Emacomsrl

We all understand the importance of good “people skills” when it comes to our interpersonal communication – it helps us get the results we need. Our communication determines the opinion others have of us – knowledgeable or ignorant, pleasant or rude, professional or immature. Most of the time this is in face-to-face or telephone conversations where we have some control over the impression we make on others.

When it comes to netiquette (Network Etiquette), it’s not as easy to control how others perceive us, and yet it’s even more important. Why? Because what you write and how you use email can affect whether your email gets delivered, read, or responded to – and what that response is! In addition, there are numerous “technology traps” that are easy to fall into. Have you ever seen someone accidentally send an angry or sensitive response to a huge group of people by using the ”Reply All” key?

And before you say to yourself “I already know” and stop reading this article, realize that every single one of us could benefit from a few simple reminders on the proper use of email, not just from a personal view but also from a business standpoint. If you’re doing business on the internet – and using email to communicate with your customers – then this article is a must read for you! You may already know many of these tips, but even the most experienced user will find a few rules you were not aware of or have fallen into the habit of breaking.

Think, write, and think again.
Email is a static, one-way channel – unlike live communication, there’s no way to get immediate feedback (from facial expressions or voice responses) to know if we are being effective or even understood. So think twice before hitting the send key. Is there ANY chance that the recipient might misinterpret what you want them to understand? Do your thoughts come across as abrupt or angry? Could this email accidentally affect your reputation? The hastily written word may lack feelings and the true emotion you intended. You might be smiling as you type, but your note could come across as sarcastic or mean-spirited. Remember – there’s a person on the other end, not just a computer.

Use a meaningful subject line.
This is the first thing your reader will see, so use the space to help them understand the contents of the email even before they open it. Using the same rule from above, type in a subject that relates to the message you’re sending, rather than leaving the subject blank. Without a subject line your note will probably be seen as another piece of junk mail – not everyone will recognize who you are just from your email address. Many internet service providers (ISP’s) filter out suspicious looking email, and a blank subject is a big red flag. Also, try to avoid generic words like “Hi” or “Check This Out” to avoid having the recipients spam or virus software delete your message!

The beginning, and the end.
Always use a salutation, even if it’s short. Start your message with “Hi”, or “Hello”, or “Dear”, whatever works best for the intended recipient, and whatever reflects your personality. Think about this: when you call someone on the telephone, don’t you say “Hello” before telling them what you want? Email messages should be no different. At a minimum, address the email to the person.

Don’t forget the end of your message too! Always sign your messages with your name, and say “Thank You”, or “Sincerely”, or something else appropriate. You can even setup a signature in your email program that will automatically display your information at the bottom of every email message you send. For directions, use your email programs help file and do a search for signature.

Protect your recipient’s identity – use “To:”, “CC:” and “BC:” properly.
There are a few simple netiquette rules for using the address fields in email.

If your email is being sent to just one person or email address, place it in the “To:” field. This should be the person who is responsible for sending you a reply.

When your email is being sent to more than one person and all the recipients truly need to know who else is receiving it, put all the addresses in the “CC:” field.

For email sent to multiple recipients who have no real reason to know the names and email addresses of everyone else to whom it is being sent, put all the addresses in the “BCC:” field.

(Some email software requires at least one address to be placed in the “To:” field. Put your own email address in the “To:” section if this is required.)

By default, not every email program has the BCC field available for viewing. If you cannot see the Bcc field in your program, check your programs help file for directions.

Give memory a helping hand.
When replying to emails, include a copy of the prior notes you’ve traded with the person on the topic, don’t just send a new one. I may receive 50 emails a day that need a reply and it’s not always possible to remember every single ‘conversation’ with every single person. Please don’t make your reader go looking through their ‘sent items’ folder or email ‘recycle bin’ to refresh their memory!

Use the ‘Read Receipt’ sparingly.
In some cases, it’s crucial for both parties to know that a message was received. However, in normal day-to-day activities you should not request a read receipt for every single message you send. It’s annoying to the recipient to have to click that pop up box every time they get your email. And it is an invasion of privacy. Don’t forget – just because they have received it doesn’t mean they have necessarily read it, so receiving a read receipt doesn’t actually prove anything other than that the message was received. And for day to day communications, is that really necessary?

URGENT!
The boy who cried wolf. Do not send all your messages as URGENT, or HIGH PRIORITY. If your recipients keep receiving messages marked that way, then eventually the red exclamation point loses it’s effectiveness – except to reinforce how important YOU think you are. Reserve these messages for those that are of utmost importance!

Avoid special formatting.
For your day-to-day messages, don’t use colored email backgrounds, colored fonts, special fonts, images or other “pretty” type of formatting to your messages. Keep them clean – this makes it easier for the intended recipient to read them and reply. It’s best to send messages in plain text to ensure everyone will be able to read them, since not everyone has their email set to receive html emails. You would be amazed at how bad your note may look to someone viewing their email on a handheld device or an older computer. By keeping your emails clean, they will also load much faster for the recipient!

Don’t SHOUT!
If you type in all capital letters, your reader will see this as yelling, or they will think that you were just too lazy to use proper text formatting. It’s also hard on the eyes – did you know that it takes longer to read something written in all caps than it does to read something that is properly formatted?

Proof, spell-check, and use proper formatting.
Poor writing skills are a direct reflection on you! And the reader never forgets the person who writes an undecipherable message. Spell checking will prevent most misspelled words, but you should always proof your email in case you’ve written the incorrect word (that was spelled correctly). For example, month and moth, where and were, all look correct to a spell-check program. Use proper capitalization, punctuation and formatting. Break your paragraphs when the subject changes, or if they become too long. Don’t use excessive formatting (too much bold, too many exclamation points and question marks, etc.) Too much of anything will make your message harder to read. You want to make your message easily readable, as well as understandable. Proofread it to ensure it make sense, and never assume the reader knows what you mean, always spell it out for them. The time it takes to proof and spell check is minimal compared to the lasting impression you will make if you don’t take the time.

Take the time to send a reply.
Even when someone emails you something that doesn’t need a direct response, follow up with them in a timely manner just to let them know you received their message. It’s amazing how often people will ask for advice, and not even reply with a short “Thank you” when they receive their answer. A simple message telling the sender is sufficient. And this lets them know you did receive it, that it didn’t just get stuck in cyberspace somewhere.

If they didn’t request it, don’t send it!
No matter what you think may be acceptable, you cannot email someone about your product/service without their permission. Unless they request that you send them an email, or you have previously done business with them, then it is illegal to send them an email, period. Any recipient can easily forward your email to their ISP and report you for sending unsolicited email messages (SPAM).

This report would result in the immediate removal of all your websites/email address from most servers. You would then join a list of “prohibited senders” meaning that servers would not allow any messages attached to your domain name to be received by their customers – the people you are sending your messages to.

You might be thinking, “but I get emails every day about products/services that I didn’t request information about.” Sending unsolicited email messages (SPAM), is kind of like speeding. Lot’s of people do it, but it is against the law, and no matter how long you may get away with it, you are bound to get caught!

Compress, Compress, Compress!
If you are sending an email with several large attachments, it is often better to send them in a few separate emails, so that you don’t send a document that is too large to even open. Or, you can try compressing your messages into a zipped file. It doesn’t reduce the size of images or pictures very much, but it works great for text, spreadsheet and program files. This is very easy to do, and will make your file size much smaller, and make the recipient much happier. Check out www.winzip.com (for those on pc).

