Wanting to Build a Social Network
By Ron Subs
When looking at wanting to build a social network, it is first important to define what a social network is. A social network is essentially a group of people connected together through various means such as friends or similar values. Social networking is a term bandied around very often on the Internet these days without any regard to what the term means. By simply understanding the definition, it can allow for deeper discussion into how you can build a social network.
If the definition is used here, the first key when wanting to build a social network is to find a group of like-minded people. If you trawl through Internet chat forums, you can find various topics where like-minded people come to talk about what they are passionate about. If you search through the various topics, this may give you an idea on what you may want to build a social network around. You may not want to choose a particular topic but rather begin a social network to keep in better touch with your friends. In this case, you will take a different approach than for those with a particular topic of interest.
The second key when wanting to build a social network is to decide what your end goal is for the project. Do you simply want a place you can visit everyday to talk with friends or with other people of like mind? Would you like to build your social network into a business where you can create income by helping solve the problems of others? This will help determine what type of approach you take in building the social network.
The third key in wanting to build a social network is to decide how large you want the network to be. This will probably fit in at least loosely with your first two decisions on the spirit of your forum and how you want to run your network. Deciding upon a size can help you when deciding who to let in and how much advertising you want to do in developing the network. Building a social network is like any other project: you must put in the time and work up front to enjoy the payoff in the end. How will you know how to build your social network if you have not set a target for which to shoot for.
Wanting to build a social network starts with asking yourself some very basic but important questions. Without asking these questions, you will not be successful in building a social network which you will be proud to boast to your friends about.
About The Author
Ron Subs works with Mega Star Media Inc. as a public relations consultant, more information about Mega Star Media Inc. can be found at http://www.megastarmedia.com
How to Redirect Your Affiliate Links
By Stephanie Foster
Affiliate marketing can be very interesting work, but it”s challenging too. It”s hard to sift through all the information out there and figure out what works for you.
However, one thing many people strongly recommend is redirecting your affiliate links. The logic is that many people just feel more comfortable clicking a link they can understand. Also, some have a bias against clicking a link when they think you might get a commission off of it, even though they”re no impact on their cost. Just an odd bit of human nature.
There are advantages beyond your clickthrough and sales rate to cloaking your affiliate links. I find it is simpler to remember my links. You don”t have to go looking for your link every time; just use the redirect link you created. If they”re well named you won”t have to look them up very often.
There are a number of ways to redirect your links. How you do it depends on what you”re comfortable with and what you can do on your server. You can buy a variety of solutions for this if you want link tracking, or create your own free solutions.
The basic free version is to create a page and do a meta redirect. The one trouble with these is that they can be a touch slow. But all you have to do is create a plain HTML page with META HTTP-EQUIV=”Refresh″ CONTENT=”5; URL=html-redirect.html” in it. The 5 indicates that the redirect will take place in 5 seconds, and you can bring it to 0 if you want a fast redirect. And of course if you”re directing to a new domain you will need to include the full address.
I”m most fond of the 301 permanent redirect using my .htaccess file. You can create one of these using Notepad (not Microsoft Word or other word processing software), but before you upload it to your server, be sure there isn”t one there already, as it will mess up your site if you overwrite an existing file with a new one that doesn”t have the current information. But if you have one there already you can edit it to add the new redirects.
The code is simple: Redirect permanent /filename addressyouareredirectingto. This should all be on one line. Once again, if you”re going off site that means you will need the full address. This works only on Linux servers having the Apache Mod-Rewrite module enabled.
You can also do this in PHP. Within the brackets to start and finish PHP commands, place the following code:
Header( “HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently″ );
Header( “Location: http://www.new-url.com” );
There are many more ways to create redirects, and if you aren”t using them already I strongly encourage you to investigate them. They make your affiliate links look cleaner and may help with your sales. Just check that the tracking is working properly when you use them.
About The Author
Stephanie Foster blogs at http://www.aspectsofhomebusiness.com/blog/ about running her home business. Get more tips on successful affiliate marketing at her site.
5 Deadly Mistakes That Affiliates Make-Quiz
By Kristi Sayles
Some people are making big money with affiliate programs-some are not. With a little research I have discovered that the people that are not cashing many checks are making the same five mistakes. Why not take a short quiz to see how you rate? Do you qualify as a novice, average, or super affiliate? Try this true and false quiz. You might learn something!
