Welcome to Flo's Home Biz & Fun
It snowed all day yesterday .. unbelievable! Today I'll be out there again to shovel, this winter we had mild weather so far but lots of snow. Now I'm really looking forward to spring and get that sun shinning everyday .. that would be a welcome change!
Today's article is about helping anyone avoid getting ripped off when buying info-products, software... even physical products online. Jim offers You the exact same 2-part benchmark he uses to evaluate any business offering that crosses his desktop...
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How To Buy Online Without Getting Ripped Off
- by Jim Edwards
© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
www.TheNetReporter.com
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I frequently get similar questions from viewers and subscribers all over the world.
They often ask me "Jim, what do you think of So-and-So's product?" or "How does So-and-So's product compare to your product?" or "Should I buy So-and-So's product?"
Typically these questions are about physical products, software or information products.
People ask for my opinion not only because I write a newspaper column, but also because I've produced and sold tens-of-thousands of products to people all around the world for the past nine years.
Bottom line: people want a clear, concise "yardstick" against which to measure any online purchase so they never feel ripped off.
Let me say right up front that I believe 100% in free-market competition and that having multiple products and perspectives on the same topic ultimately improves any marketplace for everyone.
I thank the Firefox browser and Linux operating system for getting Microsoft off its gigantic backside and addressing some serious issues.
But, with so many new products coming to market online, everyone must operate with a simple, effective criteria for evaluating any offer, especially in the business arena.
Let me offer you the exact same 2-part benchmark I use to evaluate any business offering that crosses my desktop.
This will help you avoid getting caught up in the "hysteria" of the moment and buying on impulse, rather than on careful thought.
Part #1 - I ask myself this question: Do I really need this in my business or is this just something "new" for the sake of something new?
If I realize that I'm just getting sucked into the "try something new" mentality, I put the purchase on hold for 48 hours to "cool off."
If I honestly decide I need the product, then I move on to part 2.
Par #2 - I ask myself this question: Has the person selling me this software, product or course actually DONE (more than once) what they are selling me "how to" do - and can they prove it?
If someone sells a piece of software, I want to know how much time it saved, how much money it saved, how much effort it helped avoid, and how much money was made as a result of using it - and I want proof!
Let me simply repeat the mantra of the classic Wendy's commercial from the 1980's: "Where's the beef?"
If someone tries to sell you a piece of software that claims to get 10,000 visitors to your site, ask to see screen shots of their server logs and sales in their merchant account.
If someone tries to sell you a course on creating website video, ask how many money-making videos they've put online over the years (ask for specific URLs) and run like heck if their personal website doesn't have the first video on it (or if they just put one up this week)!
You'll never go wrong if, before you buy anything online, you demand concrete, demonstrable proof that lives up to the claims made by the person or company selling it.
In the immortal words of Ronald Reagan, "Trust but verify!"
-=-
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the creator of an amazing course that will teach you step-by- step and click-by-click how to finally create your own money-making mini-sites...
"Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU to Painlessly Set Up Your OWN Moneymaking 'Mini' Websites... Without Being a Computer Geek, Buying Expensive Software, or Paying Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!"
Click Here => www.MiniSiteCreator.com
-=-
Have a great Wednesday!
Jan 25, 2006
Jan 24, 2006
The Best Website
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
It's storming today .. more shoveling coming up! I've had guests since Christmas .. I'm trying to catch up with my work and mailboxes that are overloaded with mail. I've started going through them but I will be busy for some time now!
Yesterday I posted simple techniques to generate targeted visitors without paying a dime in advertising. Today's article is a different perspective on what website traffic "really" is !!!
Jim is sharing some very straight forward thoughts on how to evaluate any source of traffic you're considering purchasing.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Best Website Traffic Sources
- by Jim Edwards
© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
www.TheNetReporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Not a day goes by that any serious website owner doesn't wonder how to get more traffic to their site.
This intense desire to generate more clicks makes virtually any online entrepreneur easy prey to many of the traffic schemes and scams that pervade the Internet like conmen on acarnival midway.
Promises of fast traffic and big bucks often separate even the most savvy business person from their money because they want to believe the promises made by these traffichucksters.
However, rather than thinking "complicated equals better" in the traffic game, the best website traffic sources rate extremely easy to separate from the useless garbage traffic.
Fact: "Good Traffic" equals "Targeted Traffic!"
That means the visitors come as a result of desire to find out more on a specific, niche topic, not as a result of "exit" traffic or membership in a "safe" list where memberssimply pitch each other in an incestuous spam fest.
Good traffic comes from people clicking links on topics targeted to their interests and getting directed to a website containing information they want and expect as a result of clicking the link.
Bottom line, when you get right down to it, the best, most dependable sources of targeted traffic come from links that
people click.
So, next time you're considering spending money on a traffic source, understand that unless it involves a targeted link that a targeted visitor can click to get to your website,think twice before opening up your wallet.
To my knowledge, only three ways exist to get a link to your site: buy it, "voodoo" it, or grow it.
** Buy Links**
Buying links actually rates the fastest way to get traffic to your website.
You simply sign up for Google AdWords at Google.com or you open an account with Overture.com.
You then run ads with a link on those sites and any time someone clicks the link, you pay for the click through a relatively straightforward bidding process based on thepopularity of the keyword.
You can also buy links in ezines, newsletters, and on other people's website either on a per-click basis, for a period of time (a week or month), or in exchange for paying them a commission if a sale gets made as a result of a click onthe link.
** Linking "VoodDoo" **
Linking "voodoo" refers to attempting to manipulate the search engines into displaying links to your website.
You can find a large number of automated software programs online at any given time that will claim to help you get more search engine traffic.
Depending on the intensity of competition in a specific market, and the fact that search engines change their rules frequently, pursuing search engine links can quickly turn into the online equivalent of Alice chasing the rabbit downa hole to "Wonderland."
** Grow Links **
I personally prefer this method to get links to my websites: growing them.
The best type of link to get involves one person telling another person, either explicitly or implicitly, they should click the link and visit the site at the other end.
One way to do this is simply to exchange links with another site which targets the same audience as your site.
You can manage this process manually or use one of the many software packages that will mange the process for you.
A search on Google.com for "reciprocal link manager software" yields a good start.
The easiest way to grow links is through using articles other people post on their websites which link back to your website.
The reason articles work so well for "growing" links involves the numerous ways in which articles get distributed online, each of which can create dozens, hundreds, even thousands of different links back to your website bypublishing a single article.
As time goes by, and as the article spreads around, the number of links literally "grows" over time (but unlike a houseplant, you don't have to water an article!).
In fact, the following represent only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the places you can grow and expand the links to your site by publishing articles online.
~ Blogs - Your articles can not only appear on your own blog, but get posted by others on their blogs with surprising ease.
The links in these articles can point directly back to your website.
~ Article Directories - Article directories such as IdeaMarketers.com abound online.
They not only provide an easy way to display your articles to allow others to pick them up for posting on their websites, but also in and of themselves attract readerssearching for content.
~ OPS (Other People's Sites) - Popular websites like WebProNews.com attract repeat visitors by offering targeted content to their readers.
Since they can't produce all the content themselves, they publish articles created by others. Links from these sites can bring a steady stream of targeted visitors by giving youtargeted exposure.
~ Ezines - By getting your articles published in other people's ezines, you can get a link on the most valuable real estate online, a targeted prospect's email "inbox."
Many ezine publishers run articles written by others to their targeted readers, and your link in the resource box can bring you a veritable avalanche of targeted site visitors when hundreds, even thousands of people receive your articleat the same time.
Whether you choose to buy them, "voodoo" them, or grow them, getting targeted links to your site posted on the Internet represents the absolute best way to get steady traffic toyour site.
Though not as fast as buying them or as exciting as trying to manipulate the search engines, growing links with articles gives you a long-term, dependable presence online.
-=-
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website, affiliate links, or blogs...
Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links? "Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate links... without spending a dime on advertising!
Click Here> Publish Articles and Get Traffic FAST!
-=-
Have a great Tuesday!
