solely browser-based software service — takes the hassle out of maintaining software installs for usage in organizations like schools or enterprises. Get your free trial!
In the ever-changing Internet marketing game it has become quite clear that just having a Web site is not enough. Yet, many firms use a simple web site as their entire Internet marketing program.
Instead, visualize your Internet marketing strategy as Web Universe ™ which incorporates several sites that are interrelated and synergistic. This eBookpresents a roadmapfor an organization's interaction with their customers and/or members in powerful new ways that build loyalty, increase communications, and generate revenue through eMarketing.
In 2006, two events occurred which changed the scope of the Internet. Youtube brought us the ability to become our own broadcastjournalist. Time Magazine validated the Internet users’ and marketers’ existence naming them Person of the Year!
The Time winners this year were anyone using
or creating content on the World Wide Web!
Congrats! You are Time magazine's 'Person of the Year'! The annual honor for 2006 went to each and every one of us, as Time cited the shift from institutions to individuals -- citizens of the new digital democracy, as the magazine put it. The cover shows a white keyboard with a mirror for a computer screen where buyers can see their reflection.
A Simple And More Effective Way Of Marketing Our program helps you put your products, services, news, ads, and special offers in front of your existing customers and those who are or may become new clients!
We help you provide impactful content and a state-of-the art delivery mechanism, and offer great incentives, discounts, and special offers to the customers of your business, corporation, organization, retail shop, travel agency, festival, association, etc.
Turnkey eMail Marketing Service
Our solutions are specifically designed so that they require very little investment in technology from you. We are using the Internet for you - and you get the benefits. All of our solutions are easily accessible, highly effective, and affordable. Most of our programs have a free trial and money-back guarantee. Start using them now!
A powerful global conversation has begun between people in networked markets. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. This is particularly true because the Internet excels in assisting these markets in:
Lead Generation
The Flow of Information & Education
Creation of Strategic Alliances
These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in a language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine.
The Rationale For This eBook Many firms use a simple Web site as their entire Internet marketing program. They enlist the help of a Web design firm that knows little or nothing about eMarketing. Most web site developers only know how to design custom web sites and move from client to client. They are primarily graphic designers and are seldom equipped to develop a cohesive Internet marketing campaign. Consequently, millions of web sites end up on the “County Road of the Internet” while traffic roars by on the “Interstate.”
This eBook was developed to help you avoid this problem. Visualize your Internet marketing strategy in terms of a Web Universe ™ as opposed to an individual site. This approach incorporates several sites that are interrelated and synergistic. When executed properly your Web Universe ™ will yield optimal results and confirms that the Internet, in spite of the late 90’s dot.com malaise, has lost none of its power to catapult organizations into new vistas. To get the most out of your Internet 'real estate,' follow the steps as outlined.
Concepts And Applications We show beginning and advanced eMarketers and Online entrepreneurs a roadmap to Internet success. Assuming you have a solid business concept this approach will lead you to excellent results. Our program provides you with tools that are already being successfully used by tens of thousands. All you have to do is following the steps and apply the tools as clearly outlined. It will take time and hard work, but you will succeed.
Our 'Clickstep' Blueprint To Success Using this eBook is easy! All you have to do is follow our convenient 'clicksteps' to find details on the subject(s) of your choice. Our outline charts the exact physical steps from the initial development of a web site to case studies by successful users. It also illustrates opportunities ranging from generating traffic to your site to incentives for 'closing the deal.'
Simple questions:
-How do I build a website?
-Should I use a blog?
-What is the role of social networks
-How much does it cost?
Can lead to more complex questions:
-How do I develop my overall Internet strategy?
-How do I optimize traffic for my web site(s)
-How do I sell Online?
-How much should I spend?
-How do my Internet programs interface with our traditional marketing approach
The subject of Internet marketing is vast and this eBook does not claim to be complete. As a matter of fact, an eBook is a “work in progress” and it will be updated frequently to improve it.
However, we offer you a clear startup blueprint. It will help you determine what questions to ask and how to go about finding the answers.
One of the many advantages of an eBook is that it is scalable as it allows for imrovement and expansion, almost as you go. For example, as we were writing this eBook we recognized its potential as a Resource Guide for implementation of an Internet strategy with a 'how-to" approach leading to a cohesive Online program. In that regard it will be a helpful TACTICAL piece especially since it will be coordinated with the ongoing activities of our Internet Practitioners Forum (lunches, eNewsletter, Social Network, etc.).
We realized, however, that it could also serve, with the TACTICAL part as the base, as aSTRATEGIC tool by adding a suggested program for identification and acquisition of Internet partners and/or strategic allies for major organizations. How do companies set up for this, how do they get an identification/evaluation in place, how do they negotiate, etc.?
We are now identifying possible new applications of this eBook as follows:
A tactical how-to manual for prospective customers
A strategic, scalable starting point to identify suitable partners, acquisitions, etc.
The knowledge base for our programs as the Internet Practitioners Forum, eNewsletter, etc.
This eBook was developed, written, and produced entirely and exclusively with the help of Online applications. From start to finish, from finding the name for the book to coordinating with contributors, from offering bonus specials to upcoming book promotions, everything is happening Online! We are therefore paying tribute to all of those who make the world a better place by facilitating communications via the web.
While we cannot adequately express our gratitude to all who helped us in the development of this eBook, it would not have come to fruition without the contributions of Sylvia Allen, Bob DiGouveia, John Mazzara, and, of course, Tammy Quan, our talented eBook editor.
For the last decade, I have been biking about 2,000 miles a year with my friend Ed Flaherty. We have seen more together and talked more than most people get a chance to do with their immediate family members. Many of Ed’s ideas and suggestions gave been incorporated in this eBook, with admiration, appreciation and gratitude.
To achieve Internet success there are some basic tools without which you cannot function. These are a descriptive URL, a web site (that you can manage and update yourself), an eMail program to inform your clients, members, etc., and a blog. Costs are nominal, the programs described are easy to use, and free trials are available. Once you have the basics of your WebUniverse in place, you can build from there.
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Chapter 1. Pick The Right Domain Name
Many small business owners agonize over their website domain names to evaluate and appraise domain name options. If your business is up and running, your website domain name should be the name of your business. If you can’t get or don’t want your business name as a domain name, or if you don’t have a business name, then take comfort in the fact that your website’s domain name won’t make a big difference.
Two-Step Approach
There are two methods by which people will get to your website: one-step and two-step.
The one-step method means they have your website’s domain name from an ad, business card, or referral. These people come straight to your website. A memorable domain name can help them remember how to get to your website for the first few visits. After that, it doesn’t matter what your URL is. Whether or not they buy from you depends on the value of your content, not the value of your domain name.
The two-step method means they use a search engine or directory to find your website. A search engine or directory will refer traffic to your website regardless of your URL. What do search engines look for? Again, content. A domain name will help build traffic from search engines and directories.
A good domain name can be a useful marketing tool. However, it’s not a marketing tool for your business. It’s a marketing tool for another marketing tool (your website).
Your domain name should ideally be your business name. But, maybe the simplest version of your business name is unavailable. Or, perhaps your business name makes a bad or confusing domain name. Or, possibly your website is a new venture.
Descriptive Name
Make your domain name descriptive and unique. Your domain name should describe the content in your website, or the benefit of using your product or service. You want it to be specific, not generic. For most small businesses, that rules out initials. Owning, for example, abc.com makes sense if you’re the American Broadcasting Companies, known throughout the U.S. as “ABC.”
Think beyond your business name. Look for concise ways to specifically communicate your core business. For instance, the domain name alicesbasketcompany would certainly make the short list for Alice’s Basket Company, if available.
However, other domain names may have more pulling power, because they describe the business with greater precision. For example, the domain name alicesgiftbaskets clearly reflects a different business focus from the domain name alicesbasketweaving – and that differentiation simply doesn’t exist with just the business name.
Also, consider the words people will use to search for your company’s products or services. With the domain name alicesbasketcompany, only one of the three words is likely to attract customers wanting baskets. With alicesgiftbaskets, there are two good keywords as well as a more-specific definition of the business.
Keep your domain name short and simple. When it comes to domain names, shorter is better. How short? Well, I wouldn’t pay a premium for a three- or four-character domain name unless it was perfect. I also wouldn’t recommend a domain name longer than the obsolete 22-character maximum (domain names of up to 63 characters are now possible). The main point in favor of a long domain name is that search engines look at domain names when ranking websites.
So, the theory goes, a keyword-rich domain name should outpull a shorter domain name if - and that’s a mighty big if - all other things are equal. I dislike long domain names because they take up too much space and take too long to read on a business card, ad, or sign. I recommend giving preference to domain names consisting of the fewest words: one word is a near-impossible ideal, two words are good, and three words are about the limit. You’ll see more reasons to avoid multi-word domain names in a moment.
Odd Letters
If you’re evaluating a domain name consisting of more than one word, watch for odd letter sequences. If your business is handing out free eels, you might want to think twice about freeeels as a domain name. Also, beware of letter sequences that create unintended words. For example, salesexchange - is that “Sales Exchange,” or “Sale Sex Change?”
Say your domain name out loud. Consider whether or not the domain name will be typed correctly after being heard spoken. Beware of sound-alike and near-sound-alike variants, such as “excel,” “XL,” and “eggshell.” That rules out puns as domain names - they may be clever, but you’ll have to explain the joke every time. Give preference to correct, phonetic, and familiar spellings. Unusual or difficult spelling should be avoided, unless it’s your real name, and it’s worth thinking twice about even then.
The spoken test also rules out abbreviations in your domain name, with a few common exceptions (such as co for company). As for numbers, avoid them too, unless you can buy the domain name variants with the numbers in numeric and spelled-out form, e.g: 3littlepigs and threelittlepigs.
A special note about hyphens or dashes in URLs. Many search engines currently parse dashes as spaces. So, the domain name three-little-pigs would show up as a better match than the domain name threelittlepigs for the search phrase "three little pigs" if - and, again, that’s a mighty big if - all other things are equal.
If your traffic is driven primarily by offline marketing, then the version without the dashes is easier to communicate on the telephone or even in a print ad. People are accustomed to typing domain names as one continuous string.
I recommend buying both the hyphenated and non-hyphenated domain names. Domain names are cheap. Set up your website at the hyphenated version, to take advantage of its friendliness to search engines, then have traffic from the non-hyphenated name forwarded automatically (and for free, with many registrars) to that website. That way, you get the best of both worlds.
Hyphens & Plurals
Even if you choose to use the non-hyphenated domain name as your hosted URL, there are other reasons to buy the hyphenated version. In the above example, those three little pigs might consider buying 3-little-pigs and three-little-pigs as a defensive measure, to keep any big bad wolves from buying those similar domain name variants. So, the pigs would buy a domain name plus one to three variants. The more words contained in your domain name, the more important this defensive maneuver is, and the more expensive your total URL registration costs will be. Likewise, if you need hyphenation for clarity (such as free-eels), you should register the non-hyphenated variant (freeeels) and the most-likely misspelling (freeels). Again, securing domain name variants increases your registration costs. That’s another reason to keep your domain name short and simple.
Finally, a note about singular/plural variants. Give preference to a domain name that leaves no doubt as to whether or not it needs a plural, like 3littlepigs, for example. Free-eels, on the other hand, might have people thinking “hey, I get a free eel” and typing free-eel or freeeel or freeel. Now your free eel business is up to a domain name plus five potential variants. That’s too many.
Dot-what?
If you can get a good dot-com cheap, that’s best. It’s even worth taking your second or third (or fifth) choice of domain name, just to get the dot-com. If you go with a different extension, make sure that the dot-com isn’t in direct competition and you’re not violating any intellectual property issues. Not all dot-whatevers are equal. Dot-net is a good alternative. There are cases in which dot-org might make sense; likewise, familiar first-world country extensions such as dot-co-dot-uk and dot-de (particularly if you’re doing business in, respectively, the UK or Germany).
In this short introductory session we give a thorough overview of the powerful eLearning system itself - used by trainees to interact with the training course materials.
This session also helpfully covers off some basic computing concepts that will help ensure you get off to a flying start with your learning.
Module 1: Foundation
In this opening session we explore some of the essential definitions and concepts that underpin the Internet as we know it. You’ll also be introduced to the ‘4-Step Plan’ and the ‘XSitePro Pyramid’.
Module 2: Research
In this packed module we cover off the importance of clear objectives, and introduce you to lots of tools, tricks and ‘special resources’ that will help you to perform all the re-search necessary to create a profitable, professional, and search-engine-friendly web-site in record time.
Module 3: Adding Projects
To get started creating our first website together we begin by taking a look at why it is important to organize your sites into discreet projects, and how ‘cascading keywords’ help you on the path to search engine success.
Module 4: Adding Websites
In this module we examine the three options for site design and start to build a simple website using a template. Along the way we’ll be looking at some of the basic concepts that we will then be build upon in later modules.
Module 5: Design Custom Websites
In this module you’ll get some hands-on experience at building websites from scratch (sites perfectly tailored to meet your own needs) and you’ll learn some cool tricks that will help you pick the perfect colors to give your site that professional touch.
Module 6: Adding Web Pages
Following straight on from creating our new website in the last module, we keep the momentum going with some web page creation in this session - an essential part of any Website build. You’ll also be introduced to the concept of ‘Rinse & Repeat’.
Module 7: Text & Formatting
No matter how good your content is, it’s important that you present it in a way that’s easy to digest if you want to get your message across. In this module you’ll learn some special techniques that are guaranteed to improve readability.
Module 8: Working With Images
They say an image speaks a thousand words. That’s definitely the case for websites, so in this module we get to grips with using image content in our pages. You learn some cool tips and tricks and discover some of the places that website professionals go to when they’re in need of a particular image to bring their websites alive.
Module 9: Wizards & Tables
The amazing Design Wizard tools in XSitePro give you a handy short-cut for adding all manner of page content to your website. In this module, you’ll learn how to use headlines, text boxes, graphics, buttons, bulleted lists, and highlighted text, as well as discovering how using tables can really take your website to the next level.
Module 10: Navigation & Interlinking
We’ve all experienced the frustration of hitting a website and not being able to find our way around, so in this module we’re going to learn how to keep things nice and organized! You will learn the benefits of menus, how the positioning can make all of the difference, along with some great examples and demonstrations – even how to create a hands-free menu with XSitePro!
Module 11: Many Types of Content
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying before “Content is King” but with so much content out there it’s difficult to know where to look first for ideas. In this module, you’ll not only learn the 5 content benefits and 5 great tips for choosing relevant, quality content, you will also find there is a whole range of content options for you to consider, that will literally blow your competition out of the water!
Module 12: Audio & Video
Websites that use audio and video are more popular right now than ever before, and the reason is simple. They are so powerful! Literally nothing gets a message across clearer. You’re going to have some great fun in this module, adding rich multimedia content to your web pages – we’ll even show you how to embed videos from what is probably the biggest library in the world – YouTube!
Module 13: RSS
RSS is probably something that you’ve heard of, but you don’t really understand – right? Well in this module you’ll learn what RSS actually is, how it works, where it comes from, how to insert it using XSitePro, and more importantly how it will actually benefit YOU!