1. To make sure that you get all of the traffic you need, all you have to do is to put a link or banner on your site. Sales will come flooding in. (T or F)
2. It is a good idea to promote as many programs as you can on one web page created solely for that purpose. (T or F)
3. Free classified ads and FFA”s generate sufficient traffic. You don”t HAVE to invest money into advertising to be effective. (T or F)
4. Use the words, amazing, fantastic, and incredible as many times as you can to generate enthusiasm when advertising a site. (T or F)
5. If sales do not come immediately, you should drop the program and find another one that sounds better. (T or F)
How did you do? Let”s see:
1. False. Although a smart affiliate will include his link on his web site, this alone will not result in much traffic. It is much smarter to branch out with several kinds of advertising such as paid emails and solo ads to business opportunity seekers. I have found that sending my ads to targeted traffic results in far more sales than shot gun marketing to one and all. Although we hope that people will click on our links, we have to get them there first. Targeted traffic programs are best.
2. False. While being actively involved in several different affiliate programs is not harmful, including a dozen affiliate links on a single page with no main product advertisement, brands the webmasters as amateurs-especially if the offers conflict with one another! On the other hand, a list of resources to the side that complements the main product is a good idea-and may result in sales!
3. False. Although these freebies may sound tempting to newbies, we that have been around the net for awhile have discovered that they are generally a waste of valuable time. Using that time to write articles with URLS in the author bio boxes or gaining testimonials for your site is more profitable. Actually, most super affiliates are willing to invest a few dollars to be successful. Paid email programs and solo ads are inexpensive and still effective. Many good programs will let you begin with as little as ten bucks. That”s less than the cost of a decent lunch!
4. False. Using these hype phrases when advertising may not generate as much enthusiasm as it does skepticism. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We know this. So, tell the truth. If you have a good product, then tell your potential customer how he can benefit. Then let him decide how amazing it is. If it really is so awesome, then testimonials will do the real advertising.
5. False. Big mistake! Give the program some time. DON”T give up quickly. While it”s not a bad idea to test out new programs, don”t jump from program to program. You”ll find that legitimate programs with good products will pay off if you are patient.
Your score: 2 or less correct. Right now, you are in the NOVICE rating. Your affiliate marketing skills need to be honed. But don”t despair! You need help and there are lots of terrific techniques out there that are just what you need to achieve that affiliate income that you”ve always wanted!!
3-4 correct. You are an AVERAGE affiliate. You have obviously been around affiliate marketing awhile, but you could use a refresher course. I highly recommend finding a pro to learn from! Before long, you too will be a SUPER AFFILIATE!
All 5 correct: You are a SUPER affiliate! Keep up the good work and don”t forget that the best affiliate marketers NEVER stop learning!
About The Author
Kristi Sayles invites you to her site at http://ICanMakeCash.com to learn how to make money online and to sign up for her free newsletter that regularly offers time-tested advice, free/reduced priced business products, contests and fun!
Things To Consider When Buying Business Shredders
By Andy West
Businesses of all sizes need to have certain equipment at the start of the business in order to operate smoothly. Computers, telephones and fax machines are some obvious examples of equipment that all businesses will buy. There are also other items that should be purchased at this time which don”t always come to mind as easily as these common items.
For example, business shredders are a necessary purchase for any new business. The average business owner may overlook this purchase but as soon as confidential documents start circulating around the office, it will become obvious that this type of equipment is necessary to the immediate and ongoing security of the business.
Unfortunately, it”s not as easy to purchase business shredders as it is to purchase other common types of equipment. That is due to the fact that these are less common purchases that not all business people are familiar with. Almost everyone has bought a computer and telephone in his or her lifetime. Not everybody has purchased a paper shedder.
Purchases like these will take a little bit more research for the individual who is not familiar with buying such equipment. These purchases require that the individual takes the time to learn the features that need to be considered when buying such an item.
Luckily, there aren”t too many things to be learned before you can easily make a wise purchase. It”s only necessary that a few basic things be researched before making a purchase. The first thing that needs to be learned is what different options there are for buying paper shredders. The individual who begins researching this will discover that there are two major considerations regarding this type of equipment.