It's storming today .. more shoveling coming up! I've had guests since Christmas .. I'm trying to catch up with my work and mailboxes that are overloaded with mail. I've started going through them but I will be busy for some time now!
Yesterday I posted simple techniques to generate targeted visitors without paying a dime in advertising. Today's article is a different perspective on what website traffic "really" is !!!
Jim is sharing some very straight forward thoughts on how to evaluate any source of traffic you're considering purchasing.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Best Website Traffic Sources
- by Jim Edwards
© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
www.TheNetReporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Not a day goes by that any serious website owner doesn't wonder how to get more traffic to their site.
This intense desire to generate more clicks makes virtually any online entrepreneur easy prey to many of the traffic schemes and scams that pervade the Internet like conmen on acarnival midway.
Promises of fast traffic and big bucks often separate even the most savvy business person from their money because they want to believe the promises made by these traffichucksters.
However, rather than thinking "complicated equals better" in the traffic game, the best website traffic sources rate extremely easy to separate from the useless garbage traffic.
Fact: "Good Traffic" equals "Targeted Traffic!"
That means the visitors come as a result of desire to find out more on a specific, niche topic, not as a result of "exit" traffic or membership in a "safe" list where memberssimply pitch each other in an incestuous spam fest.
Good traffic comes from people clicking links on topics targeted to their interests and getting directed to a website containing information they want and expect as a result of clicking the link.
Bottom line, when you get right down to it, the best, most dependable sources of targeted traffic come from links that
people click.
So, next time you're considering spending money on a traffic source, understand that unless it involves a targeted link that a targeted visitor can click to get to your website,think twice before opening up your wallet.
To my knowledge, only three ways exist to get a link to your site: buy it, "voodoo" it, or grow it.
** Buy Links**
Buying links actually rates the fastest way to get traffic to your website.
You simply sign up for Google AdWords at Google.com or you open an account with Overture.com.
You then run ads with a link on those sites and any time someone clicks the link, you pay for the click through a relatively straightforward bidding process based on thepopularity of the keyword.
You can also buy links in ezines, newsletters, and on other people's website either on a per-click basis, for a period of time (a week or month), or in exchange for paying them a commission if a sale gets made as a result of a click onthe link.
** Linking "VoodDoo" **
Linking "voodoo" refers to attempting to manipulate the search engines into displaying links to your website.
You can find a large number of automated software programs online at any given time that will claim to help you get more search engine traffic.
Depending on the intensity of competition in a specific market, and the fact that search engines change their rules frequently, pursuing search engine links can quickly turn into the online equivalent of Alice chasing the rabbit downa hole to "Wonderland."
** Grow Links **
I personally prefer this method to get links to my websites: growing them.
The best type of link to get involves one person telling another person, either explicitly or implicitly, they should click the link and visit the site at the other end.
One way to do this is simply to exchange links with another site which targets the same audience as your site.
You can manage this process manually or use one of the many software packages that will mange the process for you.
A search on Google.com for "reciprocal link manager software" yields a good start.
The easiest way to grow links is through using articles other people post on their websites which link back to your website.
The reason articles work so well for "growing" links involves the numerous ways in which articles get distributed online, each of which can create dozens, hundreds, even thousands of different links back to your website bypublishing a single article.
As time goes by, and as the article spreads around, the number of links literally "grows" over time (but unlike a houseplant, you don't have to water an article!).
In fact, the following represent only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the places you can grow and expand the links to your site by publishing articles online.
~ Blogs - Your articles can not only appear on your own blog, but get posted by others on their blogs with surprising ease.
The links in these articles can point directly back to your website.
~ Article Directories - Article directories such as IdeaMarketers.com abound online.
They not only provide an easy way to display your articles to allow others to pick them up for posting on their websites, but also in and of themselves attract readerssearching for content.
~ OPS (Other People's Sites) - Popular websites like WebProNews.com attract repeat visitors by offering targeted content to their readers.
Since they can't produce all the content themselves, they publish articles created by others. Links from these sites can bring a steady stream of targeted visitors by giving youtargeted exposure.
~ Ezines - By getting your articles published in other people's ezines, you can get a link on the most valuable real estate online, a targeted prospect's email "inbox."
Many ezine publishers run articles written by others to their targeted readers, and your link in the resource box can bring you a veritable avalanche of targeted site visitors when hundreds, even thousands of people receive your articleat the same time.
Whether you choose to buy them, "voodoo" them, or grow them, getting targeted links to your site posted on the Internet represents the absolute best way to get steady traffic toyour site.
Though not as fast as buying them or as exciting as trying to manipulate the search engines, growing links with articles gives you a long-term, dependable presence online.
-=-
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website, affiliate links, or blogs...
Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links? "Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate links... without spending a dime on advertising!
Click Here> Publish Articles and Get Traffic FAST!
-=-
Have a great Tuesday!
Jan 23, 2006
Best Kept Secrets
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
Hope you had a great weekend! The sun is shinning brightly again today and it feels good. This morning I feel great .. I received news from someone very special to me .. it made my day !!! :-) It feels like my spirit has been lifted and that's a greatest feeling, now I have a smile on my face.
Today's article is about simple techniques to generate targeted visitors without paying a dime in advertising! We all need traffic, Jim is sharing methods that rates so powerful some even call it "the web's best kept traffic secret"...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"The Web's Best-Kept Traffic Secret"
- by Jim Edwards
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
TheNetReporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Did you realize that thousands of website operators use a simple technique to generate targeted visitors to their websites without paying a dime in advertising? It's true.
In fact, the technique works so well that many of them don't want you to discover how they get those thousands of website visitors and make so many sales on virtual "auto-pilot."
Their method?
Creating tightly focused articles other people publish in their ezines (online magazines and email newsletters) and post on their websites. This method rates so powerful that some even call it "the web's best kept traffic secret."
Now, you may ask, "Why would an ezine publisher or website owner publish my articles for their subscribers?"
The answer: Content!
Over a 100,000 ezines and newsletters operate on the web (along with millions of websites) covering everything from pets and cooking to investments and real estate. Many of them need tightly focused content and they simply can't produce all of it themselves.
Look at it this way... it's the same reason newspapers use the Associated Press. Individual newspapers often can't afford staff writers to cover every story, so they accept articles from outside their organization.
You can do the exact same thing for various ezines and websites catering to your niche audience!
You can get valuable publicity -- exposure you often couldn't even pay for if you wanted to -- by providing valuable, content-rich articles in exchange for a byline and a link to your website (called a "resource box")!
The following represent only a few of the enormous benefits of writing and distributing simple articles online:
** Attain "Expert" Status **
Let's face it! In the eyes of virtually everyone who reads your articles you rank as the "expert" on the subject.
Just look at people who write newspaper columns. You may disagree with their viewpoints, but they still have an elevated status in your mind compared to the "average Joe" off the street.
** Pre-sell Website Visitors **
If your article appeals to a niche audience hungry for more information on a very focused subject, you actually pre-sell them better than any sales pitch. In their minds, you've already delivered content they really want so when they click over to your site you already have a "reputation" in their minds.
** Traffic Lasts Longer **
Even though the Internet changes very quickly, webmasters are usually very slow to remove content from their sites. Once you get an article posted on another person's website, you have an excellent chance of that article staying there for weeks, months, even years.
** Increase Links To Your Site **
In a recent search I found just a dozen of my articles posted on over 813 different websites! Not only do those postings bring me traffic, but they also help my search engine positioning because of my increased "Link Popularity."
** Builds Your Affiliate Base **
Fact: Affiliates always take the path of least resistance.
If you provide excellent articles they can easily post on their sites or copy and paste into their ezines, your affiliates will promote you more often and more effectively compared to those who don't give them tools.
Plus, as you make more sales and publish articles, other people will see you providing excellent tools and will want to sign up as your affiliate so they can use them too!
** Build a Huge "Opt-In" Email List **
You can use articles to build up a huge list of subscribers by simply compiling several articles into a series and delivering them at preset intervals.