Hoaxes as helpful hints.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do not forward everything that gets sent to you. We’ve all seen them – the chain-letter emails that promise if you forward to x number of people you’ll get paid, or you’ll win something, or you will be lucky forever. It’s all a hoax, a scam, and the only result is huge numbers of email transmissions that slow down servers all across the country. If you receive one of these emails from a friend, reply to them (in a very nice way) and explain to them why this isn’t true, or ask them to stop forwarding them to you.

Virus, or virus advice?
Many viruses are spread by email masquerading as warnings about – a virus! If someone forwards you a virus warning, which usually contains instructions for removing a virus from your computer… check google.com for that virus BEFORE doing anything. Chances are, it’s also a hoax, and if you do remove that “bad file” from your computer, you’re actually removing a necessary component crucial to your system!

Wow, that was a lot of information to take in at one time, but I congratulate you for sticking it out and reading the entire article. Please share it with your family, friends and colleagues.

K92 Directory
K94 Directory

How Dropshipping works with eBay By Joe Richey SwapSellTrade.Com

Dropshipping is a term used in reference to a type of retail sales, where the retailer does not keep goods for sale in stock. The retailer is in charge of passing the customer’s order with their shipment details to a wholesaler, dropshipper or third party provider, who dispatches the goods requested by the customer directly.

Retailers using this sales model make their profit on the difference between the wholesale and the retail prices handled. Because the goods are not in stock, many retailers have purchased some of those items to be displayed at their land-based stores, allowing their customers to inspect the items, which are similar to those that they can purchase by placing an order.

Many retailers can receive from wholesalers and dropshippers different catalogs to increase the number of goods on sale without actually investing in any of those items, although some catalogs are not for free, but always cheaper than buying merchandise to display for customers. Dropshipping on the Internet is a virtual matter involving digital images of goods a retailer is selling.

On the Internet, retailers can upload the description of the goods for sale along with pictures and other information. This is made through the retailers’ personal or commercial website, or listing the products at an auction site, such as eBay, where the potential buyers are waiting to bid.

Because dropshipping, is a method of selling and distributing goods that the retailer does not have in stock, the listings usually include pictures and information that are available to sales catalogs.

Manufacturers of goods and distributors are not one in the same. Hence, dropshippers are distributors that just receive the order from the retailer and send the items directly to the end user on the retailer’s behalf. Therefore, dropshipping involves 3 persons in the selling process: the dropshipper, the retailer and the end user, usually targeted at auction sites.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a successful online auction and shopping website, founded in September 1995, where people from all around the world buy and sell goods and services. Ebay is the leading online marketplace for selling physical and virtual goods, services and second-hand products, and collectibles from a diverse community of both businesses and individuals.

It is estimated that the eBay community is comprised of around 46.1 million registered users in different countries, speaking different tongues, eBay is the most popular shopping site on the web, thus the most frequently associated with dropshipping activities because of the nature of the Internet.

Online it is not necessary to have a stock of physical goods for sale, and many items sold are digital goods, easily processed without needing to be on stock.

Retailers at eBay usually sell small quantities of their products to other users registered at eBay’s website. Whether physical or digital, sometimes those goods are also available through a land-based store or listed at personal web pages or e-commerce sites owned by retailers.

Dropshipping is a common practice that occurs when retailers receive a single large order for a product, and rather than route the shipment of those goods through their store, the retailers arrange for the goods to be shipped directly from the wholesaler (the dropshipper) to the purchaser.

eBay retailers sell millions of collectibles, equipment, furniture, computers, appliances, vehicles, and many other miscellaneous items, which are listed, sold and bought everyday.

Because there is no limit to the number of listed items at eBay, a retailer can list a single book and make available 50 units. These units are not in the seller’s stock, but available to be delivered in any quantity to the final end user after arranging for the delivery with the dropshipper to the final user.

Dropshippers are wholesalers, whether individuals or companies, selling large quantities of goods and merchandise to commercial, industrial, institutional, or other professional business users, or individuals acting as agents or brokers in buying or selling merchandise for others. Thus, it is more likely that goods listed by a retailer can be purchased from them at any time, while in stock.

At eBay, dropshipping works as long as retailer can purchase the goods on sale from the wholesalers. However, there are rare and valuable items that can hardly be found as unique items. If an end user wants to buy one of those rare goods, he/she must be aware if the retailers are listing a large number of them, because users will be purchasing all items with the risk of fraud. If they have, more than one of these rare items for sale, then how rare is the item.

Although, almost anything can be sold at eBay, the listed goods must not be illegal nor violate the internal prohibited and restricted policy. Listing fraudulent items or those misleading the buyer is absolutely forbidden. From physical and digital goods to services and intangibles, eBay is the super trampoline for retailer sales.

Dropshippers and retailers work hand in hand to sell at eBay. Retailers are only know as sellers, who usually bid on an item marked as new, with the goal in mind to ship the item directly from the dropshipper to the highest bidder. The seller’s profits come from the difference between the winning bid and the wholesale price offered by the dropshipper, minus the selling fees from eBay.

In another modality or dropshipping practice, a retailer can use private freight carriers to transport large volume of goods. These items are delivered from the manufacturer directly to a postal office closer to the location where the end recipients live, instead of deliver the selling orders directly to the dropshipper, with the purpose to save time and postal costs.

Whichever the modality, eBay has been involved in controversy, ranging from such dropshipping activities to privacy policy violations, and the well-known seller fraud. However, eBay has provided information showing that only less than .01% of all the site’s transactions result in a confirmed case of fraud.

In some of them, eBays argues that some of those complaints are related to end users discovering that they have purchased an item from a wholesaler and not from a retailer, filling a claim because of the difference of prices, or due to a very few other deceptive practices.

Dropshippers offer wholesaler prices indeed, but retailers do not. The difference between a wholesaler price and the eBay’s listing price is the retailer’s profit. This cannot be considered defrauding the users, however they are just lying a little bit when they say they have the goods in stock that they actually do not have, and do not send from their own location.

Genuine wholesale prices are never shown to the public by resellers, but can be found if the end user has seen the item elsewhere and investigate. The best way to determine if drop shippers are legitimate wholesale suppliers is by paying attention to their tax identification number, which is required within the dealer application. Otherwise, established dropshippers with wholesaler activities require either a Social Security number or a Federal Tax ID (EIN).

Furthermore, authentic dropshippers will never require membership fees to access their services, so they will never offer full or partial refunds after a certain number of inventory purchases are made. Manufacturers, wholesalers, dropshippers, retailers and sellers are often mistakenly confused because of their selling activity, but all of them use different practices aimed at different clientele.

Depending on the management, dropshipping profits can be immense for retailers, but as sellers, retailers have to rely on the professionalism and goodwill of the dropshipper, particularly when all the deals and businesses with them are made via the Internet. On this basis, there is always a risk to get a wrong item supplying a faulty product, or when the dropshipper downright sends an incorrect one.

At eBay, the seller’s reputation is affected for the good or bad dropshipping practices, because to the end buyer it does not make a difference whether the seller is a retailer or not. Buyers want to receive the goods that they paid for, and they want to receive exactly what is listed, and not a similar product with the excuse of that the original is “out of stock”.

Due to a fraud prevention mechanism implemented by eBay, users have a feedback system where they can submit their experiences after purchasing any merchandise, reflecting their un-satisfaction if their expectations were not fulfilled. As bidirectional feature, both the sellers and the buyers can submit feedback and rate one other.

The rating system is only available after every transaction is made. Buyers and sellers get a “positive”, “negative” or “neutral” rating. They can leave a short comment or remark regarding a particular bid, for instance, when a buyer receives from a dropshipper a product, which is not exactly that, was listed by the retailer.

