Friday, November 30, 2007

It Pays To Work Your To Do List

Dwayne Garrett offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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Article Title: It Pays To Work Your To Do List
Author: Dwayne Garrett
Category: E-Commerce, Start Up, Internet Marketing
Word Count: 703
Keywords: brand marketing, brand mindset, branding marketing, branding marketing consumers, branding strategy
Author's Email Address: dwaynegarrett@gmail.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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Even though hiring other folks to do things that you can delegate or are not an expert on can help free you to manage the business, you will also find you are spending a great deal of time interacting with other people who are working for you on a contract basis. There are programmers, distributors, buyers, bankers and more to deal with. You may even find the local government is interested in having your obtain a legal dba (doing business as) name. All this takes time and attention away from your focus on making sales.

When you start out learning how to establish your company, you will hopefully be modeled on other businesses that survived. However, there will not be anyone standing over your shoulder directly telling you what to do. If you do not learn how to efficiently plan your day, you may end up wasting time and effort aimlessly steering your boat in circles. You can avoid this trap by getting into the habit of doing "to do lists" and constantly managing your business based on your initial marketing plan.

PLANNING YOUR DAY

Just because you might be working out of a home office or from your garage doesn't mean that you cannot work in a professional manner. The biggest mistake more people make when they decide to get in business for themselves is not realizing that they need to structure their days. It doesn't pay to just do what you feel like, if what you feel like doesn't haven any effect on the bottom line of your business.

For this reason, you should begin by sitting down each day, in the evening of the day before, and plan your subsequent day. You should expect to work at least 40 hours a week or more on your business, if you expect it to succeed. Many entrepreneurs work 60 hours or more, but they are doing what they love and that's why it's fun to them. Part-time businesses yield part-time results. Full-time businesses yield better results and more cash flow.

Take this list out the following morning and follow it to the letter. At the end of the day, look at your list and see how well you did. The tasks you didn't accomplish, you move to the next day's list until all your tasks are done. If you found an obstacle to achieving your task, it can become a subtask that needs to be completed so that the entire task can be checked off. Note it on your to do list and use it as a guideline for how well you are accomplishing in your day.

TWO TYPES OF LISTs

There are multiple ways to create a to do list. The two most common are to list everything and then put a priority next to each item, with the number one being the highest priority. Then, you follow the to do list by nature of priority. At the end of the day, you just use checks to determine whether a task was accomplished or not. Then you move it to the next day's list.

The other way to do the to do list is to list the actions by order of importance for the following day. The first task would be done first the following day and the second task second and so on. Then, at the end of the day, you grade each task based on an old-fashioned letter grade system with an "A" being Excellent and an "F" being failure. This system can be a bit harsh but more motivating than the previous system. Whatever you don't accomplish, or don't accomplish well, can be put on the following day's list.

The first system has the advantage of being a rotating, non-judgmental, form of organization. The second list is very hierarchal and is good for people who are more comfortable with grading themselves or into perfectionism. There is no right or wrong way to do a to do list. You may find your own unique style.

The point is not to follow someone else's system perfectly, it's to find a way to organize your day that works with your personality and daily habits to bring you to optimal use of the minutes you have in your work day.

Dwayne Garrett is the author of several eBooks and popular software applications, he also offers an affordable Shopping Resource that will save you a ton of money on some of todays popular ebooks, softwares and videos. http://www.BumRushMedia.com
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The Affiliate Marketing Option

Dwayne Garrett offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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Article Title: The Affiliate Marketing Option
Author: Dwayne Garrett
Category: E-Commerce, Start Up, Article Marketing
Word Count: 505
Keywords: brand marketing, brand mindset, branding marketing, branding marketing consumers, branding strategy
Author's Email Address: dwaynegarrett@gmail.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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If you are not selling your own products, but instead are focusing on affiliate marketing, you will still need some knowledge of HTML coding or experience with software packages like Frontpage or Dreamweaver. Both of these packages can be downloaded off the Internet for free trials to see if you feel confident using the product.

You can download free templates today from many sites that are easily installed on web servers, if you understand how to connect to a web host using FTP (File Transfer Protocol). This will provide you with a free design layout to use for your Internet presence, which can cut significant time off your development stage. You will need to upload these templates to your server and test them out and later tweak them by changing the HTML the way you want it.

If you don't have any idea how to connect to your main server, you will not be able to upload web pages to your web site. You must have this capability if you are programming your own web pages. Both the newer versions of Dreamweaver and Frontpage have FTP capabilities. Reading the tutorials that come with these packages can help you learn how to use the feature.

If you are using Frontpage, a Microsoft product, you can search their online knowledgebase for articles on how to do certain things in Frontpage or to find out whether you've hit a bug within the product. The knowledgebase for all Microsoft products is located at http://support.microsoft.com/search/. If you are using Dreamweaver, they have a developer's forum for people who are learning their products at: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/ . There is a great little HTML coding Free-ware that will allow you to build web pages like you would in a simple word processor. Go to:
http://nvudev.com/index.php to check it out.

If you don't know how to upload pages to your website, you will need to look up FTP and understand how it works. What you will want to do is get a training manual for your software or checkout free trial FTP programs like WS_FTP (http://www.wsftp.com/) or Coffeecup (http://www.coffeecup.com/).

These programs are dedicated to FTP and can help you get started learning FTP, however, they are not necessary as standalone products if you have Dreamweaver or Frontpage. If you decide to use a different HTML editor than either Dreamweaver or Frontpage, you may need to load a separate FTP program to get this capability.

Whether you are selling your own or someone else's goods, you want to be able to market your site to attract visitors and turn those visitors into paying customers. Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, your typical advertising campaigns relying on word-of-mouth, good customer service, and walk-ins won't work.

If you have no visitors, you have not word-of-mouth and then it definitely won't matter how good your customer service is. The primary goal of any online business is to attract and retain Internet traffic and convert visitors to paying customers. This takes a whole new set of skills that can combine technology with business savvy.

Dwayne Garrett is the author of several eBooks and popular software applications, he also offers an affordable Shopping Resource that will save you a ton of money on some of todays popular ebooks, softwares and videos. http://www.BumRushMedia.com
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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Geke's Guide To Google Adwords

Don Alexander offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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Article Title: Geke's Guide To Google Adwords
Author: Don Alexander
Category: Marketing, Advertising, E-Commerce
Word Count: 787
Keywords: online business, home business opportunity, home based business, success university, omnitrition,
Author's Email Address: alexanders4omni@yahoo.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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The biggest well known secret in generating wealth in the internet based business or e-commerce is Traffic. Everybody knows it; every site wants it and every site needs it.

The point of websites is to be visited and viewed. Many elaborate designs, money and countless hours of developing a site to make them beautiful and attractive are utilized. Without traffic, it is for naught.

With traffic comes a potential customer which basically means sales which in turn means profit. While many sites have collapsed in the past with the downturn of many internet based business, many smaller sites have generated good money by concentrating on a certain niche and some subniches.

This is a reason why e-commerce site laser target certain groups of people and drive them to their site to showcase their sites and products. Precision marketing is essential so that you could count on all the traffic on your site as potential customers.

Using Money to Make More Money

It's a common business notion that if you want to make money, you have to spend money. One good way of spending money for business gain is through advertising. Advertising brings in the people because through advertising, they know that there is such a company or product in existence.

With the right type of advertising, you can see the spurt of traffic growth to your site. With a high volume of traffic, even if only a small portion or percentage turns out to be buying customers it is still a good average of profit generating income.

