Making Smart Choices With Affiliate Programs

Before you jump into just any affiliate program there are a number of key questions and considerations you should address first. It can be complicated, but armed with some of the more important issues you will be able to avoid the more common pitfalls. So, before you sign up, consider these questions:

The time to ask questions is before you join an affiliate program. Especially, for those that charge fees or other miscellaneous costs. Do a little research about the choices of programs. Will it cost you anything to join? Most affiliate programs being offered today are free of charge. So why settle for those that charge you some dollars before joining, unless there is a crystal clear benefit for the investment. Read more »

Work at Home Business Ideas

A new year means new money, especially for those who are seeking to earn an income online. This year promises to be very lucrative because the internet is expanding and offers us many avenues to make money. Here are just some work at home business ideas that will get you started.

Work at home business idea #1: Create an informative ebook! If you have vast knowledge about a subject (any subject) that people may be interested in, it is very possible that you can take that knowledge and write a short but informative ebook. It will take some brain storming but what doesn’t. Heres what you do. Find a common problem in a certain niche. Resolve the problem by writing an informative ebook and market the book towards that certain niche…cha ching!

Work at home business idea #2: Get your own domain name and start your very own website! Timing can be crucial for success and if done right, you can really cash in off of current events. For example, a fellow saw a chance and made his own website offering cut out Jessica Simpson masks. This was right after Tony Romo, the current Dallas Cowboys quarterback, had a horrible game reportedly because Jessica was in attendance. The fellow who created the website marketed the site with the masks to the next team the Cowboys played and a good percentage of fans were wearing his masks. Brilliant…cha ching! Read more »

Six Retirement Planning Myths Busted

Whether you are 21 or 71, retirement planning is something you want to get started on right now.This article will take you less than three minutes to read and it could save you a lot of financial pain in years to come. So. regardless of age it’s never too early and never too late to start busting those retirement planning myths!

Six Retirement Planning Myths

Myth #1. When I retire I won’t need as much to live on.

Hogwash! How do you know what the cost of living is going to be? Sure the kids are off on their own and the house might be paid off but medical bills and cost of living are unpredictable. You should be able to live on less but why would you want to?

Myth #2. I’m a young pup and retirement is far, far away!

Get real dude, time flies when you’re having fun and burning mun. It’s a lot easier to save a $30 a week at 35 than it is to save $240 a week at 55! That’s about what it’s going to take to have $200k in the old nest egg at 65. So, you can do it the easy way or the hard way. You decide oh youthful one!

Myth #3. My adorable children will take care of me.

Whoa! Haven’t you been watching TV? Your kids are more likely to move back in with you than they are to take care of you! Think back a bit… didn’t you preach to your kids about personal responsibility and good old independence? Keep your kids in your life but keep them out of your retirement planning.

Myth #4. I’m counting on social security to save my bacon!

Yeah, that will be the day when pigs fly. Uncle Sam hasn’t figured out if there will even be any social security in another decade or two. If you want to hold onto a weak retirement strategy then just count on Uncle Sam to be there with that retirement check when you need it. You are better off counting on your own discipline and resourcefulness. Of course you can start taking social security when you hit 62 but it might be a better idea to view that as a bit of a bonus than an absolute sure thing. Read more »

Site Builder Issues – Why Shoeless Joe Was Wrong

Unfortunately, many people are living a perfect example of if you build it, they won’t come.

If you build your site with a standard site builder that doesn’t allow for:

* HTML – to create unique Meta tags on each page, use tags, ALT tags, etc.

* FTP access

* Root directory access to add static HTML files and XML files

* Easy addition of new pages, to grow your site content.

then you are setting yourself up for failure. If you build a website that can’t be optimized for the search engines, you will be unable to rank highly and tap into the large amounts of traffic that run through the search engines daily. You are missing out on people that are searching for products and services just like yours.

Whether you felt it was cheaper to build a site with a site builder, or you just didn’t know it was a problem – you need to take action and get your site onto a server that has no restrictions that will prevent your site from being properly optimized.