Module 14: Extra Features
XSitePro offers a whole bunch of exciting extra features and content over and above those we’ve run though so far - including three that we’ll be looking at right now in this session: Social Bookmarks, Breadcrumb Trails and Widgets - all designed to help boost the appeal of your site and make for a much more interesting visitor experience!
Module 15: QuickPages
QuickPages are a fantastic way to add professional-grade page content to our website in next-to-no time. In this module, we’ll show you how to find free content for your website, and how to use this awesome feature. If you can ‘copy and paste’ then you can use this powerful tool… it’s that simple!
Module 16: Sub-Pages
When organizing page content, sub-pages not only gives us a neat and simple way of grouping similar pages together so that visitors can quickly navigate our site… they can even generate some free page content in the process! This module will show you all of the benefits and unexpected bonuses!
Module 17: Site Search
Custom site search functionality speaks volumes about the professionalism of your site - and it makes your content super-easy to navigate to boot! This module is going to give you a real insight into how you should use Site Search effectively, and why it is such a benefit to both you and your visitors!
Module 18: List-Building
Why do you need a list? Who should have a list? How do I build a list? These are all questions that we are asked week in, week out - so this module was always going to be a real *big* one! We’re going to work through a whole series of actions with you, both the theory and the practical – we’re going to give you lots of tips, lots of solutions for building your list, as well demonstrating how to setup a mailing list, how to add name grab forms – everything!
Module 19: Pay-Per-Click
How would you like to earn money every time someone clicks on an advertisement on your site? Sounds great, right! In this module you’ll learn how amazingly easy it is to do exactly that! We’re going to step you through using Adsense, how it works and where you fit in. We’ll even show you where you should position your adverts, and why!
Module 20: Affiliate Marketing
This module tackles the incredibly exciting affiliate marketing opportunity that your website represents. With over six billion dollars in annual revenues, this is a space you really ought to consider being in. You'll learn everything from the best affiliate programs to join through to exactly what drives a successful affiliate promotion.
Module 21: Selling Direct
This module will show you how to sell products directly from your site and add credit card payment processing. You'll learn the pros and cons of different payment processors, how to insert 'Buy Now' buttons, and we'll even touch on how to create your own information product.
Module 22: Search Engine Optimization
In this session we'll start to demystify the process of search engine optimization. You'll learn the difference between off-page and on-page elements, why long tail keywords can bring you more traffic than short- tail ones, and how you do a detailed analysis of any web page in just a few seconds.
Module 23: Site maps
This module takes your search engine expertise to the next level. You'll be introduced to the power of site maps and why an XML site map is crucial to your success. You'll also be introduced to the power of robots, the no-follow attribute and a whole heap of clever tips and tricks that is guaranteed to boost your search engine rankings.
Module 24: Publishing
This is it folks! Count-down to blast-off, and the incredibly exciting pinnacle of our learning up to this point. We’re going to step through registering a domain, setting up your hosting account, how to link the two together, and finally, that exhilarating moment when your website goes live on the World Wide Web!
Module 25: Essential Housekeeping
Nobody likes housekeeping, right? Well not anymore! We’ve made boring and tedious housekeeping a thing of the past! In this section we cover off some important housekeeping tasks to ensure you keep things organized with very little effort! Backing up or restoring your data, importing and exporting your websites – it’s all a breeze!
Module 26: The Test
In this session we present a fun test, just to establish that you’ve got everything from this course you hoped. It will also identify whether or not there are any areas that might need a little more work from here.
I’m sure you’ll agree that as courses go this is nothing short of a heavyweight - a real world beater. You could say it is the Tiger Woods or Roger Federer of online training.
We’ve left no stone unturned in our quest to provide you with all the knowledge you need to get you started on the wonderful path to online success.
Over the years I’ve seen many courses, both online and offline, that provide a selection of useful lessons and contain some valuable information, but I can honestly say that I have never, in all those years, seen anything that is as detailed, as informative or as educational as 'The Complete Guide to Website Building'. And what’s more, the delivery style is entertaining too, so you can rest assured that you won’t get bored when doing this training.
Permission-based, opt-in email marketing is here to stay. It is faster, cheaper, more easily quantified and more effective than any other kind of marketing.With email marketing, you can manage your marketing strategy according to your needs. You can easily target a specific audience, and you can send messages at opportune times instantly. You need not fear the risk of delayed or lost mail. You may prevent your customers from waiting days to hear from you.Moreover, with email marketing, you save paper, ink, and time put into printing an advertisement that irritated customers may treat as bulk mail. As a result, you eliminate expenses and raise profits.
With the convenience and environmentally-safe method of email marketing, your customers prefer it too, and you and your company benefit too!Take advantage of potential profits. Nothing will stop you.
Email Marketing Works
In April, the Direct Marketing Association survey reported that 66 percent of companies claimed sales increased as a result of using email marketing. According to 63 percent of respondents, email marketing was their most effective customer retention tool, and as you know, keeping customers helps establish your business in preparation for future growth and expansion.
Repeat customers may likely spread the news of your business during their long relationship with you.Keep those customers!
Growth of Digital Marketing Initiatives
Email marketing spending in the U.S. is growing quickly whereas other forms of advertising are flat or stagnating. eMarketer reports that U.S. companies spent $1.1 billion in 2000, $2.1 billion in 2001 and $3.3 billion this year. Jupiter Media Metrix believes that the name of the game is diversification,digital marketing initiatives (e-coupons, promotions, and email, for example) will generate $19.3 billion by 2006.
The trend of growth seems apparent. Advance your company. Join the future of sales with email marketing. Enhance the potential of your advertisements. Do not waste time.Bring access to the worldwide market to you.
Studies Show Consumers Enjoy Email Marketing
According to a quarterly study from Valentine Radford, over 50 percent of consumers agree that email advertising is enjoyable. In fact, more than 80 percent of online consumers reported that they enjoy receiving email newsletters. In contrast, 75 percent of online consumers think that banner ads are annoying.
Customer Demand For Permission-Based Email Grows
According to DoubleClick’s latest consumer study, 77 percent of consumers want to receive weekly offers via email. Of those polled, 88 percent said that they have purchased an item because of permission-based email.
In many ways, of course, you can obviously see how permission-based email attracts the consumers’ attention. You can notify them of special sales, customer discounts and new products. You can use a variety of graphics, designs or words without worrying about the cost of advertising in newspapers and magazines for a short time. Through email, you can do more than show your products or sales. In fact, you can create flashing visuals so they can remember your business. They may return for a visit on hearing your news. If so, prepare for a purchase at your place of business.
Permission Email Irritates Very Few Net Users
IMT Strategies reports in a study that 48 percent of permission-based email recipients are curious to read it, and 13 percent of them are eager to read it. The report found that 30 percent of those polled were indifferent to permission-based email. Only seven percent opened it “somewhat annoyed,” and two percent deleted it without reading it. After all, email marketing not only provides the customer with convenience but you as well.
Email marketing appears as the most inviting kind of marketing strategy to you because of its easiness to use, and more over, most customers will not even dare to neglect you and your company. Use it. With email marketing, you achieve a nearly universal appeal with customers. The statistics of each study seem to suggest the same idea.Even without them, you can see the qualities that make email marketing an effective marketing method.With email, you respect the privacy of your customers and gain their trust, and you develop a good relationship with your customers through pleasing your customers.Your competitors may not learn of the special products and services that you offer.You secure the ideas that support your business.
Inevitably, you may find yourself having a long-term business relationship, and you may find them willing to support your company. Imagine how both you and your customer benefit but not too long.
Start using email marketing now, and save time! Promote you and your company with email marketing, and achieve the potential for success through effective mass communication worldwide. Many of your customers will welcome the news of your business too.
Email Marketing Features
SpeakUp!SM Email Marketing by Constant Contact makes it easy to create professional-looking emails—fast and with no technical expertise. With more than 200 easily customized email templates, a step-by step Email Wizard, and point-and-click interface, you can create high-impact email newsletters and promotions in just minutes. And Email Marketing makes it easy for you to manage your contact email lists and measure results.
Our free 60-day trial allows you plenty of time to get familiar with our full feature set. It's risk free. No credit card required. We simply ask that you keep your mailing list to under 100 contacts during your trial period.
Chapter 4. Use a Blog as Part of Your Niche Marketing Efforts
Executive overview about Blogs
Niche blogging, more than anything else, should be viewed by a marketer as an opportunity to assert their industry-specific authority, build their brand, and gain customer feedback. Direct sales are definitely an desired result of niche blogging but should be viewed as a secondary focus to less tangible benefits such as brand awareness and loyalty.
Niche blogs refer to Internet journals focused entirely on a specific subtopic within a popular subject matter. For example, “collectible cars” is a popular interest category. A blog devoted exclusively to 1960’s Ford Mustangs would be considered a niche blog.
Here’s another example: Party planning advice is a topic with a consistently high degree of interest and online search activity. A niche blogger might choose to serve the interests of the “graduation party” planner by focusing their content specifically on this sub-topic.
This article will focus on development and maintenance of a niche blog as part of a greater Internet Marketing strategy. By the end of the chapter you’ll know how to get started with a niche blog, how to source information to write about, and how to market your blog.
Getting started:
Prior to launching your niche blog there are some important questions to ask yourself. We’ll call this section “Creating your niche blog game-plan.”
What is my clearly defined goal for the blog?
How much time do I have to devote to blogging and marketing my blog?
Do I have an established customer base via other channels or am I starting from scratch?
Am I truly interested in the topic I’ll be writing about?
What is my level of expertise in this subject matter?
Am I in this for the long-haul or looking for immediate payoff?
Will it be possible to invest in growing your blog or do I want to keep costs as low as possible?
And most importantly,
Is there a moderate to high search volume for your subject matter? That is to say: Is there an audience for what I’m writing about?
Some tools that can help you answer these questions, at least the less personal ones, are listed below:
Wikipedia: Consult the Wikipedia pages devoted to the general topic of your blog for ideas on sub-topics on which to focus. Example: The Wikipedia page devoted to Figure Skating also has sub-pages devoted to Ice Dancing, Pairs Skating, and Theater on Ice.
Use this tool to research monthly search volumes for keywords related to your blog.
Answering the above questions will help you to start down the right path to developing a niche blog that meets your definition of success. Without question you will encounter turbulence along the way, as we all do as Internet practitioners, but keeping the overall goal in mind help you focus your efforts.
Choosing a blogging platform:
Now that you’ve created a niche blogging game-plan the next step is to choose the right platform. You’ll do yourself a favor by asking yourself two basic questions:
How much, if anything, do I want to spend? You’ll have a range of options to choose from ranging from free to expensive.
How technologically able are you?This is a crucial factor to consider when choosing a blog platform. If you’ve never had any experience in creating a blog or website before and are not a technologically minded person then there are some blog platforms and set ups that will be much more suited to your needs than if you know a few of the basics, or at least are willing to learn them.
If you’re new to blogging my best advice is to start with a hosted platform. They are often free, easy to set up and manage, and they will automatically index your blog in the search engines. Here are some examples of hosted platforms:
Blogger.com
WordPress.com
TypePad.com
As youbecome more comfortable with blogging you may choose to upgrade to a stand alone blog platform. Until then any of these platforms will help get you started.
Choosing a domain name for your blog:
While the process of acquiring a domain name is simple don’t underestimate the importance of this choice both in terms of keyword relevance and branding.
Your blog domain name needs to be aligned with your niche blogging game-plan. Do you want to create a central online destination or multiple blogs focused on even more specific sub-topics?
Example: RockClimbersBlog.com may be as focused as your blog wants to get. You may also choose to keep several blogs such as: MontanaRockClimbing.com, UtahRockClimbing.com, and ColoradoRockClimbing.com. The later set could perform better in the organic search results for these same keywords.
This handy tool can get you started: www.bustaname.com. Bust a name lets you input keywords related to your blog niche and then presents you with available URL’s that contain those words. This can save you a great deal of time and even present available URL’s you may not have considered.
Of course final step will be to register your domain. Proceed to any domain registrar and consider buying the other top level domains (.org, .info) if you intend to build the brand of your blog.
We’re all set to start blogging!Now we’ll turn our focus to the process of selecting what to generate ideas for blog topics.
How to create content for your blog:
Creating content for your niche blog could possibly be the most time consuming and resource intensive aspect of this endeavor. This is also the most important part of niche blogging. The size and sustainability of your readership as well as the search engine ranking will all depend on the frequency and quality of your blog posts.
That said there are definitely ways to streamline the process and work required on your part to develop content for the site. I’ll divide them into two categories: Creating content yourself and outsourcing the content creation process. While the available time to blog will vary from person to person it is recommended that you post at least three times per week to keep the content fresh and your audience interested.
Develop content yourself:
Comment on news related to your niche. The easiest way to do this is to subscribe to a news aggregator and simply post personal comments and reactions to news events related to your industry.
Comment on photos / video related to your niche. You can find the photos on Flickr.com and the videos on YouTube.com. Simply type in your keyword, locate the video/image that you’d like to post, and add it to your blog along with some comments.
Free article directories. Visit a website like Ezine Articles and do a keyword search for your niche blog topic. Grab the article and publish it on your website.
Share your opinions and experiences. These are the easiest to write as they don’t require research. Pick a topic related to your niche and share your thoughts. These posts help your readership get to know you and builds loyalty with your audience.
Outsourcing the content creation process:
Feature guest bloggers. A guest blogger could be enticed by the lure of publicity they’ll receive, money of course, or the status of being presented as a niche market celebrity.
Collaborative blogging. Work with a number of friends, colleagues, or other industry experts to share the duties of blogging. Each can post once per week and your readers will benefit from a variety of perspectives.
Hire a staff blogger. This is the most costly option but can still be quite reasonable when you pay by the post.
With a content creation strategy developed now it’s time to focus on marketing your blog, networking with other bloggers, and building an audience.
Marketing and networking for your blog:
Let’s take a quick inventory of where you’re at: Niche blogging game-plan developed, check, domain name registered, check, content creation plan established, check. Congratulations, you’ve completed the hardest parts of getting started. Now the fun begins. Let’s build an audience for your niche blog.
Below is a list of ideas to help you build an audience for your niche blog:
Take inventory of other tools in your marketing arsenal. In what ways do you presently interact with your customer base? Catalog, direct mail, invoices, direct sales? Inserts, filler ads, even adding the URL of your niche blog to your email signature are simple, often times free, ways you can increase exposure for your blog with those most likely to be your first readers.
Network with other bloggers in your niche. Established blogs in the same niche have the exact type of readers you’re looking for. Reach out to these bloggers early on, link to them, and let them know you’re interested in forging a relationship with them.
Comment on other blogs in your niche. Try and comment on these blogs every day. Don’t spam the message boards but instead become an active member who makes valuable contributions to the discussion.
Offer links and assistance to other bloggers in your niche. As a gesture of good will offer to link to other higher traffic blogs in your niche. All bloggers are looking for relevant links to build their search engine ranking. Also, if you have something of value offer it to another blogger in exchange for a link back to your website in a post. For example if you have a rare photo offer it to the higher profile blog in exchange for a mention of your blog in the post.
Find other online communities devoted to your niche. Yahoo! And Google Groups are a good place to start. Join groups related to your niche. If there isn’t one, start one. Make valuable contributions to the discussion of these groups and link back to your site when you have something of value to add.