Right now, there is no other advertising scheme that would be worth every cent than using Google's Adwords. The surge in popularity of Google's Adwords is very evident as you can see so many sites sporting this ad scheme.

In using Google's Adwords, you pay a certain fee depending on the number of keywords your ad is keyword sensitive to. Each time a person does a search in Google, the keyword or keywords use generate ads in the side of Google which are generated by the keywords they have assigned for their ads.

This method laser targets the traffic a site wants for their site. This also ensures that you are readily visible in the first page of a search result. Paying Google for this ad scheme ensures that your target group of people sees your ads. You drive your laser targeted traffic to your site which provides for their needs and wants. You can also be sure that you can meet their demands and needs.

Aside from Google, you can also be featured in their other search networks, these includes sites like, AskJeeves, AOL Search and Netscape. These sites also show Adwords ads that react to searches done by visitors.

There are also content networks, non-search engine sites that feature Google Adwords, which will also carry your ads. But this is subjected to the niche the site features. Your chosen keywords will determine which content network shall feature your ad. The frequency of your ad shall also be determined by your allowed budget.

Laser Targeting your Traffic

To get a good number or estimate of the traffic to buying customer ratio it is good to laser target your traffic. Knowing that your traffic are all potential customers and are interested in your products and company provides you with a more accurate statistics. This will show you how effective your utilizing of Google Adwords is.

Drive laser targeted traffic to your site by using keywords or keyword phrases for your Goggle Adwords that pertains to your company and to your products. There are many online internet tools that can help you in choosing keywords and keyword phrases that are currently in demand that could help drive laser targeted traffic to your site.

With your Google Adwords ad, you are ensured that every click to your ad is a potential customer that is precisely looking pr interested in what you have to offer. Make sure that your Google Adwords ad has the right keywords so that you can drive you're laser targeted traffic to your site.

The one rule to never break when using Google Adwords: Always stay within your advertising budget. Also, make sure you use Google Adsense or another service to monetize your site so you have money coming in, and not just going out your doors.

Another wonderful source to Google Adwords is Perry Marshall. Perry offers free tutorials about how to use Google Adwords and has done quite well himself marketing using Google Adwords. Simply type in Perry Marshall and Google Adwords in your Yahoo search box.

Using Google Adwords to help boost the drive to increase laser targeted traffic will prove to be very beneficial as many other companies can attest to. The benefits are high with the cost relatively justifiable.

Don Alexander is owner of leading-online-business.com and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Don recommends you visit http://www.leading-online-business.com
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Don't Take Feedback At Face Value Only - There's More To It Than You Think

Steve Dempster offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
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Article Title: Don't Take Feedback At Face Value Only - There's More To It Than You Think
Author: Steve Dempster
Category: E-Commerce, E-Business
Word Count: 733
Keywords: ebay shop,ebay shopping,ebay business
Author's Email Address: stevendempster@btinternet.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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For many eBay users, positive feedback has become the Holy Grail of a member's credibility. But there's more to feedback than meets the eye. This article looks at a couple of points to bear in mind.

Ask most eBayers what they look for when dealing with a seller or buyer and they are likely to say one word - 'feedback'. This magic number has attained the status of a near-obsession matched only perhaps by the kudos of powerseller status. Yet what does feedback really show?

Okay - it shows how many times buyers or sellers have left their vote for a member when they are good eBayers - doesn't it? Well, that's not quite correct. The easiest way I can show you is to go by my own feedback and explain what it means.

At the time of writing, my feedback number - the one alongside my eBay username - stands at 694. I'm not a powerseller and compared to some eBayers I'm a beginner, yet the figures still tell their own story. Say you wanted to find out a bit more about me - you'd click on the number, revealing the Feedback Profile page associated with my username. There's my feedback score - 694 - but hang on, what's this other number mean, the one by the side of 'all positive feedback'?

This number, in my opinion, should also be shown by a member's name. Why? Simple - it shows the true numbers of eBayers who have left feedback for me. In my case it's 1061. This means that customers have made more than one purchase from me - any number of them between 1 and 367.

This indicates that (without blowing my own trumpet), quite a few buyers have seen fit to make repeat purchases from me. Unless they were crazy, they wouldn't do that unless I had won their trust and they knew I sold good items. This figure also includes people I have brought from and here the same applies - by leaving repeat positive feedback they are indicating that they are happy with my buying from them.

So how about my positive feedback percentage score? No secrets there, it's 99.9%. What - not 100%? How can I be trusted if I don't have a perfect score? Truth is that a lot of sellers now - in effect - manipulate their feedback score to avoid negative feedback. How do they do this?

Easy. They simply do not give feedback to a buyer until that buyer has left them, the seller, feedback first. I call it ransoming - they hold the buyer 'hostage' with the threat of negative feedback. Unless the buyer returns positive feedback - regardless of the fact of it being deserved or not - they will not leave at best any feedback and at worst will leave negative feedback in a 'retaliation' strike. Beware of sellers like this!

Personally I always leave feedback for a buyer as soon as payment is received. If they pay quickly then I figure they deserve it! If I despatch quickly, sell good items and give generally good service I expect them to give me the same. However, I don't hang on to that 100% figure as a lifeline - my eBay activities (and yours!) ultimately depend on the goodwill of buyers and sellers. This means that, if I screw up - and it has happened! - I want to know so I can put it right. If I do, I figure I still rate positive feedback. If I don't - I deserve what I get!

So what does that 99.9% figure really mean? It means that I have had one - that's right, just one - bad feedback in over 1,000 transactions. Guess what? It was a 'retaliation' strike when I dared to complain about a faulty item! And let's face it - a seller with a feedback score of 20,000+ won't mind the odd negative strike - it isn't going to change their percentage score worth a damn. However, for a relative newbie with a score of say 10 that single bad result would plummet their percentage score to 90% - to my mind totally and utterly unfair. The big sellers know this - hence 'ransoming'.

So next time you look at a seller's feedback score, don't just take it for granted they're good - take a look instead at their overall rating. You might just get a shock!

Steve Dempster writes informative articles for the web and is also a confirmed eBayer. To learn more about levering your eBay sales, take a look at http://www.anewlife4u.co.uk/ebayshop.html or visit his eBay shop at http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk/page5a.html
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Master The Online Marketer's Formula

Al Mendoza offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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PUBLICATION GUIDELINES
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Article Title: Master The Online Marketer's Formula
Author: Al Mendoza
Category: Internet Marketing, E-Commerce, E-Business
Word Count: 787
Keywords: list building, sales copy, money online, entrepeneurs, online marketing,
Author's Email Address: editor@marketingthinkbox.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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90% of the subscriber emails I receive everyday ask, 'how can I start making money online'? I don't have time anymore to provide personal responses to every single person who writes so let me help by clarifying a few points right here.

First, my own customers have told me they do NOT have a list, and they can't understand why they aren't making any money!?

OK I'm going to finally reveal the formula that all online marketer's use to make big money online. Here's the Master Online Marketer's Formula (for any market or niche):

Making money online = a list + sales copy + products + timing

Each one of these factors is critical to success. I'm not going to repeat what I talk about in my Online Training Lessons, but what I will do is get you to think about the most important thing you should be doing online.

In other words, What is your marketing priority?

Let me start by saying that I can't believe the amount of junk sales pitches I see in my email box everyday you get them, I get them, everyone gets them.

You're probably very confused about the pitches you receive- they all look so good! Each one promises to make you rich just buy their product or follow their plan and you will be!