Many of the site builders out there even claim to be “search engine friendly” and then when we go to optimize a site for a client we can’t even do the most basic things like create unique Meta tags on each page.

Many site builder companies lock clients in for a year or more, leaving the client trapped with a site that can’t be optimized. Not all site builders are the enemy. However, you want to be very through and ask very specific questions when evaluating a site builder company. You don’t want to be locked into a contract that will ultimately hurt your website and your business.

Even if you think you are saving money by not hiring an expensive web designer, you are ultimately losing business and money, if you can’t be found in the search engines and your competitors can.

Already stuck with a site builder?

Contact a reputable SEO firm, preferably one that does design as well and have them look into whether your site can be optimized with your site builder. If it can’t, even if you lose some money – leave the site builder and get a quote on having your site moved to a new server (if you own the design of the site), or if the design of the site is a template belonging to the site builder, you’ll need to get a quote on a new design.

It may seem like a lot of trouble, and it may mean finding some extra money in your budget. However, without traffic from the search engines coming to your site, how can you expect to grow your site? Sure, you can do a PPC campaign and various other marketing campaigns – but you’ll always be missing out on the volume of traffic that runs through the search engines.

How will I make changes to my site if I move from a site builder?

That’s a common question. People don’t want to be chained to an expensive webmaster that will charge them for every change they want made. With the site builder, you could make the changes yourself.

There are a couple possible scenarios here. Maybe it’s worth paying a webmaster and freeing up your time to focus on other areas of your business. Another option is that the webmaster show you how to make simple text changes. The final option is to inquire about the control panel that comes with your website hosting package. They often have control panels that have a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor – meaning you still don’t need to know HTML and you can still alter your site – and have it be search engine friendly and optimized.

If you are unsure if your site builder is holding you back or if you know your site builder is and you want to break free, EcomBuffet is offering free consultations and a discount on web design right now.

In an effort to educate people about site builders and how they can harm you, this limited time offer is being made to my article readers.

If you don’t have a site yet and are looking at creating one, beware of going with a site builder, especially if you have to lock into a long contract. The questions you should ask are:

1. Can an XML file be added to the root directory?

2. Can unique Meta tags be added to each page?

3. Can you add an unlimited number of pages to your site?

4. Is FTP access available?

5. Does the builder generate any “special code” that could cause problems for the engines?

6. Can CSS and java script be placed in external files?

If the answer to those questions are no, I would strongly advise that you look at other options and not get yourself locked into something that is going to hurt you in the long run.

My site builder comes with a shopping cart. What do I do if I don’t go with the site builder?

Another valid concern. There are many great plugin shopping carts that are easy to configure and use. There are ones that run off your own server and you will need a secure server and certificate, and then there are ones that run off a third party server.

Many shopping carts these days even have extra marketing features, and allow for the user to load product images, pricing, shipping, descriptions etc in a very user friendly interface that doesn’t require any programming or complex code. Read more »

25 Little Known Facts about Article Syndication – How to Get the Best Results from Your Articles

We all hear how important articles are – especially when used as a tool to help boost search engine rankings. We often read many articles a day about our industry or about something we are trying to learn. However, when it comes time to write articles to promote our own business – we are stumped.

Let’s break down articles and look at everything you need to know about why they work, how to properly write and syndicate articles and all the other fun details.

Why Articles?

1. It is an opportunity to share information and establish yourself as an expert

2. It creates an opportunity for new traffic to come to your site (when your article gets distributed to various sites on the internet, people can read your article and click on a link within the article to get to your site.)

3. It creates one-way links into your site. Every time one of your articles is posted, each link in your article counts as a one-way link to your site.

4. When you write an article and post it on your site, you are creating new relevant text for your site visitors and for the search engines (which can result in a boost in rankings).

How Does Article Syndication Work?

–Write an article (keep reading for more specifics on how to format your article)

–Find a company that will handle your article syndication for you, OR locate sources you can syndicate your article to on your own.

