31/07/2009
With the ever increasing pressure for members of society to produce more work faster, there is an increase in time spent at work. This, of course, results in more time spent away from home and away from our families. We begin to hate our jobs and, each day, getting up to go to work is a chore. We think to ourselves, “So this is what my life is going to be like.” It doesn’t have to be, though. We have the option of making full time careers at home. One of the ways to do so is to start an internet business. Not only will you have more freedom, but you’ll reap other rewards as well.
You can set your own schedule. Few people have the benefit of deciding when they want to work. But how many people can honestly say they are morning people? What if your job requires you to be at work from 8 am till 4 pm, but you know you’re more productive after noon. The work done in those morning hours is likely subpar. By having your own business at home, you decide the time you start and end work.
You’ll have more family time. A complaint of most people who work is that they don’t get enough time with their families. This can result in a lot of stress on parents and their children. By working from home, your children will benefit from your increased presence in many ways. You’ll be able to attend the soccer games, swim meets, and baseball tournaments you’ve been missing for so long.
Perhaps one of the biggest benefits is regaining your sanity. An internet business will take hard work, yes, but it can be enjoyable work. This is your opportunity to discover something you really enjoy and to make a lifelong career out of it.
26/07/2009
A lot of people are now turning to the Internet for work. Working at home becomes more popular every day, as many people either need extra cash or are looking for a full-time position to do from home. With the large variety of jobs available that can be done from the home, the possibilities are endless.
Many people choose working at home for a variety of reasons. One is definitely because of the convenience. A job that can be done out of your house will not usually require travel, especially one that is Internet based. There is no gas to pay for, no wear and tear on the car, and no clothes to buy for work. You don’t have to worry about how much you are spending on expensive lunches at work, either. You can set your own hours, and control the amount of money that you can make. The harder you work at your home business, the more money you are likely to make. Therefore, it is all up to you what you can accomplish in the time that you have.
Being your own boss has so many perks, it is no wonder people choose to work from home. There is no one telling you when to do your work, how to do it, your mistakes and so forth. You can easily work around your schedule, and not someone else’s. When you need to take a break and run errands, or pick the kids up from school, you usually can do so easily. Best of all, schedule your vacation when you want! You’ll never have to rely on asking your boss for vacation time again when you start working from home.
The opportunities for online work are outstanding. You can easily find a job that you can work from home at. It does not matter whether you have no experience or many years’ worth; there is a job for you out there. Choose from sales, telemarketing, writing, editing, medical transcriptionists, online auctions, mystery shopping and more. Find the job that fits your schedule and go for it. You are sure to find work that pays well, and that you love doing.
23/07/2009
If you are someone who wishes to work from home and still enjoy a lucrative business, you may be interested in data entry jobs. There are a huge number of data entry jobs available on the web, and in most cases, the only requirements are owning a computer and having an email account. Although there are quite a few data entry jobs that can be done at home, not all clerical work is completed at home. In many situations, data entry is still completed in an office.
Data entry jobs are relatively easy to find, just type the keywords into a search engine. These jobs vary from company to company, but usually maintain a similar basis. Each job requires you to transfer info into the appropriate material needed by the company. In some cases it may be creating address labels, in other cases it may be filling out various forms. Any data entry job requires proficient keyboarding skills.
Not all data entry jobs are based on the Web. Data entry is also referred to as clerical work. No matter what you call it, clerical work can be done in an office as well as in a home setting. Both environments are typical places for data entry to be done. However, there may be an increasing number of data entry jobs becoming telecommute jobs, rather than office jobs. This is because of the ease of communicating with employees through telecommunications. The advance technology of email and telephone allow employers to contact workers at home as easily as in an office.
Data entry is a relatively simple job, although the level of difficulty depends on your own skill and the amount of work you are expected to do that isn’t just keyboarding. Clerical work is an easy money maker, and can be done by almost anyone with proficient typing skills.
A common characteristic shared by successful
home business owners is the steadfast, almost fanatical way in which they guard their time.
Large corporations and
businesses hire people and spread the responsibilities, and although I highly urge you to leverage your time by surrounding yourself with people who will take care of lower return activities, there is still no escaping the many interruptions and distractions that are a part of
home business life.
People who play at the top of their game whether in
business, sport or life, have learned how to either eliminate or reduce distractions by mastering the use of one simple word ... "No."
The inability and fear around using these two little letters has caused more
home business failures, tears, stress, frustration and relationship troubles than any other.
And although many new
home business owners insist their greatest weaknesses are lack of marketing and sales skills, the biggest obstacle that is blocking their ability to develop these skills is the fact they are not saying no to time-robbing activities so they can focus on building and growing.
Lack of time is the number one challenge every one of my clients brings to the table when we begin working together.
Learn to say "no" to doing everything yourself.
Oftentimes I'll hear, "But I'm in start-up, I have to guard my spending" and I respond with, "You can't save yourself into profitability. You have to focus on
making money."
This mental block will never allow you to grow, especially at an accelerated rate.
Low pay-off activities can be delegated, bartered, given to volunteers, students and family members. Do some creative brainstorming with your coach, mastermind group or trusted colleague.
Learn to say "no" to the demands of daily living.
How many times have you said "yes" to the following even though you either didn't want to or knew it would take you away from your own priorities?
* taking care of your neighbor's kids after school because she had a hair appointment
* volunteering to cover the refreshments table at your child's high school dance
* loaning out equipment or items you know you won't get back unless you ask for them several times
* agreeing to listen to your friend rant for the third time this week about how his wife is trying to ruin him in a nasty divorce battle
* taking your mom to visit her friend across town every week because your brother and sister are too busy
* making Johnny and Sally's beds because they have to rush to school in the morning and don't have time
* going to every birthday and holiday dinner a family member hosts
* reading every single e-mail and taking every single call that comes in...
By not saying "no" to the hundreds of non-critical demands that are placed on you every month, you will not create the
business success or freedom you want and deserve.
The two biggest obstacles in mastering the skill of saying "no" are fear and guilt. Fear that you will be loved less or rejected and feeling guilty that you may have hurt someone's feelings.
Saying "no" doesn't have to hurt anyone or cause you to be rejected and the way you deliver the message can make all the difference for you.
To refuse a request be honest and assertive in your reply by stating, "I'm sorry, however I have to turn down your offer/request at this time because I've been so busy with obligations, I've neglected my own priorities and have to give them my attention right now."
If others get angry with you or try to make you feel guilty for wanting to give yourself the attention you deserve, it's time to decide whether or not they're the kind of people you want in your life.
Start small. Build your "no" muscle slow and easy and work your way up to the larger demands. Like any skill, you can develop it and once you become a master, you'll enjoy quantum leaps in your happiness levels and
business success.
Copyright 2007 Laurie Hayes - The HBB Source
Laurie Hayes, founder and visionary behind The HBB Source helps government and corporate employees break free of their jobs to live their dream of entrepreneurship. To subscribe to her FREE e-zine for valuable resources designed to create
home business success, visit http://www.thehbbsource.com.
