Apex Home Business Tips

Saturday, January 28, 2006

How to get 1 Million Hits Without the Search Engines

Jack Humphrey man behind the powerlink 2005, a poweful program for linking strategies.

http://www.ApexHomeBusiness.com/pips

A Primer by Jack Humphrey
http://power-linking-profits.com

I love to show people how they can actually get up to 1 million hits per month using reciprocal links. People are doing it right now all over the web and have the live server log files to prove it. And you probably are thinking, "Yeah they are on top of the search engine lists! Actually, top listing on the search engines is not the cause of their hits! It's a side-effect.

Reciprocal links alone put them in the Million-a-Month Club. Reciprocal links, good ones, can do much more for you than any search engine ever will.

Wow Jack, that's a bold statement, got anything to back that up?

How about the server logs of people getting over a million hits per month who did nothing more than seek out link partners and ONLY submitted to each major search engine ONCE? Would that convince you?

Well check it out. Here are two sites that use reciprocal linking almost exclusively with all other forms of advertising bringing in a relatively negligible amount of traffic. When looking at their live server log files, pay attention to the following things:

1.) Qualified traffic from reciprocal links.

Look at the Refers Report and check the section labeled '/'. Underneath you will find which links and search engines are sending these websites traffic.) Search engine traffic to the sites' Link Directory pages.

In the Refers Report, find the headings that start with /links/, with the name of the Link Directory pages directory after. Search engines send lots of traffic to these pages. These pages were never submitted to the search engines!

Example 1: CTEX CD Replication holds the number one keyword placement on Yahoo for "CD replication." How did they get there? Link popularity! Check out their live server log files at: http://www.ctexinc.com/stats/index.html

Example 2: Toolady.com is a website that has been using reciprocal links for a long time and her web site traffic was generated completely reciprocal links! In four months it became one of the most heavily trafficked bird web sites on the internet. No other form of marketing was done. Check out her server log files here:

http://toolady.com/reports/log_bird.html

So you tell me, are search engines the almighty savior you thought they were a minute ago?

Relevance of Your Links

Relevance has a lot to do with how a search engine robot will treat you nowadays. That's why I always talk about the importance of building a link list or "theme index" for your site (call it a reciprocal link exchange) that closely resembles the topics or products you deal with in your site. (But not those, of course, in direct competition to you.)

Now the FFA and Link Farm people are going to be mad at me, but this is the truth!

Here's a test. If I fail it you may publicly scorn me!

Go to any FFA page on the web and look for Yahoo.com. Try Amazon.com, or CocaCola.com... There must be TONS of their links on FFA pages - EVERYBODY knows those guys! Go ahead and check it out, I'll be here when you get back!

Glad you're back - how many links did you find? None? Yikes!

Now go to Altavista.com and type link:yahoo.com in the search window. What happened? Well, I just did it and it said: We found 6,670,578 results. (By the way, don't you love how the search engine will report millions of links just like it reports none? Doesn't it seem like they would be like "WOW, six million links!!!")

That's 6,670,578 links pointing to Yahoo.com!!

And not a single one from a link farm. Now don't go getting ideas in your head about getting 6 million links. You don't need that many to flood your site with enough traffic to keep you selling widgets, or informing the public on the effects on the ozone layer from methane gas produced by cattle. (What? hey its late, that was the best example I could come up with! How do I know what you're into?)

No, you need far fewer links than that to get 1,000,000 hits a month. And, with a million hits a month, how many methane gas-to-oxygen converters do you think you could sell to farmers to mount on the backs of their cows to protect the ozone layer? I'd say at least a whole heap!

There is automation software out there that people are using to drastically optimize their link lists and I highly recommend checking them out. The best and first of its kind can be found at webmastertraffictools.com.

This software has a fully functioning demo that will spider the web, set up your link directory, AND upload it to your server. It also does a mail-merge function to personalize all your link requests to other webmasters and mails for you. All in the DEMO version!

You CAN do all this manually, but it is highly recommended that you at least check out the automation software demo above to see what the best of the best webmasters are using to get those million hits per month.

(Author's note: It has not yet been proven whether methane produced by cow emissions affects the ozone layer. Example above is fictional.)

Jack Humphrey is the Author of "Power linking 2: Evolution"
which hit the net this week to rave reviews. Grab your copy
before your competition does at http://power-linking-profits.com

Sunday, January 08, 2006

STONE HAS ADDED ANOTHER 47 FREE VIDEOS BONUS TO PLUGINPROFITSITE PRORAM

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Setting up your signature file in outlook express
opening and downloading zip and pdf files
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Setting up a sales page and thank you page for products with resell rights using ClickBank
Setting up a thank you page and order link with ClickBank
Setting up a thank you page and order link with PayPal
Starting an ezine and installing a perl mailing list program
Formatting and delivery of your ezine, HTML and how it works
Using HTML templates quickly and easily
Using good keywords for keyword research
Optimizing your website for high search engine rankings
Writing ad copy, installing an ad tracking and split testing program
Creating classified ads
Creating your first ebook
Running your own affiliate program with ClickBank
Installing a customer support desk
Creating a password protected area of your site
Adding forms to your site for easy feedback from your visitors
Installing a free blog on your website
How to promote affiliate programs
Creating redirects for your affiliate links
Installing a shopping cart
Beginner RSS feeds and much
Much more....Newbie Training Videos

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When it comes to selling online, one thing is
certain: a small focused website that features just
one lead product will far outsell a big website that
features lots of products and links.

By focusing on just one product, you avoid distracting
your visitors or forcing them to make decisions. That
way, they'll take the time to study your product and
the chances of making a sale are vastly increased.

I can see the evidence for this in my own business.
While the main company website continues to bring
in a steady stream of sales, it's actually the individual
websites for each of my ebooks that are responsible
for the lion's share of orders.

The problem, however, with having one website for every
single product is that it adds a lot of extra overheads.
In general you're looking at minimum $100 for any kind of
webhosting and somewhere between $8 and $35 for a
domain name.

These are not huge figures, but let's face it, costs are
costs and if you're in business you want to keep them as
low as possible.

That's why I felt it was worth sharing with you my little
'trick' for setting up brand new websites for just the
price of a domain name.

This week I launched a new website for my ebook
publishing guide. The TOTAL cost to set up this new
website was just $8.97!

So how did I manage that?

Well, the first step I took was to set up a new folder
(directory) in my existing webhosting account that
would be the 'home' for my new website.

----------------NOTE---------------------
This method can also be applied effectively to many
free hosting services. Just ask your domain name
registrar if they'll be able to redirect to your free
hosting service address before you buy the domain
name.
-------------------------------------------

Next I designed the website, and published it to
the folder I'd just created.

Then, I went along to the domain name registrar and
bought the domain name I wanted for $8.97. The domain
registrar I used offers a whole range of domain name
services completely free (domain parking, URL re-direction,
e-mail re-direction, etc.). If you shop around, you'll find
that there are lots of low-cost registrars that offer such
services for free.

Once I had the domain name, it took me just a couple of
minutes (via the domain registrar's website) to set up the
new domain name to point (or re-direct) to the folder I'd
just created.

I'm even able to 'cloak' the address shown on the browser's
address bar, so that, even though people are surfing on my
sub-folder, what shows up on the address bar is the proper
domain name I'd just purchased.

Finally, the domain name registrar even re-directs my e-mails
for free. This enables me to create new addresses and have
any messages that are sent to these addresses re-directed
to my regular e-mail address inbox.

And that's it! A brand new website -- hosted and all --
for less than $10.

Now there's no excuse not to create sales-focused
mini-websites for ALL your products!

--------Additional Info Added May 17th 2003--------
I've received quite a few questions regarding how to set up the 'cloaking'
and 're-direction' ideas mentioned in this article. To help clarify things,
here's a copy of a typical reply (in all its un-edited glory) that I've sent
in relation to these questions.
NOTE TO EDITORS: If you wish to re-publish this article in your publication,
you are not required to reproduce this note - although you can if you want.