The first is whether the shredder cuts paper in strips or if it cross-cuts the paper. And the second is the level of security that applies to the shredder. Once these two things are researched and decided, the basics of buying will be similar to those of buying other more common equipment.
When first researching, an individual will find that paper shredders either cut in strips or in cross-cutting style. Strips are considered less secure for those businesses that want to keep items confidential. Businesses that have no secrets and minimal paperwork that might list account numbers and other private information on them may find that a shredder that cuts in strips is sufficient enough. Others will look at purchasing cross-cutting shredders.
The individual will learn at this time that business shredders are rated with different levels of security. Common commercial shredders are rated level three or four. This means they are cross-cutting shredders with basic security levels. More advanced shredders are available for businesses that have a lot of sensitive or private information held within the office.
The security issue is really the only major issue that will need to be researched in-depth in order for someone to appropriately review and make a purchase. All of the other steps in this decision-making process will be those steps common to the purchase of any other type of business equipment. These steps will include things like reading user reviews and expert opinions about different types of paper shredders as well as considering the cost vs. cost-savings of the many different brands available.
Ultimately, the individual will generally find that it is not difficult to make this type of purchase. It just seems intimidating because the item being purchased is new. Anyone who has experience purchasing business equipment in general will discover that some research will help in finding the best business shredder for their specific needs.
About The Author
Andy West is a writer for iShopShredders.com which offers many different brands of business shredders including the Dahle shredder.
Want More Website Traffic? Improve Your Ranking In The Search Engines
By Johan Krost
So many of the clients who come to me wanting their website designed, or redesigned, also want to know how to get more website traffic and better search engine placement without paying for the “pay-per-click” sponsorships on the engines themselves. There are specifically two things you can immediately focus on to have the maximum impact, for the least amount of investment-HTML Tags and Search Engine Submission.
While HTML coding might not “be your thing,” it is important to understand the fundamentals so you can strategically position your website with the various search engines.
Use Meta tags and web copy to your advantage.
When a search engine visits your website it will look at the page title, the Meta tags, and the body text. Before submitting your website to the search engines, pay close attention that all of your HTML tags, including Meta tags, are descriptive and accurately reflect your site”s content.
Page Titles and Meta Description Tags
Many of the major search engines place the highest priority on page title and Meta Description Tags. Without a descriptive page title, your site may have a difficult time being found, as you are not indexed properly. The page title should be 5-15 words in length and include your organization name and a descriptive phrase.
Example-Home Page: Go-To-Market Strategies – a Seattle-based sales and marketing consulting firm.
Example-Secondary Page: Go-To-Market Strategies – Marketing Services.
After your page titles are determined, be sure to use a Meta Description Tag on your home page, as this information is what most search engines display to potential visitors in the search results. The Meta Description Tag should be a brief description of your company and be limited to 25 words, or 200 characters.
Example: “Go-To-Market Strategies is a sales and marketing firm that helps small to medium sized companies integrate the magic of marketing with the science of sales.”
Meta Keyword Tag
The Meta Keyword Tag should include words or phrases that people would use when searching for your company”s products or services. A good way to find the most popular keywords is to inquire with a major search engine about paying for a keyword. They will give you a list for your industry segment. You may or may not choose to purchase some of these keywords if your budget allows, but either way you should include the most relevant in your website”s Keyword Tag. Again, try to limit the Meta Keyword Tag to 150 words or 1000 characters and review your keywords frequently, dropping off the ones that aren”t working for you or are no longer relevant.
Body Text
As you consider your website copy and the tags and titles you plan to use within the HTML code, you must make sure the language between the two is consistent. If the search engine finds your tags don”t accurately reflect the body text within the site, they will rank you much lower in search results, or possibly not include you at all. To verify content is consistent, use words or phrases that are relevant to your business (often your positioning statement) on your “home” page in paragraph form. The search engine will then compare all the Meta tags to the text on the actual page to be sure you are not in violation of their rules and regulations.
When creating your body text, do not try to hide your text by making it extremely small or by making it the same color as your background. Many search engines frown on extremely small text, light colored fonts on light background, and dark colored fonts on dark backgrounds. Today, a search engine will view hidden or small text as a spamming technique and penalize your website or completely remove it.