Labels: home business
by Janet Attard
Your business card is one of the most important marketing tools you'll ever create. You give your
business card to prospects and customers so they have your contact information. You tuck your
business card inside of presentation folders, drop it in letters, and use it in a myriad of other ways to let people know who you are and what you do. And, if you run ads in local newspapers, your business card may even double as camera-ready copy for the publication's "business card ad" pages.
But no matter how you use your
business card, it won't be the marketing workhorse it should be unless it looks professional, is easy to read, and helps customers and prospects remember what you sell and why they should buy it from you.
Making all that happen on a document that is only 3½ inches wide and 2 inches deep is a tall order. But it can be done. Here are several suggestions to keep in mind before you design or redesign your
business card.
Use a logo
Have a professional designer create your business logo. If you provide products or services that can be represented with a symbol (ie, house painter, home builder, restaurant, dog grooming service), the logo should symbolize that product or service in some way. It should also be scalable for use on
business cards, letterhead, brochures, and your website. (You can keep logo development costs down by using LogoWorks.com or one of the other the logo creation services on the web.)
Develop a one-line slogan
If what you do isn't immediately apparent from your
business name, create a one-line slogan that will help people remember what you sell. Include the slogan on your
business card.
Include your website address and/or email address
Customers and prospects will want to know your website address and your email address. If you're concerned about spam, have your webmaster set up two email addresses for you -- one to put on your
business card and give out to the public, and another private email address that you only give to a few
trusted business associates and friends.
Make your card readable
Use (or insist your designer uses) font sizes that are big enough to be easily readable without using a magnifying glass. Be sure the type color stands out against the background of the card, too. Light gray type on a white card makes it hard to distinguish letters and numbers. Remember, your goal isn't to produce a work of art. It's to produce a
business card that clearly communicates what you do and how to reach you. If recipients can't read the contact information you'll lose sales.
Make your card stand out from the rest of the pack
Yes, your
business card may wind up stuffed in a desk drawer with a stack of other business cards. Make it stand out from the rest by using bright colors, including your photo on the card, or using high gloss card stock.
Have
your business cards printed on good card-stock
If the card feels flimsy or looks like you printed it yourself on a cheap printer, it will leave people with impression that they are dealing with a small company that will disappear as soon as the owner finds a real job. Have your business card professionally printed on good heavyweight
business card stock.
Although some of the preprinted paper that you can buy to create your own
business cards is heavy enough to pass for a "real" business card, most people will get better results by having their business cards professionally typeset and printed. Professionally printed cards may cost less than the print-it-yourself variety, too. If you order
business cards online from a site like Vista Print , you'll pay about $20 (or sometimes less) for 500 full-color professionally printed business cards. (Shipping is extra.) By comparison, good, heavy-weight
preprinted business card stock that you use to print your own business cards is likely to cost you $30 to $40 or more -- and that doesn't include the cost of the ink or toner to print them.
Print your own cards if you don't have time to order them elsewhere
If you need cards in a hurry because you've run out of them, the print-it-yourself variety is a viable option. Avery's Linen Textured Stock has a good feel to it and prints beautifully on an inkjet printer. For best results, use the "Best" printing mode of your inkjet printer. If you follow Avery's directions for separating the cards, there are no tell-tale rough edges or perforations.
Labels: business cards
Q: I have been having my
home based business for three years now and I still am struggling with how to juggle business and being a mom, wife and housekeeper. How do you juggle these? I want to make this a success, but so far it's only been frustration.
My children are four and two years old and they are more challenging than most (not as in spoiled, but as in needing more time than the average kid). Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
A: GREAT question. My kids are now seven and four, so I now have a little bit of help in my seven-year-old. But, I found something that I had written a few years ago. In it, I listed my kids' ages as four and one. I could tell when reading it that I had been very frazzled. I think I lived in a state of frazzled during those years when they were both so small.
My main advice would be to cut yourself some slack. Things will get easier and more manageable as your kids get older.
My practical advice is this:
1. Plan out menus each week.
I literally spend about two minutes on this. I have a small magnetic dry-erase board that I keep on my refrigerator. Each Sunday, I write out the days of the week and what we'll have for supper that day. (Lunches almost always consist of sandwiches or something easy like that since it's just me and the kids.)
This makes grocery shopping a breeze because I know just what ingredients I need. It also alleviates the nagging thoughts of "what are we going to eat tonight?" If possible, have one or both of your kids help you decide what to put. You'll be surprised at how much they like having a say in what goes on that board!
2. Set a day for everything.
My days look something like this:
* Mondays - Housework and laundry (and business tasks as time allows)
* Tuesdays - Grocery shopping and business tasks (this used to be during naptime, but is now during preschool time)
* Wednesdays - Bible study and lunch with hubby (and business tasks as time allows)
* Thursdays - Business tasks as much as possible with playtime in between
* Friday - Take it Easy Day (and business tasks as time allows)
* Saturdays - Laundry
* Sunday - Church and a good, long nap
It seems a little boring on paper, but I can't tell you how much this little schedule has saved my sanity. I know when I get up in the morning what I have ahead of me and it is broken into manageable segments. You'll find that scheduling things amongst these "main" schedule items will get easier and easier as you get used to the schedule.
About the Author:
Jill Hart is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. Jill is a co-author of the upcoming book So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom (Beacon Hill, Sept. 2009). Jill welcomes work-at-home questions at http://AskJill.cwahm.com.
Labels: work at home
22/07/2009
In “Marketing your SMB with Time & Elbow Grease,” I explained that I’m committing to a series of articles for Little Biz that will give actionable advice on how to improve your rankings or revenue from search with no dollar investments — aside from the time it takes to research and implement these changes.
Because you demanded it, today we’ll discuss how to obtain a strong inbound link profile without spending any dollars out of your budget. Link building like this definitely takes time, so we’re not talking completely free — just no out-of-pocket money involved.
These tactics can work for the smallest of sites and have very nice benefits. First, some things to remember:
* Not every link will become a Google backlink.
* Not every link will make you move up one ranking.
* I don’t know how many links it takes to be number one.
* Every little bit of conscious effort helps.
Have Something Worth Linking To
Nobody wants a link from someone who has horrible, irrelevant content on their Web site. You can request a link, request a link exchange, or post a blog comment, but if the person in charge of approving that link doesn’t think your site is decent, you aren’t going to get it.
The first step in finding good links actually started a while ago when you got to work writing great content . If you haven’t done that yet, what are you waiting for?
Don’t be Afraid to Copy Your Top Competitors
Start link building without a budget by scoping out the top ranking sites for the best keyword phrases you can find for your products or services. Review all of their incoming links using Yahoo Site Explorer and mark any they do have that you don’t have.
Next, parse through those links and find ones that can be obtained for free. It can be as simple as making a comment on a blog post or exchanging a link with a relevant business.
