Write For Fun & Profit!!

If you enjoy writing, you might want to check out Squidoo. I am a member of this online writing community and I write for both fun and profit. If you have a favorite hobby that you would like to share with the world, it is great for that. Maybe you are a big fan of a particular TV program and you want to share your views and get comments from others. Squidoo gets millions of visitors each month and you can get your share of those. Think of it as a large community of bloggers who write about all sorts of things, whatever is on their mind. There are some things that are prohibited, but nothing that you would not expect. Many of you are probably saying, "OK, I get the fun part, but how can I write for profit. There are many different ways people make money on this site. One of the most common is being an affiliate of Amazon and promoting their products. I will not try to explain this in detail which would be a whole other article. But there are two basic ways to make money promoting Amazon products. First, if you are presently an affiliate of Amazon, you can promote their products using your own affiliate ID. If you are not an affiliate or you happen to live in one of the states that Amazon doesn't allow affiliates, you can share Squidoo's affiliate account and they will split their earnings on the products you promote. The split is 50% for you and the same for Squidoo. But they are at the highest commission level, so your split is still a respectable 4.25%. There are also AdSense ads on all of the pages, which are called lenses. These profits are shared with those who write on Squidoo based on each sites rank. I will not try to cover all of the details here, but just know it is possible to participate in the adsense earnings. There are some other programs that allow you to make money there. But far and away the biggest is being an affiliate of Amazon and promoting their products. You can make anywhere between 4% and 8.5% (using your own affiliate ID) depending on the number of products that are ordered and shipped as a result of your promoting their products. Some make thousands of dollars a month there. Some ask why I would not just use my own sites, which is a good question. One important thing that I didn't mention before, writing on Squidoo is absolutely free. Whether you write one article or 1000 articles, it is absolutely free. You do not have to purchase domain names (or renew them) and also don't have to worry about paying for hosting either. These charges can be significant when you have your own sites. For those that end up with hundreds of these articles, the hosting of that many posts could be quite expensive. Many of the lens masters, those who are a part of this large community also have their own sites. In fact many use this platform to promote their own sites. So you definitely do not have to choose between the two. They work very well together and can even be beneficial to each other by placing links to the other one. I came to Squidoo mainly to make money. But I have found that I have a lot of fun there also. I have been able to share life experiences with others as well as get to know many others and read about their interests. You can find an article about almost anything. We have found some great recipes and shared a couple of our favorites also. You can find many guides on how to profit on Squidoo, both on the site and other forums. But I think if you get involved, you will enjoy it as much as I do. I hope you have enjoyed learning a little about Squidoo. I am known as "chas65" there. I invite you to find me @chas65 here. Once you check me out, you can search and find anyhting you want by using the search inside Squidoo. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Charles_Roberts