"I'm delighted you like the hosting article. Having just re-read it
for the first time in months, I can see that there's a need to add some
extra information. The cloaking is something that is taken care of
by the domain name registrar (they call it 'framing'). At the time of
writing I was using DNBuy.com, but now I use NameCheap.com
for all my domain names. Both these services include 'Framing' as
a free extra when you buy your domain name - once you have
the domain name you can set it up via your admin control panel.

There are probably other ways to do this using JavaScripts or
such-like (if you already have your domain name and your registrar
doesn't offer 'framing'), but I'm afraid I don't have specific info on
this off the top of my head.

Likewise, both these registrars (and, doubtless, many others) offer
re-direction as part of the package. Again, this can be set up via
the admin control panel once you've bought the domain name.

If you're in doubt, as to whether a given registrar will be able to
provide you with the necessary services to set yourself up, just
contact them and ask them these questions...

- Can I have my domain name re-direct to another URL
of my choice?
- Can I 'cloak' or 'mask' the real URL in the address bar
so that my new domain name shows up instead.
- Can I create email addresses with my new domain
name and then have those emails forwarded to my regular
email inbox?

(The first two are the most important. The third point is useful
but not 100% necessary).

Another point worth noting (and that I need to add to the article)
is that you should make a slight adjustment to the order links (if
you have any) that you place on the page.

On my website http://www.create-pdf-files.com which uses
this cloaking method, I noticed a problem. When someone clicked
the order link and were taken to ClickBank's payment window,
there were two problems. Firstly, the URL address in the address
bar still stays the same which may make a potential customer feel
uneasy - after all they would expect a ClickBank URL. Secondly,
the browser didn't recognize that it was entering a secure page and
didn't display the padlock towards the bottom of the screen. Again,
this would have a negative effect on customer confidence.

Fortunately, it's quite easy get around this problem. For the order
links you should include target = 'parent' to the link. This will break
you out of cloaking and allow the user to continue payment in the
environment he/she expects. Here's how the URL for the order link
would look in HTML...
a href=http://www.YOUR_ORDER_LINK.com" target="_parent"

I hope this helps. Please don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of any
further help with anything."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michael Hopkins is owner of BizzyDays Ebook Publications.
Visit now to download original ebooks for free click here

Saturday, December 31, 2005

10 Things You Can Do TODAY To Boost Traffic To Your Website

Dramatically Increase Your Traffic At Zero Cost

Bringing in lots of quality traffic to your website
is the key to success for your online business.
But it also happens to be the hardest and most
expensive part.

Fortunately, there's still ONE easy way to bring in floods of quality traffic without spending a cent...

Just write simple articles and submit them for publication in relevant ezines.

It's not new and it's not revolutionary but it DOES work!

There are several benefits to using articles to promote your product or service:

You can generate huge amounts of quality targeted traffic by having your articles published in ezines related to your market.

By having your articles published on other websites (and ezine archives), you'll increase your link popularity as well as directly bring in extra traffic.

By including the articles on your site, you'll have some good keyword-rich content for the search engines to pick up on.

Once you've written a few articles centered around the same topic, compile them into a free ebook and, hey presto, you've got yet another traffic-generating tool!

You can make your articles available to your affiliates as a tool to promote your product.

You instantly enhance your reputation in the eyes of potential customers.

In short, articles are an EXCELLENT promotion and sales tool.

And, despite what you might think, writing quality articles that Ezine publishers WILL use is much easier than you might think.

Consider these titles and see how many articles related to your product/service you could write...

7 Ways To...
10 Tips For First-Time...
6 Things You Never Knew About...
8 Useful Resources for...
10 Websites That...
These kind of titles ALWAYS work well at attracting the attention of the target audience AND they're quick and easy to write -- all you need is an introduction, the list of points and a concluding paragraph. Heck, just find a few useful websites or free tools related to your subject and you're probably half way there!

Once you've written your article, wait a few days and then read it again. This will give you a fresh perspective to make some improvements and clean up errors. (Don't ignore this step -- it's important).

Now, start submitting your article to article announcement lists and article directories. Here are a few to get you started:

Announcement Lists
(Note: Sending an email will subscribe you to the list. It's best to avoid using your main email address if you don't want to have loads of articles arriving to your inbox every day).
- article_announce-subscribe@egroups.com
- free-content-subscribe@onelist.com
- publishinyours-subscribe@onelist.com
- articles_archives-subscribe@egroups.com

Article Directories:
- GoArticles.com
- EzineArticles.com
- IdeaMarketers.com
- Amazines.com
- NetterWeb.com
- Article Central

Once you've done submitting your article there, it's time to get specific...

Start submitting to relevant ezines and websites inviting them to publish it. You'll find tons of ezines that are crying out for content in Ezine Directories like Zinos.com or Amazines.com.

Make sure the ezines you're submitting to accept articles and, if so, find out if they have specific guidelines for submission. It's a good idea to find out the name of the publisher so that you can personalize your submission.

This is a copy of the message I use when submitting articles. Feel free to copy it and adapt it to your own needs:

Hi,

My name is [YOUR NAME] and I'm the owner of
[YOUR SITE AND URL].

I've included my latest article for you to consider publishing
in your ezine [EZINE NAME].

The title is "[ARTICLE TITLE]"
I'm certain your readers will find value in it.

Please feel free to publish the article (below) along with the short
bio at the end. I'd greatly appreciate a courtesy copy if you decide
to use it.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to your ezine.

Wishing you continued success!

[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR EMAIL]
[YOUR URL]

Article: "[ARTICLE TITLE]"
Article size: xxx words (body)
=======================================================
Article Begins Here...
=======================================================

[ARTICLE TEXT]

=======================================================
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
[YOUR BIO]
=======================================================

And there you have it, a quick and easy (yes, easy!) approach to generating quality targeted traffic in the short and long term.

Believe me, if you want to do just one thing this week towards developing your online business, then don't put it off...

Write that article today!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michael Hopkins is owner of BizzyDays Ebook Publications.
Visit now to download original ebooks for free

Friday, December 30, 2005

How To Get High-Quality TARGETED Traffic From StartPage Exchanges!

Promoting your website via Start Page Exchanges is a bit
like holding up a sign at the airport - lots of people see
you but nobody cares.

Basically, with Start Page Exchanges, you set your browser
home page to display a special URL given to you when you
join the Exchange and other members do the same. Their
websites show up as your browser home page and your
website shows up as theirs.

This guarantees extra hits to your website, but the quality
of the traffic isn't the best. There's little or no
targeting so your message rarely reaches the right people.

Furthermore, Start Page Exchanges are closed systems. In
other words, your site is only being promoted to those
people who are ACTIVELY using the system. The same surfer
will probably see your website several times over.

Fortunately, with a little bit of work, you can devise a
Start Page Exchange strategy that will get several systems
working simultaneously and bringing in high-quality,
targeted traffic - not just from members of the exchange
itself, but from right across the Internet.
Here's how it works...

STEP 1 - GET YOUR PAGE RIGHT...

Develop a web page especially for the Start Page Exchanges.
This can be a page from your website (if it's a real
attention grabber) or it can be something separate
altogether. The important thing is that this page has got
to scream "LOOK AT ME!"

Remember, the only people who use Start Page Exchanges are
webmasters. If your own product or service isn't of
interest to webmasters, it will be a hard sell.

Find a product or service that has a good affiliate program
and that's geared towards the needs of webmasters. Promote
that product via your Start Page Exchange page. Try to
offer something for free - an e-book, a demo, a free trial,
or whatever. Many of the better affiliate programs will
give you free stuff to promote. The ClickBank MarketPlace
is a good place to start looking:
http://www.bizzydays.com/resources/cb_marketplace.htm

By way of example, take a peek at the page I use on the
Start Page Exchanges: http://www.bizzydays.com/47k/

Now that you've got an attention-grabbing page that's
geared towards webmasters, let's move on...