Gheesh are you still falling for that?

Let me be blunt:

Forget about making a $million dollars start by making a few hundred each week, then a few hundred each day pretty soon you'll look at your bank account and scratch your head saying,

Where did all that money come from?

To be in that happy situation you have to concentrate on your #1 job as an online marketer:

1) Building your list,
2) Write effective sales copy,
3) Find targeted offers for your subscribers and
4) Get the 'timing' right

If you're not making any money online right now this is the reason you don't understand or know how to work the Master Online Marketer's Formula .

#1: You need a list.

The best ways to build a solid list is to participate in discussion forums, create mini-ebooks to give away and to sell inexpensive items related to your niche on ebaY, use PPC (cheaply), and use eBay as a 'lead generator' by selling inexpensive products and asking your buyers to opt-in to your list (most will if your information is any good)

Ok what else do you need?

#2: You have to know how to write.

I'm sorry, but that is the truth.

If you can't put two sentences together that promote a product or service that gets a response you will have a very difficult time making money- it can be done, but it will be much harder for you to be very successful.

Writing is not difficult writing so that you are communicating clearly IS difficult.

And the best copy I have ever seen is simple and convincing.

It's not hard, but you have to think clearly about what you want to say BEFORE putting it in writing.

Clarity is key. Simplicity is key.

#3: Finding Targeted Offers

This comes after you have provide good, solid content to your subscribers to prove that you know what you are talking about.

Finding targeted offers is not that hard. You need to search for them online. You need to think about what it is your subscribers would want to learn or know or what tools would be helpful to them. When you find something that you think would interest them join the products' affiliate program (if there is one) and 'announce' it to your subscribers.

#4: Timing.

The best time to send offers to your list is between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM US Eastern Time. Don't ask me why, it just is.

There's much more to 'timing' but we'll save that for another time but, just realize

There are all kinds of things that prevent your offer from being opened and read, none of which have anything to do with you.

You just have to know ahead of time that no matter how great your offer is, some people will just not be interested, even if they do open your email.

My final words of advice:

If you think making money online is complicated you're wrong- it's simple.

I did not say easy, I said simple.

It will take work if you want to make money without work, then play the lottery.

If you want to make money and don't mind a little effort and some thinking, then stick around, I've got plenty of ideas how to boost your income.

AL MENDOZA has been doing Internet Marketing since 1998 and earns his living 100% online. Mr. Mendoza has authored several publications and ecourses. He is the CEO of http://www.MarketingThinkbox.com
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Sales vs. Marketing

Brett Nordin offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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Article Title: Sales vs. Marketing
Author: Brett Nordin
Category: E-Commerce, Growth Topics, Converting Traffic
Word Count: 534
Keywords: sales vs. marketing,conversion,ecommerce,online sales,online marketing,internet marketing,business
Author's Email Address: brettnordin@gmail.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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Sales, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is "The exchange of goods or services for an amount of money or its equivalent; the act of selling."

Although this is a good definition of a sales transaction, the process leading up to the sale, whereby a prospect is converted into a client, usually involves a lot more. Longer sales cycles and higher prices demand even more time to build client trust and requires more effort for them to stick with your product or service offering. Marketing, defined in offline terms, is what you do when you are not in front of the customer to persuade them to buy what you are selling. The act of sales is what you do or say on the phone or in person. By dissecting the definition between sales and marketing, we start to take a very different view of how we "sell" offline vs. online.

The promise of ecommerce was to give the consumer the lowest possible price. By cutting out brick and mortar retail centers, overhead costs are reduced and products were delivered more conveniently to a customer's home or businesses. Price and convenience have now become commoditized in many ecommerce verticals, causing companies to look more closely at their online marketing activities to attract prospects, increase sales and retain clients. In the online world, one could argue that there is no such thing as sales. There is no face time with the customer to persuade them or interact and appeal to their emotions. However, companies have learned to ask prospects what they want and then use technology to tailor their sales message to better connect with the problem or need. Also, companies like Amazon have pioneered predictive buying and can bolster sales by offering products related to items already purchased. These two examples best emulate offline selling by creating an artificial intelligence at the point of sale.

Online marketing can be best described by what the prospect experiences before and after the sale. The pre-sale activities are: Identifying prospects, sifting and sorting them into buying groups, raising the demand for a product and then lowering the barrier to a sale. After the sale, promotions, education, webinars and email drip letters can all be effective stick strategies. The key to successful marketing is the online message must be persuasive enough to get a prospect or client to act. Without action there can be no sale. So the area between marketing and sales become even more blurred when the entire process is strung together.

For business owners this gray area is not critical operationally and it's dangerous to get hung-up on the terminology. The important thing is to generate more sales. To best analyze a businesses current process, break the sales cycle into 5 parts:

1. Prospecting (identifying, sifting and sorting)
2. Conversion (raising demand and lowering barrier)
3. Creating a unique buying experience (what happens at the point of sale)
4. Saying thank you
5. Keeping in touch (retention)

Sounds simple right? You'd be amazed at how many companies drop the ball during most of these steps. By breaking your own sales cycle into these 5 steps and brainstorming with your team how each can be improved, you'll see large increases in revenues and profits.

To view one of the most valuable prospecting and retention systems I've uncovered, visit http://www.squidoo.com/xlrevshare
Brett Nordin is an entrepreneur and small business owner who writes about various topics including sales, marketing and business development.
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8 Ways To Develop Trust Online

Brandi Cummings offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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Article Title: 8 Ways To Develop Trust Online
Author: Brandi Cummings
Category: Small Business, E-Commerce, E-Business
Word Count: 781
Keywords: internet sales, online trust,
Author's Email Address: brandi@telecentrex.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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In a world before the Internet, email, teleconferencing, web conferencing, and fax communications most business was done in person. People met face to face. They communicated their ideas and their character to one another with words, voice inflection, facial expressions, body language, and in their handshake. Through all of this communication, spoken and otherwise, a relationship developed and trust could be earned. Much of today's business is done without ever meeting anyone. Even the briefest of relationships one might experience with the saleslady at the department store can be avoided by ordering this year's holiday sweaters online. So without all of that human contact, how does one build trust with their customers?

Since so many people will first find your website when looking for products or services that you offer, this is where you have to start building trust. Even the most basic elements of your site can put your visitors at ease and start to develop trust.

1. The colors you choose will set the mood on your page. Choose colors that give the impression of professionalism. Try blues, grays, black, and white and limit your use of louder colors such as red, orange, and yellow. They have their place on your site for things that you would like to draw attention to but should be used carefully when creating the
actual color theme for your site.

2. Keep your contact information clearly visible. You should have multiple ways you can be contacted including a toll fee number and email form, as well as online instant chat if possible. Knowing that you will be available if they need assistance will put your customers at ease.

3. Your website content should not be product driven but customer driven. Quality content that is honest and helpful will contribute to your customer's level of trust in your company. Help educate them not just about your product or service, but also be free with your knowledge about the industry as a whole. For example, a real estate agent might also include information on their site about finding the right mortgage. A site that markets products to home based businesses might have other information that would be helpful to them such as setting up a home office or establishing a business entity to protect their assets.

4. Tell people about you and your company. Have an About Us section on your site that tells the history and mission statement of your company. If appropriate have pictures and bios of employees or partners. Keep this information updated with press releases announcing what's new with you and your company. These could be new products, features, employees, events or what you are doing in the community.

5. Testimonials can be faked. To make them more real to your customers use photos of the person giving the testimonial, include their scanned signature or have audio testimonials instead. Doing these things will give your testimonials more clout and further trust.