Blog Comments
Many bloggers allow those who post comments to have a link back to their site. This is a great way to contribute to your niche community as a whole and, in some cases, obtain a nice link back to your own Web site.
Here are some tips for commenting on blogs:
* Don’t put a keyword phrase as you name. I delete these, every time! You’re a person, and I highly doubt your real name is Buy Viagra Online, so don’t leave that as your name in the name box. Yes, anchor text links are fine. But if the comment gets deleted, you didn’t get the link — and you wasted time submitting the comment.
* Leave a meaningful comment. Don’t say “nice post” or “I found this very useful.” Why did you find it useful? What can you add to the conversation?
* Provide a link back to relevant content on your site that supports the content in the blog post, or as closely as you can.
Sponsorships, Volunteerism, Partnerships
Many nonprofit organizations have a Web site and they love having volunteers. Next time you do some work for your local charity walk or fundraiser, see if they have a links page on their Web site. This may not be 100-percent relevant, but if you volunteer in your business’s name, maybe they’ll have a page that lists the volunteers with links. Don’t volunteer only to get links, though. Have some fun, too.
Relevant Link Exchanges
I like link exchanges, especially if you’re exchanging with a product or service that can provide direct benefit to your Web site users. Are you a plumber that recommends a certain type of furnace or A/C unit? See if that company will agree to link to your site — and offer them a link in exchange. You’re adding value, “playing within your own neighborhood” and getting some nice relevant links in the process.
You should limit how many reciprocal links you have. One hundred percent is definitely too much; 50 percent is probably too much; but less than 40 percent is probably just fine.
These tips take elbow grease and time, but no dollar investments. What you put into the process is directly related to what you receive back.
Don’t forget to be genuine, thoughtful, and above all honest in what you’re doing. Yes, you may be leaving a comment on a blog for a link. But if you’re thoughtful and contributory in your answer, you’re giving something in return.
Credits to: Carrie Hill
Originaly posted on http://www.deondesigns.ca/blog/link-building-without-a-dime/
Labels: backlinks
21/07/2009
One of the biggest challenges for most Internet Marketers is writing effective ad copy. This is hardly surprising. Most marketers are not professional writers and writing ad copy is a difficult skill for beginning marketers to master. Here are some tips that might assist you in writing an effective, profit-producing ad.
1. Benefit from the experience of other writers. You can get ad copy ideas by studying similar product's advertising material. Collect their sales letters, classified ads, web ads, e-mail ads, etc. You can model your ad on these-- but don't copy them word-for-word. That's a no-no.
2. Set a goal for your ad. Know exactly what you want your ad copy to accomplish. It could be to qualify prospects, make sales, generate leads, attract web traffic, etc.
3. Build your selling points. Make a complete list of your product's benefits and features. Begin your ad with the most important benefit either in your headline or first sentence.
4. Make your ad benefits as specific as possible. Include exact numbers, percentages, times, colors, smells, sounds, descriptive adjectives, and so forth.
5. Set yourself apart from your competitors. List all the ways your product is different from your competition's. Include all the differences in your ad copy that are better than their product.
6. Emphasize the benefit(s) of your product. Use graphics, pictures and drawings of people actually using your product to solve their problem. Include a picture that also shows the results. Your goal should to produce the "buying emotion" in your potential customers.
7. You must determine who the target audience is for your product. What age, sex, or background are they? Once you determine that, you should write down what reasons would attract them to purchase your product. Include those reasons in your ad copy.
8. Include any proven facts in your ad copy. They could be customer surveys, scientific tests, product reviews, etc.
9. Don't forget about "after the sale". Tell your audience what kind of support they'll get after they buy. It could be free consulting, tech support, free servicing, etc. Product support can be a huge factor in making the sale.
10. Try to get feedback from those who chose not to buy your product. Ask them why they decided not to buy. This will give you new ideas on how to produce a more profitable ad copy.
Writing ad copy can be a formidable task for any beginning Internet Marketer. Using these tips may hopefully set you on your way to becoming an effective copywriter.
Copyright 2005 Ronald Gibson
Ronald Gibson is a Web Designer and Web Marketer. He is the Webmaster of AffiliateUtopia.com, which offers information about some of the best money making opportunities on the Web. For more information, visit: http://www.affiliateutopia.com/
Labels: ad writing
A common characteristic shared by successful
home business owners is the steadfast, almost fanatical way in which they guard their time.
Large corporations and businesses hire people and spread the responsibilities, and although I highly urge you to leverage your time by surrounding yourself with people who will take care of lower return activities, there is still no escaping the many interruptions and distractions that are a part of
home business life.
People who play at the top of their game whether in business, sport or life, have learned how to either eliminate or reduce distractions by mastering the use of one simple word ... "No."
The inability and fear around using these two little letters has caused more
home business failures, tears, stress, frustration and relationship troubles than any other.
And although many new
home business owners insist their greatest weaknesses are lack of marketing and sales skills, the biggest obstacle that is blocking their ability to develop these skills is the fact they are not saying no to time-robbing activities so they can focus on building and growing.
Lack of time is the number one challenge every one of my clients brings to the table when we begin working together.
Learn to say "no" to doing everything yourself.
Oftentimes I'll hear, "But I'm in start-up, I have to guard my spending" and I respond with, "You can't save yourself into profitability. You have to focus on making money."
This mental block will never allow you to grow, especially at an accelerated rate.
Low pay-off activities can be delegated, bartered, given to volunteers, students and family members. Do some creative brainstorming with your coach, mastermind group or trusted colleague.
Learn to say "no" to the demands of daily living.
How many times have you said "yes" to the following even though you either didn't want to or knew it would take you away from your own priorities?
* taking care of your neighbor's kids after school because she had a hair appointment
* volunteering to cover the refreshments table at your child's high school dance
* loaning out equipment or items you know you won't get back unless you ask for them several times
* agreeing to listen to your friend rant for the third time this week about how his wife is trying to ruin him in a nasty divorce battle
* taking your mom to visit her friend across town every week because your brother and sister are too busy
* making Johnny and Sally's beds because they have to rush to school in the morning and don't have time
* going to every birthday and holiday dinner a family member hosts
* reading every single e-mail and taking every single call that comes in...
By not saying "no" to the hundreds of non-critical demands that are placed on you every month, you will not create the
business success or freedom you want and deserve.
The two biggest obstacles in mastering the skill of saying "no" are fear and guilt. Fear that you will be loved less or rejected and feeling guilty that you may have hurt someone's feelings.
Saying "no" doesn't have to hurt anyone or cause you to be rejected and the way you deliver the message can make all the difference for you.
To refuse a request be honest and assertive in your reply by stating, "I'm sorry, however I have to turn down your offer/request at this time because I've been so busy with obligations, I've neglected my own priorities and have to give them my attention right now."
If others get angry with you or try to make you feel guilty for wanting to give yourself the attention you deserve, it's time to decide whether or not they're the kind of people you want in your life.