Online P.R. services. Send out an online P.R. release when you’d posted particularly valuable content. Services include PR Web and PR.com. There will be some investment involved but this is a great way to build some immediate traffic and search ranking for your blog.
Final thoughts:
Niche blogging presents a tremendous opportunity to cost-effectively expand your Internet Marketing presence and dominate the discussion related to subject matter. It also levels the playing field between you and other players in your industry by allowing you to easily go into depth on a topic and dominate it.
All indications are that blogging as an interactive format is here to stay. By launching a niche blog, and learning as you go, you’ll be well positioned in the years to come as blogs grow in terms of popularity and audience size.
Once you have the basics in place you need to start generating traffic for your site. In the following Chapters we’re describing basic Search Engine Optimization and other innovative ways to bring visitors to your Online program.
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Chapter 1. Search Engine Success
The Basics Here is a summary what you need to do both on your web site and off it to reach that critical first page of search engine results. This includes:
Keyword and Description tags - Even a good listing on engines doesn't guarantee that visitors will click on your site. By using the Description tag properly you can change that.
Optimizing your images for SEO - Often neglected, the images can increase your rankings for different keywords. Also images have a "purpose", misunderstanding this can harm your site's listing a lot.
What you have to have in your Title tag - Engines give special relevance to Title tag. Your listings could significantly increase if you make use of the Title tag power. You could boost your rankings with a few minutes work.
How to structure your site for success - When you learn this easy step, you will notice Google indexing more deeply your site and also visiting it twice as often as usually.
What are spiders and how they affect your rankings - Spiders are Search Engine's workers. Make them your friends and obtain good indexing and rankings, make them your enemy and your Online Business will die for sure.
Learn how to protect your product download pages from being indexed by the search engines. - These are the ones you really don't want showing up on the first page on Google
What optimal keyword density works best - having a page stuffed with keywords will only harm you. Understanding optimal keyword density principle can get you out of many, many troubles with the engines.
How to quickly find broken links - nothing turns off Google faster than following a link to nowhere. What if I tell you there are free tools available to do this job for you at lightning speed?
Landing pages versus gateway pages - Understanding the difference between a landing page and a gateway page will assure Search Engine's red flag stays down.
Why is cloaking penalized by engines - Cloaking is known as a reason to get your site penalized or even banned. Building your site for visitors can mean Targeted Traffic and Huge Income, otherwise your business might collapse.
How frames impact your rankings - Having problems getting your site indexed? Maybe the answer you find it in your site, if you use frames. Not being indexed by engines is like not existing on the Online Market.
The skinny on using Content Management Systems - Some Content Management Systems are a nightmare for engine's spiders. There are certain rules they must obey, otherwise it's like you pay for nothing.
Using Flash on your site - Using flash is a very risky method, as your site might not get indexed. Think twice before using it, and keep in mind that your site MUST be indexed if you want visitors from search engines.
How the anchor text in your links affects rankings - Understanding how to use anchor text in your links can boost your rankings in no-time.
The importance of links from pages in your site to other pages in your site - There should be a certain relation between all linked pages on your site. If you want to get high listings and stay there you must make use of this technique.
Dynamic pages versus static pages - You have a site and it's live for many months, yet few pages are indexed and spiders visit rarely your site? What kind of pages are you using, dynamic or static pages? You can get good indexing and rankings even with dynamic pages, but only if you know how to build them properly.
Blogs and rss - Fresh content will always make the spiders come more often as well as boosting your rankings.
The pitfalls of javascript links and when you should use them - Javascript links are used by many companies, yet if not used properly you might have big problems with the engines.
Your Battle Plan
But what you have on your web page is only half the battle. What happens off your web site can put you on the first page... or the last page. Here goes:
Powerful link exchange strategies - A successful link exchange campaign can result in high rankings on SERPs. It is well known that back-links are a major part of engine's algorithms.
The impact of strong inbound links - Understanding inbound links functionality will help you increase your site's authority in the eyes of search engines.
How often you need to submit your site - You can KILL your Online Business even before starting if you submit incorrect your site.
What the Google Toolbar tells you about your competition - Make use of Google Toolbar to get a first impression on your competition. Google Toolbar is not just a box which shows a number from 1-10, it shows relevant information on your competition if you know how to use it.
Article directories and how to use them to skyrocket the number of inbound links - Get hundreds of back-links to your site and obtain incredible listings for many keywords. This technique of creating and submitting articles is a very powerful one if used properly.
The relationship between Google and the Open Directory Project (ODP) - A link back from ODP or other major directories has Golden Value to increase the power of your site.
Link Farms and Links-For-All sites - No need to use these. Besides risking to be baned, you'll get nothing. Only relevant links count for search engines, the others represent just spam techniques and are penalized accordingly.
How to recognize an Authority site (Hint: Links from appropriate Authority sites are crucial to your top rankings) - Skyrocket your listings by finding appropriate sites to exchange links with. This is a principle you MUST understand as close to perfection as possible.
Google Sitemaps: The Do's and Don'ts - Boost the indexing speed of your site and make sure you announce the engines whenever you add new content.
The importance of Social Bookmarking - One of the "Future" Seo techniques, is not new, but many times misunderstood or just skipped. Learn how to benefit from Social Bookmarking and increase your site's targeted traffic.
Make use of Press Release and Industry News - Almost never used, these techniques will let the world find out about your site and significantly increase traffic.
What co-citation is and how this "invisible" aspect of other web sites can devastate your Google ranking - You can do nothing illegal, yet loose all your work instantly if "co-citation principle" is not familiar to you.
The major directories that your websites must be in - Boost traffic and listings within a few hours, if you choose the right directories to submit too.
Discover the secret for using forums and discussion groups to explode your link building success - Forums have a huge traffic, benefit from their traffic and increase your site's traffic significantly
Page Rank and why you need to pay close attention to it - Understanding what is PR and how it works will open your eyes and give you a new image of how to benefit from it. PR is not just any number, it's a whole concept.
Step-by-step research process using free tools provided by Google - Solid Action Plan and a Step-by-Step Plan is a MUST if you want to obtain Huge Income and Targeted Traffic. You have to plan always ahead and know exactly what you did and what you still need to do. Optimizing chaotically will only harm your site's results.
How To Get Help?
As outlined above, Searchengine optimization (SEO), is the technique to raise the number of visitors to a Website through an elevated ranking in the search results of a search engine. The higher a Website ranks in the results of a search, greater is the chance of a users’ visit to a Websites.
When a searcher makes a request, Search Engine brood over the sites in its index, evaluating which are most pertinent to the requested information, based on the area of expertise as verified by keywords in the content, and references in the form of links from the substantiated sites.
SEO leads to the optimization of a webpage or a website and facilitates a correctly designed and optimized site to stay for a length of time in the rankings as compared to PPC where the costs and outlay are unending as well as uncertain.
Search engine optimization does not only create traffic but also sustain it. It will direct to a website which is very much organized and a website which contains considerable information.
If it is carried out appropriately, than search engine optimization is an extremely lucrative way of getting more people to know about one's products or to know about a certain issue or event that a website is disseminating. SEO increase the brand visibility, thereby giving your brand a high international profile and of a reasonably low outlay.
Hence, SEO is incredibly vital for websites for the reason that it decides-upon the position of the website in contrast to its challengers. It not only generates traffic from the targeted audience but is also a cost-effective way of optimizing the website.
SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
There are two ways to be able to get noticed by the search engines. One is through pay-per-click-advertisements. Google Adwords system is a good example of it as it has furnished Google with 5 billion dollars in terms of revenue every year. Webmasters can place their bids to be shown when a keyword is looked by a surfer. The highest bidders will get their sites to be in the numero-uno position.
The second means of obtaining the lofty rankings from the search engines is through organic searches. Search engines evaluate websites by means of "spiders." These programs examine the websites and amass information in relation to them and later, they gather all information and pass it on to the search engine. This region is essentially a key ground of the search engine optimization. Than in order to topped the list, it takes-upon a set of methods.
Search engines are considerably the most efficient device for digging-out the information. SEO makes the site accessible to the searchers by identifying the keywords mostly used by the target audience and writing the keywords into the text of the website. It magnetizes the inbound links from the authoritative sites and targets those links to the searchers' interests.
An online environment is turning out to be an increasingly competitive and those companies who carry-out SEO, are definitely going to have a tremendous advantage.
Selecting a Search Engine Optimization provider is an important decision with significant implications. You want to know your SEO provider will provide the best possible optimization and related services available.
Turn your website into an unshakable search engine leader with the only world-standard SEO software.
The power of top Google ranking is huge: make your website show up as #1 for your target keywords, and be ready to pile money.
There's a definite science and a definite art to making websites rank #1, which is SEO, or search engine optimization. When it's done right, your business gets found by thousands of new people daily — and secures you new levels of online profits and success.
Briefly, here's how it works. Most people who search the Web for products or services will go to Google or other search engines and type in their search terms, or keywords. Sites that appear in top results for these keywords are getting the greatest streams of visitors looking exactly for what they offer (that's why these crowds of people are most likely to pay).
Sounds simple? Yeah, knowing exactly what to do makes it easy. And doing that fast makes your website staggeringly cost–effective!
What Is The SEO PowerSuite?
SEO PowerSuite is made up of four software tools in one pack that, when put together, guarantee you leadership in search engines and new streams of visitors. You can check out all SEO tools one by one, and decide to invest in just one or two out of four for the good start. Or get the full SEO PowerSuite and take advantage of the complete website promotion software set.
You've gotta rush. Users who've been among the first wave to start using this SEO software are now making serious profits. Do you want to join this group of folks using the software that is de facto the standard of SEO? If you think making money online is something you, too, need to get into, then don't miss out on this chance to start right now.
Chapter 2. Generating Search Engine Traffic with Videos!
Traffic Geyser, a leader in the world of video syndication services will help get you Search Engine Rankings!
The goal with Traffic Geyser is to leverage the power of video to generate large amounts of traffic to your website. There are plenty of video syndication services (some that are free), but Traffic Geyser is unique in its ability to generate backlinks and buzz in a dynamic way using social bookmarketing, social networks, article site, and blogs. One single video can provide multiple page 1 listings on Google search engine results pages in less than 1 hour (I have done this many times myself!). The interface is fairly easy to use.
You can set up video syndication templates to speed up your efforts, too. There are plenty of other built in tools for creating video squeeze pages and even opt-ins. You can also also use the Traffic Geyser RSS generator to create video RSS feeds for podcasts (even for iTunes). They will host and pay for the video bandwidth of these feeds, included in your subscription fee.
Of course, you need videos for this to work! Making videos with a camcorder, a FLIP or a tool like Camtasia is quite simple (and highly recommended!). Still, there are tools within Traffic Geyser to help you create video content (via the telephone or using a simple powerpoint presentation). The effectiveness of Traffic Geyser has been argued over the past year, but the results are still quite impressive, especially for long tail keywords. They are always adapting their submission process to coincide with new Google algorithms and trends in internet marketing traffic.
Traffic Geyser is a monthly service fee, but try it,.....you should see results well within a month.
If done correctly, Article Marketing can be one of the most powerful tools for marketing your site online. The practice has been adopted and tested by tens of thousands of Web Professionals, Internet Marketers, and Writers. There's no question it works. We just make it work... better.
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Chapter 1. Buy Pre-written Articles as a Package
99centarticles.com has a full service team of article writers and advanced submitters that focus 100% of their efforts on article writing and marketing.
Our writers and marketers have experience in a variety of niches and industries. We understand how critical proper article writing and marketing can be to the success of a website.
Did you know on average it takes the average person 1 hour to write an article that's 500 words, rich in content, and has a eye grabbing title? Why waste your time on writing articles when you can leave it to the professionals at 99centarticles to do the best job possible. We have a systematic approach to researching and writing articles that is unmatched by the average person.
Our employees are extremely intelligent and understand what it takes to turn a reader into a buyer. We actively work to put your readers in a buying mood in every article we write.
Distinct Services We Offer
We offer four distinct services at 99centarticles.com that are used often by many top marketing professionals online. We are experts in the art of writing converting and profitable articles as well as submitting articles that result in the highest CTR (click-through-rate) possible. Pick the service that suits your businesses article marketing needs best.
Quality Article Writing - We fully research every new niche and write a well structured, grammatically correct, and converting article that will keep your reader's attention to want to learn more about what your website offers.
Quality Article Writing + Our Signature Submission Method - Want a completely hands off approach to article writing and marketing? Take advantage of this service and our article writing and submission professionals will take care of everything for you. After payment you will be sent to the form shown in this screenshot to instruct us on whether or not you'd like us to use our article submission accounts or to use yours and fully submit your articles. We offer custom resource box writing free of charge or can use a pre-written resource box. The best part of this service is you can be confident that your articles will be submitted by article submission professionals who understand details such as converting resource box writing, anchor text, and properly formatting articles into an article submission form. Many of our clients choose this service for the simple fact that it saves them time and brings them more sales. Did you know it takes on average 30 minutes to submit one article to 8 distribution services or directories? Save time and make more sales by using this service!
Our signature submission service currently submits to what we believe to be the top article directory and submission services:
Press Release Writing - We will fully research your niche, product, topic, company, or announcement to create a well structured, grammatically correct, and converting press release that will attract attention, gain top PR rankings, and turn readers into visitors to your website. Learn more about this service and see our pricing options by clicking here.
Press Release Writing + Our Signature Submission Method - Want a completely hands off approach to press release exposure? Take advantage of this service and our press release writing and submission professionals will take care of everything for you. We will manually submit your press release to the best 150 high ranking PR sites. After payment you will be sent to a form where we will ask you a series of questions about your press release writing and submission instructions. Many of our clients choose this service for the simple fact that it saves them time and brings in new traffic, increased SEO rankings, and an increase in overall exposure. Currently over 90% of all press releases being submitted are being picked up by Google News.Our submission method for press releases is extremely good, unique, and has been said by many clients to be better than an expensive method such as PRWeb who charges $80 for their lowest service and upwards of $360 for their higher end service. Learn more about this service and see our pricing options by clicking here.
Custom eBook Creation - We've authored a number of eBooks and reports that have turned into best sellers for top internet marketers and have been top Clickbank earners. We understand what it takes to provide an eBook that provides quality content that will leave your customer feeling like they are reading content of value. All eBooks and reports will come complete with a title page, table of contents, and your choice of pictures. All work will be 100% copyrighted to client upon completion.
Blog Postings - Do you have a blog that you need content for? We offer blog postings that will keep your readers interested and coming back for more. Simply click on the inquiry button and fill in the details for your custom order job. Let us know information such as your blog URL, niche, and frequency of blog posting updates you'll need.
Custom Sales Page - We are experts at creating sales pages that are compelling, interesting, and converts visitors into buyers! First, we will start off by thoroughly researching your niche and competition. Next, we will distinguish what makes your offer different from your competition (unique selling point). Finally, we will use all of our tools to create custom graphics, custom sales pitch, and a custom audio (male or female professional voiceover) to create an offer that WILL convert. To see examples of sales page we've created, click here. To setup a custom sales page job, please contact us through our inquiry section of our website with your project's details.
Crank Out High Quality Articles In Under 5 Minutes With This Article Writing Power Tool!
If you prefer to write your own articles, rather than spending the money to buy them, article writing has just got a lot easier for me. The templates in Instant Article Factory have made it possible to whip up a high quality article in just minutes.