Useful Twitter Strategies

Make Twitter Work Even Harder Bringing Good Word of Mouth By Maria Duron Social networks have proven themselves to be a very powerful asset to the business world. Through them, we have the convenience of sharing, discussing, and networking with others who have similar interests. A large majority of small businesses apply these social networks as their primary marketing strategy because they can reach so many people easily and inexpensively. Twitter has proven itself as a powerful networking resource that is dependable and extensive in its ability to reach a large audience effectively - as long as you know how to use the tools provided. Like most social networks, Twitter is perfect for utilizing word of mouth marketing. People share with each other, as long as you share with them. This is the primary principle to keep in mind whenever using a social network, because you must first talk to people in order to start a conversation. What you say matters Because twitter has a character limit, there is only so much that can be said at one time. But, you don't need to say a lot to make a point or start a conversation. In fact, keeping it short and to the point often stimulates the best responses. One thing to refrain from is tweeting one part of a statement and completing it in second tweet. If it's too long to put in a single tweet, find a different way to say it or link back to a reference that will say it for you (other social networks or blogs). Therefore, anyone tweeting must be able to use words effectively. Find a different way New tweets are good to keep fresh material flowing and improve visibility, but it's important that any one speaking should take the time to talk back to their responses. The more times you tag participants' names into your conversation, the more visibility you can achieve. Serious Twitter users will regularly check out who and where their names were mentioned on a regular basis, so this is a great way to meet new networks and interact with your audience. One technique to apply is the art of asking questions. A short statement would work to start, but finish by questioning the value of the subject at hand, such as how it applies to the reader's life. This is a very effective way to stimulate a reaction and is applied to various marketing strategies because it tends to create a recall in the mind of the reader. They familiarize with the issue and are apt to respond far more effectively. Be a good investigative reporter A great source of new material is to respond to popular questions- even those not posted directly to Twitter. Consider a FAQ that you seem to encounter or topics that are related to your business, and then offer a solution to them. Highly asked questions are often the prime meat of search results anywhere on the internet. "How to" and "Why is" questions litter the minds of readers and it's great to bring up in conversation to draw attention. One technique would be to bring up the topic in a question form as well. Then, offer a solution during the conversation when you know you have attention. This will help to demonstrate that you are an expert in your field. Twitter is a gateway Then there are the outside applications that Twitter dawns with appeal. Twitter is a window through which readers can get a taste of material and explore its source. This brings up the importance of titles in your tweet. When tweeting content from one of yours or an outside article or blog, choose select valuable information to share. Quote yourself or share the purpose of the project, rather than simply using the title of the content. The trick is to offer valuable information to the reader; so don't just list a source and tag it with a link. Give the reader a taste so they will want to search for more. Of course, this also brings up the importance of watching where you place your links. The end can sometimes get cut off or hidden on Twitter feeds, meaning you will have to reformat it and tweet again (time). However, this can often become an eyesore on your feeds. You want them right up there in plain view- preferably in the middle or near the beginning where you can explain the relevance. Twitter can be a powerful marketing and networking tool for any business, as long as it's used effectively. Make the most of the space you have and keep your content applicable to your audience in order to generate interest, so that you can develop a quality network in your social outlet. Maria Elena Duron, CEO (chief engagement officer), buzz2bucks | a word of mouth marketing firm, is skilled at making networks "work" and harnessing powerful online and offline buzz, she facilitates online visibility services and word of mouth coaching and workshops - taking companies and professionals from buzz-worthy to bucks-worthy, http://buzz2bucks.com. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maria_Duron

What's In The Domain Name?

What's in a Name? Finding the Best Domain Names for Your Business If you are just starting out, you'll know that a having a good business name is a great way to get you out of relative obscurity. Your business name should be able to aptly represent what your company is all about and something that people will easily remember since establishing recall is your next most important step and the most crucial factor you have to deal with. This is basically the same premise practiced with online businesses as well. While they have the added advantage of a wider audience and bigger chances of being seen and checked out because people are logged onto cyberspace all the time, they still need to be able to brand themselves and make their mark for their customers to keep coming back for more. After all, they only have three seconds to grab and keep their customers attention before they move on to the next site. Their domain names need to be exactly that - dominating and strong over a vast customer base. So what exactly are domain names and how important are they for online businesses? Domain names are identification strings used in various networking contexts, specifically for application naming and addressing purposes. They represent an Internet Protocol resource like a personal computer used to access the internet, a server used to host a website or any other service communicated via the internet. Domain names affect your brand, whatever you are all about - whether you're selling paper clips or designing web pages. So the first rule of finding domain names is that it should be something you are comfortable with and should preferably be your company name since your company name with a.com after it is how customers will search for you online. Keeping it short and easy to remember allows customers to remember you better than some creatively contrived that may sound good but doesn't make for easy recall. In the same light, remember to keep your domain name short and sweet. Even if domain names can be as long as 67 characters, keeping it no longer than 20 characters long will help customers remember you better. Your customers will need to type in your domain name and it really won't go over well if they have to type in kilometric names. They might just end up chucking you for your competition that has a shorter domain name. Adding special characters like hyphens, camel case or dashes is OK but you must try checking the domain name with the dashes removed as it may turn out to be a competitor's domain name. Adding a location to your domain name doesn't only help you find an available name, it also helps your customers find you easily via local searches. Local searches are done when potential customers want to check if there are specific businesses operating within their town or city. Also, in an attempt to stand out from the competition, some companies will resort to using jargon or words closely associated with the nature of their business. This is OK if you have the budget to make your name a household word, but if not then it's still recommended you go with a name that is already familiar. Having a good domain name is like playing a good game of mnemonics with customers. The more they are able to associate your domain name with your brand, the more traffic is driven to your site, the more sales it will turn out for you. While unique can win you points for originality, it is still familiarity that will win the race at the end of the day. Choose the best domain names for your business when you find domain names search tools on http://www.optimalhosting.com. Strengthen your brand and keep your customers coming back for more. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Glenn_A_Rice