You can continue to build on the trust that you have started to develop with your webpage through your communications with your customers.

6. Have a toll free number and friendly, knowledgeable customer service staff to answer it. This might either be your first or second chance to establish yourself as a professional and reliable company in the eyes of your customers. Take advantage of it by showing your customers that you are a professional, trustworthy company that takes their relationships with their customers seriously. Do this by having the phone answered professionally every time and if your customers have to be sent to voicemail make sure that their calls are returned within hours, not days.

7. Blogging is a great way to communicate with your customers. It allows you to not only speak to them, but for them to speak to you. Use your blog to build relationships and share knowledge with your customers, not just tout your products and services. Allow people to comment and ask questions to start a meaningful dialogue to further trust.

8. Continue to share your knowledge with newsletters. Newsletters are a great way to continue to build trust even after the sale is done. It reconfirms for the customer that you are still there to help them if they need it.

When you can't look your customers in the eye as you shake their hand, it can be difficult to earn their trust. However, with the right approach online, you can still reach out to your customers and give them the confidence that your company is worth their time and ultimately their purchase.

Brandi Cummings is an expert author on the unique issues facing small and home based businesses. Visit http://www.Freedom800.com for more information about using your toll free number and phone system to establish a professional and trusting relationship with your customers.
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Internet Marketing and E-Commerce for the Helping Professions

Ryan C. Nagy offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
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Article Title: Internet Marketing and E-Commerce for the Helping Professions
Author: Ryan C. Nagy
Category: E-Commerce, Tools and Resources
Word Count: 918
Keywords: internet, marketing, ecommerce, health, practitioner, coach, psychologist, psychotherapist
Author's Email Address: news@ryannagy.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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Online marketing, products and ecommerce offer great potential for passive and active income for small businesses and sole-practitioners. Unfortunately, many people in the helping professions, such as psychologists, social workers, psychotherapists and coaches, do not know how to capitalize on the new opportunities in internet sales and marketing.

In the last several years, many internet technologies have evolved so that non-technical people can use them to create websites, blogs and digital products. This can help you make substantial amounts of money and grow your practice online. But where to start?

There seem to be two primary questions that health practitioners ask about internet marketing:

1) What is internet marketing and how can it help in my practice?

2) What's the best way to find people online so that they attend my classes, come in for sessions, and buy my products?

To answer the first question, what internet marketing "is" depends on what you want to do. What do you need from your practice and what you are willing to do to get it? Let's go over several illustrative examples to get an idea of what the possibilities are.

Using the internet to build your practice and fill your workshops.

For one of my clients, the internet provides a way to keep her classes and workshops full all-year-round. She does not spend money on traditional marketing, such as yellow page or newspaper advertising. Nor does she spend money on brochures or direct marketing. What does she do instead?

She has built a large "permission based" email list from her websites and classes. People give her their email addresses and she mails to them every 4-6 weeks. In every email she gives away a no-cost bonus, such as worksheet or handout that can be put to immediate use. She will often write about useful research findings and news related to her field.

She loves to communicate via email and she enjoys connecting with her clients. The end-result? People look forward to reading her emails. Her seminars and workshops fill-up months in advance! Can you imagine using the same process to fill your practice?

The key here is relationship. Be helpful and always be aware of your potential clients' needs. Help them whenever you can. They will reward you by trusting you and - eventually - giving you their business.

Passive Income

Many practitioners in the helping professions reach the point where they want to not only work less but also keep their current income.

Let's be honest about why. Our professions are deeply satisfying but sometimes draining. And as we grow both personally and professionally our needs change. Perhaps you want time off to write a book or create a new product? You want to give yourself a sabbatical and travel the world? You can do it.

The problem for most practitioners is that they are in the business of trading their time and skill for money. If they don't work, they don't get paid! I ask them (and you) a question: Have you considered learning how to keep making income without having to work everyday? This is where the idea of "passive income" comes in.

What is passive income?

Passive income is money that comes to you automatically without you having to work to get it. You do some initial set-up of your income streams and then you let it take care of itself.

Downloadable audio, video and ebooks are a few examples of passive income opportunities. You can sell them as training and educational materials to your clients and have the system set-up so that the sales, delivery and support are done automatically. In other words, when someone buys a product from you, you don't have to burn a CD, address an envelope, go to the post office or even process a credit card number. The whole process is automated on the internet. There are dozens of companies set up to help you do this.

Does Internet marketing sound complicated or expensive to you?

Internet marketing for health professionals can be complicated and it can be expensive. But it doesn't have to be. Several years ago you would have needed a web programmer, graphic designer, marketing consultant and more. Now, all that you need is the right strategy and the ability to use web browsers (like Firefox or Internet Explorer) and email.

Blogs and basic websites to sell your ideas and products can be created for no-cost and don't require any programming skills. There are ecommerce systems to sell products and services that can be set-up in less than 5 minutes. Many allow you to upload and sell products online for $5.00 per month. You can collect credit card payments without needing a merchant account.

Forms to create your "opt-in" email lists are pre-programmed in many web-based customer contact services (called auto-responders). And if you still feel that you want a website designer or some other help, you can hire one in India for $5 - $10 per hour. Several independent companies will let you post your projects and have people bid on them.

Interested in taking the next step?

Take a deep, relaxing breath and begin to explore. Use google and yahoo searches to find the web-based businesses of people in your field. See what they are doing. When ready, join some marketing email lists or forums that interest you. Some marketing email lists will send you a useful message every month and give you no-cost resources for learning how to make money online. And if you don't like the information, you can always cancel and join another. Remember: You are in control.

Ryan C. Nagy, M.A. is a Feldenkrais Practitioner & Consultant, who co-owns, The Web Whisperers, with Bill O'Hanlon, M.S. Come see Ryan at http://thewebwhisperersblog.com, or http://www.ryannagy.com. See his latest workshops at http://www.thewebwhisperers.com
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Two-Dozen Items to Consider When Choosing the "Right" Merchant Account

Jay Douglas offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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Article Title: Two-Dozen Items to Consider When Choosing the "Right" Merchant Account
Author: Jay Douglas
Category: E-Commerce, Home Business, Small Business
Word Count: 449
Keywords: merchant account, sales, credit card processing, accept credit cards, merchant services
Author's Email Address: jaydouglas2005@gmail.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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With the dizzying array of merchant account processors on the Internet today, it can be a daunting, if not outright frustrating task to determine which provider you should entrust the handling of your sales. But the process of deciding which provider is right for your business might not be as difficult as you might have imagined.

In fact, veteran business owners know that there are several options you should look for before you settle on any given merchant account provider. It might seem obvious, but the choice you make upfront in your decision-making process could literally mean the loss or gain of thousands of dollars in revenue. In fact, it could mean the very survival of your business altogether.

Here then, are two-dozen options you'll want to consider when determining whether a particular merchant account provider is right for you. You might not find all these options in one particular merchant account provider. But this list is certainly worth consulting before you take the plunge.

