Congratulatory Wedding Gift Basket Ideas

You are a creative person, and you would like to make a congratulatory wedding gift basket for a couple that is getting married soon. However, you want to be sure that you include things in the congratulatory wedding gift basket that they will definitely like. Hence, you need some congratulatory wedding gift basket ideas.

There are many different kinds of congratulatory wedding gift baskets to choose from if you decide not to make one yourself. The available congratulatory wedding gift baskets range in sizes from small to large. Those congratulatory wedding gift baskets also come in several different genres, from humorous to informal to very formal.

However if you are creative, it is probably a better idea to make the congratulatory wedding gift basket yourself, because this way you can put whatever you like in the basket and make it more personalized. What you put in the basket depends on what the couple likes.

For example, say the husband likes golf. An idea for what to put in the gift basket is a gift certificate for golf lessons. Alternatively, if you choose to purchase something less expensive, consider getting something golf-themed that the husband can place on his desk at work.

As for the wife, women always appreciate a way to relax. In the congratulatory wedding gift basket, include a gift certificate for a day of beauty at a spa. In lieu, you can do separate gift certificates for certain things. For example, you can include a gift certificate to her hair salon, or a gift certificate to get a manicure or pedicure.

While you can include separate things in the congratulatory wedding gift basket for each of them, you should also include something in the gift basket that both of them can share. This, of course, should be something romantic. One idea is to get a bottle of champagne and personalized champagne glasses.

Something that many couples like to do is go to a show as sort of a date night. If you know that the couple likes doing things like this, consider getting them tickets to a theater performance or a comedy show.

For more ideas on what to put in the congratulatory wedding gift basket, ask the family and friends of the couple. The possibilities are endless with congratulatory wedding gift baskets because you can include many different items that the couple can enjoy long after their wedding.

Chrystal Holman recommends the wedding favors and bridal gifts that can be found at http://www.easyweddinggift.com/.Fanchon Blog77567
Vinnie Blog1761

Strategic Business Planning: Sell Products Like Crazy

You could offer your potential customers a rebate after they buy your product or service. They will feel they are getting a good deal.

You could offer your potential customers a free sample of your product. If the sample proves what you claim, there is a high chance they will buy it.

You could reward your potential customers if they buy a specific number of products. Tell them if they buy 3 or more products, they will get one free.

You could offer your potential customers a monthly payment plan. Tell them they can pay for your product or service with three easy monthly payments.

You could give your potential customers a free trial of your product or service. Tell them you won't bill them for 30 days.

Another strategic business planning:

you can hold a special $1 sale for your potential customers. They will come to your web site to buy your product (for only a dollar), but may buy other different products.

You could reward your potential customers if they spend over a specific dollar amount. Tell them if they spend over $100, they get a 10% discount.

You could hold a buy one get one free sale for your potential customers. Tell them if they buy one product, they get another product for free at the same value.

You could hold a holiday sale for your potential customers. Tell them everything on your web site is discounted up to 50% on Thanksgiving Day.

Massimo D'Amico is an Italian computer teacher. He has created solutions for website owners and entrepreneurs to make huge profits on the internet. http://www.eoltt.com/no-sales-pitches.htmlVeda Blog50160
Erminia Blog8965

Improving Conversion Rates: The Best Investment You Can Make In Your Web Site

Possibly the most misunderstood part of online marketing is improving conversion rates...

Improving conversion rates produces some of the greatest returns on investment of any activity you can engage in while trying to improve the sales of your web site.

Maximizing your web sites conversion rates can produce a tremendous competitive advantage.

Niche after niche and industry after industry have proven that once a marketer with an obsession for maximizing traffic conversion enters the niche, its game over for the existing websites in that market that dont adapt and begin improving their own conversion rates.

Customers and affiliates seem to almost magically gravitate towards the websites that have the highest conversion rates. And high converting websites can afford to far out spend the competition on marketing and advertising.

When it comes to increasing the sales of your online business, the basics are actually quite simple... There are only three things you need to focus on to improve your overall sales volume.

Those 3 things are:

1. Increasing the traffic to your website.
2. Increasing the average amount customers spend per visit.
3. Improving your visitor to sales conversion rates.

Thats it... Every revenue generating activity you can engage in to maximize your online profits falls under one of those three areas.

Unfortunately the vast majority of online businesses and internet marketers spend most of their time focusing on only one of those three critical areas. (And its often the least effective area.)

Increasing the average amount customers spend per visit and improving conversion rates have a far greater impact on your long term profitability than focusing exclusively on increasing the traffic to your web site.

Your web sites conversion rates are impacted by four main areas.

1. Usability.
2. Persuasion.
3. Trust.
4. Testing.

Usability is simply how easy it is for visitors to navigate your web site and how easy it is for them to accomplish whatever their particular goal is on your web site.

Persuasion is a measure of how effective your web sites copy, calls to action and other elements are at convincing visitors to purchase from you (or take the specific actions that you want them to take.)

Trust is an essential yet often overlooked element of the conversion process. Even if your web site is highly usable and persuasive, if your visitors do not trust you they will not buy from you.

Testing and tracking is where the big gains in conversion rate improvement come from. By focusing long-term on continually testing and improving your sales process on your web site you can increase conversion rates incrementally over time. These small improvements will compound to produce very large gains in conversion rates, sales and overall profitability.

The bottom line is this...

Developing a long term commitment to improving and maximizing your conversion rates will result in a devastating competitive advantage that will guarantee you dominance in any niche you decide to enter.

Because so few online businesses understand the tremendous power of maximizing conversion rates, even gaining a slight advantage will allow you to blast past your competition.

Eric Graham is the author of the free 28-page report, "7 Secrets of High Conversion Websites". Drop by http://www.conversiondoctor.com/t/icr.htm for your free copy today.Farrand Blog1292
Valentia Blog21624

Earn Your Diploma With Online High School Classes

You can complete your diploma with online high school classes. Online classes work well for those who left high school early and need to complete their education, those who want to graduate from high school early and homeschoolers who need a recognized high school diploma.

Left School Early

If you left high school early, you have probably already discovered that you really need a high school diploma. Not having one severely limits your employment possibilities. You cannot enter the military or go to college without a high school education. You're really stuck, and completing your education is the only way out.

You can earn your diploma by taking distance learning classes online. That way, you can take the classes when it's convenient to you. You take the classes by computer, and your classroom is wherever you can access a computer with internet service. You take online high school classes at your convenience and at your own pace. You can accelerate through the classes, or take as much time as you need.

Early Graduation

Most people who want to graduate early want to enroll in college. If that is your goal, e-learning will help you get graduation requirements completed on your timeline. You can accelerate through the required classes and graduate one or two years early. Your home school district may even offer free online classes that will help you graduate early.

If you are hoping to enter college after early graduation, online education allows you to explore college classes at the same time you are completing your high school classes. Even before you are formally accepted into a college, you can take classes online from accredited universities. These classes will transfer to your college after you are accepted.

Homeschoolers

The rules for homeschooling vary from state to state, but wherever you are, one of the dilemmas homeschoolers face is high school graduation. Few states recognize homeschool courses, so most states won't grant a diploma to homeschoolers. Some homeschools and homeschool organizations issue their own diplomas, but they usually aren't accepted as valid. The military, colleges and employers may refuse to accept a homeschool diploma.

Some homeschoolers take the GED to validate their education. The GED doesn't have the same acceptance as a high school diploma, though.

Online high school classes are a good option for homeschoolers. They can complete the requirements for a recognized high school diploma while homeschooling by using online learning.

Taking high school classes online is a good option for any non-traditional student. It's a good way to complete high school on your terms, in a way that fits into your lifestyle.

Dean Iggo is the webmaster of http://ContinuingStudy.com where you can find the best distance learning programs and degrees to suit your needs including online college courses.Vitia Blog60379
Ertha Blog41277

Studio Singing, Jingles And The Big Bucks!

As a music industry professional, Ive had the pleasure of watching numerous young artists and studio singers develop into what seems as unstoppable marketing machines. Ive also witnessed the untimely passing of many a would be talent whose career ends as mysteriously as it started. What makes for a great session singer? Who makes the big bucks singing jingles and commercials? Why do some make it with what would seem little talent and others, with impeccable style and delivery, never even given the slightest acquiesce from industry insiders? Lets take a look at some basic ideas and concepts, and hopefully you can take away some understanding to gain traction in your singing career.