Building an E-Mail List By Sylvia S Garcia Why is building an e-mail list important??? An e-mail list is a list of email addresses used for marketing purposes. You send emails to perspective customers to drive them back to your website, where you can then market your services/goods to them. This method is used to build your ROI (Return on Investment) and asset value (one of the main criteria for setting an asset value to a site is the amount of email subscribers it has). The following is a list of items you will need to build, send and profit from your e-mail lists: BUILD 1. You will need a Lead Generation Page (also called a Squeeze Page). This helps to capture contact information from any visitors to your site such as Name and E-Mail address. 2. You will need to offer a premium (something you're willing to offer your customer free-of-charge such as a newsletter, gift-card, valuable information or some other type of gift). 3. You need traffic. Let's face it, it doesn't matter how great your blog articles are or how many affiliate ads you have on your site, without traffic you simply cannot make any money. SEND 1. You will need an Auto-Responder Account. This is an account with a company such as Aweber that offers services such as form customization, options for e-mail personalization, e-mail scheduling options, options for building multiple lists, and spam checks. 2. You will need great Subject Lines on sent e-mails. A great subject line can mean the difference between someone opening your e-mail or simply deleting it or worse, reporting it as spam. 3. And finally, you will need great e-mail content. You need to offer valuable information if you want to establish trust and keep your customers. You also want to ensure that the information you send them is relevant to what they signed up for. PROFIT 1. You will need an affiliate account. Companies like ClickBank, Amazon, Aweber, etc. will pay you a commission anytime someone purchases an item from them via a link on your website. You create an account with the company then post their ads on your site. When someone purchases one of their products through the link on your site you receive a commission... simple as that. I realize that when someone is starting out this can all seem pretty overwhelming, but if you follow the process I've outlined for you one step at a time, you will be successful. If you have any questions or would like more info please visit: http://webhuckstergroup.com For free valuable Internet Marketing strategies visit http://webhuckstergroup.com Article source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert=Sylvia S Garcia

3 Reasons Why You Need To Start A Blog By Dewane Mutunga The first step in converting more sales online is traffic generation. There have been several studies conducted that shows that businesses that blog tend to get more traffic than those that don't. Now if you happened to be in the minority and do not blog for some strange reason, I'd like to bring three key benefits of blogging to your attention. Many people still get a blog and a website confused, but they're actually very different. A website is more utilitarian, it serves as tool to show the function and basic information of produces and serves, as well as process transactions. A blog is a tool that allows you to build a relationship with your prospects and customers. It's a hub where you can show your brand personality and what it's all about. A blog is a community hub. As I stated in the last paragraph, blogging attracts more visitors to your website. The more you blog, the more fresh content you're creating and Google like fresh content. So naturally, the more content you produce the more traffic search engines will send your way. You'll also benefit from getting more pages indexed, which will increase your chances of getting organic search traffic. Blogging also builds credibility and positions you as an expert in your industry or niche. People are usually online searching for a solution to their problem, and/or tips and tricks that will help them save time, money, or effort. By blogging, you have the ability to create insanely useful content that answers all your customers questions. This builds trust overtime and trust is the foundation of a successful business. Your blog is your central hub online. It's the home of your brand, and the place you eventually want to drive all your traffic. While most might not see it as such, your blog acts as a very effective lead generation tool. Blogging is a great way to attract leads that can in turn convert into customers or email subscribers. Lead generation is an absolute necessity for every business. A blog is that type of lead gen tool that's always working for you, 24/7. Once you produce the content, it gets indexed and people search and come to your blog. Once there, they consume your content and get a feel for who you are and what you're all about. If they come to like your brand they'll subscribe to your email list or other retention channel, which will allow you to communicate with them more in the future. Article source: http;//EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dewane Mutunga

Don't Let Your Content Let You Down.