Normally, writing a niche article takes at least half an hour or more of pain. Instant Article Factory is a breeze to use and an article marketers dream.
Chapter 3. Article Spinning For Search Engine Ranking Success!
If You're Writing All Your Articles By Hand OR Paying Someone Else To Then Please Stop...You're Wasting Time & Money!
Yes, writing a new article everytime you need fresh content is a major time waster and paying someone else to, is like flushing money down the toilet. There is an easier way to get much more leverage out of your articles, which can save you a huge amount of time and money.
I'm talking about writing one article and turning it into 100's of totally unique versions like magic!
If you're stuck in a day job and desperately want to break free and enjoy the internet lifestyle, then writing all your own content by hand is your biggest enemy, believe me I tried!
I liken it to driving your car with the hand brake on, and wondering why you can't gain any momentum...that's what writing your articles by hand, the slow old school way, is like to your business!
On the other hand, not having to tediously write huge amounts of articles yourself or pay a writer for them, is the secret to freeing up your time and the turbo boost your online business desperately needs, if you want to make real income online.
In fact if you're not getting where you want with your SEO or wondering why your articles don't seem to be making you enough money, then what I'm about to show you could fix all your problems.
Just down below I'm about to explain in detail the major breakthrough I had, and how I've solved my own article writing and free traffic generation problems forever, and yours too...
...So that you can enjoy flooding your sites with waves of traffic and sales, day in day out, while everyone else battles it out the hard way...the secret is working smarter and not harder!
Who Else Wants to Produce 100's of Unique Articles in an Instant?
You're About to Save Hundreds of Dollars In Writers Fees
While Skyrocketing Your Search Engine Rankings & Sales!
Your Articles Easily To Live Talking Videos In 15 Minutes
Article Video Robot, the special software will let you transform your articles into videos with voiceover, music, animations, graphics and distribute it to fifteen top video sharing websites in 15 minutes flat, without a camcorder, video editing software as well as your voice recording. This Article Video Robot review would make clear all the relevant points about this wonderful software program.
Article Video Robot software is simply an online software that will be able to convert your articles to videos in 15 minutes with voiceovers, music, animations along with graphics without the need for a camcorder or video editing software program.
PRWeb – The Online Visibility Company Share Your News with the World
The Internet has changed the way the world gets its news. Traditionally, it was necessary to communicate through the media to reach your target audience. With the increasing number of people searching for news online, the rules have changed.
For ten years, PRWeb has been providing customers, from small business owners to Fortune-500 companies, with the ability to communicate direct-to-consumer by placing their news in front of the people who matter - better than anyone in the industry for a fraction of the cost. Here are some of the key benefits to using PRWeb:
1.Get your news on leading Internet news sites
PRWeb news gets picked up in leading online news sites like Yahoo! News, Google News, Ask.com, and Topix. Additionally, your press release is distributed through a host of other online news sites including our own PRWeb.com and eMediaWire.com, which deliver over 50 million page views each month.
2.Push your news to the top of search engines
PRWeb press releases are optimized for premium placement in organic search results. Our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Wizard allows customers to focus on high-frequency keywords that will ensure their news will achieve peak visibility.
3. Create viral buzz online
Social media has the potential to attract and hold the attention of a vast demographic of people who have grown numb to more traditional forms of marketing and advertising. PRWeb releases contain tools such as social media bookmark links that help create buzz.
4. Increase your Web site traffic
Inbound links are one of the most important factors in determining the position of your Web site in search engines and driving traffic to your site. The embedded hyperlinks within your PRWeb press release contribute to the overall visibility of your Web site and drive increased traffic to your site.
5. Send your news to top Journalists
In addition to the thousands of journalists who visit PRWeb’s affiliate network and subscribe to PRWeb e-mail alerts, PRWeb’s Media Visibility release will distribute your news through an Associated Press feed directly to the top circulation US newspapers.
Using PRWeb's Feature Video allowed us to provide our customers with a level of experience beyond what has been possible in the past. Instead of simply telling them what has been happening, we were able to actually show them and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
6. Bring your news to life
PRWeb news releases offer you the ability to embed an image into your press release; attach additional files such as PDFs and additional images; embed your Web page into your press release through an iFrame; and even embed video into your release. PRWeb offers Podcast production capabilities that allow for easy recording and uploading of podcast's to further enhance your news. Read more about PRWeb Multimedia News Releases.
7. Syndicate your content to reach Millions
Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is changing the way news is distributed online. PRWeb was the first online news distribution service to begin using RSS and currently delivers your news through 20,000 RSS feeds that get pulled over 10 million times every month. Furthermore, all PRWeb customers can create their own custom feeds free-of-charge.
8.Measure your visibility
PRWeb press releases come with a comprehensive array of analytics that allow you to track the visibility of your press release over time; benchmark the visibility of your press release by industry category; analyze the SEO performance of your release; and a host of others.
You have built your site and started to generate traffic. Now you need to sell folks Online with the help of an Online Sales force.
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Chapter 1. Affiliate Marketing Secrets
What is an Affiliate Program?
An affiliate program - also known as an Associate Program - is an increasingly popular form of online marketing, in which a website that refers business to your website is paid a small commission. Referrals are steered to your site via a specially coded banner or link, which appears on sites that have agreed to send business your way.
The marketing concept has captured the imagination of marketers, because it represents an unrivaled opportunity to base advertising on a pay-per-performance model. Instead of paying advertisers and "hoping for the best," merchants using affiliate marketing programs pay only when advertising results in an actual sale.
In a phrase, affiliate marketing is single-handedly redefining the way advertising is done.
As you might imagine, many merchants see this new paradigm as a license to print money, and have devoted a great deal of effort to sign-up as many affiliates as possible. Indeed, in many cases, merchants with successful affiliate marketing programs boast hundreds - if not thousands - of affiliate websites, which continually feed them potential customers on a daily basis.
Moreover, the concept has also given rise to a new brand of entrepreneur: the power affiliate. Such referral websites have become extremely adept at attracting high quality traffic representing true sales potential to their own sites, and then spiriting that traffic along to the appropriate merchants. In many cases, these power affiliates have created entire careers and businesses for themselves, simply with their ability to deliver high quality traffic on a regular basis.
With the AffPlanet service, you'll be able to offer a full-featured affiliate marketing program on your own site. Hosted on our servers as a turn-key solution, the service does not require any software for you to download, or any installation details to fret over.
Instead, AffPlanet will handle all the program management details for you, including:
Processing of new affiliate sign-ups
Tracking of all traffic and sales referred to your website
Calculating commission totals for every affiliate
Automating the payment of commissions to all your affiliates
Plus, the AffPlanet service also offers you the flexibility to pick-and-choose among a number of commission structures. You'll find that flexibility extremely valuable, since the "right" commission structure or structures for your business is a key criteria that power affiliates use in deciding whether or not to join an affiliate program.
No matter what commission structure you choose, you'll have the peace of mind knowing you can rely on AffPlanet to correctly sort out who gets paid, and how much they get paid. And you'll know that AffPlanet will be doing this for you flawlessly, each and every day.
The service achieves this reliability by placing a snippet of individualized code in every banner and link that is posted by an affiliate. Essentially, any time a visitor clicks on this coded banner or link - whether it's on an affiliate's website, in an e-newsletter, or included in some other form of email - AffPlanet automatically identifies the source of the click, and attributes it to the appropriate affiliate.
Even if the referred visitor makes a purchase days or months later, AffPlanet "remembers" click's source, and rewards the appropriate affiliate.
Obviously, you'll want to carefully evaluate the full spectrum of AffPlanet commission structures - also known as campaigns -- before choosing the structures that will work best for your business. Here's detail on each:
Campaign Types Payouts (commission types) are together with the quality of your products/services and trustability of your website and company the most most significant factor evaluated by affiliates when choosing whether to join your affiliate program and promote your products. Therefore, it is important to consider which types of payouts you will be offering when developing an affiliate program.
There are basically three payment structures to consider for an affiliate program – Pay Per Click, Pay Per Lead and Pay Per Sale. Except these three there are also additional types like CPM (payment for thousand banner impressions displayed), payment Per Referral of new affiliates.
CPM (cost per thousand impressions) This is a reward that pays affiliates a commission for every one thousand banner/link impressions they generate. Under this structure, affiliates only have to refer traffic - they don't have to generate sales from that traffic. Some merchants offer this commission structure in combination with other types of commissions to ensure their affiliates remain enthused about their affiliate program.
Per Click Also known as Pay Per Click (PPC) or Cost Per Click (CPC), this is a commission affiliates receive every time a visitor clicks through to your website via a banner or link. Per Click fees are usually quite low, since the clicks by potential customers do not need to result in a sale. Depending on an affiliate's click-through-ratio (CTR), commissions generally range between $0.02 and $1.00.
An added bonus: AffPlanet enables you to create your own, custom Pay Per Click campaigns, as well as Pay Per Click campaigns similar to those used by Google AdWords and Overture (Yahoo Marketing).
Per Sale Also called revenue sharing, a Per Sale commission offers affiliates a fixed percentage of a sale when a referred visitor actually makes a purchase. Such commissions, which are tracked by AffPlanet via cookies, IP tracking, or PHP sessions, generally range between 5%-60%.
Per Lead Similar to a Per Sale commission, Per Lead commissions reward affiliates for leads that feature detailed contact information from potential customers. Per Lead is often used to reward affiliates for referring new affiliate website to an affiliate program. Other uses include rewards for sign-ups for services offered at a website, and rewards for sign-ups for more information on big ticket sales.
In practice, Per Lead rewards are generally linked to forms, which pop up on an affiliate's website when a potential customer clicks on an advertisement there. Each time a completed form is sent to you, the referring affiliate site is paid a fee. This commission is usually a flat rate, although some businesses do offer a percentage of a lead's value.
Recurring Support Websites offering recurring subscriptions and/or services often offer a Recurring Support commission to their affiliates. For example: if your website sells a service with a recurring charge, such as a subscription for content or a monthly web hosting plan, your affiliate websites are given a recurring commission each time a customer makes a recurring payment under this scenario.
Sign-Up Bonus Merchants use this commission to aggressively promote the spread of their affiliate program across the Web. Under this plan, existing affiliates who are successful in signing up other websites for your affiliate program are given a small fee.
Sign-Up Referral Commission Some merchants looking to add as many affiliates as possible often use a tiered commission structure as a reward to existing affiliates. With this design, an existing affiliate gets a small percentage of every sale that is generated by a new affiliate that he or she signed up for your program.
Many merchants prefer the tiered system, since they are not required to pay for sign-ups of new affiliates until those newcomers actually begin generating sales.
Tiered systems can become quite complex, and some merchants offer a number of reward tiers to encourage even more new affiliate sign-ups. Under such plans, an existing (parent) affiliate gets a percentage of sales from any new affiliate (child) he or she signs up - plus a percentage of sales from any affiliates that affiliate (child's child) signs up, and so on. In rare cases, such programs feature as many as ten tiers.
Tracking In addition to offering a wide spectrum of commission structures, AffPlanet also offers merchants robust tracking capabilities. Using the service, you' ll instantly be able to see how many visitors your affiliate program is generating on a daily basis. More importantly, you'll also be able to quickly identify which of your affiliates are referring the clicks that are actually generating sales.
With such insights, you'll be able to quickly identify your top performing affiliate websites, and reward and nurture those sites accordingly.
All told, the AffPlanet service offers you a way to "hit the ground running" with an extremely powerful affiliate marketing program at a very aggressive price.
Automate Your Prospecting Phone Calls! Automate Your eMail Campaigns! Automate Your Lead generation for Phone and eMail Campaigns!
Voice broadcasting and bulk eMail allow you to instantly send hundreds, or even thousands of interactive phone calls and eMails with ease while managing the entire process right from the Web.
Send out 8,000 eMails a Day! That's 240,000 eMails per month! We help you generate tons and tons and tons of leads very quickly.
Voice broadcasting and voice mail broadcast allows you to instantly send hundreds or even thousands of interactive phone calls with ease while managing the entire process right from the Web. We provide acclaimed Customer Support and Live and Pre-Recorded instructional webinars and conference calls six days a week to assist new users. Free Pre-Recorded Messages are already loaded with proven scripts. It also features a Press 1 transfer technology.
Send out 8,000 eMails a Day! That's 240,000 eMails per month! Sending out bulk email has always been an art. There are so many restrictions. Not to mention the word "Spam." But email marketing has always been a powerful tool. Now, with our Bulk Email Sender Service, we have combined the absolute BEST email deliverability rate with a responsible, professional approach to your email campaigns.
Since leads are as important to your long term success as is oxygen is to your long term survival we acquire 150,000 new leads each month!
And we can show you how to do the same thing.You can use these leads to build ANY program, in any market, including ...... Business Development, Multi Level or Network Marketing, Direct Sales, Information Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, and dozens of other niche and super-niche markets.
We can also generate tons of targeted leads very quickly by the exact market you're trying to reach.
You Can Do The Exact Same Thing By The End Of TODAY. We Absolutely, Positively Guarantee It!!! We're not talking just a lead or two a day. We're easily and effortlessly talking into the thousands of PRE-QUALIFIED, DECISION MAKERS per day, every single day.
One of the things the Internet lets you do is broaden your exposure with the help of inexpensive, innovative outreach techniques. Again, the programs are usually modest in price and easy to use.
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Chapter 1. eConferencing
Video & Web Conferencing Can Benefit Your Business
Our new Audio Video Conferencing program offers an ‘all-in-one’ suite of Online communication services including two-way video exchange, desktop sharing, video replaying capability, slide shows and access for an unlimited number of attendees.
This platform allows for both free and paid attendee participation. An affiliate reseller opportunity is also available for those looking for a business opportunity. The program will be used for our internal presentations, promotion and Online trade shows, and we will provide third party, for-pay services. It will also be marketed to personal prospects as well as with Online campaigns using the tools of Sales Automation Systems.
The age of Social Marketing is upon us and with it will come profound change.
Facebook
Facebook is currently the most traffic oriented site after Google as per Alexa Ranking. Facebook do have more than 500 million users out of which more than 50% are active users who logged in at least once a day. Therefore, Facebook is an ideal platform for advertising and promotion of your business. The experts at Facebook understand that and develop a marketing strategy similar to Google AdWords. One can see Facebook ads in the upper right corner of a Facebook fan page; they are targeted ads develop after lot of efforts and can give lot of exposure to your business and also Facebook Marketing is cheaper than Google AdWords.
Effective ways to use Facebook for generating Business
1) Creating attractive and professional business profile is the key to get potential visitors to your fan page. Your fan page should clearly display your business product just like a website and it should be designed in a way that it gives a professional look and attract more and more fans. Creating profile, you must display all the necessary information regarding your business in a precise manner such as your business information and products, your direct contact number and email and also a link of your site.
2) Another marketing strategy should be adding more and more fans to your fans page in order to grow your social networks. Your friends, family members, colleagues, should follow you as your fans. Also, you should send invitation to others related to your business. Whatever you post at Facebook whether launching new business products or anything else, your fans will automatically come to know about it. It is therefore, more fans mean more money.
3) One should also update the Facebook profile regularly and let his/her fans know about the daily achievements of the business as well as about your services and products.