When buyers have problems with sellers or when they do not receive the goods listed, buyers can rate sellers negatively, usually leaving a comment to harm the sellers’ reputation or to warn other users about their bad experience, and even submit a claim for fraud. The importance of the rating system at eBay is based on the fact that buyers can examine a seller’s feedback history.

In fact, new users are always encouraged to verify the seller’s history as a buyers’ protection practice. eBay’s feedback system protects buyers and sellers, who can also reject a bid when a feedback rating is not enough for the seller’s expectations.

Another problem when a seller is involved in dropshipping activities is that there is always a risk of getting dropshippers that already have too many sellers using their services. This can be discouraging, because the dreams of exceptional profits disappear when a considerable number of eBay’s users, are selling the same goods and seeking the same opportunities to capitalize on below-retail prices offered by the dropshipper.

If the competition is high, the prices go down, reducing the planned profit margins, and the lower the profits and the less affordable the dropshipping activity. However, knowing the basics about dropshipping, many users feel attracted to becoming sellers and develop a retailer activity using the services of one or more dropshippers.

If you are considering this possibility, before doing anything, choose a product to sell. Deciding on a product is the first step towards any selling process. Many people fail at this point because the belief that using the services of a dropshipper, the items to sell are irrelevant, due to the fact that all items will be available at the wholesaler’s stock instead of you own.

Although there are many factors to take into consideration when it comes to selecting your first dropshipping product, most retailers focus their attention on postal savings, selecting books, CD’s or other easy to carry merchandise, while others consider small items can cut costs, but there are usually more competitors selling the same items.

Dropshipping can deliver to your customers from a needle to elaborated pieces of furniture, so think carefully when choosing a product.

Once you have determined what you want to sell, locate the distributor who will be in charge of dropshipping the merchandise for you to the end users. This is easily achieved by doing a research using Google or any other of the major search engines. However, there are special eBay Dropshipping tools created to help you find dropshippers in your area, nationwide or worldwide.

Thanks Joe Richey Copyrighted Article Belonging to SwapSellTrade.com

K86 Directory
K87 Directory

Dmoz.org or ODP (the Open Directory Project) is a web directory which was originally created in 1998 as Gnuhoo by Rich Skrenta and Bob Truel while working at Sun Microsystems. The first controversy started soon Soon after the launch the directory and lead to renaming it to NewHoo after wide spread accusation that the name of the directory implied open source yet the directory was a closed source which negates the spirit of free software of GNU projects which the directory was originally named after.

The directory was sold to Netscape which is now part of AOL/Time warner and currently boasts of having 5,229,762 sites, 71,337 editors, in over 590,000 categories. The importance of the directory increased and its status and the status of websites listed in it also increased despite the Internet trends of using search engines to locate websites faster than navigating through a multitude of categories in a web directory to find what you’re looking for. The popularity and importance of Dmoz to webmasters followed the increased importance and relevance big search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN placed on the directory and on sites listed in it. This can be seen clearly in search results with sites listed in Dmoz listed on top of most search results for most search term. Another value that has been closely associated to Dmoz was Pagerank, which is a value Google places on web pages, one of the most important factor that drives Pagerank up when Google does its calculation of Pagerank is the number of back links, and the Pagerank value of those linking web pages.

Dmoz is important not only because it is a great web directory, but because many search engines adopted it as its de facto directory because of the ease of importing the the whole directory data and reusing it as its own. Google’s own web directory is based on that of Dmoz. The estimated number of web sites that use Dmoz’s data as a base for their own directories, and the number of mirror sites of Dmoz are not known exactly but it can be argued to be in the thousands. This number translates to a huge number of back links to websites listed in the directory. This alone makes Dmoz very important to any serious webmaster in their website’s marketing strategy, contrary to what Dmoz editors on their public web forums try to convince webmasters otherwise.

Having a very valuable Directory at their disposal the editors of Dmoz have a great deal of power at their finger-tips and they know it. I say they know it because of the over the top attitudes of take it or leave it, and its our way or the highway attitudes expressed at the resource-zone forums, the hangout of the egotistic editors. Many webmasters depend on their websites for a living and hence they try to market their websites with everything available to them in order to ensure a steady stream of income. When there is a perception that there is a great resource that can help make or break a website by the mere fact of being listed or not listed in Dmoz makes it hard for webmasters to swallow. This is not a bad thing nor should it not be controlled by competent editors. yet the stories of unethical editorial behavior, kickbacks, and revenge and overwhelming feeling of corruption and egotistic attitudes towards webmasters makes a person cringe at the mere mention of Dmoz submission.

There are many other stories and complaints about Dmoz, about its editors, about the way they run the directory, about the refusal to listen to suggestions for improvements, about their lack of sensitivity to webmasters, about the length of time it takes to review a website though they have thousands of editors, about their inability to get with the time and roll out better measures to control and run the directory while minimizing abuse and setting in place tools that help in enforcing a fair and equatable checks and balances approach when including websites.

There has been many suggestions to the directory and its editors, most have been dismissed as unworkable, or too much of a burden on the directory and its army of editors to handle, yet they forget that they have a lot of responsibilities to the general web users and webmasters. A constant theme with the editors is that the directory is here to serve the public i.e. the surfer/visitor public and not the webmasters, yet the webmasters are the ones who made the whole Internet what it is right now, the webmasters work is what the public seeks. Measures to accommodate webmasters and release that they DO count and that the directory does need them is required and DMOZ does need to reach out and work with webmasters to help make the directory better and more reflective of the reality of the Internet.

When looking at Dmoz as a project there are a multitude of features that are badly lacking and in need of improvement, some of the needed improvements are critical to the well being of the directory and to its survival, others are nice to have and will help make the directory better and help give the project the respect that it needs and is currently lacking.

One of the most important improvements is a system that will make submission and review faster than the current system which can take up to 3 years for a website to be reviewed and added to the directory. This is not accepted today as it was not accepted in the first days of the Internet. In todays world of constant change, it is very hard to even find a decent website that does not make changes weekly or daily let alone yearly. A site submitted a year ago may not be the same a year form now and maybe rejected on that bases alone.
A system that will decrease the SPAM the directory receives is the first step to improving responsiveness to site submission and review process. Editors claim that over 95% of websites that they receive can be classified as SPAM or BOT submissions. Captcha (a way to control web forms, which distinguishes between human and automated robotic entries and submission) or a similar measure should be put in place ASAP. If this measure is implemented to weed out 90% of web site submission the total wait time will improve accordingly. A web site that might take 6 months to be reviewed will be reviewed in 18 days (6*30*0.10=18). That alone would be a great improvement and it would elevate the heavy load on editors.

The second critical improvement to the directory and to its image would be in implementing a system of better control over editors and their power in accepting and rejecting websites, especially those that directly compete with their own websites or websites that they are affiliated with. A good start would be by implementing a system that marks websites added to the directory with an existing affiliation to an editor. Currently Dmoz require editors to declare their association, yet the public does not have access to base any complaints that is supported by this claim. Dmoz itself does not have to publish this association in the public directory but should make sites associated with editors clearly stated in their public profile, so when someone has a complaint about how a directory branch is edited they can find any relevant information in the editor profile where they can base their investigation of any unfair editorial claims.

Another benefit of the above would be helpful for the directory mirror sites when editing listing and deciding on a relevancy of websites to be included in their implementation of the directory data. I know first hand of some of the major implementation of web directory based on Dmoz data that administrators would like to know which websites exactly belong to editors which may need to re-reviewed by a third party before inclusion in their directory but the volume of the links in the directory makes it hard to weed out any sites that are implanted unfairly by corrupt editors and are being spread unintentionally throughout the Internet. This is in no way meant to punish or remove sites belonging to editors, but after all the accusations and controversy this may be needed and website using the Dmoz data can decide on their own what to do with those websites.