Ask yourself whether the merchant account provider you are considering:

- Allows you to set up an account for free
- Allows you to get paid instantly
- Allows you to offer 95% affiliate commissions
- Allows you to sell digital products
- Allows you to sell material products
- Allows you to sell subscription based services
- Allows you to set ANY price for you product - no price maximum
- Allows you to NOT offer a money back guarantee if you don't want
- Allows you to protect your products from unauthorized access
- Allows you to easily test different advertising campaigns
- Allows you to easily determine products actual conversion rates
- Allows you to set custom affiliate commission percentages
- Allows you to accept affiliates automatically or by manual approval
- Allows you to customize your checkout page
- Allows you to get additional information from customers
- Allows you to set automatic product price increase or decrease
- Allows you to show or not show your product's conversion rates in the marketplace
- Allows you to track product conversion rates by different traffic source
- Allows you to track product conversion rates by search engine
- Allows you to track product's popularity between affiliates
- Allows you to track percentage of sales made by affiliates
- Allows you to track the number of active affiliates and their performance
- Allows you to Track unique visitors to your product's website and their behavior
- Protects affiliates so they are paid commissions due

So there you have it. As noted previously. Most business providers will not offer all the options above. But we know of one merchant account provider that does offer all these services and 54 others that you might want to consider. And you can get the details here...

http://www.cbsqueezevideos.com/merchant-accounts.html

Jay Douglas is a video producer who researches and reports on the best ways to ensure profitable business growth using the latest cutting edge tools. Check out his latest find to determine whether it's a good fit for your particular business. http://www.cbsqueezevideos.com/merchant-accounts.html
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Exponential List Building with Viral Bait

Brett Nordin offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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Article Title: Exponential List Building with Viral Bait
Author: Brett Nordin
Category: E-Commerce, Growth Topics, Network Marketing
Word Count: 660
Keywords: viral marketing,marketing,small business,mlm,network marketing,viral campaign,direct response ad
Author's Email Address: brettnordin@gmail.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
------------------ ARTICLE START ------------------

The key to relationship marketing is building a list and then developing trust. In the Mortgage business I don't expect to get a sale today, my product sells for thousands of dollars and my clients have a problem I can solve every 3 years on average. So I have to be in the long term relationship business which means that I treat everyone on my list as a future client or referral source.

For the purposes of this discussion, I'm going to focus on building the list through viral marketing. Viral marketing is often thought of as a joke email or a chain letter that gets blasted around the web. In the business world, viral marketing is the Holy Grail. A small media seed can grow into a fast moving sales message that multiplies exponentially without additional cost. The viral bait becomes the first of many conversations that we hope will lead to a sale.

Over the years I have researched and developed information products (the bait) that I give away online in exchange for an email address. Once I have the email address and permission to communicate with the new contact, I can begin robotic trust-based selling campaigns that position me as a trustworthy service provider. This type of push/pull marketing is simple. However, creating a viral campaign that spreads without continuous pushing is not easy and often takes trial and error.

Creating a robotic list building system contains 3 main elements:
1. The viral bait - This has traditionally been an information product or other ethical bribe that is given to someone in exchange for permission to communicate with them about your product or service. You can easily create an ebook that provides valuable information about a subject related to your product or service.
2. An ongoing conversation - Communication can take on many forms (i.e., email, teleseminar, webinar, newsletter, promotional advertising) and works as a sifting and sorting tool that makes your prospects identify themselves as potential clients.
3. Conversion - For my business conversion is typically handled over the phone but many lower priced items don't need an explanation and can be purchased directly online by building the demand (benefit selling) and lower the barrier to the sale (guarantee or discount).

The key to the system working virally is identifying the right bait. It took me years to figure out that people only care about mortgage information when they have an immediate need for a mortgage. You may be thinking to yourself, that's great, a prospect that has an immediate need is closer to buying what you offer. However, even though I provided useful information that differentiated my services and positioned me as a trusted source, I didn't have the time or resources to build deep relationships with the prospect. Ultimately I acquired a list of people who could only compare my service on the basis of price.

Besides price, the other downside to my mortgage campaign was that it never became viral. My bait was so specific to a problematic niche that there was no perception of universal value to others. So the chain stopped with the last respondent. In order for the leads to keep coming I had to keep spending. My marketing costs had a linear relationship to the response I received, not the exponential response I was hoping for. With conversion rates slowing in the mortgage industry, the ROI was low and not worth the effort.

So within the past year I re-created my bait to have broader appeal and my campaigns have been viral and achieving 10X the opt-in rate compared to the previous bait. I have completely cut-off my advertising campaigns and the leads are still coming in. That is the power of viral marketing.

If your list building has not met your expectations or is not bringing an effective ROI, go back to step #1 in the robotic list building system. Bait is the gate keeper to the system and the key to viral marketing success.

To see the viral bait that I utilize to build my list, visit http://www.squidoo.com/xlrevshare
Brett Nordin is a business consultant and entrepreneur with a passion for various business topics including sales, marketing and business development.
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Health and Safety E Learning

Shaun Parker offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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Article Title: Health and Safety E Learning
Author: Shaun Parker
Category: E-Learning, E-Commerce
Word Count: 586
Keywords: health, and, safety, training, online
Author's Email Address: parker@highposition.net
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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In this day and age of compensation claims for even the most minor strains and accidents it pays all employers to comply with Health and Safety regulations to cover themselves as well as their employees. The Health and Safety Executive regulations have, for a number of years now, made it a legal requirement for all employers to assess and reduce the risk to staff in the workplace.

Some employers, pressed for time as well as money, find this a problem. Whole work days are sometimes lost, venues need to be booked and paid for and transport provided. All this comes at the expense of the employer but surely cannot be as costly as the amount of sick days taken in the name of work related health problems.

Figures from the Health and Safety Executive for 2003/04 show that 448,000 British workers were reported to have suffered from work related musculo-skeletal disorders (the umbrella term for Repetitive Strain Injury). This was a staggering increase of 52,000 from the previous year.

Direct and indirect costs to society amounted to a phenomenal 5.7 pounds billion in the year 2004/5. The Health and Safety Executive attributes this to the 450,000 cases of workers absent through back complaints and 375,000 through back and upper limb disorders. Amazingly, they even report seven year old children to be suffering RSI complaints so schools also need to implement the regulations.

Repetitive Strain Injury is a common occurrence in offices where staff spend the majority of their day sat in front of a VDU, or DSE. Display Screen Equipment is a broader term for VDU and covers all the equipment at a desk including keyboard and mouse, which have been the cause of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome when used incorrectly.

DSE Risk Assessment and Training are Health and Safety requirements and are quite simple to practice. There are recommended guidelines for the angle of a VDU, the positioning of a keyboard, mouse, desk and chair. All should be set up for the individual employee to ensure comfortable working positions.

Employers are liable for the cost of sight tests for VDU operators when requested but there is no evidence that, when used properly, a VDU screen would cause any health problems. Only when there is unnecessary glare, bad posture or a wrongly positioned unit does a problem occur. There is certainly no evidence to suggest there is any worsening of eyesight from use of a VDU.

So, employees do not want to be injured at work and employers do not want to spend man hours and hard earned profits on Health and Safety Training. However, there is a solution. It is now possible to train all employers and their staff in all Health and Safety aspects without ever having to leave their badly positioned, overly bright VDU or their wonky chair.

It is now possible to meet all the legal requirements of Health and Safety Training on line. It is called Health and Safety e-learning. Risk assessments are set out for employers and employees can set their own agenda for DSE training thus reducing impact on work schedules. Training can be completed over time at a pace that suits the individual and training certificates can be printed out at the conclusion.

This solution is cost effective, requiring minimal resources and a Learning Development Advisor is assigned to the company involved to keep track of the training. It is also recommended that results be saved to a database to establish an audit trail and prove your company's compliance with Health and Safety Regulations.