STEP 2 - DOUBLE THE TRAFFIC...

This is where we add some extra elements to the page that
brings in lots of extra traffic from outside the exchanges.

If you looked at my example page and then closed it, you'll
have noticed that a separate window then opened in the
background. That Window was 'delivered' by ExitExchange.

By joining ExitExchange (for free) and placing their code
on my Start Page Exchange page, I get my website displayed
to a surfer elsewhere on the Internet for every two times
my Start Page Exchange page is visited.

Furthermore, ExitExchange offers targeting, so I can be
sure that my website is being shown to people who are
interested in what I've got to offer.

In my Start Page Exchange page I've also place an exchange
banner at the bottom. Again, for every two times my Start
Page Exchange page is visited, my banner is displayed on a
book-related website.

These two steps have hugely increased the amount of traffic
my Start Page Exchanges generate AND it brings in
high-quality TARGETED traffic.

But it doesn't stop there! Let's move on to the next step

Promote Numerous Pages from Just
One URL!

With Rotator Maker you can promote any number of pages or products on StartPage Exchanges while using just one web page address. Rotator Maker will display each of the pages in sequence, ensuring that you get maximum exposure for ALL of your products.

Rotator Maker is very easy to use...
No programming knowledge required.
No CGI-Bin needed.
No third-party rotator's ads on your pages.
No difficult installation.
Download your copy of Rotator Maker today, and get FULL RESALE RIGHTS too! That means you can enjoy the benefits of this simple program AND sell it to others for profit.

STEP 3 - AUTOMATE IT...

Now that you've set up your Start Page Exchange page to
maximize the return from each page display, it's time to
maximize the amount of actual page displays you get.

Now, I'm sure you don't want to spend hours clicking
through Start Page Exchange pages to generate hits, which
is why you'll be glad to hear there's an easier way.

Simply download a copy of the "Fully Automatic Hits
Generator", follow the simple steps and you'll generate
tons of Start Page Exchange page displays automatically.

This simple automated system ebook will generate Start Page
Exchange hits for you every day -- and the amount of daily
hits you get will actually increase exponentially!

That means you'll be getting more exposure across a range
of Start Page Exchanges, more displays of your website to a
targeted market and, if you want, more banner displays
across a range of websites.

To download a free copy of the "Fully Automatic Hits
Generator"
click here

And there you have it!

A simple strategy that will transform Start Page Exchanges
from low-quality, work-intensive promotional efforts into
high-quality, fully-automated, targeted traffic generators.

Get started right now and within days your business will
feel the difference!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michael Hopkins is owner of BizzyDays Ebook Publications.
Visit now to download original ebooks for free at:
http://www.bizzydays.com/

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN E-ENTREPRENEUR?

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
Author of "Dotcomology - The Science of Making Money Online"

These days, it seems like everyone wants to work
from home and make money on the Internet. But
before you even turn on your computer, the first
question you have to ask yourself is whether
you’re cut out for this kind of work.

The fact is, building a home-based business isn’t
for everyone. Some people like the commute. They
really do enjoy having a boss who tells them what
to do, and they like the routine of working
nine-to-five for an ordinary salary that can
barely pay the mortgage. Personally, I think
they’re nuts.

More reasonably, there are people who are
concerned about the risk of starting up their own
business. They’re not sure it’s worth the
investment of time and money, and they’re scared
of the responsibility that comes with running
their own company. They wonder if there is
another way to escape the rat race.

I’m sure there is. You could win the lottery or
wait for your Aunt Sue to keel over and leave you
her condo. Or maybe you could sit down with a pen
and paper and draw the blueprint for "The Next
Big Thing". Anything can happen... Right?

For me, what happened was creating a successful,
self-running Internet marketing system. It didn’t
happen without effort. It didn’t happen without
at least some initial investment of both time and
money and, of course, it doesn’t happen now
without me making sure that the taxes are filed
and the paperwork is done. But it happened.

I’m my own boss. I work from home according to my
own schedule and I get to pocket all the cash my
business makes. If you’re prepared to give an
e-business the time, the work and the money it
needs to get started and get growing, it can
happen for you too.

Article excerpted from "Dotcomology":
Don't Pay A Dime For Any Ebook, Marketing
Course, Software Program Or Anything Else Until
You've Read This Groundbreaking Document...
Click Here to Discover "Dotcomology" Now!

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Build Better Link Popularity with Syndicated Articles

There are many schools of thought on how to build strong backlinks to a Web site. Some webmasters build reciprocal links, while others register their site in many directories. Still others do both of those, and rent links as well!

But one method used by a growing number of webmasters is that of building link popularity through the syndication of original articles. Syndicated articles are becoming increasingly popular because article syndication builds permanent links from many different, topically related, keyword rich pages. There are several steps one can take in order to ensure that an article is syndicated as much as possible, and that the links from those syndications are of the highest quality.

1) Write High Quality Articles

The amount of syndication an article receives is directly proportional to the demand for that type of article. Higher quality articles will prove more valuable to webmasters looking to reprint articles. Perfect spelling and grammar are requisite in order to ensure the widest syndication possible. Webmasters will be more inclined to reprint well-researched and well-written articles. Most articles are not of the highest quality, so a higher quality article will stand out significantly.

Articles should be more than simply a place to put a link in a resource box. The goal of article writing should be to make the article itself interesting. An interesting article can be syndicated on websites with high traffic and PageRank. Increasing article syndication will cause the link in the resource box to be copied by many Web sites.

In addition to building more links with higher quality articles, webmasters will find that quality content articles will result in an immediate traffic increase to a site. An article that is appealing to readers will naturally attract a large readership. The more readers an article has, the more likely those readers are to click on the link in the resource box.

2) Manually Submit to Related Sites

Another technique used by many webmasters to increase an article's syndication is to submit articles to related sites. The best syndications and links come from quality sites in a specific niche, not simply article banks. For example, there are many Web sites that will only accept business-related articles. Any webmaster of a business-related website looking to build link popularity should write an article concerning business and submit it to these sites. Potentially, other business sites could take note of a high quality business article and syndicate it on their sites (which are all related under the unique subject of business). Doing this will build topically related links which can improve a Web site’s search engine rankings dramatically.

3) Write a Compelling Title

Articles have to be interesting in order to get the readers to scroll down to the resource box, or inspire webmasters to reprint the article on their Web site. The best way to draw a wide variety of readers is to have a compelling title. Catchy titles and sometimes even controversial titles can draw more readers. Coupling a compelling title with a high quality article is an excellent way to attract readers specifically looking for articles to syndicate.

Article topics should also be interesting. If a website is focused on a specific subject, an article about an interesting element of that subject will be syndicated more than a general article. For example, there may be hundreds of available articles about mortgage refinancing, but how many articles focus on ways financial advisors will try to manipulate someone seeking to refinance?

4) Stay Organized

Time should be taken when finding article sites to submit to. There are many Web sites that have large lists of article sites that accept submissions. A good technique is to submit articles to all of the article sites in a list and check later to see if those articles have been syndicated. Searching for the title of the article submitted in quotations on Google will show where exactly it has been reprinted. Backlink searches on MSN and Yahoo! can also be helpful. Building a solid list of verified article sites can help maximize article syndication and also time efficiency.

Some article sites only accept submissions via e-mail. Some SEOs shy away from e-mailing articles because it is more time consuming and often involves the creation of a biography and picture submission. E-mail submission article sites however are often more inclined to only reprint articles of high quality, and thus these types of sites' articles are often widely syndicated.