There are many more things that can be done to improve the directory but the above two suggestions would make a huge difference in restore the respect, the image and the spirit that the directory was created under.

K76 Directory
K83 Directory

Like many people, you may have been dreaming of the day when you can start your very own online business. You’ve got a great idea waiting to explode, and you know that it’s going to be a winner. The vision is there, as are the enthusiasm and skills. Now there’s just one more thing you need before you can make that dream a reality, and that’s a website–your public face to the world.

Building a website can be an exciting experience. However, when it comes to creating a business website, it is very important to look before you leap. Here are a few things to consider before launching your online presence:

1. COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY

When creating your business website, the most important thing to consider is exactly what it is you want your potential customers to know. Before the first page is prepared, you need to clearly outline the purpose of your business, then communicate that information via your website.

Over the years, I’ve visited countless websites that provide virtually no content at all. When it comes to a business website, lack of information is disastrous.

Imagine for a moment that you need a new pair of shoes. Checking the telephone directory, you find a listing for a shoe shop at the local mall. Eager to find the perfect stilettos, you hotfoot straight over.

Arriving at the store, you are surprised to find that there is no stock on display, no information about what is available, no sales assistant to answer queries, and nothing to indicate how much a pair of shoes is going to cost.

Without a backward glance, you turn on your heels and walk out the door, knowing all too well that there will always be another shoe shop just around the corner.

A scene like this is too ridiculous to believe, right? Yet, it happens thousands of times every single day. Not at the mall, but in the ever growing cyber-marketplace.

If you have a product or service to sell online, then you need to present it in a way that is both informative and enticing. Your homepage, in particular, must communicate your message clearly and grab your visitor’s attention. If it doesn’t, they will click off the page faster than you can say, “Lost opportunity.”

If you lack the confidence to write your own customer-attracting text, it may be worth hiring a writer to prepare it for you. It could make all the difference.

2. POLISHED TO PERFECTION

We’ve all heard that “you can’t judge a book by its cover,” but the reality is that we all do–and the same is true for a business website.

When it comes to a personal website, almost anything goes. However, the same freedom does not apply when it comes to business, where the website should be a polished and professional representation of the business or service, while still reflecting the personality of the owner. Many fail to grasp the importance of that first impression. As an online business owner, you will literally only have seconds to capture a potential customer’s interest.

If your site is sloppy, slow to load, and generally looks like it was built by your grade school child, it is a fairly safe assumption that you will never develop the successful online enterprise of your dreams.

Today, with the availability of online site builders, there is no reason for anyone to have a site that looks unprofessional. Even without any knowledge of programming or HTML, site builders make it easy to create an online business presence that is polished to perfection. It’s as simple as selecting a template and typing in your text. Before you know it, you’ll have a website that says to the world, “I’m ready and more than able to serve you.”

3. THIS LITTLE BUSINESS WENT TO MARKET

It’s amazing how many people go blissfully into business with the notion that they only have to open the door, and the customers will come running. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is a common denominator found in the majority of unsuccessful online businesses, and that is a lack of marketing.

No matter how brilliant your website may be, or how clever your product or service, success will be very slow in coming if you don’t take steps to get the word out to the marketplace.

People often tell me that they are disappointed because their new website is not generating any sales. The first thing I ask them is whether they have done any marketing. More often than not, their response is that they haven’t really done anything at all.

Building a successful online business takes time and effort. It can take many months, if not years, for a business to develop a reputation for reliability and trustworthiness. However, once gained, that reputation is more precious than gold. Unfortunately, most business owners give up before they ever reach that point.

When promoting your business, the first step is to make sure that your website is optimized for search engines. To do this, ensure that your website meta-tags include the most important keywords pertaining to your business. Keywords should also be included in the title tag.

Once you’ve done this, and your website is completely ready to be seen by the public, submit your site to the search engines. To do this, you can use the FREE service provided at the following site:

http://www.submitexpress.com

Another excellent site is selfpromotion.com. Here you can gain valuable information on how to market your business. They will even submit your site to search engines if you make a donation to their service:

http://selfpromotion.com

Having your site listed with search engines is essential. However, to get traffic quickly you will need to use a Pay Per Click service, such as Google Adwords and Overture.com (Yahoo search marketing).

Decide on the keywords and phrases that most people would use if they were looking for your service. Then start bidding for those words, making sure that you ONLY nominate the lowest amount available. Google and Overture will suggest a figure, but DO NOT bid that amount. Start small and see how much traffic you can generate. Once you see results and your business begins to grow, gradually increase your bids, if necessary.

When preparing your website and promoting your business, it is very important to remember that every penny and second spent improving your online presence, is an investment in your future.

Ultimately, there are two types of online businesses–those that are website failures, and those that are website winners. Get things right at the start, and your dream business will never become a nightmare.

K72 Directory
K73 Directory

Motivational speaker Anthony Robbins once said, “If you want to be successful, find someone who achieved the results you want and copy what they do, and you’ll achieve the same results.”

It’s an idea I became familiar with many years ago…

When I was first getting started online, I made a lot of mistakes. Not because I wasn’t trying to model successful businesses, but because there simply weren’t businesses online to model. (In 1996, I was among the first handful of people to actually start selling products over the Internet.)

So I gathered as much information as I could from successful offline marketing experts like Jay Abraham; however, the challenge was adjusting their techniques to work in the online world. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that many of the techniques used to market and sell in the “real world” either…

a) Didn’t work at all on the Internet.
Or
b) Needed to be seriously adjusted, tested, tweaked, and adjusted some more to really get results online.

The point that I’m trying to make here is that it literally took me years of testing and hundreds of thousands of dollars to discover the same techniques that you’ll now see commonly used online today.
Fortunately, there is no reason for things to be nearly this difficult for you. Today, modeling the Internet “successes” is relatively easy. (Though, be careful that you separate the phonies and fakes from the “true experts” — look for those who honestly practice what they preach and who can prove it!)

The biggest investment that you’ll need to make is your time…

If you’re interested in long-term, life-changing success, then a few extra days of reading and researching shouldn’t matter. It’s the success of your business that we’re talking about here, so don’t make the fatal mistake of thinking that you’re “wasting time.” Remember that what you learn today could be the technique or strategy that saves you not only wasted time and effort, but thousands of dollars in “could have been” profits.

It’s an extremely simple concept…

Guarantee Your Success By Modeling The Successful

1) What Should My Web Site Look Like?

Why spend thousands of dollars having a flashy site designed that’s loaded with theme music and spinning graphics? Some of the most successful web sites online today have extremely sleek, simple designs.

Of course, before I tell you to model proven successful web sites, I want you to be aware of “the catch”…

When researching web sites to model, the ones you should be paying closest attention to are your competitors’ and sites that have a profit model similar to your own (i.e. look for sites that make money in a similar way).

For example, if you sell cotton balls on your web site, you shouldn’t be modeling your site design after Amazon.com. First off, they sell books (among other things). You sell cotton balls. They offer a wide variety of titles and choices. You offer one product — cotton balls. Finally, let’s face it — their advertising budget is out of this world! If you’re a small or home-based business, you likely don’t have the same kind of luxury to experiment and make expensive mistakes.

So think practical — be realistic — and start looking for other sites that are successfully selling their cotton balls online (or one, similar product), and model your site after theirs. Your site doesn’t need to be the next Yahoo! or eBay for you to be earning a significant 6 figure income.