Often called a "mini-course," this technique allows you not only to prove to your subscribers that you deliver great information, but enables you to capture their name and email address so you can send them articles and special offers in the future (with their permission).
** Requires No Special Skills **
People often think they need to be a "writer" in order to publish articles, but that's not true!
FACT: If you have a passion for a subject and can talk and explain things like you would to a friend over a cup of coffee, you can write articles people will love to read.
So if you operate a website selling virtually any type of product or service (whether your own or as an affiliate), publishing and promoting with articles should rank high on your list of traffic generation strategies.
No other method of generating targeted traffic to your website provides the quality, quantity and steadiness of traffic in such a simple, straightforward, and cost-effective manner.
-=-
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook, "Turn Words Into Traffic," that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate link!
Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links? "Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate links... without spending a dime on advertising!
Click Here> Write Money Making Ezine Articles FAST!
-=-
Have a great Monday!
Hope you had a great weekend! The sun is shinning brightly again today and it feels good. This morning I feel great .. I received news from someone very special to me .. it made my day !!! :-) It feels like my spirit has been lifted and that's a greatest feeling, now I have a smile on my face.
Today's article is about simple techniques to generate targeted visitors without paying a dime in advertising! We all need traffic, Jim is sharing methods that rates so powerful some even call it "the web's best kept traffic secret"...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"The Web's Best-Kept Traffic Secret"
- by Jim Edwards
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
TheNetReporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Did you realize that thousands of website operators use a simple technique to generate targeted visitors to their websites without paying a dime in advertising? It's true.
In fact, the technique works so well that many of them don't want you to discover how they get those thousands of website visitors and make so many sales on virtual "auto-pilot."
Their method?
Creating tightly focused articles other people publish in their ezines (online magazines and email newsletters) and post on their websites. This method rates so powerful that some even call it "the web's best kept traffic secret."
Now, you may ask, "Why would an ezine publisher or website owner publish my articles for their subscribers?"
The answer: Content!
Over a 100,000 ezines and newsletters operate on the web (along with millions of websites) covering everything from pets and cooking to investments and real estate. Many of them need tightly focused content and they simply can't produce all of it themselves.
Look at it this way... it's the same reason newspapers use the Associated Press. Individual newspapers often can't afford staff writers to cover every story, so they accept articles from outside their organization.
You can do the exact same thing for various ezines and websites catering to your niche audience!
You can get valuable publicity -- exposure you often couldn't even pay for if you wanted to -- by providing valuable, content-rich articles in exchange for a byline and a link to your website (called a "resource box")!
The following represent only a few of the enormous benefits of writing and distributing simple articles online:
** Attain "Expert" Status **
Let's face it! In the eyes of virtually everyone who reads your articles you rank as the "expert" on the subject.
Just look at people who write newspaper columns. You may disagree with their viewpoints, but they still have an elevated status in your mind compared to the "average Joe" off the street.
** Pre-sell Website Visitors **
If your article appeals to a niche audience hungry for more information on a very focused subject, you actually pre-sell them better than any sales pitch. In their minds, you've already delivered content they really want so when they click over to your site you already have a "reputation" in their minds.
** Traffic Lasts Longer **
Even though the Internet changes very quickly, webmasters are usually very slow to remove content from their sites. Once you get an article posted on another person's website, you have an excellent chance of that article staying there for weeks, months, even years.
** Increase Links To Your Site **
In a recent search I found just a dozen of my articles posted on over 813 different websites! Not only do those postings bring me traffic, but they also help my search engine positioning because of my increased "Link Popularity."
** Builds Your Affiliate Base **
Fact: Affiliates always take the path of least resistance.
If you provide excellent articles they can easily post on their sites or copy and paste into their ezines, your affiliates will promote you more often and more effectively compared to those who don't give them tools.
Plus, as you make more sales and publish articles, other people will see you providing excellent tools and will want to sign up as your affiliate so they can use them too!
** Build a Huge "Opt-In" Email List **
You can use articles to build up a huge list of subscribers by simply compiling several articles into a series and delivering them at preset intervals.
Often called a "mini-course," this technique allows you not only to prove to your subscribers that you deliver great information, but enables you to capture their name and email address so you can send them articles and special offers in the future (with their permission).
** Requires No Special Skills **
People often think they need to be a "writer" in order to publish articles, but that's not true!
FACT: If you have a passion for a subject and can talk and explain things like you would to a friend over a cup of coffee, you can write articles people will love to read.
So if you operate a website selling virtually any type of product or service (whether your own or as an affiliate), publishing and promoting with articles should rank high on your list of traffic generation strategies.
No other method of generating targeted traffic to your website provides the quality, quantity and steadiness of traffic in such a simple, straightforward, and cost-effective manner.
-=-
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook, "Turn Words Into Traffic," that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate link!
Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links? "Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate links... without spending a dime on advertising!
Click Here> Write Money Making Ezine Articles FAST!
-=-
Have a great Monday!
Jan 22, 2006
Name Origins
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
Hope your weekend is great !!! Mine is relaxing just like I planned it to be .. it's really nice to get away from work. Today we have the sun shinning brightly and that feels good :-) I'm happy with that!
Name Origins .. interesting!!!
Jacuzzi:
Named after the Italian-born American inventor, Candido Jacuzzi.
Badminton:
Formerly the game from India called Poona became temporarily known as Battledore and Shuttlecock by the British until they popularized the sport at Badminton, Gloucestershire, England, country home of the Duke of Beaufort in 1873.
Have a great Sunday!
Hope your weekend is great !!! Mine is relaxing just like I planned it to be .. it's really nice to get away from work. Today we have the sun shinning brightly and that feels good :-) I'm happy with that!
Name Origins .. interesting!!!
Jacuzzi:
Named after the Italian-born American inventor, Candido Jacuzzi.
Badminton:
Formerly the game from India called Poona became temporarily known as Battledore and Shuttlecock by the British until they popularized the sport at Badminton, Gloucestershire, England, country home of the Duke of Beaufort in 1873.
Have a great Sunday!
Jan 19, 2006
Part 5 .. Superstitions
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
It finally stop snowing, now I'm happy :-) and it's my day off tomorrow. I have nothing plan but to take it easy, I've had guests since Christmas. Here's something interesting I ran into...
-=-
True Rainbows
The seven colors of the rainbow are violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red.
There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow because this marvel of nature has no beginning nor does it have an end.
To see all the rainbow You must be in the right place .. in an airplane or on a mountain top.
There and then You would see more than just the top half of a rainbow. You would see a surprise... all the true rainbow... a complete circle!
-=-
It's Friday and here's part 5 of "General Superstitions" provided by Craftie Linda an Adland Friend. It's very interesting .. enjoy! Please take a moment to visit my coolest community on the web... if You like it join for FREE!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
General Superstitions
by Craftie Linda
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Don't step on a crack on a sidewalk or walkway.
A yawn is a sign that danger is near.
The number of Xs in the palm of your right hand is the number of children you will have.
Two people pull apart the dried breastbone of a chicken or turkey until it cracks and breaks, each one making a wish while doing so. The person who gets the long half of the wishbone will have his or her wish come true.
If you make a wish while throwing a coin into a well or fountain, the wish will come true.
A watermelon will grow in your stomach if you swallow a watermelon seed.
A bride's veil protects her from evil spirits who are jealous of happy people.
If a woman sees a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it means she will marry a sailor. If she sees a sparrow, she will marry a poor man and be very happy. If she sees a goldfinch, she will marry a millionaire.
Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.
If you bite your tongue while eating, it is because you have recently told a lie.
All wishes on shooting stars come true.
A spider is a repellent against plague when worn around the neck in a walnut shell.
You sleep best with your head to the north and your feet to the south.
If you sing before seven, you will cry before eleven.
Salty soup is a sign that the cook is in love.
Rosemary planted by the doorstep will keep witches away.
If you leave a rocking chair rocking when empty, it invites evil spirits to come into your house to sit in the rocking chair.
A wish made upon seeing the first robin in spring will come true - but only if you complete the wish before the robin flies away.
A red ribbon should be placed on a child who has been sick to keep the illness from returning.