5) Write a Killer Resource Box

The heart and soul of a syndicated article is its resource box. The anchor text and link destination of the links in the articles should be varied. Varying anchor text will help avoid penalties in search engine rankings and create higher-value links. Often changing the resource box after submitting to each site proves beneficial. An article about dogs with the anchor text "dogs" should be varied with anchor text like "puppies" for the other article submissions. Using technology such as latent semantic analysis, search engines will notice "dog" and "puppy" as related words, but will not penalize the site for having unnatural links (e.g., if all of the links used "dog" as anchor text). This same effect can be achieved by varying the link target. Linking the first half of the article submissions to page A, and the second half to page B will avoid penalties from search engines like Google. Articles are a proven way to get links, but if a new site suddenly acquires 100 links to the same place in a short time, search engines might penalize it.

Article submission is a great way to get high quality links from topically related sites. The more effort and care given to an article that is submitted, the more syndication potential an article has. Compelling titles, high-quality content, and interesting topics will all improve the syndication of an article. Varying backlink text and destinations can also help avoid heavy penalties from search engines. Some SEOs believe that only traditional directory submissions and link swapping are effective methods of building links. I, however, am a firm believer in the power of a well-written article to deliver a large number of topically related links to any fledgling site.

About the Author

Scott Hawksworth works as a http://www.andyhagans.com">link popularity campaign manager for http://www.andyhagans.com/link-building.php">Andy Hagans Link Building.

To Your Success,
Sammy.
Apexhomebusiness.com/pips

A Beginner's Guide to Exchanging Links

Reciprocal linking is an effective, free way to get more visitors to your website.

Exchanging links with other webmasters can help you in two ways.

Firstly, by getting your link displayed on other websites you are increasing the number of paths leading back to your your own site. This in turn will increase the number of visitors.

Secondly, exchanging links will increase the chances of getting your web page ranked more highly in the results returned by search engines.

The reason for this is that for most search engines, the number of links pointing to a site plays a huge part in determining where that site ranks. Why? Well, wouldn't you be more likely to visit a place that had been recommended to you by a friend? The same reasoning applies to search engine positioning.

A link from site A to site B is like a vote for site B. The more votes that site B gets, the higher it is regarded by search engines.

However, quantity is not everything! A link carries more weight if it is from a high quality site - in the same way that a recommendation from a trusted friend would be taken more seriously than a recommendation from a casual acquaintance.

If you have been reading up on the subject of search engine positioning, you may be familiar with the term "PR", or "Page Rank". Page Rank is Google's way of measuring the "importance" of a web page. In simple terms PR is a number between 1 and 10 and can be viewed by downloading the Google toolbar.

It is easy to become hung up on or obsessed by page rank, but my advice is to try to take your focus away from that PageRank icon on the Google toolbar and focus your efforts instead on building up a good set of reciprocal links. If you do this well, the PR and search engine rankings will come.

So, how do you start reciprocal linking?

The first step is to find other sites that you want to link to. Use search engines and links from other websites to find sites that complement your own and try to request links from sites that you think would interest your visitors.

You can find some linking directory resources to help you with your searching on my http://www.homebiz-direct.com/Link-Exchange-Resources.html">Link Exchange Directories and Tools Page.

You may have been recommended to avoid linking with your direct competitors. Whether you do this or not is entirely up to you - the main disadvantage of doing this is the chance of losing business, whereas the advantage is the extra traffic that you will gain by doing so.

Personally I feel that the additional traffic gained from linking to competitors outweighs the potential chance of losing business to them.

Before you start your linking campaign here are a few tips to help you:

(1)Ensure that there is a visible link to the "Links" directory on the index page of the site you are requesting the link from and that the links directory is organised. It's unlikely that your link will be found by visitors if it is one of the 100 links on an unorganised links page.

(2) Follow the above rules for your own website - it's only fair.

(3) Once you have found a page it is good manners to add a link to your own site before requesting a link from another. This way the webmaster of that site will know that you are serious and will be more likely to link back to your site.

(4) Being highly organised whilst requesting links is also important. Using link management software to keep track of all your link requests and automatically add them to your web page literally halves the time taken to request and manage links.

(5) Keep track of all the links you have requested, either through link management software or in a spreadsheet. Add the URL, date requested and contact information for all the links you have requested and update this everytime a link is approved or declined. This will help you to keep track of your reciprocal linking campaign and prevent you from looking stupid by requesting a link from the same site multiple times.

(6) Use tools to help you decide which sites to link to and to help monitor your own progress. Tools that I use include

- Alexa Toolbar - http://www.alexa.com/
- Google Toolbar - http://toolbar.google.com/
- Link Popularity tool - http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop

Finally, set yourself a goal to request a specific number of links per week or per month. Keep going until you meet this target. It may be boring, but once you get into the way of doing this, it will seem like second nature and you will start to reap the benefits in the form of increased traffic to your website!

About the Author

Suzanne Morrison is the webmaster and owner of http://www.homebiz-direct.com">How to Start an Internet Business. Visit her site to find out more free ways to promote your website or sign up to her home business tips newsletter by sending a blank email to homebizdirect@getresponse.com">homebiz-direct@getresponse.com

To Your Success,
Sammy.
Apexhomebusiness.com/pips

Saturday, December 17, 2005

NOW ANYONE CAN GET FREE ADVERTISING

As you know some of the best ways to get traffic to your site is through the search engines. And as you know search engines love blogs.

If you know how to use blogs you can easily get more traffic to your website just by posting your keywords in the title and having your blogs indexed.

Other ways to get traffic to your site is to use popular free traffic exchanges. They come in many forms such as start (homepage) exchanges, safelists (opt in email ads), toolbar ads such as instantbuzz.com and forums such as the free advertising forum.

If you are looking to kill 2 birds with one stone, you can advertise for free on a new BLOG that actually allows you to place your ads for free on their site.

The reason this is good because you get all the benefits of placing your ads on a BLOG and you all get to advertise for free.

Most people would look at this as a no brainer. Although most webmaster do not like people to advertise on the blogs, this site was made just for that.

It is free to join and thousands are flocking to this service to drive huge traffic to their sites in ju8st days by simply posting one little ad on their home page.

Anyone looking to increase their profits should look in to
http://www.free-advertising-blog.com/Advertise-Free/4311

http://www.ApexHomeBusiness.com/pips

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Starting Your Home Based Business on a Shoestring Budget

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025

Whether seeking a supplemental income or a
full-time income, many folks have undertaken the
task to discover a viable home based business
solution to meet their personal needs.

For most folks who contemplate a home business, a
low-cost or no-cost solution is not only nice,
but also very necessary. Many also seek to find a
home business that will permit them to maintain
their regular day job in order to protect their
base income.

Taking the cautious approach to a home based
business and keeping one's job during the
start-up period is often a very good decision. By
maintaining one's job, one can maintain the
health of their personal finances while
permitting their home business grow healthy and
strong.

Fortunately, most home based businesses can be
started with little or no cash, can be maintained
on a shoestring budget, and can be operated
successfully with only a part-time investment.

One day, the business will be strong enough to
support itself and its owner. When that time
comes, it will make good sense for the business
owner to leave his or her outside job to dedicate
more time to growing and maintaining their new
thriving home based business. You will know when
that time has finally arrived.

The nature of a home based business makes it easy
and very realistic for most folks to take the
plunge into home business ownership.

Yet, many folks put off starting their own home
based business, because they have the
misconception that they will have to risk
thousands of their own hard-earned dollars at
start-up. Then later, if their business fails,
they fear they may be forced to take out a second
mortgage on their house just to stay out of
bankruptcy.

Are you one of these folks? Do you let your fears
of failure keep you from reaching for your dreams?

If so, then allow me to introduce you to a few
home business ideas that you can start for less
than $100 and can be started and operated very
profitably as a part-time business.