First off, as a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency, I can not tell you every how or why to every act that has or hasnt made it whether in the studio or as an artist. Lets get that right up front. Anyone who professes that they have all of the answers if you will pay them so much money for some industry secrets is a fake. There are some concepts that can be learned and utilized, but nothing is foolproof, luck has its way of entering the picture and quite honestly the I dont know how it happened, is reality. But, there are ideas that can give you an edge over your competition Lets look at some.

Jingle singers and great session singers are a breed apart. Theres no mistaking it. Ive sung on numerous commercials with some incredible singers, often leaving the session going, What the heck was I doing there,? but called back time after time You know why? Its called attitude. Sure singing on the money every time with consistency is incredibly key, but so is the attitude. So our most basic, yet almost critical element to singing in the studio with the elite crowd is attitude.

As you look at your career, one of your first questions to answer will be, What do I bring to the table? Another way to put it is, Why should they hire me? What niche of the singing market does your voice encapsulate? In other words, you need to figure out why someone will pay you. Now theres a multitude of genres and singing opportunities out there, so dont think too narrowly and dont get discouraged if you dont think that your vocal abilities command significant attention in multiple arenas. The fact remains that many new comers to the market do make it and are successful within their niche. You just need to be able to capitalize on your strengths the This is why they are paying me, factor.

Once youve established your strengths and real abilities, not the abilities you wish you had or that close friends nicely tell you that you have, you will be ready to start figuring out what your demo reel should consist of and sound like - This is key. You need to know your strengths and abilities to minimize your weaknesses and bolster your strengths. A first class jingle or session singing reel is your ticket to success. If youre not getting much session work, youd better start looking at your reel. If Ive stated it a thousand times, you can not compete in the privileged singing arena going for the big bucks with the My friend has a studio with a keyboard, mic and computer. Its not going to happen. You have to be willing to spend not only time, but money on your demo. Once youre in, you can get copies of the session work youre called on to be included in your next reel, but starting out, your jingle demo has to scream quality, like youve already arrived on the scene. For further insight and demo ideas you might consider looking up http://ReelMusician.com and free e-books on jingle singing and song demos are available as well. If you get nothing else out of this article, make sure your jingle reel is a knock out!

The big bucks in the session world are made in singing national 13 week spots. Many singers who have successfully entered the jingle singing market travel to Chicago, LA, New York, Atlanta, Dallas and other secondary jingle markets to sing on these types of jingles. A 13 week McDonalds spot could earn you $15,000 to $20,000 or more on one commercial! Sounds too good to be true, but its the truth. Now before you think you can enter this market youd better have a make your socks roll up and down jingle reel in hand. Oftentimes these 13 weeks spots are repeated and you know what that means, you get an additional fee.

Once you have your jingle demo in hand you have to figure out who and what to do with it, how often do you submit it and to where. These are great questions and Ill attempt to answer these critical questions in our short time remaining. I realize that most reading this article have interests that are only piqued, but there are a number of you who could probably do very well in the jingle singing arena and will. With that I will embrace a few key ideas here and hopefully you can email me with some of your success stories.

You will want to start by locating, calling and sending out your jingle reel to individuals and companies in your local area. There are listings of production and jingles houses along with ad agencies if you will Google it. You will want to send them your jingle reel with your name, contact number and year and season of the year, directly on the front sleeve along with your cover letter. You will also make sure that all jingles and musical snippets are listed in order on the inside cover along with all of your contact info again. You will then, after submitting your reel locally will, be ready to start branching out to larger jingle production communities. You will keep a detailed log of who, when, etc you talked to and sent out your email and all responses. You may want to follow up with some individuals with another professionally produced jingle reel to get your name across their desk another time. Keep emailing and conversing with interested parties. Call and gather contact info from other successful session singers. In time if your reel sizzles, you should be acquiring work. Good luck and we look forward to hearing from you!

Tom Gauger is a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency and is the founder of http://www.ReelMusician.com. Mr Gauger has sung on numerous commercials including FOX TV, UPN Station IDs, OCharleys and many others. You may contact the author at tgauger@reelmusician.com or 615-300-5030.Vikkie Blog94571
Farrah Blog80922

Points To Consider

Internet Marketing

When you think about Marketing, what do you think of first? Which aspects of Marketing are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.

Millions of individuals are taking full advantage of the Internet these days. And they should considering how many great ways there are to earn extra cash. Some even make the decision to earn a living completely from home. Far too many folks are sick and tired of dealing with major companies and random lay-offs. You simply never know when it might be your turn to go. Therefore they begin making money online. Now, there are several ways one can go about this. Some people choose to start their very own Internet business, which can likely be ran from their home. While others dabble in adsense and make cash off of daily web traffic. Believe it or not, there is a great deal of money to be made this way.

It's crucial to consider what you need to avoid if your goal is making money online. Along with all the wonderful options at your fingertips, there are scams galore. I can't tell you how many scammers I've spotted online selling their hoopla. They pitch a great game about making money online. Virtually all of them will tell you how much can be made on the web if you do this and this, and then they proceed to pitch a product they're selling. Most likely it's a DVD or some sort of bogus software. This is where you have to stop and think for a moment. If they can really make so much cash doing what they're encouraging you to do, then why are they spending their time and effort pitching something to you? Wouldn't they be off making money online themselves? Instead they've chosen to sell a gimmicky product, which basically just amounts to some information. Obviously they weren't doing to well.

Once you begin to move beyond basic background information, you begin to realize that there's more to Marketing than you may have first thought.

When striving to earn cash via the web, avoid product pitches that guarantee riches. You can attain the crucial information you need for starting an online business, building websites and earning adsense revenue, or selling products via auctions, just by scouring the web. It's all free. Begin by contemplating how you want to start making money online and what aspect of web-business you'd excel at. The more time and effort you put into your online money-making, the more turn-over you'll surely see.

As your knowledge about Marketing continues to grow, you will begin to see how Marketing fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important too.

Warwick Motley is the webmaster of :- Evania Blog95242
Verna Blog95372

About DotProject - A Guide for a New Entrepreneur

Project management is the most vital but often neglected aspect of your business. While the term project management conjures up the picture of complicated task---and surely it is---it can be managed with high level of efficiency if you know the tricks of the trade. In the software called dotProject you can find this trick----the key to your project management success.

Here is a short description of DotProject to help you understand what it is.

DotProject is a Web-based project management application. It is licensed under GNU General Public License (GPL), which means dotProject is free to use.

It comes with a modular structure and multilingual feature---- It is translated into 17 languages.

Its comprehensive feature list includes modules for companies, projects, tasks (with Gantt charts), forums, files, a calendar, contacts, tickets/helpdesk, user/module permissions, and themes.

Its modular architecture allows further addition of extra modules such as time sheets and inventory for enhanced functionalities.

Technology used in the software

The software uses the JavaScript and PHP as its Programming Language

It takes the Database support from MySQL.

DotProject can support your websites on an intranet, as well as on extranet environment.

How to install

DotProject is completely open source, and is supported by purely open source technologies. As such a Linux based web hosting service provider using PHP hosting and MySQL database management can add Dot Project in your web hosting control panel. Once installed, it will occupy not more than 2 MB size in your disc space.

As compared to its rival solutions, DotProject makes the BETTER CHOICE for two reasons:

1. A greater number of features
2. A more user-friendly interface.

So make sure to add the DotProject feature in your project management script and boost up your business with a flawless planning, smart execution and quality deliverance of tasks.

Fat Jack Hosting is the Internet Marketers Dream when it comes to hosting. Not only do we have great ongoing 24/7 support, but we understand the small business owner, entrepreneur and internet marketer because we are owned and operated by an extremely successful one. Thats why you get great customer service, tips, strategies and support. Go here right now to get your hosting account>> http://www.fatjackhosting.comValli Blog66795
Virginie Blog25968

Law Firm Internet Marketing An Executive Summary Using The Q&A Format Part IV

You mentioned marketing packages. How much should I be spending on a marketing budget on my website in law firm Internet marketing.