Start small. Build your "no" muscle slow and easy and work your way up to the larger demands. Like any skill, you can develop it and once you become a master, you'll enjoy quantum leaps in your happiness levels and
business success.
Copyright 2007 Laurie Hayes - The HBB Source
Laurie Hayes, founder and visionary behind The HBB Source helps government and corporate employees break free of their jobs to live their dream of entrepreneurship. To subscribe to her FREE e-zine for valuable resources designed to create
home business success, visit http://www.thehbbsource.com.
Labels: home business, home business success
by Lisa Freeman
If you
work from home and also have school aged children, the summer months can be particularly challenging. You probably
started your home business so you could spend more time with your family, but how do you work when your kids are constantly at your desk whining "I'm bored!" or start fighting with each other every time you try to make a phone call? Here are a few tactics used by
work at home parents that can help.
Work while the kids are asleep. Go to bed early and set your alarm for several hours before the kids normally wake. Or, if you're a night owl, plan on working for a few hours after the kids are in bed. You'll be amazed at how much you can get done when the house is quiet!
Enroll the kids in fun summer activities. Most towns offer plenty of half-day activities for school aged children during the summer. Many churches have week-long summer "Bible schools" filled with crafts, games, and religious teaching - and there is usually no charge for attending. Pottery shops often capitalize on parents' need to entertain the kids with ceramic making programs. Fine arts schools may have short-term programs for kids interested in learning dance or gymnastics. Check, too, with your local recreation department, museum, YMCA, and health club to see what kind of summer camps they offer.
Hire a mother's helper for one or two days a week. If your children are younger, find a "mother's helper" - a responsible older child - who can come play with your kids at your house while you work. You may not even have to pay the child because it's likely a win-win situation for you and the parent of the older child.
Trade sitting services with other
work at home parents. If you know other moms or dads who work from home, you can trade childcare services with them. You take their kids one day, and they take your kids another.
Finally, if you're in a pinch trying to meet a deadline or make an important call, bribery works wonders! No, it's not the most highly praised parenting tactic in the book, but it can be quite effective. Tell the kids that if they'll keep it down until you get finished, you'll take them to get ice cream afterwards.
Labels: work at home
By Janet Attard
As a business owner, it’s important for you to learn as much as you possibly can about all phases of your business. If you want your business to grow, you should be constantly on the alert for ideas that will improve your marketing, your web site, your customer service, your productivity, and if you have employees, the way you hire, interact with and coach employees. And those things are just the tip of the iceberg.
But if you’re like most of us, you already have a lot more on your plate than you have time to do. So how can you read a book, attend a class, hear presenters at a conference or even sit in on a teleconference without taking time away from other things you should be doing?
Well, this is one area where multitasking makes perfect sense. Educate yourself while you workout, while your drive your car, or while you travel.
Many books, seminars, conference presentations, and teleseminars and other educational material are available these days in CD, MP3, or DVD formats that you can listen to while you’re doing something else. You can improve your mind and your business by listening to or watching these materials when you’re traveling, running, or cleaning the house.
Instead of filling your iPhone with songs, transfer teleconference transcripts to it, or download an audio book that will help you improve your business. Instead of watching TV at the gym (or watching the clock because you’re bored), prop up a DVD player on the treadmill or strap an MP3 player to your arm and learn new ways to get publicity for your business or better ways to find the best employee for that job opening on your staff.
Use your car CD player or an MP3 player to listen to books, seminars, teleseminars and training courses while you’re driving to your office or a client’s location. Even if your commute is only 5 minutes from your home, like mine is, you’ll turn your daily drive into a learning experience. If you’re taking your laptop on a plane trip, take an audio CD and ear buds along with you. That way, if the person ahead of you reclines you can still listen to something educational even if you can’t open laptop wide enough to view the screen or type.
Labels: home business
19/07/2009
For years people have been cashing in on the health and wellness trend. Even fast food companies are offering more healthy choices for people to chose from. This trend is one that's here to stay. With the help of Vemma MLM and other various wellness companies, you can cash in on the trend as well! Starting your own business with a multi-level marketing company is easy and maintaining it isn't difficult either!
Whether it's pills, supplements, or juice, it will sell. People have the desire to maintain a healthy lifestyle and that desire keeps them coming back for more. Health and wellness products are consumable so people will run out fairly quickly and be back to purchase more. This means that you aren't only gaining customers, but solid repeat customers. Repeat customers, is what makes any business worthwhile. Building a good rapport with your customers could make them customers for years to come! Essentially, since you can ensure you will have return customers, your monthly sales should increase month to month as you continue to make your business prosper.
The great thing about starting a business using Vemma MLM or other network marketing companies is that you also can sell the business opportunity. By doing this, you build a team. Having a strong sales team means a larger passive income for you because you will earn a percentage of your team's personal sales as well as your own.
Direct sales companies have played a huge role over the years in making people successful business owners. With companies like Vemma MLM, you to can be one of these successes stories. With network marketing the sky is the limit. You can use your business to earn an extra income, replace your current income, or easily surpass even your wildest dreams. The options are endless and all you need is a little time and effort.
18/07/2009
Many people want a
work at home but many people don't realize exactly how much work it is. Unfortunately not everyone is really meant to own their own business, and
starting work at home business is really not that much different from an outside the home business. Any type of business is exactly that it is a business and that means work. The best way to determine if being a home business owner is going to work for you is to you look at certain things that apply to you and your life.
There are certain talents and skills that you really need to have to be successful
working at home. If you have the correct skills that are needed to be successful
working at home then you're well on your way. If you are able to work without supervision. as this is top on the list for being able to be successful working for yourself, then you should have no problem being successful. When you have your own home business you are your boss which means that you set your own schedule, if you are not good at working without supervision then this will not work for you. The fact that you'll also be around other people a lot less can be a hardship for some people.
Aside from your own strengths and weaknesses you have to look at your family. Do you have the type of family that's going to be supportive of your
working from home and try to eliminate distractions for you? Many people find that when they work from home they are not respected as a true work at home business owner. Friends and family think nothing of infringing on business time and want to socialize and ask for favors. If you have a family that is like this, then it is going to be difficult for you to indeed
work from home. Or if you do have a family like this but you feel that you can make them understand and get them under control, then perhaps a
work at home business will be successful for you.
In any case, it is really difficult to know whether
working from home is right for you until you actually try it. Once you make the plans and put your best foot forward, only then you will know whether you can be successful with an online home business.
Labels: work at home
15/07/2009
If you are tired of working at a job outside your home, you are not alone in your thinking. More and more people are getting tired of paying the costs to commute, as well as expensive childcare. They are tired of only bringing home a small portion of what they earn due to all of the added costs of working outside the home. If you are considering staying at home to work, you will want to find out about joining a work at home program and what it takes to succeed.
What Do You Like to Do?
In order for a work at home program to be successful, you must like what you are doing. Because you will only get paid for the work you do, you will need to make sure you enjoy doing it or you will find yourself fighting to get the work done and get paid. Make a list of some of the things you enjoy doing and start your search from here. Many people often turn a hobby into an income because they know they will always enjoy doing it.