THE LIFEBLOOD OF ALL SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES

First of all, let me advise you to search out a
business model that will deliver steady and
repeat business. It is the one thing --- above
all others --- that will assure that your company
can survive the test of time.

HOME-BASED MAIL ORDER:
Home-based mail order is a good example of how
one can quickly grow a home business income. Mail
order is a low cost start-up business that can be
launched for around $100 USD.

With proper planning, your home-based mail order
business will not require up-front inventory
purchases. In the mail order business, it is not
uncommon to rely upon drop-shippers for product
fulfillment services.

By utilizing drop-shippers, we can sell the
products, collect the money and then purchase the
products from the wholesale outlet. The wholesale
outlet will then put a return address for your
company on the product packaging and deliver the
product directly to your customer.

Your primary expense in the mail-order business
is advertising. Classified advertising tends to
be a relatively inexpensive form of advertising
with thousands of outlets available to the small
business owner.

WHOLESALE BUSINESS:
Buy low --- sell high. You can acquire high
quality, top-of-the-line merchandise for a
fraction of the retail cost. Starting a wholesale
business would require a Wholesale Dealers
Directory as your source for merchandise. You can
find a Wholesale Deales Directory by using any
search engine to look up the term.

AUCTIONS:
Auctions can be an excellent source for buying
cheap and selling high. Both government auctions
and Internet auctions can lead to some excellent
profit opportunities. Auctions are an excellent
tool for both acquiring and selling merchandise.

MAKE AND SELL YOUR CRAFTS:
Crafts are a hot seller at country fairs, swap
meets or anyplace where people gather. Make your
own crafts and sell them for a tidy profit!

SELLING INFORMATION:
Selling information by mail is another good
example of an inexpensive home based business
start-up. One can gain the resale rights to
information for usually about $50 USD. Other
costs will include printer cartridges, paper and
postage. There are plenty of free classifieds
sites on the Internet, in which to successfully
advertise your information.

WRITE INFORMATIONAL BOOKLETS:
Write and publish your own informational
booklets; sell them at a high price! All you need
is a little know-how, a printer, paper and
stamps. This is a GREAT home business idea! You
can also sell the resale rights to others, for
extra profits. In this age of the Internet, you
may also take advantage of the fact that selling
information is one of the most profitable
endeavors one can pursue online.

OFFICE SERVICES:
Offer office services for hire in your local
paper. You'll be surprised at the amount of
regular office business that can be gleaned from
one little classified ad. Word processing, typing,
accounting, data entry, proofreading,
transcription, promotional letters and
newsletters. All these tasks can be accomplished
right from your own home office.

AVON REPRESENTATIVE:
Yes, Avon's been around for eternity, hasn't it?
Then it's not such a bad prospect as a home based
business, is it? I once knew a woman who did so
much business as an Avon rep. that she had people
calling her and knocking at her door wanting to
order products at all hours of the day and night!
Once you are an established Avon representative,
you, too, will turn a good profit.

CONCLUSION:
On your search for the ideal home based business,
try not to get caught up in any scams that will
run off with your money. There are thousands of
scam artists out there just waiting for the
next sucker to come along. Remember, if it sounds
too good to be true, then it probably is. Just
use your good judgement and invest wisely in
proven methods of earning extra income.

About The Author:
--------------------------------------------------
Stone Evans Will Personally Build A Money Making
Website Just For You That's 100% Ready To Take
Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits Today!
Get All The Exciting Details And Signup Now At:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025
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NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)

Promoting Your Business with Copper Wire? Think Again!

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025

So many people launch their first or second
business with the misconception that they can
survive without advertising. It is their fear of
failure that almost single-handedly assures their
failure. They fear spending the money that they
need to get and keep their business running
during those early years of their operation.

Let’s face it, when you start in business, money
is usually pretty darn tight. So, you must figure
out how to get off the ground without throwing
your money down the drain. Every single red cent
is important enough to hang onto with a tight
fist.

NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO REINVENT COPPER WIRE

I am reminded of an old joke a friend used to
tell about himself.

My friend had always told me that both he and his
brother were the inventers of copper wire. He
insisted that the two of them were fighting over
a penny one day and managed to stretch it out
into the first strand of copper wire known to
mankind.

Indeed, now is not the time to try to reinvent
copper wire.

ADVERTISING IS A NECESSARY COMPONENT OF A
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

The point of advertising is to notify your
customers of the existence of your business. It
is necessary to tell people that you are in
business and to tell them what products and
services you are offering.

Unless people know that you are offering a
certain product or service at a certain price, no
one will knock upon your door to buy your wares.

If you fail to attract customers and dollars,
your business will die. Therefore, advertising is
a must for the success of your business. Sure,
word of mouth can take you places, but it can
only take you so far. Advertising is designed to
pick up where word of mouth leaves off.

ATTRITION IS A DEFINITE FACTOR TO CONSIDER

Attrition is a factor in all businesses. A
business is able to pick up so many customers and
dollars on every advertising or promotion
venture. Yet, a certain portion of your old and
new customers and dollars will drop off over time.

You simply cannot rest on your laurels. You must
continue to generate new business and new dollars
or your business will die.

EZINE PUBLISHING DELIVERS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF
COMMERCIAL ATTRITION

If you have ever published an online ezine, then
you will have seen attrition first hand.

You can spend all week advertising your ezine and
note that your efforts have generated for example
500 new subscribers. Yet, by the end of the week,
your subscriber base has only climbed by 250
subscribers. What went wrong?

Well, this is how it works. Keep in mind this is
only an example to make my point, but if you have
ever published an ezine, then you will know I am
right on the money with this observation.

In one week:

· 500 people sign up for the first time.
· 40 of those people unsubscribe after the very
first issue because they do not like the content.
· 30 people quit after the first issue because
their only purpose in subscribing in the first
place was to get the freebie you had offered to
new subscribers.
· 30 of those people unsubscribe because they do
not remember subscribing to the ezine in the
first place.
· 80 email addresses bounce due to ISP email
filters.
· 20 people bounce because they did not pay their
Internet bill.
· 35 people have simply changed their email
addresses without submitting a change of address
to you.
· 15 people have quit the Internet altogether.

In the final analysis, 100 of your new
subscribers, or 20% of your newcomers are gone
after one week. Another 150 subscribers were
long-time subscribers who are gone for other
reasons.

If you make the mistake of stopping your
advertising, your ezine list will eventually wind
down to one subscriber --- you. In our example,
150 long-time subscribers disappear every week,
and there is nothing you can do to stop it. You
must absolutely keep a fresh flow of new
subscribers coming into the ezine in order
to stay ahead of the attrition curve.

STAYING AHEAD OF THE ATTRITION CURVE

An ezine or a business, what is the difference?
Not much. Your business will suffer the same fate
as the ezine if you do not advertise. I don’t
know how to make it any more clear than this.

Yes, you must be careful not to throw your money
away on advertising that does not generate
results. But you cannot afford to throw the baby
out with the bath water.

Carefully, pick your advertising, study your
results, and put your money back into what is
working for you.

In conclusion, you must decide. Do you want to
advertise your business, or do you want to watch
your business die? The decision is yours and
yours alone. Well, what are you going to do?

About The Author:
--------------------------------------------------
Stone Evans Will Personally Build A Money Making
Website Just For You That's 100% Ready To Take
Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits Today!
Get All The Exciting Details And Signup Now At:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025
--------------------------------------------------

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)

Networking Your Home Business within Circles of Influence

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025

When you need an auto mechanic or an air
conditioning repairman, where do you turn for
help? Sure, some people turn to the yellow
pages. But most will turn to friends and family
and ask if they know of anyone who can do the
work.

The best place for your business to be positioned
is to be the business on the tips of the tongues
of the people asked to make the referral.

THE 300 RULE

Preachers, funeral directors and people in a few
other professions have learned "the 300 rule"
through their own personal experience.