Health and Safety expert Shaun Parker looks into the new health and safety on line training. To find out more please visit http://www.complywise.co.uk/
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Internet Marketing Business Obstacles

Dwayne Garrett offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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Article Title: Internet Marketing Business Obstacles
Author: Dwayne Garrett
Category: E-Commerce, Start Up, Internet Marketing
Word Count: 403
Keywords: brand marketing, brand mindset, branding marketing, branding marketing consumers, branding strategy,
Author's Email Address: dwaynegarrett@gmail.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
------------------ ARTICLE START ------------------

It is a well-known statistic that 50% of all businesses fail within the first two years. Within five years, a total of 95% of small businesses fail. These are daunting statistics that are coming from the Small Business Administration (SBA) office, with study after study proving the difficulty of establishing a successful business. These statistics are equally true of online businesses where the same factors that affected the failure of solid businesses correlates to e-commerce with too many entrepreneurs who don't know the obstacles they face.

But What Are These Statistics Based On?

Despite these negative statistics, you have to take a look at these statistics with a grain of salt. Even the SBA admits that many of the statistics are affected by people who are in business part-time as opposed to full-time and never had any intention of being in business for themselves long-term. They may have filed the business with IRS to make use of deductions or to claim income, but it doesn't really point to the determination to stay in business long-term.

If you want to start a business part-time, odds are you too can get it to survive for at least two years, and maybe five years top without committing yourself to its growth.

However, if you want to stay in business long-term, the success will be determined by how much effort and learning you have placed into the business. Obviously, if you see this business as your livelihood, you will be more motivated to grow the business rather than letting outside situations make or break your potential for success.

One thing you need to understand from the start is that looking at other people's failures is only helpful in instructing you on what not to do. It is not going to tell you how to grow your business. For that, you need to study successes. So, use everything to your advantage, whether it is success or failure.

The key to growing a business is flexibility, know-how, and a drive to succeed. Do learn from other people's mistakes, but don't let their failures determine your own potential for success. If you can't believe that you can succeed where others have failed, then you shouldn't be in business for yourself to begin with.

By balancing what you should do with what to avoid, you can steer clear of traps and make it to the highway of high earnings in less time and with more confidence.

Dwayne Garrett is the author of several eBooks and popular software applications, he also offers an affordable Shopping Resource that will save you a ton of money on some of todays popular ebooks, softwares and videos. http://www.BumRushMedia.com
------------------ ARTICLE END ------------------

How To Choose Online Gift Cards

David Urmann offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
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Article Title: How To Choose Online Gift Cards
Author: David Urmann
Category: Online Shopping, E-Commerce
Word Count: 489
Keywords: gift cards, online gift cards, all occasion gift cards, best gift cards, review online gift cards, b
Author's Email Address: solutionsforweb.1@gmail.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
------------------ ARTICLE START ------------------

There are several occasions when you need to buy a gift for your family, friends and acquaintances. To choose a gift can sometimes become a difficult task. Certain things always crop up in the mind of the buyer, whether the recipient will like it or not or it may be the case that the person has everything.

To save you from this problem online gifts cards have come which will provide the complete satisfaction gifting something of his/ her choice. They make the perfect choice for gifting as the recipient can buy anything that their heart wishes. These gift cards work like gift vouchers. Internet companies with storefronts and retailers usually offer gift cards.

Online gift cards are available in different denominations. You simply have to choose one and the company will take the pains of sending the Virtual card directly to the recipient along with an encrypted e-mail having ID number to ensure safety of the gift card. These cards work like gift vouchers, you have to type in the virtual number given when you check out after choosing the gift.

After receiving the gift people go to the particular website, place the order of the items they want after that they enter the ID number at checkout. The amount of the item is deducted from the account and the left over amount can be used later.

It has been found that many people who have gifted and those who have used it both feel satisfied and contented. People prefer to go for it simply because it does not require lengthy procedure. At the same time you don't have to tax your brain or search shops for the ideal gift for your near and dear ones. Even the recipient does not have to compromise with what he/she gets.

While choosing a card make it a point to search online the stores which offer wide range of products. These cards have no expiry date which makes it the best choice. The one who possess the card can redeem it even after 3years. Some people prefer giving cash instead of gifts but that usually ends in spending the money on other thing except buying a gift.

One such gift card is E bay gift card from E bay- the world's online market place. For choosing this card you need not to be the registered user of E Bay once you shop here you will find there is something for one and all. But to buy E Bay certificate it should be purchased using Pay pal (an E Bay company).

One should check the conditions laid out for redeeming the certificate before buying the card. In all, the online gift cards are a wonderful way to present someone so that the person can really go in for a product of his or her choice. So next time, you want to gift someone, just don't forget about the online gift cards.

For more information visit our website http://www.gift-cards.org
------------------ ARTICLE END ------------------

The Joy of Online Shopping

Patrick Tang offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
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- Please send a copy of the publication, or an email indicating the URL to patrick.tang@fabulouslygourmet.com.au
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Article Title: The Joy of Online Shopping
Author: Patrick Tang
Category: E-Commerce
Word Count: 590
Keywords: Online Shopping, Internet Shopping, Online Services
Author's Email Address: patrick.tang@fabulouslygourmet.com.au
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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Have you ever tried shopping with a screaming baby, a tantrum-ing toddler or in the rain? Don't have a car? Don't have the energy to try to tackle an overcrowded or understaffed shop? Tired of running to the shops every day for a couple of items or having to schlep bags and bags of groceries in from the car? Online shopping could be the answer to all your worries.

Online shopping involves purchasing products or services over the Internet. Online shopping is done through an online shop, e-shop, e-store, virtual store, webshop, Internet shop or online store. All the products in online stores are described through text, with photos and with multimedia files. Many online stores will provide links for extra information about their products. They often make available, safety procedures, instructions, manufacture specification and demonstrations. Some will provide advice or how-to guides. As you are already on the Internet, you can search for product reviews that other consumers may have posted. Some online stores have place for these reviews on their own sites. Many allow users to rate their products. Advice such as this from other consumers, about a product, would be unavailable in a conventional store.

There are many advantages involved with online shopping, the most obvious of which is convenience. As long as you have a computer, online shopping can be done from home or from work. There is no need to take the time to travel to a conventional store. Also, online shops typically operate 24 hours a day so you don't need to rush to get there during business hours. Particularly if you have a broadband Internet connection, browsing online can be done very quickly - in fact, it can be quicker than browsing up and down the aisles of a physical shop.

With online shopping, there is no need to wait in queues at the check-out once you have your items. You are not required to lift any heavy or awkward-sized and shaped packages. Your shopping is collected with the click of a button and "deposited" into your shopping trolley by no physical effort on your part.

You will often be given a choice as to how to receive the merchandise you have bought - either it can be delivered to you or you can go to the store to collect it. This flexibility can be very useful depending on how soon you need the item or when you will be home.

Search engines and online price comparison services are useful for finding sellers of a specific product. You can also, very quickly, find good deals on various items. Some items will generally be cheaper if bought over the Internet due to the smaller size of the "brick-and-mortar" store, reduced stocking costs for the seller and significantly lower staffing overhead. On large orders (as determined by the retailer), shipping costs may be waved. There are also many websites that compile information on coupons and discounts.

With the takeover of the market by big retail chain; variety of specialised items continue to diminish; goes with that is also the choices from a consumer perspective. However, Internet shops have taken over this niche as many are operated by small retailers who understand this need. This means you can search on the Internet and it is very likely that someone is selling that specialised item that you have been looking and more importantly without the need to run around the town or ring anyone.