2) How Do I Write Sales Copy That Really Sells?

Writing sales copy that really sells takes practice — and education! I have yet to meet someone who just has a “natural gift” for writing award-winning copy without any education whatsoever.

Sure, some people might get “lucky” and stumble onto bits and pieces of the proven approach — but I can guarantee you that anyone who hasn’t studied the “art & science of sales copy” is missing key elements that could increase their sales by 400% – 1,200%. I’m not kidding here…

So rather than playing a “hit or miss” guessing game with your copy, I highly recommend looking for sales copy that makes YOU want to buy and studying it. After you’ve read enough quality copy, you’ll start to notice a distinct pattern that you can apply to your own writing.

3) How Do I Rank At The Top Of The Search Engines?

If you plan on ranking at the top of the search engines, then I can’t stress enough the importance of educating yourself. The search engines are a highly competitive arena where only those who have taken the time to “learn the rules” claim a top 10 spot.

Very rarely these days will you hear of someone “getting lucky” and just magically sliding into a top ranking.

So if you want a top 10 listing under your best keywords and phrases (i.e. you want your site to appear in the top 10 listings when someone searches the key phrase “cotton balls” in MSN, Yahoo!, Google, etc…), then you need to do two things…

a) Examine the web sites that already rank in the top 10 under your best keywords and phrases — and look for patterns.

b) Use the proven know-how of the search engine experts to learn the ropes. If you want a top ranking, then you’ll want the experience and advice of someone who makes it their mission to keep up with the constantly changing rules of each search engine and directory.

In fact, before you spend a lot of time examining the sites of your competition for clues as to why they are listed among the top 10, I recommend seeking out these search engine gurus. With their advice, you’ll be better prepared to critically examine your competitors’ web sites for clues that explain why they’re at the top of the ranks.

4) How Do I Drive Targeted Traffic To My Web Site?

If you want to increase the number of targeted potential customers who are arriving at your web site each day, then a listing in the search engines is a good start, but it’s also exactly that — a start.

Again, take some time to research your competition. How are they attracting their visitors? Do they have a lot of links on other sites? Do they have their own Affiliate Program? Do they participate heavily in newsgroups? Do they have an established viral marketing campaign?

Use the experience of your competition to your advantage by learning their secrets — and then tweaking and improving on their approach to do them one better!

Work Smarter — Not Harder — And See Bigger Rewards And Profits

Even now, I still scour the Web to see how others are creating their own success. I analyze my competition… I read everything that I can get my hands on… and I remain open to new ideas and new approaches.

Today, it’s relatively cheap and easy to get a solid education in what Internet marketing techniques work, which to avoid, and how to build guaranteed success the first time around! So why would you waste your valuable (and limited) time and money by stubbornly insisting on making mistakes that you could easily avoid with a little education?

Model the success of others and you’ll not only guarantee your success, you’ll achieve your goals in less time with less expense than you could on your own.

K62 Directory
K63 Directory

Can you really make money online? The answer is a resounding “Yes!”

First, though, you need to understand how this game really works.

The right mindset is crucial to your success.

You’ve probably come across numerous business opportunities already. I know you’re actively searching for information. I hope you haven’t become jaded already by the con artists out there who make false promises.

The fact is you can profit significantly and, yes, even quickly once you learn the right way to do business online. So, approach this article with an open mind.

What E-Commerce is really all about

There’s nothing magic about the Internet. It’s really just another medium of communication. The difference between doing business online versus doing business in a brick and mortar establishment is this:

1. Your potential customer base spans across the globe if you so desire. You aren’t limited by your location.

2. Your business operates 24/7. You can still make sales even when the workday ends.

3. Your overhead is significantly lower than it would be in a traditional business, and the barriers to entry are lower as well.

4. You can create non-traditional businesses which will have no parallel in the offline world.

As an online entrepreneur, you also enjoy a wider range of options in number of products you sell, their method of delivery and your profit margin after expenses.

Sounds great, right? It truly is an ideal situation for the small, home based business owner; but don’t quit your job just yet.

An online business requires just as much focus and dedication to get off the ground as any other business, so forget about working at home in your underwear right off the bat.

The first thing you need to do is investigate your options. What type of business can you start online? Which businesses are the easiest to set up?

If you already possess some business knowledge and common sense, you’re off to a great start. The real challenge comes when you start translating this knowledge to match the rules of online commerce. The game is played a bit differently on the internet than it is on the streets.

Newcomers often have difficulty sorting out the differences between business models versus business strategies.

Here are some of the most common online business models:

1. Selling tangible goods (ie, Ebay)

2. Selling information products (intangible/downloaded)

3. Affiliate marketing

It takes a certain personality to thrive in any one of these. Let’s take a look at the traits associated with each.

The Seller of Tangible Goods

This type of entrepreneur usually possesses previous experience in the retail industry, though it is not totally necessary to have previous experience in order to succeed. However, an inexperienced online retailer faces the biggest learning curve.

In order to sell tangible goods, you’ll need to learn the ins and outs of wholesale for product sourcing. You’ll need to learn how to set the optimal price point for your products to remain profitable and competitive. You must deal with shipping and returns.

If you run a one-person operation, it will be near impossible to ship products in the necessary volume. In this case, you’ll need to find companies which can “drop ship” your product. Drop shipping is a fulfillment service.

This sounds ideal – but be forewarned. Most real wholesalers have minimum order requirements and will not ship single items.

Drop ship wholesalers who do ship single items often mark up their prices and you end up paying at least 10%-15% above the true wholesale cost. This isn’t a small price to pay when your objective is competitive pricing. Even a small mark up can kill your profit margin.

If you choose this route, be prepared for a lot of hard work! Online retail requires persistence, patience, strategic planning and a high degree of risk.

The Seller of Intangible/Information Products

Information products present an good opportunity for small, home-based business owners. Your costs of development and overhead are low, while your potential profit margin is high.

You will need a new skill set if you choose this path. Primarily, you will need to learn good copywriting skills and how to sell people on what they desire, not on what they think they need. It’s relatively simple to entice a visitor to purchase, say, an MP3 player when they’re already looking for one. This doesn’t require convincing sales copy.

An information product, though, does require good copy. You’re asking your potential customer to invest in a product they aren’t familiar with – something they can’t see or touch or play with like a tangible product.

Information marketing is very much “all in the mind”. It rests on your ability to stir up people’s passions and secret wishes. If you pride yourself on seeing “the big picture” and have the heart of a teacher or communicator, information marketing could be the right choice for you.

The Affiliate Marketer

Being an affiliate marketer can be the Ideal business for most people. They make a living selling products they do not own. Profits come from commissions paid on sales that they refer to other merchants.

A good affiliate can reap an enormous full-time income marketing a whole suite of products that he does not own. He doesn’t pay for product creation, doesn’t have to ship anything and doesn’t deal with customer service issues or returns.

One major skill an affiliate marketer needs to develop as is the ability to generate highly targeted traffic. You also need to learn how to capture that traffic and do a bit of extra selling before they hit the merchant’s site.

If you don’t capture the visitor’s e-mail address, they’re gone for good – and you’ll get stuck trying to generate volumes of traffic over and over again just to capture enough “luck of the draw” sales to get by. It’s like throwing your ad budget down a hole.

If you want to make money online, there are two ways to go about it. The first is trial and error, spending hundreds of hours in front of your computer, buying e-books and struggling perhaps a year or two before you make a dime. The second and best way is to learn from someone who has already achieved success online and can coach and guide you every step of the way.