"The 300 rule" states that the average person
knows 300 people on a friendly level. Wedding
planners tend to make reservations for 300
guests. Funeral directors tend to need to make
room for 300 mourners. You get the idea.

DOODLING WITH CIRCLES OF INFLUENCE

Imagine your circle of friends, family and
acquaintances, a.k.a. your circle of influence.
Now, draw your circle of influence as a circle on
a blank piece of paper.

Next, contemplate the people in your parents'
circle of influence. Some people who know your
parents also know you. Therefore, you will share
some influence with the people your folks know.
Now draw your parents' circle of influence on your
piece of paper.

Your circle and your parents' circle will
intersect in one area, although the larger
majority of the two circles will not intersect.
If you are like most people, the two circles on
your page at this point looks very similar to the
MasterCard logo.

Now imagine drawing a page full of intersecting
circles, each circle representing the circle of
influence of the people who are within your own
circle of influence. Imagine trying to
encapsulate an accurate rendering of where your
circle and the circle of your friends will
actually intersect.

Some circles will share a large area of space,
while others will barely cover one another.

Actually, you can only imagine at this point what
your piece of paper will look like. The actual
layout of the circles imagined in this analogy is
simply too overwhelming for the mind to
comprehend.

THE BIG PICTURE

300 multiplied by 300 equals 90,000. By using the
analogy of doodles in the previous section, the
average person can actually network with up to
90,000 people! Even factoring in the overlap,
one can still probably network with 50,000 people
through their own circle of influence!

Simply amazing, isn't it?

HERE IS THE SECRET TO YOUR SUCCESS

There are 300 people on this planet whom you have
a reasonable amount of influence. Take advantage
of this fact. Make darn sure that every person
within your own circle of influence KNOWS that
you are in business for yourself, and make sure
they understand what your business offers.

When your friend is asked to make a referral,
they will recommend you.

PASSIVE VERSUS ACTIVE REFERRAL NETWORKING

When people ask your friends for a referral and
your friend mentions your business, that is
passive referral networking.

Active referral networking is when you can get
your friends go directly to their friends and say
"Hey, I have a friend who just started a
business. If you are in need of what he offers or
you know someone who will need his services,
would you please give my friend a call or make
the referral to his business?"

If you can get even a portion of the people in
your own circle of influence to actively refer
your business, then you have built the foundation
to build an advertising campaign even more
effective than the average local television
advertising campaign.

Think about that for a moment.

Most people only dream of reaching 50,000
potential customers with their television
advertising dollars. You now have the knowledge
to reach 50,000 people without spending a single
penny.

About The Author:
--------------------------------------------------
Stone Evans Will Personally Build A Money Making
Website Just For You That's 100% Ready To Take
Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits Today!
Get All The Exciting Details And Signup Now At:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025
--------------------------------------------------

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)

Keeping Your Email Box Organized & Ready for Business

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025

Learning how to get the most organization from
your email software is very likely the most
important skill you can learn to conduct a
successful online home business.

There are three primary email applications on the
market that folks use to manage their incoming
POP3 email. Those three are:

· Microsoft Outlook Express
· Eudora
· Netscape Mail

In order to get the most from your email
software, there are three key processes that you
should learn. These processes are concerned with
data organization, saving time and email database
management.

SET UP EMAIL FOLDERS

Organization is key to any emails that you intend
to save. Having 2000 emails in one folder is a
sure-fire road map to confusion and lost
communications and information.

You are the best judge as to how to organize your
email into topics that provide an easy method of
retrieval of the information when you need it
most.

Fortunately, the primary email browsers make it
easy to organize your information. By allowing
you to create folders within your email software,
you can file specific emails into folders
dedicated to the topic of the email.

To create new folders:

OUTLOOK EXPRESS: 1. Click File - Folders - New ---
alternatively, you may also right click an item
in the Folder window --- and then type in the
name of your new folder. Highlight the folder
above where you would like your new folder
to be placed, and then click OK.

EUDORA: Click on Mailbox - New --- or right click
on Eudora in the folders window and then click on
New. When the window opens, type in the name of
your new mailbox and click OK. If you want to
create a folder to place other mailboxes into,
click the checkbox before clicking OK.

NETSCAPE MAIL: Click File - New Folder. Then from
the drop-down menu, select the folder that you
wish to be the folder directly above your new
folder, before clicking OK.

FILTERING EMAIL

Email filters are a tool to help you save time
and frustration. Have you ever lost an incoming
email under the deluge of email coming into your
mailbox? With filters, you can direct the
important email or not-so-important email into
certain pre-ordained folders.

As part of the war against spam, most ISP's use
filters every day in an attempt to keep the spam
out of your mailbox. In fact, I even use filters
to sort my incoming mail trying to catch the spam
my ISP missed.

Don’t be fooled into thinking you need some
special software to filter your email. Setting up
filters is actually quite easy.

To setup email filters:

OUTLOOK EXPRESS: Click on Tools - Message Rules -
Mail. A wizard will open to help you create your
new email filters. Just follow the instructions
provided to direct mail based on certain criteria
into certain folders.

EUDORA: Click on Special - Make Filter. Once
again, just follow the instructions in the Filter
wizard.

NETSCAPE MAIL: Click on Edit - Mail Filters. Then
click on New in the wizard. Once you click on
New, you will be taken to a new wizard window.
Follow the instructions here, then when you are
done, click on OK. This will return you to the
first window where you will set up the sorting
order of your filter.

CLEANING AND COMPRESSING YOUR MAIL DATA

This is an important part of your email
management. When you no longer need an email, it
should be deleted. When you first delete an
email, your software will send the email to the
Trash Bin. Your email is not actually deleted
until you first empty your trash bin.

Emptying your trash bin compresses the mailboxes
from where the email was originally filed. This
is absolutely paramount to the protection of your
email data. If you go too long between
compressing your email data, then your email data
could become corrupted and you might need
assistance in recovering your email data.

Even after you have emptied your trash,
Compressing Folders is a recommended step to
prevent other data corruption. Once you
understand that an email does not actually move
from one folder to another until the folder is
compressed, then you can better appreciate this
advice.

As an example, when Email A comes into your main
Inbox, the data connected to Email A appears in
two files. One file contains the header and body
of the email. The other file contains only the
email header information.

When an email is moved from one folder to the
other, only the header information is actually
moved. The body information will not be deleted
from the original folder until which time the
original folder is compressed.

This explains the purpose of emptying the trash
AND compressing folders. If the email was simply
moved from the Inbox to another folder, then
emptying the trash is not enough. The original
placement of the email is not actually removed
from the file that contains the body information
until the message has been designated for
compression.

To empty your trash:

OUTLOOK EXPRESS: Click on Edit - Empty 'Deleted
Items' Folder. To compress the remaining folders,
click on Tools - Options, then click on the tab
for Maintenance. Then click the button that says,
"Clean Up Now". Once the compression is completed,
click OK.

EUDORA: Click Special - Empty Trash. To compress
the remaining items that need compression, then
click on Special - Compact Mailboxes.

NETSCAPE MAIL: Click on File - Empty Trash
Folder. To compress the mailboxes, click on File
- Compress Folders.

I cannot stress enough how important it is that
you utilize the tools for emptying the trash and
compressing the mail folders. Protecting your
email data on a regular basis is good practice
for avoiding disaster in your mailbox.

So many of us rely upon our email software to
keep our online business running smoothly. Once
you master the tools provided in your email
software, your online business will run smoothly
also.

Let me share one important lesson I l've learned
about computer software. One should never be
afraid to try new things. Learning how to get the
most out of your software relies upon your
willingness to dig in and learn how to use it.

Once you learn how to use your software to its
full potential, then your life will be greatly
simplified and your effectiveness will be
dramatically improved.