A rainbow in the Eastern sky, The morrow will be fine and dry. A rainbow in the West that gleams, Rain tomorrow falls in streams.
-=-=-
Have a great day and a fantastic weekend!
It finally stop snowing, now I'm happy :-) and it's my day off tomorrow. I have nothing plan but to take it easy, I've had guests since Christmas. Here's something interesting I ran into...
-=-
True Rainbows
The seven colors of the rainbow are violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red.
There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow because this marvel of nature has no beginning nor does it have an end.
To see all the rainbow You must be in the right place .. in an airplane or on a mountain top.
There and then You would see more than just the top half of a rainbow. You would see a surprise... all the true rainbow... a complete circle!
-=-
It's Friday and here's part 5 of "General Superstitions" provided by Craftie Linda an Adland Friend. It's very interesting .. enjoy! Please take a moment to visit my coolest community on the web... if You like it join for FREE!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
General Superstitions
by Craftie Linda
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Don't step on a crack on a sidewalk or walkway.
A yawn is a sign that danger is near.
The number of Xs in the palm of your right hand is the number of children you will have.
Two people pull apart the dried breastbone of a chicken or turkey until it cracks and breaks, each one making a wish while doing so. The person who gets the long half of the wishbone will have his or her wish come true.
If you make a wish while throwing a coin into a well or fountain, the wish will come true.
A watermelon will grow in your stomach if you swallow a watermelon seed.
A bride's veil protects her from evil spirits who are jealous of happy people.
If a woman sees a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it means she will marry a sailor. If she sees a sparrow, she will marry a poor man and be very happy. If she sees a goldfinch, she will marry a millionaire.
Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.
If you bite your tongue while eating, it is because you have recently told a lie.
All wishes on shooting stars come true.
A spider is a repellent against plague when worn around the neck in a walnut shell.
You sleep best with your head to the north and your feet to the south.
If you sing before seven, you will cry before eleven.
Salty soup is a sign that the cook is in love.
Rosemary planted by the doorstep will keep witches away.
If you leave a rocking chair rocking when empty, it invites evil spirits to come into your house to sit in the rocking chair.
A wish made upon seeing the first robin in spring will come true - but only if you complete the wish before the robin flies away.
A red ribbon should be placed on a child who has been sick to keep the illness from returning.
A rainbow in the Eastern sky, The morrow will be fine and dry. A rainbow in the West that gleams, Rain tomorrow falls in streams.
-=-=-
Have a great day and a fantastic weekend!
Attract Search Engines
6 Ways To Attract Search Engines
To Your Website More Often
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
I had a rough Tuesday driving my friend to the train station in Sudbury. It also snow/rained that night and yesterday the wind was very cold and it was still snowing! This week we've accumulated a lot of snow and tons of shoveling to do. It's February and by now I'm tired of snow and shoveling as my arms cannot take any more abuse .. I'm waiting patiently for spring!
Today's article is about ways to attract the Search Engines to your website or blog. Frequently updated and adding content is the surest way to get Search Engines to spider your site more often. Priya is sharing six ways to add fresh content to your site...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
6 Ways To Attract Search Engines
To Your Website More Often
Copyright © 2006 Priya Shah
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Adding fresh, updated content to your website is the surest way to get search engines engines to spider your site more often. Search engines are known to index sites updated on a regular basis more frequently.
Updating and adding to the content on your website frequently will give you an advantage in the search results and also help you expand the number of search terms or key phrases you can get found for.
There are many tools and resources you can use to automate the process of adding fresh, updated content and creating more spider-food on your website.
Here are six ways to add fresh content to your site:
- Weblogs or Blogs
A blog is an online diary or journal. Setting up a blog is easy and the many free blogging services make it possible for just about anyone to get started.
Several blog programs allow your users to create an account and post their comments to your blog, thereby adding more fresh content for you.
I use Blogger.com to create my own blogs like the Number One In Your Niche Blog.
- Newsletters or Ezines
Publishing a regular newsletter or ezine is an excellent way to add content at regular intervals and get repeat traffic to your site. Archiving your newsletters online is one way of automatically updating your pages and adding new content.
As an example see the archives of my newsletter online
http://ebizwhiz-publishing.com/archives/
- Content Management Systems
Content Management Systems (CMS) allow you or your website visitors to add, edit or delete content to your website without having to create and format the pages manually.
Article exchange scripts are a type of content management system. There are many zero-cost or open-source content management systems like PHP-Nuke or Post-Nuke, that are often included with hosting packages and require no set up.
Xongoo! CMS is a search engine friendly and zero-cost content management system
Other open-source CMS include PHP-Nuke and Drupal.
- Forums/Bulletin Boards
A forum or bulletin board is an excellent tool for building content and creating an online community that will bring repeat traffic. Many web hosts now provide packages that include bulletin board scripts on your server.
The best part about a forum is that it allows your visitors to build your content for you. However, it does require time and energy, and some technical knowledge to moderate and maintain forums.
phpBB is a popular open-source bulletin system
- Reviews/Interviews
Reviewing and publishing a write-up on new products or resources in your field is becoming a favourite technique with affiliate marketers looking to boost their commissions.
It is also an excellent way to get found for the keywords related to the product you review. You can also do regular interviews of experts in your industry and put up the transcript on your site.
My product reviews have allowed me to get high rankings for specific keywords of my choice
- RSS or Newsfeeds
RSS is the latest craze in online publishing because it allows syndication of *expert* news and content that is regularly updated at the source.
Using RSS feeds you can enhance your site content without the need to write a single line on your own. Search engines love RSS feeds and are known to spider pages with such feeds more often.
Express RSS is a tool that allows you to add RSS feeds to your site in under a minute
-=-=-
Priya Shah is the CEO of eBrand360. Her areas of specialization include internet marketing, search engine optimization and business blogging.
-=-=-
Have a great Thursday!
To Your Website More Often
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
I had a rough Tuesday driving my friend to the train station in Sudbury. It also snow/rained that night and yesterday the wind was very cold and it was still snowing! This week we've accumulated a lot of snow and tons of shoveling to do. It's February and by now I'm tired of snow and shoveling as my arms cannot take any more abuse .. I'm waiting patiently for spring!
Today's article is about ways to attract the Search Engines to your website or blog. Frequently updated and adding content is the surest way to get Search Engines to spider your site more often. Priya is sharing six ways to add fresh content to your site...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
6 Ways To Attract Search Engines
To Your Website More Often
Copyright © 2006 Priya Shah
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Adding fresh, updated content to your website is the surest way to get search engines engines to spider your site more often. Search engines are known to index sites updated on a regular basis more frequently.
Updating and adding to the content on your website frequently will give you an advantage in the search results and also help you expand the number of search terms or key phrases you can get found for.
There are many tools and resources you can use to automate the process of adding fresh, updated content and creating more spider-food on your website.
Here are six ways to add fresh content to your site:
- Weblogs or Blogs
A blog is an online diary or journal. Setting up a blog is easy and the many free blogging services make it possible for just about anyone to get started.
Several blog programs allow your users to create an account and post their comments to your blog, thereby adding more fresh content for you.
I use Blogger.com to create my own blogs like the Number One In Your Niche Blog.
- Newsletters or Ezines
Publishing a regular newsletter or ezine is an excellent way to add content at regular intervals and get repeat traffic to your site. Archiving your newsletters online is one way of automatically updating your pages and adding new content.
As an example see the archives of my newsletter online
http://ebizwhiz-publishing.com/archives/
- Content Management Systems
Content Management Systems (CMS) allow you or your website visitors to add, edit or delete content to your website without having to create and format the pages manually.
Article exchange scripts are a type of content management system. There are many zero-cost or open-source content management systems like PHP-Nuke or Post-Nuke, that are often included with hosting packages and require no set up.
Xongoo! CMS is a search engine friendly and zero-cost content management system
Other open-source CMS include PHP-Nuke and Drupal.
- Forums/Bulletin Boards
A forum or bulletin board is an excellent tool for building content and creating an online community that will bring repeat traffic. Many web hosts now provide packages that include bulletin board scripts on your server.