But beware, there are many out there who will sell you garbage e-books and courses full of ideas on how to make money on the internet, but most fall short of giving you an easy to follow and workable plan. Especially if your a newbie to internet marketing.

I know first hand about this because I spent a full year struggling to make money on the internet. I bought almost every so called Guru system out there only to be let down and was still left struggling to make money. But my determination to make a living on the internet paid off and now I produce a fantastic full time income for my family solely from my online affiliate business.

Whether your a newbie or have been struggling for some time, you can achieve online success too if you don’t give up and learn the right skills from a proven Internet Wealth Building Coach.
Just stay focused, proactive and stay positive – and soon you’ll be well on your way to making outstanding money online!

K58 Directory
K59 Directory

Can you earn money from the web to help you survive, even prosper, doing so legitimately and without ripping people off or by indulging in illegal activities? The answer is yes, of course, otherwise there wouldn’t be much point in writing this article, would there?

You can earn money legitimately by providing information of high value to internet searchers seeking information on that specific topic.

Know that I am not a computer programmer. I do not have extensive knowledge of html, though since I’ve been “playing” on the web I couldn’t help but learn some. I am not a graphic artist but I like to experiment with paint programs on my computer. I like digital photography, and it is gratifying to use my own pictures on my own site should I wish to. My software library does not contain much in the way of programs for web page development. I couldn’t build a website from scratch of my life depended on it. My “expertise” is solely related to the areas in which I have earned my living in the years before becoming a web site publisher.

I believe that the internet will continue to grow and that every person in the world that logs on for the first time increases the potential for anyone else that wishes to generate an income from the web to be able to do so.

I believe that the major players of the web (Google, MSN, Yahoo etc.) will continue to develop their web programs to continuously weed out those that try to take advantage of folks via the internet.

So how? How does one make legitimate money? The usual way; hard work, honesty, hard work, simplicity, hard work, and a methodical approach. Oh, and did I mention hard work?

All kidding aside, the ‘work’ involved with making money from the web entails writing down information about a subject with which you are already quite familiar. You will be telling folks about a passion you have. So, it’s not hard, but it does take time. There is no get rich scheme that works – that, death and taxes are the only certainties in life that I know of.

One way to be in business on the web is by offering a virtual “store”. Many companies world wide now offer their products on-line, and this is a legitimate method of generating revenue. Providing you have something that others want, and that you are positively positioned (price / service / product mix etc.) you will make money as folks will order from you. I have no interest in creating a virtual store, as I’m not interested in having inventory, a warehouse, shipping and receiving facilities etc.

There is always web site consulting as another web site revenue source. From my web wanderings it would seem that there’s almost one consultant for every web site on the internet! Far too much competition for me, though the good consultants can profit, the bad ones will not. Like those that sell hard goods, a consultancy needs to be well positioned to survive. I do not have the skills to be an effective consultant to people seeking web expertise, so I don’t even try.

You may consider a web site with the sole purpose of selling advertising on it as so many of the “fringe” web sites out there do now. How many times have you gone to a site to get information on a subject only to find ads, and links to more ads? Very frustrating, isn’t it? Those that undertake this type of venture will find that the major search engines are doing everything in their power to ensure that “fringe” sites like theirs aren’t listed with them. If the site isn’t listed, no one will find it, and if no one can find the site, revenue will disappear. I choose not to be involved with this sort of chicanery.

So what is it that I do to legitimately earn money via the internet?

Using software I found on the internet I “fill in the blanks” with knowledge. I use my knowledge of a particular subject and the system turns that knowledge into a web site. The software allows me to create the site in plain English using simple word processor software. It helps me determine if there is a market for the information I want to provide about my subject, and then it converts what I write into a pretty neat internet web site, if I do say so myself!

Arriving at my site will accomplish two things for the visitor. As they wander through it they will see what an ill-skilled web site builder has accomplished using some readily available and inexpensive software. They won’t know that I’m ill-skilled however, because the site looks really good. Further, as they read the content in my site they will see ads that appear from time to time on those pages. Not many, not intrusive, but ads none the less.

The ads are positioned for me courtesy of Google. Google provided me software that can “read” my site, and position “content” ads on the pages, ads that relate to the general content of that particular page and to my site in general.

Google pays me when folks legitimately click on the ads on my pages. And Google does pay me. Regularly.

The more people that visit, the more potential for visitors to click on the ads on my site, and the greater potential for earnings for me, and more importantly, earnings for the advertiser’s that trust their ad budget to Google.

Folks visit my site because I write high content value pages about my subject. They find my site by using search words relating to that subject because they are interested in getting information about those words. I write pages about the search words people use, because my software tells me which words that they are using to find information on my subject. No tricks, it’s a simple as that. If you write pages about things that people are looking for, they will find your pages.

When folks get to my site, I try to ensure that they will find enormous, useful content about the subject they are interested in. The content they find will entices them to stick around and visit other pages on my site. As they do this, the ads that appear will encourage them to visit those on-line advertisers, as the ads refer to the goods and services that they were already looking for, or they wouldn’t have even found my site in the first place.

See how it all ties together?

Ask yourself, what is your area of expertise? What are you passionate about? What is your work history? What hobby do you have that you already know scads of people are interested in? What can you write pages of information on that really and truly provides valuable information to the people that read it?

Oh, don’t worry about writing your pages in a meaningful way. The software shows you how to do that, too.

If you write words that offer valuable content about any topic, and that topic is one that people are interested in (with a world population in the billions, try to find a topic that some folks aren’t interested in!) and you use a simple program to turn your written words into a pretty neat web site (helping you avoid taking the time and expense to become a web site developer yourself) then you can make money on the web.

As I’ve said, putting the words to paper takes time. Placing those pages into your site takes time. Research to ensure that you are targetting your page content to the words that people are searching for about your topic takes time. And if you are saddled with a “dial-up” internet connection as I am, waiting for data transmission sure takes time!

Looking for a fast buck, an easy ride to get lots of money from the net? Then please look elsewhere.

Are you considering earning some money for honest work, perhaps thinking about working from home, maybe facing retirement and looking for something to fill your days, maybe a stay-at-home Mom or Dad, or you just want to help others learn about your special interest? You can earn money doing so.

Whether those earnings are a lot or a little depends on how many people are looking for information on your subject and how many pages of valuable information you give them when they find your site.

Whatever the amount is, know that you can make money on the world wide web. That’s certain.

Now, get writing!

K47 Directory
K52 Directory

Are you one of the many thousands of Internet marketer wannabes who have decided to become the next batch of Internet Millionaires?

You’ve read that about 600 million people have access to the Internet – and yet it is still in its infancy. Every month millions of newcomers and thousands of businesses are reported to be setting up online.

With this huge and expanding audience coupled with the fact that marketing and advertising can be done on the Internet so easily and at only a fraction of the costs of traditional methods, we now have a fantastic opportunity to be successful in online business.

Many companies have now aligned themselves with the Internet which has created many new paradigms in the past few years. Residual Incomes are made available to people from all walks of life. You can now make money online with simple and proven formula used by many to earn multiple streams of residual income.

However please beware of the hurdles ahead because it is not as easy as it seems. It takes a lot of hard work and some financial investment. The following is a short list of some of the things you should be aware of:

1. DECIDE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SELL

1.1. Selling Products
When you sell a product you can either carry out the whole operation of manufacturing or creating the products, handling orders, stocking and inventory management, shipping the goods, and processing the payments OR you could simply join some affiliate programs and market for companies that will handle all the administration for you.

Your job is therefore merely to get the orders to the companies and receive commission as a result of your effort. The question we should ask ourselves is “What products should we sell?”
We should all know that the item that has been recognized as the number one business product of the future is “information”. Examples of highly successful information products are the ‘how-to’ and “self-improvement” e-books which tell the readers how to solve certain problems.