–Post your article on your site and wait about a week to make sure the spiders index your site (making sure you get credit for the unique content as your own).

–Create accounts at the Article Sources you identified and submit your article.

–Pay close attention to their guidelines – do they allow HTML, do they require that your article not be published anywhere else, do they require your article be on your site, do they allow multiple submissions in a month? Etc, etc. It helps to keep a file with all the relevant details about the source so that all future submissions go smoothly.

–Notify all your clients, friends and family about the article and send them to it. In some sources you get credit (which means more exposure for your article) if it is popular and read often or searched for.

Article Guidelines:

1. You want links from the article to different pages on your site – however not all sources allow hyperlinks in the content (they only allow a link within your bio) so make sure your article still makes sense even if it is a version that doesn’t have the links active.

2. Because the search engines look at the text within the “hot” or clickable part of the link – it is really good to use a keyword in that area. As an extra bonus, if you can change the keyword within the link on your article at different sources you get more of a benefit. In other words, take the time to create different versions of your article. Vary the text used as the anchor text in the links, and vary the pages that you link to within your site in the various versions. This will give Google what they are looking for – varying anchor text and links going to many pages on your site, not just one. This is one of the most important, and overlooked steps out there. This alone can increase the value you get from article syndication.

3. Link to relevant pages on your site, not just your homepage. It helps the reader get more information and it helps you with the search engines (they don’t like to see all the links going to one page only). Eventually you have articles out there going to all of your site pages. Just remember, when you link to a page you need to tie it into the content of an article. Ex: If you are talking about dog collars, don’t link to a page about bird cages.

4. Wait one week after you post it on your site before you syndicate it.

5. Always write a short, compelling bio with a link to your most important site page.

6. Include a “Reprint Rights” statement at the bottom of your article, allowing people to use and republish the article as long as they don’t alter it and they include a link to you.

7. Prepare a short, medium and long summary for your article. Many sources will ask for a summary in various lengths and you want to have it ready and have it be compelling so that if people read the summary they want to read the article and ultimately go to your site.

8. Don’t forget in addition to submitting to article websites, you can also submit to newsletters that are relevant in your industry.

9. Write the article in plain terms, don’t use too much jargon.

10. Make sure your article is informational and don’t be too salesy or self-promotional or people will be turned off and some sources may reject the article. Links to your site within the article and Author Bio is all you need to guide traffic to your site.

11. Don’t use a lot of formatting, keep the layout simple. For sources that don’t allow HTML you will end up losing the formatting anyway.

12. Check out your sources to be sure, but typically you want to aim for 600 – 800 words.

13. Write a very compelling headline. Tip: Take a look at Cosmo and other magazines out there; they have the best headlines on the cover. Try playing with headlines like that. Read more »

Four Questions Your Product Must Answer for a Customer

When you first buy something, whether you realize it or not, you are asking questions about the product in your head. These questions are used in the decision making process of whether or not you are going to buy something from a seller. If you are looking to start an online business, you need to anticipate these questions for a buyer so that you can be sure your customer is making the decision to buy. Since you can’t be physically present for your customer to ask these questions, you need to ask them of yourself first. Here are four questions that your product needs to be able to answer for the customer.

What Will It Do for Me?

The use needs to be clear for your product. When you don’t specify the use or many uses of an item, the customer will wonder why they even need to purchase it in the first place. You will want to think about what the product is going to do for the customer – you can even make a list. Then, this list, or perhaps shorter descriptions, should be on your website to guide the reader to the answers they are looking for. Perhaps you can show pictures of how the product can be used or you can have testimonials from previous customers about how the item was useful in their life as well. By clearly showing the usefulness and how the product works (as well as its limitations), you will increase the chances of it being sold in the first place. Read more »

Three Things That Your Competitors are Doing (That You Should Too)

Business is about competition, isn’t it? Whether you’re setting up a business or you’re acting as the customer, what other businesses do will affect the way that you do your business. So, it’s no surprise that when you are starting up an online business that you need to start thinking about what your competitors are doing right now – and what you can learn from them.