This is an it depends question. It depends on your particular market place (are you in Peoria or Manhattan), your competitors (your keyword competitors I mean) and how fast you want to see results (slow build of traffic or faster build of traffic) with your law firm Internet marketing. I can say this definitely dont buy an Internet marketing website unless you are prepared to market it at some decent monthly level right out of the gate. Lets move on to the it depends part a bit more in depth. If you want fast results out of the gate then you need to do Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. This is a unique skill set in itself - people do this exclusively as a profession so it can get complex. That said being that complex is unlikely to be the case for a solo or small firm particularly in a less then major market (major being Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, etc.). If you are in a medium to small market you can handle this I am sure on your own with maybe a little coaching since once you set it up you can leave it alone for weeks or even months before tweaking it. Your keyword research tells you what keywords you will be bidding on with PPC law firm Internet marketing. . You can read a couple of books on the subject from http://Amazon.com and read all about it at Google, MSN, Yahoo and ASK that all have sections of their site to explain how PPC works on their site. You can begin ads at the either MSN, Yahoo or http://ASK.com to get an idea of what you are dealing with first since if you make mistakes there you wont lose much money like you can on Google. Google has almost half of the traffic so you want to be on Google with your PPC law firm Internet marketing but go to the minor leagues first is my advice then go to Google. You can learn how to do this yourself or give it to a trusted assistant to master. The only proviso is if you are billing over $100 per hour your time is better spent doing billable hours or better still managing other aspect of the marketing process since you almost certainly can farm this task out to someone with expertise for $100 per hour or less. Now there is more to law firm Internet marketing of course than doing PPC ads. You will need someone to submit your site to secondary search engines/directories with Google Page Ranks over 4. Never, ever buy a software package that promises to submit you to hundreds or thousands of secondary search engines this can lead to the kiss of death from a search engine that bans you for doing that. You are not doing this primarily for the traffic but for high quality links to your site that raises your page rank. You will want to write articles and submit those to high page rank article sites - again for the high quality links. Lastly, you will want to put out press releases at press release sites as well for the quality links. Never, ever buy links or get into reciprocal link plans since this also can be the kiss of death for your site from search engines. So there is more you can do to market your site that would cost some time and/or money. It all depends on how fast you want to build your law firm Internet marketing systems is my take. Overall you need to take a long-term view and build consistently, persistently over time and you will reap the reward. Once you have built your page rank you can cut back or stop all of your PPC ads. Think like a manager and entrepreneur here since a website is an investment that will produce a return on that investment if you do it well over time plus pay you again when you sell it like a house is sold at a profit.

You said something about tell you that you also need a blog with your website. What is a blog and do I need a blog in law firm Internet marketing?

A blog is defined by http://wikipedia.com as:

A weblog, which is usually shortened to blog, is a website where regular entries are made (such as in a journal or diary) and presented in reverse chronological order. Blogs often offer commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries.

The ABA reports there are 70,000 new blogs posted online each day and that about 6% of lawyers have a blog. They do have advantages of course in law firm Internet marketing. They are cheap to build with little tech skills needed to write to a blog. They are even free or low fee to host. Free is available at http://blogger.com and a fee site is available at http://typepad.com for $5 to $15 per month. If you are going to have a blog you need to own the domain name, get a host and get blogging software. From a law firm Internet marketing perspective most blogs do not provide that much of a benefit in support of a website (the main support is having a link from your blog to your website also you would not want a link from your blog to your website if the blog had a lower page rank than your website anyway) and they do not replace a website. Additionally, if you are going to have a blog that has high page rank be prepared to submit something of quality to it at least 2 or 3 times per week. Yes, per week. Blogging experts say you should expect to spend 2 to 4 hours per week on writing for the blog. I dont think this is marketing time well spent for most lawyers. You could do much better building your referral network with this time. Thus my answer is no to the blog idea unless you are in a larger firm where several attorneys are dividing the writing duties or you have associates who are good at this type of writing work and have no other way to contribute to the marketing process or even better still some talented paralegals who could do the major blog writing ghosting for you that you add the finishing touches. You will need to buy some books on blogging for business purposes to learn more about what is required in a successful business blog which I am sure you can find on http://Amazon.com. Additionally, blogs have more issues from an ethical perspective so do check your state bar rules. Finally, you might want to check out http://www.blawg.org. No I did not misspell blog I intended blawg that is a way of putting law inside blog to designate blogs that focus on lawyers and legal issues. This site is a search engine for blawgs and legal sites of all types. You could also check out http://www.blawgrepublic.com/ as well.

What do I need to be concerned about around websites/blogs with respect to bar rules and ethical considerations?

Yes indeed and it is all very confusing since it varies by state. One of the Internets authorities (and an attorney) Dennis Kennedy at http://www.DennisKennedy.com says the rules for law firm Internet marketing are impossibly confusing. Mainly you need to find out from your bar if the advertising rules apply to websites or blogs and if there are specific rules for websites or blogs. Finally, some states might even require very specific disclaimers on the site. Bottom line you need to check in your state. If you want to see a specific disclaimer for a blog site go to Denniss blog at http://DennisKennedy.com/blog/.

Where else can I read about implementing law firm Internet marketing?

One place to look to learn more about implementing law firm Internet marketing is at Google itself. Search engines do not tell us all of the factors or details (called their algorithm) they look at in determining page ranks on their search engine. This is proprietary information for them. Google does tell us in general what they are looking for in page ranking. If you read what they say at: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters you will see what I have been talking about is indeed what Google is looking for and if you do what Google wants you will be right with all of the others almost certainly with your law firm Internet marketing.

OK, we have made it to the end of our executive briefing. If you follow what you find here your law firm Internet marketing will get you new clients at a reasonable cost. Who could want more than that? If you want to know more I found the following books to be of value for newbies to the law firm Internet marketing game:

The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Small Business by Tom Antion

Call To Action by Bryan Eisenberg and Jeffrey Eisenberg

Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing For Dummies by Peter Kent

Blogging for Business: Everything You Need to Know and Why You Should Care by Shel Holtz and Ted Demopoulos.

Henry Harlow has individually coached well over 500 attorneys. You can get more free, in depth and objective information on increasing your revenue while reducing your work hours available now at http://www.law-firm-marketing-coach.comFrancyne Blog34020
Valry Blog42580

The Rich Jerk and Ultimate Wealth Package

Having been trying to make money online since March of this year I have purchased many products which promise you the earth and actually give you very little.This is a common theme among those of us who want to get out of the rat race and spend more time at home with the family.

The thing is though there are many products out there that really are a scam but not all of them are.I was lucky enough to come across three products that really helped me understand what it takes to make money online and explain the right way to do things to give you a genuine chance.

The Ultimate Wealth Package and Forex Enterprise are two very similar products.Either one will give you the knowledge you need to start you off in business and set everything up.From the two of these I would recommend The Ultimate Wealth Package simply because of the language used.It is easy to understand and makes Affiliate Marketing a viable way to make money online.This product is the way in to making money online.It does require some time and effort on your part and is not a get rich quick scheme but as I said before it does give you a genuine chance to make money online.

Leading on from either of these products is The Rich Jerk.

This package is for those of you who have got a foot in the door and have started to make some money and now want to hone those marketing techniques to produce an income that is residual and constantly growing.This package shows you how to take your business to the next level.The reason it is not really for beginners is that the language it uses may not be understandable to those with no experience.For those of you who have had some experience it does make sense and is a valuable tool that will help you every step of the way to making a full time income.

My personal experiences of all these packages is that individually they all have their merits but the real key to success is to follow either The Ultimate Wealth Package or Forex Enterprise to start with and then when you start to have some success move on to the Rich Jerk to really move your business on.I now have an income of around $3000 per month.With the first packages I grew my business to around $1200 per month in the first three months working about 10 hours per week.

By using the methods in the Rich Jerk I quickly jumped to $2500 then my current earnings.I honestly believe that my earnings will soon top $5000 and then who knows what it could become.I have now handed in my resignation at work and am looking forward to spending more time at home and travelling the world.The Rich Jerk really is a jerk but he does know how to make money online and if you follow his advice you could soon be rich if not a jerk yourself.

To read more on these products and for links to their websites visit http://www.homebizzie.com today.

All these products do come with cast-iron money back guarantees but I know that if you follow the simple steps you too can be handing in your resignation within six months of starting out.

Good Luck and Have a Great Life.

Paul Bennett

Paul Bennett is a fledgling internet marketer and owner of http://www.homebizzie.com. You are able to use all or part of this article as long as you include this section.Valerye Blog36931
Vera Blog81056

Let's Make Some Money!

One of the downsides of living on the coast as I do is the winter. Whilst I get to see some of the best weather the UK has to offer, I also get to see the worst. We are not even close to the main winter months yet but I have still spent the last couple of days holed up at home watching some spectacular storms over the sea and 'enjoying' force 8 winds battering my house! Some of the more crazy locals chose to windsurf in the incredibly rough sea but given that I managed to crack a rib a few weeks ago windsurfing in next to no wind, I figured I would give it a miss :-) It looks as though the summer sun has been and gone for another year.....

On the plus side, as we creep into the autumn/winter months many business owners will be heading towards their busiest time of the year. This is especially the case if you are in retail of some kind as the run up to Christmas should, ideally, mean that you will be rushed off your feet for the next two or three months.