Online shopping is becoming more and more widespread and accepted due to these many conveniences.

Patrick Tang is the author of this article. His passion for good quality gourmet food and gifts has driven him to setup Fabulously Gourmet (http://www.fabulouslygourmet.com.au) for the Australian Community.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Online Shopping Carts - Preventing Customer Frustration Online

Andy West offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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- Do not post/reprint this article in any site or publication that contains hate, violence, porn, warez, or supports illegal activity.
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- Please send a copy of the publication, or an email indicating the URL to andik@verticalmeasures.com
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Article Title: Online Shopping Carts - Preventing Customer Frustration Online
Author: Andy West
Category: E-Commerce, E-Commerce
Word Count: 651
Keywords: online shopping cart, storefront,
Author's Email Address: andik@verticalmeasures.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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There are millions of retail websites on the Internet that use online shopping carts to enable customers to order products or services online. If you've ever shopped online, however, you know that all online shopping carts are not created equal. Some are confusing to use, don't allow you to make changes as you progress through the ordering process or are limited in terms of payment options and other features.

Having a shopping cart system that doesn't work well or is limited in functionality is often a mistake new websites make. They lavish lots of time and money on making the site appealing, showing off their products or services in the best possible light and even adding cool flash add-ons and other extras, but cut corners on the shopping cart because they see it as a mundane, boring feature that is strictly utilitarian. The problem that arises from that attitude is that shoppers can quickly lose their enthusiasm for purchasing a product or products if they become frustrated when going through the online checkout.

Online shopping carts should be customer friendly. People make mistakes; it's a fact of life. If your website's online shopping cart system is well-designed, it will allow for errors by having links on each page for going back and making corrections or enabling the shopper to change his mind on one item without losing his entire order in the process.

Internet shopping is only as convenient as the payment options for most people. If a retail website offers wonderful gifts, clothing or furniture but doesn't accept credit cards, it will lose a hefty proportion of its customers. Conversely, if a variety of options such as major credit cards, PayPal and e-checks are available; shoppers will be more inclined to make purchases.

Shopping carts must also have back end flexibility. Of course, offering lots of different options and services through your online shopping cart system is great for your customers, but if it isn't easy to use and adapt to your own company's needs from the back end as well, it won't help. If you have a flexible, intuitive back end design, however, you'll find that a more complex shopping cart system can actually make your work easier.

There are many companies today who offer custom designed online shopping carts as well as companies that offer several different software packages that you can tailor to fit your specific needs at a reasonable cost. Using these specialists to help you implement an online shopping cart experience for your website can improve everything from your customer service to your bookkeeping, since you can use these systems for not only placing orders, but for tracking inventory and assessing sales trends.

When researching online shopping cart options for your website, ask some serious questions about what the provider can offer you. Considerations on whether the software package will include the source code so that you can customize your online shopping cart as your needs change should be an option. Find out if there is technical support available if and when you need it. Research what types of payment options can be set up with the shopping cart program. And learn if the system is a dynamic one that can evolve and change, as shopper's needs change.

Be sure when you're looking for the right online shopping cart service or package that you really know what you'll need. Whether you offer customized gifts or require drop-down menus for color, size and style choices, your decision will be based on your needs. Also, find out what the return policies are for the particular product you are interested in. Knowing as much as possible about what you want will ensure that you don't fall short when you invest in your website's online shopping cart system.

Andy West is a writer for AspDotNetStorefront, a premier online shopping cart and storefront provider. Visit http://www.aspdotnetstorefront.com/t-s-online-shopping-cart.aspx for you Ecommerce storefront needs.
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Add Income To Work At Home Internet Business Site With Online Auction Site

Juhani Tontti offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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- Do not post/reprint this article in any site or publication that contains hate, violence, porn, warez, or supports illegal activity.
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- If you publish this article in a format that supports linking, please ensure that all URLs and email addresses are active links.
- Please send a copy of the publication, or an email indicating the URL to runner@welho.com
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Article Title: Add Income To Work At Home Internet Business Site With Online Auction Site
Author: Juhani Tontti
Category: Network Marketing, E-Business, E-Commerce
Word Count: 595
Keywords: internet business,work at home business,home business,work at home internet business,
Author's Email Address: runner@welho.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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To get a picture about the chances for your work at home internet business, lets look at the key figures of the biggest company in that business: 2 billion items listed, $ 50 billion annual turnover from 170 million shoppers. Over 2 million daily visitors, who spend in average two hours navigating around the pages and listings. Amazing!

Every single second this site sells with $ 1.000, times 60, times 60, times 24, makes $ 86,4 million per day. Over 70 % of online auction site users earn more than $ 50.000 per year, they have what you need. This makes you even more excited: 95 % of users are individuals or work at home internet business owners!

A good thing is that the online auction sites have, what we strongly need: a huge targeted traffic and an infrastucture in place, so what we need is the strategy how to make money. The online auction site is a marketplace and a work at home internet business newbie can start to sell right away, in less than an hour and he get immediate access to millions of buyers, who are actively looking for items.

Now you may already think, what kind of products would sell well in the auction sites? It is amazing that people sell items from cars to motorbikes, from collectibles to small personal items, like knives and everything between the sky and earth!

Find below a simple step by step plan, how to start:
1.First: Pick A Product To Sell!
The experts recommend to start slowly. Sell something from your home, an item which you know and can describe well enough and which you do not need any more. Just one item. This will give you a picture about the selling process.

2. Study At The Learning Centers Of The Auction Site.
Some of these marketplaces have a really professional and easy to follow learning sections, with a lot of articles and other useful material about the business. You can get tips about the products, which are hot sellers right now, how to price them and how to promote your offer to make a decent profit for your work at home internet business.

A working strategy is to find a group of products, which sell over a long period of time, slowly but steadily. This can be slower way to riches, but at least you can control your business much better and keep it in your own hands.

Okay, when you have sold the test products, you can buy products for sale. Hopefully the test sale has showed you some indication about the market potential and the target group. The product know how is one of the key questions in the long run, because people make some questions.

You see, it is wise to sell what you like and know. That way you can get your own style and be ahead of the competition. Nobody can copy your feelings, your personal touch. If some of your competitors will sell the same product, it will be your personal touch, which will differentiate you from the other offers and build a brand for your business.

Like generally in the Net, the brand is what sells. You must obtain credibility or trust among the target audience and that does not happen overnight. But after you are seen as an expert on your field of online auction site marketing, you can easily transfer that expertise into new products, because you are the category expert, not a product specialist. That is very important for the profits of your work at home internet business.

Juhani Tontti, B.Sc., Marketing. Online Auctions Rock! Find More Useful Information About This Work At Home Internet Business Opportunity:http://www.Way2Miracle.com. Check Also My Work At Home Business Directory:http://www.online-home-business.biz. Just Click HERE:
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How To Waste Your Time And Money In Internet Business

T. O Donnell offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
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PUBLICATION GUIDELINES
- You have permission to publish this article for free providing the "About the Author" box is included in its entirety.
- Do not post/reprint this article in any site or publication that contains hate, violence, porn, warez, or supports illegal activity.
- Do not use this article in violation of the US CAN-SPAM Act. If sent by email, this article must be delivered to opt-in subscribers only.
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- Please send a copy of the publication, or an email indicating the URL to content@tigertom.com
- Article Marketer (www.ArticleMarketer.com) has distributed this article on behalf of the author. Article Marketer does not own this article, please respect the author's copyright and publication guidelines. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use this article.
-----------
Article Title: How To Waste Your Time And Money In Internet Business
Author: T. O Donnell
Category: E-Business, E-Commerce, Internet Marketing
Word Count: 574
Keywords: internet marketing, web development, software development, internet business, ecommerce strategy
Author's Email Address: content@tigertom.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
------------------ ARTICLE START ------------------

The internet is a great way to make money while sitting on your bottom. You lounge around in your pajamas, and the cheques drop in your letter box. Sure, that happens. For some.