The best part about a forum is that it allows your visitors to build your content for you. However, it does require time and energy, and some technical knowledge to moderate and maintain forums.
phpBB is a popular open-source bulletin system
- Reviews/Interviews
Reviewing and publishing a write-up on new products or resources in your field is becoming a favourite technique with affiliate marketers looking to boost their commissions.
It is also an excellent way to get found for the keywords related to the product you review. You can also do regular interviews of experts in your industry and put up the transcript on your site.
My product reviews have allowed me to get high rankings for specific keywords of my choice
- RSS or Newsfeeds
RSS is the latest craze in online publishing because it allows syndication of *expert* news and content that is regularly updated at the source.
Using RSS feeds you can enhance your site content without the need to write a single line on your own. Search engines love RSS feeds and are known to spider pages with such feeds more often.
Express RSS is a tool that allows you to add RSS feeds to your site in under a minute
-=-=-
Priya Shah is the CEO of eBrand360. Her areas of specialization include internet marketing, search engine optimization and business blogging.
-=-=-
Have a great Thursday!
Jan 18, 2006
The Excitement
Hitting Some Out of the Park:
The Excitement of Personal Home Runs
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
It was cold yesterday and quite the day for me! I was getting ready for my drive to Sudbury, at noon I looked outside and it was snowing. We left at 1:00 the roads was good then, getting closer to Sudbury it started to snow/rain... I didn't like that! We stop at the mall for 1/2 hr for a few things .. when leaving the mall I looked at my car and the windows were all iced.
I drove to the train station and left for home right away there was 1-1/2 hr drive to do! The hyw 17 was in poor conditions, several times I needed to pull over and clean the ice off the windshield. I left at 3:20 and arrived home happily at 6:00, I was very thankful to have made it safe !!!
Today's article is about setting and achieving goals is a bit like baseball. Big goals are inspiring and every once in awhile, you have to swing for the bleachers. What about YOU?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hitting Some Out of the Park:
The Excitement of Personal Home Runs
by - Michael Angier , founder and CIO
www.SuccessNet.org
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I’m not a big baseball fan. I enjoyed playing when I was younger, but I’ve just not gotten caught up in watching nine innings of the game.
Perhaps it’s because the home runs are so few and far between. Watching someone bunt, walk or get a base hit slowly but surely adds runs to the scoreboard, but they lack the luster of a home run with the bases loaded.
Seeing that ball sail out of the park while the runners head home and the batter tags each base in his victory lap is fun.
Setting and achieving goals is a bit like baseball. For the most part, things don’t happen all that fast, and it’s not always exciting. But if you want to win, you have to do the things that put you on base in a consistent fashion.
We all have some goals we want to accomplish that aren’t particularly inspiring or motivating. We want the result, but we aren’t always excited about the process.
Unless they’re part of a bigger (and more inspiring) goal, they tend to be what I call “maintenance goals”. Things like a 15% increase in sales, a 10% increase in profits or paying off a credit card.
To make the game more interesting, however, it helps to have some home runs.
Last summer I was telling my friend Sterling Valentine about my upcoming projects and explaining my plans for several new ventures. I told him that business was up 23%, and I reviewed a couple of other things that would clearly be viewed as quite positive.
But as I discussed these things with him, I noticed I didn’t seem to have the passion I usually have. I said, “You know, all this is good, it’s interesting, but what I’d really like to do is hit a home run.”
He asked what that would look like. His question made me think—and think hard.
What WOULD a home run look like? What kind of goals would I look upon as they were accomplished and say, “Wow! That’s a home run!”
So I made a list of goals that would qualify. They weren’t safe, predictable, maintenance goals. They were BHAGS—big hairy audacious goals.
I chose three of them and decided to swing for the fence on all three. I really had nothing to lose because even if I fell short, I would have made good progress—probably more than if I hadn’t gone for it.
And I got two out of three.
We more than doubled our 2005 business compared to 2004. I’d done this before—two or three times—but our business was much smaller then. Home run number one.
I created, launched and sold a 12-month team coaching program (Diamond Club). I thought 21 participants would be a home run for the first year. We have 43 enrolled, and we still have another couple of weeks before we close it for the year. Home run number two.
My third goal was a best-selling book (100,000 copies).
Didn’t hit that one—at least not yet. But I do have two books published and a third in production.
As a result of achieving these goals, I’ve never felt more confident. I’m really looking forward to reaching for some big ones in 2006.
Action Point
What about YOU? Where are you on the “GO-FOR-IT Scale”? Which of your goals or dreams would be a home run for you?
It’s good to have singles, doubles and triples, but every once in the while, you have to take a big cut and swing for the bleachers. You’ll strike out sometimes, but hey, even the best batters do that.
successnet.org/articles/angier-homerun.htm
-=-
Copyright Michael Angier & Success Networks International.
Used with Permission.
Michael Angier is the founder and president of SuccessNet. Their mission is to inform, inspire and empower people to be their best--personally and professionally.
Download their free eBooklet, 10 ESSENTIAL KEYS TO PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS from www.SuccessNet.org/keys.htm or by sending a blank email to keys@SuccessNet.org.
More free subscriptions, books and SuccessMark Cards are available at www.SuccessNet.org.
-=-
Have a great Wednesday!
The Excitement of Personal Home Runs
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
It was cold yesterday and quite the day for me! I was getting ready for my drive to Sudbury, at noon I looked outside and it was snowing. We left at 1:00 the roads was good then, getting closer to Sudbury it started to snow/rain... I didn't like that! We stop at the mall for 1/2 hr for a few things .. when leaving the mall I looked at my car and the windows were all iced.
I drove to the train station and left for home right away there was 1-1/2 hr drive to do! The hyw 17 was in poor conditions, several times I needed to pull over and clean the ice off the windshield. I left at 3:20 and arrived home happily at 6:00, I was very thankful to have made it safe !!!
Today's article is about setting and achieving goals is a bit like baseball. Big goals are inspiring and every once in awhile, you have to swing for the bleachers. What about YOU?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hitting Some Out of the Park:
The Excitement of Personal Home Runs
by - Michael Angier , founder and CIO
www.SuccessNet.org
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I’m not a big baseball fan. I enjoyed playing when I was younger, but I’ve just not gotten caught up in watching nine innings of the game.
Perhaps it’s because the home runs are so few and far between. Watching someone bunt, walk or get a base hit slowly but surely adds runs to the scoreboard, but they lack the luster of a home run with the bases loaded.
Seeing that ball sail out of the park while the runners head home and the batter tags each base in his victory lap is fun.
Setting and achieving goals is a bit like baseball. For the most part, things don’t happen all that fast, and it’s not always exciting. But if you want to win, you have to do the things that put you on base in a consistent fashion.
We all have some goals we want to accomplish that aren’t particularly inspiring or motivating. We want the result, but we aren’t always excited about the process.
Unless they’re part of a bigger (and more inspiring) goal, they tend to be what I call “maintenance goals”. Things like a 15% increase in sales, a 10% increase in profits or paying off a credit card.
To make the game more interesting, however, it helps to have some home runs.
Last summer I was telling my friend Sterling Valentine about my upcoming projects and explaining my plans for several new ventures. I told him that business was up 23%, and I reviewed a couple of other things that would clearly be viewed as quite positive.
But as I discussed these things with him, I noticed I didn’t seem to have the passion I usually have. I said, “You know, all this is good, it’s interesting, but what I’d really like to do is hit a home run.”
He asked what that would look like. His question made me think—and think hard.
What WOULD a home run look like? What kind of goals would I look upon as they were accomplished and say, “Wow! That’s a home run!”
So I made a list of goals that would qualify. They weren’t safe, predictable, maintenance goals. They were BHAGS—big hairy audacious goals.
I chose three of them and decided to swing for the fence on all three. I really had nothing to lose because even if I fell short, I would have made good progress—probably more than if I hadn’t gone for it.
And I got two out of three.
We more than doubled our 2005 business compared to 2004. I’d done this before—two or three times—but our business was much smaller then. Home run number one.