Every year I start to see the same signs around the end of September/beginning of October and this year is no different:

My wholesale search engines start to serve noticeably more search results each day.

My wholesale directory sites start to attract more visitors and members.

I start getting more and more emails with wholesale-related questions.

General online activity increases as buyers start to think about purchasing Christmas presents and sellers start to offer suitable purchase options.

Of course, many retailers will have been thinking about how they will approach the Christmas rush for months already but if you haven't, there is still plenty of time to jump on the bandwagon and make some cash!

eBay still offers one of the best online opportunities for anyone wanting to start selling stock on the Internet. When I traded on eBay my sales during November and the beginning of December always used to skyrocket. One of the main reasons for this was that I chose to sell relatively low cost products (less than 20) which were ideal for people to give as Christmas gifts. Often time I was only making a few pounds profit on each item but because I was able to sell so many of them, the overall profit became substantial.

Of course, eBay isn't your only option and indeed, you don't have to restrict your trading to the Internet either. Going back fifteen years or so, I worked in a large office of around 100 staff for a major UK bank. I didn't have the luxury of the Internet back then but that didn't stop me making a few quid at Christmas. Instead of selling online, I would simply buy some stock and sell it to my work colleagues - it saved them trawling around the shops and my prices were cheaper too!

If you work with a large number of other people, this might be a perfect way for you to make a bit of extra money this year? Remember, the Internet isn't the 'be all and end all' - the offline world does still exist :-)

And if you are keen to get started right away, forget about Christmas for a bit and concentrate on Halloween! Fancy dress is getting bigger and bigger in the UK and we have access to a huge fancy dress costume supplier with superb costumes from just a few pounds each! Last year I needed a fancy dress costume for Halloween and left it until the last minute to order and ended up really struggling to find something suitable as everywhere had sold out. No doubt demand will be just as great this year so why not take advantage of it?

If you want to make some money from the Christmas rush, you need to start taking action NOW! Don't let the opportunity pass you by because it's a long time to wait until next year...

Copyright (c) 2006 Richard Grady

Richard Grady has been helping people earn online since 1998. To view Richard's latest website, SimplyWholesale, visit http://www.simplywholesale.co.uk. To subscribe to his bi-weekly newsletter, please visit: http://www.thetraderonline.com/newsletter.html.Fey Blog86450
Faye Blog98413

eBay: Can You Really Make Money Here?

As a mother of two, Sarah was always busy. But, this did not stop her from finding her niche in the world. She had been designing beautiful jewelry for her friends for years. She gave them as gifts. She presented them to others who wished to buy them to give to their friends. She made each piece by hand and loved every minute of it. She knew, though, if she wanted to make any real money on this little business that she got going that she needed to find individuals that would pay for them. Her circle of friends was wearing them, of course, but she knew if they loved them so much that others would too.

Sarah took her search online and found eBay. This online auction house allowed her to easily place pictures of her products on their site and soon enough people were bidding on them. She was selling her own products. Later, she would open an eBay store that would promote more than just one product for her. She soon found herself spending more time at the post office than ever delivering her jewelry to her newfound audience.

eBay is by far one of the most sought after internet businesses to dip your hands into. But, if you don't have a lot of 'junk' lying around your home, you may find it hard to understand how you'll make any money in this business. Don't want to spend your days at garage sales and picking up other people's trash so that you have something to sell? Here are some numbers that will make you think twice about these things.

a. eBay has more than 1.2 million registered users. That is your customer based presented to you.

b. Of those, about 25,000 of them are making five figure incomes from their eBay businesses.

c. Not looking for full time? Consider part time eBayers can supplement their income by several thousand dollars a year.

If you aren't like Sarah and can't make a product to sell, as many of us wish we could, you'll find hundreds of other options too.

How Does eBay Work?

eBay is an online auction website. The website is designed to connect those that wish to sell products and those that want to find a great deal on products. The company is built on the fact that people want to get a better deal and love finding one. Just think about how you feel when you do go to that garage sale and find something that you want and can use in good shape for much less than what the retail stores sell it for. You know the shy smile that you get when you realize you are getting something for much less than what others have paid? You can think of eBay as a way to get those deals all the time.

From The Salesmanship Side

So, how do you sell and make an income on eBay? Most individuals start by cleaning house literally. They start by getting rid of things throughout their home that they simply do not need. When you can take stuff you don't use and make a few dollars off of it, you'll want to do it more. Cleaning just got profitable!

But, besides just selling things from around the home, those that are true eBay sellers realize that they need more to sell. Some will have their own products or services to offer. For example, some will sell crafts and such. Others will purchase products for next to nothing and sell them at a slight markup. This is where most eBayers make their money.

Wholesale Options Too

To find products to sell for low costs, many eBay sellers tap into the world of wholesale. Don't worry, there are plenty of companies offering services online for wholesale prices if you by in quantity. Let's say that you find out that XYZ Retailer has 10 refurbished MP3 players that you can purchase for $50 each. The new cost would be well over $100. Now, you can list them on eBay and make a solid profit on these, right?

Don't Make Less Than It's Worth

One problem that many mistakenly run into is not getting their money's worth out of the products. But, eBay has protection here too. If you don't want to lose any money on your MP3 purchases, you simply use a reserve on your auction. This term means simply that until the reserve is met, the product will not be sold. So, if Jane Doe is the only bidder and only bids a mere penny, she won't win the bid unless she raises her bid to meet your reserve or beyond.

Keys To Being A Successful Auctioneer

eBay is not the only company that you can auction with but with over 2.6 million users each day, it is definitely the one to go to in order to make that five figure income. Here are some tips to be successful.

a. Provide excellent, crisp and clear pictures. Make them as professional as possible by making them large enough to see detail. Offer several views. Along with the picture, provide an easy to read description. It needs to be detailed and can often be borrowed from the manufacturer's website. List the quality of the product and be clear about the condition it is in.

b. Drive feedback up. One of the risks of eBay is that people are leery about providing their information to you. Will you deliver? The way to know if a seller is worth the risk is through their feedback rating. Keep yours high. Do this by delivering fast, answering questions quickly and clearly and being courteous. Also, make sure that you make your deliveries as safely as possible. Provide a guarantee of the product's quality and deliverables.

So, can you make Sarah's story your story? Do you have a hidden ability to make a product? Or, perhaps you are able to help friends get rid of their products too. In fact some individuals actually pay people for things that they know will sell well on eBay and make a killing on it! It could be a good thing to start a business just by selling what's lying on your desk right now. Hmmm, what could you sell?

eBay may be the place for you to make a solid income. Consider taking a course to make sure you get all the tips and tricks out there.

Keith Lee is a motivational speaker, a life coach and a fitness instructor for the past 10 yeras. He study and did research on the Internet Marketing Industry for years. Go to his webiste http://www.MyInternetMarketingSuccess.com for some superb tips.Evanne Blog55450
Vicki Blog90356

Pay-per-click Marketing Strategy Can Boost Your Sales

Every business out there is competing hard with others offering like products or services, thanks to the way the world has opened up and provided consumers with access to many different resources. Thanks to the pay-per-click marketing strategy found across the internet, someone requiring a service in Canada can easily hire a business in Florida or a product manufactured in Colorado can reach an end user in Australia. This is great, because the opportunities for higher sales and income are vast, compared to previous decades where your business was only locally known or only popular in the surrounding cities.

Stiff competition, however, has also meant that anyone with a business needs to promote and market their company effectively, encouraging and enticing surfers to visit their site and hopefully purchase their product or service. Having a pay-per-click marketing strategy to make sure your website gets seen and receives plenty of hits is integral to your business's success, because if you're not receiving traffic to your site, you've got a seriously struggling venture on your hands.

There are plenty of ways to boost sales and promote your website these days. Information is the current trend in tempting surfers to click links and reach your site. Articles posted on your website that teach people something new or give them pertinent information are helpful to draw in clientele. Press releases can also be effective to bringing attention to your business or company. Thanks to the way that individuals quickly turn to computers and the internet for their information, the written word and fundamental text has become the strongest venue to drawing in business.

Pay-per-click or PPC advertising is another growing method of boosting hits to your website. This principle of marketing is a venture of cooperation between websites, as you ask other sites to display a link for your website. When individuals are attracted to an ad displayed on a website, they click to follow the link through to your business portal. The company advertising your link receives income that you supply. In effect, this pay-per-click marketing strategy is paying someone to promote your company.