Also, be careful about pages built with graphics only. Without body text on a website, the search engine will see a blank page. It is true that a page containing graphics or a flash movie may look more attractive, but it can prove to be disastrous to your search engine positioning.
Submit your URL to all the major search engines.
You can do this yourself of course, but for the time and labor you would spend each month staying on top of it-and you HAVE to stay on top of it consistently to be effective-I recommend you use a service.
Finally, don”t forget to promote your site on all of your marketing materials. This sounds basic, but it really is quite common for people to not include their URL on their business papers, marketing materials, email signatures, direct mail pieces, etc. Do a quick audit and make sure your URL is on EVERY communication piece.
About The Author
Johan Krost is an expert on affiliate marketing and work at vaga de empregos. Discover severals ways to succeed at affiliate marketing on vaga de empregos
How Search Engines Help Your Local Business
By Mark Kimathi
The discussion of Search Engines (SE) may sound way off for a local offline business. Infact most will only consider a website if their business goes beyond the country”s borders and particularly if they are targeting markets overseas. This explains the content starved brochure like websites developed by most local companies and businesses.
What is not commonly known is that SEs are advanced for local searches. This then means that one can search for information, products or services provided within walking distance of where you live. As of right now, SEs are looking into ways to encourage this kinds of searches as they are seen as the next frontier in the industry.
It is anticipated that you will be able to search for even an obscure thing like “Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary″ and find a copy at the local second hand dealer not far away from your home. But for this to happen, the local second hand dealer needs to have a website not only optimized for their products, but also for their local area.
SEs are already designed to tell the difference by the type of results served between, for example, “Brake repair” and “Brake repair Nairobi″. Someone searching for the former would often be searching for information on brake repairs. On the other hand, a search specified with a location like the latter is often someone in need of those services within the specified area.
So what does this mean for a local business person? It means having a website is not only a sign of being with the times. A well positioned website has potential to introduce a whole new market to your business you otherwise wouldn”t reach. Keeping in mind the cost of hosting and maintaining a website, you should easily make profit.
Secondly, you need to optimize your website to be found for both you products and you local area. This translates to removing those four paragraphs you lifted from the brochures and creating informative content. On the brake repair example above, you could detail on how different braking systems are damaged, to show of your expertise and what you do at your repair shop to correct the damage.
Thirdly, sell you visitors. In the same repair shop example, you could offer a substantial discount if the surfer actually visits your shop at Industrial Area for a brake repair job.
Already some are testing the waters with local online business. And though they might not be getting huge traffic from the still infant local search, it is reassuring for their visitors that they do not have to convince their new found “love” to pay for their flight to physically meet them in France. An affordable cup of coffee at The Stanley will do just fine. That”s local search for you.
About The Author
Courtesy of Site Build It Review the leading All-in-One Small Online Business solution. See a SBI wbesite eaxample – exercises for losing weight.
Find Out What Your Blog Readers Want – (Not What They Need)
By Barry Wayne
One of the most difficult marketing realities to get your head around is this:
People will usually buy what they WANT
before they buy what they NEED.
This is particularly true online where temptation and opportunity lurk around every page corner.
A woman may need to get from her house, to work, and back.
But, she wants a Hummer H2.
Fulfilling the need to get to work and back could be a bus pass. But, the Hummer H2 fulfills her wants though the Hummer is serious overkill for meeting a transportation need.
Add to this counterintuitive concept, the filter that wants and needs are dominated by is our own personal perception. If you”ve ever spoken the words you don”t know what”s good for you, then you have some idea of how murky our understanding can be of our own situation.
I need to get to bed and get some sleep has frequently been trumped by I think I”ll have another beer.
So, if you come to the marketplace seeking to fulfill someone”s needs, you run the risk of missing the mark and setting up a sales system that won”t convert to very many sales.
This is not an exact science, but an aspect of your marketing that you should pay attention to. People will often TALK about what they NEED and dream or think about (or even do Google searches for?) what they WANT.
When you start to examine a market look carefully at what people are saying and the WAY they are expressing their desires and questions.
Words mean things. They have a meaning that begins in the mind of the searcher and are expressed in the context we find them online. Pay attention and when you are looking at discovering your client needs and wants always ask yourself to look deeper.