There are many ways to waste your time, money and energy online. Many people give up on their internet business because they get caught up in these snares:

1. Content Is King.

You can write hundreds of eloquent, informative pages, only to have them ripped off by a 'scraper'. You can be _the_ definitive site on a topic, only to have sites which have better SEO and SEM outrank you. You need something that is unique, or near it; something a lazy spammer can't duplicate easily.

Also: Anyone who uses the word 'content' to describe what they're offering is halfway to being a spammer. Think about an 'elevator speech' for your site. How would you describe it in five words to someone? (That someone is also a non-techie, by the way).

You've got to be able to tell Joe Public what the main benefit is in a short and simple sentence. If you can't, you're probably wasting your time. People don't want 'leveraged media aggregation services'. They want sex, money, power, beauty, laughter; something that helps _them_.

2. The Latest $197 Software.

You need a script. You try to 'Google' it. You find one for $197 which seems OK. What you didn't realise is that you could search through popular freeware directories first; likely there's a free version of what you seek, that thousands of other webmasters are using. Or a cheaper one you could adapt.

Beware: There's a class of cookie-cutter one-page internet marketing sites out there. Anyone researching how to make money on the internet will soon find them. They sell over-hyped, latest-trick software which will deplete your bank balance, or worse, get your site banned.

By the time a newbie gets to hear about a wheeze, it's already been sucked dry by the inventors. In the middle are hucksters who claim to have made $1000s with it, and now they're letting you in on the 'secret'.

Fact: When you've got a sure-fire way of making a lot of money, you keep it close to your chest. You only let it go when it's tapped out.

3. Reciprocal Linking.

Someone told you this works. Someone else told you it's useless.

The truth: I'd say it works if you trade links with related, high-quality sites for a while, then stop. You get some search engine attention, then you work on getting links from different sources. This makes your backlink profile more 'natural'.

If all your links are reciprocal you risk being flagged by a search engine algorithm. Engineers are constantly on the lookout for signs of quality, and signs of spam. Too much of one form of promotion too quick, and BAM!, you're penalised, or banned.

4. Drudgery Which Should Be Automated.

You've heard you need backlinks. So you start submitting by hand to directories. This is boring and time-consuming. What you didn't know was that there are submission services which will do 1000 in a day, for $50.

You need a software. You learn PHP to write it yourself. This takes ages, and bug-fixing is a chore. What you didn't realise is that a freelance would code it for $200, and support it for six months.

In summary: You have limited time. Spend it thinking up ways to make money. Anything related to computers can be automated; that's what they're for.

T. O' Donnell is an entrepreneur publishing Wordpress theme ( http://www.ttfreewordpressthemes.com ), loan ( http://www.ttloancalculator.com ) and mortgage ( http://www.tigertom.co.uk/mortgages-uk.shtml ) softwares in London, UK.
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For Website Marketing: Back-Door Strategies to Stand Out From The Crowd

Cathy Goodwin offers the following royalty-free article for you to publish online or in print.
Feel free to use this article in your newsletter, website, ezine, blog, or forum.
-----------
PUBLICATION GUIDELINES
- You have permission to publish this article for free providing the "About the Author" box is included in its entirety.
- Do not post/reprint this article in any site or publication that contains hate, violence, porn, warez, or supports illegal activity.
- Do not use this article in violation of the US CAN-SPAM Act. If sent by email, this article must be delivered to opt-in subscribers only.
- If you publish this article in a format that supports linking, please ensure that all URLs and email addresses are active links.
- Please send a copy of the publication, or an email indicating the URL to cathy@cathygoodwin.com
- Article Marketer (www.ArticleMarketer.com) has distributed this article on behalf of the author. Article Marketer does not own this article, please respect the author's copyright and publication guidelines. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use this article.
-----------
Article Title: For Website Marketing: Back-Door Strategies to Stand Out From The Crowd
Author: Cathy Goodwin
Category: E-Commerce, Ezines and Newsletters, Lead Generation
Word Count: 548
Keywords: internet marketing,lead generation, book reviews,marketing strategies,internet marketing strategies
Author's Email Address: cathy@cathygoodwin.com
Article Source: http://www.articlemarketer.com
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As a web site marketer these days, in the 21st century, you have to work harder than ever to stand out from the pack. Everybody's sending out ezines. Nearly all of us hold teleseminars.

Add your ezine and teleseminar and you're joining a parade down Main Street. Sometimes you can generate leads even more effectively if you also run through the alleys and knock on back doors.

Often these back-door "sneaky" strategies seem too easy to be effective. But simplicity can be deceptive. You need to plan carefully to avoid wasting time. Used incorrectly, the back-door approach can backfire. You have to play by rules that change overnight and that aren't easy to figure out.

Strategy #1: Contribute to a discussion list related to your topic.

For lead generation, join a group whose membership matches your target market as closely as possible. Choosing the right group can be challenging. For example, you may be eligible to join a forum after attending a workshop or purchasing a manual. Or you may pay to join a mentoring group. These groups create forums and discussion lists directly related to your interests, but moderators tend to be extremely cautious about self-promotion.

You can also search through yahoo or google for groups. For example, you can search on "professional women discussion list" or "work at home dads discussion list." Some websites feature lists of discussion groups, often arranged by topic. Searching through listings takes time but, with patience, can produce some good results.

Tips:

Once you join a forum or discussion lists, it's a good idea to "lurk" for awhile. Get a sense of the group's mood and style. Introduce yourself. Evaluate your responses. If you sense a lack of interest (and occasionally even hostility), consider withdrawing from the group.

The challenge is to draw a fine line between contributing proactively and becoming a nuisance. Success depends on finding just the right blend of asking questions and providing expertise.

Example 2: Write reviews for online bookstores.

As an avid and eclectic reader, I began writing reviews for one of the online bookstores. Originally, I was just having fun and actually felt guilty for taking time from my "real" work. I wrote about everything: mysteries, business books, nonfiction.

To my surprise, these book reviews began to attract subscribers, clients and invitations to be interviewed by professional reporters and writers. Recently one of my reviews was quoted in a blog, giving me valuable (and totally unexpected) publicity.

When these readers came, they were highly motivated. Unlike readers of ezines, they were prepared to pay or resources. After all, bookstores don't give away books! I suspect many hold a credit card in one hand as they surf with the other.

Tips:

Choose best-selling books related to your topic -but not exclusively.

Write carefully, using correct grammar and style. I've found that I get the most response by being edgy but thoughtful, and not too long or too short.

Follow the guidelines concerning what you can disclose about your business. Your review can be edited or removed entirely if you appear to be selling or if you use inappropriate words.

Bottom Line: Often we find our most successful back-door strategies by accident. But applying those strategies callsapplyin for planning, flexibility and responsiveness to change.

FREE 7 Best-Kept Secrets of Websites That Really Attract Clients: My Special Report gives you insider tips to convert tire-kickers to buyers and earn money while you sleep. From Cathy Goodwin, The Content Strategist, at http://www.copy-cat-copywriting.com.
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