4) Also, make your profile interesting using the Facebook applications such as flash games, videos, music so that the visitors regularly engage in your activities.
5) Optimize your Facebook profile page to ensure that it is well indexed by major search engines. More you optimize, more the chances of coming new business query every day.
These are very effective ways of using Facebook marketing strategy by which you can promote your business products and services. These strategies can prove to be vital, if use appropriately.
Chapter 3. Self-Publishing Your Way to Internet Success
The eBook Opportunity
With the rising popularity of the Internet, there is absolutely no better time than right now to create your own ebook. Not only is there no better time, but it has never been any easier for anyone to develop and sell their own products.
Information is the number one best-selling product on the Internet. There are literally thousands of Internet entrepreneurs quietly making a fortune simply by selling information.
Not only do ebooks make the ‘perfect’ online product, they also make the perfect online lead generator. Simply by writing a short, informative ebook that will be of interest to your target market, and giving it away, you can create a list of leads completely effortlessly. The key to collecting your leads is to have your visitors fill out a short form prior to receiving your ebook. Once you set this up, it will run completely on autopilot.
Don’t have time to write an ebook? No problem. Simply contact professionals in your target market, such as vendors, consultants, your industry association, etc., and ask them to contribute an article to your ebook project. Most will be happy to contribute, as this will also provide them with free promotion, in the form of a ‘resource box,’ at the bottom of their article. This resource box should contain a few lines of text about the author and a link to their web site. Collect 20 – 30 articles and place them within an ebook. That’s all there is to it.
The Story
Ebooks or Electronic books are self-contained "executable" files of HTML. This HTML may be a web site you've created or HTML you've specifically prepared to be compiled into a downloadable .exe file for distribution. When downloaded, this file will self install on your clients desktop.
Ebooks are completely interactive with the Internet and can contain live links, graphics, forms, JavaScript, embedded video, can be protected via password/user id, search capabilities and more. This self-contained executable file can be distributed in a number of ways including; CD, floppy disk, download, etc.
With the rising popularity of the Internet, there is absolutely no better time than right now to develop your own informational product. Not only is there no better time, but it has never been any easier for anyone to develop and sell their own products.
Information is the number one best-selling product on the Internet. There are literally hundreds of Internet entrepreneurs quietly making a fortune simply by selling information.
Why are ebooks so popular? Internet users have a sincere desire to learn and want the information right now. They don't want to wait a week or two for the information to arrive. Ebooks provide your potential customers with instant gratification. As soon as they pay for their order, they can have immediate access to the information they desire.
The first step in creating your product is to decide upon a subject. Select a subject in which you have a great deal of knowledge. The knowledge you have within your own mind is extremely valuable. Simply write about what you know and teach others how to do the same thing. It's that simple.
Creating an Outline
The easiest way to begin writing is to create an outline. Begin your outline with an opening statement or Introduction followed by a Foreword. Your opening statement might tell your readers a little bit about what they are going to learn or may be a statement in regard to the subject matter. Your Foreword might include information in regard to who you are, your credentials, copyrights, and what you want your readers to learn.
Your next step will be to either create a Table of Contents or go directly into creating your Chapter Titles. If you're writing your information in the form of a how-to manual, you may want to use a Table of Contents. This will enable your readers to quickly locate important information. If you're writing your information in the form of a book, then you can leave out the Table of Contents and simply use Chapter Titles.
Whether you're using a Table of Contents or Chapter Titles, write your titles so that when they're read, they tell the story. In other words, when you scan your titles they will give you a step by step description of what your information is all about.
Finally, at the bottom of your outline, wrap everything up by including a closing statement.
Once you've completed your outline you can begin filling in the spaces. Write your text in small blocks and leave a space between your paragraphs. Select a font that is easy to read and use black text on a white background. In addition, write in an everyday language that everyone can understand.
Designing Your Interface
Your ebook interface MUST look professional. No matter how good your information is, if your ebook doesn't look professional, its perceived value will be low. Ultimately costing you sales.
Design your ebook to be easily navigated and make sure you include navigational graphics within each page.
In addition, your ebook should include all of the following:
• Introduction
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Copyrights
• About page
Wordclay, www.wordclay.com, is a user-friendly, innovative, do-it-yourself publishing site; authors can make a book and remain in control. Whether you've got the next great American novel, poetry or history book, you can self-publish books for free.
There are no up-front costs or minimum purchases required. Books are competitively priced and printed to order using print on demand (POD) technology.
If writers want to go beyond the free publishing service, professional publishing services are available to help market their self-published book. Here are a few DIY self-publishing services offered: editorial services, including content editing; cover design and illustrations; ISBN and retail channel distribution; and press release writing and distribution to the media.
To get started with Wordclay, simply take a moment to register at Wordclay and you'll be on your way to self-publishing.
AudioAcrobat® is one of the most feature rich audio solutions for Websites and email available today! And, with video, you can make your Websites come alive! Below, you can see an extraordinary features list, and we encourage you to compare it to any other service. If you can find a feature that we do not offer, tell us about it. If we add it, we will give you a month for free!
Super Support!
The AudioAcrobat® Team is responsive and friendly.
The Team is ready to assist and train you.
You will get plenty of ideas to make your experience worthwhile
Free Interactive Training Classes, regularly scheduled! Wow!
Effortlessly Record Audios - Anytime, Anywhere
Dial-up by telephone.
Use the built-in AudioAcrobat® Recorder.
Upload your own audios.
You can manage your audio recordings anytime of the day or night, 365 days a year.
Easily Manage your Audio Recordings
You can call by phone to the AudioCenter to manage your audio recordings 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are no additional surcharges no matter how long you stay on. Long distance charges may apply for your phone.
You can also access the AudioCenter anytime, anywhere via the Internet with your own membership account.
Listen and Re-record your Audios by Phone
AudioAcrobat® lets you listen to and re-record your audios using the phone.
You can dial from anywhere by phone and hear your currently active messages and re-record them if you like.
Changes to your audios will be instantly active anywhere you have them published.
AudioAcrobat® Recorder Intelligent Web Access Audio Recording
Unique, built-in, record-over-the-web technology will allow you to record high quality audios right from your computer anywhere you have access to the World Wide Web.
All you need is a Flash-enabled browser and a microphone attached to your PC and you are in business!
The AudioAcrobat® team is always available to direct you to sources where you can purchase inexpensive and effective microphones.
Create and Customize your own Audio and Video Player
Play, Pause and Stop functions are standard!
Stylize your Audio Player with different shapes, colors and features!
Create your Video Player with different colors and features!
Place Audio and Video Players on any Web page!
Each Audio and Video Player is created automatically with powerful Flash technology which is used by an incredible 98% of all Internet users! Flash is built into virtually all browsers!
Have your audios and videos automatically start playing on your Web page when a member comes to your Website. It is your choice.
Broadcast Video Productions
Create videos at your desktop with your Web Cam.
AudioAcrobat Video players are wide-screen so you can display productions such as film trailers, training sessions and home movies.
Personal audios of any length up to 60 minutes (1 hour)
Stream audio recordings or use the AudioAcrobat® playlist feature to link audios together.
Your recordings can be up to ONE HOUR in length.
Record conference calls up to 120 minutes (2 hours)
Use three-way calling.
Use your favorite conference call or bridge line service.
Record your interviews, teleclasses, teleseminars and conference calls
Unlimited Web Page Usage
Place as many audio and video players on as many Websites and pages as you like.
Simply cut and paste.
Unlimited Audio and Video Recordings per Account
You may have an unlimited number of audio and video recordings in your membership account at any time.
No need to worry about running out of space, just keep recording them.
Unlimited Playlist Recordings
AudioAcrobat® members can use the Playlist Builder to create and stream audio recordings up to ONE HOUR in length.
String together audio recordings.
Create as many Playlists as you like.
This is an excellent way to integrate testimonials, advertisements, commercials or other audio samples into your presentations.
Unlimited Testimonial Lines
AudioAcrobat® gives you unlimited testimonial lines for your customers to use to leave testimonials about your products and/or services! A very powerful tool!
Your customers simply dial a number with a unique extension number to record their comments, opinions and thoughts.
You can have different testimonial lines per product or service -- as many as you need!
Instant and Automatic Audio and Video Changes
You can listen to existing audios or re-record them using the AudioCenter.
Replace video files with new uploads.
Make changes to your audios as often as you like!
Any changes to existing audio or video recordings will be automatically and instantly applied to wherever you have your audio recordings published.
You will never have to manually update a Web page once you place an Audio or Video Player on it!
Upload Audio MP3 or WAV Files...Upload Video Files
Upload your MP3 or WAV format audio files to AudioAcrobat™ and it will automatically prepare them for streaming.
Use your favorite audio editing software to create professional audio mixes just upload and let AudioAcrobat™ do the hard work.
There are also plenty of resources to help you create the perfect audio recording mix such as royalty-free sounds, music and talent, if you need it.
Upload Video files in standard formats such as AVI, FLV, MOD, MOV, MPEG, QuickTime, WMV, VOB and 3GP.
Powerful Statistics
AudioAcrobat® gives you real-time statistics on the usage of your audios and videos.
You can click on any audio to see how many times it has been played, Total Playtime, the number of times it has been Played to Completion, the Average Playtime, how many times it was downloaded and the bandwidth used.
Amazing AudioNotes™ for your Email Correspondence
Send out customized audio information to your contacts. Add your own graphics, logos and photos!
You can choose from dozens of templates with different themes for all kinds of occasions.
Also, place your audio in as many emails to your customers as you like.
AudioAcrobat® will even generate the HTML and text links for you to help make it easy.
Per-Audio and Video Recording History
Each audio in the AudioAcrobat® system maintains an archive or complete version history of your saved audio recordings, which you can refer to at any time.
You can even revert to saved versions at any time and never lose any of your work.
Best Affiliate Program
AudioAcrobat® members are rewarded for referring new members.
An incredible Affiliate Program pays you 33% in commissions each and every month,for referrals that become subscribers.
The Affiliate Program comes with powerful button and banner themes for your Website marketing.
A Super Value for a Sensational Service
AudioAcrobat® members on the Basic Plan can stream with metered bandwidth of FIVE FULL GIGABYTES (5,000 MB equals 5 GB) of audio and video content per month. Additional bandwidth is just $1.00 per GIGABYTE, and will be automatically added as needed to ensure your audios keep playing for your customers and prospects.
AudioAcrobat® is available starting out at $19.95 (US) a month!
Others only offer you technology. We run successful Online Expos! Every step of the way! We bring your message to those who may never attend a "physical location" conference or tradeshow.
Through an interactive Online venue we enable companies, government agencies, and organizations of all sizes to hold virtual conferences, tradeshows or meetings.
We provide the technology, manage set-up, sales and marketing, and assistance during and after the show.
The Best Way To Reach Your Audience!
You get all of this.....
without leaving your office, without travel expenses, right from behind your own computer!
2010/2011 EXPOS
Careers
'Salute Our Heroes' Online Job Fair--Coming Soon!
In partnership with leading organizations and government agencies, this Online Job Fair for Veterans will provide former servicemen and women and spouses of active-duty military personnel with unprecedented job opportunities and career seminars.
This Online Event is to educate Writers, Editors, & Internet Publishers how to publish their work and market it and to provide networking with experts from behind their own computer. Especially for those who want to publish, but don't know how to do it.
Online Beach and Swimsuit Expo -- Coming Soon!
This is the industry's largest Online event to cover design trends, manufacturing and eMarketing for the swimwear industry. It is attended by senior executives in the swimwear industry, speakers, booth exhibitors in addition to the modeling industry, and the public alike.
2007/2008/2009 EXPOS -- Completed
eComExpo -- October 9 - 11, 2007
Repeating its successof the previous events! eComXpo is the virtual tradeshow for search, affiliate and interactive marketers. Since the show is 100% online and virtual, you can attend from your home or office computer. All the benefits of a top tradeshow, without the hassle or expense of traditional tradeshows. More than 7,000 advertisers, publishers, search marketers, merchants, affiliates, networks, agencies and vendors will attend, making this the world's largest tradeshow for ecommerce marketers.
Passion Plays, October 23 - 24, 2007
An Online Event to educate group leaders, church officials, educators, religion teachers, art and drama experts, bank travel club managers, their members and clients, and those interested in Passion Plays and to provide networking with industry experts and vendors from behind their own PC.
eComExpo -- July 9 - 10, 2008
Repeating its successof the previous events! eComXpo is the virtual tradeshow for search, affiliate and interactive marketers. Since the show is 100% online and virtual, you can attend from your home or office computer. All the benefits of a top tradeshow, without the hassle or expense of traditional tradeshows. More than 8,000 advertisers, publishers, search marketers, merchants, affiliates, networks, agencies and vendors will attend, making this the world's largest tradeshow for ecommerce marketers.
2006 EXPOS
eCommerce
eComExpo, October 24 - 26 eComXpo is the virtual tradeshow for search, affiliate and interactive marketers.Since the show is 100% online and virtual, you can attend from your home or office computer. All the benefits of a top tradeshow, without the hassle or expense of traditional tradeshows. More than 7,000 advertisers, publishers, search marketers, merchants, affiliates, networks, agencies and vendors will attend, making this the world's largest tradeshow for ecommerce marketers.
Business Development
Online Premium Incentives Expo, November 15 - 17
This free Expo will teach you how to use Premium Incentive Marketing and to set up your own Premium Incentive business. We also provide a blueprint for success. We will significantly shorten your timetable and help you avoid costly missteps.
“Apply your business strategy well.It is your decision of whether or not you will succeed in the real world.”
Use Photo or Talent Contests to Generate Traffic for your site!
Winner receives a $500 Jewelry Gift Certificate from our Online Jewelry Store. 4 Runners up each receive a $250 Certificate from our Online Gift Store.
With the recent explosion and expansion of online video, the biggest question is how to best drive viewer action and monetize this new medium. Online video has a lot of promise. It offers what was once limited to expensive TV advertising: reach and emotional engagement with potential customers. And, it’s relatively cheap and provides immediate, measurable feedback.
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Chapter 1. Create Your Videos In 2 Minutes!
Create Videos that bring traffic!
Easiest way to instantly create hot marketing videos for your products. Just answer a few simple questions about your product,
based on which we'll create a killer sales video for you! We'll even distribute your video to 14+ video sharing sites like YouTube™ to get you lots of targeted traffic!
Here is how it works.. To create a new video just go to www.stingervideos.com and sign up. Don't worry, it's a 14 day free trial. No credit card needed. Once you're logged in start the Stinger Videos' video maker tool and answer a few simple questions about your product.
Now, based on your answers, our software will automatically write a script to promote your product and then create a killer marketing video with stunning 3D animation and sound effects (with hollywood movie trailer like look and feel).....it barely takes about 2 minutes to create your video! You really have to try this.
Also, this is not a template video, but rather your whole video is created on the fly based on your answers. This is also the reason why no two stingervideos ever look alike!
If you know the power of video marketing, I promise you that you will absolutely love Stingervideos.com.. because there is nothing like it in the market right now!
Chapter 2. Create Professional Videos From Your Site!
Build killer videos from your site or application
Animoto automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, video clips and music. Fast, free and shockingly easy.
The Animoto web application automatically generates professionally produced videos using their own patent-pending technology and high-end motion design. Each video is a fully customized orchestration of user-selected images and music. Produced on a widescreen format, Animoto videos have the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer.