If you are knowledgeable about a particular subject you could consider writing and developing your own products and delivering it via the many channels opened to you such as websites, newsletters, ezines and emails.

1.2. Selling Services
One advantage of selling a service is that you can often generate a ‘residual’ income. It is possible to have a monthly passive income as long as the existing customers continue to use your service. But we should ask again “What types of service are suitable for online selling?”

As the Internet boom continues the most obvious possibility is any service which could help companies in using the Internet in their business. An excellent example is a web hosting service whereby the host will provide the space to put up websites of others with the necessary tools to manage it while providing technical advice and service to their clients.

2 A Comprehensive Business Plan
Don’t start until you have made a plan that includes what the markets are, what products and services you’re selling to these markets, how to acquire these products (and services), how you will market and sell them and how to get the money to pay for all these things. Like any other forms of work, you must have a plan for your Internet business. Set an achievable short term, medium term and long term objectives, prepare a budget and stick to them as far as possible. Carry out periodical checking to determine any deviations from the plan and take the necessary remedial actions.

3. An E-Commerce Program
You must have the capability to accept orders, arrange for payment, preferably by credit card, and ship the product. Otherwise you should do as many successful Internet entrepreneurs do, that is, joining good affiliate programs where you need not worry about processing of orders, collection of payment, packing and shipping of the products as these would be taken care of by the merchants i.e. the affiliate program owners.

4. Well Written Sales Copy
The content of your website should have attractive and hard hitting selling materials to persuade your prospects to buy from you while maintaining and keeping the existing customers. Copywriting requires some skill. If you can’t do it yourself you will have to hire professional copywriters to do it for you for a fee.

5. Patience and Perseverance
Building a successful business on the Internet takes not only a lot of effort and time, it also requires some financial input on your part especially for acquiring the necessary knowledge and to advertise your business. Don’t be trapped by the “overnight miracle” and “become-an- instant-millionaire” hype and stories.

You’d be tempted with countless of seemingly very attractive offers and promises from the Web to help improve your business. Many of these would lead you to disappointment and frustration. You should persevere and re-invest your early profits back into the business.

6. Get Your List As Soon As Possible
In Internet marketing, always remember three very important words. They’re…LIST, LIST and LIST. Also, do not forget the popular Internet adage, “The Gold is in your LIST!” This means that a big chunk of your time, effort and concentration should be directed to getting the right strategy to drive traffic to your site. Advertising is therefore of utmost importance.

7. Be Disciplined
Although this is a home based business with all the freedom in the world, it’s prudent to have some form of discipline. Once you’ve decided to sit in front of the computer to start working online, you must stay focused and do not allow any distraction to affect your concentration. Treat it as your business and not a hobby. It’d be nice to stick to a schedule which is also made known to other members of your family so that they’d know when to leave you alone. However do not get carried away and spend too much time in front of your PC because your loved ones, including your pets also deserve your attention and time.

8. Stay away from the temptation to spam.
Do not ever try to spam i.e. sending unsolicited e-mails to unexpected recipients under any circumstances. I get very annoyed when I find chunks of unwanted e-mails plugging my mailbox resulting in the e-mails from my friends and business associates being “lost” in the midst of these junks mails. The frustrating process of deleting them is enough to drive me through the roof! If you insisted on “spamming”, you’d very likely have your name and registration terminated. It is therefore not worth the while because eventually your business would suffer.

9. Know how to place your advert
There are many locations where you can place an Ad such as newsgroups, forums, ezines, websites some of which you have to pay for while some are totally free of charge. It is possible to post your Ad to a mailing list, newsgroups, and also discussion forums using a signature file to promote your products.

K43 Directory
K46 Directory

Do you get emails from people asking favors and stuffs. Probably JV requests, or perhaps sending a press release or anything like that.

Well, that’s normal, right? I get some from time to time.

But here’s the thing – with all the JV requests that you get, in between the SPAMs, and also important emails that you are already waiting for, those kind of emails are mostlikely to get ignored.

Now imagine that you are the one sending that email out. Maybe you are writing to propose a JV. Maybe you just wanted to say Hi. But again, just like how you would treat emails like those, those people you are writing to may do the same thing.

So how do you get pass that?

This is somehow related to my previous post about how to make money in the make-money-market. The key point is to make yourself a more familiar name.

Imagine this – the moment they open up their inbox they recognize you. You yourself would mostlikely to open an email from somebody you know rather than a stranger.

But how do you make that other person know you even before opening the email?

I’ve got a few tricks to that – I call it Advance Online Networking.

How does that work? Well, here goes … People don’t really have to know about you only from the email that you send them. Let say that you don’t subscribe to my newsletter. And suddenly you got an email from me. The FROM writes, “Iszuddin Ismail aka Kidino”. Would you open it? Maybe … if the subject line is interesting enough. But most probably you’ll just click the delete button.

Now, what if you were at a seminar the week before and we met there. We talked about business strategies and even exchanged cards.

Then later you got that email, “From: Iszuddin Ismail aka Kidino” You might be saying to yourself, “Ah … it’s that guy from the seminar last week.”

See the difference?

Here’s the big secret … you don’t have to be at seminar with me, or anything other guy to be able to create that effect. It can all be done online (atleast almost all).

Again … How?

[+] 1 – Forums … Best with Private Forums

It’s no secret that you can meet a lot of interesting people in forums. And it’s sometimes surprising to see who’s participating in that forums. I think in cases like this, private forums work best. For one thing, there isn’t a lot of members. That makes it easier for the other guy to know you. And the feeling with private forum is different.

For example, when I am in TurningIdeasIntoDollars.com (TIID), I feel that I can share more details when seeking advice. I don’t feel that risks of copycats and sabotage that much.

Apart from that, private forums normally are joined by people who are more serious about their business. This is a good place to search for potential business acquintances.

There’re two things that you can do at forums. First is to participate in discussions. Give valuable insights and share your tips, tricks, opinion, experience, etc.

The second thing that you can do is start a great topic to discuss. When you created an interesting topic, more people will respond to it. And that will make you are more known person.

[+] 2 – Commenting Blog Posts

The person that you are trying to get in touch with might also be an active blogger. That’s a good thing. With this, I recommend that you get an RSS aggregator like SharpReader and subscribe to their site feed, you know the RSS or XML. I can’t really teach you that here. It’s out of the topic. But with an RSS aggregator, it’s eaiser to follow what that person is writing in his/her blog.

Apart from watching what they write, here’re other things that you must do. Be on the lookout for interesting topics. Better still, topics that are related to you, or those that you can share valuable points. And just do that – share your points by commenting on their posts.

When you have something to share about what they wrote, go over to that blog and drop a comment. You see, most bloggers are more anxious about what people comment on their blogs rather than what they get in the email.

So give a comment, and they will read it. And that will make yourself known to that other person. Better still, give more comments everytime they put new posts.

[+] 3 – Putting Blog Trackbacks

This is something else that you can do if you are a blogger yourself. Sometimes you see that one blogger started to write about something, and suddenly other bloggers follow.

Well, you can do that too. There’s nothing wrong in following … When somebody wrote about an interesting thing, you can write about that same thing. But make sure you do these two things.

One is to credit that first blogger. You can say something like “Sam wrote about XYZ in his blog. I think … ” The second thing that you should do is put a trackback. In your blog admin (like WordPress), there’s a place where you can put in trackback URLs. A trackback is like a comment, it’s just that you do it from your blog and not theirs.