What Are Your Skills?
If you do not really have a hobby that you can turn into a work at home program, you will want to figure out what your skills are and start your search from here. Some of your skills you could use working at home may include typing, data entry, writing, and organizing. Many businesses are now getting into the habit of hiring virtual assistants for their business. This allows them to get the job done without paying the extra employee benefits.
Do Your Research
If you do find a work at home program that you are interested in joining, do your research before you take the final step. Find out as much as you can about the business, such as how long they have been in business, what types of products and services they sell, and what is the commission structure they have set up. You will also want to check with the Better Business Bureau to make certain it is a legitimate company and have not have any complaints filed against them.
11/07/2009
Article Submission Service
Using Articles is a great way to drive traffic, promote products, get backlinks to your site (Which helps to increase your search engine rankings) and of course, build the credibility of your web site. Just one article can get you hundreds, if not thousands of backlinks to your website in a relatively short period of time.
With more backlinks your chances for increased traffic are much higher. Using articles is a very effective way to advertise and increase your web domain presence in the search engines.
Blueclaw can add targeted backlinks to press releases and articles before submitting them to article/news distribution sites such as PRWeb. We are vastly experienced in facilitating the submission of press releases to ensure they are maximised for SEO potential.
A sample article directory list:
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# » www.za77.org
# » www.theleadingarticles.com
# » www.amazines.com
# » www.articlealley.com
# » www.httparticles.com
# » www.internetarticledirectory.com
# » www.searcharticles.net
# » www.articlebasement.com
# » www.ezinearticles.com
# » www.pressbox.co.uk
# » www.broadcastarchives.net/
# » www.articles.webraydian.com/
# » www.1starticles.com
# » www.articlenorth.com
# » www.infoasylum.com
From http://www.blueclaw.co.uk/seo-article-submission-service
Labels: Article Submittion
10/07/2009
If you are currently searching for new
business opportunities, you will want to look at some of the
affiliate programs that are available. When you become a member of one or more of these programs, you will find there are many benefits and you will find yourself thoroughly enjoying the work you have chosen.
MoneyThe main benefit of
affiliate programs is the
money. Many of the opportunities will offer as much as a fifty-percent commission on any product or service you sell. You may also have the opportunity to
earn commissions on everything that is sold by a member that you recruited into the business. The earnings potential of these types of companies is generally unlimited. The more you sell or recruit and the more
money you are going to make. Many people often start their new endeavor on a part-time basis, only to find they are
making more money with it than their full-time job.
Freedom When you join
affiliate programs, you will also find they give you the freedom you’ve always desired. You can choose when you want to work and how much time you want to invest in
your new business. Many people are not early morning socialites and yet, the demands of their current job require them to be ready to go at seven in the morning. When you are an
affiliate, you can create a schedule that works for you. It will also give you the flexibility to work around the needs of your family. How many times have you had to miss one of your children’s school functions because you couldn’t get the time off from work? When you
work at home, you no longer have this worry.
SocializationYou will also find that when you become an
affiliate, it pays to socialize. Talk to everyone you know about
your new business and you may be surprised by how many new customers or recruits you get. This type of business allows you to take a new friend out to lunch to learn about the business. If you are a people person, you will find this type of position will allow you to socialize and get paid for it.
Labels: affiliate home business
09/07/2009
If you have recently
started working out of your home, you will find you have many worries. You may have used some of your savings to get
your business started and you may be worried about what would happen if your business doesn’t do as well as you hoped. Now is the time to make sure you are on a budget for
your business, as well as your family. The following are some tips on business budgeting when you are
working from home.
Marketing StrategyOne of the largest expenses
your business will have is marketing. After all, if you don’t spend the money to get new clients, you won’t bring in any money. However, marketing is the downfall of many
businesses. The most important thing you can do is get it right the first time. Know who your target market is and determine the best way to reach them. Make certain you have a method to determine which strategies are working and which ones are not. You will also want to take advantage of free advertising online, such as social networking sites and free classified sites. This will help you to keep your expenses down, as well as bring in new
business.
Office SuppliesWhen it comes to office supplies,
your business should try to find a way to be as paper-free, as possible. Most of your paperwork can be kept in files on your computer. However, if you do find it necessary to purchase other items, such as sticky notes and paper and ink for your computer, you will want to shop around at the various office supply stores for the best deals. Quite often, you will find many online stores offer discounts when you purchase in bulk.
Internet OptionsIf
your business requires the use of the Internet, you will also want to shop around to make certain you are getting the best deal. If you are currently paying twenty-five dollars a month for dial up, but find it slow and difficult to get work done, you may find that by spending a few dollars more a month, you can get your Internet services through the cable company or another company that will allow you to get your work done quicker. In turn, this will be money well spent.
Labels: home business
By Curtis Dicken
Page Content
This one is a little tougher to optimize. Your focus should be on two fronts. First, try to put as many of your primary keywords at the top of your content as possible. Obviously you should not just list your keywords at the top of your content. It still has to make sense to the reader. Second, repeat as many keywords or keyword phrases throughout the text as makes sense. Again, repetition for the sake of repetition is never a good idea.
There are other techniques that you can use to get the search engine's attention on your keywords such as the use of tags but we don't have space to go into those techniques in this article. However, I promise we will cover some of those techniques in a future article.
Meta Description
This is simply a short summary of the content that is on your page. In most cases 2 to 3 sentences will suffice. When you write your description try to use as many of you primary keywords as makes sense. Again, don't go crazy on the repetition or you may just end up lowering your rank instead of raising it. An example of a good description would be:
Meta Keywords
This is precisely what you would expect, a list of keywords and keyword phrases. There are just a few simple things to keep in mind when putting your keywords together:
1. Do both keywords and keyword phrases
2. Prioritize your keywords from most important to least important (in case a search engine caps the number of keywords it will catalog)
3. DO NOT repeat keywords in the list unless they appear solo and within a phrase - e.g. "search, search engine" is fine but "search, engine, search, engine" is not.
4. Separate keywords and phrases with a comma
5. Don't worry about putting common misspelling in your keyword list. Most search engines will assist the chronic bad speller search with correct spelling.
What is Meta Data?
Meta data pretty much encompasses all meta tags such as description and keywords mentioned above. Of course, there are many more that you can use such as author and copyright as well as http-equiv settings which define things like your content type and language settings. Meta tags were actually designed with complete flexibility in mind which means you could make up your own meta data if you are so inclined. Keep in mind though, your custom meta data will be pretty much ignored by everything and everyone but you.
Labels: SEO
08/07/2009
by Mike Wasylik
This weekend, my mother-in-law asked me to enter a life of crime.
Not in the real world, of course - she’d like the father of her grandkids to remain jail-free. No, instead she invited me to play that Mafia game that’s so popular on Facebook.