For someone adept with computers and having great interpersonal and negotiation skills, pay-per-click can be set up by an individual. Most people, however, don't have the know-how or the time to work through the steps needed to set up this type of advertising. The best thing to do is to hire a PPC consulting firm that has all the resources and networking skills to build an effective promotion program. Not only that, hiring a pay-per-click consulting firm means that you don't have to worry about links on dead sites, maintenance or creating a catchy advertisement.

Companies devoted to PPC consulting will work with you to develop a strong pay-per-click marketing strategy to know what product or service you're trying to sell. From there, they'll define your market target and develop surveys to help with the set-up of the promotion program. Once they've achieved result from these surveys, pay-per-click consulting firms will create advertisement that reaches the people you want it to and test the results. Revisions are sure to come into play, and businesses geared to pay-per-click consulting will compare their marketing against solid results. Considering the amount of work involved in this type of promotion, you certainly don't want to go less than the full distance by trying to set up pay-per-click advertising yourself.

Reputable consulting firms that specialize in creating a pay-per-click marketing strategy for businesses are ones that are geared to website promotion. Every type of industry has experienced and skilled experts and the common jack-of-all-trades individual won't be able to pull off such an intensive networking to boost your sales. If you're serious about a successful business, you should hire companies that provide exactly what you need and you'll soon be able to see that the cost of their time and efforts pays for itself over and over again as your sales increase.

Andy West is a freelance writer for Vertical Measures. Vertical Measures is an Internet Marketing Company that offers quality pay-per-click consulting for your business. For more information, please visit http://www.verticalmeasures.com/pay-per-click-consulting.html.Ester Blog28908
Feliza Blog60990

Why It's OK to Buy into Online Marketing Scams

I am sure that each and every one of you have gotten some kind of email or went to a website where you were promised instant riches if you purchased their product. I am a born sucker, I am not a skeptic. Whenever I read a good sales page, I get really excited at how rich I could become.

I don't ask 'What's the catch?' I instead ask 'Where do I sign?'

This lack of skepticism has lost me a lot of money, yet at the same time it has made me some money and also produced some great ideas. There are a lot of get rich quick scams on the Internet, but there are also alot of great products out there as well.

How can I can I tell the difference between a great Online marketing product and a poor one?

Well, in truth, you can't unless you buy it and try it. Your own personal opinion is what determines if the product is useful or not.

You can try doing a Google search on the product you are interested in followed by the word scam or review, to see others opinions of the product. This will give you a basic idea of other people opinions.

The review search you will show you biased people giving favourable reviews in order to sell the product through their affiliate link.

The scam search you will bring you to people who more than likely did not understand the product to begin with.

This is why you need to use your instinct. If you feel something may be a scam, then don't buy it. The only times I would suggest going against this rule is when a money back guarantee is offered and is backed by a trusted source, such as ClickBank. I would suggest sending an email to the company you are interested in purchasing from and ask them to explain their return policy. If they respond that same day or the next day chances are you are dealing with a reputable company (that's just my opinion though).

I will try anything once with Internet marketing, that is why I have not problem buying into questionable products as long as they have a good return policy and respond to emails quickly. i have found that sometimes i learn more from scam products than I do from legitimate products. How is that possible? I like to take these questionable products and use them as template for any products I am creating. I take the good points and integrate them into my products and then look at the poor points and us them as tool to benchmark what I should not do.

If you are going to be successful at making money online you have to take down your skeptical shield and learn to try everything once in order to learn something

Chris Whiteley makes his living staring at a computer screen. By spending countless hours buring his retinas surfing the web and running his websites http://www.thewhiteblog.com and http://www.whiteleyenterprises.net, Chris is enabling the average person to thrive in the Online Home Business world.Vania Blog60311
Violetta Blog98044

Success In The Home Business Owner's Eyes

Success lies in the eye of the beholder. Or maybe that's just beauty. We all define success differently. Some define it according to a bottom dollar amount. Did the home business owner earn more than he spent? Some will define it according to time. Did the home business owner spend time with his kids this week? Did he log in a date with his wife? Some will define it simply according to relationships. Do his kids like him? Does his wife not want to kill him this week? Home business owners have found success in several arenas with some simple principles.

First and foremost, successful home business owners find a way to balance family and work. They remember why they came home in the first place. Few home business owners choose to come home because they lost their job and had no other choice but to open their own business and work from home. Just about anyone can get a job if he really wants to. So home business owners typically come home for one or two reasons: to be their own boss and to spend time with their family. These home business owners find a way to both work hard and play hard. They take their business and family time seriously.

Secondly, successful home business owners read. They educate themselves on business practices, money management, and even family life. They understand the value of seeking out wisdom in various arenas of life. Additionally, the successful home business owner knows that he will grow as a person and an entrepreneur when he applies whatever he learns to his business and family life. He studies those who have succeeded at what he wants to do. He recognizes their habits, demeanor, and practices, and he mimics them with great detail.

Finally, a successful home business owner manages his money. He understands the need to manage money both at home and in the home office. Before he spends his money on bills or desires, he first writes out a budget. He involves his family in the personal budget, and he involves them in the monthly budget committee meeting. He will show them how they are spending money at home and receive their input on the budget. In the same way, he may involve his family in the business as well, hiring his kids as associates or menial labor, thus giving them the opportunity to learn about money management as well, with the first lesson being the correlation between hard work and money.

Success truly does lie in the eye of the beholder. Some people might deem a man who makes only $40K while spending the vast majority of his time at home a failure, and yet others deem his strong family relationship a success. Thus with this in mind, the home business owner must first of all define his concept of success, and then take the necessary steps to become successful in his own eyes.

Jim Biscardi is owner of Dynamic Wealth Systems, LLC and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Jim recommends you visit: http://www.DynamicWealthSystems.comVivi Blog37080
Fedora Blog22439

The Importance Of Implementing An Integrated Marketing Plan For Your Small Business

The progression of marketing -- moving beyond traditional to include interactive, consumer driven, social marketing has spread like Ebola. Its often referred to as Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). IMC is ushering in a new era in which marketers blend communication messages across all available media channels into a continuous brand experience. As part of a successful integrated marketing strategy, IMC integrates public relations, advertising, online, social media, etc; and other communications elements into one cohesive entity all sharing the same message.

Many organizations today are now embracing this concept of IMC. Instead of dividing marketing communications into separate groups that rarely communicate; organizations are now integrating all marketing disciplines under one umbrella; thus, making every communication consistent with one message, sharing the same strategy. This also allows marketers to execute marketing campaigns more efficiently without having to jump through hoops to get approvals for creative, content, messaging, etc.

The key to effective integration is the cohesiveness between various marketing messages, and the understanding that marketing is fundamentally a conversation between a company and its prospective customer. It is not one specific marketing campaign or press release; rather, how the blending and execution of such disciplines convey a message synergistically, and at every possible customer touch point.

IMC includes the various tools such as advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, direct & database marketing, sponsorship, event marketing, social media marketing, and online marketing (search, banner advertising, affiliate, etc.). Since the purpose of marketing is to generate revenue, increase market share, drive preference to purchase, and/or build brand awareness, marketers need to find ways to do this effectively; and embracing an integrated marketing strategy is the first step.

Integrated Marketing At Work

Nike is a great example of a company that has fully embraced the concept of integrated marketing. Their integrated approach includes traditional advertising (billboard, magazine, and television); sponsoring sporting events and players such as the Superbowl and Tiger Woods; and engaging in online marketing initiatives by allowing consumers to customize their Nike shoes. They also spend a great deal of money in search marketing. Nikes approach allows them to communicate their message consistently across all media outlets; and at the same time share that message at every customer touch point; that is, use Nike products and you will increase your performance regardless of what sport you are involved in.

Another example is HPs The Computer is Personal Again campaign. They utilized many forms of media with great consistency, and capitalized on each of the medias individual strengths. Television shared real-life stories, print detailed many of the same stories and online extended each into a positive experience with which the customer could interact with HP. The campaign also used paid search to capture queries about HP products and services.

Conclusion

The adoption of integrated marketing is essential in todays market place. As consumers, we are bombarded with thousands of messages from thousands of different advertisers each day. It has become natural for us to filter out these messages that dont appeal to a particular need or interest. On the other hand, as marketers, we need ensure that we are doing everything we possible can to reach these consumers at a time when they are interested in our value proposition. This means that our message has to be where the consumers are looking all the time.

Michael BritoFara Blog54217
Eulalie Blog67766

Internet Marketing As a Home-Based Business, Advantages And Possible Obstacles

Nowadays more and more people are thinking about taking a step towards additional income and financial freedom. Business opportunities are countless for those who would like to start their own home-based business. That is why it makes it so difficult to decide what exactly you would like to do and how and where you would start.