About The Author:
--------------------------------------------------
Stone Evans Will Personally Build A Money Making
Website Just For You That's 100% Ready To Take
Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits Today!
Get All The Exciting Details And Signup Now At:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025
--------------------------------------------------

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)

Is a Home Business Right for You?

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025

Every morning as people wake up and make the
commute to work, many dream of the day when they
will finally work for themselves. Every time the
boss lets someone know that they must give up
their weekend plans for the good of the company,
people contemplate the benefits of being the
owner of their own business.

Are you one of these people?

If you are, it is important to ask yourself some
very important questions before you make the
uncertain leap into self-employment.

Many dream of the benefits of home business
ownership, but few take into account the
sacrifices that must be made to bring the dream
to fruition. Please don't make this mistake
yourself.

You must approach home business ownership with
your eyes wide open. Ask yourself the important
questions, and more importantly, answer your own
questions openly and honestly.

AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION

Are you the type of person who relishes every
chance to gather around the water cooler for
social interaction?

If so, then home business ownership may not be
the right decision for you.

Instead, if you feel that you can be quite
content sitting alone at your desk; speaking only
to clients and really minding your own home
business, then you might have what it takes to
succeed as a home business entrepreneur.

If you feel at ease with your own company and
don't need a dozen coworkers milling around your
desk, then you, too, could savor the freedoms
that will allow you and your family, to live the
lifestyle you know you want and deserve.

THE KEY TO HOME BUSINESS SUCCESS

Self-motivation is the key to success when you
start a home-based business. You need to possess
the ability to push yourself ahead. Your drive
and determination will be reinforced with every
new sale.

The level of success that you will achieve
greatly depends on the time and effort you are
willing to plow into your new home business. Your
organization, planning and marketing skills, will
all be put into practice when you embark on your
liberating journey from employee, to being your
own boss. In fact, you will be the wearer of many
hats and gain a wealth of business experience
along the way, when you finally make that
commitment to work at home.

YOUR SUCCESS RESTS ENTIRELY UPON YOUR OWN
SHOULDERS

You will now be the boss. Are you truly able to
work independently? Do you have the drive; the
tenacity, to persevere with your home based
business? Will you be able to invest the
necessary time to nurture it, to watch it grow
and see it through, from germination to full,
glorious bloom? When you're the boss, you are
responsible for the success of your home
business, from A to Z, from disappointments to
victory.

When you work at home, it will empower you to
achieve many things you were unable to do when
you were stuck working for that tyrant boss.
Remember him? He's the guy that wouldn't let
you take time off when your baby was sick...the
same guy that called you in to work on
Thanksgiving Day.

A home business means that you can take good care
of your family and make money from home,
simultaneously. You will have the best of both
worlds! Just think--no more dirty laundry piling
up--you can do it while you work. No more
scurrying around at the last minute searching for
a babysitter either. And no more worrying about
getting fired; you'll be the boss!

IN CONCLUSION...

Stay positive and focused on your home based
business, even if, when sales aren't up to par,
you get occasional negative remarks or derogatory
comments from people with stuffy, dead-end jobs.
Ignore their cutting words and bear in mind that
success is the best revenge! Keep your admirable,
positive attitude at the forefront and show them
what you're made of!

About The Author:
--------------------------------------------------
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Website Just For You That's 100% Ready To Take
Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits Today!
Get All The Exciting Details And Signup Now At:
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How to Win the Advertising and Promotion Game

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025

I am certain that, as a business owner, you have
often entertained the question as to how much to
spend and where to spend your advertising
dollars. For most small business owners, these
questions can add to the headaches suffered in
the course of normal everyday operations of their
business.

THERE ARE NO SIMPLE ANSWERS

The how much to spend and where to spend it
questions have no easy answers.

Depending on your type of business, many people
suggest that the *how much* should be equal to
anywhere from 4% to 10% of your gross receipts.

The quandary is that a business cannot survive
without a fresh flow of incoming customers. But,
a business can seldom generate a fresh stream of
customers without spending money to get the word
out about their business.

THE CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING

Have you ever paid for advertising and sat back
to await the fresh flow of customers, only to
find yourself sitting and sitting and then
sitting some more?

Don’t feel bad about that. It has happened to
many of us before.

See, knowing where to spend the advertising money
is not enough to get the job done.

Where to spend the money only begins to highlight
the other issues connected with advertising:

· Marketing Plan
· Advertising Strategy
· Headlines, Ad Copy and Visual Presentation
· Tracking the Success of Your Advertising
Campaigns

THE MARKETING PLAN

The Marketing Plan is used primarily to identify
your own products and services, costs, strengths,
weaknesses and the strengths and weaknesses of
your competitors.

To learn more about constructing your own
marketing plan, visit the Small Business
Administration website for a comprehensive
study of the elements of a Marketing Plan:
http://www.sba.gov

ADVERTISING STRATEGY

It is important to understand what you expect to
gain from your advertising.

Do you simply wish to get your name known so that
when your customer will need you, they will think
of you first? Or, do you wish to get your
customers in your front door on Saturday?

Do you want your customers to come in and take a
look around to discover the next object that they
cannot live without? Or, do you want them to come
in and buy a specific widget?

Do you hope that enough people will come in to
buy enough products or services to pay for your
single ad? Or, do you expect to gain a lifelong
customer who will help pay for your advertising
over the course of several years?

When you know what you want, then you will better
understand just how to do it.

HEADLINES, AD COPY AND VISUAL PRESENTATION

You might be surprised how many business owners
put out advertising without regard for the
quality of the sales pitch or presentation. The
quality of your distribution outlet or the amount
of money you spent to get there will do little
for you if the advertising vehicle is a junker.

Test all of your advertising materials in smaller
markets before blowing your advertising bank roll
on it. You must absolutely know the value of your
advertising before putting large sums of money
behind it.

TRACKING THE SUCCESS OF YOUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

Tell your customers to save another 10% when they
tell you they heard or saw your ad in
such-and-such location. Suggest that they can
register to win a free widget if they fill out a
form and have them to tell you how they heard of
your business. Advertise a specific widget in
your ad and track the sales of that widget.

It does not matter how you track your advertising
--- just make sure you do it!

IN SUMMARY

The ideal way to spend your advertising budget is
to buy a rifle with a high-powered scope and to
only shoot your targets in the light of day.

If you are not tracking your advertising, then
you are shooting a pellet gun without an attached
scope, with blinders on, and shooting in the dead
darkness of night.

Even with a bigger gun, the blinders in the dark
constitute the single largest mistake made by
advertisers. If you are unable to track your
advertising to learn what is working well, what is
working somewhat, and what is a money pit, then
you are condemned to repeat your mistakes over
and again.

By relying only on gut instinct, you may be
choosing to spend more money in the money pit and
to lose all of your money in the process.

When you get down to the nuts and bolts of making
money from your advertising, you should plan,
prepare, track and study your results. You must
have factual information on which to base your
advertising decisions. When you are making the
right advertising decisions, then making money
from your business might just come easy.

About The Author:
--------------------------------------------------
Stone Evans Will Personally Build A Money Making
Website Just For You That's 100% Ready To Take
Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits Today!
Get All The Exciting Details And Signup Now At:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025
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How to Stay Focused on Your Home Business Goals

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025

When you are the owner of a home business, you
will find hundreds of distractions that vie for
your time, energy and focus.

Common distractions include: children, family,
friends, neighbors, pets, phone calls, mail,
household chores, video games, television,
neighborhood children, visitors, and so many more.

As an owner of a home based business, you must
always remember your purpose in bringing your
profession home. What was your reason for wanting
to own a home business? Was your goal to work
from home so that you can share in the lives of
your children? Was your goal to be out from under
the rule of a tyrannical boss? Was your goal to
have the freedom to work when it is convenient
for you? Was your goal to make tons of money
working for yourself?