The heart of Animoto is its newly developed Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology that thinks like an actual director and editor. It analyzes and combines user-selected images, video clips and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television & film.
Animoto enables websites and applications to easily send images, music and video clips into the award-winning Animoto video creation system. In minutes, you can be making videos with content that you provide.
Engage
Put your existing images and music to work for your audience. Animoto is easy, quick and fun.
Connect
Build brand loyalty and recognition interactively. Animoto is perfect for contests and promotions that bring your customers closer to you.
DVTpromotions Delivers Interested Prospects for Your Company in a Results Driven Process
DVTpromotions delivers to you valid consumers in the form of customers and clients. What sets these prospects apart is that they arrive to you already interested in what you have and seeking more information from you.DVTpromotions has a growing reputation for predicting viral videos with incredible accuracy.
Like surfers looking for the next big wave, our staff has become known for "ferreting out" the next big story before it's even a "blip on your screen".
YOU and your organization can enlist the awesome power of this amazing technology. You'll benefit from DVTpromotion's trained staff's ability to predict with uncanny accuracy videos that receive lots of attention. You just need to be ready to receive qualified prospects already versed and interested in what you have. You're on your way to a Social Media HOME RUN!
WHAT'S THE SECRET? Our skilled staff does all the hard work...
that will get attention
Choosing and making the videos with a message (ad)
Creating your promotional video that interested prospects click to from your video messages (ads)
Post the videos with ads to Social Media video sharing sites like YouTube, FaceBook and Viddler
Joining the YouTube Community—And Creating Your Own Channel
YouTube is a video sharing community. The community aspects of the site let you share your videos with others, identify others who share your particular interests, and even communicate with other users. When you join the YouTube community, you'll get a lot more out of the site—and find more fun videos to watch!
Working with Channels
The most common way to participate in the YouTube community is by utilizing YouTube's channels. On YouTube, a channel is just a fancy name for a user's profile. Other users can access your channel/profile to find out what videos you've uploaded and which videos are your favorites; you can also subscribe to a user's profile to be notified when that user uploads new videos to the YouTube site.
Viewing a Channel Profile
You access a user's channel by clicking on that user's name wherever it appears on the YouTube site. This takes you to the user's channel/profile page. Although each profile page is unique, all pages contain the same major elements:
Links to the user's favorite videos, playlists, groups, friends, and the like
Information about the user, including a link to subscribe to this channel
Videos uploaded by this user
Links to connect to the user, via email, comments, and so on
The user's favorite videos
Channels the user is watching
Subscribers to the user's channel
Comments on this user's channel
In other words, you access a user's channel page to learn more about that user—and to connect with that person.
Subscribing to a Channel
If you like what you see on a user's channel/profile page, you can subscribe to that person's channel. When you subscribe to a channel, you are automatically notified (via email) when the user uploads new videos.
To subscribe to a user's channel, go that person's channel/profile page and click the Subscribe button. To unsubscribe to a channel, return to that user's channel/profile page and click the Un-Subscribe button. To view videos from your currently subscribed-to channels, go to YouTube's home page and click the Subscriptions link in the My box.
YouTube thrives on social networking—and your channel and videos will get more viewers if you fully participate in the YouTube community. That means subscribing to a lot of channels and leaving comments with those videos and users you identify with. What goes around comes around; the more comments you leave, the more people will see your name and channel, and the more views your videos will receive.
Personalizing Your YouTube Channel
Because a YouTube channel page is really a user profile page, you'll want to create your own channel page and customize it to reflect your personality. It's easy to do.
As to creating your channel page, there's nothing to do; YouTube creates a profile page for you when you subscribe to the site. The default channel page is a little bland, however—which is why you want to customize it.
You personalize your channel page from your My Account page. Just click the My Account link at the top of any YouTube page, and when the My Account page appears, scroll to the Channel Settings section. From here you can edit the following channel elements:
Channel Info—You can enter a new title and description for your channel page. You can also opt to select a new video to use for your profile picture (by default, your last-uploaded video serves this function), as well as configure other channel display options.
Channel Design—This is where you change the overall look and feel of your channel page. You can select a new color scheme for your page; opt to show or hide various page elements; and choose custom colors for selected page elements, as well as a background image for your page.
Personal Info—This page lets you enter personal information to be displayed on your channel page, such as your name, gender, description of yourself, link to an outside website, occupation, interests, and so on.
Location Info—This is where you enter your hometown, current city, Zip code, and country.
Channel URL—This page displays the URL for your channel page.
As you make changes to any page element, make sure you click the Update Channel button—or you'll lose the changes you made.
To hide your age on your channel/profile page, go to your My Account page, scroll to the Channel Settings section, click the Personal Info link, and then select the Do Not Display Your Age on Your Public Profile option. Click the Update Channel button when finished.
Managing Your Channel's Video Blog
One cool feature that you can add to your channel page is a video blog, or Vlog. A Vlog is an easy way for you to create a personal video journal accessible to anyone visiting your channel.
To create a Vlog, go to the YouTube home page and click the Playlists link in the My box. When the Playlists page appears, you can choose to select an existing playlist as your Vlog, or create a new playlist to hold new Vlog entries. To use an existing playlist, select the playlist and then click the Set as Vlog button. To create a new Vlog playlist, click the Create Playlist button to create the new playlist, and make sure you check the Use This Playlist as Video Log in My Channel option.
Your Vlog now appears on your channel profile page. The individual videos in the Vlog playlist are stacked on top of each other; visitors can click a video to view it.
Working with Groups
Another form of community on YouTube is the YouTube groups feature. A group is a social forum where users interested in a given topic can share videos and conduct online discussions.
Joining an Existing Group
To find YouTube groups, click the Community tab and then click the Groups link on the left side of the page. You can now browse groups by type (Featured, Recently Added, Most Members, Most Videos, Most Discussions, or Colleges) or by Categories.
When you access a group page you see links to group videos, members, and discussions. Recent videos are displayed, as are the most recent group discussions.
To join a group, simply click the Join This Group link. After you've joined a group, you can participate in group discussions, add videos to the group, and so forth.
Joining a group discussion is as easy as clicking the discussion link; this displays the discussion page . You can then read comments within that discussion, or add your own comment from the Add New Comment section at the bottom of the page.
Creating a New Group
You can also create your own personal YouTube group about any topic you want. Just click the Groups link on the Community page; then click the Create a Group button. When the Create a Group page appears enter a name and description for the group, along with identifying tags, a custom URL for the group, a category, the type of group (public or private), and how you want to handle video uploads, forum postings, and the group icon. Click the Create Group button when finished, and your group is launched into the YouTube community.
Creating a new YouTube Group.
To invite others to join your group, click the Invite Members link at the top right of the group page. You can invite members of your Friends list, or invite other members by entering their member names in the New Friends list.
Inviting other YouTubers to join your group.
To add videos to your group, click the Add Videos link at the top right of the group page. This displays a page with links to your current favorite videos and playlists. Check any video you want to add; then click the Add to Group button. Alternatively, you can click the Upload a Video button to upload a new video and add it to your group.
Working with Friends and Contacts
You don't have to create a group to mingle with people on YouTube. That's because YouTube lets you create lists of users with whom you can share your videos. These Friends and Family lists are kind of like the Buddy lists in AOL Instant Messenger; one click on a YouTube list lets you share your videos.
Adding a Friend to Your List
Adding an existing YouTube member to your friends list is relatively easy. Just go to that member's channel/profile page, scroll to the Connect With box and click the Add as Friend link. You'll now see the Friend Invitation page; select whether to add this person as Friends or Family; then click the Send Invite button. The person will receive an email invitation to be your friend; if he accepts, he's added to your friends list.
Sending the friend's invitation.
You can also add friends who aren't yet YouTube members. Just click the My Account link at the top of any YouTube page to display the My Account page; then scroll down to the Friends & Contacts section,and click the Invite More Friends button. When the Invite Your Friends page appears, enter your name, the email addresses of those folks you want to invite (separate each address with a comma), and a personal invitation message. Click the Send Invite button, and your friends will receive an official email invitation. They can click the link in the email message to join YouTube and be added to your friends list.
You're not limited to just two contact lists (Friends and Family). To create new lists, go to your All Contacts page, click the Create New List button, and then enter a name for the list. You can then move existing contacts to the new list by checking a contact name and selecting the new list from the Copy Contacts To list.
Sending Messages to Your Friends
When you want to send a message to someone in your friends list, go to your My Account page, scroll down to the Friends & Contacts section, and click the All Contacts link.This lists all your contacts, no matter which list you've put them in. Click the Send Message link next to a friend's name; this displays the Compose Message page. Enter a subject for your message and the text of the message itself. If you want to attach a YouTube video to this message, pull down the Attach a Video list and choose a video from your favorites. Click the Send Message button to send the message on its way.
You're not limited to sending messages only to existing friends and contacts. To send a message to any YouTube user, go to your inbox and click the Compose New Message button; from here you can enter any member's username for the message you compose.
Chapter 5. Broadcast from your Professional-looking Studio!
This is the best way to create a first impression for your program!
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Now that you are getting interested visitors to your site it’s time that you start closing the sale. Give your visitors an incentive to “take the next step.” In this Chapter we’re showing you how you can do this with the help of Online Premiums.
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Chapter 1. Engage Online Prospects with 'Click and Chat."
In a recent US consumer survey some interesting facts became evident about consumers’ use of Live Help software. Let me offer a few of these facts to you.
When asked, website visitors reported that they ranked LIVE HELP higher than other customer service options like email, help desk and online self-service (like FAQ’s and knowledge base systems.) A percentage of those asked said they would not buy from a website if LIVE HELP wasn’t available. It was a small percentage but it showed a growing trend that online business owners should pay close attention to.
Website visitors ranked click-to-chat second only to a FREE phone call (toll free) to the company or site operator. However, as the demand, by consumers, grows surrounding availability of LIVE HELP on a website, the need for toll free numbers will decrease. It won’t ever go away, but it will decrease. Perhaps because toll free numbers are NOT always accessible from many countries. For example; Australia may be blocked from accessing a toll free number in the US, thereby impeding a company’s customer expansion. Adding LIVE HELP to a website eliminates the need for a toll free number for online shoppers as LIVE HELP can be accessed from anywhere the website can be accessed.
What was very interesting from the study was that, as the cost of items being purchased went up, so did the desire for the consumer to have some sort of interaction with the company or website owner. For items costing up to $100, simple text chat was satisfactory for the consumer with questions about discounts, shipping, or basic information about a product or service.
However, when the price went over $100 many consumers, as much as 77% of those asked, preferred a way to actually chat with the “other side.” Text chat wasn’t enough. Many visitors looked for a toll free number to call the company, or in the case of website owners using Web Site Communicators video chat service, the visitor preferred this method so they could actually see and hear the person on the other side. They said, using a video chat service like Web Site Communicator, made them feel more like being in the store and making their purchase.
I’ll offer more insights from this study later as well as those from other studies as I continue my research. In the meantime, why not check out Web Site Communicator service and watch your business grow as you provide a face-to-face solution for your website visitors.
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Chapter 2. Close The Deal With Online Incentives
All About Effective Premiums & Incentives
We all want to feel that we're being rewarded, whether it's for a job well done or for buying the "right" brand of toothpaste. Before the phrase B-to-B was even coined, incentives were being used as a means to reach measurable business goals, improve business relationships and reward prospects to take the next step.
The premium and incentive trend has so captured the American spirit that an entire industry has been built to help support premiums and incentives including promotion agencies, premium development and production companies (domestic and off-shore) and fulfillment companies.Regardless of the level of sophistication, premiums and incentive programs can yield incredible results.
This is especially true with the proliferation of the Internet. Our options now include Internet download premiums with which we can instantly reward customers at their computer. Online premiums and incentives are therefore indispensable features in the Online decision-making cycle.
USES OF PREMIUMS AND INCENTIVES
Premiums and incentives can be used strategically to meet a wide range of marketing objectives, some of which include:
Maximizing sales
Rewarding loyalty or performance
Gaining share of focus from employees, sales force or distributors
Defend against competitive promotions, programs or pricing
Educating target audiences
Customer Objectives:
Gaining Product awareness or trial
Increasing sales or market share
Differentiating your product from the competition
Reinforcing brand attributes
Encouraging retail display
Increasing consumer loyalty
Defend against price reduction strategy
Incentives
There are two kinds of incentives: performance incentives and prizes. Performance incentives are awarded when consumers perform certain actions. Prizes are awarded through games of chance or contests.
Performance Incentives
Travel -- incentive trips can range from very low cost local getaways to around-the-world incentives
Merchandise
Gift Certificates
Trade Incentives such as dealer loader and in-store merchandising support (Win-It-Here Sweepstakes, Gift with Purchase, etc.)
Prizes for Sweepstakes
HIGH PERCIEVED VALUE
In the lower tier merchandise premiums and incentives can also be a strong motivator, especially since the perceived value of an item is often much higher than a comparable cash incentive. The retail value or perceived value of merchandise is often 50 percent higher than the actual cost.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS
Regardless of the amount of money spent, to achieve success any incentive / premium reward must be appealing to your target audience and be consistent with your company imagery.
Appealing to your target audience
Many programs are structured based on assumptions rather than actual research. Wherever possible, conduct research to be sure you're offering the best item possible.
For programs targeted towards employees, research can be as simple as having one-on-one discussions with key members of your target. Don't be afraid to ask key members of your team about a potential program and rewards.
If you're creating a consumer program, understand your consumer. A "sanity check" for premiums can be as simple as an on-line survey with a list of premium choices or as complex as a series of focus groups with brand users and competitive users complete with concept boards and live premiums.
Consistency with Company / Product Imagery
One of the most important, yet underrated considerations is for a premium / incentive is to reinforce brand imagery.
Not only will a poorly selected premium or incentive not motivate the target, but also it can actually do harm to a company or brand image. Regardless of the cost of the incentive, it should always be consistent with your branding message.
STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
I. Determine Your Objectives
What are you trying to achieve?
How are going to measure your achievement?
Who is your target -- current consumers, competitive users, light, medium, heavy users, retailers, sales force, or potential business partners?
Do you have multiple targets and can you attract these targets with a single program or do you require separate efforts?
When do you need sales support? Is there anything else planned for that time period?
How is the competition likely to react to your offer and do you also have a plan for that situation?
Do you have the support within your company to develop and execute a program?
II. Select the Tactic that Best Meets your Objectives
III. Determine Your Budget
Planning and program development
Research
Agency Fees -- If you're executing a complicated program, an agency can assist in developing the program structure and manage the program.
Redemption analysis -- Have you developed calculations for redemption and liability models relying on experts and past history? Is over-redemption insurance warranted?
Premiums
Premium customization with graphics and logos
Shipping -- Include the costs of shipping from the manufacturer to the fulfillment company. Also be sure to have the necessary insurance.
Program support such as advertising and point of sale displays
Packaging charges
Fulfillment costs such as program set-up, packaging for shipment, servicing, postage, order returns, storage and management fees
IV. Create Measurement / Success Criteria
Develop specific criteria.
Be sure that criteria are measurable.
Determine points to adjust budget, program support and other elements.
Update budgets throughout the program.