Lets talk about internet marketing as one of the great opportunities to work from home and make a part time or even a full time income for yourself and your family. As any other business, internet marketing has its advantages and possible problems you might face as a beginner.

If you dont have your own product or service, you can sell other peoples products or services. There is plenty of companies on the internet that you can become an affiliate for. In affiliate marketing, you simply send traffic to an end merchant, and that merchant handles all the details of the sale and pays you a commission. The benefit of this is that it is comparatively easy for you. Affiliate marketers do not have to take credit cards, select product lines or handle customer service, they receive their commission just for building a site that generates traffic to the merchant. However, you should not think that none of your efforts will be involved in this process. You will need to create and be responsible for your own advertising campaign for each and every affiliate program you are a part of. This of course includes driving lots of traffic to your web site and using various media, not only internet alone, to advertise your product or service.

If you have your own product or service, it is even better -- when you sell your own things you get 100% profits. The disadvantage is that you will have to handle the entire process of selling on your own, including inventory, payment, shipment, return policy etc. If your profit margin is high enough than it will be well worth all the hassle.

If you are not sure that you know enough about internet marketing you can educate yourself for free -- read articles from free articles web sites, there is always plenty of advice there. Another good source of free advice is forums. Participate in popular marketing forums, and you can get lots of tips, ideas, advice -- all for free. The disadvantage of self-education in marketing is that you have to spend a lot of time for that and always test, test and test new ideas and techniques. It may become a very time-consuming process.

If you do not want to spend so much time for self-education you can always find a marketing course, buy it and study. It is also possible to have a personal mentor or coach who would help you through the process. It will depend on your budget though, most of the personal coaches charge a very high fee for their consultations.

If you dont like to work for someone else, you can be self-employed when you do internet marketing. You can set your own hours, be your own boss, make your own decisions. With all of that comes lots of responsibility as in any privately owned business. Decisions are yours and responsibility is all yours also. You should not be afraid of that and treat internet marketing just like any private business.

First of all, you need to decide for yourself if internet marketing is right for you. Think about it and make a list of benefits and problems you might face when you start doing it. If you like it, have passion for it and can be persistent enough you will have all chances for success.

Elena Joggerst is a stay at home mom and a self-employed internet marketer. She offers free advice and ideas for beginners in marketing whenever possible.Evania Blog95034
Frayda Blog93500

Law Firm Internet Marketing An Executive Summary Using The Q&A Format Part IV

You mentioned marketing packages. How much should I be spending on a marketing budget on my website in law firm Internet marketing.

This is an it depends question. It depends on your particular market place (are you in Peoria or Manhattan), your competitors (your keyword competitors I mean) and how fast you want to see results (slow build of traffic or faster build of traffic) with your law firm Internet marketing. I can say this definitely dont buy an Internet marketing website unless you are prepared to market it at some decent monthly level right out of the gate. Lets move on to the it depends part a bit more in depth. If you want fast results out of the gate then you need to do Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. This is a unique skill set in itself - people do this exclusively as a profession so it can get complex. That said being that complex is unlikely to be the case for a solo or small firm particularly in a less then major market (major being Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, etc.). If you are in a medium to small market you can handle this I am sure on your own with maybe a little coaching since once you set it up you can leave it alone for weeks or even months before tweaking it. Your keyword research tells you what keywords you will be bidding on with PPC law firm Internet marketing. . You can read a couple of books on the subject from http://Amazon.com and read all about it at Google, MSN, Yahoo and ASK that all have sections of their site to explain how PPC works on their site. You can begin ads at the either MSN, Yahoo or http://ASK.com to get an idea of what you are dealing with first since if you make mistakes there you wont lose much money like you can on Google. Google has almost half of the traffic so you want to be on Google with your PPC law firm Internet marketing but go to the minor leagues first is my advice then go to Google. You can learn how to do this yourself or give it to a trusted assistant to master. The only proviso is if you are billing over $100 per hour your time is better spent doing billable hours or better still managing other aspect of the marketing process since you almost certainly can farm this task out to someone with expertise for $100 per hour or less. Now there is more to law firm Internet marketing of course than doing PPC ads. You will need someone to submit your site to secondary search engines/directories with Google Page Ranks over 4. Never, ever buy a software package that promises to submit you to hundreds or thousands of secondary search engines this can lead to the kiss of death from a search engine that bans you for doing that. You are not doing this primarily for the traffic but for high quality links to your site that raises your page rank. You will want to write articles and submit those to high page rank article sites - again for the high quality links. Lastly, you will want to put out press releases at press release sites as well for the quality links. Never, ever buy links or get into reciprocal link plans since this also can be the kiss of death for your site from search engines. So there is more you can do to market your site that would cost some time and/or money. It all depends on how fast you want to build your law firm Internet marketing systems is my take. Overall you need to take a long-term view and build consistently, persistently over time and you will reap the reward. Once you have built your page rank you can cut back or stop all of your PPC ads. Think like a manager and entrepreneur here since a website is an investment that will produce a return on that investment if you do it well over time plus pay you again when you sell it like a house is sold at a profit.

You said something about tell you that you also need a blog with your website. What is a blog and do I need a blog in law firm Internet marketing?

A blog is defined by http://wikipedia.com as:

A weblog, which is usually shortened to blog, is a website where regular entries are made (such as in a journal or diary) and presented in reverse chronological order. Blogs often offer commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries.

The ABA reports there are 70,000 new blogs posted online each day and that about 6% of lawyers have a blog. They do have advantages of course in law firm Internet marketing. They are cheap to build with little tech skills needed to write to a blog. They are even free or low fee to host. Free is available at http://blogger.com and a fee site is available at http://typepad.com for $5 to $15 per month. If you are going to have a blog you need to own the domain name, get a host and get blogging software. From a law firm Internet marketing perspective most blogs do not provide that much of a benefit in support of a website (the main support is having a link from your blog to your website also you would not want a link from your blog to your website if the blog had a lower page rank than your website anyway) and they do not replace a website. Additionally, if you are going to have a blog that has high page rank be prepared to submit something of quality to it at least 2 or 3 times per week. Yes, per week. Blogging experts say you should expect to spend 2 to 4 hours per week on writing for the blog. I dont think this is marketing time well spent for most lawyers. You could do much better building your referral network with this time. Thus my answer is no to the blog idea unless you are in a larger firm where several attorneys are dividing the writing duties or you have associates who are good at this type of writing work and have no other way to contribute to the marketing process or even better still some talented paralegals who could do the major blog writing ghosting for you that you add the finishing touches. You will need to buy some books on blogging for business purposes to learn more about what is required in a successful business blog which I am sure you can find on http://Amazon.com. Additionally, blogs have more issues from an ethical perspective so do check your state bar rules. Finally, you might want to check out http://www.blawg.org. No I did not misspell blog I intended blawg that is a way of putting law inside blog to designate blogs that focus on lawyers and legal issues. This site is a search engine for blawgs and legal sites of all types. You could also check out http://www.blawgrepublic.com/ as well.

What do I need to be concerned about around websites/blogs with respect to bar rules and ethical considerations?

Yes indeed and it is all very confusing since it varies by state. One of the Internets authorities (and an attorney) Dennis Kennedy at http://www.DennisKennedy.com says the rules for law firm Internet marketing are impossibly confusing. Mainly you need to find out from your bar if the advertising rules apply to websites or blogs and if there are specific rules for websites or blogs. Finally, some states might even require very specific disclaimers on the site. Bottom line you need to check in your state. If you want to see a specific disclaimer for a blog site go to Denniss blog at http://DennisKennedy.com/blog/.

Where else can I read about implementing law firm Internet marketing?

One place to look to learn more about implementing law firm Internet marketing is at Google itself. Search engines do not tell us all of the factors or details (called their algorithm) they look at in determining page ranks on their search engine. This is proprietary information for them. Google does tell us in general what they are looking for in page ranking. If you read what they say at: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters you will see what I have been talking about is indeed what Google is looking for and if you do what Google wants you will be right with all of the others almost certainly with your law firm Internet marketing.

OK, we have made it to the end of our executive briefing. If you follow what you find here your law firm Internet marketing will get you new clients at a reasonable cost. Who could want more than that? If you want to know more I found the following books to be of value for newbies to the law firm Internet marketing game:

The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Small Business by Tom Antion

Call To Action by Bryan Eisenberg and Jeffrey Eisenberg

Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing For Dummies by Peter Kent

Blogging for Business: Everything You Need to Know and Why You Should Care by Shel Holtz and Ted Demopoulos.