I created, launched and sold a 12-month team coaching program (Diamond Club). I thought 21 participants would be a home run for the first year. We have 43 enrolled, and we still have another couple of weeks before we close it for the year. Home run number two.
My third goal was a best-selling book (100,000 copies).
Didn’t hit that one—at least not yet. But I do have two books published and a third in production.
As a result of achieving these goals, I’ve never felt more confident. I’m really looking forward to reaching for some big ones in 2006.
Action Point
What about YOU? Where are you on the “GO-FOR-IT Scale”? Which of your goals or dreams would be a home run for you?
It’s good to have singles, doubles and triples, but every once in the while, you have to take a big cut and swing for the bleachers. You’ll strike out sometimes, but hey, even the best batters do that.
successnet.org/articles/angier-homerun.htm
-=-
Copyright Michael Angier & Success Networks International.
Used with Permission.
Michael Angier is the founder and president of SuccessNet. Their mission is to inform, inspire and empower people to be their best--personally and professionally.
Download their free eBooklet, 10 ESSENTIAL KEYS TO PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS from www.SuccessNet.org/keys.htm or by sending a blank email to keys@SuccessNet.org.
More free subscriptions, books and SuccessMark Cards are available at www.SuccessNet.org.
-=-
Have a great Wednesday!
Jan 17, 2006
E-Mails Bouncing?
Are Your E-Mails Bouncing? Hard Bounces,
Soft Bounces, and Everything in Between
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
I hope your week had a great start! Having guest at my home is over for awhile .. today I'm driving my friend to the train station. It's 1 1/2 hour drive to Sudbury so my friend can catch he's ride at 4:00pm, then will be spending two days on the train .. but I know it's a great ride!
A lot of beautiful sceneries on the way to Edmonton, I've made that trip by train twice already. I've always enjoyed the view .. specially from the dome section, plus You can walk around and meet people.
Today's article is fantastic information for anyone but very helpful for webmasters! When You send an e-mail and then receive a response saying it was undeliverable... that's a "bounce".
However, when You publish an e-zine and You have too many bounce-backs that can cause your mailings to be blocked with certain Internet service providers. Alexandria is sharing what You need to know and do so You can get a handle on your bounces...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Are Your E-Mails Bouncing? Hard Bounces,
Soft Bounces, and Everything in Between
by Alexandria K. Brown
"The E-zine Queen"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Are you doing "the bounce"?
No, it's not a new hip-hop dance.
A bounce, or bounce-back, is an e-mail that is returned to you because it cannot be delivered for some reason. You've probably gotten bounces on your own personal e-mail program, when you send an e-mail and then receive a response saying it was undeliverable.
These get to be more of a headache, however, when you publish an e-zine. Sending e-mail to more people means more bounce-backs. And too many bounce-backs can cause your mailings to be blocked with certain Internet service providers, meaning many of your e-mails won't reach your readers.
What You Need to Know
There are two kinds of e-mail bounces:
A hard bounce is an e-mail message that has been returned to you because the recipient's address is invalid. A hard bounce might occur because the domain name doesn't exist, the recipient is unknown, or there's some type of network problem on the recipient's end.
A soft bounce is an e-mail message that gets as far as the recipient's mail server, but is bounced back before it reaches the recipient. One of the most common causes for a soft bounce is a full mailbox. This will happen A LOT with your subscribers who use free e-mail services like Yahoo and HotMail, because they allow for very little e-mail storage.
What You Need to Do
Ask your current list service how they handle your bounces.
Some of them have a hands-off policy and don't do anything. If so, ask them how you can go in yourself and see how many names are bouncing and who they are. Then you can decide to keep them on your list or delete them.
One factor to consider here is your listserve's "retry" policy. That is, how many times do they try to send out your e-zine to the soft-bounce people? Some only try once, others try several times, waiting a few hours in between.
Sometimes you'll also see a few e-mail addresses that are obviously misspelled (e.g. "nancy123@aolcom" -- note the missing dot) and you can fix them yourself manually.
If your listserve is hands-off, you'll want to go in and look at your bounce situation at least once a month to check things out and delete names if necessary.
The other extreme is list services that automatically delete people after only one hard bounce, which isn't good because it could be caused by a temporary problem like a network outage. If this is your listserve's policy, find out if you can change it.
Then some list services take the middle road by automatically deleting anyone who has had a certain number of bounces in a row. Ideally you want them to wait longer on soft bounces to make sure that the problem isn't resolved over the next few issues you send out.
You can often instruct the listserve to unsubscribe soft bounces after a specific time, say, five bounces over a two-week period.
Whatever your case, be sure you get a handle on your bounces this month!
(c) 2003 Alexandria K. Brown
-=-
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” is author of the award-winning manual, “Boost Business With Your Own E-zine.” To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at www.ezinequeen.com.
-=-
Have a great Tuesday!
Soft Bounces, and Everything in Between
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
I hope your week had a great start! Having guest at my home is over for awhile .. today I'm driving my friend to the train station. It's 1 1/2 hour drive to Sudbury so my friend can catch he's ride at 4:00pm, then will be spending two days on the train .. but I know it's a great ride!
A lot of beautiful sceneries on the way to Edmonton, I've made that trip by train twice already. I've always enjoyed the view .. specially from the dome section, plus You can walk around and meet people.
Today's article is fantastic information for anyone but very helpful for webmasters! When You send an e-mail and then receive a response saying it was undeliverable... that's a "bounce".
However, when You publish an e-zine and You have too many bounce-backs that can cause your mailings to be blocked with certain Internet service providers. Alexandria is sharing what You need to know and do so You can get a handle on your bounces...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Are Your E-Mails Bouncing? Hard Bounces,
Soft Bounces, and Everything in Between
by Alexandria K. Brown
"The E-zine Queen"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Are you doing "the bounce"?
No, it's not a new hip-hop dance.
A bounce, or bounce-back, is an e-mail that is returned to you because it cannot be delivered for some reason. You've probably gotten bounces on your own personal e-mail program, when you send an e-mail and then receive a response saying it was undeliverable.
These get to be more of a headache, however, when you publish an e-zine. Sending e-mail to more people means more bounce-backs. And too many bounce-backs can cause your mailings to be blocked with certain Internet service providers, meaning many of your e-mails won't reach your readers.
What You Need to Know
There are two kinds of e-mail bounces:
A hard bounce is an e-mail message that has been returned to you because the recipient's address is invalid. A hard bounce might occur because the domain name doesn't exist, the recipient is unknown, or there's some type of network problem on the recipient's end.
A soft bounce is an e-mail message that gets as far as the recipient's mail server, but is bounced back before it reaches the recipient. One of the most common causes for a soft bounce is a full mailbox. This will happen A LOT with your subscribers who use free e-mail services like Yahoo and HotMail, because they allow for very little e-mail storage.
What You Need to Do
Ask your current list service how they handle your bounces.
Some of them have a hands-off policy and don't do anything. If so, ask them how you can go in yourself and see how many names are bouncing and who they are. Then you can decide to keep them on your list or delete them.
One factor to consider here is your listserve's "retry" policy. That is, how many times do they try to send out your e-zine to the soft-bounce people? Some only try once, others try several times, waiting a few hours in between.
Sometimes you'll also see a few e-mail addresses that are obviously misspelled (e.g. "nancy123@aolcom" -- note the missing dot) and you can fix them yourself manually.
If your listserve is hands-off, you'll want to go in and look at your bounce situation at least once a month to check things out and delete names if necessary.
The other extreme is list services that automatically delete people after only one hard bounce, which isn't good because it could be caused by a temporary problem like a network outage. If this is your listserve's policy, find out if you can change it.
Then some list services take the middle road by automatically deleting anyone who has had a certain number of bounces in a row. Ideally you want them to wait longer on soft bounces to make sure that the problem isn't resolved over the next few issues you send out.
You can often instruct the listserve to unsubscribe soft bounces after a specific time, say, five bounces over a two-week period.
Whatever your case, be sure you get a handle on your bounces this month!