Don't Let Your Content Disappoint Your Website by Chris Hunter

With more and more businesses creating company websites, actively displaying an internet presence for the marketing of their products or services to be competitively sold in such an accessible global market medium, the importance of getting a clear message across to potential purchasers has never been more crucial. Being able to speak to web viewers in a way that can be clearly understood and provides them with all necessary information to make educated buying decisions is critical in order to conclude a sale.

There is always another website out there put up by the competition that will be more than happy to sell to a viewer who has clicked away from a poor quality internet location. The only way to prevent such a catastrophe from happening, keep viewers from leaving any web page, and increase the possibility of converting that visit to a sale is to be sure that all displayed content fulfills what viewers want and need.

Defining Bad Content

One of the easiest ways to turn a potential customer away is with bad content, which can take a number of forms. Poor grammar, incorrect spelling, and poor quality content are the biggest offenders, especially since it has become popular to create websites simply to use keywords to generate income. Pages are filled with keyword-stuffed, meaningless copy that accomplished nothing in the hopes of enticing viewers to click on a link. Needless to say, this is a real nuisance, and Google continues to weed them out. Copy presented that is visually difficult to interpret is also wrong as is content that is just plain inaccurate. Searchers looking for valuable information that find a website offering poor advice or erroneous facts will stop coming.

Defining Good Content

Thankfully, websites with good content are just as obvious as those who do not; they feature well-researched information that is correct and reliable, well written with accurate spelling and correct grammar that reads smoothly. Keywords usage has been blended in to read naturally, as if someone were speaking. If a company does not have someone on staff who handle this, a freelance writer can be hired to cover any writing necessities. This provides credibility and knowledge to the business, which is important to maintain any kind of internet presence in the hopes of gaining customers and sales.

Using Good Content the Right Way

The best way to determine if a website's content needs attention is to get some honest opinions about the posted copy. If there is any type of negative response, rewriting by professional writers or at least thorough editing of any existing material might be worthwhile in order to present a relevant, factual and grammatically correct representation of the company. Content should not be overly keyword saturated as to sound false, like an advertisement reworked into paragraph form. There must be substantial content worth reading, not just a few sentences that say nothing other than plug a few keywords. Lastly, be sure that the design is one in which body copy can be easily read by paying attention to font, color palette, white space, kerning and line spacing. Reading should be informative and effortless in order for content to work.

Making sure a business website is worth reading and able to draw attention to a company in a positive fashion, is what every business internet presence should strive to achieve. That business internet snapshot should be an authority on its subject by providing the best, most complete information possible in a correct and concise manner. Viewers will appreciate and remember that when the time comes to make a purchase. It is so important to not let the content being displayed disappoint the website!

Chris Hunter is an expert in Web Design and Search Engine Marketing. To find out more about SEO in Houston, go to the main website at: http://www.webunlimited.com.

Article Source: U Publish Articles

How To Start An Online Business And Make Money From The Internet

Are you thinking about starting an online or internet marketing business but don't know where to start? Do you know what a squeeze page or an autoresponder are? Find all the answers here! You too can get a great online income.

So you are looking at creating an online business but don’t know where to start.  What do I need? What do I do? Where do I find it?

There are already many opportunities online, with many additional new ones coming at you every day. The market is already massive, and yet I heard recently that there are still 1.5 million new people coming online every day! That’s about 45 million potential new customers for you every month! What other market can offer these kind of figures?   So first of all you need to try and get a slice of this market, and build up your customer database. For internet marketing, the only information you really need to get from your customers are a contact name and an email address. With these details, you can then set about marketing your products to them. 

Sounds easy? Well, yes, it is fairly simple, but like any new business, there is a learning curve to ramp up, and perseverance will be one of the major factors which will determine your success.  For your initial set up, you will need a product to sell, a web site landing page, and an autoresponder.

Your product can be absolutely anything you can imagine, so that is up to you to decide what it is that you want to sell. You will see many sites selling information or training products, as they are relatively cheap and easy to produce, and can be stored online, thereby avoiding any storage or stock costs as in a traditional business. Other popular physical products are things like health supplements and slimming products, but these will require the purchase and storage of stock.   Once you have decided on your product, you can then start to market it.

So how do you go about collecting a list of interested people?