Look for a trackback URL and put that in when you are writing a new post. Be sure that you post and the other post is related. Don’t put trackbacks to a post about vegetables when you are writing about the computers.

[+] 4 – Join a Teleseminar

Every now and then, there are free teleseminars that you can join. I am sure that you’ll learn something interesting in there, even if you know there’s going to be a sales pitch at the end.

But every chance you get to join a teleseminar, do it. Normally at the beginning of the teleseminar, there’s a intro slot. You get to say your name and tell where you are coming from. Make sure you do that.

And at the end of the teleseminar, there may also be a Q&A session. Participate in that – introduce yourself and ask your question.

One time ago, I participated in a teleseminar and I said, “This is Kidino from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.” And that host said, “Woow!” I am sure that she remembers me – true enough, it’s proven when I wrote to her.

[+] 5 – Buy their product and give feedback

Yep … pretty basic but not many really do this. If the person that you are trying to get in touch with has a product, buy it. Then write to them telling how you like the product (if you really like it that is).

Good business person will take product support very seriously. And when they get an email from a customer, most of the time, they think it’s a support request. Now, when you write something unexpected, like praising them about their work, you’ll be remembered.

Now you can write your email …

Now, if did some of the things above – the Advance Online Networking, the next time you write to them, you won’t be a stranger. It’s easier to get people to read your email when you are not a stranger to them.

You know this yourself because I am sure you get a number of strangers constantly emailing. Here’s a few more tips.

When’s the best time to write?

Sometimes it’s about timing. These times are the best times to send an email to the guy you are trying to get in touch with. Why? – Because they are still in the mood and most of the times, very anxious to know what people think about what they just did.

So here it is …

If that guy/gal is a blogger, write a comment after a post – then email.

If you subscribed to this guy’s/gal’s newsletter, write an email after you’ve received an issue.

If you are interacting in forums, try doing a private message. If you get a response, then invite the other person to continue in email.

K34 Directory
K39 Directory

Flowers are expressions of thoughtfulness and love, congratulations and sympathy, and a heartfelt way of saying a simple, “I care about you!” Remembering and finding time to express these sentiments in today’s global society can sometimes be challenging. If you moved away from your hometown but still want to send love to your mother on her birthday or just want to keep close with college roommates long after graduation, distance and convenience are major concerns. Fortunately, with new technology, you can stay close to almost anyone, anywhere by ordering flowers online.

Ordering flowers on the Internet has never been so easy and is fast becoming the most popular means of sending the perfect bouquet to friends or loved ones. People from every walk of life are enjoying the benefits of the personal computer, which is proving to be ultra fast, affordable, and surprisingly safe to use for consumers on the prowl for a really good deal. Whether you’ve ordered flowers online before or have just thought about it, here are some great reasons why buying flowers on the Web is not only a terrific idea but will also save you time and money!

1) You know what you are getting! Placing orders through a phone service has classically been luck of the draw. Whether sending flowers to a funeral or as congratulations for a special event, you could give a general idea of what you wanted by phone but had little control over the ultimate style or design. Online ordering allows you to easily pick and choose the style, color scheme, flower varieties, and price range you want! Just click on the pictures that appeal to you most. You can quickly compare options within one site or across multiple sites. This is a wonderful way to assure that your gift sends just the right message.

2) Shop anytime, anywhere! Can’t find time to go shopping? You don’t have to leave your home or office to send flowers. Let your fingers do the walking on your keyboard. You can shop in your pajamas if you want, anytime day or night. It doesn’t matter that other stores are closed; your online florist is always open. Ordering flowers online is fast, and florists are, too. They specialize in same-day and next-day delivery. With many online florists, you can order flowers in the morning for delivery almost anywhere that same afternoon. Of course, at Christmas, Valentine’s, and Mother’s Day, it’s best to avoid the rush by ordering a day or two in advance. Otherwise, same day or next day flower delivery is no problem.

3) Never forget an occasion again! Does your day get so entirely hectic that anniversaries, birthdays, and other important occasions simply slip your mind? Most online florists have a free reminder service, so you never have to worry about forgetting a special date ever again! The florist will automatically send you an email about each upcoming event to jog your memory. There’s no obligation, the information is private, and you can add or change dates anytime you want. It’s like having your own private secretary.

4) Professionally designed flowers make a statement. There are services that ship cut flowers in a box along with a vase and instructions. They’re often a bargain, but the recipient has to cut and arrange his or her own flowers. As an alternative, sending a finished arrangement ensures you get your point across without the recipient having “work for” the gift. In other words, while boxed flowers are a good thing, they’re not always the best choice. Much depends on the occasion and recipient. For deliveries to the workplace, a hospital, or a funeral home, arranged flowers are usually best. One thing is certain, it should be YOUR choice, and you’ll find both types of floral gifts when you shop online.

5) Online ordering is one stop shopping! There’s no need to drive from store to store or waste time standing in lines. You can find almost anything you need online. For example, many online florists offer a variety of products such as gift baskets, balloons, teddy bears, and chocolates. So, if you want to send flowers and a fruit basket or roses and balloons, you have that option without having to make separate purchases at different sites.

6) Transactions are safe and simple. Ordering flowers on the Internet is a breeze when it comes to safeguarding your privacy and security. All reputable online florists use secure order forms. Just look for “https” in your address bar when you get to the order form. It means the information you submit is encrypted for privacy. You’ll find it only takes a few minutes to complete your order. All major credit cards are accepted. Plus, if you use a card with reward incentives, you’ll enjoy that added bonus with your purchase.

7) You’ll find lots of helpful information at your fingertips. Unsure about the name of a particular flower? Don’t be embarrassed; your online florist can help. You’ll find product descriptions, flower pictures and names, wedding flower tips, meanings of flowers, care information, decorating ideas, and much more online. Whether you’re a seasoned floral expert or gift-sending novice, online flower shops offer a wealth of free information and resources. You can browse at your leisure, search favorite flower topics, or just enjoy the pictures. It’s like having a complete flower shop right on your PC.

Online florists provide their credentials. Examining rooms are decorated with diplomas, which let you see for yourself if the doctor has the credentials necessary to serve your needs. Most reputable Internet ordering sites do the same. Top florists online often have awards and feedback from customers posted conspicuously for your benefit. Look for established florists with industry credentials, customer testimonials, a service guarantee, and a toll-free customer service phone number. Then, you’re sure to be on the right track.

9) Get the benefits of mid- to large-size companies and the personalization of small, local florists in one. Online florists have the systems, staffing, industry connections, and purchasing volume you’d expect from large companies. Most guarantee satisfaction. So, you enjoy the service and prices you deserve. But, they also deliver through a vast network of select smaller florists across the country and around the globe. When choosing florist delivered flowers, your gift is professionally designed and personally delivered by these local flower shops. You get the quality and personal attention of a hometown florist, along with the service and support of a nationwide business, too.

10) Ordering flowers on the Internet makes gifting easy! Ordering flowers on the Internet is the most convenient way to send flowers to almost anyone. Most florists online will have categories based on the occasion, price range, or flower types with which to sort and view the various bouquets. You will love how easy it is to shop for flowers online and how convenient it can be ordering from your home or office.

Flowers and the thought behind them really mean a lot and truly touch people. The classic way to send a gift of flowers has traditionally been telephone ordering. Today, we have the convenience, quality, variety, and control of ordering flowers on the Internet, as well. It’s made our lives easier and made our lives better. Because, after all, it’s not about flowers, it’s about sending a message and staying close with those we care about. That’s what flowers are all about. The Internet just makes sending flowers that much easier.

K26 Directory
K28 Directory