(c) 2003 Alexandria K. Brown
-=-
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” is author of the award-winning manual, “Boost Business With Your Own E-zine.” To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at www.ezinequeen.com.
-=-
Have a great Tuesday!
Jan 16, 2006
Surviving Tough Times
Surviving Tough Times Online
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
Hope You had a great weekend !!! Yesterday the sun was out but it was so cold .. I went for my horse sled ride with my friend and we both enjoyed it very much. I will plan on going again before the winter is over .. it cost only $5.00 each, so really that's a cheap fun day! Tomorrow my friend is returning home to Edmonton by train, it took two days to get here .. quite the ride!
In today's article it discusses the economic problems businesses online and off-line faces. For this reason, You must constantly look for creative ways to put yourself and your business in the best position to survive! Jim shares various ways that will help You with your business to survive...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Surviving Tough Times Online
- by Jim Edwards
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
www.TheNetReporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
With economic problems dominating the headlines, all businesses, online and off, need to make the most of every single customer contact if they hope to stay in business!
Consumers want to hang onto every dollar and only spend money for things they feel they really "must" have.
To put yourself and your business in the best position to survive and thrive in the current economy, follow these simple rules for making every website visitor count.
The first step in making every visitor count involves knowing exactly what people want from you. The vast majority of businesses never bother to ask what customers and visitors want, and therefore, they make fewer sales than they could with a little research.
Smart online business owners use surveys regularly to stay in touch with customer needs, tastes, and preferences. It costs next to nothing to ask a customer what they want and then simply give it to them. But, it may cost you everything if you don't take the time to ask first.
Next, businesses hoping to make it in these uncertain economic times must form alliances with other business owners who cater to the same audience. Other business owners have the traffic you need in order to grow your business.
For this reason, you must constantly look for creative ways to work with them. The easiest way to profit by working with other website owners involves endorsing each other's products to your own lists or, at a minimum, trading links to funnel traffic back and forth.
Creating traffic from "scratch" rates the slowest and costliest way to bring customers to your website. Persuading other people to send targeted traffic your way puts you on the fast track to profits.
The third step for triumphing in uncertain economic times entails building one-on-one relationships with your customers and prospects, even if you have thousands of them. They must feel as if you are speaking only to them in all of your communications.
The quickest way to accomplish this involves specializing in one highly specific area of concern for them. In other words, no matter what you sell, you'll never succeed as "Wal-Mart." To succeed, your online business must completely meet the needs of your customers in one, specific area.
Time to face facts: the Internet won't go away! In fact, despite the well publicized "dot bombs" of a couple of years ago, the Internet forms a more integral part of our lives than ever.
Even if you feel like your business, your job, or some other important aspect of your life doesn't depend on the Internet today, what about tomorrow?
Finally, everyone must stay current at all times with the ever-changing landscape of the Internet. At some point, virtually every one of us will find the Internet an integral part of our business lives.
As effective business people, we must develop the ability to adapt to change and give customers what they want - not in months or years -but in the space of hours or days.
-=-
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links...
Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links? "Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate links... without spending a dime on advertising!
Click Here> Write Money Making Ezine Articles FAST!
-=-
Have a great Monday!
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
Hope You had a great weekend !!! Yesterday the sun was out but it was so cold .. I went for my horse sled ride with my friend and we both enjoyed it very much. I will plan on going again before the winter is over .. it cost only $5.00 each, so really that's a cheap fun day! Tomorrow my friend is returning home to Edmonton by train, it took two days to get here .. quite the ride!
In today's article it discusses the economic problems businesses online and off-line faces. For this reason, You must constantly look for creative ways to put yourself and your business in the best position to survive! Jim shares various ways that will help You with your business to survive...
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Surviving Tough Times Online
- by Jim Edwards
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
www.TheNetReporter.com
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With economic problems dominating the headlines, all businesses, online and off, need to make the most of every single customer contact if they hope to stay in business!
Consumers want to hang onto every dollar and only spend money for things they feel they really "must" have.
To put yourself and your business in the best position to survive and thrive in the current economy, follow these simple rules for making every website visitor count.
The first step in making every visitor count involves knowing exactly what people want from you. The vast majority of businesses never bother to ask what customers and visitors want, and therefore, they make fewer sales than they could with a little research.
Smart online business owners use surveys regularly to stay in touch with customer needs, tastes, and preferences. It costs next to nothing to ask a customer what they want and then simply give it to them. But, it may cost you everything if you don't take the time to ask first.
Next, businesses hoping to make it in these uncertain economic times must form alliances with other business owners who cater to the same audience. Other business owners have the traffic you need in order to grow your business.
For this reason, you must constantly look for creative ways to work with them. The easiest way to profit by working with other website owners involves endorsing each other's products to your own lists or, at a minimum, trading links to funnel traffic back and forth.
Creating traffic from "scratch" rates the slowest and costliest way to bring customers to your website. Persuading other people to send targeted traffic your way puts you on the fast track to profits.
The third step for triumphing in uncertain economic times entails building one-on-one relationships with your customers and prospects, even if you have thousands of them. They must feel as if you are speaking only to them in all of your communications.
The quickest way to accomplish this involves specializing in one highly specific area of concern for them. In other words, no matter what you sell, you'll never succeed as "Wal-Mart." To succeed, your online business must completely meet the needs of your customers in one, specific area.
Time to face facts: the Internet won't go away! In fact, despite the well publicized "dot bombs" of a couple of years ago, the Internet forms a more integral part of our lives than ever.
Even if you feel like your business, your job, or some other important aspect of your life doesn't depend on the Internet today, what about tomorrow?
Finally, everyone must stay current at all times with the ever-changing landscape of the Internet. At some point, virtually every one of us will find the Internet an integral part of our business lives.
As effective business people, we must develop the ability to adapt to change and give customers what they want - not in months or years -but in the space of hours or days.
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Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links...
Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links? "Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate links... without spending a dime on advertising!
Click Here> Write Money Making Ezine Articles FAST!
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Have a great Monday!
Jan 15, 2006
List Service...
21 Questions to Ask Any List Service
Before You Sign on With Them
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
I hope You are enjoying your weekend so far .. mine is quiet and very relaxing! The sun is shinning today and that brightens my day.
My friend from Edmonton Alberta and I are going for a horse sled ride today. I hope my friend will enjoy that because last time I went I had much fun. I went with a group of friends and family members so there was a lot of us. This time I'm going with one person so I'll see the difference .. I'm sure I will enjoy it too !!!
Today's article is about "List Service" if You plan on publishing an email newsletter or e-zine. I'll have a newsletter for my subscribers so this article is fantastic help for me !!! Ask questions before You sign up so You may choose one that You will benefit.
Alexandria is sharing guidelines to help You choose a list server that's right for You...
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21 Questions to Ask Any List Service
Before You Sign on With Them
by Alexandria K. Brown,
“The E-zine Queen”
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If you publish an e-mail newsletter, or "e-zine," you'll need to sign on with a list service (or "listserve") to manage your subscriber list. There are many types of listserves out there, so here are some guidelines to help you choose one that's right for you.
1. Do they use MULTI-PART MIME technology?
You'll need this if you want to publish an HTML newsletter. Otherwise you’ll have to send out multiple versions for users who can read HTML, users who can't read HTML, and users on AOL.
2. Do they offer some type of ORIENTATION OR TUTORIAL?
If you're new to the game and/or technologically challenged then you'll appreciate any type of help they offer for new clients.
3. What's their CUSTOMER SERVICE like?
Are they prompt to get back to you via e-mail? Can you call them if you have a problem? Are they available more than standard business hours? What about weekends? Contact them and see how long they take to get back to you —- if it's longer than 24 hours, definitely keep looking.
4. Do they NOTIFY list owners if there's a PROBLEM with their service?
If so, how, and how quickly?
5. Do they have CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS to share with you?
Or even better, client references? Contact some of these folks to see how their experiences have been.
6. Do other BUSINESSES LIKE YOURS use their service?
If most of their clients are large corporations, small businesses like yours may not get the attention they deserve.