Too often, new businesses are afraid that their research into other companies will cause them to become too similar to other businesses and that they might get into trouble for doing so. But so long as you aren’t copying someone directly in what you do as a business, you shouldn’t have any troubles with copyright infringement. And honestly, many companies naturally do similar things as their competitors. Here’s what you can learn.

Looking at their Competition

If you’ve never run a business for yourself, you might think that your ideas are so good that they should be able to stand on their own. And while this may be true, ignoring what your competition does is not going to help you in the future. The business marketplace changes constantly, so if you’re not ‘in the know’ about what everyone else is going, you are missing out on ways that can increase your ability to make profits. At least a few times a week, you should be visiting your competitors’ websites to see what they are doing – especially when your business is similar. If you offer piano lessons, for example, you need to keep up with your rivals’ activity. Try to see what they might have adjusted or removed and then see if you are noticing similar trends with your sales numbers. If so, you might want to try to make similar adjustments to your website as well.

You might also want to go through the process of being a customer on your competitors’ sites to see what a customer sees. Buy something from time to time to see how the process works and what you might be able to do in your checkout process.

Defining the Role of their Website

It used to be that a website was simply an extra avenue of profits for a business – but now it’s the main way that businesses interact with their customers. If you look at other websites, you will notice that not only are these sites promoting new products and old products, but they are also giving customers factual articles about relevant topics, plus they are linking to related sites to help encourage the visitors to make the most of their website experience. Websites are also being crafted to help guide the customer the answers to their most pertinent questions, while also helping them make the best decision for their budgets and their needs. A website is the stand in now for you as the seller, so your website needs to be ‘interacting’ with the customer with articles, news, blogs, etc.

Talking to Related Sites

The World Wide Web is a tangled web of sites, but this is a good thing. The more connected you are to other sites, the more popular your website will be in the search engine listings. Your competition is already seeking out related sites with which to share their links, so why aren’t you? Perhaps now is the time to start looking for related sites to see if you can both promote each other – and both profit from the endeavor. Sometimes, it isn’t about competition, it’s about collaboration and cooperation. And even so, when you work with sites that are only related to you, you aren’t actually directly competing with each other.

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Scott Oliver offers free video coaching to help you build a profitable home business FAST. Get an hour of “Website Traffic Secrets” and “Minisite Creation Tactics” for FREE — immediate access here: http://www.InstantWebsiteBusiness.com

What You Don’t Know About Keywords… That Your Competitors May Know

Did you know that 25% of searches each month are brand new, never before seen search words and phrases?

That is shocking. You would think with the number of search queries running through Google, they have seen it all.

We spend so much time on keyword research – and rightfully so, it’s the foundation of your campaign. But this new information tells us that we need to tweak the process a little bit to keep up with the ever changing SEO world.

So, how do you handle keyword research and make sure you are staying current?

First and foremost you want to make sure you have outlined your strategy. Without a plan in place you are likely to forget to do it, and it’ll just rattle around in the back of your brain or sit on a post-it note that gets stuck to the back of another piece of paper in your planner.

So, before that happens, let’s define your plan right now.

1. Start with a brainstorming session to list all possible words and phrases that people would use to find what you have to offer. Remember to put yourself in the mindset of the potential customer.

2. Do the necessary research to continue building your list.

a. Research your competitors and see what keywords they are using.

b. Look at your web stats and logs and pull words and phrases from there (this is a great source of info, you can find the words that people are already using to find you and enhance your rankings on those words so you can get even more traffic).

c. If you have a search feature on your site, look at the logs and see what people are searching for within your site once they get there.

3. Take the large master list you have come up with, and use a keyword tool to determine how much traffic there is for your term – for example New York Yankees tickets. Also how competitive the words/phrases are. Remember you can’t live and die by this information; it only acts as a guide for you. Read more »