Here's a few good tips that will help you stay
focused on your home business:

TIP #1:

Whatever your reason for going out on your own,
you must keep your reason in the forefront of
your mind. If you forget your reason for starting
your own home business, you will not be working
for yourself for long. It is far too easy to let
circumstance drive your activities --- and when
circumstance is in the driver's seat, you are
more likely to crash and burn.

TIP #2:

Remember --- your own business is a lot like a
real job. Some people go to work to play, some go
to socialize, and others --- most often those who
are paid in a commission or tip environment
--- go to work to work and to make money. When
you work for yourself, your salary is directly
proportional to your productivity. Therefore,
wouldn't it make sense to stay focused on getting
as much done in as short of a period as possible?

Go to work to work and to make money. Leave
playtime and recreation for when your workday has
ended.

TIP #3:

When you are dealing with family in the course of
your workday, it is important to schedule your
activities as much as possible. With small
children, you must take time when you must, but
you should also work hard to make sure you
dedicate a specific number of hours to your
workday.

With older children, it is much easier to tell
them that you will be working between the hours
of x and y. Your children and your friends must
understand that certain hours of your day are
devoted to the activities of your business.

TIP #4:

Don't permit your friends and extended family to
run over you. Many people get the blind idea that
if one works from home then they are not actually
working.

Well-meaning people may try to fill your doorway
to bring advice about getting a real job. Others
may simply believe that if you are at home, then
you are fair game for chitchat and socialization.

You must stand firm. You must make certain your
friends and family understands that when you are
working, then you ARE working! If they wish to
socialize with you, then they need to do it
during the hours that are not dedicated to your
home business.

You are the only one who can stand up for you.
Your friends and family will seldom be able to
appreciate your dedication to your home business,
unless you make the effort to make sure that they
have the same respect for your business that you
do.

TIP #5:

You should allot a certain portion of your day to
email and to regular mail. For example, allot one
hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon
to handling your written communications.

Unless you dedicate certain times to the handling
of these communications, you will soon find
yourself on the downward slope of decreased
productivity.

TIP #6:

When you find yourself spending too much time
doing non-productive activities, then you should
seriously consider finding a third-party service
provider who will assist you in those
non-profitable business activities.

As an example, you might be in the mail-order
business. You might believe that your time is
best spent writing ad copy and setting up your
advertising, but you find yourself spending far
too much time taking care of your books to take
care of your advertising in the manner that you
should. In this event, it might make more sense
to hire a bookkeeper to handle your financial
records for you.

CONCLUSION:

In the end, the success of your home business is
entirely and completely reliant upon you and the
decisions that you make.

You had your reasons for deciding to start your
own home based business. You must always keep
your reasons in the forefront of your mind. You
must always be able to rely upon your own self
and your dedication to the success of your
business.

Your friends and family might be annoyed that
they cannot come visit upon their own whim, but
when success comes to you and your business, they
will better appreciate you for putting your foot
down when necessary.

Success is within your reach, if only you can
stay focused on your goals. You must decide to
reach for your goals, and then, you must have the
discipline necessary to reach them.

About The Author:
--------------------------------------------------
Stone Evans Will Personally Build A Money Making
Website Just For You That's 100% Ready To Take
Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits Today!
Get All The Exciting Details And Signup Now At:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025
--------------------------------------------------

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Monday, December 12, 2005

How to Measure Advertising Success Online

Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025

It is easy for me to tell you that you need to
track the success of your online advertising. It
is also easy for me to tell you that you must do
so in order to know which of your advertising
is helping you to make a profit, to break even,
or to break the bank. Far too many advertisers
get caught in the online money pits in an effort
to develop their online business.

DON’T BE AFRAID

I also know that when I say these things, some
people get spooked. People get spooked because
although they might run an online business, they
may not understand the technology that keeps
their business running.

Let’s face it.

More people are learning how to design and
develop their own web pages. In fact, software has
been created to help them do so rather easily.

But when it comes down to the more complex
technologies such as web logs, database
technology, and web programming, most people
just freeze up and fail to make an informed
decision.

Some will turn to a programmer with hopes that a
programmer could save their online business, and
many will get burned by their personal
programmers. When a programmer burns a webmaster,
the cost can be very high. And at the end of the
day, the programmer may leave the webmaster with
a broken web site.

The only real choices left to most webmasters is
to learn how to install pre-made scripts on their
own, or to keep their websites technologically
simple. *Technologically simple* often fails to
help the webmaster find the success that he or
she so fervently desires.

UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF PRE-MADE SCRIPTS

Web software is often very simple in its
installation, so the webmaster really should not
fear it.

All one needs to install their own pre-made web
scripts (software) is an online web site file
manager or optional FTP software. They will also
need the ability to change the *permissions* on
the files on their web server.

When downloading scripts for installation on your
server, the file may come in .zip, .tar, or .gz
format. Each of these are variations on the
compressed / zipped file format. There are
many utilities available for unzipping files. One
such utility is WinZip which can be found at:
http://www.winzip.com

Most scripts, once downloaded and unzipped, may
appear in text format with extensions such as
.php, .cgi, .pl or .cfg.

Most of these files can be read as plain text in
an application like NotePad. Occasionally, the
file will be in a binary format which cannot be
read with a text editor.

The files which can be read in a text editor are
often written in the Perl or PHP programming
languages.

While most of the scripting will seem like
Chinese to you, you will be able to pick out
certain sections that can be read and understood
easily.

If the application also contains a .cfg file,
this is your configuration file that can usually
be changed to reflect your own personal needs or
desires for the operation of the software.

NEXT STEP, UPLOAD THE FILES TO YOUR SERVER

Most of these web applications will have a
readme.txt file included with it. If it does,
please read it. If it does not, don’t worry, this
section is for you.

You must upload the files to your server as plain
text. If you are using FTP to upload the files,
then you must tell your software to upload the
files in ASCII format. If you are using your web
file manager, then the files will automatically
upload correctly.

Once the file is on your server, then you must
change the file permissions.

Files with the extensions .php, .cgi, or .pl are
executable files and there permissions must be
set to 755. Files with the extensions .cfg, .txt,
or .html must have their permissions set to 644.
Files and folders that will be written to must
have their permissions set to 777. Files with no
extensions can be classified as any of the above,
so check the readme.txt file.

755 defines an executable file. 644 defines a
read-only file. And 777 defines a writable file.

Once the files are on your server and the
permissions are set correctly, the application
you have placed on your server should work for
you just fine.

LOCATING PRE-MADE SITE TRACKING SCRIPTS

Probably one of the best resources for locating
pre-made scripts is: http://www.cgi-resources.com

If after reading this article you still fear the
task of installing a pre-made script on your
server, then you might seriously consider
remotely hosted site tracking software. If
you opt for this route, be sure to buy the pro
version of the software offered. If you don’t
choose the paid version, you might find your own
competitors having access to your site tracking
data! That should not be an acceptable option to
you.

THE PURPOSE OF SITE TRACKING

With site tracking software running on your
server, you can review how many people came to
your website and what URL’s they might have used
to find your website. You can also see where your
visitors have come from, when they came, how long
they were on your site, at what page they entered
and left your site, and much more.

This is the kind of information that will help
you to determine with some certainty how
effective your advertising is and how profitable
your advertising can be.

Operating without tracking data is tantamount to
operating a business with the intent purpose of
failing.

I truly want you to succeed with your online
business. I know deep down in my heart that the
more people who find success online, the greater
my own chances for remaining profitable over
the long haul. *A rising tide floats all ships.*

About The Author:
--------------------------------------------------
Stone Evans Will Personally Build A Money Making
Website Just For You That's 100% Ready To Take
Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits Today!
Get All The Exciting Details And Now Today At:
http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com/main-10025
--------------------------------------------------

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this
article within your website or newsletter as long
as you leave the article fully intact and include
the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-)