7. Is their interface EASY TO USE?
Meaning is it easy for you to setup and launch each issue of your e-zine. They should offer a demo or let you access the 'mission control' area that you'll be using to test it out.
8. Can you MANUALLY ADD AND REMOVE people to and from your list if you want to?
Sometimes you’ll need to do this, so you'll want the answer to be "yes" —- especially if you're moving over a list you've already collected.
9. Can you access SUBSCRIBER REPORTS?
How and how often? You'll want to know on a regular basis how many subscribes and unsubscribes you've had since the last issue.
10. What appears in the "FROM" field when subscribers get your e-zine?
You want it to be YOUR name if possible. Some spam filters screen out e-mail that does not appear to come from an individual person.
11. What appears in the "TO" field when a subscriber gets your e-zine?
You want it to be the person’s name if possible. Along the same lines, some spam filters screen out e-mail that does not appear to be addressed to the individual person.
12. Who has ACCESS to their servers and your list?
Anytime you hand over your customer list, you're taking a risk. You don't want your service or anyone else using your list for spamming purposes.
13. What happens if some addresses are UNDELIVERABLE?
These are also called "bounces" or "bounce-backs." You don't want them to automatically remove names for "soft bounces," which are due to temporary conditions like full mailboxes.
14. How do users SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE?
Do they have to visit a Web page or can they do it via e-mail (best if both options are available). Is the process single or double opt-in? (Double is better for more security — the user has to respond to a confirmation e-mail before she’s added to your list.) Is the process kept simple?
15. Can you customize your LIST SERVER DOCUMENTS?
This means messages like your subscriber welcome and goodbye messages. (You'll definitely want to be able to do this, since the prewritten messages many list services use are horribly cold and confusing.)
16. Can your e-zine give PERSONALIZED GREETINGS AND MESSAGES?
Not necessary, but a very nice feature. For example, if your e-zine came to me, it would start off with something like, "Hello Alexandria!"
17. How often do they BACK UP their servers?
It should be at least once every day. Also ask if you can download your lists to back them up on your own, as a backup to their backup!
18. Can you send a TEST MESSAGE out to yourself or another person before you send out each issue for real?
You'll definitely want this because it’s the best way to see how your e-zine looks on the recipient’s end, do a proofread, and check all your hyperlinks.
19. Can you see stats on your CLICK-THROUGH rates?
If you publish in HTML, you should be able to see how many people — and even exactly who — opens your messages.
20. Can they AUTOMATICALLY ARCHIVE your issues if you'd like them to?
Some services will archive your e-zines at their site, others can configure it so they're archived at your own site (which is better).
21. Are they currently BLOCKED anywhere on the Web?
If so, it may mean they've been reported for allowing spammers to use their network. You don't want to work with any list service that's been blocked anywhere, because it means that your e-zine won't reach all of your readers.
(c) 2002 Alexandria K. Brown
-=-=-
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” is author of the award-winning manual, “Boost Business With Your Own E-zine.” To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at www.ezinequeen.com.
-=-=-
Have a great Sunday!
Before You Sign on With Them
Welcome to Flo's Business & Fun Blog
I hope You are enjoying your weekend so far .. mine is quiet and very relaxing! The sun is shinning today and that brightens my day.
My friend from Edmonton Alberta and I are going for a horse sled ride today. I hope my friend will enjoy that because last time I went I had much fun. I went with a group of friends and family members so there was a lot of us. This time I'm going with one person so I'll see the difference .. I'm sure I will enjoy it too !!!
Today's article is about "List Service" if You plan on publishing an email newsletter or e-zine. I'll have a newsletter for my subscribers so this article is fantastic help for me !!! Ask questions before You sign up so You may choose one that You will benefit.
Alexandria is sharing guidelines to help You choose a list server that's right for You...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
21 Questions to Ask Any List Service
Before You Sign on With Them
by Alexandria K. Brown,
“The E-zine Queen”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
If you publish an e-mail newsletter, or "e-zine," you'll need to sign on with a list service (or "listserve") to manage your subscriber list. There are many types of listserves out there, so here are some guidelines to help you choose one that's right for you.
1. Do they use MULTI-PART MIME technology?
You'll need this if you want to publish an HTML newsletter. Otherwise you’ll have to send out multiple versions for users who can read HTML, users who can't read HTML, and users on AOL.
2. Do they offer some type of ORIENTATION OR TUTORIAL?
If you're new to the game and/or technologically challenged then you'll appreciate any type of help they offer for new clients.
3. What's their CUSTOMER SERVICE like?
Are they prompt to get back to you via e-mail? Can you call them if you have a problem? Are they available more than standard business hours? What about weekends? Contact them and see how long they take to get back to you —- if it's longer than 24 hours, definitely keep looking.
4. Do they NOTIFY list owners if there's a PROBLEM with their service?
If so, how, and how quickly?
5. Do they have CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS to share with you?
Or even better, client references? Contact some of these folks to see how their experiences have been.
6. Do other BUSINESSES LIKE YOURS use their service?
If most of their clients are large corporations, small businesses like yours may not get the attention they deserve.
7. Is their interface EASY TO USE?
Meaning is it easy for you to setup and launch each issue of your e-zine. They should offer a demo or let you access the 'mission control' area that you'll be using to test it out.
8. Can you MANUALLY ADD AND REMOVE people to and from your list if you want to?
Sometimes you’ll need to do this, so you'll want the answer to be "yes" —- especially if you're moving over a list you've already collected.
9. Can you access SUBSCRIBER REPORTS?
How and how often? You'll want to know on a regular basis how many subscribes and unsubscribes you've had since the last issue.
10. What appears in the "FROM" field when subscribers get your e-zine?
You want it to be YOUR name if possible. Some spam filters screen out e-mail that does not appear to come from an individual person.
11. What appears in the "TO" field when a subscriber gets your e-zine?
You want it to be the person’s name if possible. Along the same lines, some spam filters screen out e-mail that does not appear to be addressed to the individual person.
12. Who has ACCESS to their servers and your list?
Anytime you hand over your customer list, you're taking a risk. You don't want your service or anyone else using your list for spamming purposes.
13. What happens if some addresses are UNDELIVERABLE?
These are also called "bounces" or "bounce-backs." You don't want them to automatically remove names for "soft bounces," which are due to temporary conditions like full mailboxes.
14. How do users SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE?
Do they have to visit a Web page or can they do it via e-mail (best if both options are available). Is the process single or double opt-in? (Double is better for more security — the user has to respond to a confirmation e-mail before she’s added to your list.) Is the process kept simple?
15. Can you customize your LIST SERVER DOCUMENTS?
This means messages like your subscriber welcome and goodbye messages. (You'll definitely want to be able to do this, since the prewritten messages many list services use are horribly cold and confusing.)
16. Can your e-zine give PERSONALIZED GREETINGS AND MESSAGES?
Not necessary, but a very nice feature. For example, if your e-zine came to me, it would start off with something like, "Hello Alexandria!"
17. How often do they BACK UP their servers?
It should be at least once every day. Also ask if you can download your lists to back them up on your own, as a backup to their backup!
18. Can you send a TEST MESSAGE out to yourself or another person before you send out each issue for real?
You'll definitely want this because it’s the best way to see how your e-zine looks on the recipient’s end, do a proofread, and check all your hyperlinks.
19. Can you see stats on your CLICK-THROUGH rates?
If you publish in HTML, you should be able to see how many people — and even exactly who — opens your messages.
20. Can they AUTOMATICALLY ARCHIVE your issues if you'd like them to?
Some services will archive your e-zines at their site, others can configure it so they're archived at your own site (which is better).
21. Are they currently BLOCKED anywhere on the Web?
If so, it may mean they've been reported for allowing spammers to use their network. You don't want to work with any list service that's been blocked anywhere, because it means that your e-zine won't reach all of your readers.
(c) 2002 Alexandria K. Brown
-=-=-
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” is author of the award-winning manual, “Boost Business With Your Own E-zine.” To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at www.ezinequeen.com.
-=-=-
Have a great Sunday!
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