For this, you will need a landing page (sometimes called a squeeze page), which is designed to capture your potential new customers. I tend to go for a simple, clean approach with my landing pages, with just enough information on them to encourage the viewer to want more. You can either produce this yourself using one of the many free or paid packages available, or have it produced for you. Again, I prefer to have control over my business, so tend to try and do the majority of these things myself, and it is also much more flexible if you then need to do any changes to your site. On your landing page will be your autoresponder box for the visitor to enter their name and email address, which will then either lead to a further site giving them more information, or will enable them to download additional information on your product.  Now that you have captured their details, your autoresponder can start to kick in and work for you.

There are free autoresponders available, but I would recommend using Aweber, which is a paid service, as this is renowned as the industry leader, and offers stability and flexibility for your all important customer database. After all, you don’t want to lose your list, once you have built it up, do you?

The purpose of your autoresponder is to feed messages out to your new contact every few days, to try to establish a bond or relationship with them, as it has been proven that people buy from people that they like and trust.

Once you have set up the messages in your autoresponder, it works for you automatically, so that as soon as a lead comes in, the process starts and they receive a series of emails from you over a set period of time.

So there it is. Your online business is up and running, all you need to do now is to direct traffic to your web site, and you will soon have a successful online business!  

Starting An Online Business - Do You Believe It’s Possible?

Having the right mindset is crucial in whatever you do.

Wow, what a wide ranging question! It can of course relate to just about anything in life, but I particularly want to relate it to starting an online business.  A lot of what we do is affected by our mindset, how we feel about things. It is no different when we are thinking about a new business venture. You do the research, talk to people about it, find out as much as you can about it, but if then you don’t believe it will work, it probably never will. I believe it was Henry Ford who once said “whether a man thinks he can or he can’t, he is usually right.”

When you start a new business, you need to believe that it will work, and keep that belief with you right throughout your journey. As with anything new, it takes time to master. If anyone has found the perfect business which immediately brings in thousands of dollars on day one with no effort required, please let me know, as I’m pretty sure it doesn’t exist!  As with any new business, you have to build it up step by step, putting in the effort on a daily basis, so that gradually, over time, you build up the different layers needed to make your business successful. It is easy to stop believing, to say that this system doesn’t work, if it seems very slow at first. Many people will give up at this point, as they lose their belief., but if you are following a proven system, with lots of successful people using it, stick with it, BELIEVE and it will work! Perseverance will always pay dividends in business.

And there, I think is the key. If you have chosen a business model that has proven success, such as My Net Biz, then invariably, if you follow the instructions given, put the work in, and speak to your mentor when you get stuck to get you going again, it will work. You just have to stick with it and not find your own excuses as to why you can’t succeed. The mind is a very powerful tool, and needs to be directed in a positive manner.

So in answer to the original question, YES, you do have to believe it’s possible, to succeed! 

 http://www.johnchablo.com

Internet Marketing, also known as online marketing or emarketing, is the marketing of products or services over the internet. The internet has brought about quite a few exceptional advantages to marketing such as quick and economical mode of circulating large amount of information to a vast audience. It's interactive nature, both in terms of immediate response, and in drawing out response, are the sole of its kind attributes of this mode of marketing. 

Internet marketing blends together creative and technical aspects of the internet, which covers design, development, advertising and sales. Some of it's methods include search engine marketing,blog marketing,viral marketing etc.Basically it involves the development and advertisement of an organization through online media. It does not simply mean developing and promoting a website. Rather a website is always created for a real organization having real goals. 

Every minute detail of online advertising products, services, and websites, covering market research, email marketing, and direct sales are taken care of through various internet marketing strategies.Several industries including the advertising industry have been influenced by the internet marketing. It may appear comparitively an easy task to venture out into the scenario of online marketing.But one should never overlook the competitive edge,a sound business strategy offers in any kind of marketing. Of course the availabiltiy of latest and vast amount of information is one of the merits of this form of marketing.Here,the transaction is not restricted by business hours or days as a customer can access the internet ,study and verify the products, and even purchase them at any hour of any day. 

Internet marketing also facilitates a company to cut down the expenses which it could otherwise incur on the salesforce.On the whole, internet marketing assists a business to spread out its wings from a local market to national and international market places. Moreover,it has a relatively low cost of entry when compared to any other form of the media. 

Internet marketing has indeed become one of the major ways of making oneself known to the whole world. In fact in the present day scenario, there could be no better medium than this to market any kind of business