V. Time Line
Be realistic. A simple program with domestically sourced premiums can be put together relatively quickly. However, complex programs with packaging changes, offshore sourcing or printed loyalty catalogs can take six to twelve months to prepare.
Make sure that your time line is detailed and that all parties involved in your program understand and have approved their role in the time line. Update time lines throughout the program.
VI. Source Premiums / Incentives
Conduct research to make sure the premium is an item that your customers want.
Source the items for the best value, but don't sacrifice quality for price.
Determine minimum efficient quantities.
Check references on manufacturers for financial stability and track records.
Determine order and reorder time lines.
Arrange a backup product line.
Do you have detailed specifications and contracts with each of your suppliers?
Negotiate a payment schedule with the manufacturers up front, but don't pay too much up front. Get a letter of credit instead.
Ensure that manufacturers have product warranty and product liability coverage.
Test for product safety, especially with toys.
VII. Create Support Materials
The offer and premium should be the focus of all materials.
Check the legality of the promotion for trademarks, copyrights, state and federal laws.
Consult a lawyer.
VIII. Set Up Program Fulfillment
Check the fulfillment company's financial background and track record.
Know who will be on the account team, and make sure they are experienced.
Run the program by the account team to troubleshoot.
Monitor progress. Small problems are easier to fix while they're still small.
IX. Program In-Market
Monitor what's happening in the field. Don't rely on the fulfillment company to do the work.
Solicit reactions from the entire team.
Keep the team updated on progress.
Make corrections ASAP.
Revise forecasts continually
X. Evaluation
Follow-through on your commitment to measure the program
If a program is a success, be sure that everyone on your team knows it and understands their contribution to that success.
Evaluate your forecasting process.
Revise your forecast and keep "Lessons Learned" to help form the basis of planning future programs.
About the Author:
David Saltrelli is the CEO ofPerfect Premiums.com which provides effective premium incentives, dealer incentives, sales incentives, and Online sales contests and sweepstakes. We also offer an Online Premiums Radio show and an Online Premiums Expo.
Our programs are aimed to get your clients, members, prospects, etc. to 'take the next step.' Ideal for appointment setting, increasing test drives, opening accounts, rewards, performance incentives, etc.
We have been in business for over 30 years and we are the largest premium incentives supplier for call centers, community banks, associations, marketing organizations, affinity groups, franchisors, festivals and events, and their customers and members.
OUR PARTNER PROGRAM With our Partner Program we help you serve your clientele with your own branded web solutions delivering from 5 to 5,000 impactful premiums and incentives, as needed.
OUR SERVICE COMMITMENT Our service will always be impeccable, our rates competitive!
Our programs can be personalized and are Internet-based for easy access. We will fulfill your order how you want it, when you want it, where you want it.
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We help you generate ideas by asking the right questions, giving guidance where needed, and allowing you to quickly create a smart, efficient, and organized plan, complete with phases, goals, obstacles and solutions.
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Chapter 1. Online Collaboration With Partners & Colleagues
Why Online Collaboration?
Projects don't fail from a lack of charts, graphs, stats, or reports, they fail from a lack of clear communication. Basecamp solves this problem by providing tools tailored to improve the communication between people working together on a project. Here are examples of what you and your partners can do Online:
Make to-do lists
Keep track of what needs to get done and who's responsible.
Share files
Share files internally, with co-workers, or with clients.
Track time
Easily find out who spent how much time on what task.
Schedule milestones
Track when things are due and who's responsible.
Basecamp Offers Simple, Low-Cost Solution
Basecamp features a simple permissions system that allows you to specify who can see which projects. For example, if you want Susan to see only 5 of your 13 projects, just uncheck a single checkbox on the projects you don't want her to see. Fast, reliable, hassle-free
Since Basecamp is hosted on safe, fast, and reliable web servers, you don't need to worry about a thing. All you need is a web browser (IE 6/7, Firefox, or Safari) and an internet connection. Safe, private, secure.
Your Basecamp account is password protected and safe from prying eyes.
The Basecamp API allows you to build add-ons or hook Basecamp into your own programs. Check out these extras and integrations created with the API.
If you have called a company for support there is a very good chance that the help desk you contacted is thousands of miles away from the company or in another country.
Outsourcing is the term associated with this method. Companies today are now considering outsourcing their jobs and support to other countries, such as the Mexico, India, China and others, because of cheap labor and better service.
Help desks, and technical support services are not the only outsourced jobs today. Now, companies are also outsourcing their payrolls, their business process, data entries, human resources and a lot more. Because of the growing competitiveness of other countries in the information technology, outsourcing companies are now widely available.
Advantages
There are some of the advantages of outsourcing services and the reason why companies are considering outsourcing their jobs; Lower personnel costs, Allow the company to focus on more important factors, Free up space in the company building for other important uses, Increase productivity, Effectively manage the jobs of a company, Reduce cash flow, Free up management time, Increased company efficiency.
Disadvantages
However, with all the advantages of outsourcing, there are also disadvantages that you should consider. Here are some of the disadvantages that outsourcing will have; Loss of local jobs, particularly jobs related to customer service and technical fields, The company loses direct control over the management, Quality problems, Slow response time, which can lead to frustration and anger of some of the customers, Foreign agents sometimes have different accent that may be hard for local consumers to understand, Slow resolution times, Reduction of product sales because of frustrated customers or people who boycott a company’s products because they outsource.
Tech-Sourcing
However, if your target is cheaper labor for better technical support, you can definitely consider tech-sourcing.But you have to make sure that the quality of the services of your partner company should be at par with your standards. For example, if you need a call center to be tech-sourced, you have to make sure that the employees of the call center company should be competent and qualified to get the job done. You should also consider the fact that they should be able to speak fluent English with an accent that is easy to understand.
Benefits
Tech-sourcing has a lot of benefits that your company can take advantage of. However, before you outsource, you should first weigh the advantages and disadvantages and know whether this is for you.
To Download Your Free Outsourcing Savings Calculation, click here!
Offshore dedicated reps from its American-managed offices in the Philippines
123Employee opened for business in February of 2003 with ten employees. Today 123Employee is one of the leaders in overseas outsourcing. 123Employee employs a staff of over three hundred sharp, innovative, marketing and support agents to help you meet your objectives while maintaining you company's bottom line. The key to 123's success is an incomparable training program for its agents and a simple easy to use system for its clients.
Register free for our Internet Practioners Forum so you can stay current for free.
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Chapter 1. BusinessCard2
BusinessCard2 Personal Marketing
The Marketing Center has been designed to help users learn how to get the most benefit from the BusinessCard2 technology. Whether you are a student, a business professional, or a job seeker, the BusinessCard2 ™ service is here to help solve personal brand management, relationship building and personal marketing problems with the use of state-of-the-art social networking technology and services. Here users can explore and determine how BusinessCard2 can best suit their personal marketing needs, be they managing their online reputation, being found in the search engines, finding business partners, building relationships, finding a job and a host of additional opportunities. The use of BusinessCard2 is limited only by one’s imagination.
The Internet Practitioners Forum is an online network for those interested in using the Internet to better promote their business or cause.
The programs of our Members help put products, services, news, ads, and special offers in front of your customers and those who are or may become new clients!
Our Members help provide impactful content and a state-of-the art delivery mechanism and offer great incentives, discounts, and special to customers of businesses, corporations, organizations, retail shops, travel agencies, festivals, associations, etc.
Welcome to a whole new world of unmatched service and dedication to doing it right. We are the kind of company that people love to tell others about. Give any of our services a try, and you'll soon find out why we have so many raving fans from coast to coast.
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No eBook with action programs would be complete without a number of illustrative success stories. These stories are merely to show you that success is guaranteed if you have a viable program and if you follow our approach.
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1. Sylvia Allen's Climb From Competence To Mega Success!
Let's face it, Sylvia Allen is a highly competent woman who would have been successful with or without the Internet. However, she has harnessed Online opportunities with extraordinary skill to provide exposure for her endeavors in her industry and the field of humanitarian support. In both areas she is an inspiration to us all!
Background Sylvia Allen is CEO of Allen Consulting, a full-service marketing communications company that believes in treating each client individually. Every client is given service that meets the specific needs for an overall marketing campaign, or any combination of services necessary. Creative concepts are designed for each client on an individual basis.
Sylvia's clients range from the Breeder's Cup to the Alaska Iditarod Dog Sled Race and hundreds of Festivals and Events in the US and abroad. She is a sought-after speaker and consultant with clients in Europe, China, India, and Singapore.
Sylvia Was An Early Adopter Of The Internet Sylvia already recognized the Internet's opportunities in the mid-nineties and always saw the 'big picture.' She had a web site before most others and immediately understood the communicative power of available applications without getting lost in the technicalities.
Sylvia has developed an easily manageable WebUniverse approach that keeps her close to her loyal, existing clients and facilitates getting new ones. Her web site is http://www.allenconsulting.com and other tools she uses include a blog, a weekly eNewsletter to a loyal subscriber base of 9,000, and selected Online Radio broadcasts. She also uses Online Conferencing and eLearning as the opportunities present themselves.
'Warmest Regards' From Sylvia One of the popular features of Sylvia's approach are eCards to her subscriber base when is traveling abroad. For example, she recently sent eCards from China and India (with a web cam clip) to her list, just to tell her subscribers that she was having a great time and was thinking of them. Reactions to these eCards are always very favorable!
"Sylvia's Children" Sylvia strongly believes in sharing her success to the benefit of others and has founded a school in Uganda for children whose parents have died of AIDS.
Having personally visited Uganda with teams of relief volunteers she has again reached out to use the Internet for education, communication, and much-needed financial support. Her web site is http://www.sylviaschildren.org and her blog (complete with radio Interviews and reports on her recent trips to Uganda are at http://sylviaschildren.blogspot.com)
There are at leat 50,000 parades of all types annually in the U.S. They are staged for many reasons -- as celebration of community, for political, social and cultural reasons, or just for the simple reason for people in a community to get together and have fun. The Tournament of Roses Parade is the third highest network rated show behind the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards.
Most parades aren't seen by millions. Some are seen by only hundreds, but still are are worthy celebrations in communities of all sizes around the world.
Introducing The Parade Float Store
"The Parade Float Store" helps organize parades and assist in the development of parade floats. They sell decorating materials for parade floats, parade float supplies, parade decorations, parade float kits, parade float designs, etc.
They offer everything for christmas parade floats, high school parade floats, ideas for 4th of July parade floats, St. Patrick's day parade floats, wagon parade floats, themed parade floats, etc. See
Everyone loves a parade eMarketing Program!
"The Parade Float Store" is probably one of the best examples on how to create a comprehenisive Web Uinverse for your Internet program. It skilfully weaves a network of information and incentives for its prospective customers (local parade organizers and individual float builders) to visit its site and encourage purchases. Here are examples:
The eStore -- The main web site and eStore are here.
Education -- The program offers indispensable advice for parade organizers and individual float builders with its own Radio Show "Parade Talk Radio" hosted by nationally known parade expert Vance Baird.
Free eBook -- The authoratative guide on how to organize a parade and to build an award-winning parade float. Click to download free.
Entertainment -- Local parades are part of a Mainstreet USA nostalgia immortalized by the musical and Broadway show "The Music Man" and its unforgettable musical score. The site offers a great soundtrack.
Below are the Top 10 Links as we ranked them in usefulness for day-to-day Internet Marketing. We limited ourselves to free sites. You may know most of them although you may not use them to their full extent. We encourage your input so that we can make sure that we don't miss any real jewels.
Google
If you want to search or be found, this is the one. Also useful for finding imgages, videos, articles. If you spend the time, it will help you put together effective PPL campaigns and you can make money using the AdSense program
YouTube
Helps you improve your web site and blogs with targeted, topic-specific videos. Also serves as a pseudo Search Engine if you post your targeted videos, especially if your create your own channel.
My Space
MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends. Create a community on MySpace and you can share photos, journals and interests with your growing network of mutual friends! Like it or not, if you want to be in the game you better have you My Space page.
Facebook
Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet. Same as above, but for slightly older group. Adding 150,000 members daily.
Stumble Upon
StumbleUpon helps you discover and share great websites. As you click Stumble!, we deliver high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. Excellent way to get free traffic to your site and blog.
Blogger.com
If you want to set up your own blogs, this is the site to use. You develop a blog in 5 minutes to strengthen your WebUniverse. Easy to maintain. Enbales you to make money with Google Advertsing.
Dosh Dosh
Dosh Dosh is a blog about ways to make money online. Topics commonly featured on this blog includes professional blogging, affiliate marketing, get-paid-to programs, advertising networks and social media monetization. The best how-to site available!!
Ning
The best and easiest way to set up your own Social Network. There are a number of applications like Ning, but they are not free or cumbersome to use. We have done the work for you!
ARA Content
ARA Content provides free, high quality feature articles to reporters, editors and print publishers. These features are copyright free and in a variety of categories coordinated to fit the editorial calendars of a typical newspaper.
Internet Practitioners
Stay in touch on a daily basis with folks who know the Internet. Post free at their Social Network and receive a bi-monthly eNewsletter. Monthly Meetup lunches in an expanding number of markets.
From a blog about a stained blue dress to the day Larry met Sergey, these are the pivotal moments that made the Web what it is today.
Depending on how you calculate it, the Web has been around for between 15 and 17 years--which makes it old enough to ask for the car keys, but still an awkward teenager growing toward maturity. Yet it already has a long and storied history (and some prehistory). We've decided to chronicle its 16 greatest moments here.
When possible, we pinpointed a specific day, hour, and even minute--the "aha" moment when the people involved got the original idea, launched the site, sold the first product, or posted the first entry. Instead of listing the events chronologically, we've ranked them in ascending order of importance. (Did we miss any? Post your thoughts and your own lists below.)
16. Scandal in a blue dress January 17, 1998; 11:32 pm PST: Drudge breaks the Lewinsky scandal.
Love Matt Drudge, hate him, or think as little about him as possible, you have to give the muckraker (or is that pitchforker?) his due. One day after Newsweek killed a story about a new scandal in the Clinton White House, The Drudge Report broke the Monica Lewinsky story anyway. It was the first notable example of the Web scooping the national media, but it wouldn't be the last.
As when the telegraph supplanted the Pony Express, traditional media sources realized they could not compete with the immediacy of the Net and began scooping themselves, publishing stories first on the Web and later in print. Some publications killed their print editions to publish exclusively online; others redefined themselves or disappeared entirely. The Web news era had begun.
15. Do you Yahoo? February 1994: Jerry and David bookmark the Web.
Some hobbies take on a life of their own; others change the world. In early 1994, Stanford Ph.D. students Jerry Yang and David Filo posted a list of their favorite sites on the Web. The exact date they posted the links is lost to history, but we do know the list's original name: "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web." By April '94 it had a new tongue-in-cheek name: "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle," or Yahoo for short.
Yahoo represented the first attempt to catalog the Web, offering directory-style listings of every site that mattered--with tiny sunglasses marking sites deemed truly cool. When providing exhaustive coverage became impossible, Yahoo was reborn as a Web portal, combining the directory with search, news headlines, instant messaging, e-mail, photo hosting, job listings, and assorted other services. As other major portals like Lycos and Excite died off or were consumed by bigger fish, Yahoo continued to expand. Though surpassed by the Google search juggernaut, Yahoo may have memorable Web moments yet to come with co-founder Jerry Yang holding the reins.