Henry Harlow has individually coached well over 500 attorneys. You can get more free, in depth and objective information on increasing your revenue while reducing your work hours available now at http://www.law-firm-marketing-coach.comViola Blog82545
Evania Blog95242

Dont Make These Mistakes!

When it comes to internet marketing, there are a few giant internet marketing mistakes that can ruin the whole reason for internet marketing in the first place. Here are a few internet marketing mistakes you will want to avoid at all costs:

Not having an internet marketing target. This is a major internet marketing mistake than many amateur home business owners make when trying their hand at internet marketing. It is extremely important for your internet marketing campaign that you know who you are targeting the internet marketing at.

Poor communication to your internet marketing target. This is another big problem that many internet marketing business owners seem to have at first. Be very certain when you are doing internet marketing that you understand your audience and give them something through your internet marketing that they will be able to relate to. Internet marketing is not just about driving people to your website. Internet marketing is about connecting with others in a way that they can best understand through internet marketing.

Paying a lot of money for internet marketing. Internet marketing should not cost you a whole bunch of money. Interner marketing can be very inexpensive if you know what you are doing with internet marketing. The biggest thing for internet marketing is knowing how to put your internet marketing creativity to use. If you can be smart with your internet marketing, you dont always need to spend a lot of money on internet marketing.

Another mistake in internet marketing is being removed from important search engine sites because of link pages that are not allowed. When you are doing internet marketing, check to make sure you are not breaking any search engine rules through your internet marketing. Coming up in a search engine is a huge part of internet marketing, and that internet privilege must be taken seriously.

Laurie Raphael operates a website promoting multiple streams of residual income. For online success, visit her site at: http://www.ProcessToSucceed.comFelicdad Blog63844
Verine Blog61023

SEO Best Practices: How Blogs Can Break Or Make Your Search Engine Optimization Strategy

Blogs - Structure and Layout

I work in the field of Search Engine Optimization. It has a wide range of options, from the technical to the more strategic. Tons of discussions are found on off-page and on-page factors, latent semantic analysis, content scope, quality, HTML/CSS development, site navigational structure, spamdexing, 301 redirects, plagiarism, link strategies, directories, blogs, search engine news, email marketing tips & online (internet) marketing. Most all of the top 10 SEO firms out there agree that blogs are a "must" for driving traffic and get established in the Internet community.

There is a right way, and a wrong way. We'll discuss these below.

Be warned - too many folks out there are thinking about "how to outbeat the search engines" and use the latest-and-greatest (blogs) to elevate their rankings, essentially via content and blog spam. Blogs are a powerful way to get seen by the search bots. Blogger (Google's own) is an important key to the puzzle, but there are many.

THE UN-OFFICIAL TOP 7 BLOGGING BEST PRACTICES FOR SEO

Start here, begin a quick review of the world's top blogs:
http://www.technorati.com/pop/blogs (the gorilla blog listings - updated daily)
http://www.problogger.net (this guy makes 16,000 USD / monthly)
http://microsaw.stikipad.com (web 2.0 blogs and news)

Get an account - it's free. log in - and - don't start!What? No, you must first continue by scanning the list above and get a sense for what people are writing about. This could be more generic at first, but start looking to yourself. What do you know? What do people come to you for? Anything that you specialize in? (Hint: don't think "how can I sell this" - but "how can I share this?") You'll also learn how to use trackback functions to allow other people to be notified. Permalinks are great for SEO and should be used where appropriate. So, now you learned something big: be yourself!

Think about an interesting headline. You don't need to be copywriter, but you should think about your headline and the topic at hand. More importantly, is it something that you are passionate about, or can contribute something to? It's ok to spend some time here, writer's block can come up. Think about other sites, can you re-write their UVP (unique value proposition)? How would you write yours (thinking theme here). What I've found to work is simply sit back and start talking as if you were discussing a (hot) topic with a friend, and then breaking it out into sub-groups from there.

Writing tips: casual, friendly and interesting (meaning you have something to write and you don't copy others) works well in blogs. Make sure you stay on topic and that you are truthful. Would you lie to your mother? Of course not - then think about this when you are writing online (and she will not come after you). Yahoo's blogging policy is a good one: "Be respectful of your colleagues, get your facts straight, provide context to your argument, and engage in private feedback."Also, make sure to include images (flickr) and video (youtube, google video) where you can. Make the images rich and colorful, don't worry about sizing too much.

Committment, persistence and disciplin. Sound like an extract from Jim Rohn or Anthony Robbins? Well, they probably are - but it applies to most of the things you do in life. So be it with blogging. Carve out 1/2-1 hour every day to nurture to your blog business. Think of it as your morning ritual - right after you have attended to your family and other duties. Plus, often you are not going to be in writing mode - but rather, maintenance mode - reviewing and responding to other blogger's input.

Search engines start picking up your blog, and traffic increases. Be prepared and if it gets out of hand, be able to manage that too. I'm not simply talking about traffic, but as others join and comment, you may need to defend your stance, including admitting mistakes if / when you make them. Folks appreciate other folks who are big enough to admit mistakes if it gets there.For example, you may have folks who don't like you - even if you're Bill Gates. This guy created a Corporate Weblog Manifesto that I found interesting.

Run and host your own blog service. More expensive, but this could have a large impact on your ability to control not only the content, but custom HTML layouts, code and information architecture that are important to search engines. You can offer this as a service to others in your niche market. http://businesslogs.com/ is a great resource to use for starting this process, and more hands-on development companies like http://www.leveltendesign.com/ can be an option for you. Keep in mind that the market has developed niche-companies, from real-estate to healthcare, and you should research those specifically.

If you have writer's block - make sure to read the next section, content is important for Search Engine Optimization - be on top of it.

How To Be Creative RE: Blogs (and SEO)

Here are some tips about being creative with blogs. Funny, but poignant.
(Taken from http://www.gapingvoid.com/)

Ignore everybody.

The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to change the world.

Put the hours in.

If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.

You are responsible for your own experience.

Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

Keep your day job.

Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.

Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.

Never compare your inside with somebody else's outside.

Dying young is overrated.

The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

The world is changing.

Merit can be bought. Passion can't.

Avoid the Watercooler Gang.

Sing in your own voice.

The choice of media is irrelevant.

Selling out is harder than it looks.

Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.

Worrying about "Commercial vs. Artistic" is a complete waste of time.

Don?t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.

You have to find your own schtick.

Write from the heart.

The best way to get approval is not to need it.

Power is never given. Power is taken.

Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.

The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

Remain frugal.

Voila - that's it, there you have it. Watch how the search engines will start picking up your content. You can run tools to see how you are ranking, how often you are showing up in the search engines. We like www.UrlTrends.com as a simple beginner starting point. However, it's not 100% accurate, other SEO tools can provide more detail.

Keep your content fresh, updates daily is preferred - and definitely once a week and your search engine marketing (which includes search engine optimization) will become more visible than it was just last week. Then, use http://pingomatic.com/ to alert search engines that you have made updates. It's a free service, and will help your visibility.

Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on the subject of SEO, and has spent over 10 years developing websites and marketing solutions at companies like Overture and Yahoo. His Web 2.0 site, Los Angeles Search Marketing (http://www.microsaw.com), provides a wealth of informative articles, resources and complimentary email courses on everything you will ever need to know about SEO and Search Marketing. He lives with his family in Southern California.Estrellita Blog2990
Fiann Blog56824

On Walking the Talk

Recently I was talking with a retailer in his store, and as we were walking around the floor, we came to a rack housing sportswear. Some of the sweaters on the rack were dangling from the hangers. He called over to ask a sales associate to straighten the rack, and we moved on through the store.

I somehow remembered this incident as I was with another manager, this time the general manager of an upscale hotel. We were talking at one end of the hotel lobby, and as his eyes spotted a table with parts of a newspaper and a candy wrapper on it, obviously left by a guest, he excused himself. He walked across the lobby, picked up the newspapers and candy wrapper, disposed of them, and came back to resume our conversation.

I was struck by the difference in management styles of these two executives. The store owner must have felt that as long as the sales associate was just standing there, she should take care of this little job. Something she is paid to do, right? The hotel manager, though responsible on a much larger scale for revenue, staff, and square footage than the store owner, saw it as his job to pick up the trash in the lobby.

The message each manager sent out by his actions could not have been more different. The store owner is comfortable operating on a rather hierachial basis. The hotel manager sees little distinction in his job and that of his staff. But this message should be clear: if you want your staff to instinctively do things without being told, you need to let them see that you yourself instinctively do these things. Your employees are more likely to learn from what you do; not from what you say. Leadership By Example. Thats the way to ensure there is no my job vs. your job mentality in your company. Just our job.