Consumer-society has trained us to eat your dessert first and it is not uncommon for a truly useful product to sit in the shadows of a sexier one that is just fun.
This is something that divorced people can often relate to.
Keep an open mind here and be willing to challenge your assumptions about your market as you look for the pony in the pile. You may need to start with a cheaper fun product and evolve the customer toward a more profitable needs based purchase after they have begun to trust you more.
Don”t wait around forever doing research. Reach a reasonable conclusion and move on. If what you are offering to your market is not what they want they will vote by not taking you up on the offer and you can learn from that and get better.
About The Author
Barry Wayne is an online business consultant and project manager with 13 years experience in web development and Internet marketing.
Please visit his blog, 1Cat.biz, for more information on how to start a blog and use it to grow your busness.
7 Easy To Follow Steps To Making Money Online
By Chris Rohrer
Each and every day more and more people go on the web in search of ways to work from home, and earn extra money. This is a becoming a bigger and bigger trend and it will only continue to grow and time progresses. There will be some who capitalize on this and those who fail.
Today I would like to share with you ten easy to do steps that are proven to help you make money online.
1. Get a website from godaddy.com. If you are serious about working from home you will need your own website. This will be your front door till the world wide web.
2. Once you bought a website your next step is to sign up and get an auto responder account. Aweber is one of the leading providers when it comes to auto responders. They are easy to setup and offer great customer support.
3. Find something to sell online. If you are going to make money online it is going to be by selling something. The easiest and quickest way to get started is by becoming an affiliate for a program. A great place to look for things to sell online is clickbank.com
4. Now that you have found something to sell you must design a lead capture page. This page will be displayed on your website and will be very short and to the point. It will only give a little information about your service or product you are selling.
5. After you complete your lead capture page now its time to place your auto responder form on your website. Your auto responder system will play a big roll in your success. This will allow visitors to fill out their name and email and request more information about your service or product.
6. Sell your self in your emails. People love a story. When someone fills out their information to learn more about your product or service tell your story and explain to them how this product or service has helped you, and how it can help them.
7. Advertise your website. This is this biggest thing you will have to do, and the most important thing. You must advertise and get people to your website. The quickest way to do this is by using Google Adwords.
This is the exact system the pros and the so called gurus use to make their money online. Follow this blueprint, and work at your business each and every day, and success will soon follow.
About The Author
To learn more about working at home and making money online using proven business systems visit Free Safelist Email Marketing
Do You Have What It Takes To Market The Internet Home Based Business Ideas
By Juhani Tontti
The only, and I mean ONLY, technique is located in a newbie`s attitude, skills and thoughts. This is the simple reason, why you must ask the right questions, before you even to think to enter into a program as a newbie.
1.Are You Competitive / Do You Like To Win?
The marketing of the internet home based business ideas happens always in the Net, where the competition is always present, day and night. The secret to reach your target is to be ready and willing to win whatever happens, even by over reacting.
2.Do You Want And Are You Capable To Work Independently?
Working with your internet home based business ideas happens by your PC at home. Sounds nice? But the price of this freedom is that you must have the discipline to work alone according to the plan. The only fellows you have are those at the forums.
3.Do You Like Stress Or Unwaited Things?
Stress comes from the situations, when things do not go according to the plan. Someone gets an extra motivation from that, someone will lose his ability to work or even quits the whole business.
How is it with you?
4.Do You Sit On The Driver`s Seat In Your Own Life?
For many people things just happen. How is it with you, do you decide what you want? Are you goal-minded, who sets the goals for day, week, month, year or for the whole life?
5.Are You Enthusiastic About Something?
Or do you work just because you need the salary to life? To run the internet home based business ideas requires the enthusiastic mind of the entrepreneur, because if you choose that route, you will be an entrepreneur.
6.Do You Like The Idea To Become A Leader?
Does this idea thrill you? That other people will regard you as an expert in your area? Are you willing to study all those things that is required for this?
7.Can You Keep Your Plan When You Face Errors?
Or do you have the ability to change the plan immediately, if you cannot reach your goals right away? Can you polish your mind quickly if needed or do the bad things bother you during a long period of time? Can you see mistakes as a learning process?