Not interested in the game, I politely declined. But when my mother-in-law, who has just joined Facebook, becomes part of an online trend, that’s a sure sign that it’s hitting critical mass in the population at large.
Facebook is quickly becoming the immovable object that will soon butt heads with Google’s irresistible force.
Strength In Overwhelming Numbers
Facebook claims that its subscriber base over age 35 doubled in size between February and April of 2009 - just sixty days. That’s not only impressive for a site as huge as Facebook already is, but it means that your mother-in-law is likely on Facebook just like mine, and one of them is probably about to order a Mafia hit on the other.
That growing audience means traffic to any website that gets a link on Facebook. How much traffic? The analysts at Hitwise claim that celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton now gets more traffic from Facebook than from Google - more than 7 million pageviews from Facebook alone. If that trend increases, then the current wisdom about web traffic is about to get turned on its ear.
How Facebook Kills SEO
Traditional search engine marketing seeks to draw the attention of people searching for particular terms in Google, Yahoo, or other search engines. And that’s going to continue to be useful for a long time.
But the rise of Facebook creates a growing segment of the web that’s completely invisible to search engines - most of which, Facebook blocks - and can be seen only by logged-in Facebook users. So as Facebook becomes ever larger, and keeps more users inside its walled garden, your web site will need to appear in Facebook’s feeds and searches or you will miss out on an important source of web traffic.
What’s the best way to keep your links in front of Facebook users? The ever-more-important linkbait strategy.
How Linkbait Gains Us the Favor of Our New Facebook Overlords
Regular readers of this and related sites are already familiar with the linkbait strategy, which is this: create content that multiple outside sources will link to because it’s funny, controversial, interesting, or otherwise compelling.
In other words, generate great content.
Now, once you’ve got your compelling content posted - or ideally, even before you do - you should have some way of injecting that content into the Facebook sphere. Perhaps you’ve built up a large network already, for yourself or your site. Perhaps you’ve got a widget on your page that allows readers to post your link directly on Facebook. Or maybe you just ask a few friends to post the links on their own, and hope it takes off from there. Your tactics may evolve over time, but the most important part is that you’ve got to write something people want to link to - the essence of the linkbait strategy.
The Hits Just Keep on Coming (We Hope)
So… as linkbait becomes more important for Facebook (and, let’s not kid ourselves, Twitter, too), what does this mean for future traffic trends?
It means that, more than ever, you’re going to have to continue to generate timely, quality, compelling content that attracts Facebook links as well as non-Facebook links. And once Facebook users get to your page, you’d better have a plan for how you’re going to keep them on your site, and keep them coming back later.
Why is that? In part, because Facebook links are invisible to Google - and therefore don’t contribute to your PageRank. Facebook links make no lasting direct contribution to your site’s SEO, and as Facebook drives an ever-larger percentage of traffic to your site, that means quality content will overshadow all other SEO techniques.
Facebook wants to be the Google killer… don’t let it kill your site, too! Start planning today to get Facebook users to your site and keep them coming back for more.
UPDATE: Six hours after this post was published, Wired released an article that provides extensive additional information about the enormous amount of data and links that Facebook is keeping from Google.
About the Author: Michael Alex Wasylik is a Florida lawyer with the firm of Ricardo, Wasylik & Kaniuk PL. He blogs at the Florida
Labels: Facebook
07/07/2009
Recent research from NPD Group says that Twitter users are more engaged with music, both online and offline, than their non-tweeting counterparts and also are more likely to spend money on downloaded music.
This data obviously suggests that Twitter could be a valuable tool to music marketers, currently struggling to figure out the best ways to monetize music (as opposed to the existing strategy of suing listeners.) But it's hard to see a direct financial benefit until Twitter usage can more directly correlate to sales, including sales that are influenced by followers etc.
People on Twitter purchased 77 percent more digital downloads, on average, than those who were not tweeting. One-third listened to music on a social-networking site, 41 percent listened to online radio (compared with 22 percent of all Web users), and 39 percent watched a music video online (versus 25 percent of all Web users).
"NPD's latest music-acquisition study shows that there are segments of consumers who are more actively integrating Twitter as a key tool for communicating and networking," Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD, said in a statement last month. "Based on their music-purchasing history, active Twitter users are simply worth more to record labels and music retailers than those who are not using Twitter."
Crupnick also noted in the statement that Twitter has the potential to help foster the discovery of new music, and improve targeted marketing of music to groups of highly-involved consumers, but only if used cautiously and judiciously. "There must be a careful balance struck between entertainment and direct conversation on one hand, and marketing on the other," he said.
The underlying theme in this report is that Twitter users are slightly more connected--or perhaps more "always on" the Internet, and accordingly consume more music online. The disparity in data isn't dramatic enough to suggest that Twitter users are completely technocrats, but it does suggest that there are low-cost ways to reach music consumers--and to get them to pay for music, something the major labels can't seem to figure out on their own.
Follow me on Twitter @daveofdoom.
Dave Rosenberg dishes up "Software, Interrupted" with nearly 15 years of technology and marketing experience that spans from Bell Labs to multiple start-up IPOs to open-source enterprise software companies. He is co-founder of MuleSource and currently serves as the general manager of Hardy Way. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can contact Dave via e-mail at softwareinterrupted@gmail.com.
Labels: Twitter
We know that Twitter has roughly 20 million plus users and growing. Actually by the time I write this post it could have doubled.. who knows? Anyway, you also know that these 2o million people are answering to their followers and the world, the question, ‘what are you doing now?’.
Imagine there was a way you could find out what people are wanting, what they are asking for, what questions they have that have remained unanswered, by simply asking the question: What’s everybody doing? How powerful would that be? If you knew that one of the most asked questions and problems people faced bringing home a brand new puppy was actually ‘what should I name my dog?’, would you do things differently? How many profitable products could you release based on what topics are really hot right now?
You also know what whenever you search a question in Twitter you will receive a load links to information and affiliate products rather than genuine concerns and questions. Even if you find the good stuff, filtering through the clutter would take forever and a day. So doing the above is virtually impossible without endless days of work.
Well I’ll tell you that it is possible. I’m going to show you a way you can cut through the clutter, find the information you need so you can create relevant products and sell them for profit. Are you ready?
Ok here it is:
Visit
Twitter Search. Now Type this in: (obviously replace keywords with whatever you like)
-http Insert Keywords Here since:2009-05-30 ?
What have I done?
1. By putting the ‘-http’ I have removed most links so you don’t get people trying the redirect you through to a page of information or their affiliate product.
2. The ’since:2009-05-30′ asks Twitter search to only find stuff relevant since that date. You can take it back as far as you like to get a larger response. (in the Year/MM/DD format).
3. The “?” at the end tells the Twitter search engine that we are only after questions. ie Anyone know how to stop a dog barking?. Also because we have removed the links we won’t get any questions like this -> Want to know how to stop a dog barking? Visit http://etc etc. So we have filtered out all the rhetoricals and commercial questions and replaced these with genuine concerns. You can remove the “?” and you will get more responses including both statements and questions so either way will work. I just used the ‘?’ in this example to show you another feature you may want to implement.