Blogs to wikis
In 2005, five bloggers did a heckuva job in real time tracking a natural disaster and its unnatural aftermath. A decade earlier, a Web site opened the world's largest ongoing garage sale. And at the turn of the millennium, a Web visionary began piecing together a compendium of all knowledge out of the clamor of thousands of contending keyboards.
14. Blogging Katrina August 28, 2005; 12:01 p.m. CST: The Survival of New Orleans Blog debuts.
As what was then a Category 5 hurricane bore down on New Orleans, Michael Barnes blogged: "We're on the 10th and 11th floor of a corporate high rise on Poydras Ave., right near St. Charles. We have generators and tons of food and water. It is 5 of us total. I am not sure how the Internet connection will be affected. I have a camera and my gun. .... Sustained winds are 175, gusts to 215. The real danger is not the wind, though, it's the storm surge the wind will be pushing into the city from the Gulf through the lake. The city might never recover. Honestly, this thing could be biblical."
Thus began what was for many the only eyewitness account of the worst natural disaster in our nation's history. For five days, Barnes and his co-workers rode out the storm and its aftermath, providing live reports and photos from their refuge in the downtown offices of Zipa Hosting and DirectNIC. Tens of thousands of Netizens visited the blog each day, getting a kind of personal coverage unavailable on CNN or inside The New York Times.
Barnes's moving account was proof that blogs could be more than just unsolicited opinions and self-obsessed ramblings--they could serve as a valuable tool for recording and understanding the human experience.
13: Bidding for stardom September 3, 1995: eBay completes its first auction.
Not so long ago, the only way to get any return on the junk in your garage was to hold a yard sale. eBay changed all that. Now tens of thousands of small and medium-size businesses use eBay as their primary storefront, bringing e-commerce to the people.
According to eBay lore, the first item auctioned was a broken laser pointer that sold for $14.83, proving that someone somewhere will buy just about anything. Several billion dollars' worth of transactions later, the proof is on firmer ground than ever.
But eBay was also the first site to create a working reputation system on the Net, according to Chris Dellarocas, a business professor at the University of Maryland who studies how online reputations are formed. And as we move toward a world where your online reputation can make or break your ability to garner a job offer, get accepted into a school, or find a mate, this may ultimately prove to be a greater legacy.
"The fact that eBay was able to build a marketplace of 60 million people that works smoothly is a fundamental accomplishment," Dellarocas says. "They've built in enough trust so I can send money to a guy in Germany I've never met and expect to get what I've paid for in return. It's enabling us to have smoother transactions from any location--to truly take advantage of the flat world the Internet provides."
12. Something wiki this way comes January 15, 2001: Wikipedia posts its first entry.
Everybody's an expert. That phrase has never been truer than on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia where anyone can add or edit entries on any topic, regardless of his or her personal expertise. Wikipedia now boasts 2 million articles in English (over 7 million total) on everything from Aaargh! (a computer game) to ZZZap! (a TV show for kids).
Think of Wikipedia as an endless series of arguments, filled with edit wars and revisions to revisions, archived and identified by contributor. The result is a sprawling, anarchic, constantly changing resource that serves as many people's first stop when researching something on the Web (though, given the controversy over the accuracy of many entries, we hope it's not their last).
Creator Jimmy Wales doesn't remember the first Wikipedia entry, though he does remember the first words he typed into the wiki software: "Hello world."
"I think Wikipedia had a big impact on how people think about collaboration and knowledge, as well as the thinking about how to design security into social systems," says Wales. "We emphasized accountability and transparency over gatekeeping. It was a philosophical change to leave things open, to make sure things can be fixed easily and you can see who did what, rather than pre-vetting contributors at the start."
Mind-numbing titillation to speedy Web mail
A nation turned its lonely eyes to Jennifer Ringley and watched, stupefied. Oddpost made the experience of using a Web-based mail system feel as fast and efficient as working with a desktop app. Here are four more milestones in the development of the Web.
11. Candid camera April 1996: JenniCam goes live.
For more than seven years, Jennifer Ringley trained the unblinking eye of a Webcam on her life--first as a free art project, later charging subscriptions of $15 a year to cover bandwidth costs for the site's 20 million visitors. Though she occasionally appeared in the nude and had sex on camera, the content tended to be less pornography than a window on a tedious round of unexceptional experiences shared with everyone.
(Ironically, the once extremely public Ringley is now something of a recluse; e-mail messages we sent to her last known address went unreturned.)
But JenniCam paved the way both for a burgeoning X-rated cam industry and an entire generation of Web exhibitionists (see MySpace.com). It turned Orwell's notion of Big Brother on its ear: Instead of a government spying on us, we'd spy on each other (and maybe make a few bucks along the way). Reality TV shows like "The Real World," "Survivor," and "Big Brother" and viral video sites like YouTube owe a debt to Jennifer Ringley, who at least for a while made the mundane day-to-dayness of her life seem fascinating.
10. You and 3,255,620 of your closest friends March 2003: Friendster makes the connections.
MySpace is huge and Facebook is the flavor of the month, but neither of them--nor the gazillion other social networks that have sprouted up like kudzu--would be here if it weren't for Friendster. Opening its digital doors to the public in March 2003, the site was the first to reveal the interconnections between its users.
Founder Jonathan Abrams says he came up with the idea for Friendster after being put off by the creepy anonymity of online dating sites. "I wanted a different kind of online experience that would integrate the online and offline worlds and bring your real-life social context with you onto the Web, something where you could network with people like we do in real life," he writes in an e-mail missive.
The idea caught fire. By July 2003, Friendster had over 1 million users. But connecting the dots between that many people brought the site to a virtual standstill, and Friendster was soon surpassed by more-nimble competitors. A series of bad business decisions didn't help. The story of Friendster became a textbook case of how not to manage a startup.
Ironically, Friendster is enjoying something of a comeback, riding the social networking wave that it helped create. In addition, Abrams has launched Socializr, a site that helps people plan social events in the real world instead of merely the virtual one.
9. Act globally, think locally October 24, 1995: Craig Newmark unveils his list.
Like many seminal Web events, Craigslist started out as a quirky side project seemingly devoid of commercial possibilities. In March 1995, Craig Newmark quit his job as a software architect for Charles Schwab in San Francisco and started a mailing list where subscribers could share information about interesting cultural events in the Bay Area.
"I was reflecting on how much people helped each other out on the Net, in those days, on the WELL and usenet news groups," he says via e-mail. As the list grew, people began posting messages looking for apartments, jobs, and other topics. In October of that year, Craig turned his private list into a public Web site at Cnewmark.com.
In September 1997, Craig's list became Craigslist.org. In early 1998, the site began charging a nominal fee for job listings (though the vast majority of ads remain free), and in 1999 Craigslist.org incorporated and began paying its employees.
Today, there are 450 local versions of Craigslist in 50 countries, and more than 25 million people visit them each month. The service has been credited with (or blamed for, depending on your point of view) taking the classified ad market away from established newspapers. But Craigslist's greatest contribution may be in proving that, like politics, the greatest global movements are always local.
8. Odd pioneers February 16, 2003: Web mail service Oddpost debuts.
In 2003 anyone who used Hotmail or Yahoo Mail probably had a desktop e-mail program as well. That's because using Web mail services was torturous. Making any change to your inbox--such as filing a message in a folder or deleting spam--required lots of clicks and a round trip to the service's servers, while you drummed your fingers and waited.
Oddpost managed to make a Web mail service feel as if it were running on your hard drive. You could drag and drop message files to organize your inbox and preview messages instantly. Yahoo liked it so much that it bought the company and used the technology as the basis for its new mail service.
Oddpost powerfully illustrated what could be done within a browser, and soon that kind of functionality (based on programming platforms like AJAX and Ruby on Rails) began showing up in Web-based word processors, spreadsheets, photo editors, and pretty much anything else a venture capitalist could shake a few million dollars at.
Birth of domain names to successful online retailing
"127.0.0.1" doesn't sound as inviting as "home," and nothing draws a crowd faster than the promise of one-stop shopping. Our countdown continues.
7. URL be glad they did June 23, 1983: The domain name system is born.
Thank Paul Mockapetris, Craig Partridge, and the late Jon Postel for the fact that you didn't have to type 70.42.185.10 to get here. Together they created the domain naming system, replacing numerical Internet addresses with English-language "domains" and introducing the nongeek world to joys of the backslash key.
Instead of having to memorize a 12-digit number for every host they wanted to visit, users could simply type the machine's name and domain. Servers set up across the network would then translate the words into numbers.
On that June day 24 years ago, a DNS packet first crossed the network and elicited a response, Mockapetris reports in an e-mail note. "That's my best estimate," he adds. "Nobody thought it was important, so no cameras were present or plaques made."
Back then--eight years before the introduction of the World Wide Web--a few hundred machines were connected to the Net. Today more than 130 million are. Without an easy-to-use naming scheme, the Web as we know it would not exist.
6. Geeks bearing gifts March 15, 1993; 1:11 a.m. CST: The graphical browser is born.
Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina were just geeky grad students at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana. (Try saying that three times fast.) But when they announced that the first beta of their Mosaic browser for X Windows was available for download, they never realized the huge impact it would have on the development of the Web.
The change didn't look all that dramatic. Instead of opening images in a new window, Mosaic displayed them embedded inside text. But Mosaic's smart simplicity caught on, and versions of Mosaic for other operating systems soon appeared.
Roughly a year later, Andreessen teamed up with Silicon Graphics' Jim Clark to form Mosaic Communications Corporation--which later changed its name to Netscape. Microsoft licensed NCSA Mosaic code for use in Internet Explorer 1.0. The browser wars had begun--and with them, a mad race to turn static Web pages into multimedia extravaganzas.
5. For whom the bell tolled July 16, 1995: Amazon.com opens for business.
It's fitting that the site once billed as "the world's largest book store" is so rich with stories about its founding. For example, there's the legendary cross-country drive from Manhattan to Seattle where founder Jeff Bezos tapped out the business plan on his notebook while his wife, Mackenzie, drove. Or the story that Bezos was originally going to name the site "Cadabra" (as in "Abra Cadabra") until a friend convinced him it sounded too much like "Cadaver." Or the converted garage in Bellevue, Washington, that served as Amazon's first headquarters; it featured a potbellied stove and three SPARC workstations rigged with a bell that would ring every time Amazon recorded a sale.
According to Amazon's official timeline, the first bell rang for Fluid Concepts & Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought. Fortunately, the site evolved beyond nerdy titles to encompass virtually anything that can be bought or sold, including virtual goods such as downloadable music and videos.
From its regional distribution centers to its affiliate programs, Amazon revolutionized commerce both on and off the Net. And in January 2002, the site even started turning a profit, making it one of the few stories of Net pioneers to have a happy ending.
Mobile packets to the Web itself
Part of a log-in is better than none, as ARPAnet researchers discovered. And a Christmas present from snowy Geneva in 1990 remains a treat for everyone today. Here are our top four Web moments.
4. LO! and behold October 29, 1969; 10:30 p.m. PST: The first packets make their way across the Net--barely.
Before the Web was born, there was simply the Internet, and before the Internet came ARPAnet. Though plans for ARPAnet had been brewing since the early 1960s, it wasn't ready for prime time until fall 1969--and even then things didn't go exactly as planned.
Late on the evening of October 29, Professor Len Kleinrock linked a mainframe computer at UCLA to one at the Stanford Research Institute over a dedicated phone line. To test the connection, Kleinrock had arranged for students at UCLA to transmit the word "LOG," after which the computer at SRI would respond with "IN." Researcher Charley Kline managed to send the L and the O, but before he could send the G, the system crashed. (Some things really haven't changed all that much.)
The next attempt was successful, but "LO" marks the moment the Internet sent its first word--as significant an utterance as Samuel Morse's "What hath God wrought?" or Alexander Graham Bell's "Watson, come here, I need you."
"Morse and Bell were a hell of a lot smarter than we were," Kleinrock noted in a 2004 interview. "They knew they were doing something of historical importance. We were just engineers, trying to do a good job."
3. When Sergey met Larry September 7, 1998: Google incorporates.
Back in 1995, when co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page met at Stanford University, they didn't like each other much. But by January 1996, they were collaborating on BackRub, a graduate project analyzing how back links could be used to improve search results.
By early 1998, they had set up a data center in Larry's dorm room and begun shopping the BackRub concept around. (One of the first people to pass on the offer was Yahoo's David Filo, who is probably still sore from kicking himself.)
In September 1998, when Google Inc. opened for business inside a Silicon Valley garage, the Web entered its second phase. Unlike thousands of now-dead dot coms that preceded it, Google proved that you really could give stuff away and still make a profit. By allowing Net users to determine where pages ranked in Google results, the search engine was arguably the first Web 2.0 application. Its 2004 IPO spurred a rebirth of investment in the Web--and some 1997-style deja vu--that shows no sign of slowing. And in June 2006, the Oxford English Dictionary made it official, adding "google" to the lexicon as a verb meaning to search the Web for.
2. Day one of irrational exuberance August 9, 1995; 9:30 a.m. EST: Netscape goes public.
Sure, Netscape Navigator was good, but Netscape's IPO created the dot-com frenzy. On that fateful summer day in 1995 the company's shares zoomed from $28 to $75 before settling back down to $58 at the session's close.
The Netscape IPO inspired a flood of other public offerings, including Yahoo (April 1996), Amazon (May 1997), eBay (September 1998), and some that are best forgotten (Pets.com, anyone?).
At the time nobody had any idea how these companies would make money--and most of them didn't, leading to the dot-com crash in 2000. But by then, Netscape as we knew it was gone, too: Famously "crushed" by Microsoft in the browser wars of the late 1990s, it was acquired in November 1998 by AOL Time Warner. The name lives on in an open-source browser and a site that's just another way onto the AOL portal.
More important, the Netscape offering put the Web on the map--and into the consciousness of millions of people who cared not a whit about technology but loved to dream of endlessly skyrocketing stocks.
1. World wide wonder December 25, 1990: The Web comes online.
Stop us if you didn't see this one coming. The greatest moment in the Web's history has to be the instant of its own creation. On Christmas morning 1990, Tim Berners Lee and Robert Cailliau of the CERN research lab in Geneva communicated with the world's first Web server--presenting all of us with a Christmas gift that keeps on giving.
According to the Living Internet site, Berners Lee originally developed a hypertext system to keep track of the hundreds of projects, software, and computers in use at CERN's High Energy Physics department. Using a NeXT computer, Berners Lee developed a rudimentary browser in the fall of 1990. He and Cailliau then created the first Web content: the CERN phone directory.
The following August, Berners Lee unveiled his creation to the world (or at least, to the portion of the world that logged on to the alt.hypertext newsgroup). By the end of 1992, the Net hosted 50 Web servers. By the end of 1994, that number had grown to 2500. The Big Bang had already begun.
The earlier development of the Internet gave us the infrastructure computers needed in order to communicate, but the Web provided the Net's most important cargo--what today amounts to more than 135 million Web sites, connected by a rat's nest of hyperlinks and growing at a steady 5 percent per month, according to Netcraft. No aspect of our lives remains untouched by the Web. The fact that you're reading this on your computer screen--not on paper--says it all.
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