8.Are You Ready To Learn New Things?
Do you think, that you can conduct your thoughts by learning new things and this is actually the way to reach your goals? Are you ready to go outside your comfort zone?
9.Are You Ready To Take The Responsibility?
Do you think honestly, that you know what to do and that you are ready to take the responsibility about everything in the marketing of your internet home based business ideas without blaming others, when the necessary moment of failing has come?
10.Are You Able To Pick And Trust Your Mentors?
You will need one or two experienced tutors or mentors, who will guide you. Are you willing to take the advice from them or some other expert to be able to learn more?
11.Are You More Result Oriented Than Website Oriented?
If you just like to finetune the source code of your website without worrying the commercial results, maybe running the internet home based business ideas is not your area and you should concentrate on the coding.
12.Do You Regard Progress Over Perfectionism?
Running the internet home based business ideas means interactions with several people from several countries with several backgrounds. This brings a certain flavor into the business and very surely do not allow any kind of perfectionism but rather flexibility.
13.Are You Ready To Invest Into Self-Improvement Whatever Needed?
Success is the result of excellent skills and talents. This brings a requirement to improve your skills all the time and to follow the latest marketing news regularly. A willingness to read is a great ability. Do you want to read and to learn?
14.Do You Understand That A Business Start-Up Needs Extra Work?
It seems that many think that starting a new business is just fun, without any hard work and without any changes in the life. That is nonsense! To start running your internet home based business ideas requires huge sacrifices in the start-up phase and you must do them.
Did you like these questions? I would say that if your answer was positive to 10 out of these 14 questions, you will most probably succeed in the internet home business market.
With whatever result, I hope these questions can serve you as a personal checklist, when you ponder your inner things.
About The Author
Juhani Tontti, B.Sc., Marketing. Inside Out With The Right Attitude! Think About The Questions Above And Grab More Information From My Support Site, Click Here. Internet Home Based Business Ideas
How to Create Quality Content to Attract Targeted Traffic to Your Website
By Bob Withers
Content is generally designed to produce traffic, to bring people to your website to buy your products or services. Content should be created with the intended audience in mind.
It is the expression and communication of information and is the real thing, which visitors will spot immediately when they first visit your website. Content is only as strong as it”s appeal to your visitors and is usually given away in order to attract people to goods and services they are willing to pay for.
This leads us to the question: What are the best types of content to attract people to your products and services?
Articles have long been regarded as one of the best internet marketing strategies in use today. People like to read well written articles about a subject they are naturally interested in.
Your articles should be tailored to attract your target audience and also formed around the product or service you are promoting. Your article also needs to be keyword rich so as to attract the various search engines and gain a ranking near the top of their list.
Downloads or free downloads are also an attraction to surfers online. Anything that can make someone”s life a little easier, for example a free website building tool or HTML editor, is very popular. People like tools and tools which can save them time are a bonus.
People also like to be entertained and this is where multimedia can play a large role in attracting potential customers to your site. An audio message welcoming your guests sprinkled with a little humor can add to your quality content.
Movie trailers, comedy clips and music are also nice additions to any website. Again you select your content with your target audience in mind.
Interactive multimedia is also a big attraction online. For example, you could have a daily quiz or a weekly survey where you incorporate some type of prize for the person with the highest score. Again you could construct the questions around what you”re promoting or the type of visitor you want to attract.
Sports are always a big draw, especially if you”re going after a male oriented audience for your product or service. You could incorporate a sports update feed from one of the free content providers which displays up to the minute scores and highlights of different events in the sporting world.
Along the same lines of video you could create your own recording which incorporates the product or service you are selling in a way which stands out or is out of the norm.
Instructional videos are also popular. Teach your users how to do something. If you”re targeting Internet Marketers for example, an article or instructional video on how to generate traffic to your website or how to write killer classified ads would be a good draw.
When it comes to quality content the ideas are endless and are only limited by your imagination. But always remember to keep your target audience in mind and you”ll get the targeted traffic you need to succeed online.
About The Author
Bob Withers is a professional sales and marketing person with over twenty years in the field. He has also turned his sights on network marketing to apply his trade. If you want to get in touch with Bob or learn more about sales and marketing please visit:
Free Sales and Marketing Advice