What do you do now?
Essentially the fiddly time consuming stuff that would usually takes days, even weeks to do, has already been done! Now go through the findings in Twitter, read the posts and jot down the concerns one by one. You will start to notice a pattern developing about what people are after and what’s in demand. This is your market research data. Take this, run with it and create an in demand and profitable product.
Posted by William
http://www.williambakhos.com/using-twitter-for-market-research/
Labels: Twitter
05/07/2009
When you first start your business from your home, you may motivated and willing to work as many hours as it takes to get it up and running. However, after awhile, you may be wondering what you have gotten yourself into. You find the demands of your business and the demands of your family are completely overwhelming and you may think that if you knew how stressful it was going to be, you never would have started it in the first place. Don’t let yourself get caught up in all the stress. There is a way to effectively manage your work from home business.
The first thing you want to do for you work from home business is to set up some regular working hours for yourself. When working out of your house, it is very easy to get caught up in your work and end up working eighty hours a week instead of forty. While your hours can be flexible to work around your family’s schedule, you will want to make certain you do not work too much or you will burn yourself out. Set up a system that allows you to get as much work done in as few hours possible and you will find yourself feeling less stressed.
Your work from home business may demand that you be perfect, but you must realize that you are going to make mistakes. Instead of getting down on yourself when you do make a mistake, make certain you understand how it happened so you can be assured you will not make the second mistake again. Give yourself a break. While your business clients and customers may want you to be perfect, as long as you are providing them with great customer service, you will find yourself and your customers happy.
While you cannot possibly know everything there is to know about your business, it is in your best interest to continue learning as much as you can. The more you learn, you will find your confidence building and the job being done more efficiently. Again, don’t be too hard on yourself when a mistake is made, but make certain you continue to learn the best way to handle your business and any problems that may arise and you will soon find yourself managing a successful business.
02/07/2009
Self employment is on the rise and it can seem that every one is looking for some form of it. Mothers would like to stay home with their families without sacrificing income and retirees are looking for ways to supplement their declining government funded income. Earning money at home can require a good amount of determination but the flexibility of working for yourself and doing something that is enjoyable can be the best pay off.
Generally people don’t know where to start when considering work from home careers and often assume that starting a business is the only way. While self employment is starting a form of business for tax purposes, creating a something like a store online or a physical location is not the only way to work. There are many forms of work that can be done and all that is needed is a bit of creative thinking. For example, many people have left the outside work force with some specialized skills which can be very useful in becoming a consultant.
Looking to hobbies or knowledgeable areas is usually the best place to start. Other forms of work can be selling items online, designing websites or graphics, answering phone calls, reading and responding to emails, freelance photography, home decorating and organization. The possibilities are quite endless as there is always a need for a new product or service as well as the many companies that fill positions by hiring people to work at home.
There are many ways to go about finding work from home careers and what is left is personal preference for the area chosen. Doing what is fun and comfortable is key to having a successful amount of income here and most likely one reason for leaving or not returning to an outside job position.
Whether you’re trying to build a blog for your SFI home business, or trying to sell other products on the Internet via any type of Website, you simply cannot ignore the allure of getting free search engine traffic from Google and Yahoo.
Unlike paid advertising, research has shown that visitors are more open to natural search engine results, and the amount of traffic to natural search engine results is also significantly higher. To get a good search engine ranking, you need to start with the right choice of keywords. Keywords are what people type into search engines to find information. If your site ranks for the correct keyword, your link will be displayed whenever someone uses the search engines.
However, it amazes me how little people really know about keyword research; how hard they try to achieve the impossible, and how fast they give up.
When you think about it, it’s really a vicious cycle:
1. Their lack of keyword research knowledge leads them to target the wrong keyword, which is either too difficult to achieve, or has too little traffic.
2. Then, convinced that early retirement is only a stone’s throw away, they work hard to archive top search engine rankings using whatever “new” method the gurus claim will end their misery fast.
3. Then, after a few months they realize that they will never beat the sites that appear on Google’s first page, they give up, pack up, and leave.
Keyword research is a real tricky thing. It can make or break your Internet home business dreams. If you target keywords that are too competitive, you end up chasing dreams of grandeur that will never materialize. If you target keywords that are too easy to achieve, you’ll end up on the first page of Google and realize that your number one position means squat.
The secret is in finding a balance.
The most profitable online market is not the general market, but the niche market. Therefore when targeting keywords, you must target niche keywords. A niche keyword is usually smaller, two to four words long, and is a subset of the larger general keyword.
Let’s take a step-by-step approach to keyword research using a free tool called the Yahoo Keywords Suggestion Tool. Open up this site in a new browser window so you can do your own hands-on training.
This tool is not 100% accurate when it comes to the numbers, but it gives you a relatively accurate idea of what keywords you should target for your blog or Website.
Step 1 : Finding a General Market
You must know the general keyword for your blog or Website. If you don’t, bang your head to the wall and ask yourself what you’re doing trying to make money online.
Your Website cannot be about everything. It must be about something.
You can’t build a site and say “Oh, my Website is about everything that happens in my life, and I don’t want to limit myself by sticking to one topic”.
The truth is that with a few exceptions, such “do-it-all” personal-ranting types of sites are doomed to failure right from the start. It’s okay to have a site where you talk about your everyday life, but there must be a main theme; a main niche; a main keyword for that site.
In the example here, I’m going to choose guitar as my main keyword. Mentally, I am going to tell myself that my blog is about guitars, so no matter how much unrelated stuff I throw into my site, the majority (80% or more) of my blog posts or content is going to be about guitars. That would give my site a theme and a reason for people to visit. If I have too much unrelated stuff to talk about, it’s best to put it into a new site.
Right, now you have a general keyword. But that’s only the beginning.
You cannot possibly dream about getting ranked number one in Google or other search engines when someone types in the word guitar. It’s way too competitive. Likewise, never try to rank for general keywords like health, money, home, insurance etc unless you can meet some / all of the following criteria:
1. Your site features a revolutionary new idea / software / service that will change the entire industry forever.
2. You are the undisputed, established offline industry leader and you are taking your business online.
3. You are a millionaire who can spend hundreds of thousands in advertising every month.
4. You can hire a team of smart, highly-trained SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts (people who specialize in search engine optimization) to monitor the progress of your site and the ranking for your general keyword.
It’s ironic to see some many people try to rank their blogs for general keywords. Yet, they only add five to 10 new posts a month, have no credibility, spend zilch on advertising, and have absolutely nothing revolutionary going on.
It’s just never going to happen.
So, from your general keyword, you need to select a more targeted keyword based on your interests and your own capability. The size of your keyword should depend on these few things:
* How much time can you spend on SEO?
* Are you willing to spend money in advertising, buying links etc?
* Are you capable of writing credible information for that topic, or can you find people who can?