Today there is a lot of talk about employee performance; how people dont want to work, are absent a lot, wont do their job, have no loyalty; always want more money. Its true, these problems definitely exist. But many of these job performance problems could be headed off by more attention from management.

So in these two articles, lets talk about some of the things we can do to ensure our associates are the best they can be; perform at the highest level; have the companys interest at heart; are satisfied in their jobs.

Start here: HIRE FOR ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE. This is where everything begins. You can teach your staff new skills; you cant teach attitude. In the hiring interview, spend enough time in subjective conversation with people to discern their attitude, their manner, their philosophy. To find out more about this aspect, you may want to pose hypothetical situations and ask candidates to describe how they would handle them.

Southwest Airlines hired for Attitude in employing their current Area Marketing Manager in New Orleans. It did not matter to Southwest that this person had absolutely zero previous airline experience (she was in the jewelry business), and had never even set foot in New Orleans before moving here from Dallas to take this position. She has successfully performed this job now for seven years, helping increase Southwests business and visibility in this area.

Lets talk about a very important word: RESPECT. How your employees feel they are valued. The Ritz Carlton hotel group has as its motto: We are ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen. The philosophy in this simple sentence implies a relationship of equals; that the company will treat the employees with the same respect that it treats the guests. The Ritz Carlton understands this simple truth: your employees will treat your customers the same way they are treated.

MAKE YOUR EXPECTATIONS CLEAR.

Be clear about what an employees duties are; make sure they understand their job description.

Be clear about your standards for appearance (if you have a dress code, etc.). It is entirely reasonable to expect employees to show up for work dressed professionally and appropriately groomed. Of course, that may differ, depending on whether you operate an outdoor plant nursery or a designer apparel store.

Be clear about corporate culture. Part of the Nordstrom companys training for employees is instilling the corporate culture in all employees, letting them know what is expected of them. Their employees learn to do whatever it takes to make a customer happy. They are trained that Nordstrom believes people in their store are guests and therefore deserve the best service. When employees are trained in to this culture, they can produce the sales results they must achieve for success. The company will trust them with a lot of operational freedom in performing their job. However, if the employee has trouble buying in to this culture, it is safe to say he will not be happy or successful at Nordstrom.

Be clear about the level of customer service the company expects everyone to provide. Is this level a high degree of service (such as Nordstrom) or is service not emphasized in your company in favor of something you are better known for, like the lowest price, etc.

GIVE EMPLOYEES PROPER TOOLS TO WORK WITH. It is your job to provide training to help your people in their performance, to help them constantly improve their skills. Make sure this training reinforces your own specific expectations. This is not just computer register training (which, unfortunately, is what passes today as the only training). Encourage them to attend appropriate seminars at company expense, such as those on customer service, communications skills, sales techniques, time management. Keep a company library of magazines, training books, tapes, & videos. Let them know that you are aware of whatever they do to increase their knowledge. Develop some sort of reward system for employees who take advantage of resources you offer.

Set up a regular schedule for discussing market trends or showing new merchandise. Make sure they understand technical terms (would they know how to correctly answer a customers question, such as why is there sure a huge price difference between this cashmere sweater and this wool sweater?).

SHARE SOME DECISION-MAKING. As management, you have to make many decisions every day. Share some of this decision-making with your associates. Involve them in this process, and certainly involve them in those decisions that affect them. Ask employees if there are any company policies or procedures that hinder their job performance or their ability to deliver good customer service. If so, study these policies and do whatever you can to change or eliminate them. Then let your employees know what action you are taking (before you take it) in response to their concerns.

There is another very important reason to involve your associates in the decision-making process. Because those who have had a voice in making policy will see that the policy gets implemented. Its a surefire way to make sure the procedure is followed and there are no complaints about it!

You can tell employees all day long about how important they are to the companybut having them share in policy-making is a way to prove it, to show they are valued. Of course, the responsibility of policy making is managements, but decisions have a better chance of being right after first getting feedback from those on the front line. The key word here is share.

We all can become bored in our jobs if we feel there is nothing new to learn, no new challenges to conquer, no way to expand our minds, no new contributions to make. Yes, your employees may have to perform the same duties day in, day out, but an enlightened management, one that walks the talk (like you) can find ways to help employees become better at these same duties each day and therefore keep them interested and growing.

Copyright 2006, Liz Tahir

Liz Tahir is an international retail consultant, trainer, and speaker who helps small and large store retailers to be more effective and profitable. Based in New Orleans, LA, USA, she can be contacted at (504) 569-1670; liz@liztahir.com; http://www.liztahir.com.Vitia Blog71026
Freddy Blog82102

4 Reasons Customer Loyalty Is Vital To Your Business

Have you ever wondered why some businesses may set up shop in areas that might not be very conducive to business and do quite well, while others are placed at major thoroughfares where walk by and drive by traffic are all but guaranteed, yet within six months they fold and the place goes up for lease or sale? The truth of the matter is that success is not always determined by your location although it does play a vital role but more often than not it is dictated by customer loyalty.

Here are four reasons customer loyalty is vital to your business:

1. First and foremost is the fact that a loyal customer is a repeat customer. This person will know about your business practices, about what to expect from your goods or service, the advantages and the disadvantages, and she or he will do business with you in such a way that it is a mutually satisfying transaction.

2. As you establish a relationship with your customer, you are also establishing a relationship with the customer's family. Thus, it is not uncommon to have the wife bring in the dry cleaning for the family and turns her mother, mother in law, aunt, and best girlfriend on to your business. As the husband is sent one day to pick up the dry cleaning he becomes familiar with the business, and he will tell his brother, business associates, and others who are looking for a dry cleaner. Thus, you are suddenly becoming a commodity which is being shared with others.

3. While family referrals are great, business referrals are even better. If you are a dry cleaner, you will want the dress maker down the street to recommend your services to its customers. Similarly, if there is bridal shop with which you may have some professional ties, then these business referrals are simply priceless! Customer loyalties when you have other business owners or clerks shopping at your store or utilizing your service are quite often the gateway to a great number of new walk in customers.

4. Yet the fourth and perhaps most important reasons why customer loyalty is vital to your business rests in the fact that many major purchases are not made during the initial contact. For example, if you are a furniture store, you might have someone come in looking for a computer desk. While these may be expensive depending on the materials by and large these items are small fish. Yet if the consumer is satisfied with the product, the delivery, the setup and also the price, the odds are good that she or he will be back when it is time to furnish the nursery, buy that new wall unit, or acquire that bedroom set that was saved up for!

Copyright © 2007 Vadim Kirienko owns the Home Business Resource Directory where you can find everything you need to start, run and grow a home based business. For further information, go to => http://www.NewAutomaticBuilder.com/pips.htmlFederica Blog38568
Vitia Blog60379

How To Avoid Web Traffic Disasters, Part 1

Disaster #1. Forgetting To Put Your Fuel Cap Back On

Have you ever forgotten to put your fuel cap back on your car? Not only is it dangerous but you end up costing yourself a fortune as fuel can literally start spilling out of your car - its just like pouring money down the drain.

You wouldnt want to do this in the real world would you? So why do you do it online?

When you set up a new AdWords campaign on Google to start getting some pay per click traffic into your website be careful that you dont end up costing yourself more than you can afford or get less valuable clicks to your site.

AdWords lets you set a maximum daily spend which is handy for capping your spend. A mistake that I made though was when I was advertising one of my own products.

So this was a very targeted pay per click campaign that I was running to get people into my site that were specifically searching for my product by name. The reasoning behind this is that, in theory, you should get less tyre-kickers clicking on the ads as people already know exactly what it is they want.

So anyway, I set up the campaign and activated it.

Everything looked fine but I checked back the next day and Id spent a small fortune on clicks and not made one poxy sale!

What had gone wrong?

Well, Id left the tick box on the option "Include Googles extended site network" or whatever it is they call it. This is basically the option that shows your ads on other peoples websites who are running AdSense ads for Google.

So if you leave this ticked you end up with your ads showing all over the place online and not just in the Google search results. For a specific campaign like this you only want your ads showing up in Google as ads anywhere else are going to attract less-targeted clicks.

You can save yourself a lot of money and wasted time by remembering this one!

Note: Im not by any means saying to discount using Googles wider network to place your ads outright. All Im saying is that when you are running a highly targeted, specific product-orientated campaign like this my testing has shown that results from direct search far outperform those from the wider networked AdSense sites.

Michael CheneyVerine Blog92717
Farand Blog82475