Step 2: Find Your Niche Keyword
From the general and utterly useless keyword guitar, I found a niche market I can focus on. I choose electric guitar because I love the electric versions as compared to the acoustic guitars, and I know a great deal about them. It’s also something I’m passionate about and I from which I know that I can make money.
Note: to determine if a niche is profitable, see (1) how many affiliate programs you can find and (2) how many people are using Google Adwords to advertise those affiliate programs.
But, this keyword is still highly competitive, and while it’s not impossible to rank highly for this search term, it’s just not feasible if you’re just getting started in your own Internet home business.
Yes, you can listen to your ego, have a gung-ho attitude, and just go for it. You might just make it. But I think, if you’re new to SEO and Internet marketing, this is not a safe bet.
Instead, you need to go one level deeper into the third-tier keyword range. To understand this concept, just count how many clicks you need to make from the original search term guitar till you get to one you can target. If it takes you 4 clicks it means you’re already into the fourth-tier keywords.
Step 3: Find Your Primary Keyword, Secondary Keywords, & Long Tail
Now I’ve clicked on guitar > electric guitar > cheap electric guitar.
This is my primary keyword, and is the main keyword I will target on my blog or Website.
All the other keywords contained under these keywords, are my secondary keywords.
If you click further from cheap electric guitar or any of the contained keywords you’ll find a lot of lesser keywords, usually ranging from 5 to 500 searches per month, called the long tail keywords.
These long-tail keywords are usually too small to become the main keyword for your blog, but when you add them up they usually become bigger than your primary keyword.
Some of these long-tail keywords cannot be discovered by any keyword research tool, because they are too random. For every keyword someone types into the search engine that is tracked, there is another keyword searched that is either too long or too rare to be tracked. The only way you will discover these long-tail keywords are by looking at your site statistics over time.
For this reason alone, you need an entire master list of long tail keywords. It will be easy to rank for these keywords, but they bring in very little traffic. However, add the amount of traffic each keyword brings, and soon you’ll have a very popular blog.
How to Use Your Keywords Effectively
So now you know which keywords you want to use, but how do you use them? Here’s a simple guide:
PRIMARY KEYWORD
* Use it as the main title of your blog or Website.
* Use it as the domain name of your site.
* Whether you realize it, this primary keyword will also be used on most of your other blog posts (if you keep to the topic), which will help your blog or site to rank for the primary keyword.
SECONDARY KEYWORD
* Use it as an optional tagline for your blog / site.
* Use it as the category name for your site or blog.
* Create new pages (or posts) with your secondary keyword.
LONG TAIL KEYWORDS
* Use it to create individual posts, for example I create a new post called “cheap gibson les paul electric guitar” which comes under the keyword category “cheap gibson electric guitar.”
* There are no limits to the sheer number of posts you can create, because there are way too many long tail keywords you can target, each with a tiny search figure every month.
* You can also create articles with these long-tail keywords, and submit them to article submissions sites like www.myarticlemarketer.com and let the articles rank on those high-authority sites instead, and at the bottom of your article you can have a link back (traffic) to your site.
Limitations of Keyword Research
There are some severe limitations to keyword research. The main one is that it tells you what the user typed into the search engine, not what the user is really looking for or the state of mind the user is in.
For example, the user typed in “cheap gibson electric guitar” into the search engine and found your site. But, what is the user thinking when he is reading your page?
Is he:
1. Looking to buy a product? If yes, then your site should be primarily monetized by affiliate programs that pay you per sale. You can find a lot of physical products and digital products that you can sell from your Website just by typing in “your keyword + affiliate program” in search engines
2. Looking for more information? If yes, then your site should be monetized by an advertising program like Google Adsense or Chitika, since the user is more likely to click away for more information rather than buy something
3. Looking for bargains? If yes, your site should be monetized by Ebay or Auction Ads, which is based on Ebay but works like Adsense
4. Looking for freebies? If yes, your site should be monetized with CPA (Cost Per Action) programs that you can find on networks like www.shareasale.com or www.linkshare.com
Unfortunately, no one can tell you what works best for your site. The only way to overcome this limitation is to first have an understanding of the market you’re targeting. Keywords are just numbers, they tell you how much search traffic you can get, but they don’t tell you how to turn that traffic into cash.
This is the reason most people fail to make money on the Internet. They devote so much time into SEO tactics that they don’t spend enough time studying the market. These people rejoice when they make $50 from Adsense, when they could have been making $500 a month using other money-making methods.
About The Author: Gobala Krishnan is a freelance writer and Internet home business expert in Malaysia. You can visit his site at www.InternetIncomeMastery.com
Labels: Keyword research
How do you make money by using blogs?Many network marketers have found ways to
use their blogs to earn residual and multiple streams of incomes. They are doing this by stepping “outside the box” and using one of the most on-the-rise trends in marketing.
They have found ways of
using their blogs for advertising, selling of products, reviews, how-to’s, and much more. In this Tidbits, I will cover several of the ways that marketers have turned this trend into a revenue venue. Combining the information that they, and you too, already have at your fingertips can drive these marketers into realms of the undiscovered territories on the Internet.
First, these top marketers start with their pay-per-click search engines. They research the keywords and phrases that other marketers are using to drive traffic to their Websites. They also use the same technique to find out what people are searching for. With these techniques, you can create a very tightly woven niche market for the creation of a blog.
Secondly, use your Google Adsense in a more power-driven area than you have in the past. By inserting your Google Adsense ads onto your blogs in strategic places, you can increase your Adsense income. However, when using something like Adsense, don’t overlook other advertising revenues you may have at hand. These include your own classified sites that you have set up with an autoresponder service, paid-to-click advertising, banner ads, and others. I will go into this further in another Tidbits.
Having your Adsense ads match the content of your blog will enable you to create click throughs from visitors to sites that are related to the content of your blog. This can also work with the other sites like Adsense.
Third, don’t forget your affiliate programs! Do they have products that are customer-worthy? Use a blog to give product reviews of any of the products that you have personally used, have sold to others, and received testimonials on. Write articles on how best to use these products with specific tasks or problems that these products will solve. Don’t let my short list slow you down. You have a technique that is working for you already with affiliate programs. Add it to your blog.
While this may seem obvious, it’s important that the products listed in your affiliate programs should be related to the content of your blog. Providing a source from which to purchase will create a sense of “ease” for your customers. For instance, if your blog is talking about a particular brand of tea, having a subtle advertisement or banner on your blog leading to a green tea product will be beneficial to you and your visitor and result in more sales revenue.
If you don’t have an affiliate program that has products, I suggest that you search for targeted affiliate programs that will suit your needs as well as those of your customers.
Make sure to keep each blog topic specific to maintain your niche market. Going off topic could cost you traffic as well as potential customers. Adding content to your blog at least once a week, will also help you maintain a better ranking on search engines and ensure that repeat visitors will have fresh material to read.
Researched & Written by Karen Barnes
Labels: make money
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